CHAPTER 4

CHIDINMA'S VIEW

Ife and I supported Mayokun as we walked out of her room. After awhile, Ife stopped in her tracks and slowed us down. It seemed like something had hit her.

" We can't take the front door." Ife whispered.

" Why not?" I asked her.

" Some men are there waiting for girls to run out through that door. I overheard their discussion when they came in." My eyes went wide. Of course they had this planned well. " They are also at the boys' hostel."

Musa! That was who came to my mind immediately.

" Let's go back to your room." I suggested.

We went back into Ife's room. They went back to their hiding spots while I laid down like a corpse on the floor among the others and I thought of what we could do. Our only way out was blocked and we weren't even harmed to defend ourselves. 'What were going to do?' That was all I could think of. I laid down in the dark and stared into space. Gradually, I was beginning to loose hope. We were just a few steps into our freedom but they had to set a death trap at the treasehold.

" We can take the window." Mayokun suggested.

I turned my head and looked at the window. The three of us were slim so we could easily come out. My only problem was Mayokun. She was injured, would she be able to endure the pain? I stood up and walked quietly to the window. I needed to know how far we were from the ground. Our distance wasn't much since we were on the ground floor.

" Let's go." I said. " Or wait, Ife come, Mayokun wait."

Ife came out of the wardrobe with a confused face on. If Ife was going to do this, she had to be smart about it.

" Ife, you are going first." Even through the dark, I could see her white eyes go wide.

" I can't"

" Yes, you can! You have to! Everywhere is dark, no one will see you. I know that we are close to the entrance and those men are there, but you can do this. Wet soil is below this window so your foot won't make a sound. I'll pass Mayokun to you and I'll be out immediately."

" Chidin..."

" Ife you are wasting time." I said, cutting her short from calling my name. " We need to get out of here as quickly as possible. Who knows if they are fixing the lights. We never can tell who these men are and what they can do..." I wasn't even done with my sentence when the lights flashed but went off immediately. " Go!"

Ife climbed out the window and jumped down. We succeeded in that without making a sound. I went to the door and assisted Mayokun to the window.

" Mayokun, you want to get through all of this right?" She gave a little nod with her head. She was a strong girl. Even with the cut, she was still trying her best to survive this. " So you have to endure the pain that will come from trying to jump down, okay?"

" Okay."

" Try not to make a sound."

" okay."

" Okay. Good. I'll lift you. Ife will wait down there to get you."

" Chidinma, please come out." She said looking into my eyes.

" I'll see you outside."

I lifted her up and she took in a sharp breath.

" Shhhh. Sorry." I said.

Her legs went out the window and I saw Ife's hands grab her by her knees. Eventually, she was out of the window. I picked my wrapper from the floor and just when I was about to jump out, the lights came back on.

" This is bad!" I said to myself. " This is very bad."

I heard footsteps approach the room and I immediately began to panic. I whispered "hide", loud enough for Ife and Mayokun to hear me before I ran behind the door. Just as I thought, two men walked in.

" I heard voices coming from here." I heard one say.

I covered my mouth to prevent myself from making a sound. The men went round and even opened the wardrobes. I immediately began to thank my stars that Ife had gone, otherwise, she would have been killed.

" Let's go!" the other man said harshly. "Only you heard those sounds in the first place. Can't you see that they are all dead?"

" Check behind that door."

My heartbeat picked up again. I doubt a stethoscope would have been needed to hear it. This couldn't be happening. I've gotten out only for me to get killed. I have to get out too.

" Are you mad? I said you are wasting my time. Get out of this place before I send you to your ancestors with this knife."

" Oya, abeg, no vex. Boss no go happy if any pikin commot from this building, na I'm make. Let's go. ( I'm sorry, don't be angry. Boss would not like it if any Child leaves this building that's why.)"

The two men left and I released the breath that I held. I ran to the window and jumped down, only to meet the place empty. No Ife. No Mayokun.

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Thank you for reading up to this point. This Chapter has not really been edited, just skip the errors, if there are any. I'll correct the later on. Where do you think they went to? How did they suddenly disappear. We'll find out in the next Chapter. Please keep reading, vote and comment. If you want to reach me, you can on my page on facebook. Just_Rufina Novelist.

Yours sincerely,

Just_Rufina