CHAPTER TWO : I REMEMBER

“Getting this tattoo was the best idea!” Bola squealed as she stared at the design on her hand still mesmerized by it. Ire smirked. It was so easy to get on her friend's good side, humans were so niave and easy to manipulate. She folded her arms in front of her chest and gave her friend the famous 'I told you so' look. Bola only shrugged the gesture off.

“It looks pretty” Ire confessed as resumed tapping her fingers on the car's steering wheel, waiting for the traffic to loosen up.

“I wonder why Temi hasn't called us yet, do you think something went wrong? I mean... I never supported the idea of her going to that place alone, and now we haven't—” Bola started rambling.

“She'll be fine” Ire reassured successfully cutting her off mid rant. She was getting impatient with the traffic. The last thing she needed was to have to listen to her friend ramble about the well-being of her other friend. It was exhausting!

“Look, I'm sure she's fine, maybe she's caught up with something or just hanging out with someone” Ire shrugged. Sighing in relief as the traffic jam loosened up, she drove down the highway, Apparently in a hurry to get to her apartment before anyone else did.

“she's not picking, she always picks! always!” Bola countered feeling uneasy.

“Well not everyone likes to pick calls every time! it's called priority you know?” Ire retorted with an eye roll.

“I'm worried” she announced. Ire ignored the comment. She had a bad feeling, a very bad feeling.

***********

“Chameleon tattoo”

Mide frowned as he stared at the bottle of whiskey in front of him. He kept trying to piece the invisible puzzle in from of him. What did the girl mean by “chameleon tattoo”? what did that have to do with anything? and why did she seem so terrified? was she remembering the event? did she remember?

Still, though, Mide could not dismiss that all evidence pointed to that girl being the killer, but all of this..it seemed too good to be true. what killer falls unconscious after doing the job? what killer waits patiently beside a dead body, it was almost as if she wanted to be caught. but why?

The painful part was that this girl remembered nothing! like her memory was wiped or something, She had been arrested and he was able to interrogate her three times now, and he still had goosebumps while he was at it because this girl's response was the same. it was almost as if someone had framed her. Almost.

She was currently in the prison hospital ward. The girl had been transferred to a maximum prison and was awaiting trial there. Mide could not help but think, maybe there was more to this. this all seemed insane! the kind of insane that seemed so sane.

Mide's train of thoughts was put to a halt when the front door clicked open, he carefully watched his sister put her spare keys down, He frowned when he saw her smile, it saddened him that he was the one that was going to ruin her happiness because, for the first time in the past two years, his sister seemed on top of the world.

“You seem happy, Ire” He commented as he downed his whiskey, today was not one of his best days, but oh well.

“I don't seem happy” she began before she rolled her eyes and said “I am very happy” She admitted causing Mide to raise an eyebrow, He was not expecting that response. Scratch that. He was not expecting a response at all.

“I am on cloud nine,” she confessed as she walked closer to her brother and gave him an awkward hug from behind. Mide was puzzled, it had been a while since they had body contact, a long while

“I am so happy I will ignore the fact that you are back to drinking when you promised me you would stop!” the nineteen-year-old chastised, Collecting the bottle of whiskey from her brother and loosening her small bun. Mide recalled the argument they had earlier, She was so upset about his drinking habits she had threatened to leave the house, he was elated to hear she had changed her mind. Whatever the source of her happiness was, it was doing a great job.

Ire took off her jacket allowing her fair skin to breathe and radiate pure beauty. She smiled taking in a deep breath. “How was your day?” she asked as she sat down with her hands behind her head, a gesture she always did whenever she had her defenses down and was genuinely interested in listening.

Mide raised an eyebrow at his sister's behavior, He missed this side of her, a lot. For the past two years she had been a shadow of herself, and all of a sudden, she changed? it hurt him that he would be the one to break the news of her best friend's horrific death to her, Temi and Ire were like sisters, they were inseparable. For a moment he contemplated not telling her, but she would find out anyway, so why not from him?

Mide cleared his throat, a clear sign he was about to say something important as he tapped on the table cautiously, giving away the fact that he was nervous. Which was the only behavior both siblings had in common. Other than that, they were worlds apart. Mide loved his sister to death though, and although Ire rarely showed it, He knew she loved him too. The last time she had been this happy, was the day before their parent's car accident? should he risk ruining her happiness again?

“Temi was found dead” There. He said it.

“T-Temi was found what?”

***********

“I need to see, Officer Mide” The nurse heard the girl croak out. Her hoarse voice was simply heartbreaking. The girl had been brought to the hospital two hours ago, unconscious. And ever since she woke up thirty minutes ago she had not stopped asking for this officer.

The nurse frowned knowing she would not win the fight, “I will call him, please get some rest” the nurse bargained as she began to leave

“Please!” the girl called out. Forcing herself to sit up she spoke.

“When you get in contact with him, Tell him...Tell him I remember... Tell him I remember everything.”