The torture

The day was sunny and the atmosphere full of dried unfriendly breeze, somebody who believes in superstition would say the universe was aware of what Irene was going through, Hence, the actual reason for the harsh weather. Despite being unconscious for a little time, she suddenly regained consciousness and attempted opening her eyes just halfway, she looked around and saw that she was at the filthiest corner of a moving vehicle, surrounded by six well built looking men, each with a black mask on his face. She was tied with a strong rope on her hands, a very hard chain right on her legs and the worst of it was the very smelly, stinky and dirty fabric that was used to cover her mouth tightly so she would not be able to speak or scream for help.

Irene could not do so much for herself at this point, she was so weak and helpless, feeling so empty, tired and hungry. Then, a video began playing in her head, like she was in a trance, she suddenly remembered and saw when the supposed dispatch rider was at her door with a mask on, she managed to get a view of his eyes, which were the only visible thing on his face at the time and to her amazement, his eyes were so beautiful, just like Henry's, he had great body features like Henry, everything kept pointing to Henry and Irene was seriously devastated. Was her mind playing games with her? Was Henry truly the one behind this abduction? What did she even do to deserve such? To think that she loved him and hoped he would be the one to accept her again, yet he was the complete opposite, he was everything and more of all that she never imagined, he was a total fraud.

Irene was married once before, she had a beautiful union with a wealthy and great man but lost him in a ghastly motor accident which claimed his life, she became a young widow just within the first year of their marriage. She was also carrying a baby in her womb but lost it when the fetus was about ten weeks, due to the trauma of her husband's passing. Life has once been so cruel to her and after faithfully mourning her family, she picked up her broken pieces and moved on. Not many people know this story of hers as she didn't want anyone to see her as an object of pity, she also did not have any intentions of getting hooked with anyone until Henry happened.

The car parked into a compound, so it was clear that she had arrived where her abductors were bringing her to, these men didn't show her mercy or treat her any different because she was a woman, they dragged her forcefully out of the vehicle and kicked her recklessly at random, she was further dragged into a room and locked inside, leaving her alone. Was she a thief? Why would they mistreat her? Irene kept thinking of possible reasons for all the drama but got no answer for herself.

"Wetin you go chop?" One of the men in a full face mask who kept watch over her asked, and she gently replied that she wasn't hungry, the man spat right close to her and went out, banging the door so hard behind him and he returned with two pieces of yam, with nothing to go side by side the yam, he brought the miserable food to her even when she had already declined, it seemed her opinion didn't even matter to begin with.

Spider was the name he was referred to by the gang. Spider gave the food to Irene, and she still repeated again that she was not hungry, a very hot and thunderous slap landed mightily on her cheeks. " I will eat oo! I will e..aatt! I will eat!! Irene kept repeating the same words over because she had not recovered from the impact of the slap, she rushed through the food with a lot of tears rolling down her cheeks and eventually finished it completely still with massive tears on her face, without thinking twice, she could not imagine getting that same slap a second time, for one minute, she felt like she was in another world, her face kept burning like it was roasting on fire, she could not stop crying all day. Irene was still left alone even at night, she still had not met anyone who could tell what she had done and why she was in the hands of kidnappers, she slept in a very dark room, she wasn't allowed to shower throughout the day, she ate nothing more except the yam she had earlier. This was the second horrible experience she was having in her life time.

The next day, the stars had faded, leaving behind a lovely glow and atmosphere, the birds began their joyful chorus and melodies, it was a bright early morning, the morning was full of hope and possibilities, but was it same for Irene?

Suddenly, Henry walked right into the room where Irene was kept, he was looking charming as always, he did not hide his face in a mask, as soon as she heard the door open, she opened her eyes immediately even though she had struggled hard to get some sleep the previous night.

She earnestly expected him to show up like he did, but deep down in her heart, she hoped to be wrong, she had hoped for someone else to be the reason she was held hostage.

Disappointment enveloped her entire being, she couldn't hold back her tears. Henry shouted, "Irene! How dare you!! You don't know what pain is, shut up!" Irene struggled to speak, "please tell me what my offense is". Henry laughed and mockingly mimicked the way she cried out and spoke to him.

Henry didn't beat around the bush for too long. "You must think you are very special. Well, my name is Oscar, does that sound a bell? I worked in your company for years, I gave my loyalty and total submission, but what did I get? I was thrown out by you! Irene. There were some critical errors in some files, you concluded it was my fault without conducting a thorough investigation on all the staff, I left your building buried in humiliation and shame, I will never forget how I went straight to waste my life on alcohol because of the expenses I needed to sort especially my very sick father who was lying helpless in a hospital bed at that time, I was torn apart and didn't know how to get help, I got so drunk and could not recognize myself, I walked aimlessly and got hit by a truck, I could not have survived, I don't know how it happened but my whole body especially my face shattered beyond recognition. I eventually got a face transplant surgery, all because of you Irene."