“What’s your name?”

Kirania paused for a moment. “Umm… Miss Kirania.”

A hard block of wood immediately hit her in the leg. She screamed in pain.

“Wrong answer, stupid. What is your name?”

“I just told you, man. I’m Miss Kirani-“

She didn’t get to finish before another blow hit her in the same spot. The agony was blinding.

“Listen, trash, I don’t mind breaking every bone in that slimy little body of yours. Gimme the correct answer and give it to me NOW!”

It was obvious what Princess wanted to hear. And Lord knew Kirania did not want to mention that accursed name.

Yet, the piercing agony ripping through her leg was too much to bear.

“THREE, TWO, ONE-“

“IT’S PATRICIA NIMPONG, OKAY! MY NAME IS PATRICIA NIMPONG! THAT’S IT! THAT’S MY NAME! YOU HAPPY NOW?”

Sighing after that outburst, Kirania didn’t know what next to expect. Fucking hell, this is not what I expected at all!

“How long have you been fucking Ferdinand?”

Two seconds passed before Kirania murmured, “Umm, three months.”

“I see. His sex game is outrageous, isn’t it?”

“What the fuck kinda question is-“

Kirania stopped short as she felt the gentle tap of the plank against her knee.

“Answer, trash. Or your knee gets it.”

Kirania gulped. “Y-y-yes. Yes, yes it is.”

“You love it when he slams your back doors in, don’t you?”

“Yes!”

“And when his lips are all over your fake boobs?”

“Yes!”

“And you sure as hell wish he was fucking you right now, don’t you?”

“Yes!” Kirania blurted out. At this point, she was just saying whatever she felt Princess wanted her to say.

“Mmm, I see.”

Oh shit!

“No, no, no, no, no! I mean, I used to, but now, I don’t!” Kirania hysterically explained. “That was in the past, but now I want nothing to do with him! Please, please! Spare me! I swear on my mother’s fucking life, Princess, I’ll leave him and disappear for good! Please!”

Silence followed in response. It continued for a few more seconds.

She grew tense and apprehensive, wondering what the next action was going to be.

Then she heard Princess’ voice.

“Well well well!! I guess there’s good news for you, despite the fact that you’re just a good for nothing, skanky piece of trash. You passed your test!”

Kirania didn’t know whether to breathe a sigh of relief or stay even more tense.

“I mean, we had to take some drastic measures to ensure you were on track, but hey, a pass is a pass! So guess what?”

Kirania remained stiff in her pose, wondering what was coming next.

“Woman, I’m still holding this plank and watching your ankle. GUESS WHAT?”

“What? What?” Kirania hurriedly asked.

“You’re free to go now! Like you just said, you’re ready to leave Ferdinand and disappear for good. So yeah, you’re free!”

The pit in Kirania’s stomach should have been covered up by those words. Yet, it remained open. There was something discomfiting about her tone…

“So, Kofi, Darlow, please, you take over from here. You heard her for yourself, so do as she requested. And remember… anything you deem necessary in the discharge of duties is duly permitted.”

The slow, menacing tone of that last sentence was even creepier to her ears.

What the hell is this woman on abo… OH MY GOD, NOOOOOOOO!

The fear in her bosom suddenly metamorphosed into extreme terror. Princess was using her own words against her in the most evil way possible.

She was giving these pigs carte blanche to do whatever they wanted to do to her!

“NOO, WAIT! STOP! DON’T DO THIS-“

“Alright, guys, see you later,” she heard Princess cheerfully say to the guys before the click-clack sound of her high heels began and grew fainter and fainter.

Fright levels at a 100, Kirania struggled, screaming and pleading for mercy as she sensed Kofi and Darlow menacingly moving towards her.

“PLEASE, PRINCESS! DON’T LET THEM DO THIS TO ME, PLEASE-“

The door slammed shut.

***

It was 7:28 pm when Ferdinand’s Camry drove into the underground car park.

It had been one of the craziest and most dangerous drives he had ever engaged in on the road. Not less than four drivers had rained nasty invectives on him for his reckless style. Very unlike him, as he was known for being a gentle, law-abiding kind of driver.

Could he help it, though? This was a matter of life and death. They were just looking to get home safely, while he had to go and rescue his girl from the pits of death.

And it had been worth it. He had arrived two minutes before time. All he had to do was get the money to this kidnapper guy, and he and Kirania would be driving back home safely.

As he drove to one side of the park where a few cars had been parked, he stopped and turned the engine off. He stepped out of the car and looked around.

There was a reason he had been ordered to come to the underground car park of Rista Towers. It was an uncompleted building that had been abandoned by its owner in a prime location of the city. The owner had been seeking a buyer for years, but nobody seemed ready to take on the offer. In time, the underground car park had become a breeding place for criminals.

He took his phone and called Kirania’s number. It was switched off.

As he looked around, he heard a harsh ‘Herh!’ rip through the air.

He spun round in the direction of that shout. He didn’t see anyone.

“Herh! Herh!”

He looked around and saw the source of that call.

In front of an old, black Nissan Maxima with no registration number, stood a man.

Or more specifically, a man with dwarfism.

The look of disbelief on Ferdinand’s face was as plain as day as he stared back at the guy gesturing aggressively at him. Please don’t tell me this is the son of a bitch behind Kirania’s kidnapping. Please don’t…

“Herh! What you dey stand there for? Inobi you I dey call! Hurry up then take the money come then come claim your woman. Jon!”

That was definitely the voice of the rude bastard who had been dissing him from the first minute they spoke.

Ferdinand felt ready to explode. Why, this rotten little sardine!

He really wanted to roar that insult at him, run to him, kick him to the ground and stomp on him for daring to carry out such a dastardly act on his favourite woman. The nerve of this midget to have his girl abducted instead of seeking growth hormones!

But of course, there was only one agenda on the cards: save Kirania. That was paramount. He could rain all the foul insults on him once his woman was by his side.

He reluctantly nodded his head and got into the car and took out the briefcase. 

“My friend, hurry up!” the dwarfish man snapped at him. “You dey there dey watch me like you never see niggas like me before. Kwasia like that! Take the money come make I see something.”

No word in the English dictionary would be adequate to describe the level of rage in Ferdinand’s heart as he approached the midget man. It took a monstrous amount of self-control to keep himself from lashing out. Just give him the money and take Kirania, he calmly said to himself. That’s all that is important.

“Here’s your money,” he spat, throwing the suitcase at the man, who was not amused by that action as he failed to catch it and it fell to the floor.

“Ah, what dey wrong you? You no dey see sey you go fit hurt me? You fool, eh? You be gyimi nigga paa, you hear! Herh, wait make I count the money first!”

Ferdinand stood there, breathing heavily and clenching his teeth as the guy opened the suitcase and counted the money. After a couple of minutes, he nodded without looking at Ferdinand. “Open the car door, she dey inside.”

“Ugh, finally!” Ferdinand muttered under his breath as he moved to the car door before calling out. “Babe! Babe, it’s alright, honey, I’m here.”

“Ferdinand?” came a female voice from inside the car.

Relief rushed through his veins. Oh, thank goodness! This frightening moment was about to end. He’d have his girl back, and they could go back home and have a passionate, relief-fueled moment of intimacy.

He opened the car door.

“Yes, my love. It’s-“

The sound of a spray cut him short. And was quickly followed by excruciatingly burning, blinding pain in his eyes.

“AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH! MY EYESSSSSSSSS!” he hollered, stumbling back while holding his eyes. “MY BLOODY EYEESSSSSS! AHHHHHH-“

The impact of hard wood against the back of his head silenced him as he fell to the ground.

***

The next time Ferdinand opened his eyes, he was in some stuffy room.

Tied to a chair against the wall. From the shoulder down.

As soon as he became aware of his surroundings, he looked around in a panic.

A room with nothing but cotton clothes. Dirty, smelly ones at that. It was as if the room was a dumpsite for cotton clothes the owners had no intention of washing.

“Where am I?” he wondered to himself, still looking about frantically as he tried to move the chair.

It was nailed to the wall. He couldn’t move an inch.

A moving image then caught his eye, and he looked straight ahead of him. There was a television set ahead, and it appeared as if a video was being played. Ferdinand looked curiously at the screen. It was blurry, so he could barely see much, but it looked like two men carrying off something.

Then the video started again. Whoever had put this video on had put it on loop.

What he saw horrified him.

It was Kirania, in her underwear, chained to a wall and blindfolded.

And two men were approaching her.

And the lascivious looks on their faces were plain for anyone to see.

He trembled in his seat as the video continued to play on. “No, no, no,” he whimpered.

The scenes his eyes were treated to in the next few minutes had him screaming and wailing.

“NOOOOOOOOO! MY KIRANIA! MY SWEET KIRANIA! WHY ARE THEY DOING THAT TO HER? STOP! STOP! STOOOPPPPP!”

The fact that he knew his cries for them to stop were as futile as telling a cat to stop meowing till its dying day broke him. He wailed bitterly as the video revealed to him what Kirania had gone through at the hands of those men.

The worst part was the fact that it was on loop. For the next twenty minutes, he fruitlessly screamed and yelled for help as the contents of the video replayed over and over.

Twenty minutes of this unspeakable torment gone by, and he heard the door open.

He looked on, and in entered three men, dressed in all black and white plastic face masks.

He snarled at them. “Where’s my girlfriend? What have you done to her? Where is she?”

They stared blankly at him. One of them took out a remote and switched the television set off.

“Where is she? Tell me right now, damn it! Where is my girl? Where is she?”

They continued to ignore him.

“I SAID WHERE IS SHE?! WHERE’S MY GIRLFRIEND, YOU GODFORSAKEN BASTARDS!”

“Hey, nigga, respect yourself before we hurt you,” one of them warned him. “Useless beast.”

Enraged by the insult, he was ready to bellow some more when a voice outside the open door stopped him.

“Is somebody looking for Patricia Nimpong? Oh sorry, Mister. She said she wanted to leave you and disappear for good, so… we just helped her out.”

Ferdinand’s jaw dropped. What the actual fuck? That can’t be-

The answer to the question in his mind stepped in as the men in black took several steps back and gave way to her.

There she stood, sweetly clad in a cute grey cotton jumper and a white pleated skirt way above her knees.

Ferdinand stared at her in horror.

“What the hell?!” 

That was a pretty spine-chilling way Kirania was dealt with. Like, no comments on that. What’s gonna happen to Ferdinand now, though?