Chapter 4 Reality in my Face

"How could you!? How could you!? How could you let my child go!? How!?"

"Mum?" Ify called surprised, watching her mum and dad argue. It was a rare sight that made her uncomfortable. Her mother turned to face her with tear-stricked, pain filled face. Her look of sorrow turned to that of confusion. Both mother and father stared at her with confused faces.

"Who are you?" her mother asked.

Ify blushed in embarrassment, "What? It's me." she replied, taking a step closer.

"Don't come closer!" her mother shrieked.

"Its me!" Ify shouted, fear crawling up her veins, "Ifunanya, your daughter!"

"Daughter? We do not have a daughter." her father replied calmly a suspicious look on his face as he held unto both her mother's arms.

"Liar!" her mother shrieked again, "Get away from me! Get away from me!"

The look on her mother's face was monstrous and it scared her. It seemed like her mother's face was getting bigger and closer... bigger and closer. She made to run but her feet didn't move.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Ify screamed out, not knowing what she was apologizing for.

"Get away from me! Get away from me!" her mother kept shrieking and her monstrous face kept getting closer.

"GO!" her father commanded and her feet moved. She turned and ran into the vast empty space, away from her parents, her family; into the silence, the darkness; the continuous echoing of her mother's voice resounding in her ears.

********

Ify sprang up from the floor, her legs were itching her to run and that was what she intended to do until someone grabbed her and held her still. She could still hear her mother's voice loud and clear, shrieking the same words, "Get away from me!"

There was so much noise, too much noise; it was driving her mad and she kept hearing her name again and again.

"IFY!"

She snapped her back, connecting her face with a hard surface. She grunted in pain, her right palm, massaging her face. The pain seeped into her hazy consciousness and she became fully conscious. She raised her head, moving back immediately Naeto's face came into view.

"Why are you looking like that?" she asked, blinking confusedly.

He grunted in pain, letting go of her arms.

"You were the one who hit me and you're asking me why?" he retorted, massaging his forehead with his index finger.

He looked worried, she noticed immediately; not worried, afraid. What was...

She finally noticed her surroundings and her eyes widened in fear and shock. Tobi and another boy, who she didn't know the name of, were being forcefully dragged out by a masked man, obviously, one of their captors. Tobi was screaming and crying, a familiar word escaping her lips.

"Get away from me!"

The masked man landed a slap across Tobi's face which threw her to the floor before picking her up; with little resistance this time. Then giving the other boy a ferocious glare, he pulled them out of the room.

The door slammed shut, slamming them into silence. The girls and a few boys had tears on their faces; the rest, fear. She, in shock. Aisha and Naeto appeared unbothered. Philip, the only exception, he had an evil smirk on his face. Obviously, one of his rivals was gone.

They had been getting too comfortable and now reality threw their situation right in their faces.

Few minutes later, Tobi's screaming voice became familiar; it sounded like the voice of the girl crying the night before. Then as if like a prophesy come true, Aisha's words, also from the night before, came back to her.

"I don't know why they bother... nothing changes... they still die."