Love in Bondage

EXCERPT FROM STORY.

Now throw them all back on the ground and do your job." Lanre ordered. He did as they said. The oranges went rolling and bouncing all round the alley and then he bent and began to pick them up again. 23, he counted them.

"Again!"

He did. It remained just one more time, one more time and he would be free.

"Again!"

He threw them back and picked again, the last time.

"Run! Run and don't look back!"

He ran out but he was smarter. He knew the direction the orange seller had run and he went the opposite way.

Just as he began crossing the road, the last orange landed on his head. It had been 24. He had made the mistake, the costly mistake the orange seller had also made. He looked back too, another mistake and he caught the evil smirk Lanre threw him just as the car, the red sports car, hit him and ran over him. He died but the rest of the events played out anyway.

The oranges went flying, the tray with it. His blood splattered all over and then people gathered. The police siren came minutes later and his body was packaged and taken to the morgue, declared dead by them without the doctor's confirmation.

The unfortunate death of the orange seller, the newspaper read the next day.

Poor him, people commented.

Lanre and Obi drank wine, cross as they read the news of his death.

He hadn't been smarter after all.

CHAPTER ONE

Pleasure is found in different ways; usual and unusual. The need to please ourselves even to the detriment of others. That selfish part of us humans that desires our good before others cannot be ignored. But being acknowledged doesn't take the problem away.

Some people speak of a way; GOD; but then not everyone acknowledges the existence of GOD.

Neither do those who take evil pleasure in stripping their fellow human beings of their freedom; all types of freedom acknowledged by man. Those termed as 'Kidnappers'. But in this case,people much worse, more dangerous, more brutal.

And so,these children; all teenagers, with the exception of one, nicknamed the bully; fell into the hands of those who seek this evil pleasure.

Not just to be stripped of their freedom but to become live players unknowingly. Their lives,an entertainment to their benefactors.

And so,the horror of their lives began.

-THE BONDAGE TRILOGY

"Cameras are ready, sir Auctor."

Sir Auctor looked up from the computer system he was operating, his eyes sharp and bright.

"Yes,Mr Sam?" he questioned in his barely audible voice.

"The cameras are ready, sir." Mr Sam repeated.

Sir Auctor's face broke into a wide grin, an unusual occurrence that stunned Mr Sam.

"Wonderful!" he exclaimed, clasping his hands together.

"Just wonderful!" he repeated, staring at the computer's screen as a live footage began playing.

"And sir...Sir Auctor..." Mr Sam called but Sir Auctor as expected was already engrossed in his activity, the rest of the outside world tuned out.

"If you need anything, sir..." Mr Sam offered helplessly, shaking his head as he turned away.

"Oh well" Mr Sam muttered as he walked away, "Another story begins"

**********************

"Wake up." a voice whispered.

"Wake up...wake up...wake up." It kept resounding in her head. She opened her eyes and saw a figure staring down at her, she blinked to clear her vision and it was her mother, smiling.

"Mum?" She called surprised. She looked around, she was lying on her bed in her room. She looked back to her mother.

"You have to wake up." her mother whispered, leaned down and pecked her forehead. She closed her eyes, feeling, then opened them again.

She was lying on the floor in the middle of a lonely road and her sister was staring down at her with a frown on her face.

"Ify, you have to wake up.You've been sleeping for too long." her sister scolded, arms folded.

"What?"she asked, all confused, sitting up.

She was now sitting in front of a table facing her private tutor. He was laughing, looking at something on his phone. He suddenly looked at her, face blank.

"Wake up."

**********************

Her eyes shot open. Someone was shaking her vigorously, there was shouting and sounds of scuffling all around her.

"Finally! You're awake!"

She looked at the person who spoke; it was Aisha, her friend and fellow captive. She sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"What's going on?" she asked looking around.

"What's going on is that the food was finished while I was busy trying to wake you!" Aisha exclaimed in her thick northern accent.

"Food?" she asked confused. She then took in her surroundings and remembered where she was. Locked in a dirty stinking room along with 19 other captives in an unknown building.

They had all been kidnapped and were now being held hostage to eventually either be killed for rituals or sold to the highest bidder.

There were both boys and girls in the room, 8 boys and 12 girls. Day by day, the number increased and decreased respectively as more people were brought in and more were taken out. They were all teenagers between the ages of 14 to 19. The only exception, a boy that was brought in 16 days before, he was 20 and also a big bully.

She had been there for twelve days and she still didn't know her fate. Aisha, who was 18, was one of the oldest captives; she had been there for 60 days. Naeto, also her friend, 17; had been present for 28 days. She was 16.

"Yes food! Food that we eat to survive! You know what that is?" Aisha sarcastically asked, hands on hips. Ify rolled her eyes, hitting her lightly on the arm as she sat up.

"Of course. I know what it is. Where's Naeto?" she asked.

"Scavenging for food for us and... there he is." Aisha announced and she followed Aisha's gaze to see him with a plate surely filled with Akara, bean cake(an African meal) the, and a cup surely filled with water, held tightly to himself; dodging attackers and hurrying towards them. Aisha quickly got up to assist him, bringing the plate half filled with Akara and dropping it on the floor beside her.

She looked up at him to see him breathing heavily,his chest heaving up and down, then looked at the fresh cuts and bruises on his arms. He sat down beside her, resting his back on the wall.

"I'm sorry." she said to him. He glanced at her, closing his eyes after.

"Why?" he asked.

"For not being there to help. I wasn't awake." she apologized, looking from him to Aisha, who just sat in front of her.

Naeto opened his eyes, facing her fully"Its okay. As long as I'm with you, I'll always be there for you" he reassured, giving her a tired smile.

She looked away.

He was always so brutally honest with her; always looking her in the eye.

"You and your cheesy words." Aisha sighed, rolling her eyes at him.

Then Aisha said to her, "We're here for you but you have to sharpen up. We don't know how much time we still have here." Aisha advices and their moods dampened. The reminder that any of them could be taken away or killed at anytime was always a huge blow.

They ate the little food silently, each taking turns to drink water from the cup after they were done.

"Best meal ever." Aisha sighed, moving to rest her back against the wall, closing her eyes.

"You don't have to be sarcastic always, you know." she said to Aisha.

"Its part of my recipe for happiness here." Aisha responded. She shook her head, tearing a little piece of her blouse then sprinkled little drops of water from the empty cup on it. She turned to Naeto; taking his right arm, she began to clean the fresh cuts on it. There were older ones, all from fighting to get food.

They were given food only once a day and it was always the same meal. One of their captors would come at about 10am every morning and drop a medium bowl containing the Akara and a small keg of water. They were always hungry and the food was never enough for everyone. Every attempt at a civilized style of sharing the food equally always went down the drain. So it was always a struggle, a blind rage-filled struggle, between them, the captives, trying to get food on their plates and water in their cups. They were each given a plate and a cup when they were newly brought in. Plates and cups that were never washed except by the little water they could remain from their individual shares after drinking.

"You'll make a good doctor." he said to her,watching her.

"Why do you say that?" she asked, not looking away from what she was doing.

"You know how to stay calm even in very difficult situations." he answered.

He winced as she applied pressure to one of the cuts.

He continued, "I remember when you were dragged in here. You weren't even struggling with them, you didn't make a sound even when they pushed you to the floor. After you just stayed alone, looking around, looking so calm and detached like the situation wasn't bothering you, like you were just watching a movie. I couldn't take my eyes away from you, I guess that was what first attracted me to you."

He was still watching her, still following her every movement, still so calm like he didn't just say he was attracted to her.

She had hardly met people like him, people who gave you the truth so straight, to was staggering. She raised her head and met his eyes. His eyes were brown, normal but he had his way of looking at people that made them feel bare, exposed. She was the first to look away.

"And you act so professional when cleaning my wounds, like right now." he added.

"That's not all it takes to be a doctor, you know. There's still the paperwork." Aisha jumped in. She turned, startled. She had forgotten Aisha was sitted there.

"Did I interrupt anything?" Aisha asked innocently.

"Did you?" Naeto asked back, chuckling.

She turned back to cleaning his wounds.

"It doesn't matter anyway. I was focused more on the engineering field." she told them, tying a piece of clothe around a deep cut.

"Oh... so can you be our Michael Scofield and break us out of here?" Naeto joked and they burst out laughing.

It was a nice sound, a nice feeling that was becoming rare as the days went by. The others stared at them, the hunger and sadness evident in the their faces, probably wondering how they could laugh or be happy about anything in that doomed place.

"Done." she announced and patted his arm after they had stopped laughing.

"Thanks." he smiled gratefully.

"We'll just pray it doesn't get infected though that seems highly unlikely with the environment we are living in." Aisha spoke, looking around with disgust. The corner where they stayed could be considered clean compared to their surroundings since they had scrubbed it clean with the jacket she had been wearing when she was brought in. The only ventilation was a small barred window.

Naeto shrugged, looking around unconcerned but having learnt to read him a little since they became friends, she could tell he was slightly bothered.

"You should let us fight too. Soon we wouldn't even recognize you with cuts and bruises all over you." she offered half heartedly since she already knew his response.

As usual he didn't respond.

Aisha quickly jumped in, bringing up a topic for discussion and they talked and laughed and chuckled and smiled as they did everyday, telling their stories and getting to know themselves better. Each not allowing the other to cave into the darkness.

It distracted them from the tension and fear in the air; the fear of being the next person to be taken away and the tension of knowing you'll someday be next.

Ify looked forward looking into those dark menacing eyes that haunted her at every opportunity. She didn't know what those eyes had against her and she partly did not care. Those eyes would never get to her.

Night came and a certain calmness fell over the room.

A week passed and nobody was taken out or brought in.It left them in a state of calmness and anxiety.

"Whats that smell?" Aisha asked,wrinkling her nose while looking around. Naeto and Ify chuckled.

"Are you really asking that question?" Naeto rhetorically asked as Aisha's eyes zoomed in on the culprit.

Obviously, their 'defecationaire' as pronounced by Zubi, one of their female mate.

Locked in the room along with them, the 'defecationaire'; a bucket with a lid, given to them by their captors to answer nature's call; was a constant source of irritation and odour. It was kept at a corner of the room as far away as it could be from everyone.

It was a circular room, not small but not big enough either.

"Who's the next person to take the 'defecationaire' out?" Aisha asked, a bit too loudly for the rest of their mates benefit.

"Who else?" Philip threw back.

Aisha narrowed her eyes at him as everyone stared at Philip. His answer was clear.

"What do you mean by that?" Aisha asked, daringly.

Aisha was one of the few that stood up to Philip.The rest were: Naeto, Jide, Ebuka, Tobi and Blessing. Although, Fireboy; his real name he refused to give; also one of them; liked to brag, it was obvious to an observant eye that he was also scared of Philip.

Out of the six, it was Blessing Philip was most scared of. The event that had made that happen was a laughable one.

As usual, Philip had tried to scare Blessing into submission when she was newly brought in, as he did to all 'new-comers'. Blessing who had quickly gotten irritated had warned him off severally but Philip, the strong headed person he was had refused to listen until Blessing had given him a slap, so loud, it had resounded off the walls. Philip had steered clear off her afterwards.

"What do you think I mean?" Philip drawled.

Once in a week, the 'defecationaire' was taken out and disposed. By whom? One of them, captives! Great news! Except the blessed person was blindfolded all through!... and held at Gunpoint!

But it was much better. At least they got to feel fresh breeze and take a walk to release tension in their legs.

There was a disadvantage. Two times, two girls who had been the 'chosen' ones at their respective times, had gotten raped. The next day,the girls were taken out and never seen again.

"I don't know. You tell me." Aisha sat up, folding her arms, a challenging look on her face.

Philip didn't respond and as Ify expected, it made Aisha angry.

Aisha scoffed then spoke, "Let the time come. We'll see who would win between lion and the snake."

Philip burst out laughing. A loud humorless dry laughter.

"So you're the lion or what ... the snake?" he asked amidst laughter.

Aisha rolled her eyes, "isn't it obvious?" she retorted.

"You guys should stop making noise. Someone is trying to have peace of mind here." Fireboy cut in.

Philip instantly snapped his head to him, his look of mockery turning to that of disgust.

"Mr fire fire, who hit you for head?" he insulted.

Fireboy stared at Philip defiantly," Did I call your name?"

"You wouldn't even dare." Philip challenged proudly.

"Phi-li-po watsup?" Fireboy drawled out.

"It's okay!" Tobi quickly intercepted as Philip mood hardened, "Before another fight would start. Its okay!"

The room fell silent again with the usuals happening. Philip, glaring daggers at Jide, whom he seemed to hate with an unexplainable passion; Jide pretending not to notice. Minor chitchats going on, Aisha making subtle insultive passes at Philip and Naeto finding solace in her, Ify, at the same time, drawing her out.

A light pinch on her cheek drew her out of her reverie. She turned her head, a small smile on her face, to look at the expected person beside her.

"Stop staring."

She looked back at Philip whom she had been staring at. She found his character amusing.She turned back to him, a sheepish smile on her face.

"It was unconscious, I promise." she said,innocently. He smiled at her, saying nothing else. He had withdrawn back into his shell.

"They should have put a t.v here. What do they expect us to do in this boredom?" Aisha asked, a slight frown on her face.

"Are you kidding? A t.v?" Lizzy snorted, a few feets away from them.

Aisha sighed, "I'm bored." she admitted.

Nobody replied her again. It was mostly always that way. As soon as a conversation started, it ended almost immediately except fights.

She, Aisha and Naeto were mostly always the exception. They talked and talked and talked; about everything; their lives, family, friends, school, feelings, everything and anything.

The day ended in silence, everyone retiring to the floor for the night; the usual calmness the night brought descending on them. Their captors only took out people during the day. So therefore, the day was spent in anxiety, fear, tension and it seemed like they could only breathe when night fell.

The night wasn't exactly quiet. Muffled sobbing could be heard in the room but Ify had no idea who it was. She was sure it was that of a girl.

"I don't know why they bother."

Startled, Ify turned to Aisha. She had not known that Aisha was still awake.

She could barely make our Aisha's silhouette even if they were lying side by side, Naeto on her other side. They never said it but it was obvious in their actions since the day she became friends them that they were protecting her. Sometimes it sickened her, most times it made her feel loved.

"What?" Ify asked, whispering.

"I don't know why they bother with the tears" Aisha yawned; her voice, a sleepy drone; the muffled sobbing in the background.

She continued, "It just wastes the little strength they have and at the end, nothing changes... They still die."