BLOODLINE Episode 11 by Ironkurtain

BLOODLINE Episode 11 by Ironkurtain

Nina dropped the suit case on the dining table beside the numerous bottles of assorted liquors on the table. She bent her neck both sides and it’s joints let out a cracking sound as she took out the silencer from the Glock 19 hand gun she held in the hand and tucked it in the holster strapped on her shoulder. She paused to take a deep breath and exhaled gently before punching the suit case key combinations to unlock it.

As she inspect the contents of the case, a sound came from the living-room that was separated from the dining with a wooden room divider. Nina heard the sound and paused for a few seconds before she continue with what she was doing. She heard the sound again. It was a muffled deep throaty cry that keep getting louder.

“Be quiet!…..no one can hear you”, Nina said out loud as she took out two latex gloves and the knife with serrated blades.

She slipped her hands into the gloves smoothly and hummed in cheery tune to herself as the sound from the living-room continued. Feeling the texture of the gloves, Nina looked at the bottles infront of her and took one.

“Hm…….cheap bastards drinking cheap booze even though they got a huge payout”, she murmured after reading the label on the bottle.

Then she opened the bottle and took a swill. She picked up the knife and head towards the living-room, stepping over a dead body lying near a pool of blood. There are three more dead bodies strewn on the floor of the living-room with bullet holes and brain matter stains on the wall and furnitures. At the center of the living-room, where the center table used to be is a n@ked man taped to a chair with his mouth also covered with tape. He was sweating hard and bleeding profusely from the bullet hole in his leg and knee cap. Nina stood infront of him still humming the tune with the bottle in one hand and the knife in the other.

Ten minutes ago those men were celebrating their big payout. The ransome they got for the teenage daughter of a wealthy family they kidnapped. The party was about to start when they heard a knock on the door. Thinking that it was probably the girls they hired through an escort agency, they opened the door and saw a seemingly harmless woman in suit. Then all hell broke loose. She killed four men in a matter of seconds and spared one, their leader, because the girl’s family had paid good money to make his own death slow and painful. The girl’s father is also a ruthless man and wanted to send out a message to any other gang wanting to extort him.

“What is the matter big boy….”, Nina asked and took another drink from the bottle. “Can’t mommy have a little time for herself before coming to put you to sleep?”.

The man saw the knife in her hand and his breath quickened. Nina dropped the bottle on the floor and ran her fingers from his shoulder down to his hairy chest. She caressed his bare chest and played with his left n!pple as she smiled playfully at him. The movement of her fingers made the man to quiver as he stared at her with fear written all over his face. Then Nina grabbed his n!pple with her thumb and index finger and cut it off.

The man gave out a long throaty cry as she dropped the piece of him inbetween his laps and put her arm around his shoulder as he struggled on the chair.

“Shhh………be quiet”, Nina whispered softly to him.

Then she put the blade on his right chest, close to his armpit and slashed him slowly across to his left armpit. The man writhe violently in pain and Nina held him down to limit his movement as she did so. After a long groan with blood flowing down to his belly and waist, the man dropped his head and sobbed uncontrollably as Nina watched him.

“You have being a bad boy……..a very bad boy”, Nina said to him softly as she she rubbed his head. “What did you expect to happen when you kidnapped that girl and shot her chauffeur?……candies and cookies?. The moment you even conceived the idea in your mind was when you made a terrible mistake”.

Nina stepped back and stared at him as he continue sobbing. Her eyes ran from his face down to inbetween his thighs. She smiled as she keep staring there. Then Nina knelt before him and begin to slide her hand from his thigh towards his manhood. The man immediately got the idea of what was about to happen to him and begin to shake his head with a “mmmph……mmmph” sound coming out of his taped mouth.

A knock on the door interrupted Nina in her game. She held the knife close to her chest and pulled out the handgun from it’s holster under her arm. She tipped toed towards the door and peered at the peephole. Then she signed and opened the door.

“What is it?……” she demanded irritatedly. “……can’t you see am busy?”.

A very big man in a black suit and wearing dark shades at the door showed her a cellphone.

“Whatever it is, can’t it wait?”, she asked as she tucked the handgun back in the holster.

“It’s about the boy”, the man said.

Nina sighed. She took off the bloodstained latex gloves and took the phone.

“Hello….”, she began and listened. “……He what?……”, she exclaimed and listened again. “……how long?, she asked and listened again. “……a week?,…okay, i will call him later”, she concluded and handed the phone back to the big man after the line clicked.

Nina sighed and stared ahead thoughtfully.

“The boy is quite stubborn……”, the big man began. “Do you want me to go rough him up abit and put some sense in him?”, he asked

“Don’t you ever think about that”, Nina retorted at him. “I promised that woman that nothing is going to happen to him……besides, if i want him to be roughed up, i will do it myself”.

“He got the knack of getting into trouble…….and seems to have the downright lack of concern for his own mortality”, the man said to Nina.

“What do you expect?, he has the blood flowing in his vein”, Nina said. “That’s how he is……that’s how they are”.

“But why is the other one different?”,

“Hah……..you think so?, he is yet to know what he is capable of doing because of the environment he was raised in. Wait till he becomes self aware.

“Anyway you know that Sosai’s eyes are on every member of the family and the workers”, the man said as he slipped the phone into the inner pocket of his jacket. “If he finds out what we are doing and about them, my ass is gone…..so if this boy is going to attract unnecessary attention to us then you better send him back and think of another way of completing this mission of yours”, he continued.

“Oh don’t worry…..”, Nina pat the man on his back that made him look like a Mack truck. “I will cover for you”

Then Nina handed the man the knife and buttoned up her suit jacket.

“Get the suitcase and the money, and meet me at the car…….leave no prints”, she said to the man and start walking down the corridor, towards the elevator while the man stepped into the apartment to finish the job.

“Hi……how are you doing?”, Nina speak to her cellphone as she exit the building and stood near a parked Porche Cayenne SUV.

“Hello aunt Helen…..”, a male voice responded

“So how is your lesson today?, she asked.

“It was good…….i learned alot today”, came the reply. “I came back home about an hour ago…….the house help told me you left…..so i have being waiting”.

“Waiting?……u know i have to work?”.

“Yeah but you told me that we will be going somewhere today”.

“Of course…..but something came up…….my boss wanted to see me so i had to answer the call”.

“Okay aunt Helen……..so what time are you coming home?”.

Nina saw the big man coming out of the apartment building holding the suitcase and a black duffle bag.

“I will be home soon……am on my way now”, she replied.

“Okay…..bye”. The line clicks.

Nina looked at her cellphone and smiled. She slipped it into her pocket and looked at the man.

“How is our friend?”, she asked.

“Cried like a sissy girl before joining his other friends”, he replied.

Both of them entered the SUV and drove off.

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

“So i told him that he better stay away from me or else i will call you and have his face condemned like that of his brother, Greg…….”, Suzanne said with a laughter.

All afternoon Suzanne have been ecstatic about what Eric had done to Greg and his friends. Eric sat and listened helplessly as she keep ranting and ranting. Even her favourite animation movie that was being shown on the t.v couldn’t get her attention. But apart from the cook and the family chauffeur who had suddenly developed an interest in him, Suzanne is only person that made him feel human because the rest barely looked in his direction. And now that they have heard what went done in the school gymnasium, they all seem too scared to talk to him because they think he is truly crazy.

Eric had used different excuses to see if Suzanne will let him be but somehow she always find a way to get close to him. And start her rant. So fearing to say something that will make her join allegiance to the “enemies”, he just allowed the torture to continue, hoping that she will get tired or something else gets her interest…….or him getting talked to death.

It’s almost four hours since he got home from school with the philips. Lisa haven’t called or sent any text and Eric is contemplating whether to text her or not. He had being trying to convince himself not to do anything. Even trying to make himself feel angry at how she ignored him after the principal dismissed her from his office, so as to focus his mind on something else. But still, the thoughts about her keep intruding into his mind. Eric wondered if it was the feeling of likeness or the feeling of guilt. Or even both.

“……..even when i was about to leave the classroom, Thomas came to me and apologized for all those things he said to me……..he offered to carry my bag. But i told him to buzz off”, Suzanne said cheerfully.

“Maybe he likes you”, Eric sighed as he picked up the t.v remote to change the channel.

“Thomas?…..like me?”, Suzanne was disgusted. “….he must be dreaming”.

“Why dont you be friends with him. You might enjoy his company as a classmate because he will now respect you alot”,

Suzanne thought for a few moments and asked, “Do you think so?”,

As Eric was about to say something, his phone vibrated twice. He immediately reached for it, thinking it was what he had been expecting. Lisa’s text message. But he frowned with disappointment when he saw it was Nina’s text message.

“What is it?”, Suzanne asked and peeked at his cellphone.

“Just a friend……”, Eric began and got up. “I will be back”, he said to her and head towards the stairs.

Eric closed the door to his bedroom and dialled Nina’s number.

“So what is the new instruction”, he began when Nina picked up.

“You have been very busy……right?”, Nina said.

“What do you mean by that?”, Eric asked.

“Don’t play dumb with me…….i heard what happened in your school today”, Nina retorted. “Now tell me, is it because of that your new girlfriend?………it must have felt so good when she was losing her virginity to you that you decided to show some ‘badassery’ and left four boys beaten up and lying in the hospital bed as a present for her birthday”.

Eric was quite stunned. He remained silent and wondered how Nina got to know all that, especially what he and Lisa did. There is only one explanation he could think of. His phone is being bugged or the number was cloned. She is definitely reading all the messages and listening to their phone calls through another source or device. But how did she know about Greg’s beatdown and the suspension?, he wondered again. He didn’t send any messages or made any phone call to anyone telling them what happened. Someone must be watching him, either in school or possibly in the house and giving Nina all the info.

“So now that you have enjoyed your little sex escapade with that girl and gained some fame for yourself in school, have you asked yourself what’s going to be the implication of your actions to Alex himself if things happen to go wrong?”, Nina asked. “What if that girl happens to get pregnant, who do you think will take the blame?, will Alex be able to defend himself if Greg or whatever his name decides go for second round?.

“Well……”, Eric began and sat on the bed. “If you are worried about that girl, whose name is Lisa, getting pregnant then don’t worry about that because i……..well forget about that…….just don’t give yourself sleepless nights about her getting pregnant. I may do crazy things sometimes but am not stupid. The thing about Greg was an unavoidable situation. Whoever gave you all the low-down about what happened in school today didn’t tell you that Greg and his boys set me up for some serious walloping. The guy was even wielding a metal pipe for God sake…..so how did i go wrong in defending myself from a possible brain damage?, not to talk of the girl i saved from being gang-raped. Or do you want me to make a phone call to you while am being pummeled to death to get your instructions?”.

“That’s the point. You started getting yourself involved in something that’s why these things are happening”, Nina put in. “That girl…….that Lisa or whatever her name is, you have to cut her off. I don’t want you talking to her again. Infact i want her to be your sworn enemy from now on”,

“Why should i do that?”, Eric asked.

“You follow my instructions boy!, you don’t ask any f@cking question!”, Nina’s voice barked out angrily from the phone.

Eric was now getting angry. To him it’s like Nina only seem to care about giving out her instructions and it being obeyed. She doesn’t seem care about what happens to him.

“You gave my mother the assurance that nothing will happen to me”, he asked Nina.

“That’s why i give you these instructions to follow……it will keep you safe and at the same prevent Alex’s situation from getting complicated”, Nina answered.

“Did it ever occur to you that your instructions might further complicate things for Alex and put me more in danger?”, Eric asked. “You are so blinded by your own instructions to see that i made Alex to be respected both at home and school. I just solved his bully problem. You have to be here to know what the hell is going on before giving those damn instructions of yours”, Eric continued.

“Am done talking to you……”, Nina then said. “You heard what i said about that girl……..cut her off”,

“Well……..that’s not gonna happen”, said Eric.

“What?”.

“You heard me…….am getting tired of taking your useless instructions……so you better think of a useful one”.

“This is the instruction!……and you better don’t cross me boy!”.

“Why don’t you take that instruction, turn it sideways and shove it up your Mrs Nina butt-hole……am not doing it and am done talking to you!!”, Eric barked the last word at the cell phone mouthpiece and ended the phone call.

Then the phone started ringing immediately. Eric pressed the answer button without looking at the number.

“What?!!”, he yelled.

“Alex?……..”, it was Lisa’s voice.

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

8:40 pm, after dinner. Eric stepped into mansion’s spacious balcony from the living-room and slide the glass door shut. He inhaled the air of the cool night breeze and looked at the silhouette of the man before him. He was standing with his back at Eric with his hands resting on the hand-rail of the place that was dim lighted. Eric let the air leave his lungs gently and paced towards the man.

“Dad…….”, he began and felt awkward because he had never used that word to address any man before. “You sent for me?”, he asked.

“Barry rubbed his fingers on the rail as he gazed at the dark night sky that had a few visible stars.

“You know…….”, he began, still staring at the sky. “When i was a little boy, the sky used to have alot stars at night…….there were so many of it that i once told my mother that if one of them happen to fall down, that i will pick it up and give it to her”, then Barry shook his head. “These days i look up and see just a few. I wonder what happened to all those stars”.

“Industrial pollution happened”, Eric murmured. “The stars are still there but industrial pollution is happening”.

Then barry shift his eyes to the front yard below and watched one of the house maids striding rather tiredly towards the servant quarters.

“Have you ever wished that some things were different?”, Barry asked and looked at Eric. “Wish that some things werent the way it is?”.

“Sometimes…..”, Eric replied, wondering what this was all about. He thought he was here to be questioned about what happened in school and his suspension. “……do you?”, he asked Barry.

Barry smiled and said, “Of course…….there are alot of things i wished that were different…..that i could change”.

Eric said nothing.

“Before you were born…….i mean, before we adopted you, your mother and i couldn’t have children for almost five years after getting married”, Barry continued.

“Yeah i read about that in Alex’s diary”, Eric thought to himself.

“We had alot of problems because of it…….lots of arguments, lot of fighting……….sometimes we spent days not talking to each other……..”

Eric looked at Barry and listened keenly.

“…….so we decided to separate……..you know……to give each other space and time to think about the relationship and see if we should continue or divorce”, Barry signed.

“During those years of not having kids did you and mom go to the hospital to check the reasons for being unable to have one?”, Eric asked.

“Of course we did……..and the doctor said we were one hundred percent okay”, The oldman answered.

“So why all those problems when you and mom already know that there was nothing wrong and all you need was little patience?”, Eric asked.

“Son…..am sure you know by now that the Philips family is a lineage of people with little patience”, Barry signed again. “Impatience made my own father to build a big family business in a short period of time…….it also made him die when i was just Daniel’s age. My mother was even the worst. She was impatient and also had little tolerance for people who don’t meet up with her expectations. So imagine how it was for your mother; especially when my own mother keep telling me infront of her that i need to get another woman”.

“So how long were you and mom separated?”,

Barry thought for a while and said, “We were separated for about three months”.

“Wow…..so what did you do throughout those months?”,

“Alot of things son……alot of things that am not proud of because i was out of control…….until i met this woman”.

“Oh boy…..here we go”, Eric thought to himself. Then he asked, “So what happened between you and this woman?”.

“She taught me alot…..pulled me out of the reckless life that was beginning to affect the family business”, Barry said. “Then came this……..problem”, he added

“What kind of problem?”, Eric asked.

“I had put myself in a position of trying to choose between this woman and your mother…….”, Barry shook his head. “………And your mother had told me that her mind was made up and wanted a divorce…….So i told her my intentions but to my greatest surprise she refused…….and even convinced your mother to come back to me…….seriously i don’t know how she did it. Then she disappeared. Till today i haven’t seen her, he concluded.

“I see…….so is that one of the things you wished you could change?……..perhaps she agreeing to marry you and you leaving mom?”, Eric asked.

“More like her being the one i got married to……it may sound like am being unfair to your mom but that’s how i feel sometime”, Barry said thoughtfully.

“Well……i understand”, Eric mumured as he stared at Barry

Even though Eric could barely see Barry’s face, the way he stared in space thoughtfully for some time showed that the woman, whoever she was, must have left a lasting impression in him.

“So…….”, Barry then look at Eric. “I heard your little heroics in school. I heard you beat some sense into that your nemesis called Greg and his friends”, he said. “Is it true?”, he asked.

“Yes……..it is true”, Eric answered, expecting some serious admonishing.

“Hm…..i know you had it in you…….you always had it in you”, Barry said to Eric with a smile.

Eric stared at Barry surprisingly. It wasn’t what he expected to hear from him.

“How?”, he asked.

“You mean how it is in you?”.

“No i mean how you knew it was in me?”

“Instincts i guess…….and they say the eyes is the window to the soul. The look in your eyes said it all”.

Eric wanted to ask Barry what he said before. About the look in his eyes that reminded him of something………or somebody. But he decided against it because he is beginning to have the feeling that the family has alot of secrets and what Barry just told him is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

“So now that you have made a name for yourself in school, what next do you intend to do?”, Barry asked Eric with a smile.

“But…….aren’t you unhappy with me getting suspended”, Eric asked.

“Of course am unhappy with that…….but sometimes in this life you have to ruthless”, Barry replied.

Then Eric looked at the cars at the mansion’s car park. There are five automobiles there. Eric gazed at them for some time and smiled.

“Those cars”, he then said

“What about them?”, Barry asked.

“I want to drive one of them”.

“But you don’t even know how to drive son”

“Well just last week you said i was very weak and timid”, Eric said and looked at Barry.

“Okay…….”, Barry nodded with a smile “…….tomorrow we will see what you can do”.

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

“Hey Nancy…….”, Eric began on seeing the cook as he entered the kitchen. “I thought you had gone home by now”, he said and kept the plate he was holding in the kitchen sink.

“No……i will be spending the night here”, Nancy replied as she went through the food stuffs on the kitchen table. “Oh i heard what you did in school…….you did very well, Alex……..but don’t tell anyone i said so”, she said with a smile.

Then Eric noticed the dark spot on her left cheek, almost below her eyes. And it seems as if she had tried to cover it up with a heavy make up.

“What happened to your face?”, he asked Nancy.

“Oh nothing……it’s nothing”, Nancy sighed and Eric noticed the sad look on her face.

Eric got closer to her and gently put his hand on her cheek as he studied the spot. It seemed as if she had being hit on the face.

“What happened?”, Eric asked again.

“Nothing……am okay?”, Nancy replied, taking his hand off her face and looking away. “I just had a fall that’s all”.

“When?”.

“Yesterday, when i was getting down from a taxi”.

“But yesterday you didn’t go anywhere…….you spent the night here and didn’t go to the market today. So how is it even possible?……or is there a taxi being driven in the kitchen?”.

Nancy kept silent and continue doing what she was doing.

“Nancy please tell me what is going on”, Eric demanded.

“Even if i tell you……there is nothing you can do…..i don’t want to disturb you at all”, Nancy murmured.

“But am here willing to listen……..am not complaining”,

Then Nancy sighed and stopped what she was doing and looked at Eric.

“My husband……”, she murmured.

“Your husband?,…….i thought you were divorced”, Eric said.

“Yes……but as long as am being paid, he still thinks he is my husband”

“What do you mean by that?”.

Nancy looked down and shook her head and said, “He always come to my house whenever i receive my monthly wage to demand for money”.

“Money for what”, Eric asked.

“What else?, his drinking habit, gambling and womanizing”, she shook her head again. “I wonder how the man i used to love turned out to be such a reckless and good for nothing man”, she said.

“What happened?”.

“Alex……it is a long story”.

“Well i have all the time in the world…..besides am not going to school tomorrow if the story is going to take all night”.

“Ever since our daughter died…….”, Nancy began quietly. “……..everything just turned upside down for me. I became his outlet for his anger. Whenever he is having a bad day, i become his punching bag. He and his friends even accused me of being responsible for our daughter’s death when God knows that i tried everything i could and spent all my savings while he was in bed in the comfort of another woman’s arms. Even told me that ever since we got married, he was having nothing but bad lucks. I endured it for almost three years and decided to end the marriage because i was losing my mind. He was more than happy when i told him because he was already seeing another woman. We got divorced and i got this job. Two years later he came back to my house. Ten times worse because that woman had taken what was left in his miserable life and disappeared.

“So he came back because he had nothing and wanted you to give him money”, Eric asked.

“Yes……i thought it was going to be a one time thing”, Nancy replied. “But soon it became frequent and somehow he found out the time of the month am being paid”.

“So he showed up the day before yesterday”, Eric said.

“Yes….but yesterday i didn’t receive any money because madam was too busy to go to the bank. So i told him i had none”, then Nancy begin to sob. “He accused me that i was lying”.

“Then he hit you”, Eric murmured.

Nancy nodded

“And he was with his friends. They even gave him a helping hand”, She Sobbed.

Eric sighed and pursed his lips. Then he gave her a tissue to wipe the tears in her eyes and pat her on the back.

“Why didn’t you report to the police?”, he asked.

“What are they going to do?, they won’t detain him forever…..”, Nancy answered. “……soon or later they will release him and he will be back again. Beside am just too weak to do anything about it. The only thing keeping me strong is the interaction am having with you children when am working. That’s the only happiness i have”.

“Okay…..”, Eric was quite touched. “Well…..why don’t you stay here for the time being until things cool down….there is enough room in this house to accommodate one more person, he said to her.

Nancy nodded and wiped her tears. Then she looked at Eric.

“Thanks for listening…….i really feel alot better now”, she said with a smile.

“Hey…..no worries……whenever you feel like talking to someone, am always here…..okay?”, Eric said to her with a smile.

Nancy nodded and smiled back.

“Good…..keep that smile on that beautiful face”, Eric said and head towards the door. Then he paused and looked at Nancy. “Do you know where your ex-husband usually spends his time”, he asked.

“Why?”,

“Well….to have some discussions with him to see if he will change”.

“Nancy laughed and shook her head.

“I wish you could but he will fight you”.

“Well it’s worth trying……i could convince my dad to do something”.

“Really?, do you think your dad will do something?”

“Just give me his name and that of his friends and where they usually hangout”.

But Eric was lying. He intends to go there alone.

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

Eric closed his bedroom door and sat heavily on the bed. He noticed that the laptop on his bed was still humming.

“I thought i switched it off”, he muttered to himself and lift the lid.

He clicked a button and the screen brightened, showing the menus. As he move the cursor to click the power off button, he noticed he had some new emails. He frown. He already knew who sent it. Chunky-guy.

“I swear am gonna beat this guy to death with my barehands if i get him”, Eric cursed angrily as he read the ‘insult mails’ Chunky-guy sent to him.

Things like these hardly bothers him but the constant mail he was receiving from that guy is really getting at him now. And since it was an internet stuff, finding the guy and dealing with him accordingly is quite impossible. Eric had even given the guy an address where they will meet so as to sort it out like the tough guy he always claimed in his emails. But the guy only reponded with more insults. Eric wished he could find his house through the i.p address. But that is the job of the internet provider. So he has nothing else to do than to either bring himself low into the gutters to respond to Chunky-guy or just suck it up and ignore him.

After a while of thinking to himself, Eric decided to send a reply.

“Am gonna get you…….i promise you that i will find you and do all sorts of things to your body after i have killed you. You wait and see”.

Eric clicked the send button. After the confirmation that it had being sent, Eric turn off the laptop and drop it on the floor carelessly.

Then he paused and placed his left hand on his left chest. His heartbeat was kind of erratic. Then he immediately sat on the chair of the reading table and place his hands on the table. He watched his fingers closely. The suddenly his right pinkie finger twitched. It twitched again and started twitching uncontrollably.

“Oh God……” he began and immediately rushed to the mirror on the wall and gazed at his reflection. His eyelid was twitching too.

“Oh no…..this can’t be happening!”. Eric immediately snatched his cellphone to dial a number. Then he paused thought again. And continued. He dialled his mother’s cellphone number and press the send button. He glanced at the clock on the wall and muttered, “F@ck Nina’s instruction……this is an emergency”, to himself.

BLOODLINE Episode 11
#OpraDre

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