TARASHA Episode 10 pt 7 – Oyin Oluwatosin Emmanuel
She clenched her fists and opened her eyes, it was bloodshot. A phone call distracted her.
‘Good morning Miss Evelyn’ came Jubril Lawal’s cheerful voice.
‘Good morning sir’ Tarasha managed to sound calm.
‘How are you?’ Jubril asked.
‘I’m fine sir, how about you?’
‘I’m doing great Miss. I spoke with your father this morning and we had a pleasant conversation. I’ll like for us to meet and conclude the deal terms’
‘Oh! Okay. When can I come to meet with you?’
‘Let’s make it tomorrow morning, 9am prompt’
‘That’s okay sir’
‘Good, we’ll see tomorrow. Take care’
‘You too.’ With that the line went off.
Tarasha got up and wiped off the sweat forming on her forehead. She began to take off her ruffled gown slowly. Henry’s calm voice sounded in her head again.
** Flashback**
~~ December 20, 2020 ~~
‘Tarasha, Tarasha’ A voice sounded in whispers through the window. Tarasha’s eyes popped open, it was Marvin calling her.
She rolled down from the hardwood quietly and buckled her bra well. She sniffed and began to tiptoe carefully in a bid not to wake the other occupants of the room.
She shivered as the door creaked while she tried to open it. She turned to see if anyone was woken by the noise but no was awake, only a few itchings and turns, she proceeded outside slowly, careful not to make any other sound. Marvin had turned from the window side to the door.
‘Come’ she grabbed Marvin’s hand and they ran behind the lodge to a hidden place.
‘Tara’ Marvin who was bare chested and was covered with a torn towel-like material called her name softly.
‘Yes?’ Tarasha urged him, already getting impatient, staring around from time to time to see if anyone was coming.
‘Tarasha’ he called again.
Tarasha stopped to stare into his eyes. He never called her full name except that was something really very serious. ‘What happened?’
‘I’ve come to say goodbye to you’ Marvin began. ‘I may not have the opportunity to say it anymore’
‘What? Goodbye? Where are you going to?’ Tarasha bombarded him with questions.
‘I’m not going anywhere. I may die tomorrow’ He said in a sad tone. ‘I overheard our Tent Lord saying that there would be a zonal bloodbath tomorrow and they plan to eliminate fifteen weak ones’
Tara stretched out her hand and touched his face. ‘Fifteen weak ones? But that has nothing to do with you, with us’
‘Tarasha’ he removed her hand from his face. ‘Let us be real, don’t let us pretend as if I’m strong’
‘You’re strong Marvin, you can scale through’
‘No, I’m not strong’ Marvin argued. ‘We all know that I only managed to escape death the last time. Now it’s here’ Marvin said as he turned his back on Tarasha.
‘No, you won the battle, you didn’t manage’ Tarasha turned back his body to face her. ‘And you are stronger now’
Marvin stared into the darkness for a moment, tears formed in his eyes. ‘Tara, I’m not scared to die. I’m scared of leaving you. Ain’t we even dead already. I think it’s better we die before these people finally turn us to animals who ki*ll without thinking’
‘Don’t we ki*ll without thinking already?’ Tarasha asked him.
‘I ki*ll on orders and I feel remorse for every time I had to do it’ a tear dropped off his eyes as he spoke. ‘But the Nefary clan is not comfortable with that, they are taking us to the level of killing without feeling any remorse. Imagine, they made you ki*ll your friend, the cook.’
Tarasha sighed and turned away. ‘I had no choice, I had to do that. He was already changed into a beast too’
‘I know but they’re going to make us do more. I heard that they do send some inmates to murder their families’
‘Do we have families?’ Tarasha turned suddenly to ask him.
Marvin was about to answer her when they heard a noise coming towards their direction.
‘We have to go now’ Marvin’s eyes shone in panic as he peeped to see who was coming. He quickly grabbed Tarasha’s hand and they hurriedly tiptoed away.
* Next day
Tarasha could hear the loud chants of male as thirty of them girls were led into the “Hardness hall”. The boys were already been lectured in the hall.
The hall was a very large one, it was made of thick brick high walls. It had no widows in it but was unroofed. The floor was made of natural rock, hard, cold during evening and early mornings but hot in the afternoon.
‘Love is a sin committed by weak people and it makes them weaker. Any object of love that is found beside you has to be eliminated’ the voice in the thick Russian accent continued to shout. ‘The day you start to love someone is the day you start to die’
Tarasha could spot Marvin where he stood, blindfolded. He was number two on the line in his group. That meant that he was the second person to battle. Tarasha looked around trying to locate Marvin’s likely contender but before she could, the tent lord had already returned to blindfold her and the other girls. The girls were later arranged on two line but none of them knew their position on the line.
The battle was to take place in a cage and the enemy was not known until they got into the cage.
The first battle began and the first two fighters were sent in. Shouts and groans were what notified the other young assassins that the battle had begun.
After about ten minutes, the first battle ended and a winner with a bruised face emerged. Then the first set of girl fighters were sent into the cage. After another ten minutes, another winner emerged.
Then it was Marvin’s turn. Tarasha knew it, she had seen him stand in the second position on the line. But she didn’t know his contender until she felt a hand on her shoulder. She was then dragged and pushed into another section. Her blindfold was taken off and she found herself in the cage with Marvin. Several fighting weapons laid on the floor for their use. The bell rang for the battle to begin.
