TARASHA Episode 10 Pt 8 – Oyin Oluwatosin Emmanuel
The lovers stared at each other for a while without making any move. The whole hall became as silent as a graveyard.
‘Come on, attack’ Vladimir, the zone lord shouted angrily.
Tarasha just couldn’t move. Just few months ago, she had been made to slaughter a dear friend of hers, Stanley Bob. Now she was being asked to fight Marvin whom she loved.
She sniffed and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. ‘Love is for the weak ones, the stupid ones without a strong heart. ki*ll him before he kills you’ she could hear a voice say to her.
‘No, don’t ki*ll him. If you do, you’ll be totally losing your good heart’ another voice argued.
‘Who needs a good heart?’ The first voice laughed. ‘It would only make one become a fool who can be manipulated by feelings’
‘There’s nothing wrong in letting good feelings take control over you’ the good voice began but was interrupted.
‘Shut up! Remember who you are, nothing should take control over you. You were made to ki*ll and nothing should stop you from killing. Nothing including love or any feeling you have’
Tarasha was awoken to reality when she heard a clang sound, Marvin had picked up a sword. It seemed he had finally made up his mind on what to do.
Tarasha picked up a sword too and positioned herself for the fight. The duo began to move in a circle, each one trying to set a trap for the other.
Marvin was the first to strike, his sword went in direction of Tarasha’s forehead but was stopped by her sword. The battle continued and the murmurings among the other trainees increased as the sound of continued clanging of swords filled the air.
After about four minutes of the sword battle. The two warriors spaced themselves. Both of them already had sweat dripping from their body. Marvin threw his sword away and clenched his fists. Tarasha understood the message and dropped her sword too. It was time for a battle without weapons. They moved close to each other.
Marvin sent a blow to her but she ducked down and he missed her face. She stepped aside without returning his attack. They stared into each other’s eyes as they vibrated their bodies from side to side, moving in a circle. Marvin launched the same attack again and Tarasha ducked again but this time sent a heavy blow into his belly. He winced as he grabbed his belly and staggered forward.
He recovered quickly and stood straight again. He stared again into Tarasha’s eyes, she seemed to be less interested in the battle. He remembered saying to her that he wasn’t afraid of death, but he really was. Now, he was desperate to live even if it meant taking her life.
Marvin was an handsome boy, two year older than Tarasha. He stayed with his parents in Ghana until the day he was kidnapped alongside with four other boys and brought to the clan. The reason for his kidnap was not known to him until he spent two months in the clan.
Marvin was a soft person in nature but the four other boys which he walked and played with were bullies. Due to their big stature and strength, they maltreated everyone they could. Marvin was close to them because of one the leader of the boys happened to be his next-door neighbor. The kidnappers had observed the boys’ cruelty for sometime and concluded that they had the tendency to become great assassins. Marvin was only unlucky to be with the bullies on the fateful day.
Back to the battle. Marvin carefully observed where Tarasha was standing, the weapons were out of her reach. He seized the opportunity and he picked up his sword again. He smiled at her wickedly as she looked at him in surprise. Maybe she thought her love was still in his head, he thought. But this was a matter of death or life, he still wanted to live for some more years and probably get out of the Nefary City alive. He shouted on top of his voice as he raced towards her, targeting her belly.
Tarasha was scared and undecided for a second but the adrenalin rush in her body made her react. She turned back immediately and made a short run to the wall where she took three steps on and projected herself over the attackers head, she landed at his back and he almost fell as a result.
A blow hit Marvin’s face before he turned to her with the sword. Another hit his jaw when he tried to raise up the sword, it fell from his hand. Tarasha continued to deal him more blows on his face until he was bleeding profusely. He was too weak to defend himself. She held his neck and tightened her grip on it until he was he was out of breath. She was breathing heavily as she let his body fall to the ground. She stared at him on the floor for some seconds, murmuring inaudible words to herself.
‘Bring his head’ someone shouted as she turned, reminding her that her job wasn’t completed until she presented his head as her trophy. She motioned towards where the sword was and picked it up. Then she went back to Marvin and detached his head in few seconds.
**PRESENT**
‘No room for emotions’ Tarasha murmured the same words she murmured after killing Marvin. ‘No room for emotions, ki*ll every object of emotion before it kills you’
She kept murmuring it to herself as she stepped out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her. Her phone rang again. Henry was calling.
‘Hello’ she said as she answered the call.
‘Hello Evelyn, can you meet me outside right away?’ Henry asked in a serious tone.
‘Give me ten minutes’ she replied and ended the call.
She opened the wardrobe to select the clothes to wear. After three minutes, she was done with her dressing. She wore a black tight fitted trouser and top with a blue jacket on it. She sat back on the bed as she wore her boots. She checked the time and it was just five minutes gone out of the ten minutes. She had noticed the seriousness in his voice but wasn’t concerned in anyway.
She drew out a briefcase from underneath the bed and placed it on her laps. She punched in the passcode and it opened up by itself. Knives and daggers of different sizes were carefully arranged inside. She selected three small ones and carefully tucked them into the space made available for it in her trouser. The small knives should be enough to take life out of Henry’s body.
+++++++++
‘How far Debo?’ Chief Jubril asked as his personal assistant stepped into the office.
‘Fine sir. The call was from Canada but we’ve not been able to verify the user’s details’
‘When would that be done?’
‘We should get the report by next tomorrow’ Debo answered.
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes, very sure sir’
‘Good…’ The man paused and focused on his laptop for a minute before he returned his gaze back to Debo. ‘Do you know what is happening next tomorrow?’
‘Yes sir.’ Debo smiled sheepishly.
Jubril Lawal smiled back. ‘I want you to organize a banquet for me. The venue would be my villa. Send invitations to every friend on my contact list’
‘Okay sir’
‘Invite Evelyn Alex also.’ The man paused and cleared his throat. ‘I’ll like her to meet with some of our other business partners that would be involved in our partnership. Make sure you also mobilize for proper security’
‘Okay sir.’ Debo bowed and proceeded out of the office, trying to come up with ideas on how to organize for the birthday celebration.
