She is delirious. After staring at the wall for a while, she changed her position. They didn't do anything to her. She couldn't remember what had happened and they always knock her off whenever they want to move from their location. She didn't know if she had been in their custody for days or if it had only being a day. This time, they had an empty room for her. The room smelt putrid and she would never have set foot in a room as smelly and disgusting as the room she's residing for the time being but she had no choice. She chuckled sarcastically to herself and thought, she hardly have a choice nowadays. She had woken up at a point and found herself lying on a pool of liquid that she would rather not know what it is. She could tell that the room had no windows and doors because they were bounded by large rotten wood, placed strategically to cover up any sign of light. A larger rotten wood was placed at the gap that indicates the need for a door. The whole place was dark and she couldn't see a thing but she could hear the men screaming in the background. They seemed to be drunk, laughing and mumbling words she couldn't make out. She had been in that room for hours, she could tell. Her limbs were numb from sitting in one position and her eyes were dry from the continuous tears she had shed since that day. The day she had trusted Shane, her classmate.
It was a normal day like every other day. She remembered that she was craving shawarma and pizza. The last time she had one was with Chioma, her friend. She was with her boyfriend and Chioma had finished half of everything and her boyfriend had taken some of it. She only had a slice of pizza and very little shawarma but she didn't complain. Shane had been passing by and like every girl in University, she had acted sweet and caring to get what she was craving for without spending her money. He had invited her into his car and she had being over the moon. Shane was one rich baba. He could have any girlfriend but he refused to have one. No one knew the reason but whenever a girl ask him for something, he won't hesitate to grant it. He has a Toyota Camry and he's flowing with cash. He's a jovial person but he never spoke to her and she never minded. But when she felt the craving, she had thought that she could try out what every girl would do in her shoes. She never knew that that would be the last time she would taste freedom and sitting in this room made her lament her misery. She wished that she had never entered his car or maybe, drank that sprite that she had sworn that he switched when she wasn't looking even after she saw him drinking it.
For a while, she knew that they have been carrying her but she couldn't tell where. Whenever they want to move, they would inject her with something that will make her drowsy and she will end up waking up in a new surrounding. She didn't know what they had in mind to do with her. A lot of scenario have crossed through her mind. She had imagined that they would cut her open and take out her organs and sell them to a buyer for a huge amount of money. But that seemed so farfetched for her. If they wanted to do that, they would have killed her a long time ago. She wouldn't feel comfortable carrying a human when she could only be carrying the organ she needs after burying the unwanted body but she couldn't just toss that idea either. They might be preserving her organs in her body, that seemed like a reasonable thing but she didn't buy it. She had thought about every other reasons why she could still be alive but no matter how long she thought about them, she knew none of them made sense. She had tried to identify the voices and see if she could make out Shane's voice but they sounded the same and she got tired of guessing.
Someone pushed the makeshift door and an older man stood in its place. His eyes pierced through her orb and she felt naked. She was curious and wary of him but he didn't come any closer to her. He held an empty bottle and stared at it for a while before taking steps towards her. She felt her fear increase the more his steps came closer to her. The chains bound around her ankles to her wrist restrained her from moving backwards without stumbling on the smelly floor. He didn't walk as quickly as she had hoped he would and that made her fear heighten to an extent that she started muttering every prayer she knew. She felt a hot wet substance pooling in between her thighs and at first, she thought that her period has started but the obvious smell of urine graced her nose and she held in the urge to rub her nose. She raised both her hands up and with hot tears spilling from her eyes, she said,
"Please!"
The stranger didn't blink an eye. He raised his arm and she screamed.
The university was buzzling with activities when Mercy alighted from the bus. The girl beside her acted so strange. She kept on looking around and asking her where the bus was heading. She had learnt not to trust anybody and even if the stranger had dirty clothes on and her hair seemed dirty but tied up, Mercy knew that Kaduna is not safe. She had wondered how the dirty stranger got on the bus or where she had gotten the money to get on the bus. All Mercy knew was that the stranger had seemed scared and kept on fidgeting or jumping whenever a man touches her. She had alighted from the bus and watched as the stranger alighted from the bus. She looked very confused but she kept on walking, all the while huddling to herself and leveling her eyes on the road or on the sidewalk, not looking at anyone. Mercy shrugged her shoulders to shake out the pity she felt for the dirty stranger while she had adjusted her hijab and muttering prayers on her lips.
Remembering that, she thought that the stranger really seemed like someone who needed help and with that came the guilt and the same pity she had felt for the stranger. She felt annoyed by her feelings as they overwhelmed her. Her single mother had taught her well. Her mother had struggled and suffered in life and with that came great knowledge. Her mother didn't want her to end up like her and so she had struggled to put her in school. Mercy had sworn that she wouldn't fall into the frivolous lifestyle of her mate's and she has been keeping it. She has also sworn that no matter what life throws at her feet, she would never get swayed by it and she knew the benefits of that principles. But why, she asked herself. Why would a simple stranger sway her life principles.