Rosalyn opened their room door feeling accomplished. "Daniels, turn on the water heater and prepare to scrub my roomies back," she said but got no response.
"Diane where is Danie..." she paused when she found Diane's lifeless body on the floor.
"Diane!!!" she screamed.
Jane and Hannah were fast asleep when Hannah's phone rang. Jane woke up but didn't move with the hope that she would sleep back soon. The next word she heard from Hannah made it impossible for her to sleep again because she was curious to know what was happening and she pretended to be fast asleep.
"My roommate is a deep sleeper. You can come. Just call me when you get to the room entrance." Hannah said and ended the call.
'what's with Elon tonight? are they going to talk about the lock?' Jane's thought was disrupted when Hannah's phone rang again. She didn't bother to pick it up this time around. She went straight to the door and unlocked it with the card.
Michael entered, looking all stressed and also trying not to cough out so as not to wake Jane.
"Are you sure she won't wake up," Michael asked Jane knew that it wasn't Elon's voice but the voice was also familiar.
"we will know if she will wake up," Hannah said and dialled Jane's number.
Jane wanted to get up to pick up the call but she ignored it and thought that whosoever was calling could wait till the following morning. She didn't want to miss a part.
"I told you. just called her now...if she's not in a deep asleep, she would be on the phone by now because all her calls are important. " Hannah explained and Jane was happy in her mind that she didn't go for the call.
Michael began "We were having a secret party with some ladies..."
Hannah interrupted. "it's against the hostel rule...why did you join them?"
"All the guys were there. If I refuse, they would have realised that something is going on and I know that since the Armitage here is not ready to reveal his or her true Identity...I believe it was safe to be with them rather than staying alone..." Michael explained.
Jane opened her eyes a bit to see who was talking and she closed her eyes back, pretending to be fast asleep.
"a lady from an ordinary family came to cause trouble...she called herself Barbados Oselo or something can't remember her first name... She threw tear gases. Carl is asthmatic...some are still unconscious and I don't know...the place is still in a mess... I had to get out before the admins get there. "
"That's crazy. You should always be careful...knowing you are a Castro is enough reason to be. You still have the gun in your possession?"
"Yes! But I need to get it out of the hostel before dawn."
"Fine...have your seat first. I want the gas effect to wipe off before you leave here. " Hannah said as she pulled a chair for him to sit on.
At the hospital, Diane was wheeled and Rosalyn followed closely. getting to the emergency room entrance, the doctor faced Rosalyn and told her.
"you cannot follow us in here but we will call you if we need any help from you. Make sure you stay around."
"Can you wake her?" Rosalyn asked softly, tears almost coming out of her eyes.
"an ECG is needed ASAP If her brain is dead...there's nothing anyone can do again. but we hope not," he said and went to join others inside.
Rosalyn was lost in thought for a moment 'Is Diane dead already?' she thought as she tried to figure out what was happening. She remembered that Diane was asthmatic and she didn't know how the inhaler got to her bag. 'she has an extra inhaler on her table... Why didn't she use it? Where was Becca when she was having the crises?' the thought was running through her mind when her phone rang.
She checked who the caller was and Emily's name was fully displayed on her screen. Without thinking twice, she picked up the call.
"Rose! Are you okay?" Emily asked, her voice was shaking as she was talking.
"I don't know if I am," Rosalyn replied sounding defeated.
"I don't know why they keep mentioning your name but..."
Rosalyn interrupted "Who are those mentioning my name?" she asked curiously.
"seems you don't know the trouble on the ground...some students in your hostel had a party and they said you caused a violent act. " Emily explained.
"oh! I've forgotten about that.."
"How could you? The school wants to expel you and maybe suspend others. They called the hostel presidents some minutes ago to.... "
Rosalyn interrupted. "I don't care. all I want is for my roommate to be alive."
"What's wrong with your roommate? " Emily asked, sounding more concerned.
"I met her lifeless in the room...guess she had been there for more than ten minutes without anyone to help. Now they want to run an ECG to know if they can declare her dead....or maybe start treatment." Rosalyn explained, secretly regretting that she didn't listen when Diane told her to stay back.
"Just...let's hope for the best Rose. I will come over to keep your company at least. "
"No! Just stay in your hostel. I will come over in the morning." Rosalyn sighted a nurse going towards her and said to Emily. "I will call you later." she ended the call.
The nurse stood in front of Rosalyn with an expression that was hard to read. 'I hope for the best and I know that Diane will not die. ' she said in her mind.
"The ECG result was fair." the nurse said calmly and Rosalyn let out a relieving breath.
"Can I see her?" she asked happily.
"yes but be careful not to let the oxygen mask shift or remove." The nurse warned and Rosalyn nodded happily.
She was about to enter the emergency room when a girl was rushed. She looked all swollen and pale. Rosalyn stopped to observe her.
"one, two, three." the nurses said before they moved her from the couch to the bed. They did CPR for her and also tried to relieve the fluid load on her kidney. Everything looked like magic because the nurses and doctors were so fast...trying everything to resuscitate her and suddenly they all stopped.
"time of death: 1:13 am." one of them announced and the nurse documented it on the tab she was holding.
"what's happening in the south hostel? The second student to die of drowning in less than a week. I heard the pool will be locked tonight though." the doctor said to the nurse and the male nurse sighed.
Rosalyn was shocked to hear that but decided to mind her business. She remembered that the school was planning to expel her. She picked up her phone and dialled a number.
"Jude! There's a little bit of trouble here..."
"I couldn't believe it... But I've seen the guy before or something." Jane said angrily. "I trusted her."
Emily smiled. "you shouldn't have. But you said the guy talked about an Armitage and he is a Castro...that's interesting...I just want you to know that he's scared of nothing...an Armitagee will never come to places like this. Has your mum ever mentioned to you the reason why powerful families want at least one of them to be a nurse?...."
"No! I think most of them have passion for it and it is also the leading profession."
"Don't be naive...it became a leading profession because the powerful families made it more competitive and hard to get. if care was not taken, no ordinary family would have been able to study nursing. They made sure that money cannot be used but what you know and who you know."
"Armitage is also a powerful family...why can't they come?"
"Nurses man a ward...meaning that they know everything that goes in and out of every patient...irrespective of the care given by other health professionals. From doctor's prescriptions to drug administration. Some families use nurses against their enemies. That's why everyone wants to be taken care of by their family members to be on a safe hand. The Armitage don't need that...no one dare to hurt an Amitage again. They made other powerful families be in their favour whether they liked it or not. Also, I guess your roommate is not the person she appears to be..."
"that voice....yes! The voice of the person who threatened me. That Castro threatened me." Jane said.
"That's not good. I'm sure your roommate did not know about it and it seems they know each other too well."
"then why is she hiding him from me? She didn't hide Elon?"
"school is resuming tomorrow, I will look for him," Emily said, trying to assure Jane that she was safe.
Emily sat quietly in the front seat, dressed cooperate and looking elegant while she was busy typing on her phone.
A message entered 'Here I come. Just raise your hand and I will come over to you.'
Emily looked back and saw Rosalyn entering and looking around. She raised her hand and Rosalyn smiled when she saw her.
"what's going on about your case," Emily asked as Rosalyn dropped her bag on the table and sat beside Emily.
"On a week house arrest or should I call it hostel arrest?... I made Jude call them and I guess he told them that I was trying to make them stop the party not trying to be violent. " She said, unbothered.
"oh! What about others?"
"wanted to suspend them for the whole semester but their parents came in and it's now four weeks...the painful thing is that I've not seen Diane since I left her at the E.R. entrance," she said, looking worried.
"why?"
"a lady was rushed into the ER when I wanted to see Diane. I couldn't go in and after that, I had to call Jude to solve the matter on the ground and I got called into the hostel by the admins on the same night. "
"That's a lot and now you can't go anywhere except class and your room...it's so frustrating..." Emily said, sounding a bit angry. She continued "There is someone I hope to see. I don't remember her name but her face is clear in my brain. She's the first person I met here."
"we can look for her after lectures." Rosalyn suggested.
"yes! but warning!! She's not so friendly. " Emily said and smiled.
Hannah and Jane both walked in, smiling and Jane was getting along as if everything was okay between them. Hannah chose a seat in the middle and gave a sign for Jane to sit. Jane looked at her with an expression that was hard to read and said.
"No thanks. I will look for someone less dangerous to sit with." with that, she left without looking back while leaving Hannah speechless on her feet.
Elon couldn't go to school on the first day because he had to be at the lock. he looked more dangerous than pleasing while unlocking the cage to take in the fruits in the wheelbarrow.
Like it was his usual routine, he turned on the light in the cage and four people which included a female child, a woman and two teenage boys sat down at the corner looking healthy but scared.
"where is Bob?" he asked coldly and they didn't say a word but rather looked at him scared.
Suddenly, he felt a strong hand pulling him by the hair violently and he turned in defence. As he fought with the man, the woman and her children curled up in fear.
He knocked Elon down, trying to strangle him and Elon hit his head with a coconut which had dropped with other fruits when they had tumbled on the wheelbarrow.
Bob winced in pain, looking back and seeing that he was at the entrance of the cage. He took the chance and ran off. Elon quickly locked the cage and chased him but came back gasping for air without Bob.
Back at school, a lecture was ongoing and suddenly the door opened causing distraction and all the students to look in the direction. Amelia entered, dressed like chucky looking scary with her stitched face and low cut. She walked in as if she owned the class. Hannah was busy looking at her when her phone vibrated. She checked and a message from Elon popped up. 'Bob is gone.' her eyes widened with fear. She immediately packed her things from the table into her bag and ran out of the class which also caused another distraction.
Inside room 318, Rosalyn stood questioning Becca who was arranging the dressing mirror, looking unbothered by Rosalyn's interrogation.
"you were supposed to be working here till three o'clock AM...where were you when she was having crises?" Rosalyn asked, looking as angry as ever.
"I was here," she said nonchalantly.
"And?..." Rosalyn asked looking more surprised than upset.
"I took your clothes for laundry...left her on the floor gasping for air."
Rosalyn fumed with rage, one part of her wanted to hit Becca and the other part reminded her that she was still on punishment.
Becca sensed her anger and pushed further. "My duty is not to save her...right?... My job is to work for you till I finish paying my debt," she said nonchalantly and continued with what she was doing.
Rosalyn couldn't hold her anger as she held a hairpin aggressively. "out of my room. " she said coldly. Becca was scared but didn't let it show as she smiled at Rosalyn before leaving the room.
Rosalyn picked up her phone and dialled Emily's number.
"how are you?" she said, trying to control her anger.
"Nothing...I'm good...there is someone whose family could be after my roommate's life. I'd like you to watch over her." she waited for Emily's response and smiled.
"thank you...see you tomorrow." she threw her phone angrily on her bed.
Bruno was sitting uncomfortably in his room, sweat dripping from every part of his body as he dialled a number on his phone. He waited anxiously for the person to pick up and the person did after some seconds.
"thank God!" he whispered to himself as he put the call on speaker. "Li, my parent told me that they are coming to check on me and Miranda in the morning." Bruno trembled as he explains.
"fuck! I'm on suspension...not in school for four weeks. can't you convince them not to come?" Li asked, sounding tensed.
"I tried...I tried everything I could to convince them but they insisted. Saying they are worried after they heard about the pool incident." Bruno explained, scratching his head to see if there was more he could think of.
"Have you seen Anne?"
Bruno shut his eyes as he let out a deep breath. "She's now in my hostel. Not like she can pretend to be Miranda or become her. Seeing her is not going to change anything. " He concluded.
"you will have to send her on a dangerous mission between now and tomorrow. You should be able to take care of yourself till then."
"What mission?"
"tell her to go get Miranda's body..."
Bruno interrupted. "for what?"
"I'm about to tell you. She will get some of her clothes, and pack like they are travelling. Where we put her won't make it obvious that she died some days ago..."
"and how's that going to stop my parent from coming?"
"you will try to track them, tell Anne where they are and Anne will crash them with her car. I may cost Anne a lot...some fractures maybe but not her life...they both of you can leave without anyone else knowing the secret. "
"how's that making sense?"
"she would make it look like the accident killed Miranda. Two solutions with one accident. They will not come to see you and will think the accident caused her death. ... Simple." Li explained and Bruno let out a relieving breath.
"thank you...I will get Anne in a few minutes. " He said and ended the call. "Fuck! I'm drenched in my sweat!" he said in frustration.
Nurse Gonzalez entered the ward which Diane was. Two nurses were with her when she got to her side.
"Good day! I'm Nurse Gonzalez. I'm to care for her alone throughout her stay here. " she said calmly but looked more serious, the nurses nodded and left.
She faced Diane and smiled. "I hope you are doing well!" she asked in a friendly way and Diane smiled.
"I'm good but why are you the only nurse to care for me?" she questioned.
"My niece told me to keep you safe." Nurse Gonzalez explained.
"oh! thank you. When can I leave here? I'm bored and it seems my roommate is not allowed in here."
"is it the Barbados lady that brought you here?"
"Barbados! Yes!" she tried to make the name sound important.
"the last time I saw her was when she brought you here. I don't know why I haven't seen her...My niece told me she sent her to look after you and she's making me do the work."
Diane took a look at her broken phone again. 'there's no way she can reach out to me' she thought.
Anne drove like she had never done before, fast and crazy. She turned to look at the fresh Miranda's corpse dressed as a living person on the passenger seat with a seatbelt on.
"This is crazy!" she said to herself as her phone vibrated. Bruno's name was displayed on her phone as Baker's son.
She picked up the call and put it on speaker. "I'm on the drive," she said calmly.
"tracking your car and theirs...Just turn left at full speed but be....careful," he said and Anne turned left immediately at full speed. She saw a black car driving carefully towards her direction but in another lane. She turned the car all of a sudden and it somersaulted over to the other lane. It barely hit the other car but there was much damage done to theirs as Anne's car was upside down with all the glasses broken.
A white guy about 5'8 ft tall walked confidently to room 062 with his school bag on his left shoulder. He stopped briefly at the door and opened it without the card which meant the door was not locked.
He closed the door behind him and looked around. Another guy who seems not to care much about his presence lay lazily on the bed.
"I'm Dan Walton. I'm to deliver co..." the guy tried to introduce himself as he looked at the guy lying on the bed who didn't seem to know who he was.
The guy interrupted. "How many grams did you bring?" he asked in a bossy way.
"If you can tell me your name...I will just check my list here too...." Dan said, trying to sound confident but he was interrupted again.
"Damon!" he said sharply.
"I have two Damon here...if you can spec.... "
"What type of delivery guy are you? You are stressing me." Damon barked.
"Fine! I have others to deliver shits to... You are wasting my time. I'm Just doing business not running errands for you bro." Dan fired back, sounding more upset as he made his way back to the door.
"Damon Robinett!" he said calmly which made Dan stop and look back. He checked his phone and dropped his bag on the floor. He searched the bag for some seconds and took out a small nylon that contained white powder.
"that's your twenty grams," he said as he handed over the powder to him. Damon focused his eyes on Dan as he adjusted his bag and zipped it. He looked away when Dan raised his head and handed over some cash to him.
"Don't be an ass! I don't do cash and I won't be here if you haven't sent my money. " Dan said sounding unbothered.
"don't make a fuss of everything. I'm just impressed and I'm giving you." Damon told him in a friendly way.
"Get yourself some coca with that next time," Dan said coldly and left the room.
Amelia looked more like chucky with her overall which was different from the one she wore to class. She stopped all of a sudden as if someone was trailing her. She didn't bother to look back as she continued to walk at the same pace. She entered her room and saw her roommate who happened to be among the ladies that beat her up, lying on the bed. She laughed to mock Amelia when she was closer to her.
She was shocked when Amelia also started laughing. It was more of a message than laughter which sent a shiver down her spine. She wanted to leave the room, pretending as if Amelia's laughter didn't get to her. As she pulled the door, it didn't open and the card was not there either. She turned in fear and Amelia turned off the light. In the next minute, the lady's shrill cry filled the room.