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                                CHAPTER 2!

There is nothing that can’t be done with power. There is nothing that is impossible with power in reign. I have already given up on avenging Jane’s death. I have already lost hope of living a free life again. I thought I would never get to see the sunlight. I thought I would die and rot in jail after all these years, but alas, I got a chance to live a new life and also to get answers to the disturbing questions that have been throbbing in my heart


My eyes were still closed as I was lying on a spacious bed and I could feel my face being wrapped. I couldn’t remember a thing since the day a doctor came into the prison and gave me an anesthetic injection. I was resistant and wanted to abort the plan but Mr. Emmanuel, Susan and the doctor assured me that I will be alright. 

“It is just an injection that would make you unconscious for a week.” The doctor said, I stared at him with fear filled in my eyes. I could remember when Mr. Emmanuel tapped my shoulder and patted my hair. “It will be alright Isaac. I will make sure we hasten everything including your funeral so we won’t run out of time. I have already contacted your orphanage regarding your death, so we need not to waste time anymore.” He said trying to encourage me.

I guess I had no other choice at that point as I watched the doctor insert the syringe in my arms. I was drowning slowly when Mr. Emmanuel smiled at me. “Remember you will wake up as a new human being. Not as Isaac but Kelvin.” He said with a smile. That was the last thing I could remember about my own life


Isaac was still lying on the bed with his face covered in bandages when he felt someone walk up to him slowly and ordered him to sit up. He told him a few things before he began removing the bandages on his face and instructed him to keep his eyes closed. Isaac was curious and eager at this point, he couldn’t wait to know what was happening to him. He heard the man ordered someone to move a standing mirror closer.

The man sighed deeply and slowly before he tapped Isaac’s shoulder. “You can open your eyes slowly young man.” He said. Isaac opened his eyes that were anxious and about popping out and slowly landed his gaze on the mirror in front of him. He stared into the mirror for a while before he let out a loud scream. “What have you done to my face? What is going on here?” He kept on asking the young doctor standing in front of him as he jumped and jack off his neck. The doctor quickly ordered for an anesthetic injection which was given to Isaac again and he slept off.

It has been almost a week after the surgery and all Isaac could do was cry and regret why he agreed to the surgery. That is when it occurred to him that he would have to live the life of someone else, he would have to live a lie till he dies, he will have to pretend to be someone who he isn’t, he wouldn’t have access to his previous life or do something for himself, as from now on, he would have to live a fake life.

Isaac closed his eyes tightly as tears scroll down his face. “What have you done Isaac? Why would you agree to that damn surgery? Is it all worth it? Is finding the answer to Jane’s death more important than your own life? Have you asked yourself about the person you agreed to take his face? What kind of life is he living? Was he living a happy or sad life?” Isaac kept on asking himself these series of questions as tears kept on rolling on his face.

He was still lying on the bed when the door slowly opened. It was Mr. Emmanuel. He walked in majestically and sat beside Isaac. He stared at him with an enormous smile for a while before holding his hands tightly. “I know you might hate yourself right now for doing this. I know you might want to move back in time and change things, but that is too late Isaac.” He said, staring at Isaac whose eyes were still closed.

He sighed deeply as he continued talking. “You see, we humans are always selfish and it is very important to be selfish at some point. I have to take out this plan because I can’t sit back and watch my generation lose its fortune. The same goes to you Isaac, you need to find more answers from your friends. So this is basically the only way to get our desires done. It is all for the love of ourselves. It is all for self love Isaac. IT IS ALL FOR LOVE.” Mr. Emmanuel said as Isaac quickly opened his eyes and faced him.

He nodded his head to Isaac with another smile. “But I am not that selfish, Isaac, I will not take full control of your life. As per our agreement, you will continue to live your own life immediately if I get what belongs to Kelvin, but till then, no one is allowed to know about this except Susan, myself and you. I made this private because I don’t want you to have problems with reconnecting to your previous life. You can always have access to former Isaac as his friend.” He explained again.

Isaac was still lying numb staring at Mr. Emmanuel as he explained things to him. “As from now henceforth, you have to and you must live Kelvin’s life. Do what he does and live his life. Concerning his likes and everything, I will let Susan teach you everything and explain them to you before we arrive in Nigeria. Remember, you will now identify as Kelvin Emmanuel not Isaac Olamide.” Mr. Emmanuel said again looking at Isaac.

Isaac nodded his head without any expression. He sighed deeply as he closed his eyes again. He is fully aware that this is going to be a disaster. How would he live the life of someone he doesn’t even know? How would he cope with his previous life, his families, friends, relationships, dreams and ambitions? What will happen to all those? He kept on asking himself. He sighed deeply and adjusted himself on the bed. He is sure that he is indeed trapped in the middle of nowhere.

ONE MONTH LATER


Living Kelvin’s life is not as hard as Isaac imagined it. Kelvin was a very simple guy. He lived a calm and simple life. He is not a picky human being. Everything about him is common, even though he is very handsome; he lives a very normal and simple life. It doesn’t take Isaac more than a month to fit into Kelvin’s character, Kelvin has no many friends and the little he had are not that close to him so everything is simple. Thank God he just resumed from studying abroad, so he can be more reserved.

Isaac was wandering in the room going through Kelvin’s stuff when he stumbled on a diary; ‘Best Friend’ that was the name boldly carved on the cover of the diary. He found it among Kelvin’s stuff that were returned from abroad so he is sure it is an updated diary. He slowly picked it up as he opened the first page and began reading the notes slowly


“Dear Diary
 Remember our previous discussion before I lost the older version? Well I think there is no need to go into too much detail. I think I am in love diary. Of course I do. Well, it is one sided love for now but I am assured I can handle this
.Hmmmmmmm
 But do you also think I am weird for loving a boy? I don’t think it is a weird diary and no matter what, I will pursue this love and I hope this dream will come true. Goodbye diary.” Isaac reads the note in his mind as he begins thinking.

He kept quiet for a while as he was staring at the page. “Does that mean Kelvin was gay? Was he in a relationship? Who was the boyfriend? What happened between them?” Isaac kept on asking himself. This is when he became more interested in Kelvin’s life. Indeed there are many stories in the poor boy’s life, even though he lived a simple life, there are indeed a lot of wonders in it and Isaac becomes more determined to reveal these mysteries. “But how am I supposed to fit in a gay character? Susan didn’t mention that part.” He asked himself looking confused.

He was about to open the next page when the door to the room opened, it was Judith, he remembered seeing her picture from Susan. She quickly walked in and jumped on the bed beside him. “Oh my God Kelvin, why haven’t you contacted me since you returned? You are such a mean guy man.” She said, hitting his arm.

Isaac was a bit startled but he had to act up. “Oh come on Judith. I lost my phone and couldn’t retrieve my contacts. Do you
” He was talking when she interrupted him. “Why are you calling me by my full name? What happened to Jud or babes?” She asked, giving him a suspicious look. He stammered for a while before answering. “Oh Jud, I am jet lagged you know. I am still trying to adjust.” He said looking at her. 

They continued to chat for a while before Jud asked to leave. “You don’t have to escort me man, I met Daniel parking his car in your premises earlier.” She said flinging her hair. “I remembered someone crushing on him before traveling abroad, so I wonder if the crush is still valid.” Judith teased while laughing. “Oh please Jud.” Kelvin defended.

She giggled as she stood up. “Just take your time babe and don’t be afraid, I am sure he will notice you this time. I also have a hunch that he isn’t taking care of you just like that, there must be a reason.” She said as she stormed out of the room. 

Isaac took a deep breath and lay back on the bed. This is becoming harder than he expected. “Daniel? Who is he? Susan hasn’t told him anything about him. Why does this boy’s life seem more complicated than it looks?” Isaac asked himself as he sighed deeply. “Well, let’s find out.” He said to himself as he stood up and walked out.

He was about to leave the room when he turned back and stared at a particular bag. It contains his personal belongings. He smiled wickedly as he opened the bag and picked up a group photo of his friends. “I think we should have some fun guys.” He said to himself as he picked up his laptop and started going through his friend’s social media pages; thank God they all appeared when he searched the names.

Isaac was surprised to see how they have all changed and moved on with their lives, as if nothing happened. He was even more surprised to notice that they were not together anymore. “Maybe they decided to move on after what they did to him.” He said to himself. He was still going through their pages when he stumbled on Austin’s wedding invitation. “Wow, this will be fun. Maybe I should send him a souvenir.” He said with a wicked smile.

He quickly created an anonymous Twitter page and followed all his friends. Austin’s wedding is coming in a week so he should definitely receive his gift for now. Isaac brought out a hard disk from his bag and connected it to his system. The hard disk contains a lot of dirty and nasty secrets of his friends. He selected a sex video of Austin and posted it, tagging his entire friends with a caption ’15-July-2015’.

That was the day Jane was murdered. He is sure that they will all be terrified after seeing that. He smiled as he closed back the system. “Let the game begin
” He said with a smile as he walked out of the room


AUSTIN’S WEDDING

“Who would have thought you would finally get married to Elle? I mean you guys are always fighting at work.” Austin’s friend said while they were having a drink in Austin’s apartment. Austin smiled and sipped his drink. He watched his friends as they teased his relationship with Elle, his wife to be.

He slowly dropped the glass of wine he was holding and smiled for a while. He giggled a bit before he talked. “I am also surprised that I am finally getting married after all these years. It still looks like a dream to me.” he said with a smiling face. They all laughed as they continued drinking and preparing for the cocktail party tonight.

Austin seems to look very excited. You can tell from a look that he is living a happy life, he must have forgotten his past and all the encounters he had with his friends. Even though the past events still haunt his peace occasionally, he has no regrets for the kind of life he had and for what he did. He has buried all his secrets and he hoped that they remain buried till the end of time.

The cocktail party was very interesting; it was just a gathering of friends and the couple. They were all enjoying themselves and having drinks when Austin’s friend walked up to him. He winked at Austin for a while and gave him an emergency signal. Austin quickly followed him as they walked to the hallway.

“What happened man? Why are you giving me that scary look?” Austin asked, staring confusedly at his friend who was also looking confused. He moved closer to him and tapped his shoulder. “Come on Alex, talk to me, you are making me worried.” Austin added looking anxious. Alex was about talking when Elle, Austin’s wife-to-be walked towards them with tears rolling on her face.

She walked closer to Austin and stared at him for a while, she was giving him a fiery and bitter look at the same time. Austin was totally confused at the moment. He couldn’t pick out what was happening as he tried holding her. She quickly moved back and pushed his hands away. She nodded her head a little as she threw her phone at him.

“What can you say about this Austin?” She asked, still crying. He quickly grabbed the phone and fixed his eyes on the screen. Austin was shocked seeing the video. He was even more shocked when he saw the date on the caption. He started staggering as he fell by the wall. That was when it occurred to him that the past had started haunting them. That is the terrible day that Jane was murdered and the day they betrayed Isaac.

He was still trying to gather his memory when he heard his wife shouting out at him. She yelled bitterly at him as she continued crying. “You should have broken up with me peacefully than put me through this shame and embarrassment Austin. I hate you and I am calling off this wedding.” She said as she walked away.

Austin was still sitting helplessly on the floor as his mind traveled far back in time. He realized the huge mistake they have made. He is sure Isaac has probably found a way out of the prison and decides to torment them. That was when he realized they had been wicked and bad friends.

Austin quickly picked up his phone and car keys as he walked out of the party venue. He is not even worried about the wedding being called off. He is more concerned about the trouble ahead because he is sure Isaac has lots of exhibits to ruin their lives. He quickly drove to his house as he packed the little things he needed and left Port Harcourt to Lagos state


Amir, who was lying on the sofa going through his phone with a young boy massaging his legs, quickly shouted when he stumbled on the post. The boy who is obviously younger and looks like a sex worker was startled at Amir’s reaction. “Are you alright dear?” He asked, looking worried.

Amir quickly sat up as he fixed his eyes on the Twitter post he was mentioned in. He is sure that was a disaster facing them. He started sweating profusely as he started reading the hate comments under the post. He is sure that none of his friends have such videos because they have burned down everything. He is totally confused about who must have gotten something like that and decided to get back at them.

That was when he remembered that they left a single door unclosed. They left out Isaac’s properties while they were burning down theirs. “Of course it is Isaac.” He said to himself. “But Isaac is still imprisoned. How will that be possible?” He asked himself, looking terribly worried.

Amir kept quiet for a while as he began thinking and strolling around his spacious room. He was sweating profusely because he is sure this scandal will ruin his career. He is even at the worst side of the scandal. Being a homosexual in the northern part of Nigeria is regarded as a great taboo so he won’t allow any chance of his reputation being tarnished.

Of course he has to do all he can to settle that mess even if it means framing Isaac again and sending him back to the prison for a death sentence. He quickly went inside his room, picked a few things and booked a flight to Lagos. At least they still have the promised house as a meeting point and he is sure his old friends will also show up in the house


TO BE CONTINUED


 

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