Twenty

Six months ago...

Olamide scavenged her freezer for something edible. It was the third time in a row. Perhaps she wished some out-worldly magic would find its way to her or perhaps it was the chaotic worry that plundered her mind. Her brother, Deji was nowhere to be found. He had left their shared apartment thirty minutes ago to get Big Macs. It shouldn't be taking him this long. Sure her brother could take care of himself but he had just been back from a bumpy time in rehab. Coke was a nasty drug to break off from and a tiny part of Olamide suspected her brother had broken his promise and was probably nose deep in another wrap of white powder along with his delinquent friends. She wished she did not let him out but his therapist had mentioned that she needed to trust him and trust him she did. Now, she was regretting it.

"Stop being paranoid," Olamide said to herself as she pulled the last piece of pizza out the refrigerator. This was what Deji had turned her into. A broke senior who had to depend on soggy three-day-old pizza for survival. Olamide strode further into the kitchen, popping her microwave open and tossing the soggy piece inside. As the microwaving process began, her phone which was in the living room at the time vibrated loudly. Guessing it was probably her brother, Olamide made a run towards the living room to pick the call before the wait time lapsed.

"Hello," Olamide breathed heavily as she hit the accept button. It was her brother alright. She expected some flimsy excuse but the voice on the other line seemed to be frantic.

"Hello, Miss." The frantic female voice stammered, breathing heavily and finding it increasingly difficult to breathe. She spoke fast and for most of the conversation inaudibly. So much that it almost made Olamide furious. She didn't get why a woman was with her brother's cell but the said woman seemed to want to divulge something that bothered her. It made Olamide's heart pump fast as she continued to listen. "You need to come to third Maple Avenue. Your brother...He is..."

Tears trickled down Olamide's cheeks as the worst came to her mind. Before the woman calling jinxed her life, Olamide cut that call and ran for the front door in nothing but her nightdress and bare feet. The third s block in Maple Avenue wasn't that far from her apartment. Tears clouded her eyes as her bare feet thudded the tarred roads. All she could see was a blur of people, cars, and traffic lights. As she closed in to the location the woman on the phone had divulged to her, Olamide could sight the glimpse of ghostly sedans in the twilight. It sent her heart rate higher. What were they doing here? She asked herself. Her legs became wobbly as she threaded on to the glorified scene. The white body works glowing in the moonlight warned her to stop. The pools of people who were white to the face and discussing under the flickering yellow street lights was her second warning but despite the clear signs of trouble that beamed at Olamide, her legs refused to give up their talents. The black-dressed officers put yellow tapes at the scene and Olamide watched three black bags being hurled to the back of the only ambulance present.

Wouldn't that mean bodies? Her heart gave away and her wobbling legs finally lost their gifts. She had been warned enough. The passerby who had satisfied their morbid curiosity passed by her limp body, discussing freely about the sight they had just witnessed.

"Three black men, do you think it was racially motivated?" One of the trios blurted catching Olamide's attention. That seemed to be the push she needed. Her wavering legs found new strength and before the paramedics shut the backdoors of the white Mercedes Benz, Olamide dipped her head in, much to the shock of every officer present.

"Deji!" She shrieked, tearing the zip of the body bags in the bus open. The first body was blue. Rigor mortis had set in and the almost petal white body was cold to the touch. However, it was not her brother. A tiny voice warned Olamide to stop searching. That tiny part knew she would find what she was looking for and she wouldn't like it when it stared her in the face.

"Ma'am," One of the cops spoke. "Do you have relations with any of the victims?"

Olamide ignored him. and moved on to the next bag. She flicked the zip open. Her heart stopped when a familiar pair of ghost-white eyes stared back at her. She had found what she was looking for. She had found Deji. The person that stared back at her was however missing the spark that made them who they were. The cadaver of who she once knew had a blue hue to his usual ebony skin and his lips were carved in a manner that painfully informed Olamide that his last moments alive was a painful and grim one.

"Deji?" She called hoping her brother would snap out of it and laugh telling her it was all a very calculated prank. She wanted this to be a dream, a nightmare she desperately needed to be pinched out from. "Wake up." She sobbed, falling on her brother's chest and inhaling a tang of iron. Her eyes darted up where the smell was most strong. Two incisions were made on her brother's neck. It was the one thing all three bodies shared. They had been entirely drained of blood. It was the gruesome work of a serial killer.

Present day...

OLAMIDE

Why would Jason ever be interested in my brother? I had never mentioned Deji to him. Neither did I think he would be digging into my past. The most unsettling but about all of it was that his psychotic brother seemed too interested. Devin and I were not friends. The first encounter we had, he tried to kill me. I was certain his question was not out of curiosity. I was going to ask him when he snatched the phone out of my hand and cursed at his brother's insensitivity but something stopped me. A connecting line I had managed to ignore for too long. The incisions of my brother's throat, the presence of the supernatural, and how Deji's case went cold.

"Were vampires involved with my brother's demise?" I queried before he could make a run for it or bring up another convenient lie. This time, he was the one trying to block out his thoughts.

"We can talk about this later." Jason tried to shrug my question off but it only infuriated me the more.

"No! Tell me right this instant why vampires targeted my brother?" I demanded.

Jason turned blue. His mind racked on whether to mumble what he was hiding or whether I deserved to be kept in the dark about the truth. Lying to me weighed larger in his mind and it only ripped me apart. Why was he keeping it a secret? What conspiracy was going on? Jason's talk about destiny and how things were going to remain unchanged irrespective of any countermeasure anyone made because some bitch pulled the strings seemed even heavier now. Were these all in the books? Was I fated to have this life all along? Was that why Deji went in my place that night? My lethargic state gave Jason an opportunity to escape and I did nothing to stop him as he walked out of the room because one last question lingered at the back of my mind. Was that why the porcelain woman saved me that same night?