A DARK NIGHT

I budge into Ejay's office with a lot of distress and a sunken heart. I never thought I would ever see my friend in such a condition, so hopeless and tired. "Are you okay?" Ejay asks, standing from his chair to walk to me. I give him a hug. He will be my boyfriend in just eight days, so I should start getting used to the couple's things as early as now. I give him a kiss too, and he holds me in his hands while he sits on his desk. "You look worried. What is it?"

"Nora is not well." I reply without beating around the bush.

"Oh. Why? What's wrong with her?"

"Well, her night did not go too well with her client. She said he was so hard on her, and now she is in pain. She looks terrible." I explain.

"But they know the rule here. It is their duty to submit to the client. However he wants it, they should willingly submit. She was probably resistant, and that is why he went overboard with her."

God, please kill monsters for me right now. So it's her fault now? Her body could not handle the pain; he could have been a bit considerate, right? What kind of freaking rule favors only one side? What freaking rule gives the right to inflict such kind of pain on someone, and they don't have the right to say anything? That is pure torture. Submit my left foot!

"What do you want me to do?" What do I want you to do? Die already, you son of a bitch! Die so that all the girls here, me included, can be free from your cruelty. Can you do that? "Hey! You are strangling me with your eyes. What's up?" I almost lost it. He shouldn't know I am against him.

"Sorry. I was thinking about how horrible that sounds. It hurts to hear you talk like that. I see myself in these girls." I state.

"Where is she? And what is her condition?" He asks.

"I left her to lie down on my bed. She is extremely weak; her cheeks are sore, and she has marks on her neck. She is even struggling to walk."

"It can't be that bad."

"I wouldn't have bothered you if it wasn't."

"So what do you want me to do? You have another deal?" I shyly smile, and I don't know where that smile came from. "Wow! It's the first time I have seen you smile like that." Even the monkey noticed, and he is smiling back. The problem is, not even a smile can make his face look even a little bright. The blood of the innocent souls he has killed has covered his face, giving him a very weird and scary look. His eyes make him even more ugly and scary. He can't even compete with a chimpanzee in terms of looks.

"Before you nickname me Madam Deals, I will let you know that I have none today. I just came to ask you nicely to allow her to rest tonight, please. She is in bad shape." He says.

"Unless I see her, I can't agree yet."

"You can go see for yourself."

"Let's go." I tuck my hand in his arm,and we walk out of his office.

"By the way, I have prepared a surprise for you tonight."

"Really?" He stops to look at me with dismay, but I pull him up the stairs. "May I know what it is?"

"Mmhh...no. It will no longer be a surprise. Just wait."

"Okay." We enter the quiet room where Nora is resting. She has not moved a bit from where I left her. She must have been so exhausted. Poor thing. I hope Ejay will just let her rest.

He walks to where Nora is sleeping and pulls the cover down to her waist, studying her. He moves his hand to her face and suddenly to her nose, as if feeling her breath. He turns her over, making her rest on her back. My friend is still fast asleep. She is not moving a muscle, and I hope he does not wake her up with all these movements. He places his hand on her left breast, and I get confused. He removes his hand slowly and throws me a look that speaks danger. A look that made me shiver. Before I could open my mouth and ask what was happening, he spoke.

"She is gone."

God forbid! My friend is asleep, right? So who has gone, and where?

"Gone? Gone where?" I ask as my legs begin to shake.

"She is no more." He says it bluntly, and I run to my sleeping friend.

"No. No. No! Nora? Wake up, Nora! I am back." I try to shake my friend, but she is unresponsive. She is not moving; she is not responding to me. She is not even opening her eyes. "Nora! Please don't do this to me; wake up. Please, wake up."

"Hey, she can't hear you." Ejay says this behind me, scooping me up. "She is dead." I turn around in his hands, not making an effort to push him away despite knowing he is the reason for her death, just like everyone who has died in this cursed club. I look up at his blurry face. I have a very thick curtain of tears in my eyes, and his efforts to wipe them away are worthless. They keep flowing.

"Why is she dead, huh? I just put her to bed a while ago. Maybe we should take her to a hospital, call a doctor, and give her first aid. I am sure she is sleeping. I will keep talking to her. She will wake up and talk to me. She cannot be dead, Ejay. She is."

"Gia!" He roars his lungs out at me, making me stop ranting. "That's enough. She is never waking up."

How can this happen?

10 p.m!

What a night! What an awful night it is!

Nothing happened tonight at the club. I was a crying mess, and the entertainment was cancelled today. There was no way I could have managed to go to the stage. I spent like an hour with my dead friend in the room asking God questions—the same questions I am repeating to him because He hasn't answered any of them. He is just silent.

The heavens have been silent on me ever since I met Ejay. He is like a curse. If he is not bad luck or a cursed human being that brings nothing but trouble and bad omens, why did our first night turn out to be this way? This is what I had planned for him—to spend the last night with him before I leave for Mombasa tomorrow. But then, it was the same night my friend died. Now here I am, still hiccuping my soul out, in his arms—the arms of a monster. The hands that are stained with blood. God, how do you do things? I asked you to kill this monster that is killing your innocent people, but instead, you snatched my good friend. She did not deserve to die. She was too good and innocent to die this soon and in that manner.

You know what else, God? She died because she got tired of waiting for you to send a savior to liberate your people from captivity. Is that what awaits me too? Will I die in the hands of this man? How many more souls are going to suffer and die because of him? I don't know why you have been so silent to me, God, but hear me now. This is my last request to you, God. Let the heavens open and remain clear for a minute so that my voice can reach you.

If you are not going to kill this man, then send us a savior who will put an end to his evil ways and rescue us. None of us deserve this!