31 A pit of darkness

Miles' warning seemed to have casted a great impact faster than I had expected it to.

Even though there were still a few of the videos on the internet, the ridiculous trend was dying down fast - just how the internet worked.

Ever since the day he stood up for me, Miles and I grew even closer. Well, I don't really know about him but I felt even drawn to him. It felt like I could confide in him more than I did before and he would always be there to comfort me.

If not for him and Kiki, maybe my corpse would have been trending as well.

As if that wasn't enough, Miles made sure I was happy and protected just like he had promised. He took me on many outings, of which Kiki came along with us a few times when she was free.

From dinner dates to parks, we had the best time of our lives. These may seem all normal to someone else but to me, it was enough to get my mind off the things I faced at home.

Perhaps Richard had come to stay because it was already a month now and he still refused to leave our house. Sharon wasn't making things any better for me like she always did. Funny how these two people received so much support from my mother.

It was as though Miriam and I were the ones who suffered the most in that house.

Mrs. Olusegun was my mother yet she had once told me to my face.

"Till today, whenever I set my eyes on you, all I feel is regret and sorrow."

What mother would say that to her own child?

Ever since dad's death, I felt the need to always be there for mother. I was just a little girl who was still trying so hard to find her place in a world that took away her father.

I felt like it had become my duty to make her happy and comfort her but everytime I tried going close to her, the farther she drifted away from me.

Wasn't I good enough? Wasn't I good enough as a daughter? Did I fail to perform my duties as a daughter?

These were all my thoughts until she returned home with a girl just as tiny as my eight year old self.

"Now listen here Matilda, this is Sharon," She began, with the little girl sitting on her lap while I folded myself in an opposite sofa.

Sharon's eyes met mine and the first thing that filled our eyes was that of question.

Question that soon turned to doubt in seconds. Then doubt that evolved to realization before they finally stiffened with rivalry.

"Yes mummy," Eight year old me muttered.

"She is your sister and my beautiful daughter," Mother simply said.

That was the only thing she said but with time, I got to understand the underlying meaning of her words - "She came from my womb and so did you but she is my only daughter."

Growing up in the Olusegun mansion in Abuja, I wasn't starved of food nor was I deprived of clothes.

"This house is equally your father's house just as it is mine. Now that he is dead, according to the terms and conditions surrounding the house papers, ownership has been transferred to me. However, as long as you are his offspring, I will not deprive you of his properties but, when it comes to something I OWN, nothing will get to your hand," She also told me.

Before Dad's death, we used to live in the Lagos-based Olusegun mansion which was solely owned by my father but considering the fact that he loved my mother unconditionally, he made sure to equally put her name in the house papers of the Abuja-based Olusegun mansion.

Father loved mum so much but she was too blind to see any of that for whatever reason it was. She would always fight with him and he would always apologize for the wrongs he didn't do.

It was so clear that she never loved him to start with and his death was simply a means of freedom for her. She secretly married Richard weeks after Dad's death and moved to Abuja immediately before bringing in Sharon.

That was when I learnt of my mum's unfaithfulness. However, I was still oblivious of what the whole story was, even till now.

"Thank you," I sighed.

His blue eyes fell on me.

"I'm doing nothing. You are simply working your way out," He said.

"It's just that you've been doing so much for me and I don't know how to even repay you. Money? I don't know," I sighed once again as we strolled around the water park while I ate the cotton candy he got for me.

"Money?" He smirked, almost as if I was mocking him. "You don't need to compensate me, Tilda. I'm a friend not a worker."

"I know. It's just...Thank you for everything," I felt my eyes burn from the tears that threatened to fall.

He stopped walking and turned to face me. He gently took my hands and stared in my eyes.

"I am doing this because you deserve to live, Tilda."

As his touch lingered on my hands, I could hear my heart thump loudly.

Despite the fact that I was getting close to him and getting to know him a little more, I still felt so nervous around him.

"You don't need to thank me," He thinned a smile on his lips.

Lately, he had been smiling more often. Strange how he had quickly evolved from a Mr. Sassy rude cold-blooded blue eyes to Mr. Sassy rude smiley blue eyes.

Yes, he was still sassy and...rude.

"If you say so," I nudged his elbow and walked ahead. That was the only way to clear the awkwardness in the air and continue our walk around the park.

We strolled around the park for quite a long time. While Miles seemed unfazed by the beautiful scenery we came across, I pointed out at the things I found fascinating and revealed my teeth in a smile as though I were a baby.

Finally, the day was over and I was eating an ice cream cone while Miles walked beside me. We began making our way out of the park and were headed next for a crossroad across which Miles had parked his car.

Since the road was quite busy with fast moving vehicles, we had to stand by the roadside for sometime.

"Oh my goodness!" I suddenly exclaimed. "Take a look!"

I pointed out to a beautiful firefly formation that seemed like a well rehearsed choreography done by the light producing flies.

But Miles didn't seem to be paying me any attention. He seemed to be in deep thoughts.

"Miles look!" I called out once again but his attention was solely on something else I couldn't take note of.

Refusing to accept his nonchalance and willing to share the beauty of what I just witnessed, I hopped in front of him.

"Miles!"

That was when his glistening pair of eyes came on my adamant self.

"Farewell," A smile of satisfaction came to rest on his face.

Just before I could say anything, I felt his hands push my body so gently yet so firmly.

The cone in my hand dropped to the ground and my body drifted backwards and onto the road in response to his push.

I fell on the ground, grazing my ankle in the process.

Confusion stared hard at me in the face as my eyes went back to the boy with blue eyes, unremorseful of his actions. But everything happened too fast for me to save myself.

The only thing in focus now was me and the bright headlights of a fast moving truck.

Like I said, everything happened so fast and my eyes immediately fell into a pit of darkness.