The Monster You’ve Made

WARNING ! ! !

Everyone is a suspect…

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Trust carefully.

Love cautiously.

Survive at every cost.

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For your own good.

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THIS IS NOT A LOVE STORY.

Friday, October 13th, 2028. 10:38 a.m

My first thought when I woke was–

'I'm not on my bed.'

I wasn't ready for the shock that faced me when I opened my eyes.

Blood.

There was blood everywhere.

On my hands.

My outfit.

On the floor.

A kitchen knife in my left hand was also covered in blood.

I panicked and threw the knife away.

“This isn’t real!” I muttered.

I closed my eyes silently praying it was a nightmare.

The once perfect oak wood table was broken.

A lifeless body was lying on it; there was splashes of blood on most of the furniture and tiles floor.

Yet.

The strangest thing…

No blood-stained footprint.

There was a broken champagne bottle on the floor with two champagne glasses on the entrance of the slightly ajar door of the living room; almost like someone dropped it there.

I tried to stand up, when a sharp pain hits me at the back of my head, I yank off my wig and touch the back of my head.

Blood.

But the wound isn’t deep.

I sigh in relief. I stand up now and stare down at my outfit, it was covered in blood too.

Ugh!

You may be wondering why I'm not freaking out, am I right?…I am.

I'm not a psychopath. I'm a thirty one year old criminal case lawyer, hence this isn't my first time seeing a scene like this.

But this is the first time it's happening to me.

I was panicking.

"Shit. Where am I?" I ask myself.

My hands are trembling as I search my pocket for my phone.

When I find it, I drop the knife in my hand in disgust.

I try to dial a number then memories of last night hit me.

I was to meet with Dr. George Nicholas Adesokan and Ngozi to celebrate her bachelorette for her wedding next week.

When I arrived in the living room, I felt a sharp sting on my nape, I was attacked and hit with something hard on the head, before I blacked out the last thing I saw was a pair of heels.

"That doesn't make sense" I say to myself, as I stop from dialing the number.

I walk over to the dead body, when I turn the body over, the face I saw drained all the blood in my system, my phone slipped from my hand and fell to the floor.

"Dr. Nicholas?" I murmur, as my knee gave out.

I crawl back, away from the body.

My whole body was trembling.

I took deep breaths to calm myself down.

So many thoughts are going through my mind right now.

'Who killed him? What for? Why frame me?'

I force myself to be calm but then it hit me.

"I'm now a murder suspect" I tell myself, my calm composure shatters.

I quickly rush to my phone but then I pause in thought.

'Who can I call in this situation? Who will trust me or believe me?'

"Tochukwu" I gasp his name, my lips break into smile, but it fades; as I remember that terrible argument we had back at his place the last time we saw each other.

I hold my breath as I dial his number, half doubting–half hoping he picks. He doesn’t.

Of course he doesn’t, being the petty man that he is.

I try again. Five more times before he finally picks.

"Hello?" Tochukwu answers in a husky voice, he was probably still asleep.

I bite my tongue to stop myself from crying.

"Vicky, you had better start talking or I'm hanging up on you right–"

"Wait!" I call out, I scratch my head to think.

'What should I say? How do I tell him?' I wondered.

"Well…?" He answers impatiently.

"I need your help Tochi, aba’anya le'm nsobu (I’m in trouble)" I cry.

I heard him sigh, "Where are you?" He asked.

I could hear the ruffles of his bed sheets.

"Dr. Nicholas's home" I answer, crying.

“How are you there? Why did you go there?” He asks suspiciously

Shit.

“That’s not important right now, I don’t remember what happened but I think I hurt my head” I said, crying.

"Calm down. I'm on my way right now. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

I shake my head even though I know he can't see me.

"No I'm okay...but there's a dead body here Tochukwu.

"Chi'm...chere'm (My God…wait for me) , okay?"

I nod my head. Again.

"Hurry, I'm scared."

He hangs up.

In the next hour, there is a banging on the door, my heart leaped not in joy but in utter fear. I was trembling to my bones, I force myself to stand up, I cross over the dead body, walk to the door and open it a crack.

When I see Tochukwu's face, I calm down, but my heart skips a familiar beat.

I open the door wide, he walks in, move past me; His eyes flicked over the room once—blood, angle, position.

By the time he looked back at me, he already knew something was wrong.

I lock the door behind me but I don't move from it. He turns to face me

"You are going to start talking." Tochukwu said quietly.

My eyes tear up. I shrug and shake my head vehemently.

"I don't know. I swear I don't, I woke up and he was like that."

Tochukwu stares at me, his face blank. He was thinking about whether to believe me or not.

"Tochukwu I swear on my dead parents grave, I didn't do it. You have to believe me please! You're the only person I can trust" I beg him, quite desperately.

"Victoria it's not that easy and you should know this, you're a Criminal case lawyer for God’s sake!” He looks me dead in the eyes and says, “you're a murder suspect now–I can't just let you go!"

"And I'm not asking you to. I called you here to turn myself in, I want you to get someone to run this case for me. Get me a good defense lawyer."

"You're crazy. What if you end up going to jail?" He asked quietly, just watching me as if looking for a reaction.

"What do you expect me to do?! Run?! Live the rest of my days as a fugitive?!" I retorted, my voice sharp.

I sigh, "I'm sorry, it's just... when I returned, I vowed to you I'd never run again, and I meant every word." I confessed, taking his hands in mine.

“It's not fair," he whispered, his voice barely audible, "I just got you back."

I felt my eyes well up

This wasn't the time for tears.

"I know. I know," I said, with a calm I didn't feel at all, "but running away won't solve anything, Tochi." He looked away

“Hey, look at me."

He did.

"I am innocent, and I will prove it in court. Now, call the police."

He growled and turned his back to me. He retrieved his phone and called the police.

One singular thing gnaws my mind, as the police and forensic team come into the room to take the body away and take pictures of the crime scene.

As I'm being arrested and led away.

'Who knew I was meeting with Dr.Nicholas last night? Who knew the exact time I would arrive? Who is so smart to frame me and leave the scene undetected?'

There was one person who could do this severe crime and frame me so easily…but that doesn’t make sense.

Why now?