Dynasty

The full moon shone over the cool waters of the Indian Ocean giving it a magnificent sapphire reflection that pleased the eyes of any mortal. The seasonal Monsoon winds cooled the heated atmosphere of the tropical climate in the coastal city which created an aura of serenity. This cool breeze was preceded by a relaxing whooshing sound which filtered off the depressing noises of old rickety car engines making the Western beach the place to be that Friday night. However, the beauty offered by mother-nature was later muffled by the ongoing activities of the beach party hosted by a group of campus students.

The clean air of the beach was filled with toxic smoke from the bonfires while the sound of the breeze was replaced by loud electronic house music that was being played by the DJs. Red beer cups and sweaty bodies of wasted youths filled the beach in which some were dancing to the rhythm of the music, others were making out in the water, others were high on weed but one peculiar girl sat under a secluded palm tree. She had a light skin tone, short hair and wore a pair of rectangular spectacles. Unlike her colleagues who were in bikinis, swimsuits and see-through dresses, this girl wore a pair of baggy sweatpants and an oversized hoodie which made her look so unique. Her eyes were glued to her phone, her ears were fixated on the music playing in her earphones while her lips were silently moving without making a sound. This continued for a while till someone shouted her name.

“Why did you even come to this party if you’re just going to stare at your phone all night?” Miley asked Jenna.

“You forced me to come here, remember?” Jenna replied.

“Jenna, you spend all your time with your nose buried in books. You’ve never tried alcohol, never smoked, and never even kissed a boy. I brought you here so you can let loose and have some fun tonight,” Miley said.

“I don’t drink or smoke, and I won’t sleep with a guy unless we’re engaged,” Jenna replied, to which Miley scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Jenna my dear, life isn’t a Disney fairytale. So you’re going to get up, take some beer, flirt with some boy then wake up tomorrow morning, totally naked, without the slightest idea of what happened the previous night,” said Miley full of confidence.

“I fail to understand how any of that is a good thing,” said Jenna.

“Sex is fun and trust me, once a fully grown man is inside you, all nerves in your body conduct some glorious electrical surge that is just out of this world. And you, my friend, have a killer body. If I wasn’t straight, I’d be all over you. Come on, let’s go have some fun,” Miley said, tugging at Jenna’s arm.

“Miley, wait,” said Jenna. “Lucy Jasmine Imara has gone live,” Jenna added while still looking at her phone.

“What does the princess of Cuidad del Mar want this time,” Miley scoffed.

“Hi guys. Hope you had a wonderful week. So tomorrow is my mom’s birthday and as you know, she can be a little bit cranky. Anyway, I was thinking of the best gift to buy her. Any ideas? Coz I’m stuck. Let answers come in the comment section,” said Lucy Jasmine Imara in her Instagram live feed.

“Damn, girl has gotten five thousand likes in just fifteen seconds,” Jenna whispered.

“She’s an Imara, what do you expect? Why are you even obsessed with that family anyway?” Miley asked Jenna.

“The Imara family practically owns this whole city. This beach used to belong to Dr. Shawn Imara, but he graciously opened it to the public. I admire their success and Dr. Imara is a particular role model of mine. He’s a world-class surgeon, a billionaire, and has a beautiful family,” Jenna said with a smile.

“Well, I’m pretty sure Shawn Imara doesn’t sit under a palm tree when he is invited to a party,” said Miley but Jenna didn’t say anything.

“Oh look, most people think a deera is the best gift for Lucy’s mother,” said Jenna scrolling the comment section. “You have to admit that Lucy is an epitome of African beauty. Just look at that face,” said Jenna in awe.

“Come on Jenna, she’s an Imara. She’s super rich meaning she can buy the most expensive beauty products on Earth. Are you going to join me and the boys or you’ll sit here drooling over everyone in the Imara family?” Miley asked, sounding upset.

“What are those,” Jenna asked, pointing at the ocean.

“If distraction is the tactic you’ll use to evade the plans I have then you better start formulating another scheme,” giggled Miley.

“No, what are those things floating on the water,” Jenna asked once again in a serious tone.

Miley turned her head and saw two bodies being washed to the shore. The surrounding water mixed with blood and upon keen observation, they noticed that the bodies were not moving. Out of shock and curiosity, the two girls ran towards the bodies and met one of the nastiest shocks of their lives. The bodies had parts of the gut eviscerating from a cut wound but what was worse was that the victims were actually their classmates

“SOMEBODY HELP!” Jenna shouted.

Her cries for help stopped everything that was going on at the beach and within no time, a multitude of people surrounded the two dead bodies. Some threw up at the site of human intestines, others looked away in disgust, others (especially the ladies) sobbed uncontrollably while others like Jenna stood in shock.

“I think we should call the police,” Miley suggested.

“The police? Miley, we are Westerners, the police don’t care about us. Even if we did call them they’d take hours to come here,” said one boy within the crowd.

“What about Dr. Shawn Imara? His cellphone number is on his Instagram page. All I have to do is to dial the number.” said Jenna but everyone seemed so shocked by her idea.

The sound of approaching seaboats stole the attention of the young kids and for a moment, everyone had a sigh of relief but they soon realized that those were not the coast guard. People in black jaguar masks holding assault rifles dispersed the frightened crowd by carelessly firing bullets. The first few bullets landed on Miley’s head which killed her instantly and as the others were making a run for it, some other pickup trucks with men in similar outfits blocked the exit points of the beach. The armored men randomly shot anyone who was standing which heightened the fear of anyone who attended that party. Jenna, being a short girl, was accidentally knocked by one of her colleagues and her glasses fell off. This led to some visual impairment that slowed her movement in addition to the deafening blasts of gunshots. She eventually stumbled on a dead body and fell on the blood-stained sand. She tried to find her way but couldn’t clearly see features that were right in front of her. Therefore, she tried to stay unseen by stealthily crawling on the sand amidst the ongoing battlefield. Sadly, as she was crawling, she noticed a blurred figure of a human standing in-front of her. She tried to squint her eyes to see her assailant but her eyes failed her. She therefore tried to crawl away but those strong arms grabbed her weak, feeble legs and pulled her closer.

“What’s your name,” asked a masculine voice as he squatted to have a better view of the girl.

J-j-Jenna,” she stammered in fear.

“Well Jenna,” said the man in a rather soft tone. “I want you to convey a message to the Imaras,” he added.

“I’ll do anything,” she gulped in fear.

“Tell them game on,” said the man.

“Ok,” she added in fear. “I will look for them,” Jenna said, trembling.

“Jenna my dear, you won’t find them, they will find you,” said the masked man.

“B-b-but I’m just a low-class nobody,” Jenna stammered.

“You will be Shawn Imara’s high profile patient,” said the man, sounding amused.

“But I’m not sick,” Jenna started to say before a knife was driven through her chest, causing excruciating pain.

“Now you are sick,” said the masked man.

The Eastern side of Cuidad del Mar was the exact antonym of the West. Unlike the West, the East was filled with rich and powerful people. Top brand cars such as Mercedes, Ferraris, Audis, Bugattis, BMWs and Lamborghinis filled the towering six lane highway. High class skyscrapers were all over the city which gave that side of the city a magnificent view especially at night. Furthermore, the few pedestrians on the road were always in expensive designer clothes and they were either going to one of the fancy malls or waiting for a loved one to pick them up in a classy sports car. However, the main feature that placed the East of Cuidad del Mar on one of the pages of the Forbes magazine was the fact that it was home to the Imara family. The members of that rich and powerful family not only lived in the city but they owned almost everything in that side of the city. The malls, five star hotels, roads and some of the universities had the crest of the Imara family (a silver jaguar) at the entrance or embedded somewhere within the building. Similarly Dr. Shawn Imara had total control of the ports while his big brother, Jefferson Imara, owned all of the estates in the area.

Dr. Shawn Imara was a tall African man with a well built body. He was wearing black scrubs which revealed his V-shaped body. His round face housed tall dark hair with a fade haircut, dark eyes, well trimmed sideburns and a goatee that gave him a quite handsome look. His daily workout routine at the gym gave him a wide chest and a good set of hypertrophic muscles that were threatening to tear some of his white Louis Vuitton shirts. His muscular left forearm had a large roaring wolf tattoo that gave him a hot but intimidating appearance especially when coupled with his insane net worth. However, despite his intimidating features, his wife always found a way of silencing him. He was having a chat with the woman he loved while still in his office which was at the topmost floor of the tallest building in St.Agnes referral hospital.

“Does it really have to be tomorrow? “ Shawn complained to his wife on the phone

“You really want to miss Genevieve’s birthday for some stupid football game,” Lexi replied in a British accent.

“It is not just a football match, it’s Manchester United against Liverpool at Anfield, it’s quite a big game,” said Shawn.

“Remember what happened last year when you decided to forget my birthday?” Lexi asked.

“Yeah, how can I forget,” said Shawn.

“Good, you remember. If you miss that party, things will be far worse than last year,” said Lexi in a sweet tone.

“. . . . .and if you behave, I will be a good girl after that party,” she added in a seductive tone.

“Ok I’m in,” Shawn rapidly replied.

“That is why I love you,” giggled Lexi. “Now, make sure you bring gifts. Don’t buy her dresses, Lucy will do that tomorrow morning. Look for something else,” Lexi suggested.

“I will. Anyway, what’s my baby girl wearing this evening,” Shawn asked.

“Are we supposed to pretend we can’t hear the two of you!!” yelled a feminine voice from Lexi’s side of the call.

“Florence, go to your room,” said Lexi.

Shawn wanted to contribute to the family drama but he was called by the nurses in his hospital to the emergency room. Therefore, he informed his wife of the emergency, went downstairs, rushed to the ER and found multiple young adults brought in by ambulances with gunshot wounds. Some of them were just between life and death, others were already brain dead but most of them died in the ambulances. The ones who were still alive were managed by the doctors in the ER but the blood loss were just too much, and most, if not all died in the ER

“What happened to them?” Shawn asked one of the paramedics.

“They were having a party at the Western beach then some unknown people attacked them,” said one of the paramedics

“INCOMING!!” yelled another paramedic bringing a patient.

“There’s more of them?!” Shawn asked in shock.

“Twenty-two year old female with a stab wound to the anterior chest. She was intubated in the field, sats at 89 and dropping, 1 liter of Ringer’s Lactate was given during transport and has a GCS of 8,” said the paramedic.

“I want a quick chest X-ray, transfuse O neg blood and tell my surgical team to prepare for a thoracotomy,” Shawn ordered.

“Doc, she kept on saying game on before we intubated her. Does that mean anything to you?” asked the paramedic.

“No, she’s probably in shock. Patients in shock are often confused,” said Shawn looking at the X-ray taken as they were talking.

“Massive hemothorax, the knife punctured her lung. I’ll take her to the theater for surgery,” said Shawn, pushing the patient to the elevator but as he did that, the girl firmly grabbed his tattooed forearm and looked him straight in the eye. She tried to talk to Shawn but the endotracheal tube hindered any form of speech. She then opted to use signs but her body was just too weak to move any other muscle, therefore, she laid motionless on the stretcher looking at Shawn, hoping that he could at least talk to her but her hopes were crushed by the drugs pumped into her body that knocked her out.

“Let the surgery begin,” said Shawn.