She looked towards the door and noticed it wasn’t locked. She was surprised at that. She was supposed to be a convicted person already sentenced to death and to be executed that day, so it felt odd that they didn’t lock the door to prevent her from trying to escape.


She sat still on the floor, thinking about the Nefary Clan and how she was going to miss the girls. Even though they had been warned severally against it, the girls still grew attached to each other. She thought about what death would feel like, will she be translated into another realm of life like she had been made to believe before been brought to the Nefary Clan or was death just the end and nothing else after? She couldn’t tell, only after she died will she find the answer to her questions.

She rose up and proceeded towards the door. She opened it slowly, trying not to make any sound and peeped out. The corridor was empty but she could hear footsteps approaching again, this time it sounded like the pointed part of a lady’s heels. She closed back the door lightly and hid behind it trying to see through the tiny line between the door and the frame.
A knock sounded on the door and she shifted back shakily, afraid that she had been discovered. ‘Do not waste my time any longer, come out and follow me now,’ a lady’s voice sounded at the door and soon the footsteps began to fade away in the other direction. She opened the door and stepped out into the corridor to be sure she was the one being talked to. Then she saw a tall lady corporately dressed in the Englishman’s style, walking towards the exit at the left side of the corridor. ‘Follow me,’ the lady turned sharply and snapped. Tara hurried after her immediately.


After two minutes walk, she was led into another section of the building which looked modern compared to the other parts. It had the floors expensively tiled and the walls neatly painted and decorated. The doors and windows were made of transparent sliding glasses and they opened automatically as they got to them. The atmosphere smelt nice and the whole place was fully air conditioned. The last time Tara entered into that kind of environment was nine years ago in Ikeja, the capital of Lagos in Nigeria. She found it hard to believe that somewhere like that existed in the Nefary Clan’s city.
Tarasha took a look at herself and discovered that she was looking too odd for such an environment. The lady who was leading her was putting on a black trouser suit and had her hair neatly plaited. Tara could also perceive the strong scent of her perfume as they walked on.
They entered into a place which was neatly arranged as a living room and seated on one of the sofas was another smartly dressed lady, she rose up immediately she saw them enter and proceeded towards Tara’s guide with an Android phone. Tara couldn’t but open her mouth in surprise, that was her first time of seeing a mobile phone after several years.
‘Marie Wayne speaking,’ Tara’s guide said into the phone she collected from the other lady. She left Tara standing and sank into one of the sofas comfortably, crossing her legs.
Tara was amazed as she beheld the beauty of the Lady sitting before her. She recognized her to be one of the junior queens she saw sitting with the mother Queen at midnight but her beauty then could not be compared to what could be seen now. She did not just look like a goddess in human skin but also spoke and acted like one.


‘He’ll be dead before nine o’clock tonight,’ she said into the phone before hanging up. She uncrossed her legs and then looked up at the lady they met in the living room, ‘Here’s the girl, go dress her up.’ she said.


The other lady nodded courteously and turned, motioning Tara to follow her.
‘Rulian, what’s up man?’ Tara could hear the woman sitting speaking to someone else on phone. ‘C’mon you dog, It’s Tarasha.’ Omotara tried to listen even as she followed the lady leading her out of the living room. She wondered why the queen in the living room was referring to herself as Tarasha when it was supposed to be the name for the Mother Queen.
‘She’s not more than sixteen years old, I want the three of you to bang her mercilessly until she bleeds to death.’

Omotara stopped in shock as she heard those last words, wondering if she was the one being talked about. Fear gripped her mind for the first time since she heard her death sentence, she wasn’t afraid to die but dying the way the junior Queen had chosen for her was definitely not going to be an easy experience.
…