Hunter walked hurriedly along the college alleyway. He was certain the events that had recently been taking place would be the death of him.
Cussing, he raked his fingers through his disheveled hair. What was he going to do now? He had offered to give Kelly a ride before he saw the thugs who had been after him for days. He cooked up stories, and handed over his keys to Kelly so that he could drive back into the college.
Where was Kelly now? Had he returned his car safely to his dorm? There was no sign of Kelly, so Hunter wondered if he had run like a cheetah and outran his car.
"What do I do now? Where to go?" Hunter pondered. His dorm room was no longer a safe place. What would Bradley do or think of him when he saw those thugs after him.
His addictions had cost him more pain than joy. It had ripped off his life purpose; nothing about life excited him again. He had used up his allowances on his addictions. Sometimes, he even stole from his brother. He didn't know if his brother noticed. If he did, he didn't speak about it, and Hunter was thankful that Bradley didn't speak of it. If not, guilt would have washed over him that he would have been forced to spill out everything to his brother. He couldn't afford to do that anytime soon.
He remembered his brother's remark about the people with his kind of addiction. That was before he became a Christian. What about now? Did Bradley still think the same way?
From the little he had been able to hear and learn about Christianity, anyone who was a Christian wasn't meant to condemn his fellow human being, no matter what the person had done. Surely his brother would not condemn or hate him.
Still, he couldn't help the chill that ran down his spine each time he thought of his brother knowing all about his addictions. What of Avery, Mandy, Skylar, Anne-Marie? Ryan was totally out of the picture. What of Ayo and Ifes? Megan was the last person he would seek as regards to this matter.
Love had failed him. They say love triumphs over all things, but it didn't, at least, not for Hunter.
"Call your brother now!" He heard a voice bellowing in his heart.
Instead of giving in to impulse, Hunter decided to first give it a second thought. How would he start narrating the whole ordeal to Bradley? Will he understand? How would he react after hearing the truth? He would probably hear something like, "You are such a mess, Hunter! I'm so ashamed to call you my brother. Just get out of my life. I never want to see you again!" So, what was the need of calling Bradley? Things would only get more messed up and he didn't want that.
A voice kept yelling in Hunter's head and heart. "Whether you tell Bradley or not, you are still gonna die when those thugs catch up with you. So, why not tell him everything? He deserves to know."
Hunter reasoned with the voice in his head.
He had been going to Mr. Master, even when he didn't have money in his pocket. Now he owed the man an amount that could rebuild the whole University of Pennsylvania. Okay, that was an exaggeration.
Hunter reached out for his phone in his side pocket, and remembered he had given it to Mr. Master the last time he went over. He had asked him to keep the phone in order to reassure him that he would return with his money.
"What do I do? I don't have a phone with me. Think, Hunter, think," he chanted. But his mind was blank.
Hunter saw someone's silhouette walking towards him. He focused on the figure now moving closer to him and recognised him to be one of the thugs he met earlier.
He whirled around to run back to the direction he was coming from, when he saw another figure behind him.
Two other guys appeared from nowhere. In no time, they surrounded him like hunting lionesses who had caught their prey.
Okay, he was going to die today! That thought dreaded him. "Please!" Hunter fell to his knees and began to beg. "I swear, I'm not running with your money, please!"
"Be quiet!" one of the thugs said and hit him with a metal on his cheek. Hunter began to bleed through his mouth.
"So, Mister Hunter, ya think ya could run away from us. Ya saw us coming' and handed over your keys to that poor boy. Well, thanks to ya he's fighting for his life now."
Hunter winced upon hearing those words. "What have you done to Kelly?"
And what had he also done? He had risked someone's life to save himself. Just how evil and cynical was he?
Hunter could only hope that nothing would happen to Kelly. If not, he would never forgive himself.
"Wh–what did, did you do t-to him?" Hunter stammered.
"We did almost what we would have done to ya and get done with our business."
-----
"Go towards the eastern college gate!" a voice whispered to Ryan.
"But why?" Ryan tried to resist the voice. He didn't hear anything again, but he could not resist the urge that he felt. The urgency that came with the whisper was eating deep on him, and it sent chills down his spine. "Alright, alright! I will go!"
As Ryan scurried towards the eastern college gate, he kept looking out for any signs that he might see. Everywhere was beginning to get dark. He could use the help of a torch light. Did he have any? And why exactly was he making this trip to the gate?
As he continued walking closer to the gate, he began hearing muffled voices. He paused in his tracks, trying to carefully scan the environment. The interactions from the muffled voices clearly showed that someone was under attack by some thugs.
Ryan continued drawing closer to the direction the voices were coming from, and immediately gasped at the sight. Hunter was at the mercy of some hoodlums.