Sacred Oaths

EPISODE 3: A STRANGE MAN.

We both took to our heels at once, panicking as the gunshots became louder, nonstop. Although Ijeoma was the first to take off, I got inside before her, and I locked the door the moment she came in. We were both scared.

We were still catching our breaths when a knock came at the door.

Ijeoma looked at me, and I looked back at her. Her once gleeful face which had been bubbling with smiles and laughter had suddenly turned pale. I could sense immense fear and anxiety all over her. She was practically trembling and sweating profusely. So was I.

The knock came again, frightening us even more.

"Who's there?" I called out with fear.

"Help me please," a masculine voice responded swiftly. "I need your help!"

"Who are you?"

"Please help me, or I'll die here!" He muttered. "Please!"

I looked at Ijeoma for confirmation, but she shook her head vehemently, leaving me confused.

"Please, for God's sake. Please!" He kept on begging pitifully. "Please!"

I looked at Ijeoma again, and this time around, after some hesitation, she nodded in approval, so I quickly opened the door for him.

Honestly, I was so shocked to see the man at my doorstep. He was also shocked, probably even more than I was, judging from his odd facial expression.

"Be quick!" I told him, and he hopped in hastily. Then I shut the door and locked it with alacrity.

He smelt like he had just fallen into a gutter. He smelt awful. His hair was also bushy!

We all stayed motionless for a brief moment, staring at each other's faces with uncertainty but then, all of a sudden, another knock came again. It was loud.

The unknown guy gave us a weird sign as he ran into my bathroom. I heard the doorknob click twice, which undoubtedly meant that he had locked it from behind.

Just then, another knock came again, much louder than the first. Ijeoma was vibrating rapidly as I was sweating profusely. However, I opened the door slowly to see three macho guys all dressed in black outfits with guns, axes and machetes in their hands.

"Did anybody come in here?" The middle man with the fiercest face among them all, asked me harshly.

"N... No," I stammered, frightened.

"Are you sure?"

"Ye... yes."

He searched my eyes for a moment as though he didn't believe me.

"Let me check," he said and pushed me aside, and entered. My heartbeat intensified instantly. He looked around very slowly and saw Ijeoma shivering fearfully behind me, and then placed his gaze on me again.

After confirming that we were both alone, he went out quietly, made a strange gesture at his dreadful men, and then they all left. I locked the door immediately, and then the unknown guy came out with a sweaty face and messy clothes.

"Are they all gone?"

I nodded, but he still went to the door and peeped through the keyhole to confirm it.

"Hmm. I guess they're truly gone." He finally breathed with relief, giving me a hand. "Thank you very much!"

"Were they after you?" I ignored his outstretched hand on purpose.

"Yes," he replied, keeping his hand down.

"Why?" Ijeoma asked with curiosity evident in her voice.

"I don't know. I was just coming back from school and they started chasing me for no reason." He said.

Ijeoma looked at me, and I gave her the same knowing look, because it was obvious that he was lying to us.

"Do you have any weapon on you?" I asked, and he shook his head in plain denial.

"In that case, raise your hands up!" I said and then went to search him properly, just to be sure. He was truly clean with nothing implicative as I had assumed at first. I could only find his phone and wallet in both sides of his back pockets.

"How come you have blood stains all over your body, though?" Ijeoma asked, still finding it hard to believe his cock and bull story.

"I was cut on my way, while I was running away from them," he answered and showed us the wound as a solid proof. "See?"

Ijeoma and I quickly exchanged glances, with our mouths agape.

She pulled me to a corner, away from him.

"What do we do now?" She asked, concerned. "He's bleeding."

"I don't know. I don't trust him."

"I don't trust him either, but he needs our help. He's in a very bad condition."

Sighing, I faced him. I saw him remove his bloodstained shirt, and then he squeezed it and started dabbing it on the wound on his lower abdomen. He poured a little bit of saliva on the wound and rubbed it gently. He didn't even notice that I was watching him at all.

"Gross. How do we help him?" I asked, feeling prompted to render any form of assistance I could offer to him.

"We have some antibiotics inside of my house and a first-aid kit too. We'll need to stitch up the wound." Ijeoma said. "My mom is a nurse, and I've seen her do it before, countless times. I'm certain I can do it as well."

"Okay, bring them over. I'll stay here and watch him."

"Alright. Be careful." She said as she left with haste.

Ijeoma soon returned with the medicine and the required tools, and then we began our work on him. Soon, we were done, and then we offered him food but he declined it politely. He only took a cup of water from us, after which he had his bath and changed into a pair of unisex trousers and a T-shirt I had given him.

Ijeoma even went the extra mile by doing something that I'd never do for a total stranger in my life. She was kind enough to wash his clothes and hanged them outside to dry.

And for some inexplicable reason, the strange guy refused to talk to us or say anything about himself until sunset, when he packed his clothes, thanked us immensely and then sneaked out through the back door as quietly as possible, like a ghost in the shadows.