CHAPTER ELEVEN

SABELLA'S POV

The helicopter stopped in an unknown country , which I later found out to be south Africa , the men drove us to a mini secluded area , there were no many houses , we were told to submit our cell phones.

I couldn't refuse , they were armed , I wasn't. Whoever sent them must be wealthy I concluded, we were driven to an unknown building , it was a desolated house situated in the middle of nowhere. I think they were trying to avoid been tracked , who were there running from . I would think of that later , right now all I could comprehend was the fact that , I was out of Nigeria, away from santiago and the throbbing ache in my head. The house looked more like a warehouse , the ware house was built with bricks, and a weird type of roofing sheets , it looked more like a woven metal ,made solely for the purpose of design rather than being a roof top , we were walked through a cracked door at the back of the house , this left me wondering why they didn't use the front , my mother was right behind me.

The room is quite dusty , spacious and suprisingly designed with a lot of artworks, there were frames of different animals , there was one I loved, it was a picture of a tired looking chimpanzee holding it's child tightly to her chest , it spoke volumes of emotions, if an animal had the capacity of giving such love , what could possibly be our excuse as humans not to . My eyes wandering further , it caught something, something of dire interest , it aroused my fear and suspicions, it was the picture of my necklace, the only priceless possession my father gave me before dying , moving closer to the frame to be sure of what I had seen , I saw the inscription of his name on it , it was there , "Gomez".

I touched my neck confirming whether i still had it , it was there , thank goodness. I quickly shoved the keyshaped pendant underneath the collar of my top , I had a casual T-necked top and jean on, whoever this is , must be after something, me , my mother , or anything , at this point I was paranoid.

Who would want a piece of old rusted metal as this , "here eat this, we have a long day ahead, we would be flying to Canada tomorrow morning, it would be in your best interest to finish that " the shorter guard with a soldier coloured dungaree said flipping two plates of food towards us . I had too much urge to resist , but my stomach betrayed me by making the loudest rumble in history, as though having read my thoughts the man turned and smiled at me .

I handed one of the plates to my mother , acting on direct impulse she jumped on it almost immediately, i didn't wait for a second more . It tasted so good , it was coincidentally my favourite , fried rice and grilled pork, " where did you get this?" I questioned no one in particular, all I got was a stern glare.

After few minutes we were done , our plates were cleared , we were given two bottles of water, we were quite too well for hostages, and this made me worried. When I finally meet this man tomorrow, my fate would be decided and I would know the next line for action to take , not like I had any say.

I was handed a make shift pillow to lie on the cushion and my mother was taken to the other room,where I could see a bed , shutting my mind from the litany of activities of the past few days I fell into a troubled sleep , after hours of disturbing sleep , it was morning. Hurdling my mother over his shoulder , the other dragged me up forcefully, I was hurting but at the same time grateful that my mum got a better treatment.

We were taken to a large clearing with an entry which resembles a runway, there was a waiting jet , looking at my mother I climbed in with resolution, I had never been in a flight my whole life, when I was much younger , my father always went on business trips across Nigeria, but he never took me along no matter how I cried , he always said something about protecting me , he owned two jets and many other investments I never saw till santiago whisked everything away.

My mum was sound asleep when we got to Canada, I tapped her gently on the shoulder, opening her eye one after the other, trying to adjust to daylight, "where are we?", "Canada " was all I said , that was all I knew. There was a lexus waiting for us at the terminal, two armed looking men in uniforms were at the front , I and my mother sat at the back seat. I could see the glamorous view of the city from where I sat , the view was breathtaking , I couldn't take my eyes off the road , this was totally opposite of Nigeria, back at home we had a comfortable apartment but a different environment outside the interior streets of mushin in lagos , the area could be described as trenches , there were water logged gutters in almost every street and roundabouts, with swans of flies , a gushing sharp smell, and you would see beggars roaming the streets . It was polar opposites here , everything seemed in place, raging from the serene peaceful environment to the outmost beauty and the individual comportment of how everyone went about their business.

The cozy long ride came to stop as we approached a large estate, it looked like the presidential Aso Rock back in Nigeria, the gate swung open after the horning of our car , the car came to a halt in the parking lot, I saw five other cars , of which I knew the names of only four , a black lamborghini, black bugatti veyron , a red rolls royce and an ash SUV, "who is this son of a filthy rich bastard" I cried under my breath. We were asked into the house , getting inside I stood mouth agape , staring in bewilderment at the instant breathtaking sight I was facing, the chandeliers looked so beautiful and expensive , so were the seats , looking forward I saw the dinning room, the table was a transparent large squared glass table , the seats were glass coloured with a breach of lemonade design.

"Hi good day miss , you must be isabella, and you're Mrs grace" said a voice from behind me , turning back , I came face with a middle age lady , of my mother's age with an extremely sweet voice .

"Yes ma, good day ma'am" I replied immediately

"It's okay call me Mary, I'm in charge of the house runnings , I would introduce you to the other lady I work with , Joan"

An elderly lady although younger than Mary came through the other door, "hi joan , nice to meet you "

" The boss has been talking about you two since days now , I hope you would enjoy your stay here " she said smiling. Ace spoke about me ? , Waw! I thought loud .

" I hope so too, talking about him where is he , I mean Ace"