WHO DUNNIT?? 2

"Looks like her....throat's been slashed"Christian's voice said softly. Bola suddenly threw up by the bed.

 "What did you do, Christian???"Victor shouted launching at him with ferocity. ".....It was you...."came Victor's enraged voice as he tried to grapple Christian's throat.

Peter stepped in just in time between the two men. "....st-st-stop this nonsense..."Peter said warding Victor off.

 Christian didn't even flinch.

".....he killed her....bastard....he always hated her!!!"

 "....everybody just relax...."Eva said in a small voice.

Bola was still on the ground,face cradled in her palms as silent tremors ran through her body.


"C-christian....where were you....?"Peter asked cautiously.

Christian's mask of calm broke....he stared at Peter as if he were a strange alien life form.

"I went out to the south balcony for a smoke....You're asking me?.....not the guy in the same room with the dead body....???"

"I...heard the steel shutters go down....she must have activated them before....."Eva's voice trailed off as her eyes settled on Victor again.

"....Before what?....what?.... you think I killed her? the love of my life?...."Victor's tear-filled and angry face said.

 "...What other explanation is there?....you were alone with her in the room .....then suddenly she turns up dead....I don't believe in coincidences"Christian said without blinking.

"You're Mad!!!"Victor charged again at him...this time,almost connecting with a hard right before Peter deflected it.

"St..stop this nonsense...."Peter spat.

 Long pause as Christian and Victor exchange glares. "S-so what happened?"Peter asked Victor.

 He maintained his glare at Christian for a few more seconds,then he spoke.

"....I went into the bathroom after we....then I heard the bathroom door shut and lock behind me.....I banged on the door ....then I heard the shutters go down...seconds later, I heard the screams."

 All eyes were on him,save for Bola's,as she still kneeling down by her best friend's dead body.

"Why would Habiba lock you in....did you guys have a fight?"Christian asked with a skeptical expression on his face.

"I don't know why she locked me in....or why she activated the shutters...."Victor said defensively.

"Your story doesn't add up,only two of you were inside this locked room"Christian said with a steady gaze.

"I didn't kill her....!!!"Victor shouted as he stared at all of them incredulously.

"Christian..is right...."Came Eva's soft voice.

"....only two of you were in the room....and the door was locked"

"....(sob)...no it wasn't "came Bola's tremor filled voice.

They all turned.

"...When I got here....(sob)....the door was....ajar.." Bola concluded without raising her eyes from Habiba's corpse.

"D-door ajar?"Peter asked cautiously.

Bola nodded.

"Did you guys.....?"Eva began

"...don't be silly,of course we kept it locked ....when we....."Victor's voice trailed off broken by sobs.

Christian didn't seem convinced.

"None of this makes any sense...."Eva said in a small voice.

" .....okay...l-lets say he's t-telling the t-truth,..that m-means...."

"....someone else did it...." Bola ominously

Long pause as they pondered on what that implied.

"Don't be ridiculous....HE killed her"Christian pointed at Victor.

"Maybe he killed her,opened the door,activated the shutters and locked himself inside the toilet and...." Christian said.

"Yea? and .........what? the key miraculously appeared there?"came Victor's sarcastic response.

"....he couldn't have..done that..... and....the key was lying far away from the door...and there's no space under the door....."Bola's voice trailed off again.

"So...who k-killed Habiba then?"Came Peter's shaky voice.

Long silence.

"B-Bola...you're the one who f-found her..." Peter continued.

Bola's eyes lit up with shock.

"How dare you accuse me?....she was my best friend....when I got here the door was ajar......!!!!"

"....or so you you say...."Christian said softly.

 Bola rose from her crouched position like an enraged bull poised for a charge.

"Are you accusing me of something, you weakling -woman-beater?"She was advancing towards him with hate in her eyes.

"No...should I be?"Christian asked with a steel look.

"D-don't accuse my g-girl friend"Peter turned to Christian.

"Why shouldn't I?....by the way,where were you?"Christian asked  Peter.

Pause.

Peter was on the verge of saying something when Eva cut in.

"I think we should all try to be calm and think this through....our friend is dead,and we can't seem to account for each other's whereabouts....."

"And the shutters are down....which means we're trapped..."Bola said softly.

"S-so we deactivate the shutters,and we call the p-p-police"Peter said.

Bola threw him a side glance that wasn't very flattering and said,

"It's only Habiba and her dad's voice that can deactivate it, you idiot"

Once again,Eva's voice cut Peter's off before  it could be heard.

"We can't stay here.......,"She said looking about fearfully.

".......Habiba's killer is with us in this room....."

"....or there's someone else in the house with us" Bola added.

The room fell silent as they all looked around themselves.

"That's impossible w-we're th-the only ones here"Peter said with a tremor in his voice.

"She's right..."Victor added.

"...This is a big house...one of the servants could have easily hidden in...."

"....so what? is this a case of a disgruntled employee?"came Bola.

"....This is bullshit, I'm calling the police"Eva said as she brought out her phone.



Seconds later, she was still staring into her phone.

"I don't have a signal"she said in an alarmed voice.

"Me neither "came Christian.

"I don't have a  signal t-too"Peter said softly.

Long pause

"what the hell is going on?"Eva said looking around nervously.

"It's the shutters....they must be messing with the phone signals....but the shutters reboot themselves every six hours"Victor said.

"And how would you know.......?"Christian asked with all the sarcasm in the world.

"....Habiba told me"His voice trailed off as he began crying again.

They all turned to stare at the dead girl.

"So you mean we're st-stuck in here f-for the next s-six hours with her?" Peter asked.

"Lets just pray the killer doesn't strike again...before then" Bola said ominously.




Eva goes over to Victor's side and places a comforting hand on his shoulder and whispers in his ear.

"what are you doing"Christian said eyeing the two of them suspiciously.

"Cut it out Christian...she's just comforting a guy who just lost his girl friend"Bola said.

"...or killed her"Christian added still staring at them.

Long pause

"L-let's  split up and search the house "Peter began.

"...you and which army?"Bola went.

"....if there's a killer on the lose,I'm not going to risk being alone with him.......Or her..."she concluded as her eyes settled on Eva.

"Really?"Eva said with a shocked expression on her face as she went into the bathroom.

"Now....where are you going??"Came Christian's alarmed response.

"...I've never been around a fresh corpse before...can I at least pee?"

She felt Christian's  infamous dark look as she went inside,but she didn't care...she'd have to find some way to avoid him for the rest of the night.She thought.

She decided then that if they were going to split up and search the house,she wasn't going with Christian.....no way.





They searched the house in two groups,Eva went with Victor(to Christian's annoyance) while Bola went with Peter.....and Christian.

They left Habiba's body on the bed....sprawled amidst bloodsoaked sheets.


Fifteen minutes later, they  are all seated in the  living room downstairs...in silence.

All through, Christian's eyes were fixed on Victor.

He clearly didn't buy Victor's "story"

"So...."Christian began.

"......Now that we know there's no one else here but us...what do we do?"

"W-we don't know that,...there m-m-may be hidden rooms or chambers in this house"Peter retorted.

"This can't be happening"Victor said in a small voice as he hid his face in his hands.



For a long time,they sat in silence,listening to the ticking of the large gold plaited clock on the far side of the room.

Bola sobbed quietly in the corner  as Peter tried to comfort her.

"Don't touch me"she warned.

Peter's hands hovered over her shoulders for a few seconds....he seemed hurt by her angry response....then he shifted away from her.

They sat in silence, each to his or her thoughts.



"I'm hungry" Christian said after almost an hour of silence.

"Really....???"Bola glared at him.

"....you can think of food at a time like this?"

"...Well I'm sorry if my timing sucks,but that's just what it is...."He said defensively.
Bola continued glaring at him.

"...em...is there any soup left?"Eva asked Bola.

Bola rolls her eyes but didn't respond.

Eva went into the kitchen.

Sounds of plates and cutlery being moved about followed


"I...I t-think I will have some t-too"Peter called out hesitantly as he cautiously eyed Bola,who at that time had an angry look on her face.

Few minutes later,Eva returned with two steaming bowls of soup on a tray.

Bola seemed oblivious to everyone around her,as she stared blankly at the floor.

Peter dug into his bowl almost immediately.

"Th-this is d-delicious"he said with a mouthful of fish.

"Don't thank me,thank your girlfriend...she made it"Eva said as she handed a bowl to Christian.

"It's d-delicious"Peter said awkwardly to Bola.

"...I didn't make it for you,....I made it for Habiba"Bola said without looking up.

"What's this?"Christian said with  scorn in his eyes.

"...It's soup,....you said you were hungry"Eva said defensively.

"...And you decided to feed him before me???"there was a rising rage in his voice.

"Christian, this isnt the time for this...we just lost our friend.....you said you were hungry and....."

But before she could finish,Christian violently knocked the tray out of her grasp.

The bowl and it's contents were flung across the room crashing into the nearest wall.

"...Don't you ever talk back at me again,you hear me???"Christian shouted ,as he rose to his feet with clenched fists.

Eva backed away fearfully.

"Leave her alone"Victor said rising to his feet also.

"Typical! you think I don't see the way you look at her???"Christian said advancing towards Victor.

"G-guys...!"came Peter's voice.

But suddenly, it seemed he couldn't speak.He put his hand to his throat as weird choking sounds emanated from his mouth.His eyes were red.

"Peter,what's wrong?"came Bola's alarmed voice.

His bloodshot eyes stared her.But all that came from his mouth were the choking sounds.
All eyes were on him now.

"What's wrong with him??"Eva said with terror in her face.

"What did you do...?...what did you give my boy boy friend???"Bola's alarmed yell rang out at Eva.

".....I only gave him the soup..YOU prepared."Eva retorted.

More choking sounds.

Peter tried to rise from his seat,but crashed into the floor with a loud thud.

He continued to hold on to his throat.

"My God!Peter whats wrong???"Bola shouted.

More choking sounds.

Then suddenly he was still.

"What's wrong with him?...is he epileptic or something???" For the first time,there was fear in Christian's voice.

"Peter!!!"Bola was screaming as she shook the limp form on the floor.

He wasn't moving.

"What the hell did you do???.....you poisoned him!!!!"Bola screamed at the top of her lungs.

"I...I only gave him the food you cooked....I swear!!!"Eva pleaded.

All eyes suddenly turned to her as she fearfully looked about herself.......she was terrified.

"No.... I didn't...you cooked the food!" Eva retorted with tears forming in her eyes.

....to be continued

LIFE IS A CHOICE MY FRIEND
SO CHOOSE WISELY
ENOUGH SAID.






                      SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Would you like to be a hero or a villain? A character in one of my stories... All you have to do is,
follow us on twitter @opustjkwrites
like our facebook page www.facebook.com/opustjkwrites
subscribe to our bbm channel C004A948B

Then on the channel, you drop a comment telling me what genre you would want to feature in.

Don't forget to share with your friends.