“The nation worked hard to handle the rebels, trusted her so much, they held her to the skies, the height she would have to fall-”

“To the skies? Worked to repel rebels?” she scoffed. “Oh little Jun, there were no rebels.” he could hear the metal hinges being unscrewed from her side, causing him to hurriedly feel round the door. Wasn’t such a hinge to be on his side? As she unscrewed nails, he moved to feel for what she did on the other side. Suddenly, the wall beside the door was ripped from its sides. He blanked slightly. Not the door hinges? He panicked and kicked the wall and with it, the person on the other side. Not bothering to find out her state after his kick, he dashed across the kitchen dragging his injured leg. As he ran, he could feel his blood as it pumped in his ears.

He could not hear anyone following him behind, yet he did not stop. He was injured and she was not; he did not dare to stop. He was not sure where he was running to, as he took a sharp turn just in time for a knife to fly past his face nicking his ear in the process. He ducked and slide behind a wall, crouching down to make himself less visible. In the silence, he could hear her footsteps on the creaking floor boards.

“Come out, Jun. Don’t make this harder.” she said and he froze, slowing his breathing as much as he could. That she had talked meant she too could not see well in the dark. She must have been following the noise he made as he ran. As he tried to make as little noise as possible, he realized her accent was odd.

“You can’t fight me, they could not; you can’t.” she said and he opened his mouth to ask when he froze. He must be stupid. She too must also think him stupid to play at his curious mind. That is why she was talking. He would not be able to hold down his curiosity and will talk giving away his position. His blood chilled at the thought of how well she knew him.

“That night, they came just like I did. Not rebels, Jun. the government. They attack an entire civilian building to kill one person. Do you think they are good? Do you think if you leave this place you will be able to tell your story, your discovery? Come out little Jun, let us figure this out.” she said.

Jun tried hard to not be distracted by her words. What did she mean by those words? Her hunting him was one thing, but saying he will not be safe as long as he knows the story is another. What was this accent she was using? He could not place his finger on it.

“Anang, it is Anang.” he looked up and she was standing right before him, making him realize he must have thought out loud. Without thinking, he struck towards her with the hammer in hand. She but swayed slightly out of the way and he missed. He felt, a sharp object descend upon his back and pain tore through him as it pierced deeply into his skin. No time to process the pain, fear controlled his mind and he struck at her chest and her hand holding the knife into his back weakened and let go. He staggered slightly and truck again, not giving her time to think. But she was much more experienced than he was. Her fist connected with his mid section, causing him to crouch in pain only to receive her knee to his head in the process. His head felt numb. He retreated slightly and his leg connected with nothing, causing him to fall down a flight of stairs.

It was a miracle his consciousness remained after the fall, as he heard her descend while he laid face down trying to get up. He crawled down slowly to escape from her. The smell of the room told him they were in the basement. She reached him easily at the bottom of the stairs and unplugged the knife from his back, allowing pain to rip through him. His groan tore through the dark, but fear did not allow his heart to rest. He felt death hover over him as he crouched like a child to his side. Seeing her stab at him again, he threw out his good leg in defence, connecting with her midsection, causing her to fall hard on her back. Hearing her groan, he tried to stand; unaware he was soaked in his sweat from fear.

Propping himself to sit up, he saw her still lying on her back unable to move. “You still are an old woman.” he said between breaths. He felt his way through the dark, looking for something while she was down. He pulled himself up and retreated without turning his back to her. He dared not look away from this angel of death. He felt his hand connect with cold metal. From the shape of what he held, it was the handle of a spade or shovel. Grabbing the long body, he approached her again on the stairs.

“What is it Aunt, broke you hip?” he asked at her still figure in the dark. Slight moonlight shun in through the small basement window, just enough for him to see that she had not moved from her spot. He feared she was pretending to lure him in so he stood quite away and struck at her chest causing her to groan. At his distance he could not reach her head like he had hoped, he trotted forward and struck quickly multiple times till he saw that she was no more moving. He could not relax. A part of him wanted to kill her, but he could not bring himself to. He hurriedly descended and felt around or some lighting. After a minute or so, he approached a table with a lamp and struggled to light it. Soon, light from the lamp flooded the dark basement. He looked back hurriedly to find her still unconscious. He could not waste time. He needed something to tie her with. She soon found ropes and returned in a hurry. Afraid she would wake soon, he tied her hands and feet tightly together before sitting on the ground below the staircase. He took in breath after breath to clam himself. His mind was starting to blur. He knew it was the wound on his back, but he could not deal with it.

Stolen story; please report.

He looked up from the ground and was startled by her cold eyes staring at him.

“You are awake.” he calmed his heart with difficulty. He was not sure how long he had been sitting down, but she woke up a little bit too fast. He had struck her face and forehead quite a few time and had hoped somewhere in his heart that she had died.

“You are stupid.”

“I am not a killer.” he said, “Not like you.”

“Not like me?”

“A Nigerian spy hunted by the government. You expect me to believe you did not kill off those who hunted you?”

“As shocked as I am that you even recognize Anang is a Nigerian language, I’m more shocked at how much trust you hold for the government of this country. They did not mind a few Asians dying, why would they mind dying themselves?” she groaned on the stairs.

“Sure, they killed Asians that day.” he scoffed.

“How do you think those in the bailey building died?”

“How did you live?” he asked after a moment of silence.

“After my maid was killed, I came out to hunt. I fought my way out.”

“You expect me to still believe you really are my aunt?” he chuckled.

“I did not say so.”

“No, you said you were hiding with the baby while they raped the maid. It can’t be that you switched with my aunt long before the incident; I don’t believe it. From this entire story, the only time you would have had the chance to switch with my aunt was during the raid. You were there and you knew them, to know so much about my grand uncle and enough about my grand aunt to replace her.” he paused as though thinking, then looked at her in realization.

“You were the maid, Anne. It makes sense; you lived with them, you knew them more than anyone. You took grand aunt’s identity, and took Suyi with you. They did not doubt you. People died to solidify your identity. You became a symbol for both the Asian and black community. The government killed those there and let you live as a puppet. You adopted a child that looks like you and named her Anne. Looks too much like you, one could even say you were the same one who dropped her at the orphanage and came back to pick her as someone else.” He said.

“You are smart, Jun. but is this a good thing?”

“They used you, the very spy they came to kill. But it was not much of being used was it? Because of your identity, you gained access to a great many secrets right, how?”

“How? Have you not figured it out? That aunt of yours watched though the kitchen cupboard as they raped me. The look in her eye, she liked my pain. She was happy at the sight. I could have killed those soldiers, but I did not know they were there for me, so I tried to maintain my cover. I let them touch me. I remained a weak woman till I realized why they were there. They did not mind talking about the search. I had a gun in my mouth, there was no way I had any advantage. But they were distracted too. They were easy to kill.”

“How did you take her identity?”

“I put a bullet through her brain, that’s how?”

“There is no way the system did not know you were lying about who you are.”

“Of course, they would not. Not for a while. I entered that cupboard in her place with Suyi and told them I was Mary Wu, by the time the police arrived. To cover up that the rebels were soldiers, they pulled attention to me, Mary Wu; the bailey building survivor. It was enough distraction; enough time to clean up all loop holes to solidify my identity. In that time with the technology of the north distrusted so much, it was easy. Just paper. Paper can burn. Many sinned that day, not just me.”

“Uncle?”

“He died just like I said. He went out to find out what was happening and did not return.”

“You’ve said a great many things aunt, very few are true.”

“I’ve also spoke many truths in very little said.”

“I want to know, truly. What happened that night? Why did the government sacrifice that many people to catch you?” he asked and she stared him straight in the eye without a word for enough time that he sighed and got up. He took the lamp with him and crossed over her and walked away. Even after he had left the basement and walked far into the house, silence alone followed him till he heard the footsteps from afar following in haste and he immediately broke out in a limping run. He could but drag his leg behind him and dash for the front door as fast as he could. In haste he opened it and slammed it close running for his car a bit away.

Panic filled him as he reached the car and heard the sound of the front door bursting open behind him. His heart in his stomach, his pain forgotten, he tore open the door and sat in. He had a clear mind to know to lock all the doors as he pressed the start button just in time for his window to shatter with one heavy strike of the butt of a vintage hunter’s gun.