Down Down Down

Ify's hands shook, her heart pounded in her chest, her mouth, dry but her facial expression remained calm. Naeto's eyes stayed locked on hers from across the room. He was obviously doing better than her. His hands didn't shake, his pose was confident and sure and his eye sharp and alert.

She could see Aisha and Ebuka on her right through her peripheral vision but she didn’t dare look at them; she was too afraid to even look away from Naeto.

He had told her not to.

“Whatever happens.” he had said, when they were being led away from the room, "Try not to act on impulse. Look at me.”

The room was silent except for the sound of the heavy boots of the man she assumed to be the leader, who moved slowly around, examining each of them.

They seemed like professionals, their captors; the boots, the clothes, the masks and headbands, their measured footsteps. They were all heavily built men that she feared a single blow from them would