The vampire, Wilkes Milton, was partially carried—in the middle, with one of his arms around Harold's sweaty neck, and the other wrapped the way an anaconda will encircle a prey before devouring, around Trisha, who was greatly disturbed with thoughts of Catherine who had ‘disappeared into thin air’ and left no clues or trails or hints that she'd ever existed. They hobbled and staggered out of the swimming vicinity like soldiers who had just fought—and won a war for their motherland and were returning back to their families bruised and in dire need of medical attention. The trio were tired. Exhausted, to be precise. And dazed, too. They'd each had more than their fair share of mind boggling ‘adventures’.After ten long minutes which was made more difficult by the dimness that had cloaked Golden Lake University, they got to the fountain the ‘tour guide’ had shown to them on their first day. The fountain which attracted the attention

*THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO MY STRONG BROTHERS AND SISTERS FROM THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO FOR SURVIVING THE HARDSHIPS THEY'VE HAD TO ENDURE FOR CENTURIES IN SILENCE. MAY THE LORD HEAL YOUR LAND SOONEST, AMEN.*#CongoIsBleedingHarold Girard's brown pupils surveyed the thoroughly illuminated aisle—that possessed a cream-coloured filter enhanced by the bulbs that shone a milky radiance—from above, for an hint on who could have dropped the ‘letter’ in his bag. He sensed his heart pumping blood more than it ever had, and he felt the red liquid that trickled through his veins and arteries at a frenzied tempo, flow to his knuckles, and palms, and brain as well, as one hand held the crisp, white paper whose contents had spun his life around in mere seconds. His other hand weakly gripped his reddish-brown bag as his eyes switched from one student to another for whoever seemed most likely to have played the ‘prank’ on him.&nb

THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SEXUAL SCENES WHICH LIKE EVERY OTHER PART OF THIS BOOK, WILL BE WRITTEN IN DETAILS. THIS MIGHT NOT GO WELL WITH SOME PEOPLE AND THAT'S WHY I'M SAYING IT HERE—AS A WARNING. FOR THOSE WHO AREN'T COMFORTABLE READING STUFFS LIKE THAT, I'LL BE WARNING Y'ALL BEFORE IT STARTS AND WHEN IT ENDS SO THAT YOU CAN SKIP IT.It was Saturday—the first weekend after a long, intense week of too many lectures that spanned for five days. Slowly but quite steadily, the new students of Golden Lake University veered from one group of friends to others, broke apart; the same way the continents had split and drifted away from each other ages ago, and formed—and were still forming, too, cliques based on identical interests and selfsame dislikes. One of the ‘groups’ that had managed to survive the first week perhaps because they were fettered by something thicker than mere passions or a common disgust and hatred, was that of Harold, Trisha and Wi

Harold's sneakers touched the earth of the underground cavern with a mild thump that echoed through the cave as he jumped off the second-to-the-last step of the ladder. Trisha dropped down seconds later and after her came Wilkes who had his flashlight clasped between his white teeth as he sunk lower; his fingers hugging the ladder as he did.“I daresay this place is more odd than you made me think it was, Harold,” Trisha said as she shawled her arms round herself to generate—and conserve body heat. She swung her torch around in bewilderment and for a split second, the white light that emitted from her torch landed on the cave's roof which was garnished with shrewd stalactites.Harold hadn't been able to see much the last time he was there because of the darkness that sheathed the cave so he was just as naive about the cave as the other two were.He turned on his flashlight and its magnificent beam diffused and was only restri

Trisha bent her head over her knees and let her hair fall over her face as she sighed in relief. The peace that washed over her and soothed her every atom as the shadows began to sink deeper into the cavern was short lived when she thought of Harold—and what had become of him.She stood up with all the strength she could muster when she was convinced that they had all gone, pushed her wand into her cardigan, flicked on her almost useless flashlight and jogged to where Harold's numb body was. As she dropped down on her knees while shining the flashlight's beam on his thigh which was way too white—almost silvery, Wilkes appeared beside her but she didn't flinch. Her eyes were fixed on the blood-drenched trouser he had on.“We need to get out of here,” he whispered, not wanting to attract the shadows again as he knelt on Harold's other side. “I have a feeling they'll be back soon.”“H