24 and A Mansion (1) - by Princess Chronicles

The first thing Dami heard that evening was the sound of glass breaking...CRASH!For one terrifying second, the entire house went quiet. Then somebody screamed,“Jesus! Who broke the wine glass?”Laughter exploded from the backyard.“Abeg, leave her! Na housewarming, no be funeral!” Dami stood at the top of the staircase, one hand resting lightly on the glass railing, watching the chaos below. Music shook the walls. The bass travelled through the marble floor and climbed into her bare feet. A generator hummed somewhere behind the house, fighting to keep the lights steady. Someone was already arguing with the DJ about the playlist. Two girls were taking turns posing beside the giant flower arrangement at the entrance while another person filmed them on Instagram. The house smelled of perfume, fried chicken, expensive candles and the smoky suya someone had started grilling outside. Dami smiled.This was exactly how she had imagined it.People everywhere, looking, talking and wondering. At twenty-four, she had done what most people her age were still posting “God when?” about.A house, A beautiful mansion ..that made people lower their voices when they entered. White walls. Tall glass windows. Marble floors so polished that the chandelier reflected on them. A staircase that curved dramatically into the upper floor. The living room alone looked bigger than some people's entire apartments. And Dami wanted everyone to see it.Especially the people who had once looked at her like she would amount to nothing. “Dami!”She turned.A woman in a fitted green dress was coming towards her, holding two glasses of champagne.“Girl!”Dami laughed as the woman pulled her into a hug.“Look at you!”“Look at me where?”“Everything!”She stepped back and looked Dami up and down.“Small girl like this. See mansion.” Someone behind them laughed.“Please, let us breathe. Some of us are still paying rent.”More laughter.Dami raised her glass.“To progress.”“To progress!” they chorused. And for a few minutes, everything looked perfect.Until Shola walked through the door. Dami saw her from across the room. Her smile disappeared for a second. But Shola saw it. She always noticed things like that...their eyes met yet neither of them moved. Dami slowly lifted her glass.“Shola.”“Dami.”The room around them continued moving with music, laughter and people calling for food.But something between the two women had suddenly become very still. “You came,” Dami said.“You invited me.”Dami's fingers tightened slightly around her glass.“I did.” Shola looked around the room.The marble, the chandelier, the staircase, the expensive furniture...she hummed..Then she looked back at Dami.“You've done well.”Dami smiled.“I know.”Shola laughed softly. That old Dami.The girl she knew before the makeup, before the cars, before the polished Instagram pictures and the mysterious weekends away. The girl who used to sleep on her floor during university exams. The girl who once cried into her lap until morning.The girl who had eventually stopped answering her calls. Seven years of friendship had ended over something neither of them had ever discussed properly.And yet here they were.At a housewarming party..Drinking champagne.Pretending they were fine. “Everybody!” Dami suddenly shouted.The music dropped slightly.“House tour!”People screamed.“Yesssss!”“Show us the upstairs!”“Let us see the bedroom!”“Abeg, don't enter her bedroom!” The room erupted.Dami laughed.“Behave yourselves!”She started walking.Everybody followed.Phones came out immediately. The first floor was beautiful.The kitchen had an island big enough for six people to sit around. The dining area had twelve chairs. The guest room looked like something from a hotel. The master bedroom had a balcony overlooking the compound. People touched everything.Opened cabinets.Asked how much things cost.Complimented the curtains.Argued about whether the chandelier was imported. Someone whispered, “This house alone is probably millions.”Another person answered, “Probably?”They laughed. Dami loved it.She wanted them impressed.She wanted the pictures.She wanted the whispers.She wanted somebody to go home tonight and say,“Do you know Dami has bought a whole house?”Then they reached the end of the upstairs corridor. Dami stopped.There was one door.Unlike the others, this one was plain.No decoration.No handle that matched the rest.The paint around the frame looked unfinished. Dami casually stepped in front of it.“This one?”She waved her hand.“Don't bother.”Someone immediately asked, “Why?”“Still under renovation.”“Can we see?”“No.”The answer came too quickly.A few people laughed.“Ah-ah. Why?”“Because there's nothing to see. It's ugly.”“Just open it!”Dami shook her head.“Later.” Shola, standing behind everyone, stared at the door.Something about Dami's voice had changed.Only Shola noticed.She always noticed the little details.. Dami smiled again.“Come on. There's still the balcony.”Everybody moved.Shola remained behind for half a second.Her eyes stayed on the door.Then she followed. By 9:30pm, the house had become louder.Someone had started dancing...A plate of small chops disappeared within minutes.Tobi had somehow ended up beside Dami without anybody seeing when he arrived.“You're avoiding me,” he whispered.Dami looked at him.“Am I?”“Yes.”“Maybe you're imagining things.”“I've been watching you for twenty minutes.”“And?”“And you haven't looked at me properly once.”She smiled.“You're needy.”“You like it.”“I tolerate it.”He laughed.There was something easy between them. For a moment, she was just twenty-four.A beautiful woman in a house full of music.A man she wanted standing close enough that she could smell his cologne.Then her phone vibrated.She checked it.The smile left her face. One message.UNKNOWN NUMBER.We need to talk about the house.Dami stared at the screen.Another message arrived.Tonight.Her thumb hovered over the screen.Then she locked the phone.“Tobi,” she said softly.“Hm?”“Come upstairs.”He looked at her.“Now?”Dami smiled.“Now.”They disappeared into the crowd.Nobody noticed.Except Shola. She watched them climb the staircase.Then she looked towards the corridor.Towards the unfinished door.Something inside her tightened.She didn't know why. It was simply the fact that Shola had spent too many years knowing Dami to believe that “under renovation” was the whole story.She waited.Ten minutes.Then fifteen.She excused herself from the living room.Nobody cared. The music was too loud.She climbed the stairs.The corridor was empty.The laughter downstairs sounded distant now.Shola walked slowly.Past the master bedroom.Past the balcony.Until she reached the door.The unfinished room.She stared at it. Her hand reached for the handle.She hesitated.Then she opened it.The room was dark.“Hello?”Nothing.She stepped inside.The air felt different.Colder.There were cartons against the wall. Pieces of furniture covered with nylon. Construction materials scattered across the floor.Documents, Names, Dates, Bank slips, A key.A photograph of someone Shola knew.Someone who should never have been connected to Dami.Her hand slowly covered her mouth.“What the—”BANG! The door slammed behind her.Shola spun around.She rushed towards it.Pulled the handle.Nothing.She pulled harder.“Open!”Nothing.She slammed her shoulder against the door.“Dami!”Nothing. Downstairs, the music exploded into another song.People screamed with excitement.Someone shouted,“Turn it up!”Shola hit the door again.“DAMIIII!”The handle refused to move.She grabbed her phone.No network.She tried again.Nothing.The screen froze.The lights in the room flickered once.Twice.Then went out.Darkness swallowed everything. Shola stood completely still.Her breathing became the loudest thing in the room.Downstairs, people were still laughing.Still dancing.Still eating.Still taking pictures.Nobody knew she was gone.Nobody knew where she was.Nobody knew what she had seen. Shola slowly turned around.She couldn't see anything. Then—a soft scrape came from somewhere behind her.She stopped breathing.Another scrape.Closer this time.Then a whisper.Barely audible. “Shola…”Her eyes widened.Because she knew that voice.And that was impossible

Other insights from Princess Chronicles

Referral Earning

Points-to-Coupons