Chapter 4: The First Lesson Of Wicked Love
1088 Words
CHAPTER FOUR
The First Lesson of Wicked Love
The silhouette did not move.
Neither did Zara.
For one endless moment, the deserted university library became a battlefield of silence. The only sound was the faint hiss of the cassette recorder as Professor Nwoke's voice faded into static.
Her throat tightened.
"Who are you?" she asked, forcing courage into words that barely rose above a whisper.
No reply.
The figure took one slow step forward.
Another.
Moonlight slipped through the stained-glass windows, revealing a man dressed entirely in black. His face remained hidden beneath the shadow of a hood, but his posture was calm—far too calm for someone who had broken into a locked library at midnight.
Zara instinctively stepped backwards.
The stranger raised both hands.
"I'm not here to hurt you."
His voice was deep, steady, and strangely familiar.
"Then show me your face."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because the less you know about me, the longer you will stay alive."
Zara's heart pounded.
"Who sent you?"
"No one sends me anymore."
The answer made no sense.
Before she could question him further, a deafening crash echoed through the library.
The front doors burst open.
Heavy footsteps thundered across the marble floor.
Torchlights swept wildly through the darkness.
"Police!" a commanding voice shouted.
"Nobody move!"
The hooded stranger turned towards Zara one final time.
"They're too late."
With astonishing speed, he disappeared between the towering shelves.
By the time Inspector David Eze and his officers reached the storage room, the mysterious man had vanished.
Again.
---
The inspector examined the cassette recorder.
"It contains only the first minute," he said.
"The rest has been erased."
Zara stared at the empty tape.
"But I heard his voice."
David nodded.
"So did I."
He looked around the room.
"There are no footprints."
"No fingerprints."
"No signs of forced entry."
He sighed heavily.
"Whoever we're dealing with knows how to leave nothing behind."
As officers searched the room, Zara quietly slipped the weathered wooden box into her backpack.
Something told her it mattered more than anyone realised.
---
Back at her apartment, she finally opened the box.
Inside were three items.
The first was an old photograph.
It showed a younger Professor Elias Nwoke standing beside three other researchers outside a stone building. On the back, written in fading ink, were the words:
"Truth survives only when someone is willing to suffer for it."
The second item was a silver pocket watch.
It had stopped at exactly 11:17.
Its cracked glass suggested it had fallen from a great height.
The third item was another sealed envelope.
Across its front, Professor Nwoke had written:
CASE ONE
Zara hesitated before breaking the seal.
Inside was a handwritten account unlike anything she had expected.
---
CASE ONE: THE FATHER WHO LOVED HIS SON INTO A MONSTER
"His name was Chief Matthew Obiora."
"To the world, he was generous, respected, and admired."
"To his only son, Daniel, he was a hero."
"But heroes can become destroyers without noticing."
Professor Nwoke's words seemed to come alive.
Daniel was born after fifteen years of childlessness.
His parents celebrated him as a miracle.
Every mistake was forgiven.
Every demand was granted.
Whenever teachers complained about his behaviour, his father defended him.
"My son would never do such a thing."
When neighbours accused Daniel of bullying other children, Chief Obiora blamed jealousy.
When Daniel stole money at school, his father secretly paid the victims and silenced the matter.
"No child is perfect," he would say.
"I won't allow anyone to disgrace my son."
Years passed.
The lies grew.
The crimes became bolder.
By twenty-three, Daniel had become the leader of a violent criminal gang responsible for kidnappings, armed robbery, and multiple murders.
Even then, his father hired lawyers, bribed officials, and intimidated witnesses.
He called it love.
But it wasn't love.
It was permission.
The final page of the case made Zara's hands tremble.
"The day Daniel murdered an innocent family during a failed kidnapping, Chief Obiora collapsed in court."
"As he watched his son receive a death sentence, he whispered the words that haunted me for years:"
«"I did not raise a criminal."»
"No."
"You protected one until he became one."
---
Zara closed the file.
Tears filled her eyes.
The story wasn't merely tragic.
It was painfully believable.
Professor Nwoke had not written to condemn a father.
He had written to expose a dangerous misunderstanding.
Love without correction becomes cruelty disguised as kindness.
---
The following morning, Zara met Inspector David Eze at a quiet café.
She showed him the first case.
He read every page in silence.
When he finished, he leaned back thoughtfully.
"My father was a police officer," he said quietly.
"He used to tell me something."
"What was that?"
"'The first person a criminal learns to deceive is someone who loves him.'"
He placed the file on the table.
"I think your professor wasn't writing psychology."
"What do you mean?"
"He was writing evidence."
Zara frowned.
"Evidence of what?"
David looked out of the window before answering.
"I don't know yet."
"But I have a feeling every case in that journal points to something much bigger."
---
That afternoon, news broke across every television station.
A young lecturer from the university had been found dead.
His car had plunged into a deep ravine just outside Enugu.
Police described it as a tragic accident.
But Zara knew the victim.
Dr. Michael Adebayo.
The man who had handed her the key to Box B-17.
Her hands shook as she stared at the television screen.
Only yesterday, he had seemed frightened.
Today...
He was dead.
Her phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
Against her better judgement, she answered.
The same calm voice she had heard days earlier spoke.
"You've read the first lesson."
Zara's breath caught.
"What did you do to Michael?"
Silence.
Then the voice replied,
"He died because he chose truth over comfort."
"Who are you?"
"We are the people Professor Nwoke warned you about."
The line crackled.
"You still think this story is about love."
A cold laugh followed.
"It isn't."
"It is about power."
The call ended.
Zara remained frozen, the phone slipping from her fingers onto the floor.
For the first time, she understood the terrifying reality before her.
Professor Elias Nwoke had not disappeared because he wrote a controversial book.
He had uncovered a secret powerful enough to make people kill.
And every page she turned brought her one step closer to becoming their next target.
End of Chapter Four
- Writer
