Paired with the Campus Prince

The Preacher's neck bubbled up and down as he preached like the over-righteous cow he was. Duncan was already irritated at sitting so long in the pew. But he restrained himself. He had to respect the preacher's final moments, even though he never respected that of other men. But this was a special case, the preacher was his last "What shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall tribulations or the riches of this world...."

James Roy stopped listening, he nodded with all the presence of a second in command as he replayed commands of his master and lord, Nano Quiver in his mind. The instructions were to wipe out the entire family of the preacher in the woods. The preacher was a government spy who had witnessed the accidental death of one of their victims. Information had gotten to him of the man’s status. Quiver had found it odd that a man of such calibre was found in his casino no matter how much he had tried to disguise himself. His eagle eyes were sharper. They had trailed the man for weeks. The man was not suspicious and had no idea they were so fast on his trail. 

“I want no life to be saved. If we leave any of them alive, we can kiss our freedom goodbye” Quiver commanded. “I want no mistakes”

James and about a dozen of his gang members had made the attack that night. They had disguised among the church members and worshipped with them. With plans set in motion, he might as well have a little practice from this preacher. He would make Nano cry blood in a few days so he had to practise praying for forgiveness. The only thing was, he did not want to be forgiven. It had taken Nano ten years to bail him out. Nano had made him take the fall for a murder gone wrong, the police had been reluctant to give up the case due to the calibre of the person killed. Nano had orchestrated James's arrest. It was while in prison James had discovered this and he had pledged to make Nano lose all he loved, which was his money. All his life had been spent working for Quiver, he had his own home but it was empty and he had nightmares days and nights from the people he made to cry during the day. He had money but had no peace. No friends except Quiver who was more like a master than a friend.  

“Your life is only given to you by God. All you have is vanity and nothing will go down to the grave with you. A life that is spent not serving God is useless” the preacher taught.

Bored out of his mind, James fought the urge to take a nap.

The preaching had ended with callings for people to give their lives to God and submit their totality to him. The other gang members had snickered as several people went out. Though he remained seated, James was distraught. 

Once the church closed, the members trooped out of the church premises including his gang members, who left him in the morose state he had been in ever since the preaching started. He had thought his life truly was in vain.

He allowed the gang to go in first, while he stayed out surveying the environment of the house.

He went in later only to see the preacher in his pool of blood, including his wife, who was a beautiful young thing whom he was sure had no idea, the reason she had to die so young. 

James felt a tight nip in his chest, it ached, it had never been so. It hurts badly. They all stood gawking, the only sound in the room came from the cassette player in the background and an old hymn could be heard playing. 

The hymn's lyrics seemed to be getting on the nerves of everyone present, James fixed his silencer and shot the cassette player. Everything in the house was messing with his brain. His thoughts were further confirmed when he turned his head and came face to face with the eyes of the pastor's wife staring right at him. For a second he thought she was alive but for the pool of blood on the floor behind her head. She was dead. But those eyes, he ran forward, using his gun-free hand to close them shut. 

He shouted at his gang member behind him“ Why did you kill her? You have the preacher, why touch her?” He was scared of James, “Master Quiver said we should kill them all and let none survive” He murmured in pain. 

James pushed him away, he hit the single picture frame on the wall. James ran to it, he picked it up and studied it carefully. It was a family frame. There was one more person in the house. A young child. He had no idea why the child was so silent if she was in the house. Was she asleep?

But she was not. And strangely to James Roy that was a piece of good news. 

He removed the picture from the frame. He turned to the others, who were skeptical of him at this point. 

“You all can go, I will clean up here” 

He knew they had their doubts that there was nothing to clean up since the bodies had to be burnt. And they could not leave any more traces than was necessary. 

“I will clean up our traces” He offered. 

They all left him grudgingly. James wasted no time, knowing he could not arrive later than they did. He ran into the house, searching every room. At last, he found her, in a big cooking pot in the kitchen hid in the kitchen cabinet. She had been subdued with several apples in the pot. She was busy stuffing her mouth when he found the pot. Her mother must have been one clever woman.

She was as silent as a mouse in there, only the scratching sound of someone eating could be heard. 

Her clear crystal eyes looked up at him, she dropped the apple in her hands

“Mami”

James felt relieved, He had found his perfect alibi. The mother must have seen the gang members coming and had hidden her child before running out to be with her husband. Her daughter of course being a foodie, would not make a noise until the food ran out, which by then the shooters must have left. Only she was wrong, the shooters were still around, and at least one of them was. But he could not bring himself to shoot the girl. He needed her. He had been planning on renting a fake family which will suddenly die off, after he settles at his destination. But this was even perfect. A widower and his newborn child enacted quite a lot of pity these days he discovered.

“Mami” She looked around and attempted to come out of the big pot hidden among the food stores. Her crying began in earnest when she discovered that the man in front of her bore no resemblance to her mother. 

He picked her up and hugged her close, reminding him of his mother who he had discovered bathed in her blood one day when he came back from school. The police had closed the investigation pretty quickly. Till that day, he had no idea what killed his mother, no leads, it was a dead end. He had cried and swore murder that day. But here he was doing the same to other children. He could not even remember the number of families he had destroyed or caused pain to. He had forgotten them all until her. 

Moving with action, he carried the girl out the back, covering her mouth so she didn't cry. He walked into the dead of the night to an orphanage home on the other side of town. He dropped her quickly with no one the wiser. He watched as one of the church nuns came to pick her up. 

He left there and went to another of his accomplices to ask for a dead child with the baby's description. One was found after many difficulties. She had been abandoned after being hit on the road. He dropped the dead girl in the cabin and set fire to the cabin before going back to Quiver. 

Quiver looked him all over as if he saw into his soul. James would not be surprised, they had spent long years together “ What about the baby? Gary told me, they did not find her and you promised to clean up. So did you find her?”

“Yes, I did. She was hidden in the kitchen. I shot her before coming over here” he lied without batting an eyelid. One wrong move and Quiver will have his brain blown out.

Quiver sniffed “It must be done. Do not worry about killing such a young soul. It is best so she does not suffer later. Imagine her having to be dumped at an orphanage, adopted by wicked parents whipped and killed by mean people, and living a miserable life. We did her parents a favour” Quiver rationalized forgetting that his beautiful daughter was the same age. Such a cruel, calculating cunning soul

“Yes sir” James replied gently. He listened to the rest of Quiver’s self-righteous lecture, before silently withdrawing to his own house. He spread out the girl’s pictures and laid them in a secret vault, including the personal diary of the preacher that he had stolen. He read up on his secrets and family history while perfecting his plans.

The next step was to rid Quiver of his ill-gotten wealth. That was the best of things. 

It took him months to meticulously plan everything. He looted Quiver’s treasure house and donated it to several charity organizations and orphanage homes in the country. Quiver had always left him in charge of everything. Only he and Quiver knew the treasure base—the Quivers' vast wealth. James would help him return everything to its rightful owner. He would donate whatever was left. 

On the day he was to leave, he left a letter to Quiver. He owed his master that much at least. It was a single-sentence letter. 

“Master, you have earned where you have not sowed.” 

He had sent the email and left his house. He retrieved the baby from the orphanage, While they were distracted he wiped her records clean on their computer and flew to the depths of Africa where he hoped to die paying for his sins. He could only hope Quiver also pay for his sins wherever he may be. Every wrong on earth had a retribution and may they both never forget that.

He could only picture Nano's face when he realized he was now penniless. James Roy smiled devilishly as he stowed away into the night. He cast a glance at the sedated baby beside him. For all he cared, they would be starting their new life as Father Duncan and his daughter. A girl he had by mistake before joining the priesthood. He was sure. He had killed the Priest who was originally assigned to that region and had taken his position. No one would ever suspect he was an imposter. He was here to start a new life and he would live it successfully far away from the vengeful eyes of Nano Quiver.

Society's criteria for remembrance are being rich, powerful and affluent. Nano Quiver thought sadly. It had no desire for venom-driven men. As long as no history books held their records, they disappeared into thin air, just like his life’s treasure and wealth. All lost to his second in command, James Roy who he trusted more than life itself. 

His wife walked into the room with a tray in her hands. She set the tray in front of him and placed her hands akimbo.“Are you trying to get your blood pressure up again?” she snarled. Nano sat up, he loved his wife to death but he knew better than to piss her off. His depressing mood was not helping. 

“It's nothing” Nano assured her, although her expression showed she would not be fooled

She sat on a sofa in front of him. 

“I wouldn't want you thinking about it. The doctors gave me a clear warning the last time. Do not mess with me, Nano. I told you he will come up on our radar once again.” 

Nano groaned, “What ar