Still panicking, I searched for my phone, hoping it would help me figure out where I was.
I found it.
Thank God.
I quickly unlocked it.
No signal.
Of course.
My headache grew worse as my thoughts ran wild.
"Ba wo ni mo she de bi?" How did I get here?
My chest tightened.
Then I heard it.
Rustling.
The sound came from somewhere behind me.
My survival instinct took over.
I jumped to my feet and ran.
Bad idea.
I crashed straight into something hard.
"Ouch!"
I stumbled backward, rubbing my forehead.
That was not a tree.
And definitely not a wall.
It was a person.
My heart nearly stopped.
"Ta le le?" Who are you?
The darkness made it impossible to see the person's face.
The figure didn't answer.
I swallowed nervously.
"Okay… maybe a better question."
I pointed in a random direction.
"How do I get to Lagos from here?"
For a moment, there was only silence.
Then a deep voice cut through the darkness.
"What is… La-gos?"
I blinked.
Okay.
This had to be a prank.
"You caught me," I said, pointing into the darkness. "Where are the cameras? Come out."
Silence.
The forest remained quiet.
My stomach dropped.
I was suddenly very close to tears.
"O ti sun mi."
My best friend was probably looking for me right now.
My family too.
I swallowed hard.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm talking to somebody here."
I folded my arms.
"Who are you?"
This time, the stranger answered.
"I am the Duke of Norwesian Rubian."
"Iru oruko wo ni yen?"
What kind of name was that?
Then something clicked.
The notebook.
The title.
The Gangster Duke.
My eyes widened.
No.
No way.
Absolutely not.
I took a step back.
Then another.
"Don't tell me…"
The Duke tilted his head.
I turned around and ran.
One thought kept repeating itself in my head.
This couldn't be real.
This couldn't be real.
This couldn't—
Everything went black.
I woke up with my head ringing again, though not as badly as before.
"Ibo ni mo wa?" Where am I?
I pushed myself upright.
I was lying on a bed.
Not just any bed.
This thing was massive.
Black silk sheets covered it, soft against my skin.
Hope tugged at me.
Maybe I was back in Lagos.
Maybe some rich person with daddy issues had kidnapped me.
At least that would make more sense than being trapped inside a book.
My body still felt heavy as I swung my legs over the side of the bed.
Slowly, I stood up.
The room spun for a second.
I grabbed the bedpost until the dizziness passed.
One careful step.
Then another.
Finally, I reached a large wooden door.
I must still be in Lagos.
I kept repeating it in my head like a prayer.
I gripped the handle and pulled.
The door creaked open.
A long corridor stretched before me.
Candles lined both sides of the wall.
Their flames flickered softly, casting strange shadows across the floor.
I froze.
"Adeola, which place in Lagos is this big?"
The corridor looked like something from a historical movie.
Not a hotel.
Not a mansion.
Definitely not anybody's duplex in Lekki.
A cold feeling settled in my stomach.
"Did they carry me out of the country while I was unconscious?"
I walked through the corridor on quiet feet, feeling like one of those assassins from the movies I used to watch.
A giggle escaped me.
Another door appeared ahead.
At this point, nothing surprised me anymore.
I grabbed the handle and pushed it open.
Then I froze.
The room was enormous.
A chandelier hung from the ceiling, sparkling like a thousand tiny stars.
Flower pots decorated the corners, and furniture that probably cost more than my entire house filled the room.
Seated in the largest chair was a man.
A very handsome man.
The kind of handsome that made you question whether God had favorites.
His hair gleamed under the candlelight, and his jawline looked sharp enough to cut bread.
"Omo."
I blinked.
Then blinked again.
"Omo."
This was not normal beauty.
This was anime-protagonist beauty.
The kind that made girls lose their senses online.
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.
Maybe this was one of those games my best friend kept begging me to play.
"Omo, she mo ti lo coba ara mi bayi?"
The man looked up.
Our eyes met.
And suddenly, I remembered that I was staring.
Very obviously staring.
"Okay, enough with the confusion. Who the heck are you?
You are definitely not some guy with daddy issues from Lagos.
And you look too hot to be human."
The words kept pouring out of my mouth.
At some point, I realized I was talking nonsense.
Then my voice died.
The room suddenly went pitch black.
I froze.
Only one thing remained visible.
Red.
His eyes were freaking red.
My heart began beating so fast I could hear it in my ears.
For a second, I thought of running back to the bedroom.
My body refused to move.
Fear gripped me from the inside.
"Ki ni mo se bayi?"
Did I die and go to hell?
No.
Impossible.
Omo dada ni mi.
I am a good child.
The man took a step forward.
Then another.
And another.
Until I could feel his breath against my face.
I wanted to speak.
I couldn't.
My throat had forgotten how to work.
A deep voice echoed through the darkness.
"I believe I am supposed to be asking the questions."
His glowing eyes narrowed.
"Who are you, alien?"