Keywords: Once Upon A Forever, Chapter 8, Free Web Novel, Nigerian Story, Reincarnation, Doomed Love, Fated Love, Kira, Slice of Life.
Kira
Kira’s heart thumped hard as she braced herself to knock on the door. She knocked once, and when she did not get an answer, she knocked again, frantic. “Lara!” she called, her voice high and cracking at the edges. She rapped on the door, fists stinging, before shoving her shoulder against it. Nothing.
Her fingers trembled as she fumbled for her tote bag. Throwing it open, she dug through it. Alcohol bottles, phone, charger, a half-empty bottle of water, phone. She dialed Lara’s number, her hand shaking.
“Pick up, pick up, pick up…” she muttered under her breath. Each ring felt like an eternity.
Finally, the door creaked open. Lara appeared, hair mussed, skin wet, eyes slightly red and glassy. Kira blinked at her, trying to mask her relief with mock sternness.
Relief washed over her. She hugged her, breathing out her concerns before pulling back and looking at her friend with a playful glint.
“Well, well, well,” Kira said, hands on her hips. “Look who decided to stay. You look a zombie who took a bath. What’s that smell, vomit?”
Lara blinked, trying to focus, her mouth opening then closing as if she were weighing how much truth to reveal. She did an ojigi bow. “I… I’m fine. Sorry about the smell, detergents can onluy do so much,” she said, her voice soft, a little hoarse.
The bow threw Kira off, but she shrugged it away, though the concern in her tone betrayed her bravado. “Ha, we’ll get used to it.” She hugged Lara again. This time, Lara hugged her back. “Glad you’re fine.”
“Yeah, oh, sorry about the Tenjaku, it finished,” Lara said.
Kira laughed. “It did its job.” She guided Lara back in, to the couch, easing her down like she was handling a wounded bird. “Come on, tell me now. How do you feel? How was last night?”
Lara slumped, letting her head tip back against the cushions. Her eyes half-closed, lips parted. Kira crouched in front of her, tilting her chin up just enough to meet her gaze.
“Will you believe me if I say I’ve been reborn?” Lara whispered, barely audible.
Kira leaned closer, her voice teasing but laced with tenderness. “Well, whiskey can do that.”
“I mean, I no longer want to die, rather I want to kill him,” Lara continued.
“We can plan towards that,” Kira said.
She was now beginning to notice the usual street noise that drifted into her little, cluttered home.
“So, how did you decide on killing the bastard?” Kira asked.
“I think I got poisoned last night, I may have died, but then I saw all my past lives. Will you believe it? In all my past lives I’ve been a slave, poor, trapped, never been free.”
Kira could not understand her friend, but she decided against interrupting her for clarity, so she egged her on. “Trapped?”
“It’s hard to explain, but I’m tied to a prince by a blood pact, and every lifetime he comes for me. I run. I die.”
Kira raised an eyebrow.
Lara rolled her eyes, frustration creeping into the softness of her voice. “I’m not joking. I saw it, Kira. I remember being everything. I—”
“So, is Tyrie the Prince?” Kira asked.
“No, I’ll know the prince when I meet him.”
Kira stared at Lara, unsure of how to respond.
“I want to be free in this life even if it’s once,” Lara said. “Tyrie is strong, and the new head of a thriving crime syndicate. Killing him will not be easy, and even if we succeed, his gang will kill us. I can’t drag you down with me.”
Lara held her head in her hand, the hangover headache kicking in.
Kira held Lara’s face in her palms. “You’ve really though this through.”
Lara gave a weak laugh, the sound brittle but alive. “I don’t want to die anymore,” she said. Her voice trembled, but there was a new edge to it, soft but steady. “I’m tired, I don’t want to be trapped any more, but I also don’t want to kill myself. I’m tired. I’m tired of dying.”
“You’re allowed to be tired,” Kira said softly. “Not just from your past lives, which, babe, I must be honest, I’m low-key giving you the side eyes. But from this life, the life where I got to know you, you. You’ve been fighting ghosts no one else can see. Even soldiers sleep.”
The kettle whistled in the kitchen. Kira stood, tugging Lara’s hand as she did. “You’re making coffee?” she asked.
Kira nodded.
“Okay! Coffee and a murder plan. Get up.”
Lara laughed. “You just called me crazy in a beautiful way”
“I also called you strong?” Kira scoffed.
Lara laughed again. “Coffee and murder plan, how do you come up with these.”
Kira joined in, pulling Lara into the kitchen.
Kira moved to turn off the whistling kettle, noticed the empty bottle of Tenjaku on the kitchen counter, smirked, and remembered the drinks in her bag.
“Wait!”
She turned off the burner and hurried out of the kitchen, returning a second later with her tote bag, and pulled out the five bottles of alcohol. The five included a new Tenjaku.
Lara’s eyes lit up.
“If we can’t come up with an airtight murder plan over coffee, we may need to come up with a crazy one over vodka,” Kira joked.
Lara laughed and hugged her. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too,” Kira said.
Reassured, Kira pulled back, got the mugs from the shelf, and proceeded to make the coffee. Then she opened the fridge. “Great. My hangover stash is still here.”
She pulled out a bowl of soup with boiled eggs, popped it in the microwave, then handed the coffee mugs to Lara.
“Here, I’ll bring the soup.”
Lara took the cups out of the kitchen.
Kira grabbed two bowls. The microwave dinged. She dished the soup and went to join Lara.
She handed Lara her bowl, then plopped down next to her.
“I had a second to think,” Kira said.
“Rather than a grand murder scheme, that will leave both of us dead, because you know there is no way I’ll let you kill alone,” Kira said, blowing on her soup. “Why not try to escape, vanish from here, to a country where Tyrie will never find you?”
“With which money?” Lara asked, taking a sip of her coffee.
“Okay, this is a crazy idea,” Kira began. “Last night, something strange happened. Mark got a call, panicked, and called off the cruise. But before that, he had been talking about paying anyone who could seduce his nephew 5 million naira.”
“Your sugar daddy?” Lara said. “Sounds like he was joking.”
“He has the money.”
“Is he not the same man who would rather pay your bills than give me money?” Lara asked.
“Yes, he is an insecure control freak,” Kira stated. “But I know he’s serious about this.”
“So, basically he wants more than seducing his nephew.”
“Yes.”
“And he still hasn’t found anyone to?” Lara asked.
“He has. But his nephew never falls.”
“Sounds messy, like a completely different type of trap. Not worth it.”
Kira sighed. “True.”
“I’ll rather just Kill Tyrie.”