Could This Really Be Love?

Source

It is funny how events spin out of control. The same can be said of Angel and Richard's relationship which was to the ordinary eye, a match made in heaven. Angel was unarguably the most beautiful girl on campus, she had a freshness to her that was unlike any other beautiful girl you could find and she was reputed to be kind and gentle, not at all stuck up like you would expect from such a person.

I must say it was the greatest misfortune of her life meeting an animal(pardon my language) like Richard. No one had anything nice to say about him. Yes, we know he was rich and could buy her the whole world but that didn't warrant killing her for hugging an old time friend with an expression of joy on her face. This was his complaint according to eyewitnesses.

As a reporter, i had interviews with various people who knew one or two things about their relationship and to crown it all, an interesting tit-bit from his mother. Don't ask me how i did it...i have my ways.
Let me mention at this stage that they were living together.

Richard's only friend.
I met Richard my first year in school. I am a lively person to have around and i guess he had been watching me for several weeks. He came up to me and said he needs me to calm the voices inside him. He needs to feel joy and love so he does hurt someone.

He said so with such a serious expression on his face that i laughed. I thought he was joking but now i know better. He monopolized my time until he met Angel and that was when his life changed.

He called me a lot to complain about her cheating on him. He was like a restless animal one day when i visited. He kept talking to himself and his face was really scary. He wouldn't give her the benefit of doubt. He believed she was too beautiful to want to stay with him. He said then that if he couldn't have her, no one will. I was so scared seeing this other side of him.

I was concerned for Angel but to assure him, she moved in with him and now she is dead. I did not even know he was violent. This whole thing is shocking, people should please stop calling me a murderer's friend. I am no friend to a murderer.

Their Next Door Neighbour.
Before she moved in with him, he hardly came out of his room. He was a loner and we all respected his space.

We were forced to talk when the screamings started at night. He would beat her so much you would doubt if she would be alive the next morning. No matter how we knocked on his door, he wouldn't open. I personally advised her to leave but he overheard and slapped me that day.

At a time, he burnt all her clothes in broad daylight just because she accepted a ride from a friend. It was only quick thinking neighbours that saved her certificates that day.

It really is funny, if you see the romantic side of him, you would never think him capable of harming his love. That fateful day, she came home with a male friend and Richard was not around. She introduced him to us all as her long time friend. She was so free with him, you should see her hugging him severally.

Then i saw Richard watching her with such anger and i knew this wouldn't end well. Loud screams woke me up that fateful night. It was a desperate cry for help. She was begging so much for help.

She kept saying he is killing her...he had a knife and he was stabbing her with it. By the time we broke down the door, she was already dead. He held her in his arms crying and begging her forgiveness over and over. We called the police immediately but he died before they came. He had swallowed poison. The madman had said before he died, "If i can't have her, no one will."

His mother
(With tears in her eyes) I regret bringing him to Nigeria but i was so scared he would end up in jail. He was diagnosed with obsessive love disorder when he was eight. He had almost burnt his little sister to death, it was the timely intervention of the housemaid that saved her.

The doctors had said if we treat him with love and support, he would get better. I spoilt him, i made him worse(crying bitterly). I gave him everything he wanted that even his father complained. He warned me before he died but i won't listen and now my son is dead and would forever be remembered as the crazy man who had killed his girlfriend.

I was avoiding this same issue in the states. He had beaten up his girlfriend and her parents were threatening to press charges. The rumour was spreading about his violent tendencies around objects of his desire that i had to leave there to avoid talk. Should i regret giving birth to him? Who did i offend in my past life that didn't forgive me?

Dear readers, you have it. The story in full. Apparently, this condition has a name but it is no excuse for the loss of a life. What can be done about this issue? Till i come your way with another interesting story...be safe!

This tale is written for the writing contest hosted by @zizymena.