CHAPTER 45

The guy whom Ima rented the

apartment from also saw the news

on TV and he couldn't believe that

he has just rented an apartment to

a kidnapper. He went to the police

to report himself and told them

about Ima. Immediately he finished

his report, the police asked him to

take them there, and by the time

they got there, Ima had already left.

The police were thrown into confusion

as they did not know what to do next.

The young man who reported Ima

remembered that he saw a sticker

on the car that she drove down here

the previous day, so he quickly

related that to the police as that

sticker belonged to a car rental

company which meant she rented

the car from them. The police quickly

jumped into action as they contacted

the rental company and also

contacted their station so that a

few police officers can be dispatched

to the car rental company because

they know that the company may

not want to cooperate as they will

not want to give out their client

information.

Forty minutes later, they were able

to track Ima and know her location

but the fear in their heart was that

it might be too late by the time they

get there to rescue the girl. The

tracker on the car that Ima drove

showed that the car has stopped on

an abandoned bridge and they felt

their blood chill because it was

obvious that she wants to go and

push Rachel down the bridge into

the water so that the girl can drown.

True to their thoughts as they were

arriving, they saw Ima staring down

the bridge and laughing. Because

they were able to guess her thoughts,

they came prepared, and while some

were busy restraining Ima so that

she wouldn't run away, others dived

into the water looking for Rachel.

It was at that time that Shulamite,

her family, and the George's arrived.

When Shulamite saw people diving

into the water, she almost passed

out as she screamed. She ran

towards the bridge and was stopped

because she wanted to jump in.

While she was being restrained,

Max was also seen trying to jump

down the bridge. There was chaos

everywhere as almost every member

of the family wanted to jump down

the bridge. Ima's hands were already

cuffed by the police officer who

subdued her when she wanted to

run away, but while the police were

trying to stop people from jumping

down the bridge, Ima had no one

watching her so she escaped.

By the time that backup from the

police and an ambulance arrived,

Ima was long gone. When the police

brought Rachel out of the water,

Shulamite's heart broke even more

as she fell to the ground out of

shock. Her daughter's face was

swollen all over and she had bruises

as Ima tied two rocks around the

girl before pushing her into the

water so that she will sink.

She was quickly rushed into the

Ambulance while first aid was

being given to her. The doctors

were trying their best to resuscitate

the girl but she was not responding.

Shulamite has already gone into

shock as she was responding to no

one or anything. While her mother

was crying because of Rachel, her

mother was also crying for her. The

doctors kept trying while the

ambulance was leaving but Rachel

was not responding and it seems

like her heart has stopped. They

tried all they could and a few minutes

later, she was pronounced dead.

Marx held Shulamite up from the

ground where she was sitting and

it was obvious that she was no

longer who she used to be because

she has lost all sense of where she

was. She was looking at everyone

like they are strangers and when

she looked at Max who was holding

her, she quickly withdrew her hand

from him and started shouting that

he should get away from her. She

couldn't recognize anyone around her.

Her mother cried as she didn't know

who to run to whether to chase after

the ambulance that was leaving or

stay with her daughter who can no

longer recognize her. She does not

know who this Ima is,  but one thing

was sure which is, the girl has

shattered her family. Mrs. George

who never liked Shulamite felt pity

for her when she saw the state that

Shulamite was in. She couldn't go to

Shulamite to console her because

she felt that Shulamite will think that

she is happy for what has happened

to Rachel because she had earlier

threatened Shulamite that she will

take Rachel away from her. She

couldn't imagine something like

this happening to her son Max

because she will just die. While

they were holding Shulamite away,

she wasn't crying or showing any

emotions rather at a point she

began to laugh and everyone instantly

knew that there was is a big problem

on their hands.

Max felt like everything that was

happening was a dream because

he couldn't believe how one day he

has a daughter and the next she's

gone. The pain was becoming too

much for only him to bear because

on one hand, his daughter is dead

and on the other, the love of his life

is acting abnormally. Everyone has

their different ways of dealing with

grief but for Shulamite, it seems

the grief was too much for her to

handle so she's losing it.

While all that was happening, Najiba

who was in a restaurant went to use

the toilet and got the surprise of

her life. Immediately she stepped

into the ladies toilet and closed the

door, she saw someone behind her

from the mirror and immediately

bent to avoid the attack that was

coming. The man who had attacked

her swung his dagger at her again

and stabbed her on her back as

she screamed out in pain and fear.

Her back was hurting and bleeding

as she was trying to ward off her

attacker. She remembered the pepper

spray that she always carries around

in her purse and quickly reached

out to her purse while kicking and

screaming. She brought out the spray

and sprayed it in the face of her

attacker who was trying to strangle

her. He immediately released his

hold because of the hurt in his eyes

and Najiba used that opportunity to

run out of the ladies toilet. When

she got out, everyone screamed

because she was bleeding from her

back her arm, and her chest.

The security ran into the ladies'

bathroom but found no one inside

as her attacker has somehow escaped.

Najiba was bleeding profusely from

her injuries and some of the

restaurant workers were trying to

stop her bleeding while waiting for

the ambulance.

When Najiba was attacked in the

ladies toilet, she thought that today

will be her last day on Earth as she

has never faced a near-death

experience like this one. Her husband

and her mother were immediately

contacted and her mother instantly

called her driver to drive her down

to the hospital which Najiba was

to be taken to.

The man who attacked Najiba did

not escape immediately but only

pretended to be a cleaner who also

joined the security in searching for

Najiba's attacker. He quickly exited

the building before every entrance

will be sealed up and he will be

trapped in there, thereby letting

Najiba recognize him and point

him out. As the man was about to

enter a corner, turned around and

looked at Najiba through the window

and she also saw him from where

she was seated on the chair. She

became shocked and scared when

she saw the man walking away

but she couldn't talk because he

disappeared into the corner so

fast that she had to question her

sanity. She knows that her attacker

will not just disappear without

achieving his goal which

was to kill her.

Chris was so scared after hearing

everything that has been happening

around town. She felt like there was

nowhere safe for her anymore

because it seems like Ima is

everywhere wreaking havoc in the

lives of people who she feels have

offended her. She feared for her life

and the lives of her twins. She

 couldn't wait for Doja to return home

in one piece because like the saying

goes, two heads are better than one.

After Emma ran away from the

crime scene, she didn't run very far

before someone hit her head from

behind and she fainted. A few

minutes late, she woke up to see

the face of her mother staring at

her. She was shocked that she was

back in her room in her parent's

house but the only difference is that

this time around, she was chained.

She tried moving her hands and legs

but she couldn't because she has

been chained with a short chain

so she looked at her mother and

said "why did you bring me back here

and why am I chained. Her mother

looked at her with a straight face and

said "when dogs go mad, their

owners chain them. You should be

happy that I have not handed you

over to the police yet. Why did you

do what you did to that little girl?

What was her offense? Do you

know that you have pushed that

family into morning and I don't think

that they can ever recover from the

blow." Ima laughed and said "who

told you that I ever want them to

recover from the blow which I have

struck? I promised myself that I will

hit her in a place that hurts most

and that is what I have done. I will

make sure that I exact my revenge

on all of them and nobody will be

able to stop me. Even Doja does

not know what is coming for him

until it hits him hard the same way

that it has hit Shulamite."

While Emma was busy boasting of

her evil deeds, and mother slapped

her and screamed at her "shut up!

What is wrong with you? If you are

possessed by an evil spirit why not

kill yourself instead of killing others?

God knows I did my best for you

even now when you are supposed

to be in police custody, I found a

way to sneak you back into the

house, and instead of you to turn

over a new leaf, you are here planning

on how you will hurt more people.

I just want you to know that the

world does not revolve around you

and you will only leave this room

after you kill everybody in this

house because nobody is going to

let you out of this room." 

Ima's mother picked up her phone

and called Vivian who was her

former friend so that she can

apologize to her and also ask Vivian

for help. If taking Ima back to the

river is the only thing, she can't kill

her. She told herself that no matter

how bad a person's child is, they

remain the person's child. She knows

that Ima has committed many

crimes and the police are searching

for her but she couldn't bring herself

to hand over her only child to the

police because she knows that Ima

will go to jail. She couldn't imagine

her daughter in jail as she knows that

Ima will lose it there finally.

She called Vivian numerous times

but Vivian wasn't picking up her

calls and after a while, the number

stopped connecting. She sat and

cried as she told herself that she

would have been happier without a

child because since she had Ima, she

has never had a moment of peace. It

has always been from one challenge

to another. If people are not

complaining about her daughter's

attitude, they will be complaining

about something that she has done.

Now she is beginning to believe that

she got Ima from another source

because the girl behaves like a child

straight from hell.

 Doja quickly ran home to ensure

that Chris is safe because it seems

that there are a few killers on the

loose in the city who are going around

harming people. First, it was Ima

kidnapping Shulamite's daughter

and now, the girl is dead. He can't

believe that Najiba was attacked

in broad daylight. He just hopes that

very soon, it might be Chris's turn

and that's the reason he's rushing

back home to make sure that that

doesn't happen.

Immediately Doja ran into the house

and saw Chris, he became relieved

and happy. In fact, he doesn't think

that he has ever been this happy to

see her. Despite having security

guards around the house, Doja

believes that the best way that you

can protect yourself is through

yourself because even your security

guards can be bribed to harm you.

He ran in and hugged Chris. He

hugged her so tight to himself like

he has never seen Chris before. She

was also relieved to see him hale

and hearty because the few acts of

today have put fear in her mind which

made her start having negative

thoughts. Doja told Chris that the

next step is for her to leave the

country and she told him that she

is not going anywhere without him.

She knows that he cannot travel

now because of the company and

that is what she is also trying to tell

him that she cannot leave because

of her job. She believes that whatever

it is that wants to happen, together

they can overcome it.

Ima's father walked into the room

where his daughter was and looked

at her with sorrow, anger, and pity

as he said to her "I warned you before

this day. I could remember telling

you that you are headed for jail but

did you listen? You felt that I was

old so I did not know what I was

saying. Well, I only came here to

tell you that I will not join your

mother on this journey of hers

by harboring a criminal in my house

because very soon, I am calling the

police to come and take you away

for questioning. If they find you guilty,

great, and if they don't find you guilty,

great. I am still grieving for that family.

How do you close your eyes to sleep

every day knowing that you have

caused the death of somebody? God

knows that your mother and I tried

our best for you but our best was not

enough for you because you are

greedy and evil. How could you have

taken the life of a child? You are

sitting here without any remorse

for what you have done. Do you

know what everybody now calls

us in town? They now call us the

parents of a child murderer and I

can't even step out of this house

anymore because there are reporters

everywhere waiting to get a scoop

of the whole matter."