CHAPTER 61

Sarah was surrounded by many children who where crying and stretching out their tiny arms to touch her but she kept moving backwards to avoid them. The more she tried avoiding them the closer they came to her. "Stay away from me you little urchins. I hate children!" She yelled at the children and they all stayed where they were as they stopped trying to come close to her and touch her.

There were over a thousand children who were trying to touch Sarah because as she looked around the field, she saw many children that she couldn't even see their end. She wondered how she found herself in a place like this. She looked at all the children and they were of different colours, ages, and sizes. The oldest amongst them should be three years old.

 After yelling at the children, they all became quiet and were looking at her with expectation in their eyes. Sarah looked at them and didn't know what to do because of the sudden silence that fell upon everywhere. As she turned around to walk away from the field, all the children began to cry at once and their cries were so loud that she thought that they were using a public address system.

She turned around surprised at their cries as she thought that someone else has arrived to make the children cry but when she looked around, there was no one there except her. All the children began to stand including the babies amongst them. Their cries stopped and their faces changed immediately. They all looked at her with menace showing on their faces as they began to march towards her while growling. The children's growl made Sarah to remember some supernatural stories that she has read. She turned around and laughed at the children as she shouted "come on! Come and get me. You can't scare me because I know that you are not real. You are just a figment of my imagination and I am never afraid of imaginations so come at me."

As she stood and was talking, one of the children got very close to her and stabbed her calf with a knife. She felt the impact and a sharp pain as blood began to gush from her calf. She looked at all the children and realised that they are not here to play and neither are they a figment of her imagination as she had thought earlier. She turned around and began to run as the children started chasing her while they were chanting "murderer! Child killer. You don't deserve to live." They kept chanting that as they were chasing her. Sarah ran as fast as her legs could carry her and after a few minutes, she couldn't run anymore as she needed to take a break and also catch her breath.

As she bent, put her hands on her knees, and began to take some breath, she heard the voices of the children again and this time, it seemed they were more than the previous time. They were coming after her while chanting the same song that she had them chanting a while ago, calling her a murderer and a child killer. She saw that they were getting closer, then she took to her heels once again. Sarah kept running until she ran into the midst of seven hooded women. They were unusually tall and they were holding sticks while wearing black hooded capes. She screamed when she saw the women and at that minute, they all raised their heads. When the women raised their heads, Sarah discovered that they were all skeletons with breasts and each of the skeletons had a red stone placed on their foreheads. She stumbled and fell to her knees and as she was trying to get up, the women began to beat her with the sticks that they were holding.

She screamed and woke up only to discover that it was a dream. She quickly scrambled up from her bed but fell to the floor because of the pains all over her body and her leg. She looked down at her leg and saw a red painful streak on it. Her back was also aching all over as she began to cry in fear. She thought that it was all a dream but she couldn't understand why she could feel pains from the stab and beatings that she got from her dream.

Her mother heard her scream when she woke up from her nightmare and ran to her room. When she got to the door, she heard her daughter crying so she knocked on the door but after Sarah heard the sound of the knock on her door, she screamed again and began to shout "all of you stay away from me. I have done nothing to offend you and I don't know the reason why you are after me. Go away and please don't come close back." She used her palms to cover her ears as she was screaming and crying.

 Her mother who was outside knocking on her door became confused and wondered what her daughter was talking about. "Sarah, can you please open up? It's your mother who's at the door. Whatever you have just seen is not real sweetheart, you were only having a nightmare and you need to snap out of it now.

When Sarah heard her mother's voice, she stood from the floor where she had curled up into a ball and ran towards the door. She opened it and fell into her mother's arms while crying. Her mother decided not to ask any questions as she held heR daughter and was trying to calm her down. She wondered why Sarah will have a nightmare at this age and still cry about it. She held onto her daughter for a few minutes and noticed that she has put all her weight on her and was no longer sobbing. The realisation that her daughter was not making any sound anymore, alarmed her as she dragged Sarah from herself and looked at her only to notice that her daughter has passed out.

 Sarah's mother was in a state of panic as she called for an ambulance. Before the ambulance arrived, she was trying to apply the little knowledge of first aid that she has but her daughter was not responding. Within three minutes of trying to revive her daughter on her own, she already had tears streaming down her face and after trying in vain, she sat next to her daughter and was crying and talking to her. "If you knew that you were this sick, why didn't you say anything? You never had a father so it has always been you and I and we never hide anything from each other, so what could the problem be that you felt you couldn't tell your mother. Sarah please stay with me and don't leave because you are all I've got and that's why I have refused to say anything to you about Samantha's death even after I have investigated and known that you are involved in it. How can I ever open my mouth to tell someone else that my daughter is a killer? I don't care the kind of person that you are or what you have done, all I want is for you to stay here with me because I can't bear it if anything happens to you." 

Finally, an ambulance arrived and Sarah was taken to the hospital. She finally woke up in the morning when the sun was already up and she still woke up with a scream as she kept relieving her nightmares. Her mother who was sitting at her bedside quickly held onto her and told her that there was nobody here to hurt her. Sarah was in a state of panic as she was looking around the hospital ward with so much fear in her eyes.

 Her mother who has been a witness to everything that has been happening since the previous night was very concerned as she decided to speak to thE doctor when Sarah falls asleep again. "Sweetheart, I am here for you and nobody can come in here to harm you. The doctors say that you have a fever and that's the reason why you passed out but why didn't you tell me anything. You are still my baby and will always be my baby so when you are sick, you should let your mother know and stop making me look like an irresponsible parent. Sarah, I love you and you are the only meaningful thing that I have in my life. Always remember that whatever happens, your mother will protect you so you can go back to sleep now and know that I am here for you." 

Sarah only nodded her head after listening to her mother's talk but she never closed her eyes as she felt that if she closes her eyes, she will see those children and women chasing after her again. The nightmare has really left her shaken as it felt so real when it all happened. Even though Sarah promised herself that she wouldn't close her eyes again, the injections that she was given finally took effect and she fell asleep. Her mother used that opportunity to seek out the doctor and speak to her about Sarah's condition.

When she got to the doctor's office, the young lady was on the phone so she indicated to Sarah's mum to have a seat. As Sarah's mum was sitting, she looked at the young lady and asked herself why her daughter cannot be responsible like this young doctor here. She could imagine how proud her family will be of her for accomplishing so much at a young age. After comparing the doctor and her daughter for a few seconds, she gave up on the idea as she knows that even if Sarah was to be tied up to a medical school, she will never study medicine and only do what she wishes to do.

When she noticed that the young doctor was done talking on the phone she turned round to face her as they both smiled at each other. "I am so sorry for keeping you waiting, I had to answer an urgent call from one of my patients." Sarah's mother looked at the young lady and told her not to worry about it because she understands.

"I came in to speak with you about my daughters' condition. She woke up a while ago and she looked very scared like her nightmares were coming to life again. It almost feels like she can't tell the difference between imagination and reality anymore and that is giving me a cause for concern. Doctor, I don't want you to hide anything from me because Sarah is all I have got and I like knowing everything that's happening to her." 

The doctor smiled because Sarah's mother's action made her remember her own mother who is always worried about her and still calls her everyday to know how she is doing and sometimes, she is forced to make a video call for her mother to ascertain that she is really healthy. So she understands why this woman is worried about her daughter because she is not an only daughter, yet her mother still worries about her. "Madam, you don't have to worry about your daughter because she is fine and she is only looking confused because of her fever. It happens to some people as they sometimes become confused and scared because they can't tell the difference between their nightmares and realities anymore. You are very lucky that she did not see you chasing her with a gun or a knife in her dreams because that would have made her scared of you and not want you around. I assure you that by the time her fever goes down, she will come back to her senses and become the daughter that you have always known." 

Sara's mum thanked the doctor and left her office back to Sarah's ward and when she saw that her daughter was still asleep, she decided to go back home and get some clothes for her. She also wanted to cook for her daughter because hospital food always tastes horrible and she does not want her daughter to complain or feel inconvenienced.

Zahid felt happy and satisfied after having his meal. He looked at his wife and saw her smiling so he decided to ask the question that has been on his mind since he stepped into the house and saw all the preparations that she has made for him. "I know that you said you wanted to see me because you wanted to tell me something but with everything that my eyes have seen so far, I think you were supposed to say you wanted to request for something instead of saying that you wanted to talk to me. So what do you want this time? Just tell your husband and he will make your wish come true like the Genie in Aladdin." 

 She narrowed her eyes at her husband and told him that it is not everything that is about favours. "I am your wife and apart from offering you sex, there are other things I can do to make you happy. I called you here today because I am about to make you the happiest man on Earth and not to request for any favours from you." 

"Wow! The fact that this word is coming from you is new to me. Najiba of all people will want to make me happy without asking for something in return? You are beginning to scare me with this new behaviour of yours because this is not the behaviour of the woman that I married." As her husband was talking, she went closer and began to kiss him so that she can shut him up for good. She stretched her hand towards a big white envelope on the chair as she picked it up and gave it to her husband. "What's in here that is supposed to surprise me and make me happy?" She did not reply her husband's question and was just looking at him as he brought out the papers inside the envelope.

 Zahid looked at the picture of the ultrasound and could not understand what that meant so he decided to look at the next paper and what he saw blew his mind. Immediately he saw Najiba's pregnancy test result, he got very angry as he looked at her and said "are you joking with me? How can you be pregnant?" Najiba looked at her husband and was surprised as she felt that he was supposed to be happy instead of having the look he has on his face right now.

 Zahid looked through the papers again and it was true that his eyes were not deceiving him. He flung the papers aside and walked up to Najiba, grabbed her and shouted "you adulterous woman!"