Amidst Temptations batch 18

AMIDST TEMPTATIONS
 
Episode 29
 
Rebecca’s POV
We decided to go to the police and tell them all that we knew, how Martin and Rachel always hung out and how she thought he was going to marry her. I felt like a bad friend not telling Emilia about what I knew but I wanted her to make the decision on her own, She had been on the right path to it when everything went sour. I didn’t expect Martin to be this evil, plus I didn’t want to intrude seeing that it would hurt her and make her question her Christian faith because why bro martin and sister Rachel decided to live double lives were beyond me. Everyone was talking about it, even our past excos and members were involved in the case, it was a big disgrace to the fellowsh¡p and I wanted to hide whenever I went to class and was looked at strangely.
It was more than a week now since Emilia disappeared with no lead, Martin seemed to have covered all his tracks well, he wasn’t in Calabar, neither was he in the village where I thought he was. The guy was good, made me wonder if he had done this before, poor Rachel.. to fall into the hands of a psychopath. The parents had confessed to him having a mental issue but swore he took his drugs, they were still being held till he was found, Pastor Badmus had made sure of that.
Moses sent me a text begging to be anonymous, saying he knew where he might be, I decided to tell the police about it, not telling anyone else lest it got out by mistake, I wonder why I hadn’t thought of asking Moses, he had been his son and closest buddy in school.
Erica had been calling like mad and couldn’t leave her job but I tried to fill her in as much as possible on the situation of things, her brother too always wanted to know what was up, her entire family and church were in prayers for her safe return, I just prayed Martin had not raped her or worse, the guy was obviously sick, and the sooner we found him the better.
‘I keep having these bad thoughts..I’m praying she’s alive, she doesn’t deserve any of this”Serena said sadly, we had become closer over this as we were always at the station together, I stopped what I was writing and looked at her
“She’s fine..Emilia is stronger than you think, she ll fight this and be back to us safely” I wish I had more faith in what I just said..but I had to hope..I too wondered what was happening to her, if she was still alive, and why she hadn’t even tried to contact anyone of us. Sean walked away from us as I continued writing what I knew which I didn’t think was much as the police had combed the streets of Calabar plus anywhere I thought he might be..but with what Moses had said..
“She just contacted me..” He said, I turned as all the blood drained from my face, my l-ips became dried as well
“She did..?…s..she called you?”
“No…just a text” he looked distraught and as i watched him calmly, he obviously hadn’t slept for days, and looked very much unkempt, even had to cancel his trip but how he was right now…
” Are you okay..?”
He sat down so I left the statement and sat with him
“Lemme see what did the message says” he gave me to read, I was silent
“This is not Emilia, she can’t do that”
“She can, been doing that to me” he stood up “I need to go”
“What..you can’t leave her now, even if she sent it , she might be confused”
“What happened?”Serena came to ask
“Emilia sent me a text..”he said
“What…lemme see” she took the phone and read it “aww…so she left with him?”
“No..” I stood up”this is all Martin’s work, he wants us to stop looking for her”I looked at him”he wants you to leave her ”
He sighed and thought
“I think we should tell the police”
“That what..that she told me no again”
“No..that.she contacted you”
He stared at me then nodded, Serena and I went back to the detective while Sean sat down, after explaining to them, they said they could trace where the the text message came from and Moses’ suggestion was a good lead, as I sighed in relieve and decided to tell the father that Emilia had contacted one of us, I looked back to where Sean was…but he was gone.
******
*where do you think Sean went..would it be too late for Emilia?
Episode 30
 
After Martin sent the text he said we had to move, because the police might trace it, dragging me up to my protest, he pulled me to my feet from where I had remained on the floor drowning in my sorrows at having lost Sean
“Get up bitch…we need to leave now..don’t let me hit you”, he pulled me up but I slumped to the floor, if there was a possibility of us being found, I had to find a way to delay us, he sighed and went to the other door to lock it, when he turned I held the knife I had fetched while he was away from the room, the knife pinning my picture to the wall…he stared at me incredulously
“Now what are you going to do with that?”he dropped the bags he was holding, to say I was scared was an understatement, I had never held a knife before, except to cook of course
” Stop..don’t come close..I ll use it”I managed to say but he walked closer to me, and stared me in the eye when he got within an inch
“go ahead..do it”
The knife began to shake in my hands, he took the knife and threw it away, grabbing me by the shoulders to my scre-ms he dumped me on the bed, I bounced on it as he came on top
“You want to play uh..I’ve always imagined you ll like it rough” he took my hand and bent it backwards, I kicked at him as we fought on the bed
“No…please..stop it” I kicked and scratched at him as he tore my top, we both paused at it…
“I think I was right” he said with a leer and came close again, I decided there and then that it was a do or die affair, I wasn’t going to go down without a fight, I was tired of being seen as weak and taken advantage of, my innocence was what brought me here in the first place. I went between his legs and grabbed at the knife, placing it on my neck
“I’ll kill myself Martin. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it more with a dead body”
“‘Come on..you know you’re not gonna do something stupid like that.. I promise I ll be gentle..”he snapped his fingers at me” I do not have time for this Emilia,” When I didn’t respond, he cracked his neck and stood up, his glare at me was evident, he stretched his hand
” let me have the knife “he said calmly
“Martin I swear if you come close.. I ll kill you” I discovered I mearnt it
He stared at me “I’d like to see you do that…do you know what it means die in the arms of your lover”he said with a smirk
“You’re sick”I said
He scratched his face and moved forward “yeah I am, now let me have it…..LET ME HAVE IT EMILIA!”he shouted then laughed “this girl thinks she can…threaten me”he speed walked towards me but when he got close the knife went through him, at first we both couldn’t believe it, as I looked at the blood pooling, then he grabbed at my neck and flung me on the bed, he removed the knife, weaker now as he looked at me with venom in his eyes, I looked around for something, anything..my eyes landed on a bottle he had been drinking from on the floor of the bed…he got back on the bed and gave me a dirty slap, my face burned as he dragged me down, he was more angry now and determined more than ever to get what he wanted, I pushed at him in protest and got another slap, My head was spinning and my eyes were black with tears, I was almost giving up but knew I couldn’t, I couldn’t give up, I had to be strong, I had to remain strong, kicking between his legs I reached for the bottle and broke it on his head…he fell back with a shout, but I wasn’t done, I grabbed at the knife and stabbed him again..then again and threw away the knife….he tried to get up but laid back…I knew then I had to go..
I went towards the door, weak, broken and in pain
” Emilia.. Emilia…I love you “he said stretching his hand toward me, I looked at him for long, then opened the door and went out.
The first thing I saw was nothing, it was a des**ted place, I had no idea where I was, but I knew I had to leave soon, because I had only stabbed him to weaken him, he might get up in no time, closing my torn top the best I could, I began to limp along the lonely road lined with bushes, glancing back severally to see of he was following, I didn’t see any house or human for ten minutes before I saw a house, but it was des**ted, it was obvious I was in a village, but where.. there was no one again for another five minutes as I kept walking, stumbling and looking back to see if he was coming, he wasn’t, if he didnt get help, he might die of internal bleeding but I so did not care.
I continued on my journey, not looking back as I finally saw someone coming towards me, he was an elderly man, he looked at me skeptically
” helo sir..please where am i ?”I asked in my local dialect
“Idumwina..”
“Uh..?”
“Just keep walking, you ll see the main road” he said, I nodded and continued on my journey getting weaker as I hadn’t eaten for days….
I finally came out to the main road and discovered I was close to school after all, I had been kept in one of the communities in Ugbowo, Idunmwina, no one would have thought to look for me there, it was too close to school, he hadn’t taken me far at all, I had been right under their noses, limping towards a girl who looked at me weirdly, I didn’t want to reason how I looked like right now, I begged for her phone, I dialled Sean’s number which I had memorized but he didn’t pick, I decided to try Serena, I should have called my parents or Rebecca but I had one thing on my mind throughout my kidnap, and it was Sean…She picked on the second ring
“Hello..”she sounded skeptical
“Is Sean gone?”
“Emilia?” I almost cried at hearing her voice again, but I needed to know something which was more important to me than anything else
“Emilia, where have you..”
” Is he gone?”I asked…
I feared her answer when she became quiet then said
“Yes…he’s gone we can’t find him and..” I cut and kept the phone. I felt my world had fallen apart, Martin had succeeded in his game, I knew I caused most of it, I never should have led both on but…why does it have to end this way?
“Are you okay..do you need help?”the girl asked as I discovered I was crying, I nodded then stood up from where I had squatted…
” I need to..”I began but stopped as Sean stood there staring at me, he looked down me at my torn clothes and hair, with bare feet, I didn’t care, I just ran into his arms as he held me close to him..I squeezed him tight in tears, he car-ssed my hair
” I thought I’d lost you “he said inhaling my hair
” me too…I’m so sorry”
“I need to see the bastard, you need to take me to him”he said looking me in the face, I leaned and k-ssed him
” I have you Sean….that’s all that matters, nothing else matters” I hugged him again.
*********
*so arrgh she’s safe..but who can guess how Sean found her.?
TBC