FIVE

ANISHA'S POV

The lodge manager looked at me from head to toe and then looked at Liam before asking

"are you being abused by anyone. Parent? Husband? Employer?"

"No. not at all. My husband and I just had a misunderstanding and I am driving off to my mum. I need help to clean my baby and also a meal for us, and I will be on my way." I continued with my lie.

"So you left in such a hurry that you forgot even to carry food for your baby? And changing clothes?"

"Sir, can we talk later? Please help me, the child is starving," I coaxed.

He looked at me for a long while and then picked his phone and dialed a number.

"Give her some food for her and the child. First allow her to bath her child." He put the phone down and left the room.

The same girl from the reception walked in and asked me to follow her. As soon as we entered the room in which I was supposed to bath, I asked to use her phone.

"You want to use my phone? But the manager did not mention anything about using the phones?" she answered.

"I know, I know. Please, I just need to call my mum."

I only had one person that I could call, if I did manage to get hold of the phone. Considering that I no longer had my phone with me, the only phone numbers that I knew offhand were my employers'; but at that moment I could not call either of them.

I also knew my housemates' numbers; Eden and Valentina, as well as Ms Meyerton' number. Ms Meyerton, the woman who raised Valentina and I at Olga Children's Home. It was impossible, or rather inconsiderate, for me to call Ms Meyerton at that moment. She lived in Hallowcave, one of the countries near Lakeworld. Although she could speak very well, her speech was slow, as a result of suffering a stroke some years before. I knew she was having it a bit rough in Hallowcave, and talking to her would have just stressed her even more.

Given that I was still very much confused about what was happening, and I was not sure whether or not to listen to Eden, I chose not to call him. It surprised me how he was very quick to ask me not to report the matter to the police, and even so, why did he not leave the crime scene with me? Instead, he opted to remain in the house doing no-one knows what. That on its own left me with too many questions when it came to Eden. Besides that fact, Eden and I were not close. We were housemates, not friends. Never having met my father or mother or any person claiming to be my relative, Valentina was the only family I had, and the only person I could trust at such a trying hour.

As soon as Valentina's number went through, her jovial voice answered, "Hello?"

"Val! Val I need your help. Val, someone wants to kill me and Liam!" I burst into tears.

"Wait what! To kill you and Liam? Calm down, what happened? Where are you?"

"Someone killed ma'am Larissa. A police officer might be involved. Two men wanted to kill us…" I went on and on.

"I cannot get anything of what you are saying, Anisha! …." Valentina's desperate voice came through.

"I said, someone wants us dead. The same person killed my employer. Eden said I must not report to the police. And he was right, apparently, a police officer is also involved." I was struggling to calm myself down.

There was silence before Valentina said, "how is Eden involved in all of this?"

"He…he passed by the house, and he also saw ma'am Larissa's dead body. Val, Val I am very scared." The tears started falling again, with more intensity than before.

Talking to Valentina gave me a sense of relief, and it also caused me to be even more emotional. I wanted to hug her and cry on her shoulders, but she was too far away from me.

"Let me get back to you, Anisha. I think this needs to be reported to the police," she said.

"No! no please don't! For now I have to wait until I understand what is happening. I am too scared, Val!"

When I saw that Liam was looking at me and about to start crying, I quickly wiped off the tears and smiled at him, trying to assure him that everything was fine.

Since both Liam and I had no changing clothes, I washed his clothes and threw them into the drier. While he was wrapped in bed linen, I fed him. I took out the few dollars I had and asked the receptionist to buy me diapers, fruits and bottles of water.

With no idea how the I journey was going to look like for us, I felt lost and frightened. I did not know where I was going, so I figured water and fruits would help keep Liam and I alive for a few days.

After a long while, the receptionist returned with a huge bag of diapers, lots of baby food, fruit juices and water. There were a lot of changing clothes for Liam, and bottles of baby milk powder.

"The manager offered to buy these for you. He said he felt sorry for you." the receptionist smiled.

I almost broke down in tears, touched by what the manager had done for me.

"I need to see him and thank him", I said in a low voice.

"He is currently out. You may take some rest, you look tired. I will call you once he comes back", she said as she walked out, closing the door behind her.

Liam was already fast asleep in my arms. I laid him softly on the bed and lay down too. Soon I was fast asleep.I must have slept for a very long time, for when I woke up, it appeared as if it was already late afternoon. I was startled by a loud knock on my door.

Quickly I sat up in my bed and rubbed my eyes.

"Come in!" I said. The receptionist entered and handed me her cell phone.

"Your friend is calling you", she said.I thanked her as I took the phone and answered it

"Val?"

"Anisha, watch the news now!" Valentina's voice was unmistakably panicked. The line immediately went dead.

I handed over the phone to the receptionist and thanked her again. I tried hard not to show panic, and she smiled and left.

As soon as she left, I quickly switched on the TV and was greeted by huge red letters written "BREAKING NEWS".

Quickly, I lowered the volume so that no one else besides me could hear what was happening.The man who was reading the news was narrating the story of a murder of a woman in Southrain, the capital city of Lakeworld.

_"In a shocking event this morning, a lady, whose name is being withheld for now, was found dead in her home kitchen this morning. Her body was discovered by neighbours who had gone in to check on her. _

_There is one witness, who saw and talked to the prime suspect in this murder case. Police have come up with a sketch of the suspect, using the sole witness' description. As shown in the picture on your screens, the man is a tall man probably in his late twenties. He has black hair, thick black eyebrows, black eyes and a scar running from his left temple down to his collarbone. The suspected killer posed as a plumber, and he managed to escape before the police arrived._

_It is highly suspected that the same man who murdered the woman also kidnapped the child. The couple has a son who is estimated to be between eight and ten months old, and he is missing. The father of the child is also missing._

_Meanwhile, the neighbours reported that there is a child minder who comes in daily to take care of the son. Today, as per the neighbor's reports, it appears the said woman did not report for work. Not much information is known about the child minder, and we have not yet managed to get a picture of her._

_Investigations are underway to locate the suspected murderer, who is still at large. The police are also trying to locate the woman's husband and the child minder, as they too may have useful information to help solve this case._

_Anyone who has information should report it to their nearest police station. We will keep you updated."_

A sketch of Eden's picture was displayed on the screen. Cold sweat ran down my back, I felt fear that I had never felt before. It was difficult to accept that I too was a suspect in the murder of ma'am Larissa? What happened? Who killed her? Why were they suspecting me? And the biggest question at that moment was, who wanted to kill Liam and me?

At that moment I started to trust Eden. I knew that he did not kill ma'am Larissa because she was already dead before Eden arrived at the house. He became my only hope…I gave him a chance.

I quickly switched off the TV and picked all the items that the manager had bought for me. There was a lot, so I took one load first and went to leave it in the car. The receptionist was typing away at her station; she just smiled at me and continued with her work. I went back for the last load and for Liam; walked slowly towards the reception and saw the receptionist still typing away.

"The manager is now in. You may go in and thank him," she informed me without lifting her head to look at me.

"OK, thank you. May I make one more call?" I smiled sweetly and she pointed at her phone.

I moved to a secluded place and called Eden,

"Did you see the news? I am being…"

He did not listen to me but instead barked an order,

"Go to Yellowleaf now. I will meet you there! Don't waste any time, Anisha!" The line went dead.

I handed the phone over, feeling uneasy, I murmured,

"Let me pack my bags and I will go and thank him."

I smiled and walked out, dumped my bags into the car; fastened Liam onto the back seat, jumped into the driver's seat and drove the car as fast as I could; taking the road which led me out of Southrain, towards Pamuti; the city next to Southrain. It was the small city that lay between Southrain and Yellowleaf. I told myself I was going to make a plan once I arrived in Pamuti.