Chapter 35: Chapter 35

Part  Twelve

The executioner

The official person who carries out the capital punishment of a criminal.

Chapter Thirty Two

Halal tried to breathe but she couldn't, she struggled to push Darrell off her but Darrell's grip on her body remained solid, his hand went to Halal's fragile neck and he squeezed.

"Sto....p.... What are you doing D?" Halal asked breathlessly her eyes finding her his.

Darrell grinned wickedly "What I should have done a long a time ago you bïtch" he answered. His hand found the pocket knife in his pocket, he took it out of his pocket and buried it in Halal's stomach.

"Halal!" Daria screamed as she woke up from her horrid dream, her scream woke up her husband who was also lying beside her. "Daria, honey are you okay?" he asked sitting up and switching on the bed lamp.

His eyes found Daria's form on the other side of the bed where she was shaking with sobs.  "Daria, what's the matter?" Femi asked concerned. "Halal is going to die" Daria sobbed.

Femi looked at her confused "What do you mean,  Why do you say so?" Femi asked confused.

"I just saw her die, it was so real Femi. It was so real" Daria sobbed.

Femi shook his head and pulled his wife closer, his hands rubbed her back in a comforting gesture. "It's just a dream Daria, Halal is fine" Femi said comfortingly.

Daria shook her head vehemently "I've had a dream like this before, the week before my father died. I saw him die and I told my family about the dream.  It didn't matter to anyone because I was just a little girl, but he did die, and almost exactly the same way I'd seen it" Daria said still sobbing.

Femi sighed, He didn't know how to reassure his wife that everything would be fine. "I know you think it's just a dream Femi but some dreams are not just dreams, Halal is in trouble and I'm scared....I'm really scared that we won't be able to save Halal" Daria sobbed.

"What happened in the dream Daria?" Femi asked curiously. "She was struggling with someone, the person pinned her down and stabbed her" Daria shook with fear.

Femi sighed "Well, did you see who stabbed her?" Femi asked.

"Yes...." Daria started slowly before realizing that she couldn't remember the face of Halal's attacker anymore. She searched her mind but only a blurry figure came up "I can't remember, I can't remember anymore Femi" Daria panicked.

"Ssssh, everything will be fine. Halal is safe, it's just a dream, nothing will happen to her. Go back to bed honey" Femi said.

Daria tried to forget about the dream but she couldn't. 'Who could possibly want Halal dead?' she kept on thinking.

"I'm taking a flight to Lagos first thing in the morning, I have a few meetings to attend to" Eva told Deborah.

"A meeting with who?" Deborah asked curiously. "Master Abdiel, you've probably never heard about him. Anyway, what we do here is peanut compared to what he does" Eva smirked.

"Oh...." Deborah sighed. 'What we do here is peanut compared to what he does' this meant that Eva was socializing with more bad people.

In the eyes of other people, Eva ran a charity organization for teenagers but she truth was she didn't.

The teenagers in the organization trafficked drugs and other substances out of the country,  she made money from making prostitutes out of young girls.

"Well why is he called Master Abdiel?" Deborah asked.

"Nobody, I mean nobody, knows his name but he's like a God to everyone that knows him" Eva responded with so much pride in her eyes.

"I heard Master Abdiel sells girls, young virgin girls. That'll be good for the business right? Men like to defile innocent girls,  I'm going to make a hell lot of money Deborah. Master Abdiel might sell me twenty to twenty five virgins. While I'm gone, take care of work . Don't Fùck up" Eva said sternly.

"I won't, trust me" Deborah smiled.

Eva smiled back though she didn't trust Deborah with her business. Deborah was too soft, which was why she'd asked her second in command 'Venom' to take care of Deborah while she was away.

"I will handle everything. So I'm curious, can you tell me more about this Master Abdiel?" Deborah asked.

Eva narrowed her eyes at Deborah "Why?  You've never been interested in the business, just the money. Stop asking questions, as for Master Abdiel, it's better you know nothing about him. The man is a beast, I've not seen him before but I've heard a lot about him. Do you know the meaning of his name?" Eva asked wide eyed.

Deborah shook her head "No" she replied.

"We don't know his real name but Abdiel means Lord of the slaves. He's my role model" Eva gushed causing Deborah to shake her head .

Would Eva ever change? Deborah wondered, she knew the answer to that question. No, Eva would never change, not unless she was forced to. Deborah sighed, she had to force Eva to change.

Her hand clutched her purse, the recorder was still on.

She'd stop Eva, even if it meant exposing herself. Perhaps after revealing the truth, she'd be able to close her eyes and rest without hearing the cries of innocent babies.

"That reminds me,  I'll have to arrange a taxi that'll take me to some lowlife bus park so that the bastard could come get me from there" Eva said.

She scoffed "Stupid girl thinks I'm coming into Lagos by bus transportation, she thinks I'm as cheap as she is" Eva sneered.

Deborah smiled uncomfortably "What's going to happen to the other non virgin girls at the location?" Deborah asked. 'The location' was their code for the ware house where they illegally harboured young girls and boys.

Eva waved a dismissive hand "I've met some Arab men who would like to buy black girls. We'll sell some and get rid of a few.  Venom informed me that the girls were tested yesterday, a few have infections. We'll get rid of those ones" Eva said. By getting rid of them, she meant killing them.

Then she smirked wickedly. "Why are you smiling that way, what are you thinking of?" Deborah asked curiously, she was familiar with that evil look.

"I'm thinking Deborah, if I didn't want Halal dead as soon as possible in order to get that money, I'd prefer drugging her and bringing her all the way here. I wonder how much those Arab men would pay for her, she's older but she'd be worth something I suppose. So she can die being the dumb whorë that she is" Eva scowled. Her hatred for Halal was growing every minute that went by.

Deborah's eyes widened, she had to act quickly.

Darrell looked at Daria's pale face and wished he could make her feel better but he couldn't, he didn't feel any better himself. They were all going out of their minds with worry,  Halal was pregnant and they were worried that something would happen to her or the baby.

"Halal will be fine Daria, don't think about it" Darrell said. "Your nerves are unsettled, that's all" Darrell continued.

Daria shook her head "It's not my nerves Darrell, I'm genuinely worried. Why isn't anyone taking this seriously?" Daria asked frustrated.

Darrell sighed and stood up "What do you want me to say to you Daria?  Fine, everything is not fine. You think I'm not going crazy too Daria? For crying out loud, the woman hasn't even told me she's pregnant with my baby" Darrell shouted.

"I'm just going to tell you this and leave Darrell, I don't trust Eva. I don't think she should even come here and now that I think about it, Eva should also be on that suspect list. She hates Halal more than anyone else we know" Daria frowned.

Darrell groaned "I don't think so, Eva has her faults but she's not that evil. She's just a spoilt brat who thinks she's entitled to everything with a snap of her fingers" Darrell said.

Daria rolled her eyes "Doesn't she give you the creeps?" Daria asked.

Darrell shrugged nonchalantly. "I have work to do at the hospital, maybe you could convince Halal to make Eva stay at a hotel" Darrell winked before walking away.

Felicity was still singing the same song when he got to work, she didn't trust Doctor Harvey anymore. "Doctor Mathew and  I spoke last night, he told me Harvey hasn't called him yet, Harvey still isn't answering his calls. Is it just me or he has stopped being concerned about Victoria? A staff who was almost killed in his hospital, Isn't that just suspicious Darrell?" Felicity asked.

Darrell thought about it but said nothing about Harvey. "I've worked with Harvey for years Darrell,  trust me I know when something is wrong. Doctor Harvey doesn't fool me one bit" Felicity continued.

He looked at her wordlessly and feigned interest but like Felicity said, she wasn't fooled.

"Darrell, say something!" Felicity urged.

"I really don't know what to say Felicity, there are so many things to worry about and honestly I came here to distract myself" Darrell groaned.

Felicity's shoulder slumped "Of course, all these must be really hard on you. You don't even look well Darrell, what's wrong?" Felicity asked.

"Where do I even start from, the surprise party I know you all are planning. Don't even try to pretend Felicity, you grinned  like a Cheshire cat every time I said the word 'party' last week. I don't want that party but I know Halal would be really offended if I don't come for my own birthday unwanted party, anyway that's the least of my problems. Daria is already dreaming of Halal's death" Darrell sighed.

"Woah...what? Halal is not dying. Look, don't think about that. Halal will be fine, seriously Darrell how many times do I have to tell you this?" Felicity asked looking pissed.

"I know but it's hard to convince Daria otherwise, she thinks she's Joseph the dreamer" Darrell scoffed causing Felicity to chuckled.

"It's not actually funny Felicity" Darrell sighed  before revealing his fears.

"When Daria was little, she had a dream similar to this. In the dream, she saw our father die. She told us about it but we brushed it away. My dad died, just as Daria had seen it. I'm so freaking scared, but I didn't let Daria see that. I have to be strong for both of them even if it's killing me" Darrell sighed.

Felicity rubbed his shoulders. "I'm sorry you're going through this all by yourself, I'll be lying if I say I understand how you feel" Felicity said sympathetically.

Darrell nodded absently "If you ever need anyone to talk to, you know you can talk to me" Felicity said comfortingly.

Darrell smiled "Thanks Felicity, you have no idea how grateful I am" Darrell said gratefully.

"You're welcome" Felicity smiled back.

Daria met Halal hastily putting on some clothes in the bedroom. "Hey, what's up?" Daria asked dropping a cup of plain yogurt on the table.

"Hey, Eva is at the park already. I'm going to pick her up from there, wanna come?" Halal asked.

Daria nodded not because she wanted to see Eva but because she desperately wanted to be around Halal all the time. Especially ever since she'd dreamt of her being killed.

"Darrell said Eva would be staying here, don't you think she should stay at some high class hotel, she's always had extravagant taste" Daria stated.

Halal shook her head "Eva isn't the same person you met years ago, she's older now and more sensible" Halal said.

"Still, I think she should stay at a hotel" Daria persisted. "Why?" Halal asked frowning.

"You know how Darrell is always uncomfortable around Eva" Daria said.

Halal narrowed her eyes at Daria "And why should he be uncomfortable around Eva? Eva hasn't done anything to him. Besides Darrell hasn't ever told me he was uncomfortable around Eva, when did you become his advocate?" Halal asked irritated.

"Fine, Forget I said anything" Daria said. Halal rolled her eyes and walked out of the room.

"Oh my God, Eva!" Halal rushed over to hug her cousin when she sighted her standing outside the bus park.

"Halal" Eva returned the hug less enthusiastically.

"God! you look good, Benue must be really good for you" Halal complimented.

"Actually we moved to Abuja recently, thanks. You haven't changed much" Eva commented. Halal smiled "I'm just happy you're here" Halal said as they moved to the car.

Eva  frowned when she saw Daria in the car, and wondered who she was.

"Who is that?" she asked trying to keep the anger out of her voice.

"Eva,  this is Darrell's little sister. You remember her right? She used to live at our house" Halal grinned. Neither Eva or Daria smiled.

"Oh....Sarah right?" Eva asked finally faking a smile. Daria didn't smile back, she could sense pretense.

"Whatever works for you" Daria answered rudely.

Halal glared at Daria for speaking that way but said nothing. "Her name is Daria" Halal told Eva.

Eva smiled again before getting into the back of the car. She was fully prepared to deal with this Daria, if she proved to be an obstacle.

"It's good to be back in Lagos" she said faking excitement.

Daria rolled her eyes while Halal smiled clueless. "It's good to have you back" Halal said.

Daria closed her eyes, how could Halal be so blind?It was so obvious that Eva was fake.

She was so sure Eva wanted something from Halal, probably money since she was broke now.

Daria didn't know what Eva wanted but she was going to stick around till she found out.