ANISHA'S POV

As I got closer to the gate, I began to quicken my steps. I was very late, and I knew this would affect my employer ma'am Larissa la Martina. She would not be able to leave home before my arrival, since she had a nine month old baby, Liam. Oh Liam, what a sweet little boy. I rushed up the front stairs and knocked on the door just for formality. I hardly ever knocked on the door, and ma'am Larissa usually left the front door open for me. Before anyone could answer, I pushed the door open.

"I'm here, ma'am!" I called out with a smile. The house was unusually silent. Every morning when I reported for work, I was always greeted by some music.

"Ma'am? Liam? I'm here!" I shouted louder as I hurried towards the child's bedroom. In the hallway, just before I could ascend the stairs, I saw some clothes thrown about, as if someone had been in a fight. A fight? Could sir Lucas ever be in a fight with ma'am Larissa? No. Not the man that I knew. He loved his wife too much to ever raise his hand on her. Or maybe...maybe they…or no…could they have been just having fun in their house, and ended up leaving their clothes thrown about on the stairs? I used my hand to cup my mouth in great embarrassment, and I decided it probably was not the right time for me to go up the stairs. What if sir Lucas was still in the house, and I would just walk in on them? Oh no, I could not imagine such a scene! I quickly ran down the stairs and entered into the lounge.

The room was dim, so I opened wide the curtains and the windows. I picked up a few toys which were scattered all over the floor, and then something caught my eye. A huge drop of blood. Huh? What was happening? I shifted my gaze and saw that just a few centimetres from the huge drop, there was another larger blood stain. And another, and another. My sight followed the red trail, and I saw that it moved up to the carpet, the deep red blood painted a huge stain on the carpet. It seemed like someone was bleeding and they walked into the lounge with blood dripping. Who? Who had spoiled the floor with their blood? Oh; where had they gone to? Sensing danger and beginning to be very scared, I followed the drops of blood, which led me to the kitchen. My whole body shook in terror, but I continued to tiptoe.

"Ma'am Larissa!! Sir Lucas!!" I called out with a voice so hoarse and shaky that I could not even recognise it as mine.

I was nearing the kitchen door when something caught my sight. From within the kitchen I saw a trail of blood on the floor. It was a deep red colour, which appeared as if it had started to flow just recently.

"Ma'am?" I called out again but there was no response. Slowly and in fear I started to walk towards the kitchen, following the trail of blood. It led me to the most horrific sight of my life; a human leg! Ma'am Larissa's leg! Just behind the kitchen counter she was lying, her naked body half covered in blood. She was lying on her back, with her right leg folded, the foot resting under her left knee. Her face was slightly swollen, with eyes closed and blood from her mouth. Her hair was a bloody mess; half of it was covered by her bloody bath towel.

"Ma'am?' I shivered as I drew closer asking myself, is she alive?

"Ma'am! Who did this to you!! Who did this to you ma'am?"

Tears started to stream down my face as I hurriedly searched in my bag for my phone.

"Hold on ma'am, I will call 911", I said as I fished my phone out. Just then, my phone rang. It was Sir Lucas la Martina, husband to ma'am Larissa.

I quickly answered it, "sir, you have to come home now…."

"Listen to me, Anisha," in a deep scary voice, he interjected. His voice was so serious that I dared not say a word to oppose him. All I could do was listen.

He continued: "Go into our bathroom, check carefully between the sink and the shower doors. You will find a loose tile. Move it. Get inside the tunnel. It leads to my secret basement. Check drawers of old white cupboard. Take as much cash as you can. Take one of my cars. Run. Take Liam with you. Leave Southrain City now!! Do not go to the police, the police cannot be trusted now! Someone in the police is after you and Liam!! Go as far away as you can!" and the line went dead.

"Sir? Sir? …." I called out, but there was no response.I kept staring at my phone in fear and confusion. Someone in the police force was after our lives? Liam and myself? I could not understand it at all.

He said I had to leave the city of Southrain? To where? Southrain was and had always been my only home, I had never left the city for any other place; and the two people I called family were in Southrain City. I was very much confused and scared, tried to call back Sir Lucas' number, but the line was not going through anymore. Then I remembered Liam. Where could he be? I stood up and ran as fast as I could up the stairs. The child was asleep, I quickly picked him up and he woke up with a cry.

"Shh! We will call the police now" I said as I picked a set of car keys and hurried down the stairs. In my hurry to go and pick the child, I had left my phone on the kitchen counter, so I went back in, took the phone and started running outside. In my rush, I almost dropped Liam, and as I struggled to keep him in my hands, I dropped my phone and it fell with a loud thud, the screen immediately shattering and going blank! Oh no!! I cursed out loud and ran outside, but I did not know what I was doing.

Ma'am Larissa hardly ever spoke to her neighbours, and so I also did not know them well. Standing by the side wall, I screamed towards one neighbor's house "help!! Help me!!"

There was dead silence.I called out again and just then a man appeared through the gate. In great fear, I ran towards the garage, aiming to get into a car and drive off. I was continuously pressing the car remote, checking which car was responding so that I could jump inside. Who was that man? Was he the one who had killed ma'am Larissa? What was happening? I ran like I had never ran before, towards the beeping car. I pulled open the door and hopped in with Liam in my hands. Car seat…car seat! Oh no! It was too late for that! There was no car seat, and I just had to go. I literally threw the child in the back seat. Feeling sorry for Liam who was already falling to one side, I violently reversed the car, headed for the gate. The man was in my way, but since a part of my heart told me that he must have been the one who killed ma'am Larissa, I made up my mind not to stop. The car veered at great speed, and the man, seeing that I was determined to hit him, jumped off my way and called out my name,

"Anisha!! You want to kill me?"

Oh! He called out my name? In shock I stopped the car and looked. It was Eden Salatto, one of my housemates. The three of us, Eden, Valentina and myself shared a house. Eden was a plumber by profession, and Valentina and myself were babysitters by day, students by night. I was more than shocked to see Eden, wondering if maybe I could have been in a dream. I failed to understand how Eden could have been at the la Martina' house, more so during such an early hour of the day. How had he known about my workplace, had he been looking for me or what could have happened?

I could not help but ask in shock:

"Eden? What are you doing here?"

He chuckled. "This is my area, Harvey Street. There are a lot of houses here where I do some plumbing work. I was just coming from fixing some pipes down the street when I heard your cries for help."

Snapping back into reality, I suddenly remembered ma'am Larissa's body in the house. "You have to help me!! You have to help me Eden!!" I cried as I got out of the car and moved closer to him.

"What happened?" he asked as he tried to calm me down.

"Something terrible has happened! Ma'am Larissa; ma'am is dead" more and more tears ran down my cheeks.

"What!!!!" he gasped in disbelief.

"You have to come with me to the police." My voice was demanding. There was no room for negotiation.

"You haven't called the police yet? What happened?"

"Stop asking questions. Let's go." I screamed at Eden.

"I don't understand. Please tell me what happened?"

I was failing to control my loud breathing. Although a part of my mind wanted so badly to convince me that I was just having a nightmare, the other part insisted that it was reality. Ma'am Larissa? What had happened? Why did sir Lucas tell me to run away with Liam? My whole body was drenched in sweat; not that it was hot, but because my body was producing its own heat. It was my fist time to see a dead person…or...was she still alive? What if I made an error? Maybe she was alive…but no… "Sir must have killed ma'am. Sir killed ma'am" I broke into tears afresh, my whole body shaking as the image of ma'am Larissa's body refused to leave my mind.

"What happened? Did you witness the murder?" Eden did his best to sound calm.

"No, but sir Lucas told me to get lots of cash from his secret basement and run as far away as I can. And he said I mustn't report this to the police! Get in the car, let's go!!"

I quickly jumped on to the driver's seat and I was already reversing as I urged Eden to join me.

"Where will you go then?" he asked, showing concern. In my mind, I still wanted to go to the police, for there was no safer place than that. But then, Sir Lucas had sternly informed me that someone in the police was after our lives? Who? How? I had never had an issue with any police officer before; so where was all this coming from?

"Go to the house, Anisha! Go to the house, our house! If someone is after you, I will help you! I can take you to Yellowleaf with me! I will report this to the police and meet you at home in ten minutes." He shouted out to me as he ran towards the open door of the house.

Without wasting any more time, I drove out in haste, headed towards the police station. Liam, probably sensing that something had gone very wrong, let out a sharp scream which greatly startled me. I almost lost control of the car, but I managed to get it back on the road, and it screeched loudly as the tires gripped the road, on my way to the police station. I had to report it! I had to report the death of ma'am Larissa.

Tears blurred my vision but having no option, I fought hard to keep my sight on the road, speeding towards the city centre. I knew that Eden had told me that he was also going to report the issue, but I felt that, to be just to ma'am Larissa, I needed to report what I had seen. How on earth could I have gone home to wait for Eden, while I knew that my employer, my loving employer ma'am Larissa, was lying dead in a pool of her own blood?