EDEN'S POV
As soon as Anisha left, I rushed inside the house with the intention of getting the cash that she told me about. I made myself believe that she was waiting for me at home, as per my instruction. Anisha looked too shaken to do anything else besides following the instruction that I gave. My intention was to get the money as fast as I could, and leave the place before the police got to the house. Basement; Anisha mentioned a basement. Just then, it dawned on me that Anisha had said "secret basement", meaning that it wasn't going to be easy for me to find my way to that basement.
While I thought of calling Anisha, I remembered that she had no phone, and I was on my own. I had to find the basement. As I walked along the corridor, I saw in the kitchen the ghastly sight of Larissa's body, lying in a pool of her own blood. I just shook my head. A young beautiful woman gone too soon! Pushing the sight to the back of my mind, I hurried out and into the garage, with the hope of finding a way to lead me to the basement. Basement basement! Oh where was the basement!! I searched the walls for secret doors but found none. I had to do a wild guess and search in places where I thought someone would hide cash.
I ran up the stairs and opened doors. There were many bedrooms of different sizes. Then I opened the door to one bedroom which to me appeared to be the master bedroom. Yanking all the drawers open, I searched frantically for the cash. Drawer after drawer, handbag after handbag I searched. I turned the bed upside down but still there was nothing.The more I failed to get the money, the more irritated and impatient I became. I wanted to just get the money and leave. I had turned the master bedroom upside down and I was sure that there was nothing in that room. There was not even one note, not even some loose coins in a drawer!! Where was the damn money!! I clenched my fists and hit hard on the dressing table, knowing that my time was running out. I kept asking myself, so how do I get to the basement? Is there even a basement in this house?
I felt very frustrated and started heading downstairs. Part of my mind told me that the door to the secret basement could be linked to the kitchen. I walked around the dead body, going towards the other end of the kitchen and opened the door which led outside. I quickly headed towards yet another door, which I opened. It led to a scullery. It was dark and smelt terrible. There was the smell of dirt and dust; it seemed like the scullery had not been used in a long while. I peeped in and searched on the walls for the light switch, but I did not find any.
I then switched on my phone torch, and I saw some old staff in the room. In a corner there was a very old washing machine, and two ironing boards next to it. There was yet another ironing board leaning against the wall, and the spider webs around the old furniture confirmed my thought that this room had not been used in a very long time. I looked around and saw some old linen folded in a pile. Suddenly an idea crossed my mind; what if I open to see the inside of the washing machine. I wasted no time and opened. Inside I saw used baby clothes which were stuffed in a plastic paper, and I kept digging. Then I felt the rustling of a paper. I dug deeper and pulled out a brown paper whose contents I was very curious to see. With shaking hands I opened the paper and saw lots of small zip lock bags with small white tablets. Drugs. Drugs of fine quality. I smiled to myself as I clasped the brown paper under my arm. By then, my hopes of finding the money started to increase.
There was newfound energy in me to search even harder. I checked around for a door, but there was none. I started to examine the floor intensely, with the hope that there would be a lose tile covering an entrance leading to the basement. I needed to get to the basement at all costs.I dug furiously in the boxes which were in the room. There was nothing of interest, but I continued to search. Why on earth did I leave my car? I cursed myself. If only I had my car with me, it was going to be easy for me to carry what I wanted and drive before anyone noticed me. And then I heard footsteps and a woman's voice calling out "hello! Anyone home?!"
I froze in my tracks. Who could it be? The voice was coming from the main entrance, and the person had not yet seen the dead body. I could not allow this person to see me; whoever it was. I quickly switched off my phone torch and continued to listen. There was silence.Just when I thought the intruder was gone, I was startled to hear the footsteps drawing closer. It sounded as if the person was moving to the other side of the house. Oh, yes I was right! The owner of the voice left the lounge entrance, went around to use the kitchen entrance, while she continued calling out for attention. With the kitchen door open, it was obvious that whoever was calling was going to see the dead body!
I cursed under my breath and, without thinking, walked out of the scullery and stood by the kitchen door, blocking the intruder from seeing the inside. I immediately regretted my decision for doing so, realizing I had acted out of panic; but it was too late to have such regrets. Seeing that everything had turned seriously nasty for me; I knew I needed to act as calm as I could. A young lady stood in front of me, looking at me, smiling brightly. She appeared to have a lot of time on her hands, while I was eager to get rid of her at the earliest possible time.
AT 24 HARVEY STREET; NEIGHBOURS TO LUCAS AND LARISSA LA MARTINA
A lady was lying peacefully in her luxurious bed. She lazily opened her eyes and yawned. She stood up and headed to the bathroom, stood in front of the mirror to admire her beauty, and she smiled. Suddenly she remembered something. She was not sure if she had a dream or if it happened? She was more than convinced that she heard a voice calling out, "help! Help me!" She decided to check with her housekeeper, so she walked slowly down the stairs and into the kitchen. She almost bumped into the housekeeper, who profusely apologized,
"Oh I am sorry ma'am! I didn't see you coming."
"It's alright", the lady responded as she proceeded to walk into the kitchen.
"Was I dreaming, or did someone call out, help! Help me!"
The housekeeper looked startled. "Oh I heard it too ma'am. And I thought it was from your room."
"From my room? What on earth made you think that I screamed for help?"
"No ma'am, I thought you were watching a movie. I assumed it was your TV" the housekeeper explained.
The lady remained silent and started to think. If her housekeeper heard the cry too, it means that she did not dream about it; it happened.
"How well do you know our neighbours?" she asked the housekeeper.
"That young couple? Besides knowing that they own Double L Waste Management company, I hardly know anything else about them. Wait umm, they have a child, not sure if it's a boy or a girl. And they must have a child minder who comes in every day in the mornings and leaves at the end of day"
"Could they be in any trouble? Who was crying for help?" the lady asked.
"I am not sure, ma'am".
"Can you just go and check on them?"
"Yes ma'am", the housekeeper nodded.
At the house next door, the front door was open; she knocked but there was no response. She moved around the hose until she was saw the kitchen door which was open.
"Hallo, anybody home?" she called in a loud voice.
A man immediately emerged and stood at the door. The way he stood, it was as if he was blocking her from seeing inside the house.
"Hello sir, are you the owner of this house?" the housekeeper giggled, failing to control herself in front of the man who stood before her. He was fair on the eye; there was something about him which was captivating. Before the man could say anything, the girl quickly corrected herself,
"Oh sorry but it can't be you. I have seen the owner of this house a few times before, you look very different. May I know who you are, sir?" she stretched out her hand to give the man a handshake, but the man ignored it.
"I am no-one important. How may I help you?", he spoke in a flat tone. All he wanted was for the woman to leave.
"I came to check…I thought I heard someone crying for help?" the girl asked while turning her head slightly to the left.
"Crying for help? You must be mistaken", the man stated firmly.
The girl giggled again and looked at the man with seducing eyes. He really is a handsome man; she thought to herself. She was wearing an apron which she started to hold and twist in a shy manner.
"If you don't mind, I really have some work to do. I am the plumber. I am fixing some pipes here", the man turned to go back into the kitchen.
Before he closed the door, the girl spoke again, refusing to let him go off that easily;
"Oh really? You're a plumber?" her eyes beamed with excitement. "May you also come and fix something next door. I will talk to my employer. Please may I have your name card?", she smiled and continued to look at the man with pleading puppy eyes.
"OK I will do so. I have no cards with me at the moment", he said, hoping to dismiss the lady as soon as he could.
He did not have time to waste on the girl anymore, so he chose to flatly ignore her. He turned around and pushed the door, but the girl moved forward to hold it, saying,
"Please don't close the door on me".
Her movement was just in time for her to see the body of a woman lying on the floor. The smile on her face instantly disappeared, her eyes bulged in fear and she retreated back before screaming out,
"You killed her!!", and she ran at the speed of lightning towards the gate.
Her reaction took the man by surprise, and he saw the lady vanishing right before his eyes.
"There's a dead woman in that house! There's a dead woman!" the housekeeper shrieked, having no mercy for her throat.