November 2010...
Katherine quickly picks the call on the first ring.
"Is your session over yet?" Nathan asked, sounding a bit tense.
"Is there something wrong?" Katherine asks, ignoring his question. He seemed worried but Katherine didn't know why.
"No it's just", Nathan started before exhaling. "Savannah and I have been in a relationship for years now. And yet still I couldn't see her suffering on the inside. I didn't even know she was sick. It's just hard for me to believe that she's actually unwell and could be a notorious criminal". Nathan said, his voice cracking.
Katherine felt a bit uneasy knowing that her reply might make him feel worse. "Well, Savannah would be able to get the treatment she needs. My session is over".
"Okay and what happened, is there anything she said that proves she actually has the disorder?"
Katherine went silent. She had been thinking about the anwser to that question for so long and after all the sessions she's had with Savannah, her conclusion was something that could change all those weeks of investigation. "You see, the environment Savannah grew up in was such that caused her to constantly change the way she viewed the world and because of that, her brain had to find a way to set all those memories aside by creating a second personality. What I'm trying to say is that you were right, Savannah does have the disorder and that second personality may or may not be the killer". Katherine said, each word was hard to say but she couldn't lie. She'd come across many patients yet Savannah's story was one that stood out. She didn't know why this was so, she didn't know why she felt like she could relate even though she couldn't .
Nathan didn't say anything for a while. It was evident that he was shocked by the news, even though he expected to hear it. "So I was right", Nathan started before sniffing his nose. "I told you a few weeks ago that Savannah was the killer. Now we're both sure that she actually does suffer from the disorder". It was evident that he was sad upon hearing the news.
Katherine knew she couldn't continue talking about this topic so she decided to end the call. "I'll call you later". Katherine said before ending the call.
She got up from her seat before making her way out of her room. She made her way downstairs before walking to the living room.
She didn't know what to think about the situation. Now she was sure Savannah was the one who killed Patricia, but what about the other cases. The police have been looking for the killer for weeks now, maybe months but yet still the killer has been living a regular life.
Now that Katherine thought about it, only the victims have been in contact with Savannah's second personality, but couldn't describe the incident. But only one victim managed to survive. Katherine remembered her name to be Mariah Miller. She was a suspected victim, that meant that she has seen the killer's face.
The thought of that gave Katherine an idea. If she managed to find Mariah, then she'd be able to tell whether Savannah was the killer or not.
Okay maybe there were a few things wrong with the plan like the fact that Katherine didn't know anything about this girl.
She searched her up on the internet but the only information about her was her name, age and a few hints on her childhood. There was nothing else on her. Katherine didn't know how to find her and she was the only person that could tell whether Savannah was actually the killer.
She did more research on her and her family members and found out that her mother was the sister of someone called Jordan Jackson. She didn't know whether it was actually the same Jordan but she'd heard her neighbour mention his name a few times when they talked.
She didn't want to waste time so she decided to confront him about it. She stood up from her seat, put her phone and a small notepad and pen in her purse, just in case before slipping on her flats and rushing out of the house .
Her neighbours house, Mr. Jackson was right next to hers, even though they didn't see each other often. As soon as she reached his doorstep, she knocked on the door a few times. No reply. She knocked and when she didn't hear any response, she decided on going back home. She was just about to leave when she heard the door creaking behind her. She turned around to see her elderly neighbour, Mr. Jackson .
"Do you want to see someone?" He asked while adjusting his walking stick.
"No, actually, I wanted to talk to you. May I come in?" Katherine asked, beads of sweat already forming on her forehead. He looked at her for a moment before nodding in agreement before making way for her to pass.
Katherine nervously walked into his house. The last time she actually visited him was last year during Christmas when he invited her to his family's dinner.
She sat on his sofa and he sat on the chair next to her.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Mr. Jackson asked while rocking his chair.
"Sir, actually I wanted to ask if you know anyone by the name Jordan Jackson?" Katherine went straight to the point, not wanting to waste time going into details.
The expression on Mr. Jackson's face dropped. He looked a little bit sad upon hearing the name. Did she do something bad? Did she ask the wrong question?
"No it's -" Katherine was cut short by Mr. Jackson.
"He was my adopted son. I only had two children during my time, Jordan and Elisabeth. Elisabeth was my biological daughter but Jordan was adopted 3 years before she was born, when he was still 5 . Jordan became friends with the wrong group and ignored Elisabeth's warnings because he thought she was trying to act nice Infront of me. He got arrested a couple of times for stealing and ended up dropping out of school. I haven't even set my eyes on him in 5 years". Mr. Jackson narrated,he looked more annoyed than sad. Maybe more disappointed.
"I'm really sorry about that", Katherine tried not to make things worse. "But, uhm, do you know where he lives?" Katherine lowered her voice.
He didn't answer for some time, he looked like he was thinking about something. "He lives in Serena street, the third house on the left". Mr. Jackson said blankly. He was probably annoyed by the topic.
"Okay, thank you so much sir". Katherine said before making her way out of the house. Without wasting anytime, she ordered a cab. Wherever this Serena street was, she needed to find it and find him. The cab came ten minutes later .
This place was far and when they finally arrived, it was a dump. The houses were old and mostly empty and a guy even tried to steal her purse. She managed to find his house and it was a bit more manageable than the others she'd seen.
She knocked on his door a few times before he answered. A well dressed tall man in his mind or late forties answered. He didn't look like someone that had been to jail before .
"What do you want". He said blankly.
"Uhm, can I come in?" Katherine asked but she didn't know why she was stuttering, maybe it's because of his intense gaze.
"No you can't. Now tell my why you're here". He didn't sound or look like he was in a good mood.
"Okay. Are you Jordan Jackson?" Katherine finally asked, but those words came out softer than she expected.
"Yes. Why?" Now he looked more annoyed.
"I just wanted to know if you knew anyone by the name Mariah Miller or Elisabeth Miller?"
"Yes. I do know them?" He asked, in a less annoyed tone.
"Please, do you know where they live?" She didn't want to spend anymore time there. He looked like he didn't want see anyone.
"Yeah, they live around here. Just go straight, then, you turn right. Go straight until you see a house that's painted green". He demonstrated with his hands.
"Thank you so much". She said before rushing away.
She followed his directions and indeed she did see a house coloured green. She knocked on the door and waited. She was about to knock again when she heard people's voices.
"Go and see who's knocking. I think it's the neighbour's". She heard a woman say.
"Okay fine". This time it was someone younger.
The door was opened by a young girl with long brown hair and small brown eyes. Mariah. She was the one who opened the door.
"Mom, it's not the neighbour's. I think she's here to see you". Mariah said before walking away. But before she could go anywhere, Katherine grabbed her hand.
"Wait! I need to have a word with you". Savannah said softly. Mariah slowly releases her hand before turning to look at her.
"Who are you? Is it about school? Am I in trouble?" Mariah said, a bit panicked, her voice loud enough to call her mother's attention. Katherine slowly lowers her head to stare at her feet.
"What's going on-". Her mother couldn't finish her sentence when she saw Katherine. Katherine looked up to see her.
"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" Maria's mother said almost shouting, it was expected that she'd be furious.
"Actually, I came here to talk to your daughter". Katherine said in her most polite tone. Mariah who had already left the scene.
Her mother didn't say anything for a while and just let Katherine in.
"What do you want to talk about? My daughter doesn't have to know". Maria's mother said in a very low tone, just minutes after she'd walked into their living room.
"No, actually I need to speak with your daughter. It's about something very important". Katherine was indirectly begging her but she needed her to agree. She couldn't have come all the way just to get rejected.
Mrs. Miller didn't say anything for a while before shouting Mariah's name. Mariah came rushing into the living room. Once Mariah arrived, her mother just gave Katherine a suspicious look before walking away. She probably knew what Katherine wanted to talk about.
...
It had been more than five minutes but nobody had spoken, Mariah was still seated on her chair , avoiding Katherine's eyes.
"I'm sure you must be wondering what I wanted to talk to you about '. Katherine started, trying to get her to talk, but Mariah just sat blankly staring at her sandals.
"Okay. I'll get straight to the point", Katherine started but Mariah still didn't look her way. "I want to know what happened that day when you encountered with the killer". Katherine said and almost second's later, Mariah whipped her head around to look at her, her expression a little, shocked.
"Why do want to know about that? Are you some reporto?" Mariah questioned but Katherine ignored her and continued speaking.
"I just want to know how the encounter happened. That's all I'm here for". Katherine said, trying to sound as direct as possible. Mariah got the point and didn't ask any more questions.
"I was walking on my own. Minding my own business when a girl came and covered my mouth from behind. I bit her hand and she immediately removed her hand from my mouth. I was about to walk away when she grabbed my arm and twisted it. I tried to free myself by nudging her rib but she just cornered me by a tree and whispered something into my ear. She said, ' I won't spare you. You would die'. I quickly pushed her away but she tackled me to the ground and we started punching each other before I hit her on the head with a rock and ran away". She seemed a little shaky with each word that came out from her mouth. Katherine got all the information that she needed except one. She searched her phone for a picture with Savannah's face showing. There was only one, of Nathan and Savannah during his birthday. She enlarged Savannah's face before showing it to Mariah.
"Does she look like this?" Katherine asked before showing Mariah the picture. She looked at it for a while before nodding her head slowly.
Her doubts were cleared. Now she knew exactly who the killer was...