Chapter 15 Cleithrophobia

Songs for this chapter are:

Lost my way - Lecrae

Team - Lorde

Maybe - Hui (Pentagon), About time OST

Torn - Asa

***

All of the panicking and yelling from the realization of the fact that the owner of the unknown number was that of a captor had immediately been cut shorty when I heard a gunshot closely; I did see the bullet pass through and I was quick enough to catch the view with a side glance as it pierced into the fabric of my Driver's shirt. He let out a sharp yell that did not last for a minute as his last breath escaped his nostrils, causing his head to lie limply on the steering wheel, the truth now registering that he was dead.

Never again to breathe, to see, there was no hope left for him, nothing left to see, never to feel again, the last thing he has seen was the empty area. I was just going to pay franklin his salary after this journey since it is the last day of the month but the hope of earning an income for the month to feed his family, buy himself good clothes, and celebrate himself for a job well done were all gone just by the piercing of a bullet that had caused the cessation of his life.

It made me remember how the loan shark killed my friend, Krystal. I could not stand watching people die. It made me so sick and it triggered my health the most even beyond false odors. I had seen my father's corpse in the hospital room, with so much blood bathed on his clothes. The only parent I believe I had; the man who didn't mind to lay his life down for me, I had seen his dead body with my bare eyes. I had watched my friend drop dead on a kitchen floor on my tenth birthday, now my trusted driver, Franklin died right in my face as well.

I clutched on to my throaty as it aches intensely, from my failed attempt to scream but another hand laid on top of my hand like a heavyweight, in a clear motion to strangulate me. I was baffled and shocked but I could not fight back, scream for help, or try to wriggle my body in resistance to the strong fist wrapped around my hands with an intent to force out all of the oxygen from my throat because my head was badly throbbing now and my vision was beginning to blur, then I could smell the faint scent of rust, like a rusted metal chain bound to my body.

I knew the odor was false and I knew it was my symptoms dominating my senses now, nevertheless, I could not help but believe in the odor I was perceiving. I knew my symptoms had grown worse over the years but I liked to avoid being in dangerous situations like this so as not to bring out the absolute worst side of my illness.

The odor brought back hazy images of the loan shark in my head and my head throbbed harder. I knew I was going back to that castle where I was enslaved when I was nine years old. Back to slavery. Whoever it is that just shot my driver and is trying to kill me as well must have gotten access to the booth of my car somehow but since I couldn't turn completely to see who was trying to strangulate me, I could, however, see the tip of the gun and the trigger under his hold.

Then I saw the exact design on the tip of the gun after straining my eyes, it was just like the design I had seen on the gun that the loan shark used to kill my friend, Krystal, - the cross sign with the inscription, "hades" on it. I mean, I took a proper look at the gun on that day and committed it to memory for some reason because I had never seen a gun that had such a design. It made me wonder if guns do have designs in the first place.

But I never knew that memory would serve a purpose later in my life; that I would never stop seeing shades of hades no matter how long it goes. As I could feel my body starting to shut down, and my eyes drifting to a close, I smile in pain, knowing full well the person trying to strangulate me right now is none other than the loan shark.

Of course, he is back for me. It's a shocker that he didn't die that night, even though, Dan has set the tunnel with a fire burning with sulfur but what did I expect from a demon who had been after my life thanks to my mother's gambling deal. Besides, Dan and I had majorly stepped on the cobra's tail by trying to escape and even go as far as trying to kill him but in every brutal death scenario, there is always that slim possibility of survival and of course, this demon had crossed the thin line onto survival and had defiantly gone hunting for Dan first before coming for me because it was Dan who tried to kill him first.

Dan was probably back to the castle now, bound in chains, so the loan shark left his castle to look for me so I can join to make his mission complete.

Dan and I cut ties completely three years ago and I haven't seen him in years because business consumed my entire life but I still do not wish him bad. The thought of him suffering now in that castle because of me broke my heart beyond explanation.

He managed to get a life of his own after leaving the castle but now, him going back there is like shattering everything he has managed to build all over again.

And now, of course, I am as well going too...back...back to the state I feared the most...Cleithrophobia...

***

I feel the darkness haling me in and neither the smithing nor the tugging stop. I want to yell. I want to ask for help. For anyone to yank me back into the light. After all the darkness I've been sucked into, it occurs to me that I might deserve a little bit of light.

But unlike what they chronicle in fairytales, darkness wins, seizing me as it's new captive.

Light.

Blinding light invades my vision, even with my eyes closed. It makes me clench my eyes shut.

Soft caresses gentle my face. The hand feels anything but soft, but the amount of comfort it seeps into me is enough to pacify my worries and pain; enough to encourage me to open my eyes, only to blinded by some more and the moment my eyes behold the spotless, white room, the clobbering in my head intensifies. "Please close the blinds." I bleed just as I descry Mustafa standing by my bed.

I squeeze my eyes shut, hearing some shuffling before the light starts to abate. "My love! I didn't expect you to wake up so quickly!! But you are awake! I was so freaking scared!!" My husband cries and I hear his footsteps coming closer to me.

"Wait...what's going on? Why am I in a hospital? I was at a deserted street about a day ago and I knew I was going to die because there was no way someone could locate that place to save me. So how am I here?"

I asked, baffled, and then when I took a proper look at Mustafa, I saw that a thick bandage has shielded his injured forehead from sight and the right side of his cheek had been badly swollen as well. Did he try to fight with the loan shark??

The thought of it made my heart swell with pain that I wouldn't dare to imagine what the fight must have looked like. Just as I tried to sit up from the bed where I had been lying all day, my sides mock me, as a sharp pain emanates from my waist. "My body hurts like a bitch." I mumbled, the mere movement of my vocals, making the hurting escalate.

Not tears sprang down my eyes as I stared at Mustafa. I mean, I didn't move him but still did not want him to die even though his death would connote a large amassment of financial wealth for me and my kids but, now I was feeling for the man who used to be my best friend. The thought of the fact that he fought the loan shark and was able to survive it and get me out of there is heart-aching than it is heartwarming.

He really could have died.

"You are here because I fought with the person who was trying to capture you. And I was able to locate you because I got a text from an anonymous number saying that—"

"You got a text too???" I asked, unintentionally interrupting him but it shocks me to see that the person who was able to get Mustafa's number and text him as well. How did the loan shark ever get to know Mustafa?

"Yes, the person lied to me that he's Zoe and I started to wonder when Zoe changed numbers but she changed her phone numbers once so I easily believed the lie and drive over to the address the text had given me because what the person told me was, you were in danger. So I had to rush over only to find myself at a dead end with someone trying to strangulate you. Of course, you were in danger but I'm sure he wanted me there so he could kill me as well. I had to fight him with all of my night."

Now, my curiosity was spiked up to the brim, so I sat up, ignoring the stunts my sides were pulling, and asked my questions anyway.

"What did he look like?" I asked. I could see him wincing in pain now because he said so many words that the state of his swollen cheeks would defiantly not permit him to say but I wanted to know this person who was smart enough to know that Zoe is more a less a newscaster, hence using Zoe as the perfect bait to get Mustafa running helter-skelter and was able to know that I was supposed to have a business meeting with my brother at the same time as well.

I needed to know who the person was so I could connect the dots quickly together because, from the things I am hearing now, it doesn't seem like the loan shark's doing. After all, he was never really into my business while I served him. All he cared for was to end my life. He didn't even hurt my mother but, I couldn't tell.

There's no other person in my mind but him.

"How about you tell me what he did to you first so I can try to answer your question?" He said, touching his swollen cheek gently as they hurt brutally from the effect of exercising them to utter a few words. I winced a little, feeling his pain, somehow.

"Well, except the fact that he shot the driver, which I'm sure you know since you must have seen his corpse on getting there, he retired to strangulate me directly but could not since my hand was originally wrapped around my throat. He only wrapped his hands above mine immediately after I saw the bullet pierce through the driver's back. He was trying to apply force with my hand and his hand conjoined together to stifle the breath out of me. I could not see his face but I saw the tip of his gun and the design on it. It was the same gun the loan shark used to kill my friend on my tenth birthday."

There was no use explaining who the loan shark is to Mustafa because he knew it all already.

"Hmm. Well, I could not see his face because he wore this stiff, hard mask on his face that would not even remove even when we got into a fistfight. The guy sure knows how to handle a gun though but does not know how to use his fists and that was the advantage I had over him. But his gun is the reason behind all of these wounds on my face."

Now I am clueless. The loan shark defiantly did know how to use his fists because I had seen him punch some slaves to death but on the other hand, he mostly used his gun. He only used his fists when he was extremely angry.

"Anyway, I was able to get you out while he remained on the ground for some time due to the punches I had thrown at his stomach. His stomach sure did feel like a rock."

Mustafa was dropping hints by explaining things to the last detail but I just could not fathom anything at all and it was so infuriating. I tried to cast my mind back to see if I had felt the loan shark's body against mine accidentally at any point but I could not possibly remember a thing.

Mustafa then continued since he had to pause due to the pain he was feeling from his cheek.

"Honestly, I don't know who the person behind the mask is, I initially imagined it to be—"

I was about to wonder why he stopped again when he was about to tell me something so important. I waited for a little, thinking it was because of the pain he was feeling in his mouth until I saw that it was the presence of the doctor walking in that had interrupted him from going on.

Just perfect!!

**

Days had passed by and I finally got discharged from the hospital. Mustafa looked a lot better as well as the wounds on his forehead healed completely. His cheek remained a bit swollen though but he could speak without wincing in pain due to the sting that once would emanate from his cheekbone.

Mustafa and I didn't talk about the incident any longer since we realized we could not figure it out on our own without the help of my elder sister, Yemisi. She is a lawyer with amazing detective abilities. So we had both planned on discussing it all with her, the unknown phone number, and the incident itself. Hopefully, we would be able to trace the owner of the phone number even though I know it's going to be a Herculean's task.

We walking towards the entrance of our home now after alighting from the car when I stopped dead in my tracks. Looking at who was standing right in front of our door, with distressed eyes that I'd vowed not to ever pity nor have compassion upon.

Mustafa wondered why I had stopped walking all of a sudden till he looked in alignment with where my gaze was fixed. He took a hold of one of my hands that seemed to be placidly frozen, rubbing his thumb on it and trying to calm me down because he knew how much the presence of this person triggers me.

But we both know that those things don't work on me. I hate this person so much and no one ever tries to tell me otherwise.

But beyond all of that and the history of our past, staring at her now makes me chastise myself for not suspecting her all along for this incident that just happened. This wench has surely engaged in another deal to wreck my life irrespective of the fact that I'm now a grown woman and now is, here again, to act like she's got nothing to do with it.

The fact that she does that every single time, infuriates the hell out of me. There's no use investigating what happened; the unknown number and the owner ID...all of that were no longer of use because now I am standing face to face with the mastermind of it all. This woman who's got no shame whatsoever.

My mother...

******

Psalms 55:12-14 - "For it is not an enemy who reproaches me; then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates me who has exalted himself against me; Then I could hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together and walked to the house of God in the throng