Living Water

11. Knight in distress.

"Where are you?!" Timothy asked tentatively, sleep evaporating from his eyes.

"I'm under the bridge, near the spring mall roundabout. I don't have much time, I'll soon be...."

A long beep cut her words short as her line went flat. A bad feeling settled at the pit of his stomach. Gathering both mental and physical momentum he jumped off the bed. His heart raced in distress as he knew a minute is too valuable a time to waste, anything could happen. Without contemplating the situation any further and with haphazard solutions, he wore the first footwear his eyes landed on.

He hastily sauntered to the living room, he could hear the soft snore of his mother from her bedroom, she was sound asleep, how convenient it was for Timothy, so he could sneak out of the house by the ungodly hour of the night.

In a not so subtle manner he snatched the car keys that sat on the center table and put it in the pocket of his pyjamas. He unlocked the front door and headed outside making sure to lock it back. The cool early morning breeze stung his skin through his thin sleeping attire, but he had no time to dwell on his poor choice of clothing. He facepalmed himself when he realized he was not holding his phone only for him to check his pockets and feel the weight of the phone next to the car key.

Few minutes later the engine kicked alive and he drove with speed on the empty road. The sun has not yet risen on the fine residents of Abuja, so Timothy's headlights where his only leading light on the lonely road paths that was before breaking to the highway, were street lights brightened the path.

He knew the place where she referred to, that bridge was notorious for the rampant kidnap cases that occurred there and fortunately, it was merely a 12 minutes drive from his location.

The prospect that it could all just be some expensive joke occurred to him, he could as well be putting himself in unwarranted danger. She could have called the police or any other person, but why did it have to be him? They just got to know each other yesterday, but here he is putting his life on the line for someone that's as good as a stranger.

All these thoughts weakened his resolve, this is not some Disney film, there was no knight in shining armor in this country, only pathetic deaths that lead to online tragedies with trending hashtags. But the possibility that Bethany could be in a life threatening situation quickened his morale, he picked up speed when he reached the high way hitting above the speed limit, he was going 150 kilometers per hour, it was a free road so he had enough space to swerve and speed, occasionally he saw cars pass by. He checked the digital clock on the dash board and saw it was few minutes to 4 in the morning.

He finally reached the bridge. There was an eery atmosphere that caused him to shudder. He pulled over but did not step out of the car, for all he knows it could be an ambush.

Then now what? He was very clueless and didn't think it was a good idea to try calling the number again.

For a place known to be a den of kidnappers the area seemed somewhat peaceful, asides from him there was no other living soul around. His heart fell to the pit of his stomach, they could have taken her already, she could be dead. He was about to drive away to a police station when his eyes spotted an object on the road he passed. It was a leg of a slipper, when he saw the Nike logo, his eyes widened in hope and excitement. He rolled down the window and poked his head through it taking in the surroundings before cautiously stepping out of the car, he bent down and studied the stray footwear, his food revolted in his stomach when he noticed specks of blood stained on it's sole.

Shutting his eyes he went back into his car and rested his head on the steering. "God please, what should I do?" He asked, not expecting any response.

But God had different plans, his ears picked up the quick cascading of footsteps, before he could raise his head to check what the nuisance is about, a figure was at his window hitting it desperately.