Nurudeen was seated at the back of the taxi, very weakened. He could barely open his eyes. All he knew was that it was very dark and the car was still moving. He managed to take a blurred glance at his watch. It was still alive. He was hopeful that his friends will find him and deliver him from the hands of these very evil people. He could not deny that he did not know the leader of the gang. He was just surprised that they had managed to trace him for that long and to even get hold of him as far as Cape Coast. Why did he not take extra precautions? Why was he not careful enough? Why did he not notice that there were some people tracking him all the while? Now, he was stuck in a trap that left him barely any hope of deliverance. He grunted after the car seemed to have hit a pothole. He pulled himself up and sat upright, resting his head on the headrest. He looked out the window and the place was just forest. Where were they? Where were they headed?
'Issah, where are you taking me to?' Nurudeen managed to utter.
'To the Sanhedrin! That you will answer the questions you failed to answer when you killed Amina. You thought you had gotten away with it forever? Never.' Issah, the leader with the scared face, muttered under his breath while driving. 'I could have just killed you to avenge my sister but no. Your blood must be spilled before my family and all those who loved Amina.'
'Are you insane? Are you all insane?' Nurudeen did not finish his questions before the other henchman seated by him slapped his face.
'Shut up!' He groaned.
The slap sent shock all over his face and the careless push of his head almost made his neck veins snap. He felt the pain and in no time, felt his blood in his mouth. He did not cower - he spat out the blood mixed with saliva directly into the henchman's face.
'Damn you!' The henchman was angry. He instantly lurched at him, against Issah's order to leave Nurudeen alone. He clasped both hands on Nurudeen's neck and began to strangle him. Because he was bigger and tougher than Nurudeen, he easily overpowered him by jumping fully unto him in the backseat and with force, squeezing the life out of Nurudeen.
'Stop it! Stop! Now!' Issah was trying to instruct while driving but the guy will not listen. The other guy was getting up from his seat to try and push his partner in crime off Nurudeen but Issah shouted at him to stop. The car was hurtling down the road at 120 kilometres per hour and it had to gradually stop. But they were not even close to a town, such that it was safe to stop so that the two fighting at the back could be separated. The struggle that ensued between them was so intense that it could sway the car off track too.
Nurudeen was almost blacking out. But his mind kept emphasising to him how he had not come this far to give up and to let this circumstance take the light out of his day. He tried reaching to a side pocket on the side of his knee on his trouser. The man atop did not realise that Nurudeen's left hand was doing a quick navigation down in the dark.
The next few seconds were the most shocking, even for Nurudeen who was under attack. He found the pocket, found the rather small yet potent flip knife he always kept there especially when he was alone. He flipped it and gave the man three quick jabs on the side of his stomach. The man growled in pain as blood gushed out. The other man in the front réalisée something was happening to his partner and urged Issah to stop. In the mean time, Nurudeen continued stabbing the man multiple times till the man left his neck, pulled himself back and held the place of the wounds with his hands to stop the blood flow. The car was still moving at the same speed regardless of what the one in front had advised.
'Abu is hurt! Stop!' He cried out.
But Nurudeen was not done. The anger and viciousness that had filled him was enough to destroy. If indeed he was going to die, then let them all. He opened the door to the side of the wounded man and kicked him out of the speeding car.
'Nurudeen! What are you doing?' Issah cried out.
'You won't take me! You cannot take me. I am not to blame for your sister's death! When you go to hell and you meet your father there, ask him how he incensed me to marry into a family of occults and how that has haunted me forever, all because I saw an opportunity to become a better man! Ask him what really killed his daughter, you stupid fool!' And with that Nurudeen drove the knife into Issah's shoulder and slumped back. The other henchman in front lurched at Nurudeen but Nurudeen was faster - he slumped just a little more to have the room to do what he did. He stomped his face with his foot and the guy almost flushed out of the car. Issah was now driving with one hand. Nurudeen drove the knife into his other shoulder and at 120 kilometres per hour, Issah's hand left the steering wheel. A town was in sight and that was probably the last thing all three of them would see.
The town's people heard the loud crash from a distance. Some woke up immediately. What had happened? A loud thunder had just crashed and in seconds, the rain set in.
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