THE WOMAN WHO NEVER DIED

Naledi stood frozen in the middle of the living room.

The front door had just closed, but the sound of it seemed to echo through the entire house.

She stared at the USB drive in her hand.

Seven years.

Seven years of unanswered questions, sleepless nights and memories she had desperately tried to bury.

And now, everything she thought she knew about her sister was beginning to fall apart.

Zinhle was alive.

But why had she disappeared?

And why had Thabo been involved?

Naledi walked towards the coffee table and placed the USB drive beside her phone. She needed answers, but she didn’t know where to begin.

Her phone suddenly vibrated.

An unknown number.

She hesitated before answering.

“Hello?”

There was silence.

“Who’s speaking?”

A woman’s voice finally came through.

“Don’t trust Detective Maseko.”

Naledi frowned.

“Who is this?”

“You need to be careful, Naledi. Your husband isn’t the only person who has been lying to you.”

Naledi’s heart began to race.

“Is this Zinhle?”

The woman gave a quiet laugh.

“No, sweetheart. I’m the woman who helped them.”

“Helped them do what?”

“Disappear.”

Before Naledi could ask another question, the call ended.

She immediately tried calling the number back, but it was unavailable.

A message arrived seconds later.

It contained a photograph.

Naledi opened it.

Her breath caught.

The photograph showed Zinhle standing beside a black car outside what appeared to be a hotel. Thabo was standing next to her, his hand resting comfortably on her shoulder.

But it wasn’t Zinhle or Thabo who made Naledi’s blood run cold.

There was another woman in the photograph.

A woman she recognised immediately.

Her mother.

Naledi slowly zoomed in.

It couldn’t be possible.

Her mother had died three years earlier.

She remembered the funeral. The flowers, the prayers and the closed coffin. She remembered crying until she could barely stand.

She had buried her mother.

Or so she believed.

Naledi looked at the date beneath the photograph.

Six months ago.

Her hands began to tremble.

“No,” she whispered.

She dropped onto the sofa, trying to catch her breath.

What if her mother had never died?

What if the funeral had been another carefully planned deception?

And if her mother was alive, why had she allowed her own daughter to mourn her for three years?

Her phone rang.

Detective Maseko.

“Naledi, where are you?”

“At home.”

“Is Thabo there?”

“No. He left.”

“Good. I need you to listen carefully. You must leave that house immediately.”

“Why?”

“I can’t explain everything over the phone.”

Naledi closed her eyes.

“Detective, I think my mother is alive.”

There was silence.

A silence that told her more than words could.

“You already knew,” Naledi whispered.

Maseko exhaled.

“Naledi, there are things about your family that you don’t understand yet.”

“Then explain them!”

“I will. But first, you need to get somewhere safe.”

Suddenly, three loud knocks came from the front door.

Naledi turned towards the entrance.

“Detective, someone is at my door.”

“Do not open it.”

The knocking came again.

Then she heard a familiar voice.

“Naledi, darling. It’s Mum.”

Her entire body went cold.

She stopped breathing for a moment.

It was her mother’s voice.

The same gentle voice she remembered from childhood. The same voice she had heard in her dreams after the funeral.

“Naledi, please open the door.”

Tears filled her eyes.

She slowly approached the entrance.

“Mum?”

“Yes, my child. Open the door.”

Naledi placed her hand on the handle.

But before she could turn it, Maseko shouted through the phone.

“Naledi! Whatever you do, DO NOT LET THAT WOMAN INSIDE!”

She froze.

Her heart pounded against her chest.

“Why?” she whispered.

There was no answer from Maseko.

Instead, the woman outside spoke again.

This time, her voice sounded different.

Colder.

More demanding.

“Open the door, Naledi. Your sister is waiting in the car.”

Naledi slowly moved towards the living room window.

She pulled the curtain aside just enough to look outside.

A black car was parked across the street.

Her eyes immediately settled on the passenger seat.

Zinhle.

Her sister was sitting there.

Alive.

Naledi covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming.

But then she noticed someone sitting beside Zinhle.

Someone she recognised.

Someone she had believed was dead for seven years.

Her knees weakened.

She stepped backwards, unable to take her eyes off the car.

The person in the driver’s seat slowly turned towards the house.

And smiled.

Naledi’s phone slipped from her hand.

For the first time, she understood something terrifying.

The people she had spent seven years grieving had never really left her.

They had simply been watching her from the shadows.

END OF CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 10 SUMMARY

Naledi receives a mysterious phone call warning her not to trust Detective Maseko. A photograph reveals that her supposedly deceased mother may still be alive and connected to Thabo and Zinhle. When someone claiming to be her mother arrives at her door, Maseko desperately warns Naledi not to let her inside. Looking through the window, Naledi discovers Zinhle sitting in a car with another person she believed had died seven years earlier. The truth about her family’s past is becoming more disturbing than she ever imagined.