Songs for this chapter are:

Destroy myself just for you - Montell Fish

And I'd go a thousand miles - Montell Fish

No one knows me (like the piano) - Sampha

***

“Tell me, tell me! What happened last night?! You were gone for a day and a half!” Zipporah bugged and asked Gertrude frantically. 

As she paraded to and fro the dining room’s space, her heart’s beating rate was at its highest and her throat felt parched. It was already alarming for Zipporah when she woke up in the afternoon of the previous day only to find herself on the couch and with Gertrude nowhere in sight. And then now that she could finally speak to Gertrude, the little girl seemed very unbothered and was even helping herself to a bowl of cereal. 

Zipporah couldn’t believe her eyes. How could one eat happily after spending a full day with a man like David? 

“Mr. David came all of a sudden and picked me up from under the table where we’d both fallen asleep and took me to his mansion. I woke up and found myself there,” Gertrude explained after she’d swallowed a spoonful of milk. Then she licked her lips to avoid the liquid from spilling downwards. 

“Of course, I already figured that that’s what happened,” Zipporah shrugged. “What I’m asking you is what happened while you were at his place?” 

Zipporah cracked her knuckles. Then she ran her fingers through her hair and chewed on her upper lip in the process of doing so. Gertrude was still chewing while Zipporah was a nervous wreck, waiting for her to respond as she tried to tame her anxiety. When Gertrude still wasn’t saying a word and was looking surprisingly confused, Zipporah let out a long breath then started to gesticulate with her hands as she resumed speaking. 

“Did he hit you? Did he spend the whole day yelling at you, crying and guilt-tripping you for being such a naughty girl? Did he—”

“No,” Gertrude swallowed another crunchy spoonful of milo flakes, chewing like the conversation at hand wasn’t a matter of life and death. “He cooked me a meal and we played poker afterwards. Then he took me to bed and I slept next to him.” 

‘What?!” Zipporah screamed so loudly that one of the other girls who was sleeping on the couch jolted up, awakening. For a good five minutes, her jaw was on the floor. When she became aware of a group of insects called flies and their lack of manners, she closed her mouth and then rushed closer to Gertrude. Then she settled on one of the chairs and snatched the bowl of cereal away from the table. Gertrude glared at her but resigned when she saw the deathly gaze in Zipporah’s eyes. 

“What did you just say? How on earth did that happen? Are you sure you’re talking about the same David that we all know?” 

Gertrude sighed. Finally, her expression became serious and she made her countenance conform to the gravity of the matter at hand.  She stared aimlessly with a dolorous look in her eyes. Then with a small weakness reflecting in her voice, she responded. 

“I was very surprised too. When he served me the meal, I was still scared of what he was going to do to me. I was hesitant to eat. In fact, when he walked in with the tray of food, I fell on my knees and began to apologize but he looked at me and asked me why I was begging him.

I wasn’t taken aback by the fact that he’d cooked me a meal because that was the same thing he did to you before he locked you up in that room. So I didn’t want to eat but while I ate, he said nothing. He didn't say a word about his sister or concerning what I’d done. All he did was beg me not to be scared of him because of the way I’d apologized earlier. He didn’t try to guilt-trip me or tell me that I reminded him of his sister. 

Later on, he asked me if there was any fun thing we could do together. Then he explained that he just needed someone he could occasionally spend time with as he often felt lonely living in that house all by himself. I felt really bad for him and to be honest… it…it even made me want to remain with him.” 

“Jesus!” Zipporah slammed her palm against the table loudly, causing Gertrude to flinch. The other girl who’d woken up abruptly sent a death glare at Zipporah but she was lucky that she didn’t see her. 

“David is an impossible, shameless, mad man!” Zipporah cursed. 

“W-what? W-what is it?”

Zipporah buried her face in her hands, letting out a frustrated groan. She could not believe that this obvious fact was something she had to take out time to explain to Gertrude. 

“He’s trying to win you over!” Her eyes widened as she revealed the horrific truth to the little girl. “And it looks like he’s winning. Do you think that David doesn’t know that I’ll try to create a bad impression of him to you? Of course, he does. That’s why he took a different approach and did something you didn’t expect or predict of him.

Secondly, Gertrude, unlike the rest of us living in this hellhole, you have parents that are alive and care very much about you! And you don’t seem to have a flawed life or family set up. Perhaps, he knows you won’t be fooled by that gimmicky stuff that he did with the rest of us. I don’t know for certain which of the two it is. Nevertheless, you really have to be on guard. Don’t fall a victim like I did!” Zipporah licked her lips. 

“Poker? Come on!” She scoffed. “Or you really think that he doesn’t know what you and I did? He barely ever lets things like that slide unless he’s trying to pursue a more important goal that will keep you trapped with him forever and this situation is one of those. Think about your parents, Gertrude. Think very deeply about them. You can’t be here, having a ‘great time’ and falling deeper into the hellhole you are already in when your parents are out there, looking for ways to get you out of it.” 

Tears gathered around Gertrude’s eyes as she lowered her head in shame, feeling guilty for having harbored empathetic feelings towards David. The truth was always bitter. Detestably bitter – and Zipporah was great at adding more bitter leaf to it making it even more repulsive to the ears. Still, it was also liberating. 

“So what do I do now?” 

It was Zipporah’s turn to heave a heavy sigh. She was relieved that Gertrude had finally returned to her senses. Now, she could express her compassion for this little girl she was rooting so hard for. 

“Just…hang in there, my love,” Zipporah stretched out a hand and squeezed Gertrude’s arm from across the table. “Please hang in there firmly. You can’t allow yourself to be swept away by David’s tricks. No matter what he does, just pretend and make him think that you will be his perfect and obedient little girl but please don’t ever feel sorry for him.

Don’t even make that kind of mistake because once you start to feel pity for him, that’s when you become weak and lose everything you should have held on to. No matter how long it takes for your parents to find you, still hang in there and don’t lose hope. I’ll be here to hope with you and I’ll be present with you to help you stay as strong as you can be.” 

“Thank you.” Gertrude sniffed in the mucus that was threatening to run down her nostrils. Then she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand. 

Zipporah stood from her seat and moved closer to Gertrude. Then she embraced her. Gertrude leaned into her shoulders and closed her eyes, holding back the remnants of her tears. Instead, she just allowed her heart to swell and absorb all that Zipporah had told her.

Hope sometimes felt like a heavy, annoying cloak that one had no other choice but to wear on cold, turbulent days like this. But perhaps, with Zipporah by her side, the overbearing effect of having to return to a cruel thing like hope wouldn’t feel so depressing. 

“I can even put my life on the line for you if that’s what it will take for you to never become David’s little puppet. I’ve suffered too much to watch a young girl like you wilt away and become a rotten flower.” Zipporah pressed her fingers into the skin beneath Gertrude’s hair. She gritted her teeth as she confessed the true desires of her heart. She was very invested in ensuring that Gertrude didn’t end up like her and the other girls. She was her only hope. Perhaps, even a headlight towards redemption. 

“What? You will put your life on what?” Gertrude questioned Zipporah’s first sentence, wondering what Zipporah’s life had to do with the matter. 

“Never mind what I said about that,” Zipporah avoided the question with an awkward smile. She too, wasn’t sure of what she meant by that. “Just hang in there, okay?” she patted Gertrude’s back. 

***

Celine was back at David’s office again and now, she was on her mission to find out if David was really okay. She had no obligation whatsoever to do such a thing. Or perhaps she did, considering the fact that she hadn’t given his mother any feedback yet and had wanted to ensure that the poor woman received nothing but a truthful and accurate report. Yeah, this was something she owed David's mother. Asides that, she had to admit that another side of her was curious as hell – especially after what her daughter had told her. 

She was sitting on the verandah at the waiting room, legs crossed and occasionally burying her head into the pages of a fashion magazine when she saw two familiar figures walk out of a door with agony on their faces and in the way they walked. The lighting was dim, hence why she couldn’t see their faces clearly. 

One of them, a woman, was leaning on the shoulder of the other person who was a man. The woman seemed to be sobbing from the way her shoulders rose and fell hysterically and her husband was supporting her by being a shoulder to rest on – literally and figuratively. The couple took a seat on one of the chairs a couple of inches away from where she sat. 

Celine looked more carefully and a pang of pain tugged at her heart muscles when she finally saw the woman’s face and how heavy her bloodshot eyes were with an overflow of tears. It was so hard for her to watch someone cry such ugly, despicable tears of sorrow. She didn’t even know who the lady was, yet she felt a strong desire to offer her a handkerchief or a roll of toilet paper to wipe her tears.

As she continued to gaze at the woman crying with her husband next to her, she began to doubt the part where she thought she didn’t know the lady. For a second, she closed her eyes and the familiarity of the couple’s faces matched a recent experience that was very much attached to it. 

Then she realized that they were the same people she’d seen the other day when she visited David’s office for the first time. Hadn’t it been yesterday or two days ago? What were they doing here again? The last time, they’d accused David of kidnapping their daughter but he assured the parents that he didn’t abduct the kids. So why did they come again? 

Celine waited for the couple to leave the hospital after some time. Then she mustered up the courage and tip toed over to the desk of the front officer like one of those irritating gossip mongers that one could find in the ballrooms of high society in the Victorian era. She leaned over and with a whisper, she spoke to the bespectacled man who was typing away on the keyboard. 

“Hey, why did those two come here? Weren’t they just here some days ago?” 

The clerk lifted his head to look at Celine. The skepticism and irritation in him flagged itself through the arrogant lift of his eyebrows. “And who might you be, madam? We do not just share information to random people in this company.” 

Celine scoffed and her cheeks heated up. Random people?  How dare he call her that? She opened her lips with the intention of uttering words – to lie to the clerk that she was David’s wife so she could have access to their annoyingly exclusive information but she figured that there was no need because she could simply ask David himself. He was her friend after all. So she cleared her throat and said something that was similar to what she’d planned on saying earlier but for a different reason. 

“I’d like to see Mr. David. He’s my fiancé so I don’t need to book an appointment before I see him. I’m telling you this now so you don’t go on to say what all secretaries say. Take me to his office right now!” 

First, there was confusion on the clerk’s face then, realization as he remembered the fact that she’d shown up two days ago and claimed David as her husband. “Y-yes m-ma. I’m s-sorry for being rude earlier, ma’am,” he bowed. 

“You bet you are,” Celine smirked. 

She was enjoying the little show playing out in front of her. However, there was a bigger show she had to display once she got into David’s office and she was going to make sure she put on the best performance in order to achieve her goal. 

***
When Celine got into David’s office, she realized he was not in the best of moods and the funny thing was that neither his facial expression nor demeanor was the first pointer to that fact. Instead, it was the shattered porcelain vase littered all over the ground and the flipped chairs that conveyed the message to her. After studying the surroundings for a while, she looked at the window and saw David standing close to it, clothed only in his white shirt which was void of a few buttons. 

He was gazing into the sky through the window’s view with so much despair evident even from the way he stood, sagged his shoulders and repeatedly covered his face with his hands. Celine remained by the door, not wanting him to know yet that she was there, watching him be in such a helpless, vulnerable state. 

Now again, his face was shielded with his hands and this time, he didn’t remove them. Celine couldn’t tell what was going on for a while. To her, he just seemed to be deep in thought and perhaps didn’t want to continue staring.

His shoulders didn’t shake in that frantic way that could help her tell that he was crying. It was until she saw moisture leak through the hole of his fingers that she felt her chest pound hard at the realization of the fact that he’d been weeping. Didn’t he know how painful it was to cry silently? How could he try to suppress his pain like that? 

Celine couldn’t bear it. Why was everyone crying so bitterly today? It was then that she decided she was going to break into the tranquil but sorrowful atmosphere. 

“What’s the matter, David?” 

David stiffened when he heard Celine’s voice from behind him. Quickly, he used his drenched and heavily moisturized palms to wipe off every bit of tears from his face. Then he cleared his throat several times. He was frustrated that he had to talk with another human being and to pretend again. He was sick of putting on an act. He genuinely just wanted to be alone. Minutes ago, he had been so close to having Gertrude’s parents win the argument about whether he’d been present on the day of the competition through the photograph they’d shown him. 

His only saving grace was the fact that he’d prepared for such an occurrence ahead of time. On the day of the competition, he’d employed someone with the same physique as his and had made the person dress in a similar style to his. He did this just in case there were any spy photographers around.

He’d instructed the person to act natural in instances where he felt like he was being watched while he on the other hand went about his business very discreetly in places where he most certainly could not be seen. The person had carried out a fantastic job and in  return, David paid him a handsome amount and gave him a train ticket to travel to another city for protection. 

This was the only way he was able to go scot free and escape Gertrude’s parents for the second time. Luckily, the person in the photograph was his pseudo version – just as he'd planned. Right now, he was bothered and weighed down by the fact that everything was working against him now that he was beginning to gain Gertrude’s trust and affection. He didn’t want to let her go. The thought of it was excruciatingly painful and in the moment, he didn’t wish to speak with Celine. Still, he didn’t have another choice. 

“Nothing, Celine,” he answered her question and went ahead to change the topic. “You’re here again today? Is there a reason why?” 

Celine didn’t say anything for some seconds. Then she let out a breath and cut to the chase. 

‘Why don’t you report that couple to the police? Since you didn’t abduct their daughter, they have no right to keep coming to your office.” 

“There’s no need for that. Don’t worry about it,” He waved his hand in a nonchalant way but Celine could tell from the uncomfortable shift in his body that he cared a great deal. However, she chose to remain silent about her observation. 

“Did you see them on your way in? Is that why you stopped by?” he continued. 

“I’ll take my hands off the matter. It seems like you don’t want me to be involved in it. I’m afraid it’s not the same for me though. I want to involve you in my problems, David," She allowed the right amount of desperation reflect in her voice.

Immediately, David’s countenance changed to concern for her sake. Celine knew this would definitely work. David was such a compassionate person but perhaps, the psychotic part of him had shadowed every glint of good that was present in him.

Besides, he’d always done this same thing to her in the past. He always dumped his burdens on her when she had many issues of her own although that was because she made room for it. Hence, the least he could do was reciprocate even though she was only putting on an act. 

‘What’s the matter with you?” his eyes dimmed with worry. 

With mock shyness and enough dose of a sad countenance to attain deception, she picked up one of the seats from the ground and plopped on it grudgingly. Then she used one of her hands to cover her face. 

“I’m just…having a hard time today. I was thinking of my ex-husband and you know…” she compressed her lips into a thin line, as though to hold back tears. “And I began to ask myself some deep questions. Why did I make such a terrible decision? It always makes me feel guilty towards Autumn. You know what guilt feels like right?”

“Definitely, Celine,” he answered with an ache so deep in his voice that Celine could almost see the emotion in a personified form; as though this sentiment had become an entity of its own which was now identified and unified with him. “I know how you feel and it breaks my heart that I don’t know of any way to make you feel better. I don’t know the words to say either. But…but…you know what? You can tell me everything that’s in your heart if that will make you feel better,” he sat on the desk, facing her closely from where she sat.

“I…It’s…um…” This was now the time that Celine deemed it right to let the tears gather around her eyes. “Kenneth was just…the worst and the sad thing was… I didn’t see that about him from the start. He was always so sweet, so kind to me. he really was the best partner I could have ever asked for at that time; always so thoughtful, was a great listener, allowed me to follow my dreams… he was just the dream man.

“Then we got married and…and…I couldn’t believe it was the same Kenneth I knew from my courtship days. I wanted abort Autumn from my womb so bad but all the pills I consumed had no effects. I…I…” the tears fell down her cheeks like time bombs. 

David sighed. Then he stretched his arms and placed them on her shoulders, giving them gentle pats. “If it’s so hard for you to talk about it, then you don’t have to continue. You can just lean on me and cry all you want.” 

Celine went on to cry. In the middle of her intense sobbing, she reminded herself that she was acting because she’d gotten so absorbed in trying to convince David that in the process of doing so, she began to feel sad for real and started to really regret her terrible life choice. She had come here to achieve her goal and she had to focus only on that. 

‘I think I want to grab a few drinks instead,” she sniffed in the nasal liquid and wiped off the moisture from her face. “Crying is so exhausting.” 

“A drink?” David was surprised. “That’s—”

“You don’t drink?” her eyebrows shot up. Then she scoffed. “So you want to tell me that you’ve never used alcohol as a means of escape when you were having a really hard time?” 

“Well…” he cleared his throat. “I was worried for you, actually.” 

“Don’t you worry about me. I feel like if I don’t drink, I might lose my mind.” 

***

Celine drove David to one of the most expensive bars in the vicinity – one that sold the strongest of rums and the most effective of spirits. And while they spent the early hours of dusk at the bar, David was the one who did all the gulping and downing of the alcoholic contents of the glasses before him.

It was very ironic considering the fact that he was supposed to be the one who’d stay sober and watch out for Celine. Nevertheless, Celine was glad because that made everything smoother for her. Her initial plan had been to spike David’s drink will sleeping pills while she pretended to be drinking. 

Also, Celine hoped that the alcohol would loosen David up and make him say things he was not supposed to say. Yet, even in the middle of shameful, mouth-drooling, eyes-drooping drunkenness, David uttered no word that was worthy of her curiosity. So as they sat on the stool under the bright, iridescent chandelier bulbs of the bar, Celine twirled her glass in her hands, positioning her lips in a sideway quiver while David’s head was buried between ten empty bottles of Italian rum. Now, he was struggling to pour the contents of an empty bottle into his glass. 

“You know, Celine,” his voice was a slur. He let down the bottle on the table, giving up on his efforts. “I’ve cried too much today. I wonder why my life is this messed up. I feel like I’m the craziest man to ever exist but I can’t even help myself out of my insanity.” 

“Why do you feel that way?” she placed an arm on his back. She hoped to squeeze out something newsworthy from his lips with her question. 

David gave her long look despite how hard it was for him to keep his eyelids open. Then he shook his head and decided to avoid the question. 

“To be honest, I can’t find the reasons. Trying to even think of them is increasing the headache I feel. Celine, I have to go home now. I’m so sorry for being such a terrible drinking partner. I was supposed to be there for you but I became a burden on you instead. So it’s best I just leave now before I do more embarrassing things. Also, don’t worry about me. I’ll find my way home.” 

He stood up or rather, he made attempts to do so but the floor beneath him felt so wobbly and they wouldn’t stop moving in wavy motions. So in order to remain on his feet, he placed his hand on the edge of a table. In the process, his hand came in contact with a glass. Hence, while he tried to tighten his grip in order to help himself to the right standing posture, the table shook slightly, causing the glass to fall to the ground, breaking into pieces. 

Celine walked up to him and supported him by wrapping her arm around his waist. Involuntarily, his head fell on her shoulders. With a dramatic shake of the head, she responded to him. ‘Find your way home my foot. You’ve not even made your way out of here and you’re already creating a scene. I’ll drive you home.” 

***

Celine had no problem entering David’s mansion and that was majorly because David was beside her in his drunken state. The guard who was supposed to be watching over his house was fast asleep on the verandah outside. It was the guard who was in charge of the gate that helped her get in. Thankfully, the guard recognized her as one of his boss’s important guests. Once she stepped into the living room, she threw David off her shoulders and he bounced away from her, landing on the sofa. 

“Gosh, such a heavy man!” she groaned and swung her shoulders like a club. 

In the process of pushing David away from her, a key fell out of the pocket of his jeans and landed to the ground with a clink sound. Celine moved closer and picked the key from the floor with the intention of putting it back in his pocket until she noticed that there was a key holder attached to the key and the inscription on it caught her attention. 

Written in pink, cursive letters were the words, My Girls.

She furrowed her eyebrows and pondered for the longest time. My Girls? Why did he have a key holder with such an inscription? Did he actually have a group of mistresses? Celine laughed at the thought of it. She couldn’t imagine David being a radical Casanova. He was too shy to even woo a lady in the proper way talk more of wanting to get beneath her pants. Or was he just into girlie stuff like that? 

Then an image of David in tiny tight pants popped into her inner eye. She could see him wiggling his derriere provocatively. When that imagination came into her mind, Celine shook her head vigorously in a bid to push the thought away. Why the hell was she imagining David twerking?!

She laughed again then urged herself to get serious and think very hard. 

My Girls. Celine had a strong feeling that this was more than a fancy choice or preference of his. This meant something. My Girls. What if he actually loved to objectify women and even had a house built for them? Why was the key with him? Were the women in some form of bondage. Then she remembered that Autumn said she’d seen a little girl run back into the building after the dog barked. 

That was when the penny finally dropped. Yes, he had girls, younger girls. 

Wait just a freaking minute. Celine blinked rapidly when the actual answer came to her. 

The couple that came to David's office. Were they by chance, parents of a girl that David had indeed abducted? And was she really holding the freaking key that would open the door to the house? Celine gasped and then went on to deny it within her. It just couldn’t be true, right? David? Kidnapping little girls? Why? There was no sign or tendency that he was ever going to do that even from the short time she’d gotten to know him at the water factory. 

Although she knew it wasn’t too wise to think that David wasn’t capable of being evil especially after the nightmarish experience she had had with her ex-husband, Still, David was completely different. He was always such a guilty person – too stricken by guilt to think of doing any other bad thing after the ‘grave sin’ he committed towards his little sister. So how could he have transformed to become such a wicked person? Where did that transition come from? What the hell happened in between? 

But you came here to investigate so why are you so surprised? Her subconscious chastised.

I know, I know. I only came to confirm. I didn’t come to get the most brutal, devastating shock of my life! 

So what were you expecting when you came to confirm? 

Celine swallowed in defeat, realizing that her subconscious was right. Still… what on earth was this?

So the little girl that her daughter had seen was real and there was actually a bungalow behind this mansion? After some minutes of staring in incredulity at the key and David’s ‘innocent’, sleeping form on the couch, she swallowed a thick lump of saliva and braced herself. She had to think of what she was going to do in order to get to the bungalow and open the door successfully because David had guards – mean looking guards – hefty men who could crush the entirety of her with just one finger. 

Think, Celine. You have to look for a way to confirm the number of girls living in that house. 

After a while, she came up with a shallow idea and that was after she remembered that the guard who was supposed to watch the house was sleeping outside. She also thought of the fact that she'd brought David home in her car. What she had to do now was distract the guard who was in charge of the gate and the one who was guarding the bungalow where the girls lived. If she could get them to leave their posts and rush into the mansion, that would be very splendid. 

In the first step of her plan, she searched David’s living room under the dim lighting with her eyes. She was looking for anything that had his handwriting on it. When she found a small notebook on the wooden center table, she rushed towards it, picked it up and flipped it open. Thankfully on the first page of the journal was the scribbling of his name in block letters. 

Quickly, Celine tore a small sheet from the last page of the book and pulled out a pen from her pocket. She always liked to carry this particular stationery along wherever she went. Now, it was of great use. Then she knelt and began to write on the paper in her best imitation of his handwriting. In fact, she also put some effort into making sure that some of the letters were shabbily written and flying off the lines of the book.

PACK CELINE’S BELONGINGS FROM THE BOOTH OF HER CAR AND BRING THEM TO MY ROOM UPSTAIRS. SHE’D BE SPENDING THE NIGHT WITH ME. P.S, YOU CAN HAVE THE GUARD FOR THE BUNGALOW ASSIST YOU IN CARRYING HER THINGS. 

When she was done forging his writing, she wore a sinister smirk on her face. Thankfully, she actually had a few things stored in the booth of her car – make up kits, autumn’s old baby dolls, a bag of underwear and other miscellaneous things that filled up space. One would ask why the heck did she have a bag of underwear in her car but that was a question she wasn’t able to answer at the moment. 

Once the note was done, she folded the paper neatly and stepped out of the building, making sure to undo a few buttons of her shirt in the process. The guard at the gate was still wide awake, sitting on a plastic chair beside the wall. When he saw Celine approaching, a small frown appeared on his face as if to ask ‘What are you doing outside ma’am? And why are you walking with so much caution?’ 

Celine took notice of this and adjusted her walking mannerisms. Then she posed herself with a bit of confidence. After all, she was here to deliver a note to him from his boss. When she was standing in front of him, she handed him the piece of paper. He unfolded it and read its content. When he was done digesting the instruction written on it, he looked up at her and raised a skeptical eyebrow. 

“How was he able to write this note when he was so drunk when he walked in?” 

“He was still able to talk, you know?" She wore a seductive smile. "In fact, he was going to have sex with me. He was full of energy – like some tiger from the jungle. I guess the booze he had was too strong. I told him I had to change into something nice so we could have a steamy night together. 

Then he asked me what I planned on changing into and I told him that my lingerie was in my car along with some other important things. He was too drunk to come outside and give the instruction himself. That was why he managed to write this note and told me to deliver it to you. Trust me, he's pretty impatient and can't wait to get down with me ever since I mentioned the lingerie to him. It's best that you hurry up,” she winked. 

The guard looked at the note again and saw how some of the alphabets in the letters looked like something that was written by a sleepy person. Then he looked at Celine again. His eyes went a little lower and landed on her cleavage which was spilling out of her white shirt. The burly man cleared his throat and licked his lower lip with unease. He eyed her again, looking for a reason to doubt her but had none whatsoever. Mr. David really had to be the one who’d given the instruction. Celine, on the other hand, was trying so hard to hide the shit-eating grin on her face. 

“Alright then. I’ll go get Mr. Joshua to follow me. Your car keys, ma’am?” He stretched out his arm. 

Celine gave him the bunch of keys. 

“If you’re looking for me, you’ll find me in the kitchen. Just call me once you’re done offloading my things,” she added to wrap up her deceit nicely. 

Then she waited for the man to stroll off, get Mr. Joshua to follow him and then walk out of the gate. Once they were out of sight, Celine ran with a kind of speed that she was surprised she had. When was the last time she sprinted like that? She couldn’t remember. All she knew was that she had to get to the bungalow within five minutes. She was able to see where she was headed due to the tall lamps that illuminated the fences. Her surroundings passed by her in a speedy blur. Perhaps bushes had sped past her too? Just how many acres of land had David built this mansion on? 

Finally, after passing by a few more duplexes, she saw a bungalow that was built in a style that could only be traced back to the nineties. It was only then that she stopped in her tracks. Then under the dim lighting of the fence, she saw a dog next to the doorstep of the bungalow. It was lying on its back, eyes closed and fast asleep. That must have been the dog that barked the other day. She looked through the windows of the small building and saw that the lights had been put out meaning that the girls were asleep. 

Still she walked to the door, extremely grateful that the dog hadn’t sensed her presence and resumed its barking. This spurred her to hasten up just in case it did while she remained there. Then she brought the key with the ‘The Girls’ key holder and inserted it into the door’s keyhole. 

Then she turned it in sideways and pulled down the doorknob but the door didn’t open. Anxiously, she bit her lip and tapped her feat against the ground in an irregular rhythm. She pulled out the key from the hole and inserted it back again. Then she turned it in many ways that the thin hole could allow. Then she pulled the knob downward. Still, the door didn’t open. 

“Damn it!” she cursed. She removed the key from the door and examined it carefully. Why did this key have this kind of key holder if it was unable to open the door to the house that held the girls hostage? After a process of imagining several things, she held on to one thesis which seemed like the most likely thing to have happened.

She’d taken the wrong key and the key holder was a trap – one that had made her believe it was going to be the key to the house. That was when it occurred to her that all along, she had been a big, clueless idiot. Of course, David must have done this on purpose in order to catch her. After hearing the dog bark and seeing one of his abductees’ parents at his office twice, he must have suspected that she knew what was going on and he wasn’t going to let her have her way. 

Now, her big plan had backfired on her. All along she’d been the one who’d walked herself into his trap and if she knew what was best for her, she had better get out of the environment before she got fully exposed.   

***

I'm sorry for the long length of this chapter. I just hope you weren't bored. Please bear with me!

Yours Truly,

The Dream Elixir.