David cared very much about Celine, and that was not news. It was unpleasant for him to have had his long-time friend and confidant locked up in a dark, underground cellar. Even so, he needed to protect himself, his secrets, and the thin, worn-out thread of sanity binding his entire being together. If that thread split into two, he would run wilder than a beast.

He still had affection for his friend. Thus out of that compassion, he prepared a nutritious lunch for her and battered the tray with bowls of appetizers and side dishes that were sure to fill her bowels with a few bites.

He'd never prepared such a rich quantity of food for the spy and the event planner. He could only hope that she would enjoy the meal. When he finished garnishing the meal, he lifted the tray from the island and headed for the cellar.

From the small streak of light that glowed through the vault, David could see that Celine was awake and was staring into thin air as she sat quietly. Her lips were chapped dry, and there were bags beneath her eyes. They were a deep shade of red. She was peeling off the fingernails of one hand with the other as she stared. David heaved a sigh of exasperation. He hated to see her look in bad shape, but it was worse that he couldn't help her because he had greater things to shield.

When he looked at her feet, he saw the tray containing the meal he'd served her the previous night. The heat from the dinner had evaporated into the cover of the ceramic bowl and transformed into tiny beads of liquid. She hadn't touched a single dish. He turned around him to look at the other two in the room. With the help of the faint ray of light, he was able to see that they were also awake.

Although the basement wasn't the most illuminated place, he could still feel their eyes pegging thorns into him. There was an ugly melancholy looming in the vault. He saw the bowls on the tray next to their feet and could tell that they, too, hadn't touched their meals.

David felt a storm of anger rush within him. His heart pounded in a fury and hurt, and he clenched his jaw as he tried to withhold himself from expressing his feelings. Why had they refused to eat his meal? He'd spent hours in the kitchen preparing all those dishes, and he'd done so with tender, loving care. This had never occurred. Were they revolting against him, and was Celine the bone of contention?

She had to be. Before he'd brought her in, the spy and the event planner had always eaten their meals because they had no choice. He made them eat their food so they wouldn't die of starvation. He didn't want to force them last night because doing so would involve compelling Celine too, and he had a high regard for her. He trusted that she would eat on her own. But to his utmost dismay, he reaped rebellion for the kindness he'd shown.

When he moved closer to Celine to drop the freshly prepared meal by her side, he squatted to her eye level so she could look at him directly.

“I'm going to watch you eat your lunch, Celine,” He stretched and moved to untie the rope from her wrists.

He'd untied them the previous night so she could eat, but she'd wrapped them back to his surprise. It was truly unnerving and surprising that she'd done that.

“Don't waste your time. I'm not going to eat a meal prepared by a murderer,” her voice was truculent and hostile. Tears clogged her eyes as she spat the accusations at her so-called friend.

David paused and held back from proceeding to free her from the ropes. His ears pounded distastefully, as though he'd traveled back to the day the doctor had announced that his sister was dead. His hands began to quiver, and his throat felt trafficked with tears, leaving no room for oxygen to flow through.

He wanted to yell at her and ask why she was so mean. The world was already so vicious to him, so why her of all people? Then he paused and realized that she was right. He really was a murderer, and he'd been trying to overcompensate for the evil he'd done by locking everyone up and ensuring that no one else lost their life. Still, he felt the urge to wrestle it because it felt awful to be labeled a murderer even though he knew he was one.

“Why would you call me a murderer? Zipporah must have died because I wasn't good enough as a brother to her. I wasn't attentive to her needs, so she got frustrated and killed herself, and this haunts me!”

“You already answered the question. Still, you have the wrong idea. And it's quite unpalatable to see how delusional you still are,”

Celine took a deep breath and seized the moment as an opportunity to tell David the awful truth, the kind that would shake his very core and the voices of the legions of demons that spewed falsities into his mind. She was betting her all on this moment. Either he finally came to his senses willingly, or she did something drastic.

“What if I told you that Zipporah's desperate desire was to be free from you and your hold on her, would your stance remain the same? Would you consider your refusal of that need as being inattentive to her desires? Would you even consider her yearning for freedom a need at all?”

“Zipporah and I spent the earlier years of our lives together as brother and sister,” David gritted his teeth. He hated that he had to explain this obvious truth over and over again.

“We loved each other so much. She referenced me as her older brother for real. Why would she ever want to be apart from me? Yes, she did show signs that she wanted to be free. She wanted to see the outside world more often, but I couldn't let that happen because the world is such a dangerous place.  So I brought the outside world to her instead. Her pleadings to be free were just childish wiles. If I let her loose, she would have come running back to me because I was her safe space.”

“Let me ask you a question, David,” Celine stared so deeply at David now that she could have broken into the window of his soul if her optical nerves could grow limbs.

David had a feeling that the question was going to intrude on his dark coven and open one of his biggest wounds.

“Have you ever heard your sister tell you ‘well done’ from the grave after all these years of abducting random girls and taking care of them? Has she appeared to you in blood and flesh to pat your head and tell you that she has forgiven you of your mistake and you need not continue living your life to atone for your sins?  Has she even shown up in your hallucinations and dreams to comfort you and tell you that she bears no grudges toward you?”

Hot and heavy tears spilled from David's eyes and dropped onto his trembling palms. He sobbed for a little while, and Celine allowed him to do so until he was brave enough to answer her question truthfully. Then slowly, he shook his head in the negative. She regarded his response and continued. There was a burden in her soul even as she asked the burning questions, but the sun itself was also a star.

So she had hopes for this burning light. Even though it seemed to inflict sorrow right now, eventually, it would put to death every baggage that needed to be set down. That was what the stars did — they set aside man's troubles for a split moment and allowed one to gaze in wonder at its dim and cooling light in the night sky.

“So when exactly did you think she would appear and tell you that you are forgiven? Or let me rephrase my question, what or who are you really expecting forgiveness from? Is it the universe, the expectation of an appearance from your sister, or the demons that keep hurling accusations in your head? Is it the peace that comes from having the abducted girls in good condition? Tell me, which is it?”

“It was the peace and sense of order I felt from taking care of the girls,” David answered after a while. His head was bowed.

He felt a twinge of shame. He'd taken a moment to ponder on the question because he realized that he hadn't known for sure how he was expecting to be vindicated. Perhaps it was because vindication felt like a costly luxury for him.

“Giving every part of myself away was the only way I could feel okay with living. I wanted to be separated from myself, but dying didn't feel suitable.  It felt too easy. Besides, I was only going to spend the afterlife in the circles of hell. Going to hades felt like a lenient way to get punished. I wanted to live to pay for my sins and suffer.

Still, I hated my existence. I loathed the fact that I was living in this corrupt, murderous body. I wanted to be separated from myself as much as possible, even as I was breathing. Then I discovered that pouring myself into serving and living for other people would be the only way to cope. It was the only thing that could make me not think about myself and how despicable I am. Serving those little girls was what made my life and the concept of my living bearable.”

Celine sighed. David's response made her feel a lot of things. She felt an overwhelming pity for him because it was pathetic to watch someone hate themselves so much with little to no way to help them out of it. Then she was irritated with his analysis because it was insanely myopic and naive. How could he not see the damage he was causing to the innocent people he claimed to be serving?

Lastly, she was surprised. She was amazed by the fact that David had been calm enough to give her an actual response and indulge himself in the conversation. She'd thought he would go wild and curse her for being against him like many arrogant villains did. This gave room for hope and a promising end. She was glad that she'd been bold enough to talk. So she continued.

“So you were willing to keep those young girls for as long as possible to feel like a protective big brother even when they grow old enough to care for themselves?”

David didn't respond this time.

“David,” Celine took a deep breath. “Do you know what service means? Do you know what it entails? Service is not only about giving yourself and pouring all of your soil into the nurturing and shepherding of lives. It is also prioritizing the needs of the people you are serving, no matter how difficult it is for you to grant their needs. Service is love, and love is difficult. Service is not self-loathing and an offshoot of delusion.

Have you ever thought deeply about parenthood and the uncertainty that comes with the seed you bear? Every parent desires that they bear children who are well-mannered, obedient, and kind-hearted so the kids will grow up to take care of their parents when they have reached old age. But it's never always the case. Parents can give their all to train a child in the right way, yet the child still turns out to be delinquent or, worse off, a notorious criminal.

Not all children end up taking care of their parents when they get old. Yet, parents sacrifice themselves daily and decide to love their children nevertheless. This is because they knew right from the moment they resolved to have children that they would live for their children and make them happy. A child will not always go in the direction his parents would have him go.

But a good parent would let that child make some decision of their own because that is what true service is about. Think about your mother, who did her best to give you all the love she could offer so you would not be crushed by the guilt of your sister's death. However, you kept turning away from her. You rejected her love so many times. She could have compelled you, you know? She could have locked you up in a room and forced you to ‘forgive yourself.’

Yet out of her love for you, she let you go despite how heartbreaking and painful it was for her. She loved you so much that she gave you the will to do what was destructive to yourself. Still, she did so with the hopes that you would realize how much she loves you and run back to her.

This was how you were with Sindara too. You loved her so much, and you were willing to serve her. She placed a difficult demand on you. She wanted jollof rice, and there was none in the house, but you saw how much she needed it. So you paid no heed to the discomfort the demand made you feel and went out of your way to give her what she wanted. That was service.

However, that is not the case with you and those girls. You never for once loved them. You never served them for a single second. You never thought that their presence with their families mattered to those children. You caused them to weep and long for a reunion with their loved ones, but you felt that caring for them and being overprotective would wipe their tears away. That is an astronomical level of wickedness, and it's surprising that someone can be so oblivious and blind to the harm that they are causing a person.

All the times you have done to atone for your sister's untimely death were anything but an attempt towards penance. All you did was make a mockery of her tragic demise,” Celine paused.

She watched the effects of her words on David and saw how deeply they'd hit him. From the way he was weeping, letting out grunts, and pounding the floor hard with his hands, she could tell that her words had really stirred and pushed out the ugliest emotions out of him.

He was realizing the gravity of the atrocities he'd been committing all along, and the guilt that came from finally having his eyes opened covered him up like a thick, wet blanket. And with each passing minute, the covering got heavier and heavier. It wouldn't allow him to get up. Celine was willing to suffocate him with her words so he would be so crushed in his soul that he wouldn't have an ounce of will left to do evil.

“Did you ever, for once, take a moment to grieve your sister's death? Have you ever taken a moment to cry because your sister no longer exists — not because she ceased to exist because of your mistake? Did you ever weep for her? Did you even visit her grave to drop flowers for once?”

“You never did. Instead, you held on too tight to your toxic emotions and started doing a job that no one assigned to you. You see, with the death of a loved one comes both positive and negative emotions. The latter often outweighs the former, but it doesn't mean the former isn't there. For instance, the happy memories, the last laughter you shared with the deceased. For you, the happy memories might not have been the source of the positive emotions.

Still, you could have sourced for one. Did you ever take a moment to think about your sister's last moment before she gave up the ghost? You said your sister was brilliant, right? Did you ever think of the fact that as she clogged blood after eating the meal, she didn't accuse you of poisoning her because she is very sure of the love you have for her?

Did you try to channel your delusions into that positive chain of thoughts? The mere fact that you made a sacrifice for your sister and did so out of your love for her could have even been another source of consolation for you if you were selfish enough to think like that. And it's okay to be selfish sometimes. If you had tried to see the brighter side and hold on so tight, you would have had the fortitude to forgive yourself and move on, hoping to heal completely in the process. But you never did. All you did was mock her demise with the hopes that she'd emerge from her grave and whisper mercies to you.”

Celine wrapped up her long speech with a carefully selected brutal sentence.

“You didn't kill Sindara, David, but you killed Zipporah. And if anything happens to my daughter because of my unplanned absence from her, then it will also be your fault.”

As though her final words were a remote control, David rose immediately and began to untie the ropes from her hands and legs. Those words had scared the living daylights out of him. He didn't want to be responsible for any more deaths. Zipporah's death was already his to grieve forever. As soon as Celine was freed, David released Celine's spot and the event planner who'd been in the room listening to the entire conversation. Then he led them out of the dark basement and instructed the spy and the event planner to wait outside.

It was liberating for Celine to see the sky again, even though she'd only been locked up for a night. She could not imagine how it must have been for those children. While the men waited, David took Celine into his house and began leading her into the living room where the girls were.

It was so surreal to Celine that David was really giving her access to take the girls away, and it did incite a significant amount of fear. Sometimes, when it was the right time for change to occur, it still felt sudden when it finally happened. So she hesitated and halted her steps on the stairs. This was when she wished that David's mother would come to her aid – to take David away or protect her in case he had a change of mind and started to run wild.

“What's the problem?” David asked her. His eyes were still full of tears.

Celine didn't want to tell him what her fear was direct. So she found words that somewhat described her issue.

“The girls won't be comfortable with having you around them. They won't feel like they are truly free.  There would be that looming fear within them that you'd snatch them away and lock them up. It will feel like an absurd dream or a prank to them. It would make no sense to them that you are letting them go,” She licked her lips. “Please go outside and wait if you are sure that you are finally letting go of these girls.”

Celine's request was a dangerous one, but it was crucial and a verifier for the state of David's heart and the resolve he'd claimed to make. She would have to wait and hope that she hadn't just said so many words for nothing.

There was silence. David spared one last thought about the girls, the younglings to whom he thought he'd devoted his life. However, as he pondered on Gertrude's parents and the suffering he'd caused them, he knew that Celine hadn't just uttered those words out of spite.

If any of her parents died from the distress of missing their daughter, he'd be responsible for their deaths too. The more he tried, the more deaths were likely to occur. For this sake, he had to let them go and allow those girls to be happy, with broad smiles on their faces for once. So he nodded his approval at Celine.

“The living room is by the left,” He said.

Then he turned towards the stairs below, and with more tears flowing and spilling down his face, he descended the stairway and made his way outdoor.

Celine heaved a sigh of relief and headed toward the living room. When she opened the door gently and saw the three girls sitting like robots on the couch, pain coursed through her chest, but a sense of victory blanketed it almost immediately. She'd felt pain because she'd been late and could not save Zipporah because of that, but the victorious feeling came from seeing that at last, after many months and several trials and errors, she was here for the children.

When she noticed the girls flinch upon hearing someone open the door (with the misconception that their captor, David, was the one by the door), Celine smiled and assured them.

“The days of captivity are over, young girls. I'm here to save you.”

***

When David went outside to wait, he'd planned to shed more tears but was unable to when he saw his mother at the gate. He didn't give much thought to what he did next, and this was simply because it felt like what was supposed to happen, and it was pointless to fight against it. He ran towards his mother who he hadn't seen for many years.

Praise the heavens that she looked good and healthy, lest he sinks into deeper depths of self-hatred for not being present to take care of his mother. He was thankful she'd managed to keep herself in good shape for his sake.

When he stood face to face with his mother, he sunk to the ground and wept as he touched her feet. He wasn't worthy of beholding them. He was short of words. An apology felt too small, too late. He'd been the most unkind person to her over the years. If he'd truly felt sorry for disobeying his mother's instruction, he would have stayed to console her. After all, she was the one he'd erred.

Despite that, she still chased after him till she could no longer do so because he'd pushed her aside every single time.

Folake wept because she had finally seen her son again after eleven years had passed, and it hurt to know that she was meeting an utterly broken and dysfunctional version of her son instead of the opposite. She knew he felt undeserving of her mercy.  Still, she'd wanted to hear him tell her that he was sorry. After a while of lamenting, she stooped low and tipped her son's chin to command his attention. She sniffed her tears and spoke to him in a shaky voice.

“You are going to the mental hospital, my son. I can tell you are repentant now, which is great for a start, but you have to go. It's been long overdue.”

David said nothing in response because he did not feel like exerting his emotions on the matter. All he knew was that going to a mental hospital would make him feel alone. He would be locked up in a room with bland-colored walls, thick iron bars, and voices in his head. He knew this fate was befitting for him from the start. Now, there was no running away from it anymore.

All he had and ever thought he owned was lost. He was probably going to lose his company too.  The public would think negatively of a renowned financier company that was managed by a mentally ill CEO. Such government would soil the organization's reputation and render it a farce in the economic sector. The stock records would plummet, and the newspaper headlines would not spare the business entity.

So it was only fitting that he ended up in a mental ward. Right now, what he wanted to care about was his mother and how she was doing. Unfortunately, he knew the answer. He knew she'd wet her cushion with her tears over the years and clutched her chest in pain. She had suffered, and he didn't want to hear her speak of it. It would only fester the wounds they both bore. So he inquired about something else.

“How is father?”

“He's fine,” Folake sniffed in tears. His question had took her aback so it took a moment for her to reapond. “I divorced him a couple of years ago. You know how he was towards me while you lived with us,” She wore a wry smile then added a few more words for compensatory purposes. “But we've managed to keep in touch. I reach out to him for your sake. It was his idea to have the tie delivered to you. Your father has forgiven you, David.”

“I added to your pain in so many ways. Yet you still kept chasing – even behind the scenes.”

David knew now that his mother had been behind Celine's sudden presence in his life after all the years. So she'd never truly given up on him all along. Yet, he still messed up every chance that Celine had given him. She had indulged him in conversations to get him to open up, but he'd lied to her, kidnapped her spy, sent a blood-stained shirt to threaten her, and even abducted her. He'd mistreated a friend who had gone out of her way to honor his mother's requests. This meant that every time he misbehaved towards Celine, he'd caused his mother to weep too.

Oh! Would he ever be emancipated from this choking guilt?

Folake embraced her son as he sobbed and started into the dusty afternoon sky. She reflected on all that transpired over the years, pain from situations that she had no control over and the few instances where she'd been at fault. She'd been selfish towards Celine. It had only taken the last bit of conscience within her to do what was right.

Thus, she searched for David's new whereabouts and met a maid in his former vicinity who knew of the place. The process had been easy for her because Celine had made it so. Celine had had faith in her and for that, she was grateful. Thank God for people who knew how to extend grace. Perhaps, she was reaping out of what she'd sown.

While she was still thinking about her son's friend, Folake saw her step out of the house through the front door and move towards the gate where she was. There was a genuine look of surprise on Celine's face, and there were questions too. Folake knew all of them, and she had no defense. So she uttered the truth and pleaded forgiveness.

“I lied about not knowing any investigators.”

Celine swallowed and nodded. “It's fine,” Then she wrapped her arm around Folake's shoulders, and by extension, she rubbed her hand on David's back. “Thank you for coming still. The chaos is over now. It can only get good from here.”