⏳6:51⌛

6:51

A few minutes later...

Corinthians 3:21; Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged.

 45, 44, 43...

Doris looked around the room again for a sign of hope. She wrapped her hands around her bare tummy and rocked back and forth on the floor. She was getting cold. She rubbed her arms and looked around again. There had to be a way out.

 _35, 34, 33, 32..._

Doris wondered if anyone had seen them and had called for help. Was that why the other kidnappers were away? Hopefully, she nodded her head. She even managed a smile. She was so unlike her sister who seemed to have no other language than weeping.

 _23, 22, 21..._

Time was going. The watch was still ticking; Doris could hear it from where she sat. Every steely tick filled her with fear. She trembled and began to lose hope. "Daddy," she muttered in fear.

It had been a long time since she had called that word with such feeling. Her relationship with him ended one gloomy school day, two years after her mother's death. Before then, the girls had noticed that their father had grown more distrustful of them. He was especially strict to Doris who was already a budding woman.

Then, Doris was a happy child. She wasn't much moved by her father's behavior because she had her school friends, and, she had her dear sister, Ella.

Doris couldn't quite recall when it had happened during the day, but she remembered that she had been playing with her friends when one of them, a boy named Austin, touched her improperly. Doris pushed his hand away when she found out he had done it deliberately. She had wanted to shout at him but she felt so embarrassed that she thought twice.

She let it go. Besides, no one else had seen it.

She was wrong. What she couldn't fathom was how her father had been the only witness of an incident that had taken place at school.

He had confronted her, and given her the beating of her life. She still remembered how she had defended herself when he had accused her of immorality.

"Daddy, no! Wait, please! Daddy, it's not like that! Daddy, I didn't let him do it. Daddy! Daddy, trust me! Daddy!"

Her pleas, despite their innocence, fell on deaf ears. Mr Okafor had left Doris in her room with a bruised body and a broken heart.

"3, 2, 1... 6:53. Daddy, please help," Doris whimpered. Her pride and hate continued to diminish as the seconds raced on. She was ready to forgive him. Anything! Just as long as she would be given a chance to live to see another hour.

"Mummy," Ella whimpered. Doris looked at her and returned to her recollections. It was as though her whole life were flashing before her eyes. Many hidden and long forgotten memories bared their hideous forms to her dismay. One of such memories was of Ella, after her father had beaten her.

Doris had been weeping endlessly and Ella had comforted her as best as she could. She had wiped her big sister's bruises and had nursed her ever patiently. Doris had been so overwhelmed with misery that she had uttered curses against her father.

"I hate him, Ella! I wish he would die and rot in..." Doris had sobbed.

"Doris!" Ella had interrupted," he's your father."

"I don't care!" Doris had screamed viciously.

"I know you are hurt, but it's your fault. You shouldn't have sinned," said Ella sternly.

Doris had looked up at her with deep loathing. So Ella was condemning her too? She had counted on her to have her back. Yet, here she was, siding with their father.

"Get out! Get out, Ella! I hate you too! I don't want to see you ever again. Go!"

Those were the words of a broken child that had created a fissure which had separated the sisters for many years already.

 6:54!

Doris glared at Ella. At that moment, it was as if all the pains of the past were hardening her heart further against her sister.

Cruelly, she asked, "Why did you follow me? Ella! Why did you follow me?"

Ella kept silent and gazed at the floor while holding her knees.

"Can't you hear me? Why can't you just leave me alone? Is that too hard for you to do?"

"Mummy," Ella sobbed.

Doris sprang up and continued to hurt her sister, saying, "Cry all you want! Cry! That's all you're good at. Call your daddy too, so he'll help you since you are his cherished daughter! Go on! Call the father that you obey and res..."

"Shut up!" Ella screamed with passion. Doris stopped and wondered if the person before her was really Ella.

Ella stood up and stared her sister in the face. There was no fear, no timidity in her eyes. Only bitterness and frustration.

"Shut your dirty mouth!"

"So my mouth is dirty..."

"You have no remorse! No shame, you shameless excuse for a sister! Yes, I obey him. I follow his commands like a fool, for peace sake! You don't, but where has that gotten you? Just look at you! Prostitute!"

"Ella, I..."

"Shut up! You listen to me for a change! I am sick and tired of your stupidity and childishness. I know it's daddy's mistake not to trust us, but you don't make things better by opposing him. Do you think I don't suffer as well? Do you know it hurts me to see you hurt? Yet you keep your burden to yourself as if you're the only victim. Then you treat me like an enemy too!"

Ella paused her passionate outburst. Her throat hurt from her screaming and her face was red. She breathed unevenly and coughed. She looked to see what effect her opening up had on her sister. Doris seemed unmoved.

Ella fell to the floor with a groan. She said in between sobs, "We are supposed to be there for each other. Love each other. It hurts... It hurts that when I cry about how terrible home is, I don't have a shoulder to lean on. I... Daddy!" Then she resumed crying.

Doris joined her on the floor and her defiance melted into submission. She wept, "Daddy, please, help us. I'm sorry, please."

So, the poor girls wept, while the clock stroke 6:57.

Outside, their captor prepared his mind to perform his bloody task.

To be continued.