⏳ 6:51 ⌛

 

  6:51

 _By Mara_ 💙

When we were happy...

"Dory," Ella called quietly.

"Hmmm, Elly."

"Are you awake?"

Doris turned on her side and faced her sister who laid beside her on the bed. "What is it?" Doris asked.

"I was thinking about what mummy told us; that Jesus likes it when people come to visit him," said Ella.

"What happened, then?" Doris asked her nine year old darling.

"I was thinking that Jesus will be alone now. Everyone is sleeping at home. They have forgotten him. Can we keep him company for a while?" Ella asked as she stroke her sister's hair in the darkness.

"Okay," said Doris.

Then the little girls sat up and said a prayer that touched the heart of heaven.

⏳⌛⏳⌛⏳

6:58.

Doris cursed the moment she had replied Capon's chats. She scolded herself for what she had gotten the both of them into. Ella's words had not been in vain. For years, Doris had pitied herself as ill-fated. Now, she knew some people suffered more, and because of her.

The image of Ella making her outburst continued to flash in her memory. For Ella to have reacted in such a manner, she must have really been fed up. Doris had clearly heard the sorrow and frustration in her voice.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. She was relieved to find out that Ella hadn't heard her. The idea of crushing her pride after so long seemed silly, clearly impossible.

She wouldn't, she couldn't. What was the point? She would be dead in less than three minutes. No. She couldn't kill her pride. She would die with it. Humbling herself seemed more painful than death. Besides, why should she apologize when Ella was also at fault?

6:59!

The girls startled as they heard movements behind the door. Ella shivered uncontrollably and Doris closed her eyes tightly, trying to deceive herself that this wasn't reality.

"Ella, I'm sorry!" Doris said at last. She repeated despite the excruciating pain, "I'm sorry Ella. I'm sorry, daddy. Mummy, please don't be angry in heaven. Forgive me!"

"Forgive us!" Ella echoed the cry of grief. The two sisters drew close to each other and wept on their shoulders.

"I don't want to die! God please!" Doris mumbled as she held her sister in a tight and painful embrace.

"God save us," Ella prayed in tears.

 7:00

The door creaked open and the three men came in. Red mask dropped some knives at a corner and Green mask pulled Ella away from Doris.

"Jesus, please," Ella cried. He shut her up with a slap and a knife to her throat.

"My darling, come to papa," said Capon lewdly as he licked his lips and began to unbuckle his belt. Doris panicked and prepared herself to resist him. Her plan crashed when she felt the strength of his arms. She tried to scream but he pushed his palm to her face firmly, painfully.

She wept.

He stopped suddenly and looked at his men. "What was that noise?" he asked. "Didn't you say the area was clear?"

The other men looked at each other. Then they went outside the room. After a while of tensed silence, there was a sound of struggling and then silence.

Capon picked himself up from the weeping girl and quickly reached for his gun.

"Who is there?" he demanded as he pointed his gun at Ella who laid whimpering on the floor. He alternated his aim between the two of them and kept yelling, "Who is there?"

Beads of perspiration clouded his forehead as he waited for movement from outside. After a fruitless wait, he decided to go. As God would have it, he didn't take Ella with him. He went out alone.

Doris quickly got off the mat and crawled to her sister to ensure she was okay. She hugged her and they wept in each other's arms.

A loud gunshot sounded and they screamed. They held their breath until a man in vigilante uniform crept in and looked about the room. Finally, he announced, "That's all!"

The girls breathed in relief and held each other even tighter. With relief and joy, they wept.

The end.