Beckoned Through The Dark

96 // Abigail // Disguise

I was so relieved to hear that Vincent was alive.

Tiffany called me and confirmed that Vincent was fine, and that she had found Lesego. That was the best news I'd heard in a long time. I was relieved, because at least now I knew that my husband wasn't a murderer, and my friend was alive.

I would have hated having to tell Cecilia that her granddaughter was dead.

I told her about what I'd discovered, but she said she couldn't be here and advised me to call Clay.

I went to Salphas to buy a few things for Cecilia and Sello, and I had a blast fixing them up - I dyed Cecilia's hair red, I gave her a full make over.

Susanna was still hot, the only thing that distinguished her from who she was before she 'died' was the colour of her hair which was blonde, but now grey.

I bought her a long-sleeved sky-blue dress that reached her ankles, with white thick high heels. And then I bought her a matching set of earrings, bracelets and a necklace.

She looked so different.

With Sello, I didn't do much. The guy was stubborn like his niece, Lesego.

He insisted that I buy him tracksuits. I did as he wanted, and then I bought a pair of scissors and a razor blade. I wanted to cut his hair, but he refused. We argued about it for a while until I was able to make him see reason.

So, I cut off his hair and he shaved his beard. For the touch up, I bought him a fake grey beard and a moustache. He looked kinda like a 50-year-old kung fu master, and Cecilia a forty-year-old woman.

Since I left in a rush, I didn't have my purse on me. I used my Truworths account to buy these clothes. As for the food and toiletries, I used some money I had on me.

"What's going to happen to us? If Betty sees me, she's going to kill me, Abby," Cecilia said while walking up and down the entrance to the mansion.

"Don't worry about it, my friend is going to help us," I reassured her.

I took out my phone to make a call. "Hey, Clay, we are ready, you know the way, right? You are parking outside?" I asked in surprise. "We are on our way."

Cecilia was a panicky mess. "Who was that?"

"Calm down, Ma'am. He is Lesego's boyfriend," I said, pressing the password into the keypad to unlock the door.

When the door opened, Sello walked out first, but Cecilia stood still. "Cecilia, you said it yourself that when Betty sees you, she is going to kill you; she comes here after seven days and tomorrow is one of those days. We have to go."

When she heard this, she rushed out of the house.

After locking the door, I turned to walk to the gate, but I'm taken aback by the sight of the old lady crying.

"It's been eighteen years – eighteen full years, Abigail," she cried, "My own daughter, my very own daughter locked me up in that basement for eighteen years. This is the first time – the first time in eighteen years that I get to see the birds, to hear them sing. The first time in eighteen years that I get to see the sun shining down on me. To feel the cold breeze of winter cut through my skin – not that it wasn't cold in there, it was always cold. Not because of winter, autumn, spring, summer or anything, but because it lacked love and comfort. It was not dark because we had no light, but because it was full of pain and sadness.

It didn't smell like fresh roses in there, it smelled like death; every minute that passed felt like the right time to leave this world. I–" she shook her head. "You know, young lady, we open our hearts to people to show them how much we love them, and guess what? They take a knife and cut it deeper and deeper. It hurts."

I just stood there with no words to breathe, what do I say? What do I do?

"Cecilia-"

"We have to go. We don't have much time," Clay shouted from outside the gate.

What was with him? He's been acting weird in the last few days, he even moved out of his apartment last week and moved back to the hotel he was staying at last time with Lesego.

Getting him here was a task, and I felt bad because he was still not aware of what was happening with Lesego.

Cecilia quickly wiped her tears and hid her face from Sello and Clay.

"Sometimes it is good to cry, Cecilia."

I wish I had the space and time to do the same, because my heart was filled with so much pain, but I had to keep my head high if I planned to get through this.