SCARRED

Chapter 29

MONDAY -  MURDER

The church auditorium was rather big, being able to house over 300 people in it without any fear of congestion or suffocation. So when Kemi could find nowhere to stay without craving fresh air,  she grew emotional. The church was filled up to the brim, some even having to stay outside as there were no space left in the church. It was surprising that the news of Anna had gotten to so much people, and that they really cared enough to actually come pray for her.  They cared for her Anna. She could see people from Anna's school and people from her own university. There were people she had seen but hadn't ever spoken to before and Oma had told her that there were even people from the lessons and other schools around. People that even Anna didn't know. It was all for her.

She held unto her mother's frail hand, the woman seemed weak and sick as she hadn't been eating enough, neither had she been taking care of herself. It was like she was in mourning which technically, she was.

It had been three weeks since Anna went missing and people and grown weaker in searching for her. They still feared the worse for her, but they had no idea what to do again. They had done all they could do and all they could think of, and now they were at a pause with no idea what to do. It was obvious though that everyone wanted to do something to support the return of Anna so when her church had called for a prayer in the evening for the return of the girl, a lot of people had turned up.

She squeezed her mother's hands tightly and closed her eyes. She had a lot of hope soaring in her heart at that point, and she feared that it was going to be crushed. Still, she held on to it.

"Today we are gathered as one family to render our prayers unto the Lord for our daughter Anna." The Pastor's voice boomed from the different speakers set up at the different corners and sides of the church, the silent night making it seem even louder.

Kemi could feel her heart beating in her heart very wildly too and she questioned why she was being so nervous and uncomfortable. It was probably because of the lack of sufficient oxygen she thought to herself. She looked up and managed to catch a glimpse of Tobi who gave her a weird but reassuring smile and she responded back with a tight forced smile.

Bending to her mother's ears, she whispered.
"I'll be right back ma I need some fresh air." Her mothers hands only tightened in hers as she refused to let the girl go.
"Ma relax, okay? I'm just going out for fresh air. I'd be back." She gently removed her hands from her mother's grip and began walking outside, moving to the rhythm of the Pastor's voice. She was halfway outside when a commotion started from the direction she was heading.

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Opening her eyes in the dim room she was in, she sat up with a groan as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. She looked up at the ceiling at the light coming from the holes. They told her that it was morning. She looked around the dim room, only seeing the outline of things mostly when her eyes stumbled on a covered plate. It wasn't there when she fell unconscious last night. So it had to be brought there probably while she was still asleep in the early hours. It was weird, whenever he came with food, he first delivered beatings to her before giving it to her.

As she crawled toward the food, the chain and collar around her neck clanging, she began thinking. Was it a trap? Was it poisoned? If it was, then she was gladly going to take it as long as it was sure to end her misery. She hurried over to the plate and ripped it open only to come in contact with what seemed like an almost spoilt rice. It was plain, with no sauce or anything to go with it. She contemplated not eating it but was stopped when her tummy let out an angry growl at the thought of staying hungry.
She quickly picked it up, ignoring the horrible taste and began to gobble it down. Just as she was done, she heard the door above her squeak open very slowly and tauntingly. She hurried to the corner and pressed her head to her knees. She knew it, this was a trap. How could she have just jumped over the different possibilities that it was a trap. She began trembling and so when a small soft touch shook her leg, she jumped away from it not being used to such gentle touches. She looked up, thinking she would see the vile man only to come face to face with a kid she had seen only once, Abubakar.