A break in had occurred at the agency, and Dami and Dipo were called back to investigate it with some other agents, leaving only Fade and Anike with Ara.

At the moment the three of them were on their way to Fade's house for a remembrance that was being held for his sister. As the car climbed over another speed bump and lifted them in their seats, Ara's mind drifted back to that day when Fade told her about his sister.

"I had gone out with her that day, because she kept asking for ice cream and I decided to take her out to get some."

He paused, finding it hard to continue.

"I remember my uncle and Dad arguing that day as we went out, but they were always arguing, so it wasn't something new.

"Sewa and I stayed out till it was evening, and then we began making our way back home when Mum called and told me to buy meat for her from the supermarket. Even up to this moment I can't explain how, but I lost Sewa when we got to the supermarket.

"When I alerted the security and we checked the CCTV after searching for her to no avail, the recording showed her being led out by two men. I was devastated. How do I tell my parents I lost my sister? I didn't even know where she was at that moment, and what was happening to her. Was she still alive? Was she injured? Was she scared or she'd been knocked unconscious? So many questions ran through my mind, and I didn't even know what to do."

He swallowed hard, and Ara squeezed his hand. He glanced at their clasped hands with glassy eyes, not really seeing them even though he was looking right at them.

"I don't know how I got home that night. I don't even remember how my parents got to know, maybe I told them or by seeing me crying so hard they figured out that something had gone wrong.

"I couldn't sleep all night, and by morning I heard the worst news ever. My little sister–" He choked back a sob. "My little sister–"

He broke down in tears, and Ara wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm sorry, Fade. I'm so sorry."

He lifted his head, his eyes full of pain. "Why are you sorry? If anything, I'm the one that should be sorry. I wish I had searched harder, maybe I would have found her. I would have found you, and maybe I could have saved you both."

Ara shook her head. "Don't blame yourself, Fade. What if you had been there, but somehow got killed? Do you think that would have been better?"

"At least it would have been better than Sewa being dead."

She placed her hand over where his heart is. "She lives on in here, right?"

He let out a broken sigh. "It's not the same as her being here in person."

"Ara." Someone shook her, breaking into her thoughts.

She directed her attention to him. "Yeah?"

"We've gotten to my house."

She glanced around and saw they were in front of a modest looking house. It was painted a blue-green colour, and instead of the common silver coloured roof, this one was black.

There were two trees that towered close to the front windows. They looked like any further tilt in the direction of these windows could smash them, but since that hasn't happened all these years everyone stopped worrying about it.

Taking the short flight of stairs that led to the front door, Fade knocked and waited for someone to open it.

Fade hadn't been sure whether to bring Ara along since she had also suffered that night, but she had assured him that she was fine so he conceded.

Now, he wasn't so sure about his decision anymore. She had remained quiet all through the trip down to Lagos, and Fade feared she would have a flashback of that night whenever she heard people talking about it during the remembrance.

On the other hand, Ara wondered how Fade was faring at the moment. Losing someone was not a good thing, and one can never fully recover from it. You just learn to move on.

He had remained silent for quite sometime, and she assumed it was because his mind was fixed on his sister. Why she died, how she died and the way her last moments had been. He wished he hadn't let her out of his sight, she knew that with the way his voice broke while he was speaking. That he wanted to rewind the hands of the clock and change what had happened. That he'd even prefer to die in her stead.

She knew that was how he felt. She'd have felt the same way if her own sister experienced it.

She wrapped her hand around his, trying to comfort him. Fade interpreted this to mean that she sought comfort, so he squeezed her hand and held on to it.

"Fade, my boy." His Dad's voice boomed as someone opened the door and they all went in.

"Good afternoon, Daddy and Mummy." Fade prostrated.

"My dear, bawo ni?" His mum smiled, although one could see it was strained.

<<Bawo ni means how are you?>>

"Fine Ma." Fade responded, a small smile on his lips.

Ara held his hand once more, and his Dad raised an eyebrow.

"Ara, this is my Dad, and this is my Mum." He motioned to them. "Daddy and Mummy, this is Ara."

Of course, they knew who she was. After all, Temilade had been the one to assign the four agents to guard her. And he kept no secrets from Doyin.

Ara knelt down to greet them, and Fade saw the looks of approval on his parents' faces, considering how youngsters no longer greeted elders the customary way.

Afterwards, Fade sat down on a couch while Ara and Anike went to the kitchen to join some women in the preparation of snacks. Several more people arrived, including Fade's uncle from his father's side and two of his aunts from his mother's side.

Some of his neighbours also came, and he stood to greet them all.

Ara and Anike discussed while making the snacks, and this helped in taking her mind off Fade for the meantime.

When the snacks were ready, they both carried large trays of it to the sitting room.

Then Ara froze as her eyes landed on someone.

No. This couldn't be.

Anike noticed and also stopped walking. "Is everything okay?"

Ara remained still, yet her hands were shaking. Anike feared she would drop the tray and make everything clatter to the ground, so she held her hand and led her back to the kitchen.

"What happened, Ara?" Anike asked, her tone gentle.

Ara began to shake all over. "H–h–he..." She trailed off, cold sweat breaking out on her body.

"He what? Is it Fade? What's wrong?"

Ara met her eyes, and for the first time Anike was at a loss of what to do or say at that moment. Ara's eyes looked so haunted that Anike had to take a step back.

"Do you need any help with the snacks? I'm sorry I'm just coming. You have no idea how many people I had to greet and how many pulled my cheeks saying how much I had grown." Fade complained as he entered the kitchen, but when he noticed the mood he stopped and looked at the two of them.

"Agent 7." Anike said in way of greeting.

"What's going on?" He asked, going to stand in front of Ara and putting his hands on her shoulders.

She jerked back. "D–don't touch me, please."

Fade frowned.

"What happened?"

Anike answered, since Ara was in no state to. "We were taking trays into the sitting room when she suddenly stopped walking. I asked her what was wrong but she didn't reply so I brought her back to the kitchen. She looks so scared, but hasn't really said anything as to why she's afraid."

She ran her hands through her hair, at a loss of how to help Ara.

Fade returned his attention to Ara, his concern palpable. "Ara, please talk to me. Are you hurt somewhere? Are you feeling ill? Do you want us to go back home?"

Ara was silent for a while, her head down. She was still trembling, and when she looked up at him he could see the tears gathering in her eyes. "H–he is here."

"Who?" Fade and Anike asked at the same time.

Ara's lips quivered, and she stared down at her trembling hands. Her voice came out in a broken whisper when she said, "One of the men who–who–"

She swallowed, finding it hard to speak.

"Who what?" Anike asked, her voice soft as if speaking any louder would ruin the atmosphere.

One tear fell from Ara's eye, soon followed by numerous more. Her voice quivered, and both agents had to strain their ears to hear her. "Who raped me."

The instance Fade heard, his eyes blazed with anger. "What? Who is it?"

"Tell me!" He shouted in exasperation when she didn't reply, so that Anike had to put her hand on his shoulder.

"Calm down, Fade. Don't shout at her."

He sighed, his shoulders slouching a bit as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're right. I'm sorry."

He placed his fingers on her chin and raised her head. "I'm sorry, Ara. Would you like to leave?"

She nodded.

"Okay. Do you mind waiting in my room while I go inform my parents?"

She nodded again, so Fade led her to his room and left Anike with her while he went to inform his parents about everything.

While they waited, Anike's phone rang. Before she could pick it, her phone stopped ringing. She glanced at it before addressing Ara. "Hey, I need to make a call outside. I won't be long, I promise."

Ara nodded in response. Then she laid down on Fade's bed and shut her eyes, trying to steady her erratic breathing. The door to the room opened and thinking it was either Anike or Fade she opened her eyes and sat up.

But the sight before her made her freeze once again, her blood running cold.

"It's being a long time, my lady."

_____________________

Fade knew something was wrong. After he told his parents and he went back to his room, he saw Ara curled up on his bed, her tremors even worse than before.

When he had tried to hold her, she'd fought him off with all her might. Her face was full of sheer terror and tears kept running down her face. She kept muttering to herself, sweat beads plastered to her forehead.

With time, he was able to calm her down enough before carrying her to the car through the back door, so that no one would see them leave.

Once in the car with Anike, he instructed the driver to drive as fast as he could. It was when they were a safe distance from the house that Ara managed to stop crying, and within minutes she'd slept off with her head resting on his shoulder.

The journey back to Abuja was a rather long one, and they reached the Aso Rock Villa in the wee hours of the morning. On getting inside, Fade took Ara up to her room and laid her on the bed.

Just as he turned to leave, his leg hit the bedside drawer and he grimaced, bending down to rub his knee.

The jolt against the drawer had caused it to open a little, and as Fade bent to massage his throbbing knee, he sighted a picture inside it.

It was a picture of Ara and a guy. Perhaps it was her brother? Opening it as quietly as he could, he brought it out to look at it.

His breath caught the moment his eyes landed on the picture, for on it was a girl with brown eyes and brown hair who had Ara's face.

But she wasn't alone. The guy beside her who had his arm wrapped around her shoulder as they laughed was none other than...him.

*********************