Chapter 7 Victoria's First Disappearance (One)

• It only felt like minutes later that Carol heard an insistent knock at her door that permeated her sleep. Groaning, she turned, stretched while still lying in her queen-sized bed, and then sat up and looked around in a disoriented manner. It was dark outside from what she could see, so that meant that she had slept for hours. The knock at the door became more insistent as the seconds rolled by and then she heard her mother yell out her name before rapping out a series of further knocks.
• “I’m coming,” Carol yelled out in reply, hurrying to get off the bed and open the door before her mother broke it down with her insistent knocking and the way she was banging on it.
• “What is it, mum?” Carol asked, rubbing at her eyes as she stood there in her pink shorts and white singlet.
• Her mother gaped at her for a few seconds and then screeched, causing Carol to wince. “Why are you dressed like that?”
• “Dressed like what?”
• “The way you’re dressed! The guests are already here and you’re sleeping? Are you not going to be a part of the dinner? I hope Victoria has already dressed up. Damn! All this is my fault. I should have come up earlier to make sure that you guys were getting ready, but I was so preoccupied with making preparations for dinner.” Belinda said and pushed into the room, turning on the light as she went.
• “Oh, right. I totally forgot and overslept. The dinner at seven. I’ll just wash up quickly and be right down, bu…” Carol was saying and then paused when she saw her mother looking around the room in shock, her face ashen.
• “What is it, mum? Are you alright?”
• “Whe…where is your sister?”
• “Victoria? How on earth should I know? She is probably in her room or something.”
• “No. No, she’s not anywhere in this house. I’ve checked literally everywhere, but did not bother to check your room because your light was off. If she’s not here, then that means she’s nowhere in this house.” Belinda wailed, checking behind the curtains in Carol’s room as though her missing daughter would magically appear out of there.
• “Well, maybe she’s downstairs,” Carol told her mother, not getting what the fuss was all about.
• “Oh, my God! I can’t believe this is happening to me. I can’t believe Victoria would do this to me.” Belinda said, looking like she was about to cry. She also looked scared, but that was ridiculous. Carol had never seen her mother scared of anyone or anything ever since she could remember. Nonetheless, Carol tried to reassure her.
• “She’ll be here. I don’t see what you’re worrying so much about. Maybe she just went out to get something. Meanwhile, I’ll go take a shower and dress up, and then go look for her.”
• “What do you know about anything?” Her mother hissed at her and stormed out the door, no doubt to continue her search for her missing daughter.
• Carol shrugged and went to take a shower, taking her sweet time as she did so. She was not particularly interested in meeting anybody, especially not her sister’s unknown groom and his uncle and whoever else was at the dinner table, but it would not speak well of her if she refused to go. After wasting as much time as she dared to in the bathroom, she came out to meet her mother sitting on her bed and bouncing her foot in agitation.
• “She’s still not back yet?” Carol asked, wondering if there was more to this than met the eye. With the way her sister was self-centered and did not care about hurting anyone’s feelings, she would not be surprised if she had run away or something like that.
• “No, she’s not,” Belinda said sounding so small and afraid that Carol felt a little sorry for her even though this whole mess was her fault, although she did not get why she should be afraid.