Flakes of Tears

Episode 25

Episode 25

Give up

(tw // harassment, violence, curse words; read at your own risk)

"Wake up, you slut!"

The sudden force caused my mouth to go agape as I felt a hard crashing of feet on my stomach. I coughed before opening my eyes to the familiar situation that fate had in store for me.

I'm lying on the freezing floor of the old storage room, a rope around my wrist. Tears welled up in the corners of my eyes.

Isn't this just a dream?

I'm no longer in the same situation.

This is not real. This is not—

"I said wake up! Mi-chin nyeon! (Crazy bitch!)." Someone kicked my stomach again that I forcefully opened my eyes in pain. Suddenly, I'm in reality again while tears fell relentlessly on my cheeks.

"H-hindi... Hindi pwedeng nandito na naman ako..." bulong ko na mukhang narinig ng dating boss ko kaya hinila niya ang buhok ko at agad akong kinaladkad sa loob ng k'warto. I screamed but it was as if my voice wasn't heard when I saw him getting a baseball bat to aim at me.

"'Wag! 'Wag—" But my scream was cut short when he collided with my arms, which were in the air because I was trying to stop him. I cried because I was in pain. I felt my bones break and go numb when I was hit with full force. I cried, even more, when I shielded my hands, but then my back was hit.

"Chrystal, you ran away from me for a year. Don't worry, your personal hell has returned." I saw him smirk like a demon from hell intent on bringing me misery. Perhaps Shakespeare's words were true.

Hell is empty, all the demons are here.

I apologized as if I'd done something wrong when... I didn't deserve any of this. I'm just getting home from work and bringing my groceries. I had only recently recovered from my mental health problems as a result of the anxiety I felt after learning what my father had done.

And yet, I'm here again.

So, what was the dream about? Is it the one in which I had a good life and was saved by the love of my life, Yukio Ivann, or is it the one in which I never escaped?

I'm going insane from the agony and pain in various parts of my body as I was brought to stand up and pushed out of the room. And that's when I noticed other women who were dressed similarly to me and were also beaten up.

Why am I so... unlucky in life? For the nth time, what have I done to deserve this?

Or perhaps I deserved it because of what had happened in Yiv's life. My sins were atoned for by the sins of my family. I chuckled bitterly. Maybe I wasn't truly saved because I was still stuck in this black pit of chaos, and no one could pull me out.

Maybe this is my end. I just didn't expect that I will die because of human trafficking.

When I was forced to sit with the other female victims, they were quiet beside me. We were all dressed in rugged white shirts and short black shorts that exposed our bare legs, which were covered in bruises and scars. Para kaming mga basahan na walang pamilyang inuuwian.

I'm the only one with tears in my eyes because everyone else seems enthralled and ready for whatever will happen to them. Except for pity in our situation, they had no emotions in their eyes. They were only kneeling in front of me.Parang tanggap na rin nila ang katapusan nila.