Beautiful Stillness ✔️

Chapter 28: Empty Shore

Chapter 28: Empty Shore

Trigger Warning: Traumatic flashbacks, sexual assault.

It was really dark so Damond had no idea who the hell walked into his room. He immediately hid inside his closet and kept quiet as he was so scared. But there were two silhouettes; the other one was struggling while the other one was being forceful.

"Mom?" he nervously asked, but his voice did not come out.

Damond shuddered and cried silently when he realized it was his mom being forced into sexual intercourse.

"No, stop! What are you doing!" His mom yelled as she struggled. She purposely ran to the closet where he was hiding to close it properly as if she knew Damond was already there. "If Desmond learns about this, he will kill you, Mr. Estella!" his mom cried.

The man who was Mr. Estella was not even bothered; he forcefully pushed his mom onto the bed. "He won't know; he won't be able to make it home."

"What?" His mom cried loudly. "Fuck you, let go! Ahh!"

Damond did not know what to do. He wanted to get out to help his mom; he even tried opening the door but his mom closed it carefully as if intending to hide him there. She was intending to protect him no matter what.

His mom was forced to enter his room by a man who had no idea of his presence in that very chamber. But his mom knew he was there; she just could not do anything about her situation as she was weaker than the aggressive man. So she chose to hide him there with all the fear in her.

"No, no, stop! Please stop!" she begged.

But the man continued harassing her. "Hush, your party is over. No one will hear you."

Her mom continued begging. "Please stop. I have a family, I have a..."

"I don't care, I want to have a taste of you."

"No! No!"

Damond was so terrified at the time that all he could do was stifle his cries. He desperately wanted to leave the closet, but his mother had trapped him inside. She inserted something to prevent the door from opening. And his mother would be in danger if Damond ever attempted to unlock it. Additionally, there is a strong likelihood that they would be slain. Damond is certain that his mother would always want him to remain in the closet.

"Shout or I will kill your son."

"No," she gasped.

The man threatened, "I can look for him everywhere. I swear to the heavens to kill your son; he will soon follow his dead father."

"No, please..."

"Hush," the man sneered.

It was disgusting, it was painful, but most importantly, it was hard for Damond who was dying to help his mom but could not do anything.

He silently called, "Mom..."

And it is as if his mom heard him. She looked at his way with tears continuously falling from her eyes. Despite the disgust and fear, her mom did her best to smile at him in secret. His mom signed at him, "It is okay, keep quiet. Please keep quiet. Keep hiding. Keep quiet for me please..."

Damond's sobs became harder to control. But he was almost dying to muffle himself just as what his mom wished him to do.

She continued signing him and conversing with him through their eyes, "No matter how bad you want to get out, don't. Please keep hiding. Whatever you see, whatever you hear, don't mind me."

His mom's signs were painful; they were so painful to watch. He is not deaf and she is not mute; there were no sounds at all but they could totally understand each other very well. They are connected, and it is just so painful to watch his mom smile despite suffering so bad just to make him feel at ease.

"Hush, Damond..." His mom became mute that instant, but he could hear her clearly. "I love you, Damond. Keep hiding."

Slowly, she signed, "Hush, it is okay..."

Little by little, "I love you, Damond..."

"Once everything is done, run away."

It was so painful. He was told to hide, and he did. His mom was raped. It was clear; he remembered her being harassed right in front of his eyes. But he was the only one to witness it; a child who has nothing, not even power. He was a child who could not do anything but wait for his time to have authority and get justice. He was told to run, but that is the thing he could never do.

When Damond was sure everything was done, he destroyed the door and came running to his unconscious mother. He was screaming painfully and loudly so that the heavens roared with him with loud thunder and lightning.

"Mom!"

It was so painful, fucking painful. And his suffering did not end yet. Because the first thing he saw in the news was his father dying in a car crash. His father died in a car crash and his mother was traumatized. He was left with nothing but hatred and anger; he became the devil everyone feared. He even forgot the only thing his mother always tells him.

"No matter how hard life is, choose to love and to be kind."

He almost missed that phrase. It was gone until Ulysses arrived. It stayed away until that mute, lovely boy entered his life. He saw himself in him; he was the troubled man who could not communicate and ends up sobbing in silence. He pledged to keep him safe because he has vivid memories of himself in Ulysses. He was afraid that he might have fallen in love with someone of the same gender so he suppressed his feelings. But as he became more certain of his emotions, he made a sincere commitment to always keep Ulysses safe.

And right now, the only thing he wants to do is to see Ulysses. He wants to fulfill his promise to him. He swore to see him and tell him the truth, and now is the perfect time.

"Fuck!" Lord Damond cursed when his car stopped in the middle of the road. It is dark and heavily raining, but Lord Damond chose to run to the store just to see Ulysses.

But what he saw there devastated him more than he ever was. The store has no lights and there was a signage on it: "Closed and will never open again. Thank you."

"No! No!" Lord Damond yelled and kicked the store's door. "No! Ulysses! Uly! Fuck, come out! Get out, I am here baby!"

His voice reverberated in the place. He is soaking wet in the rain and all he can do is to scream and kick the door repeatedly as he is desperate.

"Ulysses! I love you, baby! I am here, please!" He cried. "I said we will meet here! I am here! Please meet me!"

Out of desperation, he even turned to the God he never called before. "Lord, give me Ulysses right now! Please! Please, let him meet me!"

His pleading voice got everyone's attention but he did not care. He turned to the heavens to beg, "Please! God, please!"

He continued kicking the door. "Ulysses, Ulysses, I am here!"

He almost rolled in the mud out of frustration. "Aaahhhh, Lord! God in heaven, let me meet him right now, please!" he yells desperately. "Please... I am begging you."

A man who had been watching him since earlier finally approached him. "My Lord, that store is forever closed."

"What?" Lord Damond even wailed harder as his heart broke.

"They left."

"No," he became hysterical again, not knowing who to call and ask for help. "Please, God..."

He is unsure of how to locate Ulysses. He had just discovered him when he vanished into thin air. Ulysses must really despise him. Lord Damond is a fucking jerk who ought to suffer greatly. This must be what he deserved. He must have earned this suffering, this existence, and this effing dismal life. Perhaps he really did not deserve to be with Ulysses.

Ulysses left him for real, and Lord Damond is left with nothing but pain.