TOXIC (Dark Mafia Romance)

Chapter 3

IT'S ALL your fault! It's all your fault!

I love you, Ate! Love you, love you!

You're nothing! Nothing!

BANG!

Marahas na lumipad pabukas ang mga mata ko.

Dumagundong ang puso ko sa dibdib at malalim ang aking paghinga. Halos wala akong makita sa loob ng ilang segundo.

Then the memories came flooding back.

My screaming mother, the broken glasses and blood, the text message, the SUVs blocking the road, Kuya Nato... oh, God, Kuya Nato.

I closed my eyes tight as panic rose in my gut.

He's dead and you killed him.

Oh, God... oh, God...

My fingers clawed at the bedsheet as I choked on air. The image of Kuya Nato's bloodied body burned into me. Sobbing, I curled on the bed.

The monster was right. I killed Kuya Nato.

My horrid sobs filled the silence as the images of Kuya Nato's blood-soaked body overlapped with dozens of bloody images in my head. And there was baby Amelias's sweet face, smiling and laughing. Baby Amelia crying. Memories jumbled together in a cacophony of jagged images that made up my nightmare. There was no escaping my nightmares.

I didn't know how many minutes or hours passed, but my tears stopped, and I stared blankly at the dark sky outside the window.

Kuya Nato's dead, but it was done now.

They had me now. They would have their pound of flesh. This would all end.

I welcomed the numbing sense of peace seeping into my senses. May luha pa rin sa mga mata, iginala ko ang tingin sa paligid.

Nasa isang malaking silid tulugan ako. The walls and most of the furniture were in shades of pale cream. Kahit ang kubrekama sa Queen bed ay krema rin ang kulay. Base sa tanawin sa labas ng floor to ceiling window, nasa mataas kaming palapag.

Feeling numb, I forced myself to sit and look down at myself. Suot ko pa rin ang itim na bestida. My body felt heavy and my mind was foggy. My wrists felt sore and the skin was red and scraped, but there were no handcuffs. A stinging pain pulsed deep between my thighs and for a horrible second, nausea filled my throat.

Pero agad din akong umiling.

My sex felt sore, but if the monster had truly fucked me, I wouldn't even be able to sit like this.

Memories of the man's fingers moving deep inside my pussy seared into me. My heart pounded in my throat, and a strangled sob slipped out of me. Closing my eyes tight, I wrapped my arms tighter around my waist and gently rocked myself.

I forced myself to breathe.

He didn't fuck me while I was out cold. I would have felt a screaming pain in my sex if he had. The soreness between my thighs were from his fingers.

I squeezed my thighs together and bit back a cry as I felt the sticky wetness moistening my sex. I still had no panties.

Muli ay pinilit ko ang sariling magmulat at nanginginig na tumitig uli sa labas ng bintana. Madilim sa labas, pero may kaunting mga bituwin na nagpapapusyaw sa langit.

With shaking hands, I wiped the tears from my cheeks. There was no using crying over anything now. It would all be over soon. It would be–

Nakarinig ako ng kaunting ingay mula sa labas ng silid, at napalipad sa pinto ang tingin ko. Bigla iyong bumukas, at napaigtad ako nang bumungad sa akin ang isang may edad na babae. Natigilan din ang babae nang makita ako.