It was terrifying. It was a scene out of a horror movie. I've never been so terrified like this in my entire. The night of my sixteenth birthday was nothing compared to what I was seeing in front of me. Even those letters that were sent to me didn't give me a scare like this.
Maybe it was because the fear was already pent up inside of me. Especially considering what I had just experienced at the party earlier. I still wasn't sure about the identity of the man, but coming home to something like this gave me so many terrifying thoughts.
The stalker... after years and years of just sending me those letters, he finally approached me.
That man... maybe he really was my stalker. He was the only one who was calling me his 'rabbit' countless times in his letters at iyon ang itinawag ng lalaki sa 'kin kanina.
And he was here. Oh, god, he was just here in my very own room. Siguro nang malamang wala ako ay saka pumunta s'ya pumunta sa party.
He really does know who I am.
I stared at the writing on the wall. The words were written using red paint. Oh, please let it be just paint. Mukhang marami pa nga ang ginamit as some dripped down on the floor from the wall. And it was only then that I took notice of the primroses scattered on the floor.
Suddenly, I found it hard to breathe. May mga pumapasok na alaala sa isip ko. Memories that I've tried so hard to forget.
The paint became blood in my eyes. And those primroses... I saw myself sitting on a metallic chair, my hands bound on the armchair, just like how I found that man. The man whose very life was taken by my hands.
Napatingin ako sa mga kamay ko. I didn't know how, but it was tainted with red when I didn't even touch the writing on the wall. Hindi ko alam kung paano nangyari. Maybe it was blood. Maybe I failed to wipe the blood of the man on my hands.
It was there... It was always there.
"Xanthe?"
I flinched. Wala sa sariling napatingin ako kung saan nanggaling ang boses na narinig ko. I saw a man standing in the doorway of my bedroom. Mas lumalala ang takot na nararamdaman ko as I couldn't recognize the man. For a while, he looked like the man that I saw on the night of my sixteenth birthday.
But it was impossible! He's dead! I... I killed him!
My whole body trembled. I struggled to breathe and was wheezing every time I tried to take a breath. Pero pakiramdam ko ay kulang ang hangin na pumapasok sa dibdib ko. My heart was beating so fast and loud and my vision began to blur. Bigla rin akong nahilo dahil sa kawalan ng hangin na nakukuha ko.
I clutched my chest dahil nararamdaman ko ang sakit sa dibdib ko. I staggered as strength seemed to leave my body at muntik na akong mapaupo sa sahig kung hindi lang sa mga kamay na mahigpit na kumapit sa mga braso ko, preventing me from falling.
"Xanthe! Xanthe!"
"No!" I tried to shake those hands off me. The man was holding me! He's going to kill me! "Let go!"
"Xanthe!"
I was screaming for the man to let go pero mas lalo lang humigpit ang kapit n'ya sa mga braso ko that it began to hurt. I tried to push him away and reach him so I could scratch or hurt him. Tears pooled in my eyes when he just held both of my wrists. The man tried to shake me while still calling my name.
He knows my name! Oh, god, he knows my name! He will take revenge for what I did to him!
"Let go of me! Let go—"
Napatigil ako sa pagsasalita when I felt a sudden pain on the cheek, as if someone had slapped me. I was surprised. Wala sa sarili akong napahawak sa pisngi kong masakit at napatingin sa taong nasa harap ko.
