Haunted Past

Chapter Three

"Ash..."

We both turned to see Zedri's blanmklp expression. And to my surprise, saakin siya nakatingin kahit na si Ash yung tinawag niya.

"You don't have to go that far." Then he pull his gaze from me and turned to his brother. "You might frighten her."

"Yeah, right." Nilayuan na ako ni Ash tapos huminga siya ng malalim. "Sorry if I am that rude."

Napayuko na lang ako. "Go to sleep, Danzelle." Zedri mandated. I glanced up at him and saw his darken expression towards his brother. "Kuya, let's talk."

Mabilis akong pumasok sa kwarto ni Zedri tapos dahan-dahang sinara yung pinto. Dahil nandito na si Zedri hindi na ko makakatakas ulit. Hindi muna ako nag-dive sa kama kasi sobrang curious ako sa pag-uusapan nila.

I'm having second thoughts about eavesdropping or going to sleep. Sasabihin kaya ni Ash na nag-attempt akong tumakas? If so, anong gagawin ni Zedri? Saka sino ba yung babeng sinasabi ni Ash?

Curiosity's killing me so I lean my ears on the door.

"You're out of your mind Zedri. You know Mom's gonna freak out once na malaman niya na may inaalagaan kang babaeng biktima ng kung anong krimen."

So they're talking about me, huh. I rolled my eyes and decided to sleep and dive to his bed when I heard his answer.

"Honestly Ash? You don't have any business here. I just asked you to watch over her while my helper's not around, and you really did a good job, so thank you for that and you can leave now."

What's with them? They're so...confusing. Si Ash halos kulang na lang isampal sa mukha ko na lumayas na ko dahil pabigat ako sa kapatid niya, but when I tried to escape, he stopped me. Tapos ito namang isa ayaw niya akong paalisin and he seems like he wanted to keep me here forever, because I remind him of someone, I remind him of 'her'.

"Whatever your plan is, I'm warning you, it's not a good idea. Just let her go."

"I'm not planning something. I just want to help her and be her company."

"Then if you want to help her, you should be negotiating with the Police. Hindi yung nagpapaka-bayani ka sa pagtulong sa kanya tapos sa huli, ikaw yung madedehado. You should know something about her, Zedri. Honestly I don't know if it's only me who's sensing something weird about her."

I don't want to hear their talk anymore. Now that Ash mentioned about the Police. I shivered at he thought. Once I asked some help to the Police, those fucking syndicates will hunt me. They might kill me or worse, bring me back to my nightmares again.

Fear is what I feel as I lean on the wall. I hug myself to shield the upcoming coldness of the night. Then, suddenly, I noticed myself that I'm already sitting on the floor, hugging both of my knees. My face is wet again, not from my tears but because of my sweat.

Even though the night is cold, I am sweating a lot. And obviously, I know what will happen next. So tears when down next.

Those haunted memories are flashing through my head again. I don't know how long I sit on the floor, I don't know how long I cried. But I know I already cried my heart out.

I can endure any physical pain. But damn, not this emotional wretchedness that I'm going through right now.

"Please... stop." I whispered as if someone can really help me to stop these damned memories to bug me. How long will I live like this? How long can I endure this pain? How long will my past mess up my whole life? 

When is it going to stop?

Will it ever stop?

Yeah, It will. Everything will stop when you die. My brain answered my unspoken questions.

But before I gone nuts, the door opened. At pumasok sa buong kwarto yung ilaw na galing sa labas. "Danzelle?" Obviously nasa likod ako ng pinto so he can't see me. Tapos biglang bumukas yung ilaw sa loob ng kwarto and next thing I knew is he's hugging me. Tight.

I'm expecting him to bombard me questions like: "Are you okay? What's wrong? What happened?" Pero ilang minuto na yung nagdaan, wala siyang sinabi. He just give me his warm and so calming embrace that made me stop from crying.

"If only I could end your sadness..." He said, and I'm surprised that his voice is broken.

As much as I want to push myself away from him, my whole body felt dumb and weak. I don't know why my strength drained. Maybe it's because of his tight hug or maybe I don't have any strength to go on.

I just buried my face in his chest and sob. "Hush now, Danzelle. Everything is going to be alright."

No, nothing's alright. I will never be alright.

"I promise." He replied as if he heard my unspoken words.

My heart wants to stay in his arms, yet my brain says no. I SHOULD TRUST NO ONE. Even people with angelic faces like him have their own wicked shemes. I shouldn't let my guard down. I shouldn't trust him, kahit na tinutulungan niya ko.

But why is it that everytime I'm trapped in his arms, I always feel safe? Like he won't let anyone harm me?

Setting all my thoughts and doubts aside, I closed my eyes as I felt his hand brushing my uncombed hair. This is the first time that I feel so safe about closing my eyes to sleep. Having no worries that my nightmares will come and haunt me.

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"Let's go out." Zedri said right after we eat breakfast. My eyes immediately flew on Zedri and realized that he's looking at e ver intently. "Errr, I mean, let's go out to have some...freah air. I think It would lift up your mood. So, can we?"

Despite my doubts bugging me again, I nodded at him and quickly look down to hide my blushing cheeks. Come on. Danzelle. It's not like it's your first time to be asked out. And it's not a date! How can you think it's a date?! Come on, stop acting like you're fifteen! You're already twenty! Gosh...

"Okay, let's go."

Wait a minute. Ngayon na?

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This chap is dedicated to Borntobreakearts/ Linzi :)

Keepsafe--Ciao!

~FORCiNGLAUGHTER01