Blind and Bereft

Chapter 32 | Scavengers

WARNING: The following content contains mature theme and mild violence that may not be suitable for younger audience.

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A man came out of the brothel and pulled us inside with monstrous strength. "Your father sold you, sisters, to the brothel for two bags of rice, and I am your first customer," he said with a large smile.

We wanted to flee, but we were dragged by his large hands into the brothel and tossed into a room. The man scanned both of us before he headed towards me. I trembled in fear when he brushed his rough hand against my cheek and traced it towards my clothes. I took a sharp breath, and with all my strength, I bit down on his wrist.

He groaned in fury, and his large hand slapped me. I slammed into a marble table, and a vase dropped down, cutting my pale skin. As he was about to hit me once more, Sister Jingyi scrambled between me and the man and held her arms out to fend me.

"My little sister was born frail and sickly," she said. "I am prettier than she."

I was in pain, and my vision was too hazy to process what happened next.

Sister Jingyi was dragged towards the bed and violently trampled on by the bulky man. She screeched loudly, and she writhed in agony, and she moaned and she cried. I tried to reach out to her, to save her, but I was too weak and was losing far too much blood. Tears fell down my face as I dropped against the hard ground. My consciousness began leaving me as I listened to the screams, the moans, and the groans, as if it were some kind of sick lullaby.

What are we, deities in Heaven? Are we even human? Do we no longer have feelings? Or, are we just objects to satisfy others' desires?

If ever I am in league with someone as powerful as the God of War, I will, without a doubt, command the army to take these unfeeling bastards to Hell.

That night, Sister Jingyi told me, "One should learn to forgive, but we should never forget. Do you understand, Jingrui?"

Her whole body was bruised and scratched with red marks, yet she sat beside me under the waning moon, cleaning my wounds gently.

Comforting me.

Protecting me.

My sister was in pain, but she didn't whine. My sister was sad, but she didn't cry. The moonlight made her so beautiful and so brave. My sister was the strongest person I knew. And I knew that I could forgive my father who sold us to the brothel, or the man who did those terrible things to her, but I would never, in this lifetime, forget them.

"I will get us out of here, don't be scared. I will always protect you," Sister Jingyi said as she stared at the moon. "A crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind."

I nodded as I closed my eyes and leaned against her shoulder.

Even if I have to scavenge like a dog, I will live, because if I die, I will never get to be anything else.

A new terrible man came for our services the next morning. My sister pushed me into a cupboard and shut it before I could protest. It was dark, and I hugged my knees, scared as to what would happen to my sister. I wanted to go out, but she told me to stay. I have always listened to Sister Jingyi, after all, she was always right.

Throughout the day, I could hear my sister occasionally crying. I wanted to go out, but I knew I was powerless. I held my hands to cover my ears as I heard my sister's agonising moans. Tears brimmed in my eyes as I held them in. I must do something. I must save her.

We must survive.

I scanned around the cupboard and spotted a large shovel. My hands trembled as I grabbed it and slid the cupboard open. I crawled out with the shovel in my hand. I was scared, but my only thought was that I must save Sister.

She is my light, and even if I must take a path of darkness, I will get us out of here.

I gulped as I looked towards the bed. The man had his back to me, hovering over my sister's frail body. I bit my lip as I snuck behind him. He was too busy with my sister to have noticed me. I closed my eyes, and with everything in me, I swung the shovel at his head. He gasped and collapsed cold.

Tears sprung from my eyes, and I fell onto my knees.

We must survive. No. We will survive.

Even if no one in the world wanted us, and even if we had nowhere to go, we had to get away from there.

Sister Jingyi pulled me up from the floor. "We must run. Now is our only chance."

Before we could move any further, we heard footsteps from downstairs and up towards our room. We tried to find an escape, but there was only a window. Swallowing hard, my sister dragged me to the window. We were on the second floor, but it was either jump or die. We exchanged glances and nodded. The door behind us slid open, and we both jumped from the window and towards the floor.

I landed hard. The ground scraped off the skin from my foreleg. Tears jerked from my eyes. My sister seemed to be in a worse state, but she did not let a single tear drop from her eyes, so I held in my pain.

With that, we fled with all our might. At first, there were people following our tail, but we pushed ourselves forward until we exited the town and entered the countryside.

Only when no one was behind us, did we stop to breathe. It was dusk as we ran into the forest, and the sun began to leave us. I sat down against a tree in exhaustion and scanned my wound.

We made it. We survived. And, I was still here with my light.

It was over.

I was still alive, and I never knew that the sensation of being alive was so wonderful. Before, I had wanted to die because my father had hated me. I had wanted to die because of those terrible men. But, I was alive, and as long as I was alive, there was hope.

A smile formed on my lips as I looked up towards my sister. When I saw her expression, my smile vanished.

She was pacing, and she was worried.

Was it not over?

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