Dear Seraphina

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a cold July night. I could still remember every little bit of detail on what just happened. And I could still picture out myself crying in the corner of that secret room. Being left by my brother who fought for the sake of my safety. And yeah, I was safe. Damn fvckin' safe. But how long? How long this will end? How long their struggles of protecting me will be over? These questions are giving me headaches. I curse myself for that.

It was a very comfortable sleep. Me on my nightgown in a white room. And cold air brushing all over my body even if I am covered with a thick, smooth blanket. It was a peaceful, silent nigh t not until when I heard the squeaky sound of the alarm.

Bigla akong napabangon sa aking pagkakahiga. Sunod sunod na putok na baril ang aking narinig. My heart skipped a beat. Bigla akong kinabahan. Tila isang senyas na may masamang mangyayari. Agad kong kinuha sa ilalim ng aking unan ang maliit na baril. Tumayo ako at lalabas na sana nang biglang pumasok si Kuya Steve. He hurriedly go towards me and hugged me tight.

"Sera, you hide at the secret room now!" He said in authority at kinalas ang pagkakayakap.
"But-" pinutol niya ang aking sasabihin,"There is no buts right now! You go and hide!" Sinabi niya habang nagmamadaling kunin yung mga books sa may shelf at bumungad ang isang maliit na keyboards na numero lang ang laman.

"But kuya, paano kong mapaano ka? Kuya-"

"I can do it myself. Sa ngayon, kailangan mo munang magtago bago ka pa nila makita. I know you are their target. And we need you to be safe now!" Pinindot niya ang iba ibang numero at biglang bumaliktad ang shelf, dahilan upang magkaroon ng isang maliit espasyo papunta sa secret room.

"Now, stay there and don't you dare go out of that room!" Pagkasabi niya nun ay tinulak niya ako papasok sa secret room.

If I was just in a normal situation, I could be hardly, silently laughing at now. Thinking on how many times he mentioned the word 'now.'

But it's not. It's contrary. I hugged him once more. Tears stream down my face. I sobbed hard. I want him near me. I want to make sure he'll be safe. He hugged me back. Tighter. And I cried more. I want him to stay.

He pulled back his arms. Looking at me intently while wiping away my tears using his both hands, he said,"Hush honey.. Listen, I need you to be there. You need to be there. I want to protect you from these men. I want to make sure you are safe and untouched. Please, let me do this. Because I couldn't bear another death in family. Please stop crying. I'll be back. I promise I'll go back. For you. I promise that, honey." I saw little drop of tear in his eyes. He smiled to me like nothing's gonna happen bad. He kissed my forehead, giving me assurance.

"You.. You promise me. I'm expecting you to get me out of this room by yours only." I said between my sob.

He smiled and whispered, "Yes, honey. I promise." And hurriedly went out of the room.
I

started to walk towards the corner and let myself sat down the floor. I just cried and cried. The silence of the room makes me feel more lonely. I embraced my knee, hoping it would make me comfortable this time. I remembered this scene once . That was from the book 'Shutter Me'. This girl named Juliette, who was stucked in an asylum for years. She's alone. Just like me. Just like the situation now. But the difference is, I'm in a neat and clean room and I'm not crazy. We're both afraid of someone who might enter this room and kill us.

I breath hard. The room is just so quiet I could only hear my abnormal heartbeat.

This wasn't the night I'm expecting it would be. I wanted to go out and see myself what's happening. I wanted to know if my kuya's safe. I badly wanted to know. What if he was beaten by someone who knows who? What if they kidnapped him. What if.. What if..