PROLOGUE

She sucked in deep breaths as she faced her professor slash mentor. In his face is the look of failure—her failure to be exact.

She has nothing to present this morning, no draft, no blurb, not even a concept of what story will she write for her final project.

But it’s all because of a really good reason.

“I got mugged?” she could sense the discontent coming from his face.

She gulped in heavy saliva, preparing herself for a lie she doesn’t even want to tell.

“Yes.”

“What time exactly did you get mugged?”

“Around midnight.” Did she just sound unsure?

“Are you trying to trick me?”

“No, I’m not. I’m telling the truth.”

Well, not really. She wasn’t exactly mugged.

She was chased.

“Your deadline was two weeks ago. I’m wondering if you are seeing the worth of what this school is paying for your scholarship. You seem uninterested to graduate from my class Miss Peddington. And here I am, thinking that you really want to become a writer. “

“Of course, I do!”

Her professor stated to grab his books and got out of the room. She shuffled against scattered students in the hallway, ready to go home, as she tries to catch up with her professor. Honestly, she never wanted to seem like a disappointment.

She ended getting into his office as she continues to plead for his consideration.

“Please, give me another chance.”

“Well, I didn’t really say anything. I guess you just assumed I won’t wait for your draft. But know that you may be at a disadvantage if you choose to delay drafting your work. That would reflect badly on your work ethics. So, submit it when you can. The sooner the better.” He turned to his desk only to turn back towards her, “But if by any chance you think that I’d just let you be, I will still fail you until you’d get your act together and submit your draft. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir.”

“And please, just be honest. You don’t look like someone who was mugged. Go now.” He says dismissing her.

She scratched a part of her head and fixed her hair after as she exited her professor’s office.

She strode along with all the students busily minding their own business.

Well, she wasn’t mugged but it what happened wasn’t entirely different from being mugged.

She opened her locker and grabbed her tote bag, ready to report to her part time job.

As she shuffled through some books, she needed to take home, she noticed the piece of red cloth that fell from top of a book she had piled up inside her locker.

She grabbed the torn cloth, feeling it’s texture. Her mind traveled to what happened the previous night as she ran away from a man sent by the loan shark she’s indebted to.

She’s been running for as long as she can remember, the man is relentless. Well, who wouldn’t be, she’s been MIA with her payments for the past six months now?

Unfortunately, the money she owed was swindled from her by the man she thought she could trust.

She gasps as she hid against the dark alley. She needs to catch her breath or else, she will collapse. Leaning on the wet wall she mindlessly relied for strength, she peaked at the road where she came from, trying to look out for her perpetrator.

She could hear herself breath harshly after running such a long mile.

She didn’t see anyone and found herself calm down as she closed her eyes and say a quick prayer. But then just when she was about to assume that she’s safe, she found herself having difficulty breathing. Strong set of hands now clasped against her neck, pushing her against the wall was what came across the moment she opened her eyes.

In a steadfast moment, she could see herself losing her life in the hands of the man she’s been running away from. Her life now hangs in a thread, and there’s no one within the area who could help her. She can’t shout, she can’t run and clearly, this is the end of her.

“Yakhtafi!”

Those words filled the silence of the night. Suddenly, the man who was tilting her neck just this moment, disappeared into thin air.

She slowly slumped into the ground, heaving deep breaths, involuntarily laying her body into the ground in an attempt to recover from the sudden distress she’s had.

Behind the blurry sight, she looked at the shadow that started to tower over her weak body.

“Calm down now little one, you are safe.”

All she sees is a woman standing statuesquely against the only lamp post that’s lit on that side of the road. That and an endless terrain of a red dress.

She could feel her body getting weaker and weaker. But just before she’d submit into a deep slumber, she managed to get a hold of red cloth that kissed the ground. She held tight of it that she could still hear the tearing sound of the cloth before her eyes fully submitted to darkness.

She woke up that morning in a hospital ward trying to recall what happened the previous night. She found out that the bills were already paid for, including some of the medicines that she needed to take home.

A strange feeling started to arouse within her as closed her locker door once again and started treading the hallway.

Who was she?

Well, she’d like to think she’s a woman. Her voice was ethereal and it’s highly unlikely that she’s a cross dresser who just happened to pass by the road that night. She gets that nothing is impossible. But she’s completely sure what she heard and what she saw with the minimal consciousness she had that night.

“What language was she using last night? I don’t think I’ve heard that language ever since.” she talked to herself as she started walking the roadside towards her apartment.

Her grandmother’s apartment at least. The only one she has left that was written under name before she passed.

At the age of 27, she’s struggling on a day to day with all the trouble she has after her swindler of a boyfriend sucked everything she had, including her savings.

She never really thought he’d lie to her and scam his way out of her life. Now, she’s paying for the debts she didn’t really intend to have. As a way to recover, she offers services as a ghost writer to students to needs help with their term paper, dissertations and any request to create literary works they need for school.

She gets paid enough for her to pay for her miscellaneous fees, given that she’s a scholar, she does everything she can to budget the low income she has for her daily needs.

She took a stop at the usual ice cream truck not too far from the university and ordered her favorite. She sat in silence on one of the picnic seats set up for the truck’s customers.

Her mind kept going back to everything that happened last night.

She didn’t even get the chance to thank her for the save.

She sighed as she continued to lick on her ice cream.

The sight of children playing on the nearby park sooths her senses. It’s a good distraction on top of all the worries she has. As soon as she was through, she stood up and started treading the roadside once again on her way to the pizza shop where she’s working part-time.

Not even her wage from the shop was enough to cover for the debts she has. She lives her daily meaningless lie as though she has nothing else to fight for but the chance to become great someday.

She’s caught on those deep thoughts when a black van stopped just a few distance away from her. Its door swung open and out came two men wearing black masks.

She felt her heart skip a beat as she started taking a step back, recognizing that dangerous feeling that’s about to take over.

The two men started to advance towards her, that she was forced to run.

But she hasn’t even reached a good distance when one of them managed to grab her hair and pinned her against his hard chest, covering her mouth.

She revolted with all she can, stomping her feet endlessly while her arms are fighting to get out of the man’s strong grip. Please, she can’t be in this same dangerous situation again. She kicked her legs the hardest that she can, but it was all useless as the other man who got out of the van, faced her and before she even knew it, he threw a punch right into her face, making her lose her consciousness. Before her subconscious mind would fully lose against the frightening experience, she wished for someone to rescue her. That somehow, someone is looking at her right at that moment, willing to save her.