Another Kid

I cried, silently praying to Heavens that God will bring someone here to save me.

I tried pulling the rope that binds my hand but every time I do, the material bites into my skin, digging deeper, drawing blood behind it. I stared at the reflection of the little girl in the room. Her hair is still tied in a messy ponytail, the ribbon of her headband is missing. Her yellow dress looks like a rug now from the dirt. Her face is beaten up badly, she got bruises everywhere.

That little girl is me.

“Don’t bother.” A voice from somewhere startled me. “You’ll only hurt yourself more.”

I tried to adjust in the dark and found a silhouette of a little boy, probably my age, sitting on the far edge of the room. His hands and feet are also tied.

“W-who are you?” I asked, my voice trembling.

I’m hungry and tired. I can feel my intestines squeezing painfully. Mommy said that intestines will grow a hole if I won’t eat. I think my intestines have a lot of holes already.

“I’m Aki—”

The boy was cut short when the door opened. The man is back. This time he’s holding a stick. I’ve seen those kinds when Mom brought Yuan and me to the Hacienda. They use them to train horses. I hugged myself in fear.

Without any words, the man started hitting me with the whip, the leather biting my flesh. I cried hard. I don’t know how many times he hit me until I felt a body covering me from the man. The boy managed to crawl to me and accepted the hit that was for me.

“Shit.”

My hands automatically reached for my arms. I winced, still feeling the sting from that whip. I found no marks in my arms except for the scar around my wrist that looks like bracelets—except that they’re not bracelets. They’re marks of the rope that almost cut my wrists.

“Hey, Roux. You awake already?” Yuan asked, peeping from the door.

“Not yet, Yu.” I glared, “I’m still sleeping. Go away.”

I heard him chuckle before opening the door wider. He’s wearing an apron with a spatula in his right hand. His hair is disheveled. He’s trying to look like a model but he doesn’t look like one to me. We have a cook that our parents hired but he loves messing the kitchen.

“Come on, I made us breakfast.” He smiled.

“You did? I guess I’ll pass.” I walked out of the bed and navigated my way into my en-suite bathroom.

“You sound like I’m poisoning you.” He pouted, still standing by the doorway of my room.

“Aren’t you? Just hold your stethoscope, Yu. Quit messing the kitchen.”

I banged the bathroom door before he can even think of a comeback.

***

Dr. Fitzpatrick’s office is being renovated that’s why we drove into his house instead. He’s my shrink since the old one has already passed away. I prefer him, though. He’s classmates with Yu in medical school. They’re also best friends.

Fitzpatrick’s residence is located in the middle of Paradise Heights. I’ve been here thrice already. Kori (as he insisted on me calling him) is standing by the porch with his phone on his ears when we arrived. He’s wearing pinstripe pajamas, his hair disheveled like a bird’s nest. He’s holding a mug and it looks like he just woke up.

When he saw us, he ended the call and approached us. My cheeky brother took the mug from him and drink straight the green liquid inside it. Kori didn’t even mind it when Yu slapped the mug back at him.

“Let’s go inside. Have you eaten, Roux?” Kori asked as he opens the front door.

Yu and I followed him inside.

“Yes, I cooked.” Yu proudly answered for me, making Kori halt and look back at me, worry written all over his face.

“Are you okay, Roux? Does nothing hurt? Do you feel your heart beating oddly? I’ll bring you milk if you feel nauseous. Take a seat, food poisoning is dangerous—” before Kori reached the kitchen, Yu was able to get to him and wrestled him on the floor.

“Fuck you, man. What do you mean, huh?” I heard Yu grumbled as the two of them roll on the floor like kids.

I made myself comfortable in the living area while they kept on their wrestling game. I took the psychology book on the coffee table and started turning pages until they decided to stop. The guys are ten years older than me yet they’re the ones who act like teenagers.

When they realized that I’m with them, they finally decided to join me in the living area. Kori lit the scented candles on the coffee table, the way he always does whenever I visit him. I don’t know when Kori managed to get his journal, but he's already scribbling something on it when he took the settee across me.

“Are you still having nightmares, Roux?” he asked, his tone turned serious like we’re already down to business.

Yu stayed beside me. Just like Kori, he’s watching me intently. “Yes, and it gets clearer every time,” I answered.

I’ve been having nightmares but most of them are blurred. Sometimes the scenes are repeated. People included in the dreams are blurred but their voices are crystal clear.

“Can you tell me what happened in that dream?” he asked, still eyeing me like every detail of the things that will come out of my mouth is a key to something.

“I was in the warehouse.” I felt my hands tremble as I try to relive that dream, “I was trying to break loose from the rope that’s binding my hands.” I started massaging my wrists, trying to stop the urge of breaking down. “But this time, there’s another kid in there.”

“Wait, Roux. You’re alone in that warehouse. There’s no one else in there.” Yuan interjected.

“Another kid?” Kori probed. This time, he let go of his journal and his attention is focused on me.

“Yes. There’s a boy.”

I filled them about the dream, including the boy and the whipping.

“What else?”

“I don’t know. That’s all I remember.”

“Okay, don’t push yourself too hard, honey.” Kori smiled tightly, “We’ll get there.”

After the incident, I somehow forgot a lot of things. When I woke up in a hospital, I don’t know what happened to me. Half of a year has been wiped out of my memory but the nightmares remained. I don’t know what happened in that warehouse and how I’ve managed to get out. I’ve been undergoing a lot of therapies and medication since then.

Kori said my memories will get back soon. It’s just my brain’s defense mechanism. He said that my brain buried the traumatic experience to protect myself and soon enough when I’m ready to remember, everything will go rushing back to me.

Kori asked me to roam around the garden while he talks to Yuan. Being the obedient girl I am, I let myself drown in the sight of the garden. Kori’s growing different flowers in his garden—a hobby that never suits Yuan. My brother can’t even grow spring onions.

The hair at the back of my neck stands in attention when I felt eyes watching me. I turn around just to meet the pair of green eyes. Akira is on his phone but his eyes are on me. He’s sitting on the bench near the pond.

I back away, just like what my instinct says but my stupid foot didn’t cooperate. I stepped on the mud and before I fall on my butt, Akira’s arms are carefully safeguarding me. My pulse started sprinting, all the things I consumed this morning made their way to my throat, threatening to come out of my mouth.

Quivering too badly, I pushed Akira with all my mouth, causing us both to stumble on the mud.

“What the hell?” Akira grumbled. He’s sitting on the mud, his white pants all soaked now.

I covered myself with my arms, trying to protect my body from another hit.

“You can’t get away from here.” The spiteful voice sends a shiver to my spine. “You should’ve not been born, princess.”

I covered my ears, trying to get away from that voice—from that horrible place. I felt hands touching me. I tried to fight until a seething pain gouged on my neck.