CHAPTER 2

(DREAM)

JADE’S POV

MY life is nothing more than full of pain, abuse, trauma, and loneliness. I never receive any love nor had any freedom and a wish to ask for my own. I live to survive and tend to myself, and to do that I learn the hard way. 

“You freaking useless brat! Move your asses and work harder! There is no free food in these days!”

The anger, the screams, and the reprimand that I always receive from the people who I thought I could rely on after I lost everything. 

“But I am hungry, can I eat now Aunt?” I pleaded, with my younger self and should be an innocent one at school. 

Yet I wasn’t and probably will never be. 

“Hungry?” my aunt screams, throwing a fit and two. “You, ungrateful brat!”

“Please, no, aunt! I’m sorry!”

She suddenly grabs my hair and pulled me towards the cabinet which is my prison and punishment. I tried to plead and apologize. Didn’t like the dark and cramped cabinet that she always put me inside for long hours and even a whole day. My trauma is that I’d rather stay hungry than be placed inside. 

“Until you learn to shut your mouth and work your ass to death, you will have to stay here!”

She then pushes me inside. Shove me in like I am some kind of a rag doll. Yet, with my skinny body and might as well malnourished state, I can be said to be like a doll now. 

“Aunt! Please, let me out! I am begging you. I will never ask for anything anymore, please, let me out!” I bang on the doors that are sealed and shut. 

My tears are streaming down my cheeks. My screams are loud, but I know no one will ever hear or dare to. After hours I finally got tired and fell asleep. With the loneliness, trauma, and being an orphan. I learn to stay put and be quiet, just accept everything and endure. In that way, I can survive. 

“BULL***!” he mumbled, breaking everything, he sees. 

My uncle and that forever alcohol-loving and low-tempered uncle that is worst than my aunt. In this house, in this life, and in the years that I have endured. Nothing changes, but it only got worst. 

“Damn this life! F*** with this world!” He curses and continues doing so. 

Drunk and wasted. Like an angry bull in a bullfight against its arch-enemy, or perhaps an Alpha dog defending his territory. The devil and the very manifestation of Satan. The omen, the death sentence with the ticking bomb for my life and when should it end for me?  

“Damn! Damn! Damn!” He screams, fuming in anger. 

While breaking everything he sees throwing anything he grabs, for he is angry, and the center of it all is me. But for what? 

“Such a stupid one!” He screams one more time. 

While putting his death glare on me and more than blaming me for something that I am innocent and honestly don’t have a clue about and what. But thinking about it, what’s new? It is always like this, for there is no week that pass where they didn’t accuse me of anything. Yet, I need to endure, stay put, and shouldn’t dare to talk back, no matter how hard this life could be. I still wanted to live. 

“You, stupid brat!”

“Tsk! We shouldn’t have fed that ungrateful one for all these years. If we didn’t, we shouldn’t be suffering like this.”

Their mockery and victim blaming. Putting all the reasons behind their misery that in truth is all caused by them. Especially when it comes to money. Money that I am not stupid to not know that they took everything that I have, my parent’s hard work for me, and put it all to themselves. The truth is that I am only worth enough for them to keep because of money. 

But right now, I do not have anything even a single peso at all. They are treating me worst than they ever did before. No one to run to, nothing to turn to, and no one left for me to be with, worst, no one wanted me, no one wants to be with me, and no one wanted me to be in their lives. The fact that remains and will be is that, I will forever be alone. 

“Just look at the hell that you turn and exchange our life with!”

He blames, yet not just him, for everyone who claims that they are my family, their smiles and care are nothing, but a façade, and the gentleness I first had was just a mask. A play and even a cruel fate I have from the very beginning. 

“You! Give me back my money! You little b****! You thief!” My uncle screams, finally blurting out the fault they once more find and accuse me of. 

He grabs my arm drags me to the farther corner, slams my body to the cold moldy wall, and started kicking me in my guts. I can only cry, grit my teeth, and only endure. Shouldn’t say a single word, not to protest, or voice any pain. For if I did, I will end up worst than what I am going through right now. 

“Damn, brat! Where is it? Where’s the money?” He asks while and all not giving me a single chance to speak and explain myself. 

My everyday life. I never had a single day and a single hour that they never mock and accused me of their false accusations, accusations that even in my dreams I wouldn’t dare to do. Threat me like a rag, think of me worse than a street rat. An orphan, a beggar, and a useless like me will never find any solitude, or anyone to rely on. 

“Just what kind of hell did you bring to this family, you piece of s***!” He screams once more. 

My biological uncle or that’s how he told me about him and he is to my life. The thing that I couldn’t check and confirm for I never learn to read, nor to write, but my name. His position and name that he never allowed me to call him off. Never even sees me as his niece, worst than his wife who only treats me as a servant and worse than a slave. Then there is their son who thinks of me as his maid, that will do everything he asks, a slave of a maid that does everything he pleases and want to be.

 “Give it back!” he demands. “Damn it!” his boiling rage and loud voice. 

The abuse causes my wounds to open. Added the bruises that I already had and more than many to count. The screams, the curses, and the deep voice should have taken the attention of anyone. The neighbors and the people around, but in this huge concrete and a bit luxurious house. The village and the façade that this place shows. No one would care, all are afraid, all are too scared to even look and at all to admit that they could hear anything. Everyone is a coward when it comes to this family. 

“Hey!” A sudden call, but a familiar voice. 

Footsteps then echo and an arrogant face, body full of tattoos, dyed blond hair, piercings, and the presence that is high and mighty. My cousin, or so they all introduce him to me. Their son, older than me of five years and a gang member. Said that is protected by a powerful underground group that I couldn’t understand or know what it was. But the clear picture, my cousin is someone that runs illegal stuff that sometimes I find in this house, but once more I need to stay quiet about it. 

“What’s the matter this time?” He asks. “What did that b*** do?”

“My son! You came early today.” My aunt’s dotting nature. 

Sparkles in her eyes and the approval of my uncle that knew everything about what their son is doing. But instead of reprimanding him, they both have the consent. Their consent was all bought with money, dirty money that makes their lives easy while keeping mine miserable. 

“Do not mind that b****. Why don’t you have dinner, I cooked your favorite?” My aunts smile, now ignoring me and so of my uncle. 

A bit of a blessing in disguise and giving me the time to rest. 

“I already ate Mom. Besides, I need to hit the hay for a while. Something big for tomorrow is needed some attention.”

“Big? Big means money, right?”

Their excitement and laughter. Thinking only about money and nothing more. 

“Just you two wait, I’ll bring in a ton of buck back tomorrow.” He smirks, proud and mighty. 

“That’s my son.” My uncle’s approval is both stupid and deserves to be sentenced to jail for the longest period. 

 “But what did she do this time?” he asks once more. 

Didn’t let go of that thought and even walks towards me. Crouches down, reaches his hand, and removes some of the strands of my hair from my face. I shiver in fear, scared of the way he looked at me. His eyes, his smirk, and the way he traces his gaze from top to bottom toward me. 

“That b**** and an ungrateful one stole some from us money.” My aunt's firm response and accuse, but a lie. 

“Money?” he smirks. “Don’t mind it at all, I will still give you more tomorrow.” 

“Did you hear that?” my aunt screams. “You should be grateful to your cousin!” her tone and command. 

Which I will never do, worst and not at all for someone like my cousin whose look has been looking at me with something else than the look of a supposed to be blood relative. 

“I’m tired from shouting and scolding that b****, I’m going to rest.” 

“Jade!” my aunt called. “Make sure that you clean up before going to bed.” She commanded meticulously with her tone. 

They both then left and went out and upstairs leaving me alone and currently in front of a devil. 

“You shouldn’t have made Mom and dad angry. Just look at you.”

He smirks, touching me in places that I am uncomfortable off. I am shoving his hand away, but he is loving my reaction and even giggles while doing such things. 

“Jade.” He calls a bit whispering. 

My name from his mouth sends shivers of fear down my spine. Making me want to scream for help and curse him. But I can’t, I am weak and too scared for that. Suddenly he touches my face, holds my chin up, and looks at my face carefully. I clench my hand and shiver. He smiles, moves his face and lips to my ears, and whispers. 

“You are pretty, dear cousin. Just a few touch up and perhaps I could gift you to my boss.” He then laughs. 

Fear, horror and damnation filled me. Putting the name of his boss, the chance, no, the future that I will be sold as a sex slave flashes to my mind. I may be useless, a weak one, an orphan, and dumb. But I will never allow myself to be disgraced like that. I couldn’t help it and push him away from me. Hard enough that he bumps his head to the chair. 

“F***!” he curses, and a bit dizzy. 

I quickly stands, pulled out all my courage if I have any to spare, and run away.

“Jade!” he calls, but I didn’t heed. “Mom! Dad!”

Fear consumes me and almost made me stumble onto the floor while running towards the door. I grab the knob and luckily it was unlocked. I could hear the running footsteps of my aunt and uncle, as well as their voice with my cousin’s scream to get me. Shivering and sweating cold, I twisted the knob and open the door. Dim light’s and the gate not that far welcomes me. 

My trauma for the darkness slaps me immediately. My legs are shaking and my breath is deep and fast. I look back and picture the horror after this night if I will not escape. 

“Jade, you can do this.”

I grab the necklace and the only thing that’s left for me to have and my little treasure. I bolted towards the gate, open it, and rushes outside barefoot and so I didn’t care anymore. The village is already quiet, but it is all that it is since then. The lights from the light post are my only source of light. I run and run as fast as I could. I didn’t care where I am heading, I don’t know where to go for the most important thing to me is to be able to escape. 

But. 

“Woah! Would you look at that? Boys, we hit the jackpot.”

I was suddenly surrounded. My life had never had any luck. The heavens might have me from the beginning, for I could only find myself in the darkness no matter how hard I try to run away and escape.