I was disappointed in the fact that no one reviewed my last chapter. I guess I lost the readers I once had. But I'm not going to let that stop me.
This is dedicated to my dear Alex. He's the one urging me to look for my inspiration once again. He's the one who's encouraging me to continue with my writing. Hope this is to your satisfaction as well to the readers I once (hopefully still!) have. Love ya! And Enjoy!
Chapter 3: Memories
"Hey sweetie, the bus arrived"
I rubbed my eyes as I tried to stifle a yawn. The ride back to the hotel proved to be longer than I remembered. It must've just been that we were all tired from the running and talking. Not to mention that some of us still have the case of jet lag.
There were a few students inside the bus, most of them asleep. The teachers were going around, waking everyone up with a smile. They looked tired themselves, but I doubt they would show that to the younger crowd. They have to look out for us after all. Their poise has to remain unchanged and their smiles must always be on their faces. The female teachers anyway. The males usually complain, yell, and always look irritated for some reason. Unless it's one of the younger ones.
"Are you okay to walk to your room? Rima's waiting outside the lobby for you two to walk together." Her smile was sincere and her voice was calming.
She wasn't one of the teachers I've seen around the school. She probably taught in the neighboring city. Or in one of the lower leveled schools.
"Yes ma'am. Goodnight." I returned her smile and hopped off of my seat, bag in hand, and headed out to the parking lot.
"Hey, aren't you cold?"
I turned my head slightly to my right and saw a boy, a little bit older than me, looking my way, walking next to me, with a playful smirk on his face.
A vile spark in his eyes
I returned my gaze to Rima, who was watching with narrowed eyes. I quickened my pace and kept silent.
"Miss pink hair? Aren't you cold?" and, just my luck, he stood in my line of sight.
"I am perfectly okay. Goodbye."
I had managed to get around his side and walk away. Thinking I succeeded, I smiled to myself. Unfortunately, he laughed and followed me.
"What's your name fair lass?"
That got to me. No person—not even family—has ever called me that. I paused and turned to face him. Even if I didn't have any experience with the male species, he was trying hard to get my attention. It was sad to know that he won, but I still had to act as if it didn't.. what do I say now?
"What's it to you?" I admit that I sounded much more rude than I intended it to, but it got the point across.
"Woah. The lass has a bark. Wonder if her bite's as good."
Just like that my face heated up and I saw that little smirk of his return.
Hate this luck of mine..
"Hey, quit bugging my friend or you will regret it." and my life savior Rima pulled me away without a moment's hesitation.
"Thanks." I whispered as we were entering the lobby
"That jerk deserved it."
And just like that, I was wide awake. She giggled and hit the button for the elevator with her hip. She talked the whole ride up and down the hall. The only silence was when we got to my room. We both paused in front of my door, starring at the floor.
"It's probably late and they told us to get up early so, I'll see you in the morning?"
"Yeah. Goodnight Amu." She turned and walked away.
I felt little bumps form on my arms as I opened the door to my room. Quickly, I turned the lights on and searched the room. Everything seemed to be in place and there didn't seem to be another person in here. Relieved, I turned on the stereo and jumped in the shower. I still had a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach so my shower didn't last long. As I shut the water off, there was a thump on the other side of the door.
"Who's there?"
oOo
"Mr. Yamamoto, the girls should really share rooms. Especially with what happened to Amu last night."
"Alyssa, nothing happened to her."
"Are you kidding me! Did you not see her?"
"Dear, she was upset about leaving her family and so she did that in her sleep. There's nothing else to it."
"But-"
"No one has access to the rooms on this floor except for the employees, and they were all attending the lobby for who knows what reason."
"But that doesn't even make sense. Why did all of them attend that event? There had to be someone not there"
"But there wasn't."
"But she was raped. That's true enough. And the guy who did it beat her to shut her up."
"But there was no guy. And she didn't recall anything."
"Can we just let two or three girls room together? It'll be safer for them and it'll calm my nerves."
"I'll talk to the manager tomorrow morning and see what we can arrange. How's that?"
"Thank you."
oOo
"There we go, just relax baby girl."
"Okay."
His hands traveled from my knees to my hips. From my waist to my shoulders. From my chin to my pink hair. Feeling every part of skin they can. Pulling everything they could grasp. Scratching every unmarked area of flesh. My head felt fuzzy, and I couldn't move all that great. I was helpless. Not like it mattered. Hell, I didn't even know what was going on. Or what I was doing.
Pleasure overwhelmed my senses.
He was thrusting himself into me. Harder each time.
Deeper each time.
Every part of my brain screamed no. Every instinct yelled at me to push away.
To move.
To scream.
Why
I suddenly went numb.
My whole body felt as if it was a giant weight. Something way too large and heavy to handle. As if a bolder had landed on me, and I was confused too much to fully assess the situation. To comprehend my surroundings. It was a dream. A dream that scared me to a great extent. A dream that tried to eat me alive. The kind that I wanted so badly to wake from, and I'd cry and shout and plead so that I'd wake. In this case, this wouldn't be called a dream. This would have a deeper, darker meaning. The kind that ran chills up your spine.
My personal nightmare.
Please! Someone!
The pace increased.
The sensations grew.
The pain tortured.
I could hear my screams in my head. My mouth too heavy to open. My voice too weak to carry a sound.
Before I knew it, I had lost control to the dark world we call sleep.
oOo
"Amu Amu! Wake up, wake up!"
I stirred and groaned. It was a bright Saturday morning, and the family was going to the park to celebrate Ami's birthday. She's been bouncing around the whole house ever since my parents had told her the plan. She would break out a smile at the oddest times, and she would glow with happiness. She was the happy little girl every parent wanted their kid to be like. Everyone envied my parents. They all said that they should be lucky to have their baby girl so happy all the time and be thankful for it. Of course I saw it as simple.
Give the child what they want, and they shall be happy.
The grateful part, I'm not sure. But you can always show them how to be grateful later on.
"Amu!"
I rubbed my eyes and, right then, I felt something hit my face.
"WHAT?"
I sat up and looked on my lap. There, she threw a stupid doll at me. Seriously? A doll? A pillow, I could live with. Even with a stupid shirt.
I wasn't fully awake and my head was starting to pound.
"Oops. I thought u weren't going to wake up when I threw Susie.." She looked down and put her hands behind her back.
I leaned over and kissed her cheek. Almost instantly, she gave me one of her big smiles.
"Happy birthday Ami"
She jumped onto my bed and hugged me. "Thanks!" was her reply. I took my chance and started tickling her. She laughed and kicked and screamed and tried to pull away. I ended up giggling myself. How could you not with a little sister like this? By the time there was knock at the door, Ami was practically in my closet and I was on the other side, trying to get the door to open.
"My, my…" my mama sighed. She looked very young. Her hair was into two pigtails, and she wore make up (for once). She had on a yellow sun dress with pink flowers and white flip flops. She looked amazing compared to all the suits she's always wearing. Not that I don't mind them, but it just gets dull after a while.
"Mama!"
Ami had given up keeping the door close and ran to our mama, jumping in her arms.
"What were you two doing? Your room's a mess Amu.."
She walked around the room and sighed a few times. Almost instantly, she looked her age. Older in fact. She looked really sad as well. A complete opposite of how she looked just a few minutes ago. Her worry lines deepened then.
"What will your father say….?"
"Right on cue.. Ami, go to your room.."
She sent Ami on her way and started tidying up. When the sound of the front door opening and closing was heard, we froze. She looked at me and shook her head. "I'm sorry" she mouthed before she walked out the room, shutting the door behind her. Her footsteps were heard as she walked down the stairs, and her cheerful voice started up again.
"Welcome home honey~"
"Are the girls ready yet mama?"
"Yes, but a mess occurred a little bit ago."
"Mess?" he repeated. His voice echoed throughout the house as if he yelled it out. The seconds ticked by and there still wasn't any sound coming from downstairs. I was starting to think that I had imagined my papa home. He was probably on his way home right now. Right? I stood up and started making my bed. I was careful enough to not make a noise, just to be safe. Unfortunately, luck didn't seem to be on my side today. Why would it? It isn't my day now is it?
"AMU!"
I shrunk back against my bed. I could hear my mama shouting to forgive me since it wasn't my fault. Ami and I were playing before he got home. That should have got him; he loves Ami. My mama sounded to be close to tears. Whatever she was going to tell him, it wasn't going to work. She only cried when I wouldn't be saved.
Papa's steps were coming closer to me, each thump-thump of his shoes connecting with the stairs were thunderous. It was as if he wanted to break the wooden steps. He wanted to dare me to escape. To hide. I tried once. It only made him even more furious.
I could hear my mama with Ami. She was asking her to turn on the T.V. all the way up and to not leave her bedroom until she came to get her. She was out of breath and she sounded shaky. She sounded even more vulnerable than I felt. I hated putting mama and Ami through these situations. If I knew how to avoid them, I would. Everything I do seems to just upset my papa. He starts yelling at me out of nowhere and he's smacked me a few times in front of Ami. I couldn't look at her for days after. It hurt too much to see the fear and pity in her small eyes. It hurt to see my fear and hopelessness in her eyes. It hurt to see my own reflection..
My door slammed open and the sound of it hitting the wall vibrated throughout the whole room. He stepped forward and locked it shut. The glint in his eyes told me that he had a bad day, and he needed to release his frustration. Fast. He reached for his belt and held it in his hand. He stepped up to me and caressed my face. I could feel myself shaking under his touch. His smile turned mischievous, and he finally opened up his mouth to speak.
"It seems to me that you need punishment for your reckless behavior."
He turned me so that I was on my hands, bending over my bed. My back was to him, and I squeezed the cloth of the bed sheets under my grip. I bit back the tears that stung my eyes. I couldn't cry. Especially if he hadn't done anything yet. If he saw me, this situation would be worse off.
I heard him chuckle before he put his hand on my shoulder. He squeezed it a little before running it down my back.
"Look at that. Already so obedient. You have the perfect shape and the looks. Your future boyfriend will be pleased to have you." He laughed a big laugh then. One that was cold, clearly not amusing at all. "Too bad no one would think twice to giving you the time of day little girl." And then pain spread everywhere.
My back burned, even if there was something blocking the contact of his belt to my bare skin. He kept swinging over and over, each time feeling worse than the last. I could feel the burn of wounds being opened. Then I felt more wounds appearing throughout my back. The warmth of my back dripped onto my bed, staining my pink sheets.
I hadn't noticed that I started screaming then. He laughed every time I made a noise. He swung down harder whenever I screamed. The sensation was too much for me to bear.
"Please…"
Papa stopped and turned around. I took a quick glance and I saw Ami outside my door. Her eyes were shiny and unfocused. Her sweet face looked to be in distress. Then my eyes shot up to my papa. His grip on the belt tightened and he burrowed his eyebrows together. I had to scream for Ami to run to get him to leave her alone. Once she ran down the hall, my papa turned to me and swing for my head. He didn't have a good grip, and the metal part of the buckled smashed into my forehead. I don't think it bothered him because he kept using that part to hit me. It wasn't just my back anymore. It was my head and chest and arms.
He wanted me dead.
This was a sneak peak to Amu's secret life back at home. Hope I didn't lose you. For future reference, the italics refer to her dreams and, or, past. The bold and italics…well, I'll just let you figure that out before the story's completed ;)
Please review!(:
