After receiving a memorandum that her proposal was accepted, she woke up earlier the next day. She changed into a navy - blue denim jeans and a white polo shirt. On the upper left part of the shirt just below the tip of its collar, was the company logo in dark blue threads. She then stood before a mirror and applied light touches to her eyes and lips. Leaving her wet hair hang loosely on her shoulders, she put on her brown sunglasses and slid herself behind the steering wheel of her company - issued car.
The sun had just peeped a little high above the horizon, casting its golden rays into the pale, blue sea when Allie parked her car in the shipyard. She walked the distance from her office to the shoreline where there were fleets of cargo and passenger ships sprawling across the vast stretch of the sea. Bright, silver lights cascaded from the top of these vessels as soldering rods were continously burning.
She gazed at the hulls of these ships and admired at the intricate ways these part were perfectly molded and shaped. She marveled at the mathematical equations of each dimensional contour to make the vessel float in complete balance despite the external pressures like water, air, movements and weight. The more her desire grew to immerse herself into learning more about this. Never did she expect that she would enter the world Ajie had been dreaming for himself. Unfortunately, she took a different entry, too far from him.
The more she gazed into these huge vessels, the more she got herself engrossed in wild imagination that someday this shipyard would soon be building superyachts according to the designs she would create. She reviewed the new releases by AJ&J Builders, the world's top builder of luxurious yachts, and swore that someday, she would be their competitor.
She kept on walking by the gutter at the edge of the shoreline while being engulfed into deep thinking. She perhaps was not being aware that she was already in the area where huge containers were piled up. Though the sun was already a little up above the horizon, this area was still dark due to the high piles of these cargo containers.
Suddenly, a big hand covered her mouth while her body was pressed into a man's huge built while quickly dragged into the middle of the rows of the container. Being caught offguard, her fear overpowered her natural instinct to fight and free herself. Her heart pounded eratically and loudly and her vocal chords suddenly became powerless. She wanted to scream and ask for help but her voice did not cooperate. She wanted to wriggle and free herself but the trembling of her body drained herself.
The man spoke to her angrily in a language she couldn't understand. His stinky smell for having not bathed for hundred years totally suffocated her, making herself an obedient prey to a slaughter. Her tears slid down fast as despair overlapped her faint inner scream to fight.
She saw the man zipped out his pants and she watched in horror as he pulled it down. She summoned all her strength to fire up and she felt a rush of adrenaline as her last chance seemed to slip away. While the man was busy pulling his pants down, she raised one leg up and with all her strength, she kicked his genital area with the heel of her wedge sandals.
Caught offguard, the man stepped backwards and crouched in pain. Seeing that the attention of the man was diverted, she quickly stood up and ran as fast as she could. Just as she was about to turn towards the open area, her back was hit by a hard object. The impact was too hard and painful that she stumbled on the ground. Still powered by her remaining adrenaline supply, she closed her eyes for a while and with a determination to save herself, she quickly got up and set herself to run again.
Unfortunately, the man caught her up and dragged her back in a fiercier manner this time. She wriggled wildly and screamed for help at the top of her lungs. Angered by her scream, the man kicked her legs and she instantly curled up in pain. Just as the man was about to strike his second blow, a loud sound was heard.
"Bang! "
With the deafening sound of a fired gun, her fear and despair seized her completely that her vision became blurred. In the next second, her surroundings turned into a complete darkness. What was being retained into her last memory was the vague sillhoutte of two men...
____
Ajie already felt uncomfortable. He had called up Allie many times but his mother - in - law was always the one who answered him. If asked where Allie was, her answer was always repetitive. There was always a sound of fear and repitition, giving him a clue that there was indeed an existing problem.
While being absorbed in his thoughts, his phone sounded. He hurriedly picked it up, thinking that it could be Allie already because the number displayed the Philippine's country code. But to his dismay, it was Dino instead.
"Jie, is Allie changing a phone number?"
Ajie was confused. How important was the purpose of this call that Dino was willing to be charged with a high cost for this international call?
"Why do you ask? "
"Because it is her mother who always answered my calls. "
The more Ajie suspected that Allie and her parents were really hiding something from him.
"Same thing with me. " Ajie confessed.
"My goodness! Where is this woman hiding? " Dino was already so worried and Ajie noticed it.
"Something important? "
Dino sighed as reluctance to tell Ajie the truth held him back. But unable to think of other ways to connect to her, he eventually decided to let Ajie pass the message.
"Jie, please tell Allie to be extra careful. Our friends are almost on their way. " Dino then narrated what happened at the house of Mr. Dioko.
Ajie hurriedly hung up without bidding goodbye to Dino, grabbed his sling bag and directly went to the airport.
.