(Warning: violence and sexual assault. Read at your own discretion.)
Sil cupped my face and said that I looked very pale. I never knew that kindness could be so stinging. Sil decided that walking outside would be too cold since I looked so pale, so we decided to go to the restaurant. The restaurant, like Sil has described, was indeed in a very secluded area. We entered the restaurant. Looking around, I saw that all the articles inside are vintage, which gave a classy feel. Before we look for a seat, we walk around the small restaurant to look at the ornaments. Then, I look at the strange red car toy that felt out of place. The car toy seems familiar to me. I thought to myself how I kept feeling nostalgic all day.
The owners came out after a few minutes when the shopkeeper's bell rang from the door opening. The woman looked surprised when she saw my face.
The woman says, "Are you Kyrie? Kyrie Aston? It's me, aunty Lorie!"
"Ah! Sorry, I..." I looked at Sil with awkwardness, and he chuckled.
"Oh, boy! Look at you! You looked just like your dad when he was young."
"I see... So I used to come here as a child?"
"Yes! You used to come here a lot for the pesto pasta with your father and his friend."
I looked at Sil with some nervousness when she said that, but Sil did not react to her comment.
"It's been so long ago, aunty Lorie!"
"Ah! Brat, how could you forget about your aunty Lorie! Don't tell me you also forgot about this uncle! I bet you have. I am uncle Jack!" said the man.
"Uncle Jack!"
Although it was good to meet these people again, I felt nervous. I felt anxious enough that I couldn't taste the food at all.
After that day, Sil was incredibly occupied. Every day, he will come home very late and sometimes drunk. I noticed that Sil was slowly changing. However, that was also a time that I was always restless. I would wake up in the middle of the night from memory recalls and would not be able to fall back asleep.
One night, Sil came back drunker than usual and fell down right after he entered the apartment. I took him back to the bedroom and went towards the closet to get him some fresh clothes. However, he takes my hand and pulls me violently towards the bed. He murmured words that made no sense and forced a kiss. He smelled heavily of alcohol. I was shocked because Sil has never been so rough with me. I pushed him away, but he grabs my wrists and places them over my head. I couldn't move and felt disturbed. His touch felt like needles. I screamed Sil's name over and over again till my throat felt sore.
"I am scared, Sil... Don't do this... Sil!!!"
Sil finally stops and looks at me coldly for the first time, a coldness that pierces right into my heart.
"How long are you going to hide from me?" Sil asked.
I petrified from his words. However, Sil slumped down on top of me after saying that and fell asleep. I stayed in that position for a long time. I looked at the rising and falling of his back as he breathed deeply in his sleep. I knew that I have to deal with this before the secret destroys our relationship.
The next day, Sil acted as if nothing happened the night before, but seeing him not recollect anything, I also acted that nothing has happened. I have decided that I would revisit the temple, so I got ready to get the documents that my father would have used for the whistleblowing. I was planning to give the documents to Sil and end this once and for all.
When I walked out of my apartment, the sky was dim that day much to the reflection of my own mood. The entire way, the weather did not get any better. I cannot shake off the ominous feeling that the heavens are giving to me. I entered the temple and followed the usual procedures of handwashing. I thought it was good that there were not a lot of people today. So, I entered the shrine and apologized to Buddha for the next offensive actions. I stepped on top of the altar and went behind the statue. On the back, I kneeled down and pressed at a part of the altar that supported the statue. When I pressed, a box sprang out of its hiding place. I took the box and stepped away from the altar. Then, my vision goes completely black after someone harshly bash something hard on my head.
Before I went completely unconscious, I hear other footsteps and someone saying to another, "Good job!"
I was woken up when ice-cold water poured onto me. A man, with a rough look and a scar on his lips, approached me and lifted my head by pulling my hair back.
"Look at this sl*t, so deceiving! For years, you were air sealed about where the documents are. What else have you been hiding?"
I looked around, shaking and saw that I was in some kind of interrogation small room. My hands were tied so hard that they felt numb from the lack of blood flow.
"Where am I?"
A man in a black suit stood in front of me with a twisted smile. He punched my face with all his might knocking me and the chair down together. I looked at the blood on the floor, dripping from my nose and mouth, spreading in the water spilled on the ground. He grabs my collar and puts me back to my seat. I was out of words. I did not know how to take this situation. All I thought is if Sil was okay despite having a feeling that something is wrong.
"Now, little b*tch, spit it out! There is no reason for you to keep that secret anymore."
"What happened to Sil?" I asked worryingly.
The man annoyed, kicked on my right abdomen and stump on me a couple of times before he turns back and lets out his breath. I shook and coughed crazily like my body is out of control.
"You must be out of your mind worrying about that fox. Who knew that all it took was a man to hold you for you to come out of your act finally? Now, let's make our jobs easier. Tell me where the rest of the documents are."
Rest of the documents? What rest of the documents?
"I don't know."
The man sighed again and kicked at my stomach when I was on the floor. No matter how many times I said that I don't know, the beatings did not stop. So in time, I stopped saying anything altogether. After what felt an eternity, I heard a door open. My consciousness was going on and off, so I couldn't lift my head to see how it was.
"You are going to kill him before you get any information out of him."
I knew whose voice was that. I have heard that voice for years. How could I not know? I looked at the ground of water that is already red, tinted by my blood. I wished so much that this was only just a nightmare. I wished that this is just a horrible nightmare.