*Warning: Rape!!!*
Far away from Ipoh, a small town in South Asia. The elementary school at the end of the road closed at 2 pm. Layla, a girl in her mid-twenties, was an English teacher there. The reason she got accepted into the school despite her past history and comparatively low education qualities, was her beauty and the innocent aura she gave off. Thanks to that, kids liked her and she was tutoring some of them as an extra way of income.
It usually took half or an hour more for teachers to tidy up everything and head back home. It took thirty minutes more for Layla to reach home. As always she took a bath, made dinner, and sat down in front of the tv. After a while, she got bored. There weren't many channels, to begin with, and on top of that most of the channels were broadcasting old movies. She played with the tv remote for a while and then turned off the tv.
Without caring for anything, she lay down on the half-dirty floor. So many thoughts gathered in her mind. At first, it was like a small cloud, then little by little the sky of her mind was covered with many black clouds. She couldn't think of a reason why all of this had to happen to her.
At an early age, she lost her both parents and her uncle's family took her in. Soon, she rolled into a college. Everything was okay, except her uncle's nasty look. However, she ignored it. She tried to be cheerful, responsible, and attentive. But maybe that was too much happiness for her.
It was autumn. That year, so many occasions were happening at that time. Some religious and traditional festivals made the village cheerful. Many relatives came and went. Layla felt really happy.
Later, on September 29, some friends of Layla's uncle came by. That day was the wedding of Lily, a cousin of Layla's aunt. So, Layla's aunt and cousins went to the wedding, entrusting the guests to Layla.
Layla didn't mind, no matter how nasty those guys looked. She served them lunch and hoped that they would go by the evening. But there was no sign of them leaving.
As soon as the sky got darker, two of them, Rajib and Tamal brought some beer and asked for dinner. Unwilling, Layla served them dinner. Her uncle and his friends asked her to join them, but she politely refused.
But then Rajib stood up, grabbed her by her arm. Layla tried to resist. In the process, she slapped Rajib.
At this point, her uncle jumped up, "You b*tch, it wasn't enough for you to eat my money but now you are humiliating me." He grabbed her by his hair and threw her on the floor.
"I've had enough.
Hey, you guys, tie her up. Let's end this b*tch."
"No... stop... uncle stop... I am like your daughter." Layla cried.
"But you are not, right? Be a good girl and have some fun with us."
"No...
No...
Help, help..."
She wailed, cried, and begged.
Those human-like monsters tied her up and muffled her mouth with a cloth.
After that, her vision got blurry, her head was spinning and her body was so much in pain that she thought she might die.
She prayed, prayed to someone she always believed in. 'Please, please, god help me... please.'
But no help came, there was no stopping.
With her all agony, she wished she was dead.
'Please, let me die... please kill me...'
At some point, the pain dulled. All she could see were some people pointlessly moving back and forth.
Soon her muffled noise dried up, she lost consciousness.
The next day, when she opened her eyes, she saw her aunt. She was sitting beside Layla. Her eyes lit up watching Layla regain her consciousness.
'So, I am not dead.'
"Where am I?"
"We are in hospital." Her aunt said hurriedly. But then she got all silent.
"Do you wanna say anything to me?"
"Um.." Her aunt was fidgeting. "Layla... I don't know how to say this... but could you not tell it to anyone?"
She stopped and sighed before she said again.
"You know, even if you say something it won't be effective anyway. You know, your uncle is a political party member and Tomal is the brother of this village head. So, if you say something, it will only color your name. Rather I suggest you go to your granny, get admitted to the college there, and get married to a decent boy. This is the only way..."
She started crying.
"I tried to protect you...
I stopped him so many times... No, actually... it was my fault...
forgive me... I will help... you as much as I could..." She kept sobbing.
Layla lay there. She heard and understood everything.
Though it sounded like threats, the things her aunt said were right. Those guys were powerful and she couldn't do anything against them. This was when she started to feel this burn in her body like she was thrown into a boiling pan. Her whole world was black and painful, but the pain didn't bring any tears. All she knew was that those monsters' blood was needed to stop this burning.
Many years passed after that. Before, when she remembered it, she might have started shivering, the shivering would lead to wailing, and to some point she would faint. But as the years passed, the symptoms went away; not that she forgot anything.
But now, this only made her body numb. Her tears dried down, knowing there was no one to hear her cries, no one to wipe her tears, or no one to sit beside her.
And those years, she kept telling herself "You need to be stronger, you need to live." So, she became stronger, stopped that burning in her body but...
But...
But she couldn't get rid of these feelings and couldn't stop those dirty mouths of society.
As days went by, it got emptier inside. From thinking all this, her body felt a bit heavier.
Mind blank, she looked at the ceiling.
"I feel..."
"I feel lonely" She sighed.
It was already nighttime when Layla woke up. With a tired body and a more tired mind, she dragged herself to the kitchen and washed the dishes.
"I need to check the exam sheet." She thought.
This small apartment had only a room, a kitchen, and a bath. But that's ample for her. She sat down on the floor and placed the sheets over a tool. After a while, she got bored and plugged an earphone into her mini android. That was when she started to hear it, all the whispers.
It's not her first time hearing these whispers. Ever since her uncle and his friends went missing, she could hear this from time to time.
Yes, she got her revenge. She killed them by draining every drop of blood from their body and no power in this world could do anything to her. She silently heard those meaningless whispers but still could tell what it was.
"Your time has come. It is near."
She knew it was near. The whispering voice helped her get stronger. But nothing could be achieved without a price. She must pay the price for her revenge.
"Baam"
"Baam"
There was dust everywhere. With blurry eyes, I could only see two figures moving at an inhuman speed. There were shattered pieces of the table everywhere. I vigorously rubbed my eyes and tried to get up.
"Stay where you are!" An unknown voice shouted.
I halted back. Right at that moment, a white flash lit up. When I looked up again, I saw Iyan's back.
"Enough, stop it already. You may hurt him," Iyan's voice rang up.
There was silence from the other side, but it seemed there was no movement.
"Fine," The other party sighed. "I thought we could have a dual today but the young master is here..."
"You know, I never agreed to that," Iyan was moving closer to me with his back facing me. "You attacked us."
"Hah," the other party snickered. "Not " Us", but you. I attacked you. What would you do if you get suddenly attacked? Is this how you were gonna fight for peace? You are still so weak."
I also sighed. Those were having a nice conversation when I was sitting on the floor, and couldn't see with blurry eyes. Probably something got into my eyes.
"Tsk"
I heard Iyan twist his tongue.
'Wow... So, he also gets annoyed.'
I hated to admit it but I was under an impression that Iyan had a strong personality. He handled everything calmly. When I made some stupid demands (because of my jealousy), he calmly accepted that. Even when he was in distress because of 'Dairy', he didn't lose his cool. So when a man like that got annoyed, that meant the other person must be something.
A hand reached out to me.
"Can you stand?" Iyan asked. His voice was filled with worry.
Hearing him, I stood properly.
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"My eyes hurt."
"Let me see."
He inspected for a while. "Let's go. You need to wash your eyes."
He grabbed my hand and dragged me to the kitchen. There was an attached bath.
I splashed water in my eyes several times, and when my vision cleared up, Iyan got me a lukewarm patch.
We sat down on the sofa beside the pool. Unlike the upmost terrace, this place had more lights. A warm breeze was blowing. It had a salty smell to it. I figured there could be a sea somewhere near.
"You feeling better?"
"Yes"
As soon as my eyes cleared up, I tried to see the other person.
The other person was also looking at me. Our eyes met.
Now, don't get me wrong when I say it. When looked at that other man, I couldn't look away. I stared at him for quite a moment.
He had almond-shaped hazel-green eyes with big eyelashes. Even in that light and shade, they felt like they were glazing. They were more than beautiful. His nose was sharp, neither big nor small. His jawline was perfect. His body was not too bulky nor too slim. The most remarkable thing was the smile he was wearing. His lips were curved into a moon-shaped smile; it was gentle, giving up a calm aura. My somewhat tense body relaxed seeing his smile. His whole presence seemed soft. He was more than handsome.
"Young master... I know my look is extraordinary, but if you keep staring. I am afraid it may wear off." He spoke.
'Offo... Did I stare too much?'
"Bullshit. A face doesn't wear off just because someone stared at it."
I tried to laugh it off. But it got more awkward.
'Damn! Stupid dean... Why did you say that? Why are you so eager to justify your actions?'
Embarrassed, I looked at Iyan. Iyan held his composer pretty well, but I know he was laughing secretly.
"I think this is our first time meeting, young master. I am Isaac Kamahl. You can call me Isaac. I am Iyan's teache..."
"Cousin. He is my cousin," Iyan cut him off, and his brows were knitted.
"Ha ha." Isaac laughed. "Yeah, I am your cousin. But please don't forget I gave you so many life lessons."
"Yeah, yeah..." Iyan shrugged.
"I am Dean." I hesitated before asking, "Why are you calling me young master as well?"
Hearing my question, Isaac looked at Iyan confusedly. Iyan sighed.
He turned to Isaac and gave him a death glare, "I didn't get a chance to say it. When I was about to tell him, you attacked."
"My sweet cousin. You know it's a part of your training." Isaac gave him a smirk.
"Big brother, thank you for ruining my precious table in the process. Please pay for it." Iyan smiled back at him.
"Um... I think a dog and a fox are quarreling over there."
"Pfft..." Hearing my words, Isaac Laughed out. "Ha ha ha ha ha..."
Unexpectedly, Iyan turned to me and asked, "Dean babu, am I the dog or the fox."
My jaw dropped. 'Seriously Iyan!!! Is it important?'
However, it seemed very important to Iyan that he didn't move his gaze.
"Iyan, I should be going. I came here to ask you about yesterday's meeting. What happened there?" Isaac interrupted Iyan's eager gaze.
"Oh, the meeting..." He turned back. "These tricky elders were really hard to handle. They found out about young master Dean. So, they wanted him to inherit as soon as possible. I convinced them that he is not ready yet. But that Simon, Panjang's elder, had come up with a demand that we should hand him over to them and they would train him.
But I can't let that happen. So, I mentioned their illegal activities. Fortunately, other elders supported me, though I am unsure about their true intention. I somehow managed to push the topic aside.
And they talked about the sect's involvement with humans and provoking them. You know, it is really hard to find any evidence when there is no contract between the spirit and humans. But surprisingly some ghouls went as far as to form a contract. Three of them were from Panjang. So, Later on, during the meeting, there was an argument between Panjang, Qawi, and Aslan. If grandfather hadn't appeared then those old men would've started a fight." Iyan took a breath. He talked for a long time.
"Grandfather was there!!!" Isaac almost shouted.
"Yeah. I thought his health condition is not that good." Iyan shrugged.
I figured that "the grandfather" must be a powerful person. However, I started feeling like an outsider. Their conversation felt like some commentary about some unknown game. But I didn't ask anything, hoping Iyan would describe it.
"I also heard that." Isaac couldn't shake off that surprised look on his face. "So, they agreed to not bother young master?"
"Yeah, for now."
"Hope this " for now" lasts for at least six months." Isaac stood up. "I better go now."
Iyan nodded.
Isaac walked past the pool, then turned his head again, "Young master, Iyan you guys should head back soon. Iyan your barrier is still so weak. Not only weak its sucks. You should work on it. See you later."
Sounds of teeth grinding came from my side. I turned my head and saw an angry Iyan grinding his teeth at Isaac.
"Catch you later, Isaac," Iyan shouted back.
Isaac once again turned his head and smirked. After that, he vanished into thin air.