Bloody Angel

Chapter 011

***** DAY 04 ******

I wake up at the sound of groaning. I can’t see clearly yet. It’s still dark outside. I stay lying on my back for a while, trying to adjust to the dark. Day four and I am still alive. Since I still have food, should I try looking for Charlie’s team tomorrow?

“Uhhhh…”

There it is again. I look in the direction of it. I can see silhouettes now.

“No…”

It’s Sherwin. The pet beside him is quiet. Should I risk it? Ain’t this my chance? Taking a deep breath, I crawl towards him. Slowly, in case that pet of a monster is set to attack when someone touches him while sleeping.

“Sherwin?” I ask.

He continues to groan. I move closer to him until he’s within my reach.

“Sherwin wake up…” I whisper.

Instead, he continues to mumble things in his sleep.

“Hey,” I call for him.

There’s no response. “I’m sorry…” he whispers in his sleep.

Is he guilty of what happened to his group? Come to think of it, what happened to his group, anyway? What happened inside for him to acquire this weapon? Don’t tell me… I smirk. You evil, broken boy. Don’t tell me, you killed all of them?

My hand reaches up to him and touches his forehead which is slippery with his sweat. “Sherwin, wake--”

My words are cut when Sherwin suddenly moves and places a knife on my neck. His eyes open and glare at me. “What are you planning to do?” he asks coldly, and I know that any wrong answer will cost me my life.

“You look like you are having a nightmare.” He frowns at me so, I add, “You’re saying 'No' and 'I’m sorry',” I answer, mimicking his voice and the way he delivered it.

Sherwin relaxes and sheathes his knife back to his holster. “Approaching me during my sleep, are you crazy?” He points behind me and I turn around, only to see a sword that’s about to cut me horizontally from my right. It’s the mechanical T-Rex’s tail.

The T-Rex puts away its tail and Sherwin sits before me. He scratches his head and looks at me. “Do prostitutes have no sense of personal space at all?”

I purse my lips. It’s not a question, but rather an insult.

“Just go to your side of the cave, okay?”

No! I almost died, so I will take this chance!

“Your colleagues, are they dead? How did they die?” I ask.

Sherwin glares at me. “I don’t think we are close enough for me to tell you.”

“Their death is something personal to you?”

I sense a rush in the air, and I see him raise his arms before I felt the same T-Rex knife on my neck. I tense and swallow. Will this be painless?

“Watch your mouth,” he warns. “The only reason I am keeping you alive is because you are easy on the eyes. Don’t think I have any affection for you.”

“Until when?”

He frowns, not understanding my question.

“Until when am I allowed to stay beside you?”

He snickers at first, and then he covers his head with his hands. He’s shivering. I thought that he is crying when finally he laughs, louder, no, it’s more of a roar. Before long, I am not sure if he’s really laughing or just howling in pain and frustration. Then he hugs himself while trembling in laughter. He reaches for me and then taps my shoulders. Did he finally break?

“What do you want? Meat or my protection?” he asks. The knife on my neck retracts, and he pushes me onto my back and straddles me. I did not answer, so he continues, “I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if I do this too?”

I would, but if he will let me live a little longer, I will allow him. I watch him pull down his pants and when he’s about to pull my pants down too; he stops. His fingers quiver and then tears fall on his face. He gets off me and cries while hugging his knees to his chest. He’s shuddering as he tries to suppress the sound of his cries.

I frown. What’s happening? He should have let his inner beast take control and attack me. Same as with Oliver. Oliver was jealous back then, which pushed him to trick me to come to his house, and then he professed his love for me. It’s also the reason why we became lovers. The reason why I let him explore my body every Saturday night, after my shift from the restaurant. After he feeds me and we bathe together, we will mess ourselves up until late into the night. On Sunday morning, he will visit his parents and go to church with them while I am left alone to clean his apartment and wash his clothes. In the afternoon, when he returns, we do it again, until he collapses out of exhaustion. And the next Saturday, the cycle repeats.

I gawk at Sherwin, not understanding what to do. Should I comfort him? Should I leave him alone? This should be the part when we are to become lovers.

I am about to touch his trembling shoulders when he says, “I’m sorry. I almost did the same thing as your rapist. I’m sorry…”

They are not my rapist, since I made them do it. I want Will to do it. And heck, I f*ucking enjoyed it, but yeah, let’s not tell him that. And Oliver, I don’t know; I am forced then, but is that what a rapist is? But Oliver tells me he loves me. Does a rapist love his victim?

“I’m becoming a lowlife,” he whispers. “After my friends, after all the deaths,” he sobs.

Ugh! I am not used to crying men. I am used to men who want to make me cry—and I always patronize them. And every time I cry, it heightens their pleasure. Should I apply the same to him? But damn, this sight of vulnerability does not stir desire in me. Rather, I feel deflated even if I just woke up!

“Sherwin…”

“I hate this f*ucking game,” he whines. “Why should I stop being a proper human because of one mistake in my entire life?”

Somehow, I feel annoyed. Proper human, huh? I withdraw my hands. Let him wallow in his f*ucking grief.

“I know a million is big for an ordinary citizen, but a bank? How could they?! Are our lives only worth that much? Also, they should have just told us that they are not willing to give us our redundancy package rather than sending us here, the assholes!”

I f*ucking don’t care! So, as Sherwin continues to disclose his life to me, my attention goes elsewhere. It’s getting brighter now. Not sure how they do it in a way that the morning seems like a real sunrise. Shadows enter our cave, light yellow hues and, what is that? Rainbows?

When the rainbow-colored light almost touches my feet, I instinctively back away. It’s all around us. Aside from the rainbow light, I see some round object coming out of the ground. It starts at the entrance of the cave, and then it’s slowly getting inside.

I panic and dread comes over me.