章節 23: NERIE'S STRUGGLE
DISCLAIMER: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS ADULT LANGUAGE AND CONTENT. IT IS NOT SUITABLE FOR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 AND MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL ADULT READERS. VIEW AT YOUR DISCRETION.
Between the musing, inside Nerie's bedroom, Thea was startled as somebody knocks on her door. She hurriedly wipes the tears that dampen her face and smudging her liners, with a tissue, in front of the mirror. She opens the door to see Mr. Howard, who unhesitatingly gets inside and lock the door.
"Mr. Howard, I'm sorry if I just left you there, but what are you doing inside my room?" Thea anxiously and confusedly asked while moving slowly backward, keeping a distance from Mr. Howard.
"You really forgot your rule and my purpose of being here?" Mr. Howard loosens his tie while pushing Thea to the bed.
Startled and scared, Thea moved back, pressing herself to the headboard, and with her shivering voice, she says. "Yes, I am your fiancee, but I don't think you must be here inside my room."
"Haha, your not my fiancee; I will not marry you. I am only here to collect my pay, and you are the pay." Mr, Howard is now half naked and about to unbuckle his belt.
Thea is losing her words and sheds her tears hopelessly. Now, she can finally understand the reasons why Nerie acted the way she is the whole time. Her being ruthless is because she's not truly loved and constantly used by the people she cares about so much. Thea doesn't know if she will fight, or does she have the right to fight? And if she does, how can she help the Viers.
Like a cadaver, she lays down submissively, allowing Mr. Howard to take off her red dress and satisfy himself with Nerie's body. And with every thrust he made are bitter but silent tears continuously falling out from her eyes.
Mr. Howard stands and dresses up, leaving Thea, curling herself inside the blanket that covers her naked body, sobbing.
"Hmph, You cried so much like it's your first time. By the way, if you're ready to bear my child, you can stop your pills, but as you said, you still want to finish your study, then do it your way. I will be back in a few days." He walks out the door like nothing happened after he dressed up.
'Pill's it's the one I found in Nerie's closet.' She thought, and for whatever way she can think of, she's still trapped in Nerie's body. It's probably true; it's better not to judge anybody by their appearance. Nerie's life seems perfect, she got all the luxuries in life, and people assume that she got all the freedom. But the truth, her spirit is screaming in pain over the misfortunes that people couldn't see.
Thea stands up uncovered; slowly, she trudges to the closet and takes a pill. She goes back to bed, trying her best to rest or even just a snooze, but she only manages a wink or two until the morning sunlight peeks over her window.
She hadn't slept and was too exhausted to get up, but no, she needs to. She can't spend her whole day musing without doing anything. She's not Nerie that will just let Mr. Howard or anybody else use this body anymore; she has to save Nerie's body and save herself.
So she gets up trying to fight. She needs to be anywhere else, just not in this house. Inside the shower she cleans herself, rubbing thoroughly every inch of her skin with the soap together with her tears. She feels so dirty that when want to make sure that every part of her body that touches Mr. Howard's skin washes off. It's six am, and the Vier couple hasn't woken up yet. She decides to walk her way out to the village, but Manong Simo saw her from the garage.
"Miss Nerie! I will send you to school. The car is ready." Manong Simo runs after and calls out for her.
Thea can't refuse since she doesn't have any reason. She doesn't want the Viers to think that she's planning to get away from that game. She doesn't want them to tighten their grip on her, especially now that she hasn't produced a dependable plan yet.
As their car pass-through the village gate, she came across a man on a motorbike. It's hard for her to recognize him since he is wearing a helmet, but her heart skips a bit when their vehicle is adjacent to each other. She looks back at him dashing off, going inside the village.
*****
York parked his car in front of Nerie's home. Since it's too early, he is hoping to see somebody is already awake. Lucky enough for on his way to the front door, he comes across their gardener and found a chance to ask about Nerie.
"I saw her car just leave." Answered the gardener,
York is about to go back when. "Budoy! Who's in there?" It was Mrs. Vier.
"Good morning mam, I'm Nerie's classmate." York turns around to greet Mrs. Vier.
"Oh, it's you, I remembered you. You are the one who drives them to go camping. She leaves early without even eating her breakfast. Why are you looking for her this early?"
"I have some important things to say to her, but as you say, she had already left so, I think I should go as well. Goodbye, Mrs. Vier, and nice to meet you." York bows his head and about to leave.
"Oh, no, no, no, wait. Please don't leave yet; it's too early for sure you won't be late. Come in please, join me for breakfast first." Mrs. Vier goes out and drags York inside.
York didn't have a choice but to accept Mrs. Vier's invitation.
Their breakfast table is filled with delicious foods. It doesn't appear like breakfast at all. They seem to have a feast in here, York thought, and he didn't just keep it inside his mind.
"Uhm, ma'am? are you having a celebration?"
"Yes, we are, Nerie had brought us great blessings last night again, and we celebrate it every morning, every time that happened." Mrs. Vier smiles slightly, faint enough that looks fictitious.
"Then congratulations to your family. What kind of blessings did she get for you?"
"Ow, you nosy boy, it's not that important, just eat, and you can go meet her in school." Now, she's trying to disregard the subject, which makes York more curious about it.
*****
Mang Simo drops Thea in front of the school lobby.
"What time do you want me to fetch you back, Miss Nerie?" Mang Simo asked before Thea can get out of the car.
"You can wait for my call, or I'll just have a cab going home and thank you."
"But, wait, Miss Nerie, Mr. Ho... I mean, your dad ordered me to send and fetch you in school every day, and based on your schedule." Mang Simo dithers upon spieling the unintended information.
"What?!" She shakes her head in disappointment over how untrusting they are to Nerie. Although it seems that it's more on Mr. Howard's command, I can guess that Mang Simo is trying to hide it from me, but did he really distrust Nerie or just me because he can also sense my skepticism? Thea thought. "But I also forgot my schedule," The only alibi she can think of at this moment. She doesn't want to be well guarded, especially now that she's planning something to help Nerie as so as herself, out of this kind of sexual slavery.
"Don't worry, miss; I will ask the registrar for your records." Mang Simo is about to get out of the car.
"No, Mang Simo, I will do it myself. Uhmm, how about you'll go now, and I will text you my schedule as soon as I got it. Okay?"
"But Miss Nerie."
"Please, Mang Simo, I promise to text you."
"Okay, Miss, but please do. I don't want to be fired out of my job."
Her red Wigo car zoomed away, driven by Mang Simo. Leaving her contemplating to find another way to solve Nerie's problem without someone, as Mang Simo got tangled between this problem. The last thing she wants is to have someone got affected by her possible actions or decisions.
Maybe this is not yet the time to act against the situation. She better go with the flow as of now, observe and find the right way, but behind that thought, the dread for the next coming days remains. Mr. Howard's world never takes out and torture her mind and even her whole being with fear. Scared of another day of suffering on some kind of slavery.
Staring at the wall clock inside their school library, Thea with three large empty paper cups of pure black coffee, this time without choco and ginger, a book that she hadn't turned the page since eight. Now it's almost eleven in the morning. She was bothered, contemplating about what happened last night. She seems to have a trauma that she tried to disregard the thoughts, yet the memory keeps on flashing back. One reason why she keeps herself in the library because she knows that she can't focus on the classes. Another reason is she's timider now to face people, let alone York. She feels so dirty, comparable to garbage.
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