Chapter 3 THE PITFALLS OF DARKNESS

• CHAPTER 3
• THE PITFALLS OF DARKNESS
• G W E N D O L Y N
• I was entirely assuming that this was one of mom’s hallucinations again. She usually have a couple of those and this was no longer new to me. “Mom, no one’s coming.” I tell her.
• “No no no no no.” Her voice almost sounding like a squeal. “They are gonna come. They are going to come and ask me for the money.” She cries a bit louder now. “He’s gonna kill me. He will kill me!!” She shakes her head as she walks back and forth in front of me.
• “Who’s going to kill you? No one’s going to kill you mom.” I comforted her.
• “Carter and I owes him a lot of money.” She mumbles.
• Every time things are involved with Carter, it’s always bad news and it always involves a lot of money. “Mom, what are you talking about?” I asked her confusedly.
• “He captured Carter and now he is going to haunt for me. You have to hide me!!” She leaped towards me and grabbed both of my arms strongly. You know that look in someone’s eyes when it’s hard to trust because of her bloodshot eyes and the lies that she had been telling one over the other that it’s now so hard to trust.
• “He will kill me, Gwen!” Her grip tightens on my arm. “You have to give me money so I can pay him! You have to give me money!”
• “Mom !” I screamed at her face. “I don’t have any money! Do you hear me?!” I screamed at her and felt so angry that after a long day of working, she welcomes me home asking for more cash for her drugs. “Can you at least for once, be a mother to me?! You never ask me how my day went or if I had even eaten!”
• I pulled myself away from her and rushed my way towards my room. I can feel her following me and as soon as I slammed the door behind me, she bangs them. I wanted to cry but then I reminded myself that I was far much stronger than this woman making a hell of my life.
• I slept through the entire night and decided to coming from outside. sleep my hunger until I jumped over my bed when I heard a very loud bang coming from outside my room. I widened my eyes as I stared at the ceiling and heard more banging sound . My mom's terrifying screams caused me to run my way out of my bedroom door and saw five men surrounding my mom who was lying down on the floor with their guns all pointed at her.
• "Mom!!" I rushed towards her and held my arms around her tightly as my eyes were widened frightened as I stare at all of them. "What do you--"
• Shockingly, she pushed me forward so strongly that made me fall to my face as I say, “This is my daughter! Take her as what we talked about.”
• "What? But mom what are--"
• In a split second, a buff man pulls me from the ground away from my mom, “What is happening?! Mom! What are you talking about?! What's happening?” I asked, almost balling my eyes with tears as my hands were shaking in terror seeing these men.
• "Take her!" The other instructed abruptly.
• "No!!" I screamed my lungs out as I kept wiggling my way away from these guys who were holding me down. I kept kicking my feet as my mom keeps on insisting to ' Take her' . Hearing those words made me feel angrier at her for what she is about to do. She is giving me away like a toy, no, like a candy.
• Without being able to move around, the man takes me over his lean shoulder effortlessly. I screamed at the top of my lungs for help but since this apartment is filled with people who doesn't give a crap about my mom. It was completely hopelessly crying for help but it felt like I couldn't even save myself at all.
• Without any choice, I bit hard on the ear of the man who carried me and he was able to release me instantly without as I crashed myself on the floor. I picked myself up as I see the other men rushing towards me so I quickly ran out of the living room not knowing what will happen next. Possibly they would shoot me since I know that they are armed but as my body was filled with adrenaline rush to save my life from death, I needed to get out from here.
• I didn't wanna die yet.
• The next morning, I woke up with a light over me inside a room which was completely unfamiliar.
• “So you’re up.”
• I blink my eyes twice.
• “I’m glad you’re awake.”
• I’m glad I’m still alive after being chased with armed guys.
• “Did you sleep well?” He questions.
• His voice sounded rich and jovial. His hair was light brown, he had light blue eyes, arched brown brows and had a clean shaven face. Standing there close to the bedroom door, he seemed pretty tall and a little lean but not really slender. Neatly handsome I would say.
• “You must be all confused.” He adds.
• I quickly pulled myself up from the bed and examined myself if I was naked, thankfully I wasn’t. I finally travelled my eyes back towards the man dressed in a plain white shirt and a brown pajama bottom. Compared to those guys from last night, he looks rather calmer. His face seemed familiar and it felt like I have seen him before, but still I didn’t know him.
• “How do you feel?” He continues to talk to me even though I am not responding anything to him. He smiled at me tight-lipped as he walks closer towards the bed.
• In the back of my mind I was still trying to process what happened to me last night and trying to analyze this man who seems completely harmless but highly suspicious.
• “Who are you?” I asked him back and ignored his question. “And where am I?”
• “I’m Laurent.” He answers me right away. “And, you’re inside my apartment.”
• I gaped, “What?”
• “Look, I found you on the alley passed out last night and I didn’t know where to take you because you didn’t have any IDs with you so I took you to my home.” He explains. “I took you in because you’re a girl and it would be dangerous for you to be out there like that.”
• “Oh.” I answered softly.
• He gapes, “I hope it didn’t come too feminist.”
• I shake my head sideways, “No.”
• “What happened to you? Are you hurt anywhere? You have a…bruise here.” He pointed on his face. “Are you alright?” His voice sounded concern and it felt nice to know that a stranger like him kind of worried for me more than how my mom never showed affection towards me at all
• All of the things that happened to me last night, sink in. I was then reminded of how my own mother sold me out to those guys just to pay her debt due to her addiction. I breathe heavily and tried to stop myself from actually crying in front of this random stranger.
• I quickly pulled myself out of his bed, “I’m so sorry for what happened here and… I just—”
• “No, it’s fine.” He cuts me off politely. “Do you need anything? Medicine? Maybe water? You look kind of dehydrated. I cooked breakfast if you are hungry.”
• I smiled at him weakly, “Y-You’re too generous. Thank you.” I answered right away. “It’s best if I should leave to get you out of the trouble that I kind of got myself into.”
• “Trouble? You’re not like an ex-con or something right?” He asks jokingly while he chuckles.
• “No.” I replied and I can see that he seemed relieved with my answer but I know he was much more curious. “It’s just…. It’s too personal and… Um, thank you so much for letting me stay here for the night when I passed out.”
• I don’t even remember passing out in an alley last night. All I remember clearly were those guys chasing me and I just kept running and running where my feet would take me. I wanted to be safe, away from my own mother who sold me to a drug lord.
• How could a mother do something like that to her own child?
• “Please, have something to eat before you go.” He insisted.
• “Thank you but—”
• “I’m a really good cook, so don’t worry about it.” He says with a smile. “You passed out last night, you must have been hungry.”
• I agreed to his offer since it would be too bad for me to turn him down and I was also getting pretty hungry. As he showed me around his place, I realized that he had a fairly large apartment all to himself. I wanted to ask if he was alone in here but then it felt like too invasive for me to ask. This guy is pretty much so damned organized in all corners of this flat.
• “I hope you like eggs and pancakes for breakfast.” He tells me as soon as I sat down on the chair he pulled for me.
• “I don’t mind. Thank you.”
• Laurent smiles tight-lipped, “Would you like sugar on your coffee?”
• “Thank you, but I don’t really like coffee. It gives me insane palpitations.”
• “Oh, okay. I didn’t know that there would be an American girl who wouldn’t like coffee.” He chuckles. “Orange juice would be better?”
• I nodded with a smile and thanked him after he poured some in my glass. The entire time we ate, he was the one initiating the conversation, asking questions one after another. I never told him about what I was going through because I didn’t want him to be scared of me and think of something bad about me.
• When I finished, I thanked him again for saving my life and for feeding me. He was a very nice guy and seemed so calm and composed. He even accompanied me out of the building where he lived.
• “Will you be fine here?” He asks.
• “Yes. Thank you again.” I answered.
• “No problem. Take care out there. It’s a big world filled with bad people.”
• I smiled softly and nodded at him. “Thank you.”
• I didn’t know where to go from here. All I know is that, it isn’t safe to go back home.