CHAPTER 16

“No!” Helene shouted as tears fell from her eyes. “Please, don’t do this…”

“You’ve signed the waiver,” Madame Chona told her. “You have no right to complain and stop me from doing what I wanted you to do to be able to earn money.”

“I’m begging you, Madame…I promise I’ll do it better now. Give me another chance, please…” Helene tried to pull her hands free from the ropes tightly tied in her hands. “Please let me go…”

“Shut up!” Madame Chona slapped her face. “I paid you for this. You have no right to complain!”

“Paid? I-I haven’t received any money—ah!” Helene shrieked in pain as the woman in front of her inserted two fingers inside her cunt. She bit her lip as the stinging pain of ripping flesh woke all her senses.

“Don’t worry, Helene. It’ll be pleasurable later…” Madame Chona then picked up the large vibrator. She gave it to the woman that tied her on the bed. “Do it slowly.”

“No…” she pleaded. But the woman in front of her just smiled at her wickedly. “Please, no!”

Helene’s eyes flew open. Her heartbeat is racing so fast that it hurt her chest. Was it just a dream? She asked herself. Her lips trembled as she tried to breathe through her mouth. She looked around and found herself lying on the couch of her living room.

“You’re awake.” She heard Malcolm’s voice. “Are you okay?”

Helene followed his voice and found the man standing on her side, holding a stainless basin. He put it down on the coffee table and crouched beside her. Helene wondered what he was doing here inside her house.

“W-Why are you here?” she asked in furrowed brows as she sat up. “H-how did I got home?”

Malcolm looked at her worriedly. “You don’t remember how you got here?”

Helene tried to remember everything that happened. But she couldn’t figure it out when it happened. Is it today? Or yesterday? She caught her aching head. “I-I don’t know…As far as I can remember, I was at work with Minerva…Then…” she paused, remembering the nasty things that she did at the agency. “I don’t remember, Malcolm…”

Malcolm knotted her forehead. “Minerva? Who is she?”

“She’s my classmate. And colleague. She also worked at the company where I do my part-time job,” she explained and avoided his eyes.

“Helene, I found you lying in front of your door a while ago,” Malcolm told her worriedly. “I was surprised to see you in that state. I thought something bad happened to you, and you have a high fever.”

Helene gasped. “You found me lying on the floor outside my house?” she asked, then looked at herself. She was wearing her uniform but noticed that the buttons were disarrayed. “You didn’t see how I got there?”

Malcolm shrugged his shoulders. “It was past ten p.m. When I noticed that you’re not yet home, so I went out to check on your house and found you lying on your steps, sleeping and with a high fever.” Malcolm held her hands. “I got worried about you, Helene. I tried to wake up, but you’re not giving any response.”

“Did you ask our landlady if she saw who brought me here?” she asked. She’s a bit worried about what could have happened to her a few hours ago and why she can’t remember anything on she got home. “We could easily know the answer if this apartment building has a CCTV…”

“Maybe your friend Minerva brought you home,” he said. “But she didn’t bring you to your house?”

Helene heaved a sigh. “She doesn’t know where I left the keys—” she paused, then looked at Malcolm. “How did you bring me inside?”

“I saw you put your keys under the floor mat when we left together,” he said and pointed at the keys on the table. “If I’m not here, you could have frozen to death outside.”

Helene laughed. “I won’t. The climate here in the Philippines is not that freezing,” she said. “I used to sleep on a folding bed outside. I watched the stars as I fell asleep.”

“I haven’t done that before.” Malcolm suddenly became curious. “I thought sleeping outside under the night sky is dangerous.”

She arched her brow. “Dangerous? From what? Flying monsters that sucked human blood?”

The man’s eyes widened. "Are Manananggals real? Aren’t they just myths?”

“Manananggal?” Helene laughed at Malcolm. “Those were just folklore stories.”

He was pertaining to the flying half-body of a woman with bat-like wings. The ‘Manananggal’ is popularly known among the Visayas provinces and was believed to target and eat newborn babies. Their upper body was being separated from the lower part, starting from the torso. The lower body is left onto the ground as the upper body, with the head and arms, flew in the night to haunt houses with pregnant women. Aside from Manananggal, other ‘aswang’ or monsters are believed to be living in the Philippines’ far provinces.

“Then what are flying monsters that sucked human blood that you’re saying?” he asked in an arched brow. It was apparent in his expression that he got pissed off by what she said about Manananggal.

“I’m referring to mosquitos,” she said with a shake of her head. “We’re in the city. There are no such creatures here.”

Malcolm didn’t answer. He just looked at her as if he wanted to say something. With this distance, Helene can really say that the man was indeed near perfection. His brows were thick, and so his lashes. He has a pointed nose and thin kissable lips. His white skin was a bit pale, but maybe because he worked at an air-conditioned place, he seldom exposed himself to the sun.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked. Her heart is starting to beat fast again than its usual pace.

“I got worried about you, Helene…” he said and scooted closer to her until their faces were just inches away. “Promise me that you won’t make me worry again.”

Helene wondered why Malcolm was acting like this to her. But she felt happy and overwhelmed that a man like him worried about her. Finally, she now knew how it felt like someone cares and concerns for her. And she didn’t expect that she’d get that attention from someone like Malcolm, who she just met not long ago.

“I promised I won’t make you worry again,” Helene said and smiled. “I’m thankful that you’re here with me, Malcolm.”

Malcolm squeezed her hand. “Anything for you, Helene,” he said and leaned closer to her to kiss her forehead. “Now, go back to sleep and take a rest.”

Helene knotted her forehead. “How about you?”

“I will sleep on the floor,” he said casually. “I will stay here and make sure that nightmares won’t intrude on your dreams.”

***