When We Happened

Chapter 41: Credit-Grabber

Chapter 41

Credit-Grabber

I think I broke his nose.

My attacker howled in pain and violently pushed me towards the couch. I landed on top of it, getting whiplashed as my head snapped against our center table.

"You fucking bitch!" he screamed at me. I couldn't hear him properly, it was like I was inside a cave and his screams were muffled. "Binali mo ilong ko, hayop ka!"

I tried to get up but the asshole came at me again, while holding his bloodied nose. I kicked him on his stomach with my right foot. "You fucking asshole! Get out of my house!"

"Bakit ako aalis kung kailan nasolo na kita?" Kahit napaatras siya dahil sa sipa ko, hindi niya ito ininda at imbes ay nginitian pa ako nito. "Bakit kita iiwan kung kailan nilubayan ka na ng boytoy at security team mo ha? Bakit kita iiwan?"

And then it dawned on me. The weird messages from an unknown number... the call from an unregistered number, heavy breathing in my ear... "You're the stalker..." I said to him in horror.

Tumawa ito nang malakas. "Finally, gumana rin ang utak mo." Lumapit ito sa akin at akma akong sisipain siya ulit. "Hindi mo ba ako nakikilala?"

Standing slowly, I moved away from the couch. "No," I spat at him. "Who the fuck are you?"

"Hindi mo ako kilala?" he asked me again, the unhinged smile on his face turned into rage. "Hindi mo nakikilala ang taong nagpasikat sa'yo?"

I scoffed at him. The audacity of this fucking douchebag. "Anong pinagsasabi mo? I don't even know you."

"Look at me!" biglang sigaw nito. Tinuro niya ang mukha niya, habang nag-ngingitngit sa galit. "Tignan mo nang maigi ang mukha ko, alalahanin mo kung sino ang unang nagpasikat sa'yo!"

Suddenly, everything finally clicked. He's the photographer who almost got his taxi driver run me over earlier this year, the one who took my pictures and posted them over the internet which went wildly viral.

The one who coined the term 'feral eyes' for my own fucking eyes.

Anong sabi niya? Siya ang unang nagpasikat sa akin? He made me fucking famous? Looking at his lanky frame, I wanted to fucking punch his face for that. He's not Sir Simon. He's not Sir Red. He's far from the kindest person and honorable man who mentored me and helped me reach where I am right now in modeling and the fashion industry in general.

Paco Sandoval.

The fucking cockroach of a photographer who wanted to get credit for my and my whole team's hard work.

This fucking credit-grabber.

He flashed me his unhinged smile again, I can tell by the look in his eyes that he was fucking too far gone. "Nakikilala mo na ba ako, Asher Flores?"

Standing my ground, I won't let this fucking idiot think that he scares me. "What do you want?"

His smile widened, it was like he was salivating for my attention. "Naaalala mo na ba ako?"

"May pagkakaiba ba kung kilala kita o hindi?"

"Tama ka naman, makilala mo man ako o hindi, hindi ka na lalabas ng buhay muli." He took a step closer to me and I took a step back. "I hope you enjoyed your last day with your boyfriend dahil hindi ka na masisinagan ng araw, Asher."

Storm...

My heart dropped down to my stomach. I just told him that I love him earlier. We just said those three big words to each other... and I might die tonight.

Suddenly, the implication of what is happening right now hit me. I might die tonight, right here, right now... and my roommates might be the first people who will find my bloodied dead body.

Are they here? Did he already hurt my friends?

With terror coursing through my veins, I glared at him and shouted back. I need to know where my friends are! "Where are my friends? Did you hurt them?"

"I'm not here to hurt innocent people, Asher," he said, taking another step closer to me. I stepped back, and both of my hands were hanging on my sides—ready to defend myself whenever he tried to attack me again. "Only those who used me will get punished tonight."

Hearing those words gave me at least some relief. I know it's fucked up, but knowing that my friends aren't harmed and away from the apartment gave me little comfort. I just hope hindi sila ang makaka-discover ng katawan ko bukas.

But either way, if I die or live tonight, I will fucking fight this asshole. I won't go down without a fight, I won't make this easy for him. Fuck no. I will make it hard for him to leave this apartment unscathed too.

"How do you prefer to die?" he asked, pulling a butterfly knife from his back pocket and brandishing it with flare. "With my knife or with my hands wrapped around your throat?"

I'd kill him before he gets the chance to do all of that.

My eyes roamed around the room, trying to find anything I could use as a weapon. I only saw the plush furniture, the ottoman Jamie liked to sit on, the center table, and the tissue box container on top of it... My eyes zeroed in on the framed Van Gogh print hanging on the wall beside him.

A plan formed in my head and I locked into it. Wala na akong ibang maisip. I just have to make my move and commit to it to hurt him back.

"What's it gonna be, Asher?" he took another step and I back, we started circling the living area. "My knife or my bare hands?"

Just a little more, just a little more. I just need to get close to—

"EAT SHIT!" I screamed at him, kicking the thick, plastic tissue box on our center table. It immediately hit him on his crotch and he bowled over in pain. I shot up and ran, grabbing the frame from the wall and smashing it on his head, glass first.

It shattered as it hit contact with his head.

The asshole screamed in pain and grabbed a hold of the door, pulled it wide open, and ran past his moaning pathetic body. I was almost out of the door when his hand grabbed onto my right leg.

I fell to my hands almost immediately and my most basic instincts just went crazy. My memories of falling down the stairs, of being pushed to my demise, also flashed in my mind—I was a feral. I was gone.

Screaming at the top of my lungs, I kicked him over and over again with my left foot until he let go of my right foot. I hit him with that too and it connected with his face.

But he was stronger than me despite his lanky frame, so we struggled on the floor. I never stopped screaming as I hit him with my bare hands, scratching his face and neck. I continued kicking him even though most of them weren't landing on his body now.

He was overpowering me.

But I was determined to not die tonight. So even with him sitting on top of me and his hands containing my wrists beside my head, I buckled under him as hard as I could. Never stopped screaming, hoping someone already heard me and called somebody to help me.

Paco leaned down my face, so I spit on him and head-butted him once again. It was a wrong move as it made my head hurt and now I am dizzy under him.

He was overpowering me again.

Susuko na lang ba ako? I tried to blink the lightheadedness away but my eyesight started to get blurry as his hands grabbed and squeezed my throat. But before he could squeeze my life away, his weight was suddenly pulled off my body.

"Asher!" someone screamed from afar.

I felt someone's frantic hands checking my face and my body, and then holding me close to their body. "Baby, you need to wake up."

Gusto ko man sundin ang boses na nagmamakaawa sa akin... tuluyan na akong kinuha ng dilim.