Bullets And Ashes

Chapter 5.1

Trigger Warning: This chapter may contain physical and verbal abuse that you may find disturbing. You may skip this chapter if you please as this will only contain Azreall's flashback when she woke up from comatose.

Azreall's consciousness woke up when she heard people whispering around her. Dahan-dahan nitong binuksan ang kulay berdeng mata at inilibot ang tingin. She was somewhere she doesn't know. The walls were white and it was small.

Where am I? Who are these people? Who am I?

Feeling lost, she sat on the hospital bed catching everyone's attention. The whole room fell silent and stared at her making her more anxious. Hinawakan niya ang kumot at saka unti-unting itinago ang mukha sa kanila. Half of her face was covered and they could only see her eyes.

"Who are you?" The scared Azreall asked. "Are you bad... po?" She added with teary eyes.

It was then when a woman broke out and tried to attack her making her scream in fear. Mabilis itong binalot nangtakot lalo na nang makita nito ang galit sa mata niya. Azreall, who was a kid, feared of what she will do to her.

Everyone started to hold the woman down until she was out of the room. Tanging ang isang lalake na lang at siya ang naiwan dahilan para mas lalo siyang matakot. She had a bad feeling about him.

Unti-unti ay naglakad ito papalapit, marahan at tahimik. When she reached the bed, she sat on the side and stared at her.

"Can you remember anything?" He asked with a stern voice. Azreall, in that state, slowly moved her head sidewards. She didn't. She can't even remember her name at this point.

Natahimik ang lalake at saka bahagyang ngumisi bago inabot ang bata.

"Listen, child. Your name is Azreall Faith Villareal." Aniya at ngumiti. Azreall slowly lowered the blanket and stared at the bearded man. "You are the third child of Tiffany Chu-Villareal and Fernando Villareal, and you are the reason why Gwy was killed."

Napakurap si Azreall at prinoseso ang sinabi nito. As a naive, she immediately believed him.

"W-Who's Gwy?" Her small voice was heard across the room. Hinawakan ito nang lalake sa balikat at pinakitaan nang malungkot na ekspresyon.

"She's your older sister. She saved you from the truck." Natahimik si Azreall at tinitigan lang ito.

"I'm Harold, Kuya Harold." Azreall finally felt at ease with him despite having a hard time understanding him. "Kain ka muna." He added and reached out for the styrofoam.

She blinked her eyes. Umayos siya nang upo at kinain ang sinusubo sa kanya ni Harold. Sa mga sumusunod na araw ay tanging siya lang ang bumibisita sa kanya sa hospital at unti-unti ay gumagaan ang loob nito sa kanya. She felt safe whenever he was near kaya naman nang ma-discharge na siya ay hindi siya natakot makaharap ang pamilya niya.

She was at the back seat when they stopped in front of a middle class house. It wasn't big but wasn't too small either, sakto lang. Nang makababa sila ay mabilis siyang kumapit sa kuya nang makitang naghihintay sila sa front door.

"It's okay, they won't hurt you." Her brother assured her. Bahagya naman siyang kumalma.

Habang naglalakad sila patungo sa direksyon kung nasaan ang mga magulang nila ay hindi niya mapigilan ang sarili na makaramdam nang pagkadismaya lalo na't wala itong mga reaksiyon. Halatang may galit ang mga ito kay Azreall, but what would they do? They just can't abandon this mere child on the streets.

Nang tumigil sila sa harapan nito ay tingnan lang nang mga magulang nila si Azreall. They looked at her like she's the most disgusting child in the world. Azreall who was tensed, tried to relax and smiled at them.