1 PROLOG

Up on the hill lies a townhouse built like a fortress. Vines crawled on the iron wrought walls from the top to the soiled ground surrounding the lot. The steep slope made it impossible to travel by car nor was it friendly to walk with the road uncemented. Thus, no person wanders by accident or goes sightseeing.

Most people called the place haunted because of rumors spread by campers. They said that while spending the night in the forest, they heard faint music coming from the nearby hill. Out of curiosity, they ventured in the midst of darkness and were astounded to see the lights on the townhouse but when they pressed the doorbell, no one answered. Then, suddenly, the beautiful melody was replaced by eerie silence so when the lights went out from the place, they were already running away.

Little did they know, inside the infamous and feared house lives an alive human being. In fact, she was a harmless young girl. Locked away. Alone. Despairing.

Doors up front and at the back are padlocked. Wood planks barricaded the windows on the first floor while ones on the second floor had grills. Only on the third floor that windows are not sealed off and only in that space, she could breathe. In the other parts of the house, darkness loomed with or without lights on. Maybe, what she perceived as dark was more than the glowing bulbs. It might be the kind of darkness equaled being imprisoned inside a closed box when ironically the world was vast and wide.

Twice a week, a lady caretaker and houseboy visit to clean the townhouse, bring her necessities and deliver her letters to her parents. They would stay all day on those rare visits so she could learn how to read and write. And she did! In fact, considered a genius for her age.

Through reading books, she began to learn bit by bit. Along with knowledge comes interest in everything resulting in forming questions… and cruel realizations for a child.

"Why am I living apart from Mama and Papa?" she mumbled, finally finding her situation peculiar.

She felt stupid by thinking about it just now because before she found it normal. Being ignorant or sophisticated, what did she regret becoming most?

It boils down to two feelings: without knowledge she was empty but with it, anger fills in. What weighs more no longer matters, she thought. Understanding she was abandoned was irrefutable. At that moment, her heart ached as though a huge hand gripped it. Nobody is even there to tell her it was loneliness that she felt.

"What's this?" she asked, dumbfounded, as she wiped the tiny droplets of tears coming from her eyes.

The mind of the poor child grew more curious each passing day. Little by little, her awareness awakened. She noticed how neither the lady caretaker nor the houseboy looks into her eyes and how they avoid physical contact at most.

Hate bloomed in her young heart after they left before night came. She figured the truth behind the awful rejection she suffered when she stared at her reflection. Without thinking, she threw the first thing she grabbed onto the mirror. The poor thing disintegrated into a hundred shards of glass.

By then on, the townhouse she once felt a haven which kept her safe from all harms became a prison. She screamed while wrecking vases, plates and anything she got her hands unto but it never quelled her emotions. Thus, she cuts her hand to numb the emotional pain yet her agony inside was so great that even infliction of physical harm pale in comparison.

"What do I do?" she cried helplessly.

Madness, longing and misery consumed her. The lady caretaker and the houseboy only tended to her wounds and replaced furniture she broke. She heard no complaints or whatsoever as if they thought it was the way to appease her rage. It frustrated her even more so she continued her violent tantrums until it was too exhausting to be angry anymore.

What difference will it make?

They looked at her with tenderness but she bet they never truly cared. Their efforts are part of their job description as simple as that while she was no more than an empty shell, breathing in hopes to meet her end someday. However, that was her life before, everything is just so different now.