27 Favoritism (I)
07:10 P.M.
Dela Ia's Abandoned House.
June 15th, the year 2018. Friday.
The rain poured outside of a wooden and huge, abandoned mansion. Gloomy evening with the faded moonlight has emerged. Dewdrops dripped down through the ceiling. It made the bugs and mites from the carpet jump out of their place. The insects scattered away from the drops. It filled the whole surroundings with moist, pine-colored algae in the corners of the room. A pungent smell that circled around the misty air of the house.
The dust crumpled through the ivory blankets, hovered over the sofas and appliances. No one knew when the owner would be back to live inside the creepy mansion again. The rain calmed down a bit, and as silence ensued the whole ambiance again, someone burst the door open.
The woman lay down on the cold floor as she looked up through the one who wanted to kill her. She panted as she looked up slowly from the blurry vision of her tears. Her messed up hair, tangled in the ends, and it looks like a bird's nest. Her shirt torn apart, her missing undergarments. Only the upper part of her body wasn't naked.
She tried to sit up as the person wearing a long raven gown was ascending towards her. The person had long, pitched black and dry hair draped over her face.
The victim cannot seem to understand what she wanted from her. She tried to cover the upper part of her body and bit her lip as she tried to control the sobs coming out of her lips.
The tears streamed through the victim's eyes. She prayed that someone will rescue her from the lady who doesn't have a face. The victim crawled backward as the lady walked forward, one step at a time.
"Get over here," the lady called out, showing her mahogany fingernails. She waved it aggressively towards the victim like she wanted to claw its face. The lady in the raven gown was the predator. Her next prey was the gorgeous woman who walked by the mansion to get home.
The crows from the trees outside howled as if signaling that the woman will be dead.
The victim had no left strength to resist the powerful lady as it clasped its hands around her wrists. The lady gripped it as if popping a fragile balloon in her palms, and the victim cried out in pain. Her hands were so cold, as if it had placed her body in the refrigerator for years. The victim felt like the lady had been waiting for someone to pass by at the mansion.
The victim's chest rose and down as her breath quickened and swallowed. She voiced out something. The lady traced her pointed and mahogany fingernails through her wrist. Through the upper arms, and her bare neck, that was wet with sweat now.
The victim looked down. She saw that the lady's fingers were full of dried blood that she thought has been there for days.
"Don't kill me," the victim pleaded. The lady's fingers stopped to trace her body as it reached her collarbone. The victim froze and her breath hunched as it quickened its pace. She cannot move her body as the lady's head tilted upward. The victim knew it was looking at her.
The lady removed her fingers and shifted her head sideways. The victim put her arms around her chest and swallowed.
The lady with the raven gown rotated her head as her frightening eyes revealed itself. She swept her hair slightly to the side, and the victim saw half of the lady's face.
The victim saw the cruel and round eyes with dark circles around them. Her face was so white, it looked like the sunlight hadn't shed through her skin for a long time. Her lips were so dry, the skin peeled off and its color faded. The victim trembled in fear as she saw the eyes of the lady with the raven gown. Her body shrank as the lady inched her face closer and closer towards the shaking victim.
"Please. Don't... kill me," the victim cried as she closed her eyes, and her lip quivered with worry.
"Do you think...," the lady voiced out, tracing the victim's face with her bloody palms, "... I can spare you?"
The victim looked at the lady's left eye intensely and nodded as if it could save her life. The lady's lips tilted upwards and chuckled.
The victim exhaled as her shoulders were still shaking. She uttered something.
"You... you got my sibling, right? She was missing for a year," the victim remarked, using her strength and braveness all in one go. The lady locked her gaze towards the victim as it mustered her courage.
"Shiena. Shiena is her name. You killed her, you monster," the victim murmured, but full of determination to fight her soul out. The victim stood up slowly as the lady followed her with her angry eyes. She stood up straight and the victim's eyes became hopeless as the tears fell again.
"Mom died because she's gone with no goodbyes. My life... has been astray ever since Shiena went missing, and I knew, you killed her, monster," the victim barked. The lady with the raven gown walked forward and ran towards her as she held out her hand.
She clasped her fingers around the victim's neck, strangled it with her fingertips. She gripped the victim's neck tightly as its face turned into a beet red one. The victim's eyes were bulging out as the lady cackled with her eyes looking immensely at the victim.
The victim tried to resist by using her free hands but it was too late. She was out of breath as the lady whispered, "Die like your sister."
As the victim's body became lifeless, someone shouted through the corner of the room.
"Cut! Cut! Cut!" the director exclaimed as the lights went on as she shouted for a break from the scene. Margo stood up from the floor and Carmela put a towel around her bare body. Katrina put her hair behind her ear and looked down. The entire staff put down their equipment, wiped the beads of sweat on their forehead. They waited for Director Jane to call the roll again.
Director Jane Lacson assisted in the production of the whole movie. The head director urgently took a leave due to business matters. She stood up with her personal assistant, fanning her stressed face. The director halted in front of Katrina. Mina approached Katrina and wiped the sweat all over her face.
"Katrina, Katrina, Katrina. How many years are you in this industry?" Director Jane asked Katrina sarcastically. Katrina shifted her eyes from the wooden floor to the agonizing eyes of their movie director.
"I've been here for two years now," Katrina stuttered. She's ashamed because she knows she did something wrong with the scene. Katrina forgot a line from the scene that they were taking for 10 times already today. She closed her eyes as her manager fumed in the corner.
Director Jane chuckled and licked her lips as she said, "What are you doing, huh? That one line, you forget it for the entire day! You are wasting our time!"
Carmela, Margo, and Mina averted their eyes and looked at the director. Margo furrowed her eyebrows. She wondered why the director said those nasty things to Katrina.
"I'm sorry, director," Katrina apologized, looking down at her hands. She clasped it together and pursed her lips. She felt the annoyance rising, but she needed to control it. The director was much higher than her in the production's position.
"Katrina, we are here for 6 hours now. We are wasting our time with your line, and we are taking the first scene 10 times already. Do you forget how precious our time was?" The director asked while Katrina's head drooped down. Mina patted her back and Katrina glanced at him. Mina nodded as if saying that it was okay.
"Who picked you and carelessly paired you with Margo? The Margo Monteverde? How the hell would the production be if we continued this! The time to take the first scene is just 30 minutes, Katrina! And your acting skills...," the director retorted all the insults to her. Katrina knuckled her fists in rage. She licked her lips, and the tears brimmed in her eyes.
"Pairing you with someone who is so popular is ridiculous to hear. You look so little beside Margo," Director Jane accused, soothing her forehead. Katrina's tears fell as she heard Margo say something to the director.
She bit her lip and wished that she could go back to the time. When she didn't want to agree with the film, they offer her with Margo Monteverde paired with her.
