A nightmare sequence followed:
Deep into the moonlit night, I strolled leisurely around the dreary streets of Greenhills. I was all alone and the atmosphere was quiet.
Suddenly a group of hooded strangers came out of nowhere and abducted me. I was knocked unconscious and escorted to an unknown location.
Upon arrival, they carried and tied up my helpless body to a chair. Then one of the goons poured a bucket of water on my head.
"Where did you take me?" I screamed helplessly at them upon waking up. "Why am I tied up?"
Just then, one of the hood strangers took off her mask and revealed herself.
"Corinna," I shouted hysterically. "I should've known you're behind this."
"Christine, you forced me to do this," Corinna yelled angrily. "This is payback for all the pain and suffering you and Francesca caused against me."
Corinna tightly held my cheeks and spoke maniacally.
"Christine, I'll enjoy every minute of your agony and suffering," Corinna said. "Go scream and squeal all you want because no one will come to your rescue."
Before leaving, Corinna gave one final order to her bodyguards.
"Boys keep your eyes on her," she shouted seriously. "If she tries to escape, inform me quickly."
"Yes ma'am," one of the goons said.
Upon looking at the surrounding area, I found myself at an abandoned warehouse. The place was littered with destructive pests, ranging from pesky mosquitoes to disgusting rats.
Rusty equipment and broken appliances also enveloped the warehouse, Add the intimidating presence of Corinna's bodyguards, and I truly found myself in no man's land.
Not willing to allow a captured person to escape, the bodyguards began to torture me repeatedly. They slapped, punched and taunted my prone body at any cost.
One of the bullies even raped me. My dignity was stripped and ruined because of these heinous actions.
I screamed and cried in agony throughout the night, helpless and alone to cope up with all the distress. When Corinna returned with a gun in hand, she pointed it towards me and prepared to fire a single bullet to my head.
"I'm begging you. Please don't do this," my shouts of fear going through Corinna's ear. "Noooooo!!!"
Just as Corinna fired the shot, I suddenly woke up screaming. Charissa aroused herself from bed upon hearing my shrieking voice.
"What's wrong Christine?" Charissa asked. "You're suffering another terrible nightmare."
"Mother, Corinna is about to torture me," my hoarse voice weeping uncontrollably in fear and emotional shock.
"Christine, you're foolishly imagining dreadful things again," Charissa uttered with emotional concern.
"Sorry mother but these hideous nightmares keep on coming," I answered back. "Sleeping peacefully this late at night has become extremely difficult."
As I continued weeping bitterly in front of Charissa, she made one last-ditch offer to relieve me.
"Christine, why don't you go to my bedroom and sleep with me," Charissa earnestly advised me. "That may encourage you to forget about these dreadful nightmares. Let's go."
I walked towards Charissa's bedroom still visibly shaken from that bad dream. Upon lying down, Charissa wrapped her arms around me and sang a lullaby for old times' sake.
For the rest of the night, I slept tightly and tearfully with my mother. Yet upon waking up the next morning, I still found myself with a sense of self-doubt.
"Christine, you still look tense," Charissa commented while at the dining table. "Still thinking about last night?"
I looked at Charissa rather coldly and did not utter a single word. Then my anxious gaze turned towards the door.
Just then, Charissa heard a knock on the door. Upon opening it, she found Michelle waiting outside.
"Christine, I've been waiting for you a long time," Michelle uttered with considerable distress. "Is there something wrong with you?"
Michelle held both of my hands in hopes of getting a response. Instead, I bowed down and started crying silently.
Charissa stepped in and spilled the beans.
"Michelle, Christine experienced another nightmare last night," Charissa said. "She narrated that Corinna was about to kill her. Now she couldn't even speak because her life is in danger."
Upon hearing Charissa's personal revelation, Michelle went back to me and muttered something.
"Christine, no one is going to kill you," Michelle said. "Wake up. Haven't you forgotten your best friend yet?"
At that point, Michelle began crying in front of me.
"Listen," Michelle opened. "If your mind is still regretting about kicking out Corinna, just forget it and move on. She'll no longer bother you, me, or even Francesca anymore. You did the right thing Christine. Stop dreaming about these negative repercussions."
Michelle held her hands tightly, and I raised my head upward.
"I don't know what to do," my tearful voice resonated within Michelle.
"Why don't you finish your breakfast, take a bath and change to your street clothes first," Michelle advised me. "We can talk about this on the way to school. Don't worry, I'll wait for you."
After a short but emotional embrace, I quickly worked on my morning errands and hurried off to school with Michelle. But because of those lengthy shenanigans, we left the condominium an hour later than usual.
While on the road enduring some heavy traffic, Michelle gently grabbed my left hand and started speaking.
"Christine, haven't you forgotten about facing your horrors?" Michelle explained. "Like Franklin Roosevelt said, "The only thing we need to fear is fear itself." Remember that nightmare you had with the ferris wheel in fourth grade?"
"I still recall that in the back of my mind," I responded harshly.
"Listen. Being terribly scared of heights is just the same as being afraid of death," Michelle reasoned out. "You must overcome all of it. Then again, death is inevitable, so you must bravely face it regardless of the adverse circumstances."
Michelle gently wiped the tears out of my face and looked keenly towards me.
"Christine, do you genuinely understand what I just stated?" Michelle humbly asked.
"Absolutely friend," my tearful voice uttered within her.
Upon reaching school, I accompanied Michelle to practice. She apologized to the coach for arriving late because of traffic.
Michelle's coach genuinely understood her predicament and graciously accepted her apology. But as I sat down to observe, Francesca suddenly arrived.
"Christine, you look sorely puzzled," Francesca commented to me. "Is it about Corinna again?"
"It's nothing," I replied soberly. "Let's move on and promptly forget about her. Corinna won't torture us again."
For the rest of the morning, me and Francesca keenly watched Michelle train hard at practice. Then as the sun shone brightly outside, the three of us walked back to school for class.
Christine feared for her life after experiencing a deadly nightmare between her and Corinna. She is safe and sound for now, but danger continues to rear its ugly head. Find out how Christine dealss with these demons yet again in the succeeding chapters.