Publsihed by: Aliyah Margareth Imbat
Date Published: December 23, 2022
Time Published: 1:21 PM
Category: Prose
Theme: Violence, Death
Synopsis: Pain was inevitable. There were two kinds of pain. The one that hurt us and the one that changed us. But I didn't think my pain included those two. My pain…could kill you.
TRIGGER WARNING//VIOLENCE, DEATH, SUICIDE
A year ago…
"Throw that thing away now Azer," Mom commanded me.
I shook my head to say no and held the bracelet tightly in my hand as if it was her.
This was the only thing Jenna had left behind. I couldn’t throw this away just because they believed that this bracelet was cursed after she ended her own life with it.
"Azer!" Mom shouted with her teeth clenched.
I had no choice but to let go and throw the bracelet into the lake. I thought I could just go back and look for it, but it was nowhere to be found when I came back five hours later.
"Go and fetch some water for my bath, you imbecile!" It was my father. I sighed and got up to fetch some water from the cold lake for his bath. When I was about to go back, I spotted a shiny, gold thing under the water. I was shocked when I realized that it was a bracelet! A solid gold bracelet with a little bit of, you know, green moss. I roamed my eyes around to see if there was someone searching for something but there was nothing so I immediately put the bracelet in my pocket. What a great day, I thought.
"What took you so long?!" Oh, there he was again. My dearest father.
I didn't even utter a word and just gave him a pail of water. I was about to turn my back to him when I felt a great pain in my back as he threw that pail of water I just fetched right into me. It hurt so bad that I screamed in pain, not to mention how cold the water was.
"I asked you a question and you didn't bother to answer? What a rude woman! You're just like your mother! Go back to your room and stay there until you learn your lesson!" He was angry.
I cried when I dragged myself up to the room. In this case, he wouldn’t let me out for days so yes, I wouldn't eat for days too.
But I was not a fool. I always store something to eat and drink under my bed in case of these "emergencies." Who was the alpha kid? Me.
I took off my shirt and stared at myself in the mirror. My gaze immediately shifted toward the bruises on my arms, chest, and collarbone. There was a fresh cut on my right arm from the broken glass my father threw at me the other day. I turned around and looked at my back. As expected, I got a new collection of bruises. It was so painful that I struggled with putting on my clothes, but as usual, I ignored it. Maybe it was because I was already used to it but ice packs, medicine, and such were useless, especially if I get a new one every single day.
"I wonder how much this would cost," I said while staring at the bracelet on my wrist.
I was heading to a pawn shop nearby to ask how much I could get for this. It would be a great help if I could get a large sum of money for this.
Boogsh!
"Ouch!" A man shouted in pain as I bumped into him. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to," I was so shocked by what just happened but managed to check him for bruises or something. "Nah, It's fine. I'm sorry too. Is your arm okay?" he asked me worriedly and checked my arm.
While checking, he stopped and was frozen in his position as he noticed my bracelet. His grip became tighter so I reclaimed my wrist from him. "Where did you get that?" he asked me with a puzzled look. I was also confused by his reaction and looked at him with a perplexed look, but I still answered him…falsely.
"My mom gave it to me," I lied. "Don't lie to me, I won't get angry. Just tell me…by any chance, did you find this on a lake?" he asked. I looked down and nodded. So shameful! A tear dropped on his left eye, holding my wrist again while caressing the bracelet. He wiped his tears and cleared his throat. "It's my girlfriend's. I'm sorry, I was just...I missed her."
I was about to take off the bracelet and return it to him but he stopped me. "No no, keep it. It's yours now. I'm just glad that I've got to see it again after who knows how long. Just make sure you'll keep it safe, okay?" he told me. I nodded at him and smiled widely. "By the way, what's your name?" he added. "My name is Ciara. You?" I asked back. "Azer."
We just had a chit-chat with each other and became friends, I guess? He also told me the history of this bracelet and I comforted him. It was about to get dark so we parted ways and bid our goodbyes to each other.
"Stay there until you learn your lesson!" My father shouted from the house. It was raining heavily with thunder and lightning. It was already past 9 in the evening when my father accused me of his missing money. I was a hundred percent sure he just spent it on alcohol and forgot about it.
He kicked me out of the house, even when I was in the middle of the pain because of my red days. He just didn’t have any exceptions. I was starving and my body started to feel weak but I forced myself to be strong and to hold on as I heard my sister's cry. He was hurting her again, too!
I was about to stand up when my father opened the door, dragging my unconscious sister by the hair out of the house. It was dark but the blood on her face was so visible that I clenched my fist hard and ran toward them. I took off my bracelet and held it tight with my right hand. All I knew was that I had enough of him. I had enough of everything!
I punched him hard in the face with my right fist, where I had the bracelet with. I punched him twice, thrice...until I didn't know how many...just until he lost consciousness.
I checked my sister lying on the ground. I tried to wake her up to run away before he regained consciousness, but I was shocked when I realized that my sister was not breathing. I screamed when I noticed the amount of blood dripping down from her head.
He killed my sister!
I hugged her tight while crying. I stood up and stared at my father's unconscious body. Before I knew it, I already pierced his neck with my bracelet. A smile formed on my lips as I confirmed that I had avenged myself and my sister. I killed the person that caused us pain and suffering for all these years.
"Be careful with that bracelet. Everyone said that it was cursed," the policeman whispered. "Cursed or not, we should really be careful. It's the only evidence from the massacre case of that family."
Little did they know, it was not the "cursed" bracelet all along. It was the pain that caused our painful death. From Jenna, up to my family…and me.
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