Chapter 27 - Dreams

🚨🚨🚨Warning: Read at your own risk 🚨🚨🚨

JAY JAY POV 

We landed in London the day before the King's birthday. Great timing, right? The whole city was buzzing, but I was beyond exhausted. By the time we reached the house, night had already fallen. I went straight to my room. I desperately needed some quiet before I totally lost my mind. Jare was with me, but he headed straight to his room too.

I thought about calling Mia, but she's probably knocked out by now. She said they're coming soon, though. Honestly? That's the only thing making me feel even a little bit happy right now. At least I'll have someone on my side.

After finishing dinner, I looked at my phone and sighed. Aries. He's definitely going to be mad. I just up and left without a proper goodbye, and we all know how intense his temper is.

To Horoscope: Sorry, Grandpa and Grandma came suddenly so I had to leave. I'm going to London tomorrow for some business matter. I'll be back after 2 days.

I didn't even wait for his reply. I didn't want to see those typing bubbles because I knew they'd just stress me out more. I tossed my phone aside, buried myself under the covers, and forced myself to sleep.

IN JAY'S DREAM

I was drifting, falling back into a memory I've tried so hard to bury. But in my dreams? In my dreams, I'm always that same naive girl again. I must have been around sixteen at the time. Everything felt different back then. Or maybe it was just me—the version of me that wasn't yet broken, the one who wasn't yet jaded by the world.

"Jay, I have some work. Let's go. I'll leave you with some of my friends," Jeana said. Her voice was so calm, so... normal.

"Okay, Mama," I answered. Simple. That's what daughters do, right? They just follow.

But then she stopped and looked at me. That look. Even now, it makes my skin crawl just thinking about it. "Jay, do as they say, okay? Give them what they want."

At sixteen, I shouldn't have known it was going to be bad. But looking back at that version of myself? I want to scream at her to run. But I didn't know any better. To me, she was just my mom. I trusted her with everything.

I just smiled at her and nodded.

I actually smiled. I had no idea that by nodding, I was basically handing myself over to the monsters.

The dream shifted, and suddenly we were inside that house. I can still smell the damp air and the cheap cigarettes. There were five of them. Five men just standing there, waiting. Jeana went over to talk to them—whispering, like she was negotiating a price—and then she came back. I didn't like the way those men were looking at me. They were smiling, but not the kind of smile that feels safe. It was hungry. Weird. Dangerous.

Jeana reached for me.

"Jay Jay, go," she said, her voice as cold as ice.

I felt a chill run down my spine. I was terrified. "Mama, I don't want to go," I told her, my voice small and shaking.

Her expression shifted, turning impatient. "Jay Jay, don't embarrass me," she said. Suddenly, she grabbed my hand so tightly it felt like my bones might snap.

I tried to pull away. My heart was thumping against my ribs like a trapped bird. Every instinct I had was screaming at me to run. "Ma, I really don't want to go!"

I struggled, trying to get free from her hold, but her grip was like iron. She didn't look like my mother anymore. She looked like a stranger who was willing to trade me just to save herself.

"JAY JAY!" Mama yelled, her voice exploding in the small space. She shoved me toward them with all her strength. "GO!"

I stumbled, the world spinning. I wanted to reach out for her, to beg her one last time, but it was too late. She wasn't protecting me. She was the one who pushed me into the dark.

She didn't hesitate. She pushed me inside, and the sound of the door closing behind her was the loudest, most painful thing I'd ever heard. The room was dim, and it felt like the walls were closing in. The five men were right there. I could feel their eyes—those disgusting, predatory looks—crawling all over my skin.

One of them moved first. He reached out to touch me, and I felt a jolt of pure terror.

"PLEASE DON'T!" I yelled, the tears finally breaking through. I was shaking so hard I could barely stand. "Please... stop."

I backed away until I hit a wall, looking around for an exit, but they were circling me. I felt like an animal caught in a trap.

"Come on, don't make us do it. Just hand it over," one of them said, his voice oily and mocking. He stepped closer, stretching out his hand.

I started to scream. My voice was raw and desperate, echoing off the cold, dirty walls.

"PLEASE DON'T! NO! PLEASE!" I yelled over and over, my lungs burning.

I was screaming and crying, begging for someone—anyone—to save me. The world was becoming a blur of shadows and hands.

"JAY JAY! WAKE UP!"

I couldn't hear it. I could still feel those eyes on me.

"JAY JAY! PLEASE, SIS, WAKE UP!"

END OF JAY'S DREAM

I snapped awake, my chest heaving and my face soaked with tears. I saw Jare right in front of me, and without thinking, I immediately lunged forward and hugged him. My hands were trembling as I clung to his shirt.

"Jare... I don't want to be there... Please, Jare, I don't want to be back there," I sobbed. The fear was still so fresh, so real.

He hugged me back tightly, burying my head in his chest to hide me from the memories. "Shh... it's okay. Big brother's here. I'm here, Jay," Jare said, his voice shaking with his own pain.

I cried harder, the tremors in my body refusing to stop. The walls of the bedroom felt like they were vibrating with the echo of my screams from the dream. It felt so real, like the air in London was just as thin and cold as the air in that basement.

"Jare," I choked out, clutching his shirt until my knuckles turned white. "I don't want to remember this... please."

"It's okay, I'm here. You're okay," Jare said. He was trying to comfort me, his voice low and steady, but it wasn't working. The images were burned into the back of my eyelids—the five men, the hunger in their eyes, and the way my own mother walked away.

"Jare, please! I don't want to remember any of this! Please, just get it out of my brain!" I was practically begging him now, my voice hysterical. I wanted to rip the memories out. I wanted to be anyone else but the girl who had been handed over like a piece of property.

"JAY JAY!" Jare suddenly yelled.

I flinched, my breath hitching in my throat. I looked up at him, my eyes wide and blurred with tears. The sharpness of his voice acted like a splash of ice water, snapping me out of the spiral for just a second.

He grabbed my shoulders, forcing me to look at him. His expression was a mix of heartbreak and fierce determination.

"Listen to me—you are not there anymore," Jare said, his voice firm, leaving no room for argument. "I don't know exactly what happened back then, but listen to me, sis. You are not there anymore. You're here with me. You're safe."

I stared at him, my chest heaving. He didn't let go. He held me right there in the present, a solid anchor against the tide of memories trying to pull me back under.

"You're safe," he whispered again, his grip softening as he pulled me back into a hug. "I promise. I've got you."

After I calmed down a bit, the heavy silence of the room was replaced by the small sounds of the house. Jare didn't leave my side; instead, he asked one of the maids to get me something to eat.

They brought up a tray with chocolates and some chips. I didn't really have an appetite, but I reached for the chocolate anyway, hoping the sugar would stop the shivering. I started eating, the sweetness feeling dull against the bitter taste still lingering in my mouth from the nightmare.

Jare sat at the edge of the bed, watching me closely. His face was pale, shadowed by the dim light of the room.

"What happened in the dream?" he asked quietly.

I looked at him, my hand trembling as I held a piece of chocolate. The memories weren't fading like normal dreams do; they were sitting heavy in my chest, like lead.

"I don't think it was a dream, Kuya," I whispered, my voice cracking. "It felt so real. Jeana... she took me somewhere. There were five men, and they were—"

I started to describe the way they looked at me, the way the air felt, but Jare cut me off. His eyes were suddenly rimmed with red, his jaw tight as if he was fighting back his own breakdown.

"Shh... it's not real, Jay," he said firmly, leaning in.

"But Jare—"

"Trust me, it was just a really, really bad nightmare," he insisted. His voice was desperate, like he was trying to convince himself just as much as me.

"Jare, it all felt so real," I argued, the tears threatening to spill over again. "The smell, the way she pushed me... I could feel her hand on mine."

He grabbed my hand, squeezing it. "It's not real. You know sometimes dreams feel like they're real, but in real life, it never happened. Do you actually remember that happening? In real life?"

I paused, trying to sift through the fog in my brain. I reached for a solid memory, a date, a place, a following day—but there was nothing but the blur of the dream itself. I slowly shook my head.

"There you go," Jare said, letting out a breath he seemed to have been holding forever. "It's not real. It's just your mind playing tricks on you because of the stress."

I looked down at the half-eaten chocolate in my hand. He sounded so certain, so sure of himself. I wanted to believe him. I

But even as I nodded, a small, cold part of me wondered why a "dream" could leave such a deep, permanent scar on my soul.

"Sleep. I'll be here," Jare said, his voice soft but steady.

I just nodded, too drained to say anything else. I lay back down, the silk sheets feeling cold against my skin, but Jare's presence beside me was the only thing keeping the shadows at the corners of the room from closing in again.

I reached out and grabbed his hand, holding it so tightly my fingers ached

Jare didn't pull away. He stayed right there

I slept, clinging to my brother

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

JARE POV 

I sat there in the silence of the room, listening to the jagged rhythm of her breathing as she finally fell into a restless sleep. Her hand was still gripping mine so tightly that my fingers had gone numb, but I didn't dare move.

Gently, I reached out with my free hand and brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead. Even in sleep, her face looked pained, her brows furrowed as if she was still fighting those demons.

"I'm sorry, Jay," I whispered, my voice breaking. The tears I had been holding back for her sake finally spilled over. "I'm so sorry I wasn't there when you needed me the most."

A cold, heavy weight settled in my gut. I have to stop this. I can't let her remember. If she finds out the truth—the real, unfiltered truth of what happened in that house—it will destroy her. It's better for her to believe it was just a nightmare than to know the woman who gave us life was the same one who tried to sell her soul.

And tomorrow... Keifer.

I have to talk to him at this damn gala. 

Why is it always her? I thought, my jaw tightening in frustration. Why is it always my sister that has to suffer because of someone else's greed?

It wasn't her fault. None of it. But she still carries the burden of it all, locked away in a part of her brain that is slowly starting to crack. Her memories are coming back, and I'm running out of ways to suppress them.

I know Angelo is out there, poking around, trying to help her "find herself" and recover her past. He thinks he's doing her a favor. But he has no idea what his good-for-nothing aunt actually did. He doesn't know the depths of Jeana's betrayal.

Our own mother tried to use her as a bargaining chip. She tried to throw her to those wolves just to settle her own debts.

I looked down at Jay, her small frame looking so vulnerable under the covers. I won't let it happen again. I'll lie to her as many times as I have to. I'll tell her it was a dream until I die, if that's what it takes to keep her from breaking.

I won't let them have her again.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Next chapter at 35 comments ✨

I'm writing the new chapter right now… it's almost finished 🌙💙