Past Shadows

Alisa’s Perspective

“ * Sobs * “

At a rear window of an uncompleted building, Alisa sat, covering her face with both her hands which were supported by her laps. Tears spilled drops after drops, sliding down her cheeks. Her quiet and soft sobs could be occasionally heard escaping her mouth. Her state was nothing short of pathetic.

She was sick and tired of being faulted over and over again, about something she knew had to be done. Plus being repeatedly forced to assume a culture she felt was flawed.

Yes, even she had to agree that becoming a rascal or ruffian wasn't a good way to live. But merely acting out of self defence to deter future troubles before they came isn't bad either. On the contrary, she believed it was the best way to live.

This was the point of contradiction between Alisa and her mom, June.

June believed solely in absolute peace, with no room for a change of heart. Her code of conduct was infinite endurance and a tolerant attitude towards any potentially fight leading farce, to at first prevent the acts.

Alisa on the other hand believed in deterrence by violence. Contrary to her mom’s belief, but seeking to achieve similar result.

From Alisa’s point of view, playing harmless is but an easy road to an early death. People bully those who accept without countering. After all, who doesn't like a free meal. Thus, it is naturally people like June who get bullied frequently.

Sparing one stops nothing. Peace isn't acquired from self peace, but from a collision. After all, a main means of alignment is first collision. Only after beliefs and fists clash can peace be ensued. This depicted Alisa’s perspective of life.

But whether she was right or wrong was her contemplation reference.

‘ Could I be wrong? ‘ Alisa thought.

Take today for instance, she was on her lane running her normal business routine. Yet, a troublemaker like Treasure just decided to pop up and make bad the entirety of a day that was already proceeding pretty much okay for Alisa.

If she hadn't reacted the way she did, wasn't it likely for Treasure to return the next day, repeating the same feat. But as she acted as carlous as she could be, she believed Treasure would never have the mind to go through with such acts a second time. This exactly is the aim of self defense. Instill fear to the perpetrator till he doesn't dare perpetrate anymore. Thus the aim of peace would be achieved. Isn't that for the best.

Why then does mom keep on…

“ Why did you stop? You can no longer bear it. Here I was thinking you were a cheetah or something akin to it. “

“ Wait! it’s a dead end. * Laughter *… “

“ A dead end! * Chuckle *… Seems like even luck is on our side today. “

“ Don’t worry pretty, you won’t suffer too much. * Chuckle *… “

Hearing the sudden ruckus, Alisa snapped out of her thoughts.

She raised her head and gazed forward, presumably towards the source of the ruckus. There, she could make out a few figures even in the darkness due to the unusual sharpness of her eyes.

Recalling the words they spouted, she found it to be a bit vulgar. Thus, they could very well be a group of men making out with a p********e. If so, it wasn't her place to interfere. At least not after the drama between her mother-daughter duo during the day.

‘ But I can't be here and watch them do this nonsense. Why didn't they take her to a hotel instead? ‘. Though she decided to not interfere, her discontent with them couldn't be dissipated.

Firstly, she was a Christian. f*********n was something she frowned upon heavily. Second, on an open road, seriously? People’s shamelessness nowadays was simply beyond measures. But for the first time, she chose listen to her mom and turn away.

Alas, there was a problem.

The only available route was the one the newcomers just obstructed.

Although, there should be a second route behind. But she couldn't bring herself to take it.

This was the rear of the uncompleted building. Thus, they naturally had to be a front route.

But the front route had long been covered by bushes and cobwebs. It could be considered nothing short of a miracle that the rear had yet to also be covered considerdering both places were deserted.

Then there was also the rumors of the existence of a snake swamp after the bush.

Though she didn't believe in such rumors, such risk shouldn't be taken lightly. She couldn't tread that path. Especially not at night.

Thus, she came to a conclusion.

With a little plunge, she got off the window reserve. Then she took soundless strides forward, transversing meters like they were just a meter.

Her aim was to stealthily approach and pass by without their knowledge.

Alas, it didn’t go as planned.

Not because she was caught in the act, but because she heard things that made her pause her movement.

They weren’t going to make out with her. They were out to r**e her and maybe even, kill her…

Fury quickly clouded Alisa’s mind. This scums… Do they even deserve to live. What gave them the guts to take another’s life on a whim. Even think of r****g her before doing so.

She was about to rush forward and intervene as usual. But on a second thought, she paused.

‘ What if I’m wrong? ‘ She thought.

What if she got the entire scene wrong. They could just be a set with a weird fetish. That was something quite common in our today’s generation.

Thus, she decided to observe a bit more, just to be assured before taking action.

Thankfully, she was already nearby and could hear then clearly. Plus she was a black lass from a lineage of blacks. Even her mom and dad were blacks. Thus, playing stealth at a time of such immense darkness was no problem for her.