Part 1 - Wounds of the Past

The story begins in a bustling classroom where students eagerly participate in the lesson. Amidst the lively atmosphere, a 10 year-old student, Scylla, sits quietly at the back, observing her classmates quietly. Though she feels too anxious to join in, she's listening carefully to her teacher in front.

A few hours have passed, the exhausting class has finally come to an end. Scylla carefully gathered her belongings and immediately walked home.

As she opened the door, she was greeted by her mother who was watching TV with a beer in her hand.

"Oh, Scarlet. I'm glad you're safe."

Scylla just nodded in response. She went straight to her room where she changed her clothes, then she went downstairs and washed her face in the bathroom.

While staring at her reflection in the mirror, she wonders what kind of life she has?, what kind of a family is she living with? She looked around the messy bathroom, cracked walls, and dirty toilet.

She went back to her room and used her notebook to distract herself from her harsh reality.

While she was writing in her notebook, Scylla heard her father's voice downstairs. It seems like he's drunk again, complaining about everything inside their home. Scylla got up and locked the doors of her room and turned off the light. She's afraid that her father will see her and scold her again for no reason so she pretended to be asleep.

For Scylla, this is just an ordinary day. Her mother was not an alcoholic back then but that changed when problems started flooding their life. Scylla always thought that she was the problem, even though she was young, she already had a taste of reality.

Scylla usually spends her days locked in her room, afraid of her parents, never having the courage to tell her situation to anyone. She's lucky today, her father did not hit her, he's often angry that Scylla always hides from them and does not do anything useful.

...(A few weeks later)...

It's break time. Scylla can finally eat the piece of bread that she bought at the bakery earlier. Although she's alone at the back of their classroom, she likes it. The peace, and quiet environment is what she always wanted, until her male classmates started joking on her again.

A group of boys approached her.

"Hey, it's the lonely girl! Why are you always covered with bruises, you must be bad at sports." A boy said.

"And you're always quiet, you're so creepy." Another boy said.

The boys laughed. However, the girls heard them and threatened them away. Scylla was really thankful but she couldn't open her mouth and tell them how she felt.

...(A few hours later)...

Scylla stares at her classmates that has their parents waiting and walking with them, she knows she will never experience such things.

She walked towards her home, but this time, she went to a different route, causing her to be late but also get to explore the city.

Unfortunately, when she got home, her father was there. He was furious at her for being late.

"Where did you go? Huh? Don't you know what time it is?"

Scylla tried to respond.

"I... I just-"

"LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!" Her father shouted.

Scylla was shocked by how loud his voice were. Then, she started crying. Just as when her father stood up, her mother approached her from the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Her mom asked them.

"Your daughter went somewhere else. Look! What time is it? That girl needs to be disciplined."

"I'll talk to her." Her mother grabbed her hand and they went upstairs.

"Where did you go, Scarlet? You know your father will be mad if you're late." Her mother asked.

Scylla responded even though she can't stop crying.

"I-I... I j-just want to g-go around the s-streets..." Scylla tried her best to stop crying and speak clearly but she couldn't.

*Sigh* "Don't do that again. Go home as soon as possible after school. Don't go anywhere."

Scylla nodded, wiping her tears on her face. The quiet and emotionless girl finally broke down to tears, expressing her feelings but in the form of crying. She's been collecting her reasons to cry, and now she had the chance to let it all out.

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