Who's Next?

And there I woke up on the lower bunk of a 2-deck bed. It was 5:31 in the morning and I so badly needed a glass of water. The darkness kept reminding me of the night before, the night when I pretended to be asleep out of courtesy.

In my memory, I had killed two people out of self-defense as what I kept telling myself. It wasn't as horrific as I'd thought, stabbing two people to death. In fact I didn't see any blood, but I felt each pursuant lunge as if I were deftly puncturing an old couch's upholstery. Each time I felt more confident about taking on the third.

The third man had a murderer's cold exterior and I only had a kitchen knife to try and save the three women in my family with. My two sisters already ran out of the room to call the police. My mother was held hostage for a moment, her throat momentarily in anguish. I told him squarely, "Hintayin natin dumating yung mga may baril." In a sense of urgency, the man let her go. I was left there to deal with him and I took the first swing.

I felt myself swing my right arm, then I knew I was awake.