University Series #1: The Rain in España (complete)
University Series #2: Safe Skies, Archer (complete)
University Series #3: Chasing in the Wild (complete)
University Series #4: Avenues of the Diamond (complete)
University Series #5: Golden Scenery of
Tomorrow (complete)
University Series #6 (Last): Our Yesterday’s Escape
This story contains spoilers for
University Series #1, #2, #3,#4,#5.
DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
This story is not affiliated with UST/ADMU/FEU/DLSU/UP/other universities.
Please note that I will be using a mixture of reality and fiction when it comes to criminal procedures.
This story does NOT display the proper representation of the real procedures in court.
Do not refer to this fictional story when it comes to understanding the prosecution process and qualifications.
Please be advised that this story
contains TRIGGER WARNINGS, sensitive content, mature themes, and strong language that are not suitable for very young audiences.
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Time.
It was constantly running.
Time does not stop for anyone.
With every second, every minute, or every hour that passes, time moves forward.
I need to keep up with time.
I need to keep walking and walking.
I need to chase it.
I need to run.
Because I don’t want to be left behind by time.
I did not want to stay in the past.
I did not want to stay in our yesterday.
I should move forward and brace myself for tomorrow.
“What are you still doing here, Kierra?
I told you.
We’re done.”
But something was holding me back.
Someone was holding me back.
“What was real in our relationship if you did not love me?”
The questions in my head were holding me back.
I never got answers.
I never got the truth.
“Sorry, I don’t think this will work.”
I have said that to myself and to everyone I meet or try to get to know so many times.
I tried meeting new people.
I tried to still find the love that I was looking for… but everything seemed fake.
It was tiring to get to know new people.
Because I always saw him in them.
My past won’t leave my mind.
“I like flowers.”
He used to give me flowers.
Handpicked or not.
“Oh, I smoke… Do you?”
He used to smoke too but stopped.
I helped him.
He gave me his extra box of cigarettes so he would not see them.
“Winter is my favorite season.
How about you?”
We celebrated Christmas together.
The coldness of winter did not match the warmth I felt in his arms.
“I’m more of a coffee person.
I don’t like alcohol.”
He was not just a coffee person.
He liked making coffee.
He liked baking pastries too.
He liked making drinks.
I already associated the smell of coffee with him.
They would tell me things that always reminded me of him.
I knew everything won’t work out.
I always remembered the good things… but also the bad things.
The things that hurt me the most.
I had been broken twice… but that did not completely destroy me.
I had been fighting all my life.
I had been fighting for myself, for my love, and for my healing.
It was the fight I badly wanted to win.
“You’re growing well…” I whispered to the flowers while watering the plants.
I sat down so I could see the plants more clearly.
There was one that looked like it was about to wither.
“You can do this.
Just keep fighting,” I said to the plant.
They said plants could hear us.
My mom liked talking to her plants.
I let out a sigh while staring at that plant.
I rested my chin on my hand and pouted.
“You’re just like me,” I whispered.
I stood up after watering the yard.
Mommy wasn’t around so I went here first.
I also had to get some documents that Daddy sent to the office.
I also passed by my room to check if everything was in order.
I saw the picture frame on top of my cabinet.
It was a group photo in high school.
We were all wearing uniforms.
I looked at their faces.
Luna was about to get married.
The same with Sevi.
Sam would be next.
Via and Arkin were already married to each other without us knowing.
They said it was just a small ceremony in Spain.
Yanna was already married and had a child.
All of them had partners.
Love… scared me… but I did not lose hope in love.
Seeing my friends with their partners made me realize that one day, the right man will come at the right time.
I just loved the wrong people before.
I always find myself thinking about what I have done in my life.
Because the people around me are doing fine.
They found the right partner at the right time.
They are happy, someone loves them.
They found the one meant for them right away.
What about me?
There is still a lot more ahead of me.
Whenever I see them, I wonder why I still don’t have that?
When?
But most of the days, I was okay.
It wasn’t like I was begging for that kind of love because I was surrounded by people who loved me.
It’s just that sometimes, of course, you think about those things, especially when watching a movie or reading a book, you start to wonder when will I experience that kind of love?
The hope was still there.
It was a good thing… because that hope made me think that I was still capable of love and being loved… by myself, my family, and friends… but there was a certain level of love that still scared me.
My old paintings were displayed inside my room.
I looked at them and smiled to myself.
It was a rest day, so I got a canvas and some painting materials from my dad’s room and decided to paint outside.
The sunlight was not harsh.
I settled in the garden and faced the flowers and the plants.
It was a bright sunny day.
The flowers were dancing because of the wind.
I started painting while listening to music.
I liked colors.
I used a lot of colors to make the painting colorful.
Art always made me calm.
I liked painting nature, animals, and people.
Maybe because in my work that always involved buildings, houses, or the like, nature, animals, and people were a breath of fresh air.
After I finished painting, I let it dry and hung it in my room.
I took a photo of it and posted it on my Instagram.
I had an art account.
That’s where I posted the artworks I made.
It only had a few followers back then.
Just Luna and the others.
I was shy.
“Where did you come from?” Luna asked me while biting into an apple.
I wasn’t surprised anymore that she was here in my condo.
“Do you want some?” she offered to me.
“You already took a bite and it looks like it’s just the core left, and you’re still giving it to me?” I said to her in disbelief.
“I like your dress!” she said about my white dress.
“It even got stained with paint.” I looked at it.
It ended up getting color on it.
She was watching the news on TV while I was in the kitchen looking for something to eat.
I also didn’t know why Luna was here, but since she came to my condo so often, I just got used to it.
I had already moved, and she, on the other hand, was with Kalix.
“It’s still about the attempted murder of Amethyst… I hope the process of the case in the prosecution goes fast.
It’s crazy, everyone is waiting,” Luna said, completely focused on the TV.
“That’s a hot topic,” I replied.
Everyone was talking about how Governor Villaflor might be involved in the recent incident with Amethyst.
Amethyst was the lawyer of Julian Miguel Villaflor in his rape case.
She lost the case, so she was targeted by the other party.
She was shot, but she survived.
There was still no evidence that the governor was involved, but I already knew the speculations of people on social media.
“Oh my gosh, my baby!” Luna was surprised when she saw Attorney Martinez on TV.
He was being interviewed because he was actively pushing the involvement of the governor in the case.
Everything was in chaos.
“The governor will win that,” I said to Luna and let out a sigh.
“By now, they probably already paid the prosecutor in charge.
You know how dirty the system is now.
It’s all about money…”
Luna pouted and shook her head.
“I’ll still hope, Ke!
There’s hope for us… There must still be some decent ones.”
“Everyone gets blinded by money,” I said while boiling water.
“We don’t know the system inside.
I heard that in his son’s last case, the prosecutor wasn’t decent either, right?
If it weren’t for Amethyst being the lawyer, *sigh* that case would’ve been dismissed too and he wouldn’t be in jail right now.”
“That can’t be!” Luna was really oblivious.
She had strong faith because the man she would marry was a decent lawyer.
Of course… but my experiences were telling me how sick the system was.
Miguel never got the punishment for what he did to me because he was backed up by his powerful family.
They hid everything under the rug and pretended that everything was back to normal.
They thought it would just be forgotten… like it never happened.
If only it were that easy to forget, I wouldn’t have struggled for years.
I wouldn’t have needed to go to the doctor all the time.
I wouldn’t have been afraid to sleep at night.
I wouldn’t have needed to always watch comforting movies just to be able to sleep properly once I got to bed.
I wouldn’t have had to suffer.
I wouldn’t have had to carry all those heavy memories until I grow old.
I was the only one bearing the suffering and the pain, while he was living freely outside… not until he lost the case.
He deserved to rot in jail.
I wish he had taken his father, and his whole family with him.
I longed for that day.
“Come with me, Ke!
I’m going to the firm!
I don’t have a car because Kalix just dropped me off here.” She stood up and stretched.
“Later, after we eat,” I said to her.
This pregnant one, really!
“You’re getting more and more annoying…”
“You’re so overacting,” she shot back at me.
We just had a quick lunch before I accompanied her to the firm.
She forced me to get down just to at least say hello to her Kalix, so I just parked and went with her to the elevator.
Kalix’s office was on a high floor.
When we got out of the elevator, I saw many clients waiting outside, but Luna kept walking straight and she wasn’t stopped when we reached the reception.
How embarrassing!
Kalix was apparently on lunch break because when we entered, he was eating a sandwich while talking to Amethyst in front of his table.
She looked okay.
She was recovering well.
“Hello!” Amy greeted us and stood up when she saw us.
Luna went straight to Kalix to hug him.
“You’re carrying so much.
Where did you come from?” Luna asked Amy.
She was holding a lot of folders.
“Oh, these are from Kalix… but I came from the prosecutor’s office,” Amy answered and smiled at us.
“I met with Prosecutor Lopez for the investigation.”
I froze for a moment when I heard that name.
Luna also looked at me, lips slightly parted.
I already knew what she was thinking.
I gave her a look.
“Oh dear… Villaflor will get away with that.” I shook my head and rolled my eyes.
“It will be the second Villaflor he will send to jail if he wins this case,” Kalix said to me.
I frowned in confusion.
“Huh?
What do you mean by that?”
“He got the first prosecutor of Miguel’s case suspended and replaced him.
He won the case with no mercy,” he explained to me.
I couldn’t speak out of shock because it was only now that I learned that information.
As much as possible, I wanted to be out of their reach.
I only felt at ease when I found out he was already in jail.
But I didn’t know he was part of it.
“What is it, Kalix.
Leave her alone.
My cousin has the right to be angry!” Luna defended me.
“You’re not even close with Sunday!
Who knows if her attitude back then is bad now…”
“We’re actually close—”
“Hep!” I raised my hand.
“I’m not interested in knowing anything about her anymore, okay?
I’m done with that.
I’m done!”
“What really happened between them again?” Kalix asked Luna in confusion.
I could ask the same thing.
Until now, I still had so many questions that were unanswered.
For years, I kept thinking why… what did I do wrong to him that he was able to do that.
He was able to leave me just like that… as if he never loved me.
If he didn’t love me, then what was that I felt?
It was real to me.
Everything seemed real to me.
But then… it was always like that.
I immediately said goodbye to them because I said I still had somewhere to go.
I just passed by a drive-thru to buy snacks.
I couldn’t open the burger so I looked at it first and let go of the steering wheel for a moment.
“Damn it!” I shouted and quickly stepped on the brakes when I almost hit a car backing out from the parking of a restaurant.
I immediately removed my seatbelt and got out to check if my car got scratched.
Who was that idiot?!
“Where the hell are you looking?!
I’m already backing up and you’re still going straight!”
“You’re the one not looking!
You saw me passing—” I stopped when I turned to look at the man who got out of the expensive car.
We both froze when we saw each other again.
“You were saying?” He raised his eyebrow at me.
I cleared my throat, pretending that I was not affected by his presence.
“You saw that this is a driveway!” I even spread my arms.
“You should look behind first if there’s someone passing before you keep backing up like that!”
“Half of my car was already on the road.
You should have seen it from afar and slowed down,” he argued more.
“And I’m the one at fault!”
“Then who?
Me?!” he said in disbelief.
Instead of arguing further, I just scoffed at him and turned my back.
“Nonsense!” I shouted.
“Hey, I’m talking to you!” he shouted at me too.
I ignored him again and kept walking, now even hurrying.
I only stopped when I heard his sarcastic laugh.
“Architect Ynares!” he called me again.
“I know you’re avoiding me, but this isn’t the right time to run away!”
“It didn’t even hit, right?!
I’m not running away from anything, Prosecutor Lopez!” I shouted back at him irritably.
“What else do you want to happen?!
There was no crime!
Don’t act like that!”
Prosecutor Lopez… We were just talking about him.
He was… again… in front of me with his formal attire like he just got out of a meeting.
I kept on running and running away from him, but we kept on seeing each other.
Why now?
After knowing everything Kalix told me.
“What?
Do we still have something to talk about?
It didn’t hit anything so it’s fine.” I said when I noticed that he was staring at me like he wanted to say something.
“What else are you going to say?”
He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair before letting out a sigh.
“Just… be careful.
Eyes on the road,” he said seriously before going back to his car.
“You might get hurt.”
I sarcastically laughed at those words.
“You’ve got some nerve,” I replied.
He should have thought of that before breaking my heart.
He should have that warning plastered on his face.
Be careful, huh… Little did he know that he was one of the dangers I did not prepare myself for.