Taming the Darkness (Series 3)

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

"WHAT do you mean about her rising from the dead? You mean to say that it has happened before?" Paglilinaw ni Caleb.

Tumangong muli ang bampira.

"It's my job to alter her memories every time she woke up from the dead. Just like the most recent life that she just lost four years ago. The memories that she thought she had of her foster parents were all fake."

Nagsimulang manginig ang mga kamay ni Zenaia. Naramdaman iyon ni Caleb dahil nakakapit pa rin ito sa kabilang braso niya.

"Pero bakit? Bakit mo iyon ginagawa sa kaniya?" Hindi niya maintindihan. Why would he do something as cruel as that?

The vampire chuckled. "It's to keep her curse going, of course."

"Her curse?"

"Yes." Pinagkrus ng bampira ang mga braso at matamang tinitigan si Zenaia. "She's been cursed for almost a thousand year now---an endless chain. She'll die whenever she remembered everything about her or, whenever she recognized her true self. And then, she will rise up from the dead depending on the injury that she had received. Dipende sa lala ng natamo niya."

Napahakbang paatras ang mga paa ni Zenaia samantalang naikuyom naman nang mahigpit ni Caleb ang mga kamao. He could feel his own anger cursing through his veins.

He wasn't aware. He wasn't aware that the body he thought was a corpse that he had been protecting for the past four years had gone through a lot of suffering. He couldn't imagine having to die multiple times and ressurect with a manipulated memory.

Ano na lang ang nararamdaman nito sa tuwing dumarating sa punto na naaalala na nito ang lahat?

It could have been so painful. And it is all just too cruel. Imagine experiencing all of that in almost a thousand year.

"But today's case is a bit different," sabi ng bampira. "It took four years for her body to regenerate on its own. Mukhang medyo malala ang huling ikinamatay niya. Usually, it only lasts for weeks or months. The longest was a year and a half when I broke her neck with my own hands."

Caleb let out a loud growl. Hindi na niya nagawang pigilan ang sarili. He badly wants to rip this man into pieces.

That same time, Zenaia gasped in fear. She couldn't comprehend what's really going on. Naguguluhan din siya sa mga pinagsasabi ng bampirang ito. Ngunit, malinaw sa kaniya na matagal nang nasa panganib ang buhay niya.

"Every one thought that this woman was being reincarnated every time she dies. They didn't know that she's just ressurecting." He paces slowly, back and forth, keeping his sharp eyes at them. "And everytime she does, all her memories fade away. It's the side effect of her body's regeneration. As long as her body heals on its own, her memories will always fade from her conscious. And to avoid some confusion, it's my job to provide her mind with a fake memory."

"What kind of help would that do?" Galit na galit na tanong ni Caleb. "You even said that you killed her yourself! Kaya bakit nag-aaksaya ka pa ng oras na gawin ito?"

"Let's see..." He stopped his pacing and took a step forward. "I'm a couple of centuries year old. My life was boring, especially living behind the shadow of my older brothers, until I was given a mission. And now, watching her life and death had been my sole entertainment. And it's becoming even more interesting now that a lot of things are bound to happen."

"You're rotten," he spat with disgust.

Natawa ang bampira. "I already know that. Sinasabi ko lang naman ang mga ito sa inyo ngayon dahil ito na ang huling pagkakataon na makikita niyo ako. Well, I mean, mo."