Taming the Darkness (Series 3)

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

NAPAHAWAK sa sintido si Zenaia nang marinig ang katagang iyon. Isa na namang mabigat na puwersa ang tila tumama sa kaniya katulad ng nangyari kanina habang naririnig ang mga sinasabi ni Silla. Binawi niya ang tingin sa mga nilalang na nasa harapan niya. She even took a few steps backward, away from Caleb who had been helping her ever since she woke up.

She eyed the teenage boy who has his back on her while watching the others in alert. His posture tells her that he's really willing to protect her from harm.

Dumako naman ang mga mata niya sa mga nakatayong nilalang sa harapan nila: a gorgeous woman who looked ordinary, but not; an elf who had been staring at her ever since they arrived; and another vampire who looked furious about something. She had been attacked by another vampire earlier, and yet she didn't find herself feeling scared of him. Come to think of it, even Caleb is also a vampire. She had seen his eyes turning red and even his fangs while fighting with Silla earlier.

Lahat ng mga ito ay narito para sa kaniya. They were looking for her. She had heard Caleb call them the seven deadly sins.

Who is she? Why are they making such a fuss about her?

Muli niyang inaral ang itsura ng bawat isa. They all looked familiar to her.

Bakas ang matinding pagkagulat sa itsura ng mga ito dahil sa natuklasan. They mentioned about Caleb being a Keeper of something. Muli niyang nilingon ang binatilyo at naalala ang ginawa nito. Itinaas lang nito ang kamay kanina ngunit naghatid iyon ng matinding sakit sa tatlong bagong dating maliban sa dalawang lalaki na nakatayo malayo sa mga ito. Maybe something is very special about him that's why he could protect her.

Zenaia gazed at her own hands that were covered in blood. Wala na ang mahahaba niyang kuko na bumaon kanina sa leeg ng bampira. She could faintly remember what she did earlier. She was able to apprehend the pure-blooded vampire that attacked them. Her eyes wavered as fear began to rise in her being.

What is she, really?

It had felt like she was someone else when she was questioning the vampire. It's as if she had become another person‒a darker version of herself.

Everything that she had heard ever since she opened her eyes doesn't make any sense at all. Maging ang mga pangyayaring naganap ay hindi rin niya maintindihan. She was also still too bewildered about the fact that a vampire came for her to manipulate her memories the moment she opened her eyes.

It's all making her confused. Why would he do that to her? And there's the fact that he'd been doing it for centuries.

Just what is she? Malinaw na hindi rin siya isang ordinaryong tao lamang. Especially knowing that she did really rise from the dead.

"Someone like you... as the new Keeper of the Keys?"

Natawag niyon ang pansin niya at tumingin sa nagsalita. It was the vampire who is standing beside the woman wearing a green dress. The sin of gluttony. Pinagmamasdan nito si Caleb. His red eyes are filled with hate and suspicion. It's as if something unpleasant had happened between the two in the past.

She remembered that Caleb also mentioned that Gluttony was the reason as to why she died. Dahil doon ay muling sumagi sa isip niya ang alaala na nasa loob siya ng isang kulungan at napaliligiran ng mga bampira. Kinilabutan siya at ipinilig ang ulo para iwaksi mula sa isipan ang imaheng iyon.

Nadako naman ang tingin niya sa babae nang ito naman ang magsalita.

"Isa kang hybrid, hindi ba?" tanong ni Veseva kay Caleb at humakbang papalapit. Her face was filled with disbelief, both at the fact that Zenaia is not a three-year-old kid like what they were expecting, and Caleb being the Keeper of the Keys. Hindi na nito sapo ang marka sa leeg ngunit halatang naguguluhan din ito. "I could sense that from you."