The Devil Who Wears My Eyes

24: The Grave Hearts

Papalapit nang papalapit ang kasal ni Daddy. Palala rin nang palala ang pag-alaalala ko dahil simula nang gabing maulinigan kong nag-uusap sina Mommy Kayla at Tito Jeremy sa kalagitnaan ng gabi ay hindi ko na alam kung ligtas pa ba kami. Simula nang gabing iyon, pakiramdam ko ay lahat ng tao rito sa bahay ay kaaway ko. Lahat ay may tinatagong sekreto. Lahat ay kaya akong saktan para sa mga sari-sarili nilang intensyon.

I do not know who's real anymore.

Lahat ng taong nakapaligid sa akin, alam kong kayang-kaya akong paikot-ikutin dahil bulag ako. They must be okay that I am being taken advantage for because of this. Only Nanay Meera is the real one this house.

"'Nak, mag-absent muna ako ng tatlong araw." She said later. Kakatapos niya lang akong i-assist sa pagligo ko at ngayon ay inaayos niya ang bihisan ko. "Graduation na ni Ranz sa isang araw kaya naman maghahanda muna kami. Isa pa, kasal na ni Sir Jaime sa kaparehong araw kaya naman dapat lang na i-enjoy mo ang mga araw na natitira bago sila umalis."

"Umalis? Ano pong ibig ninyong sabihin?"

"Ah," she said. "Kinausap niya ako noong isang araw. Sabi niya nga raw ay napagkasunduan ninyong pagkatapos ng kasal nila ay aalis na sila rito sa bahay. Ibinilin ka niya sa akin."

I let out a little chuckle. He is ready to throw me away because of that suspicious woman. He is ready to leave me, his blind daughter alone, to go and build another family who is cleary just marrying him for his money - my money. Hindi ko alam kung dapat ko ba siyang tulungan o pabayaan na lang. He has always been a blind man. Hindi imposibleng hindi rin siya mabulag lalo sa mga susunod pang mangyayari. He is already blinded by this marriage, hindi ko na lang alam kung ano pang kaya niyang gawin.

"Ano pa po ang sabi niya?"

"Siya raw naman ang magpapasahod sa akin. Ang kaniyang bilin lang e ireport ko raw sa kaniya lahat ng kilos o gawa mo."

"At ano pong sabi ninyo sa kaniya?"

"Syempre sabi ko oo pero hindi talaga." Nanay Meera even laughed. Therefore I love her. We are always on the same page. "Sabi ko lang oo pero hindi ko naman talaga irereport sa kaniya ang mga ginagawa mo."

"Salamat, 'Nay."

She kissed my forehead. She knows how I am hurting inside because of Daddy Jaime. She knows how lonely I am in this house that is why she is my only person here. Mayamaya naman ay lumabas na rin siya. Akala ko naman ay bumalik siya kakaagad matapos ang ilang minuto ngunit agad akong nagkamali. I expected him to come and ruin me any day now. His disgusting chuckle, it irks me all the way.

"Ariella..."

I still cannot believe the words I heard from the conversations he had with Mommy Kayla. I am more than confused and bothered about them knowing each other like that because as far as I am calculating, they are not just friends of some sort. They are deeper than that. I just cannot pinpoint it.

"Why are you here? Tanghaling tapat. Maraming tao sa labas. Mahuhuli ka kapag ginalaw mo ako." Simpleng sambit ko na lang. I sounded like it does not bother me at all, but deep inside, I wanted to die. Breathing the same air with him, it makes me feel so disgusting. Let alone the fact that there is no day that passes by that I did not forget how he took advantage of my body then and now. "Marami tayong kamag-anak sa bahay ngayon. If you start acting weird, one way or another, someone will catch on."

He chuckled again. "You are smarter than I thought. Kaya pala hindi ka takot na hindi maglock ng pintuan ng kwarto mo dahil alam mong mas maraming mga mata ang narito sa bahay. You know that I am not playing with you because someone might see not like before...where only you and me are always in the house."

Nanindig ang mga balahibo ko. Hindi siya humahakbang papalapit sa akin at nananatili lang na nakasandal sa may pintuan sa tantiya ko ngunit sukang-suka na ako.

"You and Mommy Kayla seems to be close." I said.

Kakaagad akong nakarinig ng katahimikan. It is as if he did not see it coming. Of course, I intentionally did that to see a reaction from him. Ang hindi niya pa lang pagsagot kakaagad ay sapat na para patunayang may kakaiba nga sa kanila. I never saw the two of them interacting like how I overheard last last night in front of the other family members. Ni hindi ko nga sila narinig na mag-usap sa hapagkainan. I just want to tease him and give him a head's up that somehow...I know something.

"Well, she's going to be my sister-in-law. Might as well start befriending her." He said. "Your nanny...seems like sobrang close kayo. You would not want her gone, don't you?"

His nasty chuckle made me shiver in disgust. That is a direct warning for me but also a direct confirmation that he does not want me to open up Mommy Kayla with him again. It is a win-win for me. It just made me so sure that I am not just going crazy. I am still thinking straight and not delusional.

"Tatlong araw na lang, Ariella. I will play with you soon. Before I leave this house, we will play." He said. Akala mo ay talagang sinisigurado nang gagawin niya nga ang sinasabi niya. He is confident about it. "I will not leave without playing with you again because the last time we did the play, I played with myself for the whole week every night just imagining us doing it again and again."

He disgusts me to the core. Every word he says, it disgusts me. I cannot wait to go and cut his tongue along with his dick.

"Three days...I will kill you soon. I will not let leave this house breathing." I warned him. He chuckled.

"That just made me excited, Ariella. You do not know how bad I want to play with you right now."

He left after that. Doon lang ako nakahinga nang maayos at agad na bumuhos ang luha sa galit.

I will kill him.