This I Promise You

33

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"Stay down! Stay down!"

"Protect the Princess!"

Nakayuko ako habang nakahawak sa magkabilang tainga ngunit hindi nabawasan noon ang ingay sa aking paligid.

Lahat ginawa ng mga tauhan ni general upang protektahan ako, pero kada segundong lumilipas at patuloy ang pagpapaulan ng mga bala ng kabilang panig, isa-isa ko silang nakitang tumumba.

My heart is racing as I start gasping for air while my whole body is shaking.

I cried silently as I watched bodies fall right in front of my eyes. I wanted to scream for help, but nothing came out of my mouth. I suddenly felt deaf.

All I could do was pray, because if this is going to be the end of me, I hope Evan will have a successful operation. I hope he will recover quickly and be happy for the rest of his life. I hope he'll find a woman who really deserves his love and effort. A woman who will love him as much as I did, and a woman who will never put him in danger like I did.

"Sover hon fortfarande (Is she still sleeping)?"

"Ja (Yes)."

"Väck henne (Wake her up). Hennes höghet vill prata med henne (Her highness wants to talk to her)."

Hindi ko na alam ang mga sumunod na nangyari, pero nagising ako nang makarinig ng nag-uusap.

Sinubukan kong buksan ang mga mata ko ngunit itim lang ang aking nakikita.

I quickly understood that I was blindfolded and that my hands and feet were all tied up. My mouth is also covered with some kind of tape.

"Vakna, prinsessa (Wake up, princess)!"

Nagulat ako nang biglang may nagbuhos ng tubig sa akin. Naubo ako nang mas malakas nang tanggalin na nila ang takip na tape sa bibig ko. Tinanggal na rin nila ang nakatakip sa aking mga mata.

They were six or more men in front of me, and I glared at them as I looked at each of their faces. Kaagad kong napagtanto na wala ni isang Filipino sa kanila. They were all Swedish.

"God morgon prinsessa (Good morning, Princess). Vill du ha frukost (Do you want breakfast)?"

They all started laughing when one of them said that to me. Mas lalo ko silang tinitigan ng masama.

"Var är jag (Where am I)? Och vad vill du ha från mig (And what do you want from me)?" I hissed at them.

Pinanuod at tinawanan lamang nila ako.

Ginala ko sa paligid ang aking paningin at doon nadiskubre na sa isang abandonadong pabrika nila ako dinala. Hindi ko nga lang alam kung nasa Baguio pa ba ako o nasa ibang lugar na. They probably drugged me so they could take me here easily.

"Blenda är den som sa åt dig att göra det här, eller hur (Blenda is the one who told you to do this, right)? Låt mig prata med henne (Let me talk to her)."

I don't know what I've said to piss one of them off, pero tumagilid ang mukha ko at kaagad na bumalot ang init sa kaliwa kong pisngi ng sampalin ako ng isa sa kanila.

"Hur vågar du beställa oss, va (How dare you order us, huh)?" Untas ng sumampal sa akin.

"Du är redan död i svenska folkets ögon, så du har inte längre rätt att befalla oss (You are already dead in the eyes of the Swedish people, so you no longer have the right to command us)."