Blood Hunt : Project Zero

[3] 2. A visit

[Cyrene]

Hands shivering, eyes crimson red shining under the sunlight. 

I couldn't believe it. I'm under the sun!

Hindi ako makapaniwala, nakatulala sa tuktok ng kastilyo, ninanamnam at sinusulit ang kada segundong kaharap ko ang araw. Dozens of questions kept appearing on my head, dozens of theories are starting to form.

How? Why? What happened?

Was it because of the blood I drank? Was it some kind of dream? Was it because of Crown's Blood? Or . . . it has something to do with me being a project?

Magkadikit ang dulo ng kilay ko, napatingin sa mga kamay ko. I have vague memory of what happened during the experimentation, the process, the procedure. Now, I'm starting to wonder and it piqued my interest.

What really am I? What is a project?

"Cyrene . . ."

Natigilan ako nang may marinig na pagbulong. Mahina, pero klaro. Mas tumalas ang pandinig ko. I immediately looked for where it's coming from, my feet took me inside the castle. Maraming sira-sira sa loob, nagkalat ang debris.

I was worried to see the sunlight peeking on the holes, small and big—as in 1/8 of the whole room. The amount of sunlight getting in can kill thousands of vampires.

Pero nawala ang tinik sa lalamunan ko nang makita ang isang katawan na nasa sulok, ilang talampakan na lang ang layo mula sa liwanag. Agad akong lumapit sa katawan ni Kira na naliligo sa sarili niyang dugo.

I bit my lower lip when I see her smoking. Marahan ko siyang inilayo mula sa liwanag at dinikit pa sa pinakamadilim na pwesto ng silid. 

Buhaghag na ang buhok niya, kahit itim ang kimono na suot ay kitang-kita ang dugo rito. Her wounds are not healing, there's a huge hole on her chest. Really, the vampires' abilities are on a different level, she's still alive.

"We won," bulong ko. "You can't die now, you still have to pay me," dagdag ko.

Gamit ang matulis na kuko, walang pag-aalinlangan kong pinadaan ang ang hintuturo ko sa pulso ko. "Consider it as a payment for giving me a drop of your blood."

Lumapit ako sa kaniya at yumuko. Hindi ko pa tuluyang nalalantad ang kamay ko, agad na napabangon si Kira. Instead of going straight to my wrist, she went to my neck. I felt her sharp fangs piercing through my skin, the blood emerging from the 2 holes. Before flowing down on my skin, I felt her tongue and cold saliva on my neck, drinking my blood.

I just sighed. Why do I find myself getting suck by a woman every now and then?

It took seconds, that turned into minutes. Kusa ko ng hinawakang ang ulo niya.

"Can you stop now? I lost some too, you know."

There was a sudden pause. Bago ko maramdaman ang pag-angat ng ngipin niya mula sa leeg ko. Walang ekspresyon ko itong ginalaw-galaw.

"We should wait here for now, it's sunrise," kaswal kong ani, hindi pa rin niya 'ko sinasagot. Nang tapunan ko siya ng tingin, bilog na bilog ang pula niyang mga matang nakatingin sa 'kin, may dugo pa sa bibig.

"You . . ." She intentionally paused. "You can walk under the sun."

I just looked at her back for a couple of seconds. She chose to talk about the elephant in the room. I don't know what to react, I don't know what to say. I, myself is confuse as well. But before I could answer, she immediately grabbed both of my hands, eyes full of emotions.

"You should never mention it to anyone." Seryosong-seryoso ang ekspresyon niya, halong pagbabanta at pag-aalala. Wala sa sariling napalunok ako nang malalim, ngayon ko lang napagtanto na namimilog na rin ang mga mata ko.

"There are some vampires that might have seen you, as soon as the sun is gone, we will kill them all. Cyrene, this is very important. You should never show your face now, they should never know that you can walk under the sun," mariin niya 'kong pinaalalahanan.

It's a reaction I didn't expect, but also a reaction that is natural.

Information. It's too risky. Not now, I can't show myself now.

We just killed a pureblood, it's a big deal. If the information about me spread, it will be harder for me to move. Napakagat ako sa ibabang labi. I should be happy that I got to kill one of them, but it wasn't good news.

"Hey," pagtawag sa 'kin ni Kira. Umangat ang tingin ko sa kaniya. "I gave you my word. You're one of us now, I won't let anything happen to you. I will help you with your hunt."

I couldn't answer at that moment. I thought I got it all together, but I was still lost, I'm still wasn't myself. I just trusted Kira with her words, and did what she told me to do. We waited for hours, in our time, it just felt like seconds before the sun disappeared and the sky was painted black.

It was the second night of the hunt.

The night to kill all of the remaining vampires. Inikot namin ang buong lugar, kahit pa ilang kilometro na ang layo mula sa kastilyo. Para lang masigurado na wala ng natira.

We weren't sure if we killed them all. There are dozens of them, but after killing Tsubaki, it felt like they're just pests.

Until 5 days. . . that's when we found out that some of them escaped.

When one night, the moon is crescent, a figure of a man was seen standing in front of the district.

Nakatago ang lahat ng tao sa pinakadulong parte ng district, pinakamalayo mula sa gate. Ang mga owls ay nagbabantay sa harap, nanlilisik ang mga pulang mata sa lalaking nakatayo lang.

I wasn't outside, I was just peeking through the gates.

But I'm feeling it. 

The pressure, the tension. He's a pureblood, definitely. That man with a coat, under the tree that's hiding his features, is dangerous.

He's far, far, far, stronger than Tsubaki.

"Stay here," ani babaeng hindi ko napansin sa gilid ko.

Masyadong nakatuon ang atensyon ko sa labas na hindi ko napansin ang paglapit sa 'kin ni Kira, deretso ang tingin sa harap.

"Kira," pagtawag ng isa pang lalaki na lumapit sa 'min, si Noir na kasunod si Hunter. "He's waiting for you," aniya.

I don't know what to answer. We're still resting after the fight, can we afford another duel with a pureblood now?

I secretly clicked my tongue. My fight with Tsubaki, half of it was just pure luck. It was the sun that really killed him . . . 

"Kira . . ." Pagtawag ko sa kaniya.

Hindi niya 'ko nilingon, dumeretso na siya palabas ng gate. "Just stay there," huling sambit niya bago tuluyang lumabas. Kasama niya sa paglabas si Noir, at naiwan kami ni Hunter na nakasilip sa loob.

Si Kira ang dumeretso sa lalaki, mga sampung talampakan na lang ang pagitan nang huminto siya. 

"What are you doing here?" Ang boses ni Kira ang sumabay sa malamig na hangin.

I heard a chuckle, followed by footsteps. Pigil hininga kong inabangan ang pag-abante ng pigura mula sa kadiliman. Unti-unti siyang tinamaan ng sinag ng buwan dahilan para makita ko nang tuluyan ang mukha niya.

I thought I was looking at Tsubaki for a moment. Same look and eyes, with color of hair just short. Wearing a silver cross under his coat, black pants and boots. The man emerged from the darkness, arms wide open.

"My, my, I was here to comfort a crying Eve. Why am I looking at her right now with her obviously not crying?" Malalim ang boses, kabaliktaran ng kay Tsubaki.

Ngunit kahit gano'n pa man, hindi ako nagkakamali. Alam ko na kung sino siya, at bakit siya nandito.

This man . . . he's here to kill me.

━━━ † ━━━