Dark Fairytale (Published under Cloak Pop Fiction)

Chapter 39: Dying Alone in a Coffin

CHAPTER 39: DYING ALONE IN A COFFIN

It brought me back to that night when my parents died and my home was burned to the ground. All the fear, the anger, the hopelessness, and the sadness came back to me all at once. It was like a box of emotion that suddenly opened and spilled all over the place. I wanted to run. I wanted to escape everything. I wanted to run away from him.

"It's you," I said in a hoarse whisper. I was even surprised that I could make a sound.

"That night... it was you..." I repeated.

He didn't answer. But the guilt in his eyes confirmed my realization. And I knew by then that he knew it all along.

"It was you... and you didn't tell me."

Tila mas tumindi ang sakit na naramdaman ko nang sabihin iyon. I felt so stupid. How could I not know that? He was just right in front of me.

"I couldn't tell you because Olga said it brought you trauma and that you couldn't remember everything about it... or that your mind refused to remember that night," paliwanag nito sa nag-aalalang tinig.

Nanatili akong nakatitig sa kaniya. Kung ganoon ay alam din iyon ni Miss Veron and probably even Lev. At wala silang balak sabihin sa akin iyon kung hindi pa naulit ang pangyayaring ito.

"Put me down," nanginginig ang tinig kong wika.

"Emily..."

"Put me down, Declan Novou!" mariin kong pahayag.

He flinched when he heard his name. May gumuhit na sakit sa kaniyang mga mata subalit pinili kong hindi maapektuhan niyon. Halu-halo ang emosyong nararamdaman ko sa pagkakataong ito. Tila ba bumalik ang lahat sa umpisa kung saan ay hindi ko siya lubusang kilala. Ano pa ba ang mga bagay na itinatago niya?

Nag-aalangan man ay napilitan siyang ibaba ako. My knees were weak but I tried to remain standing. Sa puntong iyon ay sunod-sunod na ang pagdating ng mga firetrucks at sinimulan na ang pagsupil sa apoy. Tulad ko ay nanatiling nakatayo ang Casa Eleonor bagama't sigurado malaki ang pinsala nito sa kusina. Bahagya lang na gumaan ang loob ko dahil sa maagang pagdating ng mga bumbero. Someone must have reported the smoke.

"I wanted to tell you but I didn't know how. You weren't ready and I knew that you would react this way–"

"Ikinagaan ba ng konsensiya mo na hindi ko alam na naroon ka noong gabing iyon?" putol ko sa kaniyang sinasabi.

"Emily, please..." may pagsusumamo sa tinig niya.

Nakuha ang aming atensiyon ng pagdating ng mga paramedics. Agad nila akong nakita at nilapitan. Hindi ako nakasagot nang tanungin nila kung nasaktan ba ako. Because I felt like a walking pain; an opened wound that took forever to heal. They just proceeded to check me. Saka ko rin lang napansin ang mga pasa at paso na aking natamo. Nang muli kong balingan ang kinaroroonan ni Declan ay wala na ito. Hindi na rin ako nagulat. It was still dark; the ghost probably needed to do some haunting – just like what it did to my family that night.

Everything must have taken a toll in me because somehow, I fainted. Tila ba kusang bumigay ang katawan ko dahil sa pagod sa pagharap sa mga nangyayari. Nagising na lang ako sa isang silid ng ospital. Nakita ko pa na kausap ni Aunt Isobel at Attorney Verja ang doktor. Nang makita ng mga ito na gising na ako ay agad nila akong nilapitan.

"How are you feeling?" tanong ng doktor.

"I feel weak," paos ang tinig kong sagot.

Napansin ko ang saglit nilang pagtitinginan na tila ba may pag-uusap silang hindi ko alam. The doctor checked my temperature, blood pressure, and oxygen level.