Published under 8Letters Publishing House
"Sino ang tunay na may sala sa pagkamatay mo? Sino? Sino ba sila?"
Five years ago, Eury Genehuges' sister went missing and was brutally murdered. After a storm of devastation, she began to investigate about...
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Dahan-dahang lumabas ng k’warto si Eury para uminom ng tubig. Ilang sandali pa’y naramdaman niyang hindi na siya makatulog dulot ng takot na hatid ng trahedya sa kanya. Bumabalik lamang sa kanya ang mga nangyari.
“Can’t sleep?”
For a second of thought, she felt her world stop when she heard a familiar, annoying voice—Rio Sentimiento, again.
Mabilis siyang napalingon sa direksyon nito. She looked at him while raising her eyebrows and rolling her eyes. Halatang iritang-irita sa presensiya ng binata.
“Fudge! B-bakit naka-towel ka lang? Magbihis ka nga!” natatarantang sambit niya at nagmamadaling tumalikod.
Rio just smirked when he saw her reaction; he even saw her bite nails, which made him chuckle more. “Hubad kong katawan lang pala ang katapat mo, Eury.”
“Hambog!” malakas nitong sigaw saka dumistansya nang kaunti rito.
“Tapos na akong magbihis. P’wede ka na ulit tumingin sa pandesal ko—este sa akin.” Napangisi na lang ulit si Rio, kitang-kita niya kung gaano ka pula ang mga pisngi nito nang humarap na ito mismo sa kanya.
Eury’s cheeks turned red like a tomato. She doesn’t know if it’s the right thing to face Rio like that.
“P’wede ba, huwag mo akong tingnan nang ganyan!” iritang sambit nito.
Rio looked at her from head to toe, but suddenly the look on Eury’s face became serious.
“What’s bothering you? Bakit biglang hindi ka makatulog?” mahinang tanong niya.
Eury’s forehead creased because she wasn’t expecting for his question. “Hindi ko rin alam. Hindi ko nga rin alam kung tama ba ang paghahabol ko sa hustisya para kay Eira. I don’t know; it’s making me tired, but... It’s also making me cry.”
Rio saw how full of pain her eyes were. It was tinted with shades of loneliness and scattered with so much agony. He saw broken scars and irreplaceable trauma.
Napakurap-kurap na lamang ito habang maamong nakatingin sa mga mata ni Eury. For a while, he wasn’t able to answer what she said to him.
“Napapagod ka na ba para sa kapatid mo? Or it’s the idea of looking for justice what makes you tired?” tanong nito.
“Maybe I was just really tired of the idea of me being the one who always chases and I am probably wrong for thinking that you could be the one, the Sentimiento’s, who murdered my sister,” ani Eury saka mapaklang napangiti.
Rio stands beside her. Ngumiti na lang din ito at sabay napabuntonghininga. “It was you; it was really you.”
“A-anong ako? Ano na naman bang kalokohan ’yan?” napailag na sambit ni Eury dahilan para mamula ang kanyang pisngi.
