Dark Fairytale (Published under Cloak Pop Fiction)

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

Once I had everything in my life. And then I had none. The castle turned into dust in just a single night. Friends whose name were written on the sand were carried away by the waves. The days I had with my parents turned into distant memories. Suddenly, I found myself lost and alone in an unfamiliar lonely world.

It was one of the darkest nights I had. I never thought of dawn breaking in or the sun shining again. No moon, no stars; only coldness and dark shadows. I was living in an endless nightmare.

But suddenly, I met the most dangerous eyes I had ever seen. The storm and chaos inside those orbs threw everything in disarray. They opened my eyes to a darker world connected to mine. But this time, I wasn't alone. This time, threading the dark waters didn't seem to be scary at all. Because I was with him. I had one of the most dangerous personas in the world beside me. And in his devilry, I found my bravery.

Banayad at malamig ang pagsimoy ng hangin habang nakatayo kami sa tahimik na lugar na iyon. Naaamoy sa paligid ang alay na mga sariwang bulaklak, gayundin ang mga kandilang naguunahan sa pagluha upang mahalikan ang lupa.

Sa malayo'y tila isa lang larawan ng kapayapaan ang lahat. Hindi pa rin ako makapaniwala. Subalit ang patuloy na pagdaloy ng mga luha ng mga taong naroon habang umuusal ang pari ng dasal ay nagpapatunay na hindi lang isang larawan ang lahat. Totoo ang hinagpis, ang kalungkutan, ang bawat pamamaalam, at ang katapusan.

At nang unti-unti nang ibinababa sa hukay ang ataul na kinaroroonan ni Uncle William ay tila pelikulang nanumbalik sa aking isip ang kaniyang mga alaala: ang araw ng pasko na nagtitipon ang mga Devereaux, ang pag-iiwan niya ng mga regalo at hindi paghihintay na mapasalamatan siya, ang paguusap nila ni Daddy, at ang panahong niyakap niya ako nang akala ko'y tuluyan na akong mag-isa nang gabing iyon.

Inilagay ko sa ibabaw niya ang hawak kong puting rosas. Tahimik kong ibinulong ang aking pasasalamat. Totoo ang pamamaalam subalit totoo rin ang pangako ng panibagong simula.

Niyakap ko si Zoey na lumalakas na ang paghagulhol habang pinapanood ang pagbababa kay Uncle William. Naramdaman ko naman si Aunt Isobel na masuyong hinawakan ang aming mga balikat na tila ipinaparating na naroon lang siya; sila ni Uncle Howard na umuwi mula sa bakasyon at tila hindi pa rin makapaniwala sa mga nangyari.

"I'm not a Devereaux. What am I going to do now?" tanong ni Zoey nang magsiuwian na ang mga tao at mangilan-ngilan nalang kaming naroon. Ngayon ko lang nakita na nag-alinlangan siya nang ganoon na para bang hindi na siya sigurado sa mga susunod niyang gagawin. She must've felt out of place now that Uncle William was gone.

"You are a Devereaux. And everything's going to be okay. We're going to be okay," paniniguro ko sa kaniya.

Hindi ko maipaliwanag ang aking naramdaman sa nakitang pagbadya ng liwanag sa kaniyang mukha. That must have been how I looked when Uncle William found and took me in that night.

"Thank you, Emily. And I'm sorry for being so mean to you. For being a bully at school and for trying to steal Jareth away from you – which I'm sure you didn't mind at all. I guess I was just envious of you being a Devereaux. I understand if you try to get even with me. But don't expect me not to fight back because I will!" may himig ng pagbibiro at katotohanan niyang wika.

I let out a short chuckle. "I'm not that petty. Let's do our best for our family and the Devereaux Corporation. Oh, and you can have Jareth."

Umiling siya. "You know that I'm not that smart to be in the DevCorp building. But I'm definitely hot enough for Eremitia so I'll do my best para patunayan ang sarili ko na kaya kong pamahalaan ang Devereaux Hotel doon. And Jareth? He's going to join his cousin, Theo, in the university so I guess it's time to move on," puno ng kumpiyansa niyang saad.