Only Ever After

Kabanata 53

Kabanata 53

Nagmistulang may sariling buhay ang mga luha ko, I even blinked thrice to make sure I was seeing the right person, hindi ko matanggap ang sinapit ni Tita Imelda, who can do something this brutal?!

"Bakit nakabukas ang ilaw doon?" Narinig kong tanong ni Lessy mula sa malayo, narinig ko naman ang tinig ni Capo ngunit hindi ko gaanong maintindihan.

I continued crying, naalala ko ang sakripisyo ni Tita Imelda para makatakas ako, kung wala siya ay malamang kasal na ako kay Yazi...

Narinig ko ang apak na lumalakas, senyales na palapit nang palapit sila, pagkatapos ay tumigil na ang apak, I heard Capo gasp, Lessy shrieked at the sight.

Umalingawngaw ang sigaw niya, lumingon ako at nakita ko si Capo na agad niyakap si Lessy at tinakpan ang mata, seryoso ang mukha niyang tumingin sa akin, "do you know her?" He didn't even bother with the name labels anymore.

I sobbed and nodded, "s-she's my mother's twin, siya ang tumulong sa akin upang makatakas..." Hindi ko napansin na mayroon na pala si Liham, nakatayo siya sa pintuan, nakasuot lang siya ng boxer at halatang kagigising lang, did he run here when he heard the scream of Lessy?

Agad siyang naglakad palapit at hinila ako para yakapin, he let me rest my head on his shoulder and I continued crying, "hush..." Pagpapatahan niya, sunod namang dumating si Achilles, halatang nagulat din siya sa nakita.

Tumingin si Liham kay Capo, he raised an eyebrow when he saw how intimate they were with his sister, ngunit hindi na siya nagsalita pa tungkol sa kanilang dalawa, "give her a proper burial."

Tumango si Capo at tumingin kay Achilles, nagbuntong-hininga siya at tumango na lang kay Capo.

Lumapit si Liham sa bangkay, he covered his nose when he was near it, tila sinuri niya ang katawan, tumigil siya sa at tinignan ang paanan ni Tita Imelda. "The killer carved something on her skin."

"What does it say?" I tried not to shake, humugot ako ng malalim na hininga, pakiramdam ko ay nanlalambot ang mga tuhod ko.

"I know you're here." Binasa ni Liham ang inukit nila sa mismong kutis ni Tita Imelda, hindi ko na napigilan ang sarili ko at lumapit para tignan, they carved a wound on her skin to form words, they butchered my beloved aunt, she didn't deserve this. Ginawa nilang aso si Tita, whoever did this is not human.

Tila kumalma na si Lessy, she went back to her composed self, tumingin siya sa amin, "this is a sign."

"Sign?" Naguguluhang tanong ni Achilles.

Tumango siya at lumapit sa bangkay, if she was afraid she did a great job hiding her true feelings, "Mimi said that this is her mother's twin, I have a twin." Lessy's face became grim and serious, "this is the way of my twin sister telling she knows we are here, at paano niya malalaman na pumunta tayo dito?"

My eyes widened, "there is a traitor..." I said, finally seeing it.

Lessy nodded, "whoever it is might be one of us here, it might be Capo or Achilles but Capo was with me the entire day and Achilles just knew we were coming here a few hours ago, it can't be you since this is your mom's twin and I know you and Liham had been together the whole day too, plus the smell of the body says she died days ago, pwedeng pineke nila ang pagbigti kaninang hapon. But that is not the point."

As if reading her mind, I talked. "Tita Imelda being here means there are traitors in Silician mafia and Lamortel mafia. Tita Imelda was in Lamortel mafia, whoever these traitors are have connections to each other and might be the ones who know Lessy's twin."

Lumunok kaming lahat, this is a bad news. Ibig sabihin nito ay pinaglalaruan kami ng mga tao sa likod nito, hindi naman pwedeng si Stella ang traydor sa aking mafia, what about Castro? Mababa ang tsansa, silang dalawa pa lang ang mga tauhang kilala ko kasi, my mafia have a lot of members.

Still, Liham's mafia and mine having traitors is a bad news.

"This is my twin's way of saying we must be careful." Lessy balled her hands into a fist, "it is not safe here."

"There is no safe place." Liham clenched his jaw, "when there are cracks, the rat will sneak in." Humugot siya ng malalim na hininga para pakalmahin ang sarili, "I will kill whoever the traitors are." His voice was cold and full of promise.

Something inside me agreed. I was blinded by so much rage and hatred, gusto kong gumanti para sa pagkamatay ni Tita Imelda.

"Let's clean this mess." Saad ni Capo.

"Ako ang maghuhukay ng lupa." Achilles said on the spot and rushed out, halatang ayaw niyang ibaba ang bangkay.

"Lessana, take my woman with you, stay close to her upstairs, tutulungan ko si Capo."

Lessy nodded, she took my hand and led me out of the room, tila nakalimutan ko ang pagkauhaw ko, tahimik kaming naglakad pataas, malalim ang iniisip naming dalawa, halatang naguguluhan sa rason ng kanyang kambal.

"I feel that she is being controlled by a mafia, or she is controlling a mafia..." Lessy finally broke the tension in the air, "either way, both are possible. Ang paraan na ginawa sa bangkay ng tita mo, it is a way assassins from a mafia kill, I know a mafia whose assassin kill like that, engraving words to the skin of the dead..."

"Anong mafia?" Malamig na tanong ko.

"Laferro mafia." Lessy frowned, sa gitna ng paglalakad namin ay may nakita kaming anino na naglakad, nagkatinginan kaming dalawa, agad kong binunot ang dalawang shuriken sa hita ko, si Lessy naman ay tumakbo papunta sa pinanggalingan ng anino.

We heard the sound of running, tumakbo na rin ako, "Mimi!" She docked and there I saw a masked man, binuksan niya ang bintana at akmang tatalon nang binato ko ang shuriken, dumaplis ang dulo nito sa braso ng lalaki at pumasok sa likod niya ang isa, ngunit tila hindi siya natinag at tumalon siya, he leaped into darkness...

Tanging dugo lang niya ang natirang pruweba na pinasukan kami, nagkatinginan kami ni Lessy at agad na sumilip sa bintana, wala kaming makita kundi ang dilim.

"What was the noise?" Liham popped out of nowhere.

"May lalaki kanina." Lessy pointed the blood at the window, "Mimi managed to hurt him."

Dumilim ang tingin ni Liham, "did he hurt any of you two?"

Umiling kami.

"Pero tila wala namang dala-dala ang lalaki..." I stated.

Tumingin kami ni Liham sa aming kwarto nang napansin naming nakabukas ito, did the man awhile back entered? Agad kaming pumasok, sinuri namin ni Liham ang paligid at may nakitang itim na sobre sa kama.

Liham went there and took it, binuksan niya ang sobre at binasa ito. Kami naman ni Lessy ay pumunta sa gilid niya para sumilip at basahin din ang nakasulat.

You are cordially invited to Vles Masquerade Party, November 1 at Delerro Hotel, La Mayor. Be prepared.