30 Doors

2nd Door

  I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death. 

-Leonardo da Vinci 

***

There were four of us left: Vlad, Bella, me, and the wounded Andreas. Tatlo ang humahabol saaming samurais. We may have locked the door on the fire exit but knowing how skillful and capable the enemies were, they will still have us. 

For sure. 

Mafia ang kalaban namin. Sinong baliw ang sasangga sa mga patalim?

Andreas. Yes. The guy is a fighter. His strong will, not to mention, his skills as a secret assassin or whatnot would definitely give him the right to stand against those who chase us.

Vladimir can kick and throw some punches but he wasn't trained to kill and so as Bella and I. Pang-kalyeng suntukan lang ang kaya namin.

Tanging si Andreas lang ang may kakayahang harapin sila. I suspect Andreas to be a member of a Mafia as well, sila ni Zyril. Just like Satana, Mildred and Larryson, they were overly skilled and too fatal to deal with. They were born to kill, if not worse; to kill each other.

Andreas, wounded or not, was facing three or even four if Larryson would join the evil team-up. We'll all end up dead.

We need to strategize.

"Grab some cloth! Grab some cloth!", Paulit-ulit na sigaw ni Andreas nang maisandal ito ni Vlad sa silangang bahagi ng second floor--ang parking lot.

Nakatarak pa rin sa kanang binti nito ang matulis na espada habang hawak ng magkabilang kamay nito ang dalawa pang espada.

Mabilis na nilibot ni Bella ang paligid. Hindi ito magkandaugaga sa paghahanap ng telang ipantatali sa sugat ng lalaki. Walang gamit sa floor na iyon, tanging apat o limang sasakyan lamang na nakakalat sa malawak na parking area ng MOS Tower.

"Ang bagal!" Bulyaw ng lalaki na tila nainip sa paghihintay ng tela.

Mula sa isang sulok ay muling bumalik si Bella sa kinaroroonan namin. Walang pasabi nitong inagaw ang matulis na patalim sa kanang kamay ni Andreas.

Wala ni isa saamin ang nakaimik.

Muling tumakbo ang babae sa kaliwang sulok ng ikalawang palapag. Nakadinig kami ng mga nabasag na salamin pagkatapos. Marahil ay may binasag na bintana ng sasakyan si Bella.

Kasunod no'n ay narinig ko ang mga tumatakbong yabag ng babae patungo saamin. May dala itong isang kulay asul na T-Shirt at isang bote na sa tingin ko ay alak ang laman.

Bella was gasping for air as she reached our point. Kaagad itong lumuhod sa gilid ng hindi mapakaling si Andreas. "Mina, hawakan mo ang kamay niya. Vlad, i-ikaw na ang humugot sa espada."

"Just do it. Hindi ako batang iyakin na kailangan pang pakalmahin para huwag umaray. Just remove the fucking sword!" Andreas demanded. He clenched his teeth hard.

Huminga ako ng malalim. Nahuli kong nakatitig saakin si Andreas na tila nagmamakaawang tanggalin ko na ang espada sa kanang binti nito.

I folded the shirt and let Andreas bite on it. He would definitely need it. Then, I immediately grabbed his other sword and cut his jeans across to clear the wounded part. Mas madaling matatalian ang sugat at binti nito to apply pressure and stop the bleeding later on. "Bite hard. I'm not going to count. This will be very p-"