Shipwrecked Hearts

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"True to that." Ngumisi si Kid. He's wearing that face again, that creepy look on his face, as if something is about to happen again. I smell nothing but danger coming from him. As if I am being warned about something. What could it possibly be?!

Tumingin si Kid sa kan'yang orasan, "oh, playtime is over." With that, he snapped his finger, bumukas ang pinto at bumungad ang mga pamilyar na mga mukha. Bago pa man ako makapagproseso sa bilis ng pangyayari ay naramdaman ko ang malamig na bagay na dumikit sa gilid ng aking noo. My eyes looked sideward and saw Kid, he was aiming at me his handgun. I tried to protest but I felt his firm grip against my body. "Stop resisting me, Aki..."

"Fucking don't touch her!" Maximo hissed.

"Oh, I will and I will." I gasped when I felt Kid's finger trace my body up.

"I said don't fucking touch her!" Sumugod si Maximo. He was about to stab Kid with his sword when Kid pulled me to confront the sword. Halos isang pulgada na lang ang layo ng espada ni Maximo sa aking mukha. Naramdaman ko pa ang paghampas ng hangin sa aking mukha. Maximo wavered for a few moments and jumped back.

Ngumisi si Kid, "now I found your weakness..."

Nagpumiglas muli ako, "bitawan mo ako!"

"I believe I cannot do that." With that, I felt something stick into my nape, it was a syringe... tila bumigat ang mga talukip ng aking mata, "good night, Aki... you'll wake up soon... and I promise that when you do... you will be back. You will be the Akira Kara I once knew... and you'd forget that Maximo ever existed..."

I resisted against the nozzle that seems to run in my veins. I feel the liquid inside me, slowly pulling the cells of my body into the stream of dreamland. I kept resisting.

"Now, Maximo, if you don't want me... to hurt Aki anymore, put your sword down." Humigpit ang hawak ni Kid sa akin.

No... don't... do not do it, Maximo...

I wanted to say it, but no words came out of my mouth. I felt lightheaded. I felt weak and fragile. My vision became blurry. The chemical seemed to be working now. There's no helping me anymore.

"Tie him up." Utos ni Kid sa mga tauhang pumasok sa silid. With the blurriness of my sight, I witnessed a few of them... those familiar faces...

Pearl... Eli... and... Marco.

~~~

Minulat ko ang aking mga mata. I tried to stand up but my wrists and feet were tied against a white bed. I frantically looked around. Nasaan ako? Napapalibutan ako ng puting mga pader at dingding. I looked at the small window a few meters beside me... ro'n ko napansin ang asul na karagatan... nasa gitna kami ng dagat. Nasa barko ako?

Nagpumiglas ako ngunit masyadong mahigpit ang pagkakatali ng aking mga kamay sa kama, wala na rin ang aking armas na nakatago sa aking hita. My hands balled into a tight fist. I recalled what happened last night.

"Maximo..." bigla akong kinabahan. Nangilid ng luha sa aking mata. I... I drag him back... he could have won against Kid if I wasn't there. I am his weakness. I will only pull him back.

Bumukas ang pinto matapos ang ilang sandali, tumitig ako sa pumasok at nakita si Excel, may puting collar-belt na nakalagay sa kan'yang leeg na tila isang aso. Tumingin ako sa mga taong sumunod sa kan'yang likod at suminghap.

"Pearl..." I watched the girl, then Eli who just looked at me coldly, then Marco... halos malaglag ang aking panga nang makita ang kanang bahagi ng kan'yang ulo. It was... burnt. Mula sa buhok pababa sa kan'yang leeg. He must have been caught by his own suicide bombing but survived.

"Proceed with the Memory Alteration." Utos ni Marco kay Excel at saka tinuro ang makinang nasa gilid. It was familiar. I remember it, somehow, when I was a kid, locked inside an asylum. This... this is the memory alteration machine.

Hindi gumalaw si Excel, doon ko napansin ang hawak ni Marco na tila remote control, he pressed a button and it caused Excel to kneel down, trying to take the collar off her neck. "Proceed with the Memory Alteration or I'll keep electrifying you."

Excel gasped for air when the torture seemed to stop. Ilang sandali ang lumipas at may lalaking pumasok. It was Kid. He winked at me and looked at Excel.

"Ah, why are you kneeling? Start altering my sister's memories."

"No..." matigas na sambit ni Excel. She looked at me with a worried look. "I'd rather die than alter her memories."

"If you refuse to do, then I'll just do it." Bumuntong-hininga si Kid. "Okay." Kid rolled his eyes, "then die." With that, inagaw ni Kid ang remote sa kamay ni Marco. He kept pressing the button, doon ko napansin ang kuryenteng lumalabas mula sa choker na nakasuot kay Excel.

"Aaaaah!" Excel screamed. Her pained voice resonated against the white room. Nagpumiglas ako. Ramdam ko ang paghapdi ng aking pulsuhan habang pilit kumakawala sa pagkakatali.

"Stop it! Stop it!" I felt warm liquid gushing out of my eyes. "Stop it, Kid! Don't hurt her! She's the mother of your child! Stop it!" Dumugo na ang aking kamay dahil sa aking pagpilit na pagtanggal nito.

Kid scowled and stopped the electrification, "mother of my child?"

"Yes, the child you killed!" Halos habol ang hiningang ani Excel. Dumudugo na ang leeg nito dala ng pagkakakuryente. For a moment I thought I'd lose her. "You remember Mermaid?"

Tumaas ang isang kilay ni Kid, "why, yes, I do."

"She's your child, Kid... you..." Excel bit her lip so tight that it almost bled, "you killed our daughter!" She cried. "You killed Serene..." she whimpered. As if it was too much for Kid. He pressed the red button of his remote control, causing a spark at the choker in Excel's neck. Ilang segundo'y isang nakakabinging sigaw ang kumawala kay Excel hangga't sa ito'y humandusay sa sahig ng barko.

"No... no..." I cried, helplessly. "Maximo! Maximo! Maximo!" I kept calling out his name.

"He won't hear you..." Kid snarled, "stop calling his goddamn name for pete's sake!"

"No... Maximo!"

"I said don't call his name! He is dead, Aki! He is gone! Departed! Passed away! I watched him walk the plank last night with his body tied up and you fast asleep. There's no way he can swim in that state! I watched him drown in the middle of the sea! I watched the water end his misery... So, stop calling a dead man's name!"

Mahigpit akong hinawakan ni Kid sa aking panga, hinila ni Pearl ang bangkay ni Excel palabas kasama si Eli. Kinuha naman ni Marco ang remote control sa kamay ni Kid. Pain sipped into my skin... I felt Kid's nails digging their way in. I let out a soft cry. Maximo... is dead? No... that cannot possibly be!

No... I refuse to believe!

I know he is alive and he will come to rescue me!

He will come... I swear my life on it.

There is no way he's dead. He cannot die just like that... he promised me... he swore to me... we will grow old together and make babies... lots and lots of babies... we will name them Life, Ethereal, Sebastian, Tatiana, Akira, and all sorts...

"Don't worry, Aki... I'll bring you back. The old you." Hinalikan ako ni Kid sa aking noo. May sinuot siya sa aking helmet na nakakonekta sa makinaryang nasa gilid. "Commencing Memory Alteration, phase 1."

Maximo...