The Assassins

Chapter 1

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"Ano?! Si Ravana?! Dumating kanina?"

"Unfortunately, si Wilfag nakatakas, hindi nabantayan ni Diego kagabi. At iyon ang dahilan kung ba't naparito si Ravana." Tinignan ko si Philippe kung ano ang magiging reaksyon niya.

Tama nga ako. Nakayukom na ang kaniyang mga palad. I should have known that this isn't the right time to tell him that Ravana came here and that despicable bastard has escaped.

"Why didn't you do something about it? Hinayan mo lang siyang makatakas! And worse, si Ravana pumunta! Ano sa tingin mo ang iisipin niya?!" Nagulat na lang ako nang bigla niyang ihampas ang isa sa mga upuan. Sa inis ko, I casted a spell that would lift him up to the ceiling.

"Put me down Cosette," umiling lang ako sakaniya, "for pete's sake put me down!"

"Hindi ka bababa dyan hangga't hindi ka kumakalma! Tignan mo, pati mga gamit ko dinamay mo pa sa galit mo. Calm down, okay?" Mukhang natauhan naman siya sa sinabi ko kaya bigla siyang natahimik.

Ewan ko ba kung bakit gamit ko yung napagbubuntungan niya kapag galit siya. I waved my hand to reverse my spell, nakakaawa kasi yung posisyon niya.

"Ayokong maging unfair sa'yo. I know it's my fault. I'll be doing a locator spell so please, huwag kang mag-iingay." He glared at me. "Mukha bang ganoon ako? Just do what you must."

I gathered all the items that'll help me to do the spell, but there's one more thing that's missing: a witch's blood. I can't cut my wrist if Philippe is here, lalo na't nagagalit siya. So I kicked him out of my room, and the look on his face was hilarious.

After mixing all the items together, I cut my wrist and poured my blood on the map that is in front of me. As I began chanting, my blood started to scatter in the map.

After a few chantings, my blood went to a specific country, Vietnam.
So that bastard went all the way to Vietnam. Akala niya siguro hindi ko siya mahahanap. He's messing with the wrong witch.

Agad kong tinawag ang kapatid ko para ipakita kung nasaan ang hinahanap namin.

"Kailan babalik si Marquis?" Tanong niya habang tinititigan ang map.

"Sunday. He's with Valaria."

"The half-blood witch?" I nodded.

"You have to summon Marquis right now. Wala na tayong oras."

"Then you have to get out of here." He gave me a confused look. "Ayoko ng may nanonood."

"Ugh! Fine!" He said while slowly walking towards my door. Before he could even touched the doorknob, he turned around and said, "You look great today, Cosette." I just laughed at his compliment.

I need to summon Marquis, or else Philippe would kill me. At dahil isa akong masurin na kapatid, I grabbed Marquis' used shirt and a yarrow herb to complete the items I needed. I started to chant.

Deux homme et une fille
Hastas fille et un garcon
Deux homme et une fille
Hastas fille et un garcon

Un deux chat e un cheval
Bonne nuit enchante
Un deux chat et un cheval
Bonne nuit enchante

"Really, Cosette? Kung kelan naliligo ako?" I opened my eyes and saw my naked brother in front of me. Agad kong tinakpan ang mga mata ko. Ugh! My virgin eyes!

"I'm sorry, Quis. But this is urgent. We need you! So please, pumunta ka na sa banyo ko! Bilis!"

After a few minutes, lumabas na si Marquis sa banyo na bihis na bihis. Sabay na kaming pumunta sa sala kung saan si Philippe ay naghihintay.

"Marquis, why are you wearing Cosette's clothes for Klaus' sake?" I turned to Marquis who was glaring at me.

"My bad. Hehe."

"You know what, Cosette? Next time, I'll be summoning you when you're in the middle of making out with Haro--"

"Enough! The both of you shut up! Wala tayong magagawa kung puro kayo ganyan!" I could tell that Philippe's really annoyed.

"Sabihin mo na kay Marquis kung saang lupalop nagpunta si Wilfag." I nodded in response.

"He went to Vietnam. For sure nandoon sila Hannibal. And just so you know, Ravana was here earlier."

"Hinanap ba niya ako?" Umiling ako.

"Then let's go to Vietnam! Just the three of us!"

"No. Hindi sasama si Cosette. Hindi pwedeng walang maiiwan na isa sa atin dito." Marquis looked at me as if he's asking me if I wanna go with them.

"I'll be fine, Quis. Besides, Kierra will be here, okay?" I smiled at him.

"Okay."

"We'll be leaving tonight." Napalingon naman ako kay Philippe.

"What about the tickets?"

"Si Diego na ang bahala doon. Marquis, pack your things now." Pagkasabi niya non, agad na silang umakyat sa kani-kanilang kwarto para ihanda ang kanilang mga kagamitan.

To be honest, I wanna be with Marquis. I haven't seen him in four freakin' months. Pero si Philippe talaga ang masusunod sa amin, hindi ako.

***

"You better take care of yourself while we're gone, okay?" Philippe said while hugging me.

"I will. Kayong dalawa rin mag-iingat. I'll be in touch." Nang makawala na ako sa yakap ni Philippe, pumasok na ako sa loob para puntahan si Marquis.

"Hey."

"Ikaw na lang yung inaantay sa baba." Sabi ko habang yakap-yakap ang jacket niya.

"Are you sure you'll be fine here all alone?" He asked.

"I'm not alone, Quis. Pupunta si Kierra dito. I'll be fine. Kayo nga dapat ni Philippe ang mag-ingat. You don't know how dangerous this mission is. Hindi lang iisang Strigoi ang nandoon."

"Hey, we'll be alright. Pagkatapos neto, aalis tayo nila Philippe, we'll take a day off." He smiled at me. The most genuine smile he could ever give.

Sabay na kaming lumabas ng gate kung saan naghihintay si Diego at si Philippe. Nang makapasok na sila Marquis at Philippe sa sasakyan, inakay na ako pabalik ni Diego sa loob ng bahay.

I went straight to my room, I needed to check on my crystals to see if someone's trying to sabotage my brothers' mission. If there is someone's trying to stop them, it has to be Gerald.

Gerald was one of us before he turned his back on our council because of some half-breed werewolf. At first, the council approved their relationship. Pero nang malaman nilang nakapatay ng apat na Dhampirs ang nobya niya, they forbid Gerald from seeing her. That's why he was against us now. I can't blame him, nor the council.

He and his lover tried to kill Ravana, but Philippe was there to save her ass and accidentally stabbed Xandra. At iyon ang dahilan kung bakit niya palaging pinipigilan si Philippe tuwing ipinadadala siya ni Ravana kasama ako.

Isang beses, muntik nang mawala sa amin si Diego dahil sasaksakin niya sana si Philippe. It was Hannibal who ordered Gerald to kill Philippe.

Yes, Gerald's one of the Kilgores now. Simula nang tanggalin siya sa Council, mas pinili niyang sumama kay Hannibal para lang makasama niya Xandra. I guess we all do crazy things because of love. And it hurt me so much.

Pero hindi lang iyon ang dahilan kung bakit niya kami palaging pinipigilan. It's because he hated us so much because he thought we convinced his sister that he's not coming back. Although I was also convinced that was never coming back.

Pero hindi iyon ang gawin namin. Yes, we do kill vampires. But not the vampires on the same council. That's beyond the laws on our Council.

Nataranta na lang ako ng biglang gumalaw ang isa sa mga crystals ko. At laking gulat ko nang gumalaw ito sa dereksyon ng larawan ko.

"Hey there, Ginger! Long time no see."

***