KING OF TORMENTS

PROLOGUE

There was a line from William Shakespeare's play that said, hell is empty and all the devils are here. Right now, I believed I was facing the worst of their kind. I stood in my spot with my eyes wide opened and my mouth ajar—totally caught off guard. Ang aking mga tingin ay napako sa pangyayaring hindi ko lubos inakalang masasaksihan ko.

To be honest, I was not afraid of seeing blood and acts of violence. With the life I was cursed to have, death and corpse were common sights. I learned at such a young age how to dance with the monsters dressed up in the most chivalrous suits of the knights. I mastered how to sit with my demons while the world was busy avoiding them. Thus, I found it easier to handle when the people around me, revealed theirs. However, this scene I was unfortunate to witness was different. Kasi sa buong buhay ko ngayon lang ako kinilabutan ng ganito. Cruelty was embedded in my surroundings, but I had never encountered a twisted psycho in my existence, whose mind lacked not only a moral compass, but also the ability to feel even a little remorse.

"Why did you kill her?"

I wanted to applaud myself for still speaking in a monotonous manner despite the urge to raise my voice. The devil turned his head and looked at me. Mas lalo lamang akong kinilabutan nang ngumisi lamang siya. Maliban doon ay wala na akong mababakas sa kanyang perpektong mukha.

My mind attempted to dissect his motives. I'd seen him commit atrocious things, but part of me still clung to the little hope that he did not do it merely for bloodlust, but due to his tough responsibility. That it was a matter of extreme discipline he subjected the Chaosers, and not because he enjoyed scaring the shit out of everyone. However, such romanticizing of his true intention no longer held merit today. Because if my belief was accurate, why would he do this? Bakit hindi man lang siya nagsisi o nagluksa? Akala ko ba...

Muli kong itinuon ang paningin ko sa katawang naliligo sa sarili niyang dugo. Wala na siyang buhay ngunit kapansin-pansin sa nakabukas pa niyang mga mata ang emosyong minsan kong naranasan—betrayal.

She was stabbed in the heart. I knew not even the violent stabbing, or the death itself, could rival the pain and devastation she must have felt when she saw whose hand held the knife. The same hand she dreamt of holding in front of me just to brag she won the battle I have no interest in winning in the first place. I smiled bitterly. I would forever pity this woman for loving the man who, in return, killed her without hesitation.

Bahagya akong lumapit sa kanyang katawan. I kneeled in front of her, ignoring the piercing gaze of the devil behind me. I touched her eyelids in the most gentle way I could, and dragged it downward. Ang bukas niyang mga mata ay tuluyang nagsara.

"Amber..." I whispered in the wind.

I closed my eyes for a moment. If I was raised in a household who believed in God, I would have offered her soul a prayer. But no, my parents raised me with constant reiterations of whom I should worship, or to be precise what I should worship—wealth and glory. Instead, I stayed a little longer beside her, silently giving company to her dead body.

She was not my friend and she would never be my friend, not even close to being called one, but no matter how I abhorred this girl, I was certain she didn't deserve this kind of death.

Love—no matter how I messed it up with my actions in the past, I was still certain it didn't equate violence and death. Maybe I sound like a hypocrite, given my previous choices but I would never have the heart to kill those who offered me their devotions. The only mistake Amber made was loving this heartless beast and losing her sanity in the process.

Napapitlag ako nang maramdamang may kamay ang biglang mahigpit na humawak sa aking balikat. Muli akong tumayo bago ko padabog itong inalis. I turned around and met his gaze. I didn't even try to hide the intensity of my disdain as I looked at the face of the man I abhorred the most.