PHANTOM: Tierra Firme Book 1

13: Mia

NARIRINIG KO ang ingay sa labas, iyong klase ng ingay na kakaiba sa natural na ingay mula sa beach. Hindi ang hampas ng alon, o ang bulong ng maaliwalas na hangin. O ang ingay ng mga ibon sa kakahuyan, although they had been quiet since yesterday.

Kulog. Mula sa kalangitan. Sa kabila na asul na asul ang langit.

It began the day after my walk with Kuya Remi on the beach.

It was Gio trying to break through the wards.

I wasn't alone in the island. Naroon pa rin silang lahat, sinasamahan ako. I was poring through the Grimoire. But of course, it wasn't holding my attention like it did the first day I had held it. Iniisip ko si Gio.

Nasa labas ng wards.

Wanting to get to me.

Was it him? My being bonded to him? Nakapag-usap na kami nina Daddy Edds, and I had made peace with Kuya Remi. Pero sa sandaling panahon pagkatapos kong mabawi ang kalma sa dibdib ko, ay bumalik ang mabibigat na mga emosyong iyon na nagpapasikip sa aking dibdib at nagpapa-upos sa aking paghinga. Gaya din noong una tuwing maiisip ko siya, tuwing mararam-daman ko ang matinding kagustuhang makasama siya.

I think those were his and not mine anymore.

I think I could feel Gio's emotions.

He was in pain.

"Why do I feel like I'm tearing myself apart whenever I have to leave you?"

And that was how I felt, too. Those emotions were tearing my heart apart. Kahit sa pagtulog ay nadadala ko iyon sa aking panaginip. I could not remember the dreams when I wake up, but I felt like I was being torn apart inside. There was nothing in my experience that could resemble that tearing, not even when my mother died.

It was too painful, too old, too... ancient.

Did it feel this way when Rosa Mia died?

The third day, I went out the house and walked on the sand towards the sea. Could he see me? Could he see me trying to go to him?

Nakarating ang aking yapak na mga paa sa tubig. Nagsimula akong maglakad, at tumataas ang tubig hanggang sa aking beywang habang palalim nang palalim...

"Mia? Mia!" narinig kong tawag ni Daddy Edds. "Iha, saan ka pupunta?"

Pumihit ako para makita siya. Naglalabasan na rin sa bahay ang iba. Tumatakbo si Ian at Kuya Remi patungo sa beach.

"I can't take this anymore," sabi ko sa kanya sa nakikiusap na tinig.

"Iha, you can't break the wards."

I wasn't sure about that.

I could feel the energy, swirling around me, catching the water around my waist, and it was moving, following the sway of the flow.

Nakikita nila iyon. At gaya nang naisip ko, iyon na rin ang nakikita kong pinag-aalala ni Daddy Edds.

That I could take the wards down.

It was those emotions. It was waking something up in me. Kahapon pa, nararamdaman ko iyong naiipon, umiigting sa center ko. And I could feel that it was solidifying, getting ready to burst... wanting to get Gio. To stop his pain.

Napatakbo na si Daddy Edds hanggang sa makarating na rin siya sa tubig. "Iha! Hindi lang si Gio ang nasa labas!"

Nakita ko agad sa isip ko iyong mga nilalang na nakita ko sa labas ng wards ng isla ni Gio. They weren't looking friendly.

Why were they outside?

Napapihit ako pabalik sa direksyon ng dagat, sa wards na hindi ko nakikita.

Gio was out there, trying to get in, while fighting off those creatures.

Monsters.

Umangat ang mga kamay ko sa ere, my energy... my power rising with it. I couldn't stop it. I just couldn't stop.

My intention was there. It went with the power. A big host of water went with it. Majik was conjured.

"Aaahhhhh!" sigaw ko. It was too much.

I heard an ear-splitting noise. It was tearing on the wards. I saw cracks forming... no. Parang telang napilas.

The ward gave.

I saw a line on the water where the wards that cover us from the outside stopped.

The water from the outside was red, mixing into the water from the beach.

Red with blood.

At sa mga katawang nasa tubig, nakalutang o naglalangoy, hindi ko agad makita si Gio.

Until I saw one man struggling to get away from the rest of the creatures.

I instantly knew it was him... the shape of his head, his wide shoulders, the outline of his blood-stained face – I knew all those by heart.

Ni hindi ako nag-isip. Ni hindi ko namamalayan ang aking ginagawa. My open palms hit the water and my majik spread on to the surface, gathering speed, hurtling towards just one place.

I saw the creatures being thrown away from Gio. Water around him exploded. And then he was gone.

He wasn't there anymore.

And sprays of liquid were showering all over the place.

Noong nagpatakan ang mga iyon sa aking mukha at mga braso, ang nakita ko ay pula at nakakadiring berdeng mga kulay. Dugo. At maliliit at pinong mga piraso ng laman at buto.

"G-Gio...?" naibulong ko.

But he wasn't there anymore. He wasn't just there anymore.

I think I might have killed him.