THE ORIGINALS: BLOODLINE

⚜XVII. Broken neck⚜

Nathaniel Vetrova Lorenzittee

Nagising ako sa ilalim ng kakahuyan. The sky is still dark. And my neck is painful. Kaagad kong inayos ang nabaling buto sa aking leeg bago tuloyang bumangon.

Those bastards of a brothers. Napagkaisahan nila ako.

Imbis na bumalik sa mansion ay mas pumasok pa ako sa kagubatan. I don't know where they are going dahil wala akong alam sa mapa na iyon. I have a medallion with me but I don't know the signs written there kaya kung saan-saan nalang ako pumasok.

Naabutan ako ng araw sa kagubatan. The sun shines brightly at the forest. It's rays went throu the thick branches of the trees. Hanggang sa beywang ko ang taas ng damu sa loob ng gubat.

May mga ibon namang gumagawa ng ingay sa paligid. So even when I'm alone in my own journey, I did find it boring because of the birds singing above the branches.

I got hungry while inside the forest so I take a little hunting. Nagtago ako sa likod ng puno ng makakita ako ng kuneho. I find it gross but I don't have a choice. There are no humans here, obviously. Sa haba pa lang ng mga damu ay halatang walang tao ang dumadaan dito.

Hinabol ko ang kuneho at ng madakip ay kaagad kong ininom ang dugo nito. I left the body behind.

Sa malayo pa lang ay may narinig akong mga ungol ng isang hayop. I focused my ear around me at ng malaman kung saan galing ang ingay ay mabilis akong tumakbo palapit sa bangin. Dinungaw ko kaagad ang nasa baba. I run to where the noise is coming from.

Ng pagdating ko doon ay nakita ko ang dalawang lalaki na may hawak na lambat.

"Hilain mo, Lorenzo!", sigaw ng isang lalaki.

Lorenzo? That name is familiar. I once heard it in our mansion. Ng hilain nga ni Lorenzo ang lambat ay katawan ng isang lalaki ang nakuha nila.

The wind blows at kaagad kong naamoy ang kung ano man doon. The smell of vervain. But there's something that's dominating the smell. It's very familiar.

Kaagad akong tumalon galing sa pinakataas ng bangin hanggang sa tabi ng dagat.

The two men look surprise.

"Nathaniel!?", one of them ask.

Kaagad kumunot ang noo. How did he know me?

"Lorenzo, it's Cecilion!", sigaw ng isang lalaki.

Mabilis silang dumalo sa lambat. They are one of vampires that our family turned. I'm surprise that they are still alive.

Gaya nila ay lumapit din ako doon. There, I saw my unconscious brother covered with vervain and his skin is orange. It looks like it is burned and some peef off.

Mabilis nilang kinuha ang lambat. They washed Cecilion with water, not from the sea.

The vervain washed off. Umubo ang kapatid ko at mabilis na nagdilat ng mga mata.

"You're alive!", Lorenzo laugh. "I really thought you're dead!".

Cecilion coughed again. He got up and sit on the shore. Nag angat ito ng tingin sa kay Lorenzo ngunit kaagad namang dumapo ang mga mata niya sa akin.

"How did you get here?", tanong nito sa akin.

"No. How did you end up like this?", I soat angrily and extended my hands. He took it so I pull him up. "This is what you get for leaving me with a broken neck!".

I eyed him daggers. I'm not mad. I just want to show him I am. Good thing I didn't come with them so I won't end up like this like him.

"We jumped on he cliff", iyon lang ang naging sagot niya. "Where's Ambrogio?".

"Ambrogio?", mabilis na agap ni Lorenzo. "I don't know where he is. We're fishing and we're surprise that it's you inside the fish net".

Nagkatinginan kami ni Cecilion. "Ambrogio jumped with me. He must be there", sabay turo niya sa karagatan.

"We didn't see Ambrogio there. And none of us can go there", sabi ng isang lalaki.

I don't really remember his name. Just Lorenzo. He is the closest friend of Cecilion.

"Come on, it's getting dark. We need to go", sabi ni Lorenzo.

"I need to find Ambrogio!", pagmamatigas ni Cecilion.

"We can't go there. We'll find him next day. It's dangerous here at this hour", sabi ni Lorenzo.

But Cecilion being Cecilion. He didn't move an inch. He's like trying to figure out something what's right to do. Sa mabilis na galaw ay kaagad akong pumunta sa kanyang likoran and break his neck.

"Pay back time, brother", sabi ko at bumagsak siya sa dalampasigan. "Go on. Carry him. He's not dead yet", I smirk to his friends. I compelled them two to not say anything.

Breaking vampires neck can't kill a vampire. We'll just get unconscious for an hour or more but we won't die. Unless you got staked into your heart. Vampires will be dead. But I don't know about us. We, the Originals, probably won't die by just a stake.

Umalis kami sa dalampasigan. Mabilis kaming nakaalis sa masukal na gubat hanggang sa makapasok kami sa isang clearing. May isang kubo doon. Nilagay nila si Cecilion sa loob ng kubo. He's still unconscious.

"So what's our plan? I'm sure if he wakes uo, hahanapin noon kaagad si Ambrogio", si Lorenzo.

"Simple. Snap his neck again", I smirk again and raise my two hands.

Matalim akong tiningnan ni Lorenzo. "I won't let you do it again to my friend even if he's your brother, Nathaniel", aniya sa akin.

I raise and eyebrow. "I won't if you bring me a human to eat. You know I'm hungry", sabi ko.

Mas lalong umusbong ang galit sa mga mata ni Lorenzo. Natawa lamang ako. Oh! No. That won't work on me now, boy. Pay respect to your creators.

May isang babae naman ang lumabas galing sa likorang bahagi ng kubo.

"Rosemary, ikaw na bahala sa hapunan", sabi ni Lorenzo.

"What do you eat?", I asked.

"Wild animals", sagot ni Lorenzo.

Kaagad akong ngumiwi sa sinabi niya. Rosemary obeyed what Lorenzo said.

"I just ate a whole rabbit. And I'm still hungry. How can you survive with just a wild animals?", tanong ko.

"We don't feed on human blood. We may be monster but we won't", si Lorenzo.