THE ORIGINALS: BLOODLINE

⚜XXIII. Belongings⚜

Cecilion Vetrova Lorenzittee

I spend all my time seeking for clues of what happened to Vladiskav's death. Hindi ako umalis sa silid na iyon. May kutob ako ngunit ayaw kong pangunahan iyon. Why Ambrogio didn't tell me about it? Why did he keep this a secret from me and Nathaniel? Kung hindi dahil sa balita ay hindi ko iyon malalaman.

Inaalala ko si Thalia. Is she hungry? It's already meal time. Ngunit ng nilingon ko siya ay may hawak siyang tinapay. Her eyes widened when our eyes meet. Kaagad siyang nagpahid a gilid ng kanyang labi at nilahad sa akin ang tinapay na hawak niya.

"You hungry? Bread?", aniya.

I walk closer to her and hold her wrist. I take one bit from her bread. It's the old kind of bread, a twelve inches long bread.

"What are we looking here? We're here for an hour", sabi niya at lumapit sa akin.

"Something that can help", sagot ko.

Matagal pa bago siya nagsalita. "What's this?", tanong niya sa akin ng pinulot ang isang bahay.

Kaagad akong lumingon sa kanya. She handed me the medallion. My eyes widened. How did this end up here? When we left the mansion, I took all the medallions with me.

Bakit may ganito dito. I'm sure father and mother didn't have any idea about the medallions as well as Veronika. I counted all of it with the bodies of the Sabbatarians we burned. Tama ang bilang ko.

We take all of it with us when we're looking for the map.

Nathaniel also doesn't have the medallion. It's just me and Ambrogio. Does it mean? What? Tama ang hinala ko?

He's here when the mansion burned down?

"What's that?", si Thalia ulit.

"A Sabbatarian medallion", sabi ko.

Nilibot ko ang buong silid. Now, I found one of medallion possessed by Ambrogio. Maybe I can find more things that belongs to him. Because I'm a hunder percent sure this medallion is from him.

Ngunit wala na akong ibang nakita pa bukod doon sa silid. Puro alikabok at iilang sunog na gamit doon.

How will I fix this thing? I can't be sure that father's death has something to do with Ambrogio. He may be hate him but it won't maybe get to the point to kill him, right?

"Let's go downstairs", sabi ko sa kay Thalia at bumaba kami. I jump from second floor to the ground.

"Are we going home now?", tanong niya. Her bread is gone.

"No. Later", sabi ko at binaybay ang bawat pasilyo habang nakasunod siya sa akin.

I surveyed the whole ground floor ngunit wala akong mahanap. Even things that belongs to mother or Veronika ay wala akong mahanap.

Bumaba naman kami sa underground. I remember we have rooms underground.

"What's this room?", Thalia step closer to the one metallic door.

Napatingin din ako doon. It's a room that we don't usually open. Kahit noon ay palagi kami dito ngunit hindi pinabuksan ang silid na iyan. How can it be open?

May nagbukas ba sa silid na ito?

Mabilis na mga galaw ay pumasok ako doon. Nakalimutan ko na nga na kasama ko si Thalia. I went to the dark room that's full of boxes. Nilapitan ko ang isa sa naroon.

"Coffins?", gulat na sabi ni Thalia. "Why did your family have a stocks of coffins here?".

Umiling ako. I don't know either. I check every coffins kung may laman ba ngunit wala din. Naglakad ako patungo sa pinakadulo ng may naapakan akong matigas na bagay.

Nagkalat ang malalaking kadena sa loob. Inayos ko ang mga ito ng may tumunog na isang bagay. Something fall into the ground as I fixed the large chains.

Napayuko ako at pinulot ang isang hairpin na naroon. I examined the hairpin. This one really looks familiar.

Inangat ko ito. I have mine like this. A hairpin.

"A hairpin? Why did a hairpin get in here?", si Thalia. "And.....it looks familiar", aniya.

Napatingin ako sa kanya. It really looks familiar. I don't want to admit who owns this. Ayaw ko. I don't want to tell it to myself that he has something to do with our father's death.

Hindi maaari. He hates him pero alam kong hindi iyon aabot sa ganito. I know Ambrogio. I've been with him for years and within those years, I haven't seen him being so cruel to someone. When father favors me, he didn't even try to hurt me or do anything to harm me. He accepted it all. Kaya ayaw kong magpadalos-dalos ng desisyon.

"I saw that one. Uncle Ambrogio has it with him. Is it his?", Thalia pointed out.

Yes, indeed. The hairpin belongs to Ambrogio. It's his belongings I found inside the mansion. The medallion and his hairpin.

The hairpin comes with pair. His is green, mine is red while Nathaniel's is blue. So no doubt. This hairpin is Ambrogio's.

How did it end up here? Did he lost it? And how? We're always together and as far as I remember, we didn't went inside here. Only our father is allowed to go in here.

And how? The information is too much for me to take. This is wrong. The death of Vladiskav. The mansion burned down. The medallion. The hairpin. Veronika and mother is gone.

All of those involved Ambrogio. I'm sure of that.

"Let's go home!", malamig na sabi ko.

My mind is rewiring. I can't think straight. But despite of that, I didn't forget that the one with me now is not just someone. She's my beloved. It's still my duty to protect her on our way home.

"Stay inside your room. I have some family business to take care of", sabi ko sa kanya.

I didn't wait for her approval at mabilis na umakyat sa hagdana. Nakasalubong ko si Nathaniel sa ikalawang palapag.

"You're early", puna niya.

"Where's Ambrogio?", I asked.

"In the library, maybe. Why?", kumunot ang kanyang noo.

"Come with me. We have a family matters", sabi ko at iniwan siya doon.

Ng makapasok sa library ay naabutan ko si Ambrogio na nagbabasa. Ng mapansin ako ay kaagad niyang binaba ang kanyang kanyang binabasa.

"You're early, brother. What is it? Did you find anything?", he asked. I know he's referring to Veronika and mother but what I found is something more important.

Nakasunod si Nathaniel sa akin. He closes the door behind him and in a second, he's already beside me.

"Yes. I found your belongings", sabi ko.

Kumunot ang noo ng dalawa sa akin.

"My what?", si Ambrogio.

I glared daggers at him. My eyes are burning. "Your belongings. The one you left at our mansion. I traced it. And it's all yours".