Moonlight Curse: The Hunger

Chapter 20

Rafael Miguel Ventura was not my first love. I was actually in a long distance relationship when we met in College at Saint Peter University in Tuguegarao City. We were classmates in some classes for BS-Accountancy and became best friends. He treated me like a sister but I developed a huge crush on him from the first time I saw him. Who wouldn't fall for his charming looks, funny jokes, intelligence and wit?  He was definitely a heartthrob, while I was tomboyish, nerdy and awkward.

First day of school, I was checking the bulletin boards for my class schedule when a wonderful masculine perfume wafted through the air. The ladies who were with me, also reacted to that heavenly smell that we closed our eyes and inhaled deeply. We all whirled around intent on finding who walked past us. But no one was ever around.

Remember that Axe men commercial wherein women went gaga over the scent of body spray… That’s how it all started.

I was inside Room Accounting 202, sitting alone at the front row. My classmates were hesitant to sit in front, frightened to be the first ones to introduce themselves for the “Get-To-Know-You” portion of the class. I did not mind sitting in front because of my poor eyesight. Then, I smelled that same delicious sweet masculine perfume again and as I was about to turn around, when someone sat beside me.

I turned to the left and there he was… Mr. Rafael Miguel Ventura seated beside me grinning from ear to ear and extending his hand for introduction. Instead of accepting his handshake, I inhaled deeply… and I found the man who made my blood sing.

Then he said, “Is my perfume bothering you?”

“No,” was the only word I managed to say to him.

Every class, he always sat beside me and tried engaging me in conversations. I was reserved at first only answering his questions but not saying much still. My classmates then started to avoid sitting on my left side for they knew automatically, Miguel would sit there.

We then started hanging around after class, in the canteen, library, quadrangle and gazebos. We had so much in common which we both discovered after 3 months of question and answer portions before and after a class starts. We both loved sports, writing, music, painting, reading suspense thriller books, watching horror films and eating pancit batil-patong (noodles with minced beef and poached egg).

I always knew when he was getting close, when my heartbeat would become uncontrollably wild and when I looked behind me, searching... he would be there, staring, smiling and walking towards me. I could even smell him even though he was still about to enter the classroom. I knew the sound of his laughter even if I was five floors up. I memorized every freckle and mole he had on his face. And I told him every secret I had, except about how I felt. It was my mistake, trusting him. I thought he was so interested to get to know me because he also liked me. But he delved into my deepest being just so he could write a book and become a bestselling writer at the age of 19.

It was his ticket to be accepted as the youngest journalist in our town's newspaper and then became an investigative reporter after that. His favorite subject and object of scrutiny were me and my family.

When my whole family knew what I did and how I told everything to Miguel, I was disowned and ostracized. My parents told me to leave the house and to never go back. They did not want to see me ever again. It was just a few months away from my graduation. If it was not for Nana's pleas, they would have thrown me out and cut me off right then and there. Nana spoke with them, telling them to let me finish my studies so I could help myself and earn a decent living somehow, then, I'll leave and she'll go with me as my caretaker still. Since, Nana made a promise to Ama that she would be my guardian until I was ready to be on my own, my parents along with my aunts and uncles agreed. They also made me promise not to do any business with the family ever again, to forget what I was training for the rest of my life and leave behind every knowledge they had passed on to me. For them, I was no longer a Rapisura.

Because of his articles, stories and book, reporters knocked on our doors asking for interviews. My family was dogged with rude fanatics for months. And during those months, my family set aside their jobs and stopped their hunts. We were immobilized for a very long time. And I understood my parents' anger towards me.

I was so consumed with anger and betrayal, that I scoured the town of Santiago, Isabela, to find Miguel. I did not find him.

After graduation, I left Tuguegarao, and went to Manila with Nana. With her money, we rented my apartment unit and I looked for a job. But I never stopped looking for Miguel. I knew he would be tracking my family's movements still and so, with the help of my brothers and sister, who opposed my parents' decision from the start, were also hunting him down.

I and my siblings cornered him in Conner, Kalinga. It was the last hunt we shared together as family. 

I wanted to skin Miguel alive. I wanted him to pay what he did to me. Because of him, I could not go back home, I was dead to my parents, most of my aunts and uncles wanted to bury me alive and I put my whole clan in danger. I wanted to make him understand the effect of his written words.

My brothers strapped him on a chair, inside a cabin, up in the mountains.

I said to him, "Because of you, my family is in danger. Those monsters we killed also had families, a whole kingdom of more powerful monsters! They are also searching for the hunters who killed their parents, sisters, children, king, prince or queen. And now, most of them know who we are. My family had to move out of our home to hide. You actually destroyed my life. I am no longer part of a family that fights a good cause. I am now all alone, away from home and with a grandmother whom every waking day of my life reminds me of my biggest mistake. I had lived a hellish life before this, but nothing compared to where I am at right now. I would not let you speak for you are a liar. We will leave you in this mountain where a pack of "Kiwig" - she-wolves were rumored to be dwelling. We will tie you up on a tree and leave you to be savaged by the creatures we swore to protect humankind from. But you, you do not deserve our protection. You are even worse than the monsters we hunt. After all what Sam and I did for you, we saved your life once. And this is how we are repaid?"

And with that speech, I left the cabin with Aura and let my brothers do what they had to do. I knew they would not hurt him, they would scare him to death though.

So, I went back to Manila and tried to forget the life I used to live.

After a few days, there was a knock on my door. I opened and Miguel stood there.

Obviously, my brothers let him go with just a few scratches and bruises, and did not tell me. He urged me to listen to what he had to say. So, I let him in.

Luckily for both of us, Nana went home to Ilocos for a spell. I knew he thought about the timing of his visit.

He said, "I know sorry and forgive me are not enough to heal the wounds I caused you and your family. I wrote only the truth, but I had no idea of the effects of my work. If you had read what I wrote, you would understand. I brought these for you,” handing me a hard-bound copy of his first novel and some magazines and newspaper clips.

  “Read them. I did not write with any intention to put your lives in danger. I did not think about that at all. I wanted people to know that there are heroes among us and we need their protection from the evil of supernatural beings which are truly living amongst us. I value your friendship Maya, and if telling your story will destroy that, I regret ever writing those. I did not want fame and fortune."

Then, I butted in, "O yeah? I heard your book is going to be made into a movie."

"Yeah, Marian Rivera is playing your role," he answered. “The movie will be entitled Secret Life of a Huntress.”

I was quiet for a moment. Then said, “I want Angel Locsin to play my character. She’s more me.”

He laughed then pulled me to a tight embrace. I hugged him back and held on for what seemed to be eternity.

When I was ready to let go, I said, "I am tired of getting angry anymore. I grew up fighting and getting scared. I have too much negative energy in my life already. I am more peaceful here now. I hated to admit it but, what you did actually liberated me. You gave me a way out from the life of a huntress. Maybe someday soon, my family will learn to forgive me."

He asked, “So, you forgive me?”

“Not yet, Miguel, for now, I am accepting a truce.”

He nodded and I saw the sadness and regret in his eyes once more. He spent the night with me, and I did learn to forgive him over time.

My parents also learned to forgive me once the movie went out and it was a blockbuster. They learned to deal with the press which eventually died down. And people started to call on them for help from all over the country. Just like any celebrity, soon their stardom dimmed and people moved on to more titillating, exciting, crazier stories like real aliens living in Manila, BigFoot found in Cordillera Mountains, Witches are converting to Christianity and my favorite was Taal Volcano, the gateway to Hell.

I too started reading the books and the articles. In those stories, he portrayed me to be brave, strong, beautiful and full of life. Every story I related was captured in detail. There were no lies, no embellishment of the truth and straight to facts. It even became a guide book for new hunters, because all monsters we dealt with in the past were described like in an almanac.

Twice during those five years, Miguel and I crossed paths. And I still acted hostile and combative because he became more aggressive in researching the creatures we hunt. He went on his own solo hunting trips and ended up calling on me for help. If I could reach him on time, I went to him, if I couldn’t I just send friendly hunters to get him out of the rut.

No matter how mad and crazy he made me, he always charmed his way to my heart, again and again.

My aunts and uncles did learn to forgive me but they stated fairly that they never wanted me hunting with them ever again. So, I begged them to at least let me be their coordinators. I would serve as a link from one hunter to the next. I would be there to answer their calls 24/7. I would call inns/motels for their room reservations. I would even provide financial support. In truth, I bought my way back into my family. It was hard work, but little by little, I earned positive results.

After all these years, Miguel never stopped prying into my family's life though. And sometimes, I thought my parents, brothers, sister, aunts and uncles wanted him to witness the hunt or the adventure with them. But as always, they treated him a nuisance or even lower than vermin.

After all that had happened, I was still in love with him... secretly and for all the wrong reasons.