Blood Secrets

A Course of Action

Pumasok silang lahat sa malaking mansyon. Walking into a house filled with powerful vampires is a suicide mission. The moment they received the invitation, alam niyang isa 'yong patibong. Yet the Sylvaines willingly walked into it. They have no regard for their lives. Perks of being immortal, perhaps.

Ngunit hindi niya maiwasang mangamba. She may be trained to kill vampires but she wont be able to take all these vampires. Lalong lalo ns kung kailangan niyang bantayan din si Kai.

Lorcan compelled Kaiden and used him as leverage. Hindi siya makakagalaw nang hindi nag-iingat. One wrong word from her mouth would mean Kai's death. She thought that with great strength and power, the Sylvaines would be reckless. But they wouldn't take their chances on this one. Not when the stakes are high.

She may have given her word that she will help them but it wasn't enough for them, apparently. They still needed a leverage against her. And she could say it is working dahil wala na siyang ibang gustong gawin ngayong gabi kundi ang kunin si Kai at ilayo sa lugar na iyon. Kaya lang ay hindi siya sigurado kung magandang ideya ba iyon. Lalo pa at isang maling hakbang niya lang ay mamamatay na ang kasintahan niya.

She couldn't do anything but wait until the Sylvaines have finished gloating and proving they are much stronger and then she will try to stay alive until then. Mahina siyang napamura at mukhang narinig naman iyon ni Kai.

"May problema ba?" tanong ng lalaki sa kanya.

"Everything is a problem, Kai," she said at hindi na niya naitago ang iritasyon sa boses niya. Kai looked at her concernly before he held her arm. Napahinto naman siya sa paglalakad at napatingin sa lalaki.

"Something's wrong," saad nito. Tiningnan naman niya ito sa mata. He really has no idea on what happened back in the car. Lorcan had managed to compell him to forget. Noong una ay nagtataka siya kung paanong nangyari iyon. Saka naman niya naalala na ang supply ng tubig sa bahay ng mga Sylvaine ay walang bahid ng fleurel. That was the reason why Kai was vulnerable to compulsion.

Gusto niyang manakit. Lalong lalo na kay Lorcan. She would be very satisfied to see him in pain and be more satisifed if the pain is caused by her. Ngunit paano niya naman gagawin iyon? Malakas si Lorcan. Pinaplano pa lang niya ang gusto niyang gawin, malamang ay napatay na siya nito.

"Stop looking so glum, love," sabi ng boses sa likuran niya. She rolled her eyes before she downed her glass at saka humarap sa lalaki.

"I was just thinking of ways on how to kill you," she said. It was stupid to admit that ngunit nagulat naman siya nang nagpakawala lang ng mahinang tawa si Lorcan.

"None, unfortunately." Nakangiting sabi ni Lorcan.

"Why are you here? Shouldnt you be somewhere, looking for your nemesis?" Kai said. Tumingin naman si Lorcan sa gawi ng lalaki. Magsasalita na sana ito nang may bigla na lang nagsalita sa likuran ni Lorcan.

Humarap si Lorcan sa lalaki. Hindi niya nakita ang ekspresyon sa mukha bito ngunit alam niyang nakangisi pa rin ito. Nagulat naman siya nang banggitin ni Lorcan ang pangalan ng kausap.

"Julian," sabi nito.

"Im glad you were able to grace us with your presence," saad ni Julian at hindi niya maiwasang mapangiwi. Kaya din pala nilang makipagplastikan.

"Well, I couldnt waste this opportunity. After all, you were plotting my demise so I might as well come and see how far youve come," sagot naman ni Lorcan.

Si Lorcan ang tipong hindi nakikipagplastikan.

Nakita naman niyang tumingin sa gawi niya si Julian. Hindi rin tumakas sa paningin niya ang pagtingin nito sa kanya mula ulo hanggang paa.

"Do you know this lovely lady?" tanong nito kay Lorcan. Tumingin din si Lorcan sa kanya at bago pa man siya makalayo ay tumabi na ito para bigyan siya ng daan. Wala siyang nagawa kundi ang tumabi kay Lorcan. She doesnt have any choice because if she doesnt oblige, Kai will kill himself.

"Smile, love," narinig niyang bulong ni Lorcan ngunit hindi siya sumunod. She looked at Julian straight in the eye.

"My name is Nadia. And this is Kaiden, my boyfriend." She held Kai's hand.

"You have a lovely party," she said as she roamed her eyes around. Nang ibalik nya ang tingn kay Julian ay tila namamangha itong nakatingin sa kanya.

"Human," Julian said. "Uncompelled human." Tumingin ito sa gawi ni Lorcan. "I am surprised a human willingly came with you, Lorcan."

"You clearly underestimate my charm, Julian."

And then they exchanged more shady comments that she lost interest in hearing about. Naramdaman lang niya na hindi komportable si Kai kaya naman ay nagpaalam na siya. Kai brought her to the table where the drinks are served. Pinagmasdan niya ang paligid, particularly the humans. Sebastian told them that they're all tourists who is not on fleurel.

Alam agad nilang lahat na magiging magulo ito. Julian and his minions would not leave these tourists alive. These tourists would be all dead. Alam na iyon ng mayor ng syudad and he asked Esme and Sebastian to keep it from happening. She doesn't know if it would be possible to stop it.

If the tourists die, they would be declared missing from their families. Authorities would come and investigate what happened which will lead them to this place. As much as she wanted that to happen, she knows it is not going to work. Anong laban ng mga kapulisan sa mga nilalang na nakapalibot sa kanila ngayon? She thinks the whole city of St. Angeli knows it too. Sinabi ni Sebastian sa kanila kanina at sinabi rin nito sa mayor ng syudad that if worse comes to worst, they would have to create a good cover story that would justify the death of the tourists. The story must exclude the supernatural involvement because there might be a lot of supernatural creatures roaming this world, but there are still people who don't know about their existence.

Sa tingin din niya ay mas mabuti iyon. The method goes against everything she believes but she doesn't have a choice. It is important to keep a line between the human and supernatural world.

"This is nuts," saad ni Kai dahilan para mapatingin siya sa lalaki.

"I couldn't agree with you more," sagot naman niya saka uminom ng wine. She was thankful they were serving actual wine rather than blood disguised as wine. Iniisip pa lang niya iyon ay tia nasusuka na siya.

"These tourists will be dead if don't do something," Kai said before he fished his phone from his pocket. Alam na niya agad ang plano nitong gawin kaya pinigilan niya ito.

"Kai, don't," she said.

Nagtataka namang napatingin si Kai sa gawi niya. "What do you mean, Nads? The most probable solution I could think of right now is to ask for help from the headquarters. We can't just let this happen."

Bigla naman siyang nanlamig. It would also be her choice but the situation is different now. Kung hahayaan niya si Kai na tawagan si Hera ay mapupunta sa kanya ang kasalanan. If that happens, Kai would drive a knife to his neck.

"I know but now is not the right time, Kai--"

"What the hell are you talking about?" This time, rinig na niya ang inis sa boses ng lalaki. Ngunit papaano ba niya sasabihin dito ang totoo? Na kung gagawin iyon ng lalaki ay buhay naman nito ang kapalit.

Napatingin siya sa paligid at nakita niyang nakatingin sa gawi nila si Lorcan. Nagmamasid ito sa kanila. And right then and there, she found a good reason to tell Kaiden.

"Lorcan is watching us," she said. Napatingin din si Kai sa direksyon ni Lorcan. The latter raised his glass and let out his insufferable grin. "He doesn't want us to interfere. You know what he can do, Kai. You know what he's going to do if we oppose. Right now, we are not in a good position."

Nagsukatan ng tingin sina Lorcan at Kai at maya-maya pa ay narinig niyang nagpakawala ng buntong-hininga ang nobyo. Hinawakan nito ang kamay niya at ibinalik ang cellphone sa bulsa. Nakahinga naman siya nang maluwag bago tumingin sa gawi ni Lorcan. She could see the satisfaction in his face. Alam niyang nakikinig ito sa usapan nila ni Kai. Using his supernatural hearing abilities, it's easy to make out words in the middle of a chaos.

Siya ang unang nagbawi ng tingin at agad na hinila si Kai papunta sa kung saan sina Esme at Leila. Ngunit ang naabutan niya doon ay si Sebastian. Akmang maglalakad na siya palayo nang tawagin ni Sebastian ang pangalan niya. Wala siyang intensyong harapin ito but something tells her they're going to use Kai against her kaya naman ay hinarap niya ito. Kaiden wasn't planning on leaving their side and Sebastian knew it because that's what Lorcan compeled for him to do.

"I apologize for what my brother had done," Sebastian started.

"Which one?" she said. "He had done lots of things. I am starting to lose count."

"Oh don't be so dramatic," saad ng boses sa likuran nila. Nakita naman niyang si Eleanor iyon. Sinamaan lang niya ng tingin ang babae.

"We all know that you would strike us the moment you get the chance. We're just taking precautions," saad naman nito. Hindi niya mapigilang umirap.

Wala na siya sa mood makipag-away sa mga ito. "Whatever you wish to do in here, make it quick." Iyon lang ang sinabi bago naglakad papalayo. Nakasunod lang si Kai sa kanya kaya hinila niya ito papunta sa balkonahe kung saan walang masyadong tao. It was dangerous roaming around the area full of blood-thirsty vampires but she couldn't care less. After all, these vampires have seen them enter the house together with teh Sylvaines. They may have unfathomable hatred towards the family but they won't be stupid enough to challenge them. Not one by one. They're going to wait for whatever Julian wants them to do.

"Do you want to go home?" tanong ni Kai sa kanya. Agad naman siyang napailing.

"Let's stay here. We made a promise we'd help," she said. Although it wasn't the real reason, she made herself sound convincing enough. She doesn't want anything more than to leave this place. But she couldn't place Kai's life in danger.

"Kung gusto mo nang umuwi, we sneak out--"

"Kai, please," she said. Nakita niyang nagulat naman ang lalaki sa tono ng boses niya. As much as she felt bad about it, hindi niya kayang sabihin sa lalaki ang sinapit nito sa loob ng sasakyan. She couldn't risk it. Kaya naman nagpakawala lang siya ng buntong-hininga bago hinarap ang lalaki. She walked closer to him and hugged him tight.

"I'm sorry," she said. "It's just that, I don't know what to do anymore other than to stay here. I am scared but I couldn't do anything--"

"Shh, shh. It's okay," Kai said at hinagkan din siya nito pabalik. "I'm here, Nads. Hindi kita pababayaan."

Kumalas siya mula sa yakap nito at tiningna ang lalaki. Ngunit nagulat nalang siya nang bigla itong nawalan ng malay. Kai collapsed on the floor and she stood frozen.

"Kai?" she called. "Kai!" Agad siyang dumalo sa lalaki at agad na tiningnan kung may pulso pa ito. Nakahinga naman siya nang maluwag nang maramdaman pa niyang humihinga pa ang lalaki. In an instant, Sebastian was there. Narinig siguro nito ang pagsigaw niya. Sumunod naman si Eleanor.

"What in the devil's name happened?" tanong ni Eleanor.

"I...I don't know. We were just standing here and then he collapsed!" sagot naman niya.

Agad na dumalo si Sebastian sa kung nasaan si Kai. Nang matapos itong tingnan si Kai ay tumingin ito sa kanya. "He's breathing."

"He's breathing but he's under a spell." Napatingin sila sa bagong dating. Esme and Leila looked at Kai. Bago pa man siya makapagtanong kung anong ibig nitong sabihin ay itinaas ni Esme ang kanyang isang kamay.

"Non invisique," she chanted. Matapos iyon ay bigla na lang may dalawang babaeng nakatayo kasama nila sa balkonahe. Tila hindi nito inaasahan na mabubunyag silang nakatago doon.

"These witches used a spell on your boyfriend," said Leila. Sa isang iglap, Sebastian was already in front of them. His hands wrapped around the two witches' throats, preventing them to say a spell. It was Esme who stopped Sebastian.

"Let them talk," saad ni Esme. Dahan-dahan namang binitiwan ni Sebastian ang dalawang witch at saka tumingin ito sa gawi niya.

"Julian wants you to go to the second floor's sitting room," saad ng isa sa mga ito. Nagtataka namang napatingin siya rito.

"For what?"

"If you want this man to wake up again, sumunod ka na lang," saad ng mag ito. Hindi siya makagalaw sa kanyang kinaupuan. Tumingin naman si Sebastian sa kanya. It was enough indication that this is up to her. Kai is under a spell and it is up to her kung magigising pa ito o hindi.

Dahan-dahan namna siyang tumayo at tiningnan ang dalawang witches. It was reckless but she has made her decision. Kita rin niya ang pag-aalinlangan sa mukha ni Sebastian. Eleanor, despite her btchy attitude, she could have sworn there was a glimmer of concern in her eyes ngunit agad din itong nawala nang magtagpo ang tingin nila.

"I shall go with you," saad niya sa dalawang witches.

Then they led her to the stairs.