The old school gym looked darker than usual that night—walang ilaw, walang tao, at ang tanging maririnig lang ay ang mahinang pag-echo ng boses mula sa pinakagitna.
Celestine pressed her back against the cold cement wall, her breathing unstable, halatang nagtatago. Hindi niya sya narito. Hindi niya dapat naririnig ’to.
Pero narinig niya.
Lahat.
“Bro, tinitiyak ko lang… she seriously believed all of it?” isang boses ng lalaki ang tumawa.
That voice.
That laugh.
Rhyzen.
Celestine’s heartbeat froze.
“Dude, she’s obsessed with you! Of course naniwala siya,” sabi ng isa pang kasama ni Rhyzen, halatang nage-enjoy. “Imagine lahat ng pera, lahat ng regalo, she gave it all for you.”
“Hmp.” Rhyzen scoffed. “And I gave it all to Aira. Siyempre dun sa totoong mahal ko.”
The gym spun around her.
Her knees trembled.
Her chest tightened in a way she’d never felt before.
Aira.
Her best friend.
Ang taong pinili niyang pagkatiwalaan more than anyone else.
“She’s so pathetic,” Rhyzen added, voice dripping with cruelty. “Akala niya i love her? Hindi ko nga siya kayang tignan nang hindi nadidiri eh.”
May kumurot sa dibdib niya, mas masakit pa sa kahit anong saksak. Her eyes stung. She covered her mouth, trying not to make a sound.
“She’s useful,” Rhyzen continued. “Pero hanggang dun lang. Now that I got everything… she has no purpose anymore.”
No purpose.
No worth.
No nothing.
Hindi niya alam kung anong parte ng puso niya ang unang nadurog, pero sigurado siyang hindi na ito mabubuo.
She stepped back—
And accidentally kicked a metal folding chair.
CLANG!
A loud, sharp crash echoed across the gym.
Natahimik ang lahat.
“Who’s there?”
“Bro may nakikinig!”
“Hanapin niyo!”
Celestine froze.
Her blood ran cold.
Then—
“Celestine?”
Rhyzen’s voice turned sharp, dark.
She turned around to run—
But a hand grabbed her hair from behind, yanking her so hard she screamed.
“Ano’ng narinig mo?” Rhyzen snarled, dragging her forward. His grip on her hair was merciless. “Saan ka pupunta, ha?!”
“R-Rhyzen, please—masakit—”
“SAGOT!” he roared, pulling even harder until tears spilled from her eyes.
She looked at him… and realized the truth.
He wasn’t her Rhyzen.
He was never her Rhyzen.
His eyes were cold.
Dead.
Walang kahit kapirasong awa.
YOU ARE READING
Returned From The Ashes
Teen FictionShe loved him. He used her. Then he killed her. Burned and betrayed, Celestine Vale dies in the arms of the one man who secretly loved her all along-Erevan Drakeford. But when she wakes up in her classroom, alive and back to the very day her ruin be...
