Red Strings of Fate (Haunted Series 2)

Strings 35: The Unraveling

I heard the words, but it took me several moments before they sank in.

"Madame?"

Tiningnan ko ang dalawang tao na malambot ang tingin sa akin. Iniisip ko ang sketch na ginawa ko dati na nakaukit sa aking memorya, kung malapit ba ang mukha nila.

In some ways, I did get their features right.

My father no longer has his long hair and beard, but it's still dark as a raven, with prominent eyebrows and small streaks of white hair, a small set of eyes, and a face that has aged with time. Madame Kristine—or supposedly my mother—has straightened her curly hair, a set of brown doe eyes, a rounded face, and a tall nose. Usually, an aura of elegance surrounds her, but now she looks at me with anxiety.

Mabilis na tumulo ang luha ko at napailing sa kalokohan na nangyayari. "Joke ba 'to?"

"No, Scarlet. We're your parents. I'm your mother." Nabasag ang kanyang boses at napapikit ako.

How can she be my mother when I worked for her all this time and she didn't say anything? How can they be my parents when they look so rich and I worked so hard to get by all my life? How can they be my parents when I haven't seen them in my twenty-two years of existence?

Nagsalita ng nihongo ang sinasabi nilang ama ko. Hindi ako marunong ng lengguwahe niya pero alam kong nag-sorry siya.

Tumango sa kanya si madame, hinigpitan ang hawak sa kanyang kamay at lumingon sa'kin. "We're sorry, baby."

Tumindig ang balahibo ko sa pagtawag niya. Hindi ako sanay makita siyang ganito, this is all so weird.

Lumingon ako kay TJ na mariin ang kanyang panga habang nakatingin sa akin na umiiyak, "Explain."

Alam niya. Hindi ko alam kung bakit, pero alam niyang magulang ko sila at sa kwartong puno ng mga taong 'to, siya lang ang pinagkakatiwalaan ko.

"Yoshikawa." He coldly calls my father—or my mother—to do it.

"I am—was in Itasaki. Itasaki is an organized crime syndicate with thousands of members in Japan."

Nagsalita siya gamit ng ingles pero kapansin pansin ang accent niya na lumalabas. Hinawakan niya ng mahigpit ang kamay ng asawa at ngayon ko lang napansin na putol ang kanyang hinliliit.

"I didn't want that life for our family, so I left."

"But they have a rule. You don't leave the brotherhood. The only way you leave is death." Singit ni Kuya Jupiter. "So they availed our services. In exchange for safety, he'll give out the information we want."

"Hindi pa rin non ma e-explain ba't nila ako iniwan."

"No, we didn't leave you." Umiyak na si Madame. "We think it was best for you to live separately so you live a much more normal life than looking over your shoulder every time."

Normal? I've been living like a nomad all my life. Puro palusot lang ang naririnig ko para iwan ang anak nila.

"We've always been in touch with Lucresia... but lost contact. We had to lie low when Itasaki knew you existed... Itasaki shows no regard for traitors."

"Ano namang meron kung malaman nilang nag e-exist ako?"

"They'll kill you." Simpleng sambit ni TJ. "You're part of the family, so they'll kill you."

"Pero ikaw na mismo nagsabi, hindi nila ako papatayin. Ang sabi ng lalake sa akin, kailangan nila akong ibalik ng buhay."

Nagtinginan sila lahat sa sinabi ko.

Lumingon si Sir Archie sa anak niya at hindi ko mabasa kung anong pinaguusapan nila sa kanilang mga tingin. Isang putanginang sekreto nanaman na hindi ko dapat malaman?