Shipwrecked Hearts

Navigare 48

Matapos iyon ay inutusan ni Maximo ang mga kasama na iligpit na ang eskinita. He ordered them to put the body and the other at the booth to the Black Morgue, it must be K's place.

A sudden realization hit me by the thought of this embalmer. K. That must be it. She must have something to do with this! But then again, it was absurd. Who in the right mind would ever want to leave a trace if they were to conspire for a murder? I think there's a message behind that letter. Something more and real.

Maximo and I walked side by side, I told him that Caroline was one of us, she sees the future. And I never got the chance to ask if her parents were still alive. I skipped the fortune-telling part. I don't want to worry him anymore. Plus, it was mine to deal with. Not his.

I'm pregnant. I thought. The father is right beside me. I smiled at the thought, ngunit napawi ito nang maalala ko ang mga katagang binitiwan ni Caroline bago siya mawalan ng buhay. That I'd be the cause of my own downfall. The thought lingered while Maximo and I walked towards the morgue. The liveliness of the town was still present, as if nothing wrong ever happened. Nobody dared to ask what the horse carriage was transporting.

Nang nasa morgue na kami'y sinalubong kami ni K. She greeted us with a faint smile and ushered us in. When the corpses were laid down on their respective stretchers, K slowly pulled off the white sheets covering the remains. Kumunot ang kan'yang noo habang tinitignan ang katawan ni Caroline. "Her head was cut off." She traced the visible torn line on Caroline's neck, bumaba ang kan'yang tingin papunta sa katawan ni Caroline, she read the carved letter. "K." Tumaas ang kan'yang kilay.

"It's as if someone's pointing you." Maximo looked at K, "I won't raise any suspicion, but I want to hear your alibi, where were you when the incident happened, K?"

"Okay. So I am being interrogated." K smiled and sat down beside the stretcher. "I was here the whole time. Hindi ako lumabas ng morgue. I was preserving the organs of Meliodas for future research."

"And who would testify?"

"None. I was alone." K shrugged. "Okay, I get it. I'm being suspected. But Maximo, please, I swear to the seven gods I had nothing to do with this."

I just watched silently. K was pleading her innocence. Hindi ako nagsalita, because, I, too, for a moment ago, suspected her. And it seems to be resurfacing again. This must be a part of the human nature, because there's nothing we can do but blame each other in the middle of a crisis when all evidences are pointing at you.

"I believe you, K. Don't worry." Maximo assured K all of a sudden. I looked at K's relieved face. "But this cannot be a coincidence. Crime rates were at 0 in this island until all of a sudden, Starfish decides to visit the town." Tila nag-isip ng malalim si Maximo habang tinitignan ang bangkay ng lalake sa tabi, "K, I want you to find out who this guy is."

"I'm on it." Aniya at saka lumabas sa silid, afterwards, she came back holding a piece of metal ball on her hand, she pressed the button and a blue hologram resurfaced. I watched in awe. She did her thing with the device, afterwards, rays of blue lines fell on the guy's face, as if scanning. K let go of the ball-hologram and it floated in midair.

"Scanning complete." A female android voice came out of the ball's speakers. "One match." A picture of a man appeared with his details on the other side. K pinched the hologram, zooming in the background.

"Anatole Creigan." K reads, "26 years old, seaman, missing since May 23 of the year 2003, last location where he was found at the cruise ship he was working at." She summed up. Why would a guy like him who was missing suddenly appear then and kill Caroline? I don't see any connections at all. Every evidence all point out to nothing—vague.

"Mermaid said his face seems familiar." I blurted out. Saktong iyon ay pumasok si Mermaid sa silid.

"Ate Kira, naaalala ko na." Aniya. Tinuro niya ang bangkay ng lalaking nagpakamatay, "kasama ko siya noon na bihag, biktima siya ng human trafficking."

~~~

I closed my eyes and let the cold bath enthrall my senses. The water was cleansing my body off the impurities, blood and sweat, and dirt.

It was what I actually needed.

Dahil sa nalaman namin nina Maximo, we concluded that Anatole must have been bought and forced to work as an assassin. That's only a natural thing to say since Mermaid said he was a victim, too, but what doesn't really connect is why he killed Caroline—it must be because of who Anatole was working for. With that, I told Maximo there must be someone behind all of this, pulling the strings. And he agreed.

Umahon na ako sa bathtub, pagkatapos ay nagbihis na. Humiga ako sa kama. I can feel the exhaustion hitting my body. When will I tell Maximo that I'm pregnant? Maybe I'll tell him when all conflicts had been solved. I want to surprise him.

Hinaplos ko ang aking sinapupunan at ngumiti. "Good night, baby. Sweet dreams. Mommy loves you."

"Kuya..."

"You won't tell anyone, right? It'll be our little secret."

"Kuya, mali ito."

"Ssh." He grinned. "Nothing's wrong. I'm adopted."

"Starfish?"

I gasped, ramdam ko ang mabilis na pagtibok ng aking puso. I looked around frantically and saw Maximo's worried face. He pulled me close for a hug. "It's just a bad dream."

Somehow, a part of me wanted to tell that it isn't. It wasn't a bad dream.

"You're safe now. I'm here."

Habol ko ang aking hininga, humigpit ang hawak ko sa kan'yang kamay, as if my life depends on it. I tried recalling my dream, but I couldn't remember anymore. What was it again that I dreamed of?

"Why are you here?" I asked with my dry voice.

"I came to check on you since I couldn't sleep." He looked at me worriedly, "do you wanna talk about it? I mean, it's okay if you don't want to."

I shook my head. "No. I'm alright. It's like what you've said, just a bad dream."

"I hope so." He gave me a weak smile and kissed me on my forehead. He let me use his arm to rest my head unto, "sleep, Starfish. I'm just here. You need rest more than anything else."

I closed my eyes and held him tight, "thank you, Maximo. Let's stay like this, please..." Somehow, his scent was calming me down. It felt like I was the safest person ever. And his warmth, it made me feel at home. No. I was at home.

"I love you, Starfish..."

I smiled as his voice lull me to neverland.