#DS7Unbalanced #InoCent #SMCouple #DaggerSeries
CHAPTER THREE: RED
TIARA'S POV
I have never experienced something as frightening as this before. I doubt anything can surpass it, even if I live a hundred years. The feeling of falling, everything around me rattling and getting thrown around, and the deafening sound of shattering and collision when metal hits dirt. Things that I know will haunt me starting today.
I just knew it wasn't over. The plane is still in motion.
In films and in the news, plane crashes always result in wreckage. Rescuers would arrive at the scene and see it broken in half. The other half is always worse than the other, and more often than not, that part will rarely have survivors.
The thought made me afraid to look up. I was afraid to see the plane come apart. Afraid of the possibility that either I'm the one heading into a more dangerous situation or the person who saved me will be the one being led to imminent death.
I didn't move an inch. Not even when the plane finally stopped moving.
I closed my eyes tightly, and I hugged myself tighter. All I could hear was the rapid beating of my heart and my labored breathing. Everything else was silent.
All my life, I was used to being alone. But this time, I didn't want to. This time, I'm afraid of it.
Wetness prickled my eyes at the thought of my captor— no... my savior. He's dead, isn't he? He's dead because he saved me.
Before my tears fell down my cheeks, I felt a movement that made me look up against my earlier predicament. Namilog ang mga mata ko nang makita ko di kalayuan sa akin ang taong laman ng isip ko.
He was buttoning his suit's blazer that he took off hours ago as if he were about to go out on a dinner date instead of looking like a person who just survived a crash. Nang makita niyang nakatingin ako sa kaniya ay kinindatan niya ako dahilan para mapanganga ako.
I forced myself to look away from him so that I could scan my surroundings.
The plane didn't break into two, but each side got peeled, and I could see the outside from them. The wing on one side was also torn from the body. On the front right, the roof and its overhead compartment look like they collapsed downward.
Napatingin ulit ako sa kinaroroonan ng lalaki nang marinig ko ang pagkilos niya. He was taking out the contents of his bag and transferring them into a backpack. Lumapit siya sa akin at walang salita na inalis niya ang seatbelt ko.
"You're bleeding," I breathe out.
Blood is trickling from the side of his face. I reached for it, but he stopped my hand. His gaze ran all over my body as if he were checking for injuries.
"I'm okay," I whispered. "I don't know how it's possible though."
"I managed to land the aircraft before the fire did major damage." Inalalayan niya ako na makatayo at inabot niya sa akin ang backpack. "Can you go to the galley and put as much water and packed food that you can see?"
I took the bag, hesitating a bit. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to look for my phone, and I'm going to check on the asshole." He patted my head gently. "Be quick, doll, but be careful of your feet."
I did as he said, and I ran towards the galley. There are a lot of glass shards, and everything was thrown all over the place. Some of the plastic containers for food and water were crushed. Halos lahat ay wala na sa mga lalagyan ng mga iyon.
Thankfully, I managed to salvage a few. I put the small, sealed plastic cups of water in the bag along with some bread, biscuits, and chocolates. At the same time I closed the bag, I felt Domino's presence near me.
I opened my mouth to speak to him, but before I could do so, I felt my feet lift from the ground. To my surprise, I found myself thrown on his shoulder while he was walking casually out of the now-opened door of the jet.
"What—"
Hindi ko na nagawang tapusin ang sasabihin ko nang makarinig ako ng pagsabog. Domino's steps didn't falter, and he just kept walking until we're both shrouded by endless trees.
Maingat na ibinaba niya ako at nilingon niya ang pinanggalingan namin habang nakangangang nakatulala lang ako sa kaniya.
"D-Did you..." I looked up at him. He's so tall. Talking to him for a long time will probably hurt my neck— I shook my head. This is not the time for this. "Did you know that the plane would explode?"
"Yeah."
I was lost for words for a second. Is this man for real? It feels like nothing fazes him. Kanina ko pa iyon napansin sa kaniya. When he woke me up to stay low because it turns out someone was planning to kill him, and when he said that the plane was about to crash. He even talked to me as if nothing was wrong, and I don't need to be alarmed, even if there is a really good reason to be.
"Isn't that something you should tell me? Like before, you told me to fill the backpack with food and water? What if I was too slow?"
"I didn't want you to panic." He crouched low and took one of my feet off the ground. I'm wearing the socks he gave me because he didn't make me wear my pointe shoes again. Pinagpag niya ang paa ko at pagkatapos ay isinuot niya iyon sa sapatos na hawak niya. He did the same with the other foot. It was a good two inches bigger than my size. "And even if you were slow, I'd get to you in time."
"Who's shoes are those?"
"The flight attendant."
Nanlaki ang mga mata ko. I forgot about him! "W-What happened to him?"
"He wasn't dead before."
He was just unconscious. Domino strapped him into a seat. "Then..."
"He was crushed when the roof fell, and he died." Parehas na napalingon kami sa pinanggalingan namin nang umalingawngaw na naman sa paligid ang malakas na pagsabog. "Now he's very, very dead."
I'm wearing a dead man's shoes. One that tried to kill Domino so that he could bring me to the person who wanted to kill me.
Air wheezed out of my lips, and before I knew it, I was bent over, vomiting whatever was left in my stomach, which is basically nothing. I felt Domino's hand on my back, and he gently patted me. Nangingilid ang luha sa mga mata na tumingin ako sa kaniya.
"Why is this happening to me? Why would anyone try to kill me? Why would you help me? Look at us." I gestured at him with my hand. "Look at you. You're bleeding!"
Ikinulong niya ang mukha ko sa mga palad niya. "You're going to be okay."
"How can you be so sure?"
He studied my face for a second before he answered, "Because I'm with you."
My heart seems to grow wings because despite our current situation, I could feel it fluttering. I gritted my teeth, and I backed away from his touch. "You're bleeding! Don't you have any self-preservation? You shouldn't even be in this situation!"
Binuksan ko ang backpack na dala ko at naghalughog ako roon. I wasn't even surprised to see that there's already a first-aid kit inside. He looks like the kind of person who thinks about everything.
I stomped over an uprooted tree and sat down. I turned my sharp eyes at him to give him a pointed look. May naglalarong ngiti sa mga labi na lumapit siya sa akin at umupo siya sa tabi ko.
"You surprise me," he murmured when I started cleaning his wound.
I just grunted, but I didn't speak. Nagpatuloy lang ako sa ginagawa ko. The cut seems superficial, but there's still a lot of bleeding.
"When you're on stage, you're the epitome of confidence. Off stage, you seem shy and quiet. Like a cute little mouse." I narrowed my eyes at him, and his smile widened. "I wasn't expecting the sass or the eyes that look at me as if you want me to drop dead."
"I don't want you to die!" I hissed.
He chuckled, which annoyed me more. I quickly applied the butterfly bandage to his cut before I shoved the backpack at him. He grunted, but when my eyebrows furrowed at his reaction, he just grinned.
I crossed my arms and looked away. "What are we going to do now?"
"We need to start walking and hope that my siblings get here fast." Inilabas niya ang cellphone niya. Basag na ang screen no'n at mukhang hindi na bumubukas. "I sent them a message when I grew suspicious of the flight attendant. They will be looking for us."
Against my wishes, I trained my gaze back at him, which he appeared to like because his eyes twinkled in response. "Why can't we just stay here? For sure someone's been alerted by the explosion. The authorities and responders would probably be crawling here anytime soon."
"That's why we need to move away from the crash site."
"Why?" I asked with obvious confusion.
"My siblings are not the only ones who are going to look for us."
Cold seeped through my skin at the meaning of his words. He's right. Whoever was doing all this, that person will also be coming after us.
"You should go," I whispered. "You shouldn't be involved with this."
"Tiara, this is the kind of job that I do."
"But I am not your job." I met his eyes. "I am not your responsibility."
"You are now." Inipit niya ang kumawala kong buhok sa likod ng tenga ko. Oblivious to his actions effect on me, he continued, "It was you who said it first, right? I'm responsible for you since I'm the one who kidnapped you."
"I..." I felt my face flush. "I didn't mean that. I was just panicking at that time."
"Don't worry about it. I'm volunteering to be responsible."
"You don't have to," I mumbled.
Ngumiti lang siya pero hindi na siya nagsalita pa. Domino slung the strap of the backpack on his shoulder, and then he reached for my hand. He didn't let me go, even when we started walking deeper into the woods, letting the towering trees around us cloak us from view.
Pakiramdam ko ay halos isang oras na kaming naglalakad. Hindi ko magawang bilisan ang paglalakad ko dahil hindi komportable ang maluwag na sapatos na suot ko. Domino, who matches my pace, doesn't seem to mind.
I was the one who spoke first when it felt like we were walking in silence for too long. "Sa tingin mo nasaan na tayo?"
He didn't answer, so I thought he just didn't know. But when a smile tugged at the corner of his lips, my forehead creased. "What?"
He shook his head. "Nothing. I just find it surprising whenever you speak Tagalog." Nagbaba siya ng tingin sa akin. "To answer your question, I think we are somewhere in Zambales. That was the last thing I saw on the air navigation."
Muli kaming binalot ng katahimikan. He didn't look like the quiet type, but all of this must have been draining for him. He looks pale and exhausted. I can't blame him. I doubt he slept on the plane. He was on alert even before we were in danger.
He was the one who broke the silence a few minutes later though. "How did you learn?"
"Shcho?" When his eyes twinkled at the Ukrainian that fell from my mouth, I corrected myself. "What?"
"Tagalog," he answered. "I watched one of your shows in Manila. You used Tagalog when you addressed the audience. And you were surprised when I talked to you in the same language, which made me think that you understood what I said."
"Pero hindi kita sasaktan. I'll cut my own arm before I do that."
I averted my gaze from him. "My didus— my grandfather — was a Ukrainian-Italian who was married to a Filipina. Babusya loved her motherland. She taught me how to speak her language. That's our thing. Our own secret language when we were at home."
I miss her terribly. She was everything to me. But when didus died... she was never the same again. That's why it didn't come as a surprise when less than two years later, she followed him. She wasn't even sick unlike didus who lost his battle with cancer. She just... left in her sleep.
Trying to reign in the memories of my grandparents, I blurted out, "My grandmother said that there's a possibility that I'm half-Filipina." Nang lingunin ko si Domino ay kita ko ang pagkagulat niya. "My mother dated a lot. Babusya really hasn't met my mother's dates, but she heard that one of my mother's long-time boyfriends is Filipino."
"You don't look like it."
I shrugged. "I mean, it's just a possibility. My mother is kind of a snob. She might date them, but there's a chance that she got herself pregnant with a Ukrainian man, just to keep her blood pure." I raise an eyebrow at him. "And I could say the same to you."
His lips curved up. "My father was American, and my mother was half."
Was.
Huminto siya sa paglalakad at dahil hawak pa rin niya ang kamay ko ay wala akong nagawa kundi huminto rin. He herded me towards a tree stump, and he made me sit. Binuksan niya ang bag at inabutan niya ako ng tubig. Nang makita kong maglalabas din siya ng pagkain ay umiling ako.
"You need to eat," he said with a frown.
"I'm not hungry."
"Eat."
"But—"
"Doll." He regarded me with a serious look that made me press my lips together to stop myself from arguing with him. "It's been hours, and you didn't eat even a piece of fruit that I gave you on the plane."
I'm used to not feeling hungry. And sometimes... pretending that I'm not. But even if I was, with all that happened, it wasn't surprising that I don't have any appetite. Pero dahil mukhang walang balak magpatalo si Domino ay napabuntong-hininga na kinuha ko na lang mula sa kamay niya ang maliit na naka plastic na tinapay.
"Ikaw?" I gave him a pointed look. "Hindi ka ba kakain?"
He thought about it a moment, but when he saw the look I'm giving him, he grinned and took out a small bar of chocolate from the bag.
We both ate in silence. Paminsan-minsan ay patago ko siyang tinitignan. He's a lot different from most of the men I came across. Maybe it's because, compared to him, those people act more like boys than men. Domino carries confidence that I rarely see in anyone.
But what do I know? It's not like I had the chance to get to know a man before. I'm too busy to be in a relationship, and there's no way my mother would have allowed it.
Wait. I did date someone once. Hindi nga lang alam ng ina ko ang tungkol doon. In fact,not many knew. It happened a long time ago, and it didn't last long. We were friends before we tried having a relationship, which didn't work out in the end.
"Why do you call me doll?" I asked.
My question didn't seem to surprise him, and he simply shrugged. "You look like one."
My nose wrinkled at his answer. "If I don't know any better, I will believe that you're really a stalker who plans to lock me away so that I can be your personal ballerina music box."
His laugh echoed around the vast space. I couldn't stop myself from staring. I've seen a lot of good-looking men, but I haven't met someone as attractive as him. He presents warmth through his actions, but there's something in his eyes—a glint—that tells me that there's much more to him. It was as if there was a serpent hiding behind his cheerful persona, waiting for the right moment to strike.
He has the shoulders of a Titan that could carry the weight of the world, he has the bone structure of a Greek god, and he radiated the air of someone who looks like he belongs in a sky-rise empire towering over his minions.
He also looks like he could be on the cover of an erotica novel. One that is either about a character that can rival James Bond or a hot and sensual office romance. And of course, he's the CEO.
"Sometimes, I feel that way, you know?" I said, barely above a whisper. "As if I were a doll created for one purpose only. To dance and be perfect so that people will continue admiring me."
His smile dimmed a little. "I say it how I see it. I'd call you an angel if I could, but my brother will tease me about my lack of originality. Goddess is too long and mouthful. So "doll" it is." His gaze roamed around my face, and it stopped to hold my eyes. "Your beauty earns you the nickname, but something tells me that you're far more than that. I don't care if you're the kind that dances on top of a music box, shiny and polished, or one that is hidden and forgotten in a box when it gets worn out by time. Regardless of how the world sees you or how you see yourself, for me, you are one that should be put on the highest pedestal enclosed in the most expensive glass case... protected and valued."
I couldn't utter a single word. All I could do was look at him, my heart beating erratically.
The way he looks at me tells me that he doesn't see me the way others do. He doesn't look at me like an object of fascination, but rather, it feels like he couldn't care any less if I broke my knees and stopped dancing. It's like he doesn't care if I'm out of rhythm, if I don't smile and wave, or if I act a little unhinged and unbalanced.
He doesn't see my pretense of perfection; what he sees is the brokenness, the cracks, and the edges... the real me that even I can't recognize at times.
But most of all, his eyes don't just hold admiration. Instead, I could feel the weight of ownership in his gaze, making me feel something that I had never felt before: the feeling of belongingness.
As if right on cue, a loud sound blared above us, getting nearer by the second.
I felt Domino stiffen for a moment. He stood up and helped me do the same, but he placed himself in front of me.
I let out a startled gasp when I caught a glimpse of a helicopter. I unconsciously reach for the edge of Domino's suit. He pulled me close in response, until I'm plastered on his back.
Lalong humigpit ang pagkakahawak ko sa kaniya nang makita ko na may tumalon mula sa ngayon ay bukas ng pintuan ng helicopter. There's a rapel cord attached to the man who was holding on to the rope with one hand.
That's when we heard it. I went still as a statue at the same time that Domino's body relaxed.
"OHHH HOHOOO OHOOO!"
It sounded similar to Tarzan's jungle call. Nanlalaki ang mga mata na tumingin ako kay Domino na sa pagtataka ko ay nangingiting napailing.
"What's happening?!" I asked in a loud voice so that he could hear.
Bahagya siyang yumuko at nilapit niya ang mga labi niya sa tenga ko. I ignored the red that spread on my cheeks when I felt his breath tickle the side of my face. "You're about to meet my crazy family."
Hinawakan ni Domino ang kamay ko at iginaya niya ako para maglakad. He made sure that his body was still covering me to block me from the blast of the wind coming from the descending helicopter.
The man hanging from the air vehicle dropped to the ground while the chopper moved away, searching for a clearer area to land. The unknown person walked close to us, and when there was enough distance, he pulled up his eye shield, revealing a smiling man that looked so much like Domino.
"Ayos ba?" tanong ng hindi kilalang lalaki. "Nabinyagan ng wala sa oras ang chopper ng Dagger. Who would have thought it would be first used to rescue your sorry ass?" The man's lips pouted a bit. "I wanted to fly it so badly. Nag-volunteer ako tutal wala ang iba nating mga kapatid pero ayaw akong payagan ni Kuya Thorn kaya siya na ang nagpalipad. Unfair. Pakiramdam ko walang tiwala sa akin si Kuya."
"Kahit ako hindi kita pagkakatiwalaan." Domino threw me a smile. "Tiara, meet my older brother."
Hesitating a bit, I took a peek from behind Domino's huge build to look at the other man. Nahihiyang kumaway ako at napakurap siya bilang sagot. Ilang beses na nagpalipat-lipat sandali ang tingin niya sa akin at sa kapatid niya bago pagkalipas ng ilang sandali ay gumuhit ang malawak na ngisi sa mg alabi niya. "Pauutangin na ba kita para sa DHP mo?"
DHP?
"I already have one."
Tumaas ang kilay ng lalaki. "Meron ka na? Bakit hindi ko alam 'yan?"
"Hindi ko talaga sinabi sa'yo dahil madaldal ka, Kuya."
He crossed his arms. "Tinawag mo pa akong kuya." Binalingan ako ng kapatid ni Domino at kumaway siya. "Hi! I'm Trace. Ang pinakagwapong Dawson."
He sure is handsome. He looks like he could be on a runway as a male model or in a magazine. But I don't agree with his statement.
I was about to greet him back when I felt Domino sway. Napakapit ako sa kaniya pero di hamak na mas mabigat ang katawan niya. Idagdag pa ro'n na ang tangkad niya kumpara sa akin.
I felt myself going down with him when his body lean more towards me, but before we both crashed to the ground, another set of arms took his weight off me.
Gone was the welcoming smile of Domino's brother, and it was replaced by a worried expression. He unbuttoned Domino's suit, and I covered my hand with my mouth in horror at what I saw.
That's why he wore the blazer before approaching me. Why he made a sound when I made him sit. The reason he was so pale and he walks slowly.
His white dress shirt is now tinted with red. His face was laced with pain, even in his state of consciousness.
He carried me out of the plane as if he wasn't hurting. He talked to me as if nothing was wrong so that he could ease my worry. I closed my eyes, remembering how he knelt down to make sure that I wouldn't walk in the forest with just socks on.
He did all that when he was the one badly injured.
____________________________End of Chapter 3.