Eight
Kasama kong naghapunan ngayon sina Hugo, Declan, Camila, Calix at Colton. Hindi ko alam kung nasaan sina Griffin at Fallon. Wala rin sila kaninang umaga sa limousine n'ong pumasok kami sa kanya-kanya naming schools.
"Kailan ang balik nina Griffin?" tanong ni Hugo.
Wala akong paki. Sana wag nang bumalik yun. Teka nasaan ba talaga sila?
"Nakauwi na sila kaninang hapon Leader," sagot ni Colton.
"Anong balita?" agad na tanong ni Camila. Bakit para siyang kinakabahan?
"Hindi po nila naabutan. Isa lang iyung empty na research facility."
"Siguro ay inilipat nanaman nila si Harlow," malungkot na sabi ni Camila.
Harlow? Hinahanap nila si Harlow?
Marahas na umiling si Hugo. "Kailan kayo makikinig sa akin? I told him to stop it. You are just giving false hopes to yourselves."
"We didn't find her body, Hugo. That's reason enough to believe that she's still alive."
"And if we find her body, what will you feel? You will be devastated."
"It's better than being like you. You're her father pero parang balewala lamang sa'yo ang lahat."
"That's not true."
"The hell it's not. You gave her up for this half-human niece of yours!" she pointed at me angrily.
I was so shocked with her sudden outburst. Anong kinalaman ko dito?
"Ma!" pati si Declan ay nagulat din.
"What!? Hindi n'yo sasabihin na dahil sa kanya kaya nawala ang anak ko?"
"Declan, take your mother away from here," mahinahong baling ni Hugo kay Declan at agad naman itong sumunod.
Hinawakan n'ya ang ina at marahan itong hinila.
"That bitch doesn't belong here. Go back to your low-class life!" sigaw pa nito bago tuluyang mawala sa paningin naming lahat.
Naiwan kami dito na puro tahimik.
Tiningnan ko sila isa-isa. Yumuko lang sina Calix at Colton. Si Hugo naman ay parang tulala na nakatingin sa kawalan.
Ako ang dahilan ng pagkawala ni Harlow?
Paano naman nangyari yun?
"Care to tell me what happened?" I said without really asking someone specific.
Marahas na bumuga ng hangin si Hugo.
"Devereaux, Monreau, tell her. But make sure she gets her training tonight."
Tumayo ang dalawa at sabay na yumuko.
"Opo."
Tumayo na rin si Hugo at tinapik ako sa balikat. "Remember, I did everything I did for our family and race," aniya bago lumabas ng dining room.
"Piper, sumunod ka sa amin," sabi ni Calix kaya agad naman akong tumayo at sumunod sa kanila.
Dinala nila ako sa isang malaking kwarto na puno ng portraits. Para itong art gallery.
Ang wall sa kaliwa ko ay puno ng medyo maliliit na portraits.
"Sila ang lahat ng naging Kings and queens dito," ani Colton.
Ang dami nila. Sila ang mga pinuno dito for almost six decades.
So nandito ang portrait ng ina ko? Lumapit ako sa pinakahuling frame.
Eliana Caverly.
She died two years ago ayun sa dates na nasa baba ng pangalan n'ya.
Ang ganda n'ya. Hindi siya nakangiti. Seryoso lang siya at mukhang napakamakapangyarihan. Nasa hitsura na sinununod siya ng mga tao.
S'ya iyung babae sa portrait na nasa may hagdanan.
I touched the portrait. So, you're my mother.
"She was a great leader. And she was a loving person," sabi ni Calix na tumabi sa akin.
But not to me.
"Dito sa right side ay ang portrait ni Garrick Caverly. And this empty spot beside him will be yours," agaw ni Colton sa pagmo-moment namin.
Oh my. So may sarili akong spot kung sakali?
Tiningnan ko si Garrick. His red eyes were like flame. His face was perfectly handsome at kahit na portrait lang iyun, nararamdaman ko ang aura niya bilang leader.
"And that," turo ni Calix sa wall na nakaharap sa pintuan. "is the present royal family."
Nasa gitna ang portrait ni Hugo. Seryoso ang hitsura n'ya doon. Nasa kanan naman nito ang kay Camila samantalang nasa kaliwa ang kay Declan. At ang isa pang katabi ng kay Declan ay...
Ako?
Sinuri ko iyun. Ito yung picture ko n'ong fifteen ako. Selfie ko lang to ah gamit ang cellphone ko. I was smiling there at ang camera ay medyo nasa taas ko.
"I think hiningi ni Leader iyan sa papa mo n'ong nagpunta sila doon sa inyo two years ago. Then he asked the royal painter to paint the picture."
Tumango ako sa sinabi ni Calix.
I had to admit. Magaling ang painter nila.
"She's the reason we're here," ani Colton. Kanina pa to naninira ng moment ah.
He was standing below the portrait beside Camila kaya lumapit kami doon.
Ang ganda n'ya. We looked similar but she had red eyes, reddish hair and prominent jaw. She had a stunning beauty but fierce. Ako kasi may pagka-soft ang feature ko. But we looked similar, alright.
"Siya si Harlow Caverly," ani Colton.
Oh.
Nakita kong umupo si Calix sa isang couch doon at ipinatong sa mesita ang mga paa kaya hinayaan ko na. Muli kong pinagtuunan ng pansin si Colton.
"She went out for a mission last year. She had to track a lone praestanus na nanggugulo sa bayan ng mga tao. You see, we don't want the world to know that we exist. Kaya mission ni Harlow na dalhin yun dito o patahimikin. Neither happened coz that praestanus turned out to be an ally of the Nimrod. She was trapped and captured."
"For research?"
"No. For you."
"Huh?"
Now this is getting weird.
"Paanong ako?"
"They made a deal with Leader Hugo. They will set Harlow free kung ikaw ang kapalit."
"Paano nila nalaman ang tungkol sa akin? At ano ang kailangan nila sa akin?"
"Nimrod is a powerful organization, Piper. They had ways to know about you. And as for what they want from you, gusto ka nilang pag-aralan."
Oh my god. Natutop ko ang bibig ko.
"For a century, sapiens and praestanus stopped producing Half-bloods. Ang sabi ng mga scientists natin dito, one hundred years ago, the evolution process of our species was completed. Inter-breeding between the two species became impossible. The link between us was broken."
"Pero yung mga estudyante ng Plebeian..."
"They're not really Half-bloods per se. Ang mga ninuno nila more than one hundred years ago ang Half-bloods. Now, they're just carriers of some human genes in them. We call them Plebeians now, not Half-bloods."
"But you, you're a Half-blood. The first one after one hundred years," sabad ni Calix.
"Nimrod's research is about combining the DNAs of the two species and make a serum out of it. Once they inject that serum to a sapiens then he will have praestanus abilities. Imagine billions of sapiens with our abilities."
Catastrophy for our race. We would be extinct even before we exist, at least for the eyes of the world that hadn't heard about us yet.
"We might be a scientific breakthrough but we're a threat to their species as well. Kaya gusto nilang maging successful sa research na ito to make them stronger," pagpapatuloy ni Colton.
Oh god. So ako ang hininging ransom ng Nimrod dahil ako ang sagot sa research nila. But Hugo refused to give me to them and in exchange, hindi na nila ibinalik si Harlow.
Bigla akong nanghina sa nalaman ko. Kaya pala galit sa akin si Camila. Siguro yun din ang dahilan kung bakit galit din sina Fallon at Griffin sa akin.
Now I understand.
***