"Enough," rinig kong utas ni Alastair sa aking likuran. Rinig ko ang mga yapak niyang papunta sa aming dalawa ni Dasha habang ako'y matalim pa rin ang tingin sa babaeng mas nahintakutan sa aking banta.
Ang hawak ni Alastair sa aking braso ang nagpawala ng inis at galit ko sa babaeng ito. Agad kong isinarang muli ang aking mata upang hindi ako maabutan ng binata na bahagya akong nakakakita.
"Where's her dog?" Tila isang kumpas ang pagkakatanong niyon ni Alastair at walang pag-aalinglangang sumagot sa tanong si Dasha.
"The dog's outside. Playing on the grounds." Tugon ni Dasha na mas nagpahinahon ng aking pakiramdam.
Inilayo ako ni Alastair kay Dasha at nilagay niya ako sa likod nito. I felt his gaze torturing my being. "He's safe." Anang nito sa akin.
I nodded silently as a sign of acknowledgement and he lead me back to my bed.
"What she did is unforgivable." Wika ng kasama pa nilang isang babae bukod kay Dasha. And she must be Anabelle Dela Fuente.
Elite 3: Anabelle Dela Fuente
Age: 24 years old
Height: 5'7
Background: An adopted orphan from Spain and inherited the treasures of her adopted parents in which both of them were part of the Privus Trata.
Skills: Poison expert
"Are you okay, Dasha?" Oliver asked. He must be helping the woman together with the other guy.
"Of course she's not?! Look what happened to her! Nakatulala lang siya sa kawalan!"
"How would I even look at her if I don't have anything else to see?" Hindi ko mapigilang magwika.
"That's not the point. The mere fact that you threathened and you warned an Elite with your barehands gives you a right to be killed!" Histeryang sigaw nitong Anabelle.
Ano bang kinapuputok ng butsi nito?
"Ana, relax." Pagpapahinahon ni Oliver rito.
"No, I won't! Alas, don't tell me you're thinking the other way around now?" Nangdamay pa ang hitad. At Alas ang nickname ni Alastair?
"Look," I caught her attention. "I may not officially part of your organization but I'm aware of some parts wherein I could throw some shits on you."
What's the use of the technology that I have if won't be able to get few datas?
"Aba't--"
"A lower level member of your Privus who would disrespect an Elite would only be subject for death if that person showed an act of weakness towards to his or her action. And an Elite who have been threathened by a lower level of her rank and showed an act of spinelessness would be subject for demotion or dethronement." Wika ko na may bawat diin sa letra.
Hindi nakahumang ang mga ito sa aking sinabi.
"How did you know that?" Oliver asked.
I tsk-ed with dissapointment.
"I'll be your future colleagues in your school so therefore I need to know the rules and regulations." Anas ko sa kanila na alam kong kinabigla nila maging ni Alastair.
"What?!" See? Reaksyon iyan ni Anabelle.
"Benvenuto all'inferno." Welcome to hell.
"Vexigo's password." Mahinang utas ni Alastair sa tabi.
"B-But... I thought we need to kill her." The other guy named Aarav Cervantes.
Elite 4: Aarav Cervantes
Age: 26 years old
Height: 6'1
Background: Twin brother of Oliver.
Skills: A messy killer. He's frequently the battle warrior of the Elites.
Instead of answering Aarav's confusion... "Alastair..." I voiced out with a tone of giving conclusion.
"This is just a test." Wika ng binata sa pagsagot sa ibig kong iparating.
"A student's test." Ani Oliver na isinawika sa pinakamadaling paraan upang maintindihan ng lahat.
Nito ko lang rin napagtanto na ito ang rason kung bakit ibig akong ipapatay ni Supremo. Hindi para patayin ng tuluyan kung'di ang masubukan.
"If this is a test." Utas ni Anabelle. "Then I'll start it through me."
Hindi ko inasahan ang mabilis niyang paghila sa aking damit at ako'y kanyang binuhat patayo tapos ay sinipa ng malakas. Bumagsak ako sa may kalapit na dingding habang hawak ko ang aking tiyan na natamaan.
Napaubo ubo ako sa lakas ng sipa ni Anabelle ngunit ramdam kong susugod pa ito kaya mabilis kong naiwasan muli ang sunod na sipa. Her kick destroyed the cabinet beside me. Gumapang ako palayo rito ngunit mabilis nitong nahablot ang aking buhok at hinila iyon ng malakas.
I screamed in pain as I felt my scalp was torn into pieces. Sobrang sakit talaga na animo'y pakiramdam ko na makakalbo ako anytime.
Patuloy ang paghila niya sa akin. Nakakaladkad na ako sa pinaggagagawa niya.
Nang tumigil ito ay saka niya ako muling tinadyakan.
"Test her, Aarav, Oliver." Ramdam ko ang hesitation ng dalawang lalaki dahil marahil sa nararanasan ko ngayon. "If this is really the Supremo's order then test her. If she's really deserving to be part of our school then she should fight back."
Then she threw another kick on my stomach. "I suggest to test her with your full strength boys."
"W-What?" Parehas na tanong ng dalawang lalaki.
"You heard me. She humiliated our name right in front of our eyes. Make her bleed... to death."
"Fuck!" Hirap na hirap kong utas nang maramdaman ko ang madalas nitong pagdiin ng paa sa aking tiyan.
The guys never said something. I can feel the glint of hesitation but they've started to walk near me.
I'm not sure what should I do. Should I fight back? I know that I can but why am I waiting for someone to stop them? Or am I just assuming that he will stop them.
I just found myself holding by a man. I'm not sure if it's Aarav or Oliver but whoever it is... I need to fight back.
Wala na akong pake kung may gawin man ang Alastair na iyan or what. Kesa naman mamatay naman ako sa katampalasan ng Anabelle na ito.
I felt that the other man will punch me while I'm still trapped by the other. I pushed my body up to kick the man who will punch me in the front. Then I put all my weight in my upper body to push back the man behind me.
We're all now on the ground. I bumped my head to the man behind and I heard him groaned.
Tono palang ay nakilala ko na ito na si Oliver. So the man who was about punch me is Aarav.
Kahit hirap ay nagawa kong gumapang ng ilang metro sa kanila but the sound of stilletos from behind quickly aggreviate my teeth to curse.
No way in hell I'll let Anabelle to touch my hair ever again.
Papalapit na ang yabag na naririnig ko nang hinanda ko na ang sarili ko balibagin itong si Anabelle.
I did the roundhouse horizontal kick. I heard Anabelle groaned loudly as I heard a loud thud. It made me smile just a bit. But I'm not yet satisfied.
Pagbabayaran nito ang lahat ng hibla na natanggal sa anit ko.
They want me to fight? Fine.
Itinukod ko ang isa kong binti sa sahig at inilagay ko ang magkabilang palad ko sa naturang sahig. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply. When I heard them standing up, I slapped my palm on the floor with force.
The vibrations enshrouded the whole room. It manifested their human forms and it created a visual impact in my mind. I slapped it again and the visual turned out there's someone near me.
Mabilis kong iniharang ang magkabila kong braso paitaas nang maramdaman kong sipa mula sa itaas ang gagawin ng isa sa kanila. The leg is skinny. This might be Anabelle.
Alam ko na ang susunod nitong gagawin kung kaya't mabilis kong sinipa ang isa pa nitong paa dahilan upang matumba muli ito sa lupa.
I slapped again the floor to verify how near the next person in my area. They're two and it's the twins for sure.
Sa magkabilang gilid sila lumalapit sa akin.
I remained my face straight eventhough I can taste a blood on my lips.
Unang umatake ang nasa kaliwa. The physique of his arms is telling me it's Oliver. It's different from the arm muscle of Aarav. Mas malapad at malaman ang braso ni Oliver pero hindi naman ganoong nagkakalayo ang kay Aarav. Mas defined lang talaga ito kumpara sa isa pang kambal.
Sunod sunod na umamba ng bawat atake ang kambal. At sa bawat bira nila ay kung hindi ko iilagan iyon ay sinasabayan ko rin ng tira.
Lalaki silang parehas at kung hindi ako makakalayo sa kanila kahit ilang segundo lang ay may susunod sunorin na nila ako ng tira at bira. Isama mo pa kung sasali pa itong si Alastair sa patintero namin dito.
Luckily, I was able to smacked Aarav's neck and kicked Oliver's gut. Both of them were stumbled aback. It's actually my chance to breathe in and breathe out however, the stilletos from the woman whom I'm starting to hate is now running into me. I managed to dodged her kick with my arms but she followed it with few punches.
Ilang segundo lang at naramdaman ko nang sabay sabay silang tatlo na susugod sa akin. Fuck! This is not good.
Yumukod ako upang iwasan ang paparating na magkasabay na suntok nina Aarav and Oliver at mabilis na iniwasan ang roundhouse kick ni Anabelle.
I have no choice. If I'm not going to take them seriously, I might be the one to suffer from excessive panting.
I started concentrating while redeeming myself. I grabbed the chance that their also catching up with their breath and I did the same. I did it deeply. I postured my both hands downward and straighten up my body. I inhaled once more and filled my lungs with air.
I felt they started attacking again.
With the little amount of rest that I had, I smoothly dodged every attacks from them.
I set aside other noises from my surroundings. I focused it on their body movements. I can't hear anything more except with their attacks.
I'm continuously doing that and letting them to feel the heavy burden of their attacks.
When I think it is now the right time to attack, I waited for someone to throw a punch. When someone did, I immediately caught it and put it under my armpit and I lockdown it tightly. I grabbed the upper inner part of his elbow joint and pinched it hard.
Aarav screamed in pain as the excruciating feeling enveloped in his arms. I grinned momentarily.
I recoiled immediately and went back to my normal stance. Anabelle grunted with anger and started to throw punches and kicks again. Hindi ko pinatagal ang pag-iwas sa mga atake niya bagkus ay mabilis kong hinablot ang upper body nito at inabot ang collar bone nito. I jabbed my two fingers behind and she screamed in pain as I put a heavy pressure on it.
Oliver on the hand, tried to take the monoblock chair beside him. I didn't waste anytime and I grabbed the body of Aarav-- in which still holding his arms and screaming and grunting in pain, placed him on my side and received the impact of the attack.
I immediately grabbed the arm of Oliver and immediately squeezed the muscle between his thumb and pointing finger joints. Then using my index finger, I punched him near on his left collar bone.
I'm hearing them cursing a lot. They knew that they won't be able to move the parts I've hit because of the pain I inflicted on their pressure points.
Kasabay ko silang humihinga ng sobrang lalim. I think I'm done here. I made my point. I won the test.
"Enough." Utos ni Alastair sa isang tabi nang makita ng binata na aatake pa si Anabelle. I felt her moved but she stopped automatically from what she was about to do.
"You've done enough, Ana. She passed." I am merely surprised from his acknowledgement. So I did win?
"B-But," sinubukang umalma ni Anabelle.
"I said, that's enough. You'll lose. Once you lose, you're out." He simply said.
Kung ako ang nasa katayuan ni Anabelle, sobra akong masasaktan at mapapahiya sa mga sinambit ng binata. Pinamukha na nga sa iyong matatalo ka, sinampal pa sa iyo ang mangyayari kapag pinagpatuloy pa niya.
"You," I know he's talking to me. "Use the other room. The room is already a mess."
Hindi na rin ako umalma. My body is burning because of soreness. Hindi ako nakapag-warm up kaya paniguradong mamaya o bukas ay mararamdaman ko na ang muscle pain.
"Oliver, Aarav." Tawag ni Alastair sa dalawang lalaki. "Assist Dasha on her room."
The guys obliged without any hesitation. Ang natitira nalang ngayon sa kwartong halos nasira namin ay ako, si Alastair at ang nagngingitngit na si Anabelle.