Tomorrow
We just finished our morning training and it's now 12:00 pm. We recieved an e-mail from an unknown identity and it's imposible for us to crack it down. I'm sure Flash can handle this. He's one of the highest paid hacker in the world. No doubt.
But we're just so bothered what the e-mail is all about. In this time where everything is not safe and all these people so eager to kill me or my friends, I know we have to act fast.
"Hindi ba natin sasabihin sa pinuno ang mga banta?" May pag aalinlangan na sabi ni JM.
"Are you kidding? You're scared because of death threats? We are recieving death threats every fucking day." Bwisit kong sabi sakanya.
"But Emp, you know how dangerous it is now. Malapit ka ng maihalal na bagong pinuno ng organisasyon. Tayo na ang magiging pinaka matataas, you know how all of this works. You die, we die, at sa ibang samahan na mapupunta ang puwesto"
I just brushed my hair out of annoyance. They all really want to bring me down. But that wont happen.
Never.
Agad na bumukas ang pinto at bumungad dun si Jake.
"Emperor..." sabi ni Jake pagka pasok sa chilling place namin. Namumutla sya at halos hindi maipinta ang mukha.
Nandito kaming lahat sa chilling place maliban lang sakanya at kay koi.
Where's koi?
"S—si Koi." Napatayo si Kyohei, Kennji at Shin.
"Wheres Koi? What happened to you?" Tyaka ko lang napansin ang may bandage nyang braso. There's blood trying to get out from the white bandage on his shoulder.
"He's Critical now. Nasa basement sya sa head quarters. Doc.Funtanilla is taking care of him."
We didnt spent another second there and we went to see Koi.
Its a hidden place na 'yung mga parte lang ng organisasyon namin ang nakakaalam. And it's one of the most dangerous place if you're not part of it. The moment that you find out about that place and you're not part of us, you will be hunted down and be killed, no matter what happens.
Imposible din namang malaman ng ibang tao ang basement. It'so hidden and it's impossible for someone to find it with their bare eyes.
Me, Blue, Shin, JM, June, and Steaf went to see Koi together with Jake. While Kyohei, and Kenji went somehwere. They will take care of things.
"Fontanilla, how is Koi?" I asked him. Ng makita ko si Koi na nakaratay ay para akong sinindihan sa loob. He looks so bad I dont know if he can make it.
That fucking bastard. Isang malaking pagkakamali para sakanila ang samantalahing kaunti ang miyembro ko.
"He's in a bad shape. Sad to say but I think we need to transfer him to a hospital. We don't have all the equipments here to save him"
Agad na naginit ang ulo ko sa sinabi nya. "What the fuck do you mean we don't have the equipments? Then buy whatever it is!"
"But Emperor, I need the opinion of my other co-Doctors. This is a hard case. His brain is badly damaged and I dont want to make any procedure that I'm unsure. Maraming namuong dugo its too risky to do it here."
I breath in and punch whatever is near me. "Just do whatever the fuck you can! You have to save him or youre going to hell" he just nodded and left.
"Jake, spill it"
Umupo sya at isinandal ang ulo sa sofa. He looks so bad.
"We're on our way to Sebastian University when someone fired a gun on our car. Na flat ang gulong nun at sumalpok kami sa posteng nakatayo sa gilid ng highway. Koi was driving really fast. Asshole's flooring it like he always does and he's not wearing seatbelt. You know him, he loves danger."
We all looked at Koi who's now unconcious and he really look so bad. His face is full of bruises and half of his scalp is covered with blood and bandage. There are machines connected to him you can barely see his face.
"I woke up with all the ambulance around us but I still manage to call our own ambulance to bring him here. I honestly thought he's gone" His face was covered with fear. "There's a lot of blood all over him and Doc. Fontanilla anounced him flat lined earlier. Pero alam nyo naman gaano ka samang damo si Koi. He's fighting now and I know he'll be ok soon"
Nag igting ang panga 'ko. We really have to decode the mail. I know there's an answer in that letter. And if we found out who's responsible for this. Damn, hell will welcome them. I will welcome them.
We can't bring Koi to the hospital because it will be too dangerous for him. It's an open facility and it's gonna be hard for us to secure his safety. That's why we have our own clinic here in our headquarters.
Koi's one of the strongest member of 4M. They know what he can do and even if I am in their position and I have plans taking our group dowm, Koi's definitely one of the member I want to get rid of. He's a sharp shooter, he can fight 10 guys single handedly, he can run a car faster than anyone I know. He's skilled for a reason. Mostly, he's always ready to take a bullet for us. He's ready to die.
But we're all not.
"Emp" June caught our attention. Kakapasok nya lang ng clinic. "You have to see this"
Agad akong sumunod sakanya sa below zero. Ang pinaka restircted na parte ng hideout. Our basement knows everything that's happening in the world. Even the stop light. We can control it.
We went inside the elevator and Jake pressed the Zero botton. And we went down. 20 floors below earth's surface.
I saw Flash with his assistants infornt of hundreds of monitor. He's the head of the hacking department. They know everything that's happening.
"Flash" I called his attention. He's with Kyohei and Kenji. They're watching something on the monitor.
They're looking at some CCTV footage. Yeah, we have the access to all the cameras in the world. We can hack it. It's called God's Eyes.
We're reviewing the CCTV of the highway. It was 11:03 am when there's a red challenger beside Kio's Car. The next CCTV is 20 meters away. Flash paused it and zoomed the picture till we saw who's driving.
"He's wearing a mask and he has a super light blue eyes." Sabi ni Jake sa gilid. "No one's with him" sabi nya ulit.
Wala nga syang kasama. He must be skilled to do it alone.
"1-2-0, check this plate number." Sabi nya sa isa sa mga tauhan nya at sinend nya ang plate number.
Wala pang ilang segundo ay nahanap agad ni 1-2-0 ang plate number.
"The car is from singapore. Bought 4 months ago under the name of Felipe Chui, Sy sr. Delivered here 3 months ago." Sabi ni 1-2-0.
"1-2-4, Location" sabi ni Flash.
Agad na nag search si 1-2-4 sa screen nya. "It's already in Laguna."
Nagkatinginan kaming lahat. He's in laguna.
"1-2-7, view the dashcam of the car" sabi ni flash.
Nilocate ni 1-2-7 ang back camera ng sasakyan. When he entered the code we saw live what's the back camera of the car is capturing. It's a huge basement.
"1-2-4, send Jake, Kyohei and Kenji the address" utos ko sakanya.
"Yes, Emperor"
"Flash, send me the e-mail"
"Yes, Emp."
At agad na akong umalis dun. I will take care of things my own way. And my own way will always gonna be the best way. A smirk flashed on my face. This is going to be fun.
Shin's POV
Nakaupo lang kaming apat ni June ako at ni JM sa gilid ni Koi dahil ang lahat saamin ay may importanteng ginagawa. Kakagaling lang namin sa Below Zero, ang pinaka babang parte ng head quarters.
"A—ang sakit sa matang tignan si Koi ng ganyan.... a—ang hapdi sa mata.." sabi ni June at pinunasan ang mga mata nya.
Dahan-dahan akong tumingin sakanya at tumingin kay Koi. Ang daming aparatus na nakakabit sakanya nakakahinga pa ba sya?
"His head is damaged so bad. Ang alam ko'y nag flat-line na sya kanina.... isipin nyo. Ang gagong 'to siguro ayaw talaga ni Lord mapasalangit kaya hindi mamatay-matay." Sabi naman ni JM.
Narinig ko namang suminghot si June sa gilid. "T*ng-ina! Hindi ko pala kayang mawala ang kahit isa sainyong mga kapatid ko. Bro mag-iingat na sana tayong lahat. Masyado tayong nagpaka kampante na takot sila saatin kaya naman tinira nila tayo ng hindi natin alam."
"Honestly, sa tingin ko kailangan muna nila Zyril at nila Pepay lumayo saatin. Mahirap ng madamay sila. There's a lot going on. Papalapit narin ang Final game."
"Tama" pag sang ayon ko "kailangan natin silang protektahan sa malayuan."
"Nasabi na ba ni Emp lahat 'to kay Ziri?" Napatingin ako kay JM sa tanong nya.
Sinandal ko sa head rest ng sofa 'yung ulo ko at tumingin sa kisame. "Hindi pa"
I hate to see Zick's situation. It's been so long since he felt this happy. I can't imagine that he needs to protect her from a safe distance. Naniniwala akong gagawa sya ng paraan para huwag mapalayo kay Ziri. Pero, aaminin ko, hindi ito ang tamang oras para magkaroon sya ng kahinaan lalo na't si Ziri 'yun. For sure, gagamitin nila sya laban sakanya.
For all we know, ang tagal na nilang inaantay ang pagkakataong 'to, ang makahanap ng kahinaan kay Zick Sebastian.
"You think she can handle all this? I mean, ang gulo na masyado ng lahat. Sana kaya ni Emp maipaliwanag lahat ng 'to bago mag final game. Dadagsain ang school natin sa final game, maraming taong makakapasok sa baste. Delikado."
Tama si JM. Grand Finals game will not be the best chance for Zyril to be there. Masyadong maraming tao, they can easily abduct her lalo na't busy kaming maglalaro.
"I think she shouldn't be there sa finals. Ano sa tingin nyo...?" Tumingin ako sakanilang dalawa.
"Pero Papa Shin, hindi ba nakakalungkot naman 'yun para kay Ziri? Hindi nya pa napapanood si Emp mag laro..." malungkot na sabi ni June.
"Mas unfair sakanyang madamay sa gulong 'to. She's so lowkey, simple lang syang klase ng tao at alam kong hindi sya sanay sa mga ganitong sitwasyon." Sagot ko.
"I agree, its better for her to not be there sa finals." Sagot ni JM.
•••••••
Zyril's POV
Mabilis lumipas ang mga araw at sabado na. Gahd, why does that week feels so tiring? Parang ang daming nangyari.
Bumaba ako para kumain ng almusal. Naabutan ko si ate Weng at si ate Kakay na nag hahanda na ng almusal.
"Good morning" simple kong sabi.
Agad ko naman silang dalawa nakita na ngumiti. Anong meron? Bakit parang may mali? May nangyari ba?
Umupo ako sa isa sa mga upuan at pinag masdan sila.... "Mga ate, anong nangyari?"
Sa tanong kong 'yun, nagkatinginan sila at parang sinasabi na sasabihin ba natin sakanya? "Hello?" Pagbati ko ulit.
Sinenyasan ni ate Weng si ate Kakay na kunin na ang mga pagkain sa kusina. Naiwan sa sa harap ko at umupo. "Nitong mga nakaraang araw, parang may malalim na iniisip ang kuya Owy mo. Feeling namin may hindi sya sinasabi sainyo."
Napakunot ang noo ko. What could it be? Bigla tuloy akong kinabahan. Masama ang kutob ko. "Paano pong... problemado?"
"Wala sya sa sarili nya, halos alas kwatro narin sya umuuwi dito sa bahay, hindi sya kumakain, lutang 'din ang isang 'yun pag kinakausap."
Its not the usual him. Kumpara kaya kuya Oliver mas masiyahing tao si kuya Owy. He's always loud, always nice. Talagang malalaman mo kung may mali sakanya.
"Okay ate Weng. Wag kayong mag-alala kakausapin ko po sya."
Pagtapos kong kumain ay pumunta ako sa kwarto ko para manood ng Netflix. Wala naman akong planong gawin ngayon weekend. Wala din si Dalia dahil alam ko may family meeting sila sa tagaytay. Si Pepay naman alam kong sinasamba ang mundo ng kpop kapag weekends.
Biglang nag vibrate ang phone ko dahil may tumatawag. Pagkakita ko palang ng pangalan nya ay grabe na ang tibok ng puso ko. Kelan ba ako masasanay sa lalaking 'to? Iba parin ang epekto nya saakin.
"Hello?"
[Hey...] simple nyang sabi pero akala mo'y kinukurot ang puso ko sa kilig.
Masaya akong humiga sa kama ko habang nagingiting parang tanga. What the f*ck is happening to me.
"Hey... k—kamusta? Tapos ka na ba sa errands mo ngayong araw?"
Sabi nya kasi busy sya. Ang plano sana namin ngayon ay tatambay sa place nila sa tagaytay at mamamasyal nadin. Halos lahat ng lugar yata ay may pag-aari sila. I can imagine us travelling at pag nasiraan kami in the middle of nowhere ay hihirit syang 'mag pahinga muna tayo, may bahay kami dito'
[I fucking miss you..] malambing nyang sabi.
Halos maramdaman ko ang paglaglag ng puso ko sa talampakan ko sa mahinahong boses nya. Ilang segundo akong hindi nakahinga bago ko nagawang pakalmahin ang sarili ko.
"Weehh?" Natatawa kong sagot sakanya.
[Fuck you retard why do you always have to ruin the moment?] sabi nya at mas lalo akong natawa.
Well I guess its hard for him to be this sweet too. Being the Zick Sebastian he is. The cold hearted emperor. I guess he never show this side of him to anyone. I wish.
"Just kidding, I—I miss you too..." THERE nasabi ko na! Halos hindi nanaman ako makahinga! F*******ck!!! Nababaliw na yata ako!
I can almost hear him smilling from here! Iniisip ko palang ang itsura nya habang nangingiti ay namimiss ko na talaga sya. Jusko naman kasi, having a boyfriend with that drop-dead-gorgeous face and body?????? Baka I rugby nyo na ang sarili nyo sakanya para lagi mo nalang makita at makasama oh my freaking hell I'm going insane.
[Really???] mapang asar nyang sabi.
"Edi wag. No, I dont miss you. I'm just kidding don't mind me."
Sya naman ang natawa sa kabilang linya. Kelan kaya kami magkakaroon ng matinong usapan ano? It's clearly obvious we're not used to do these things. We're learning from each other.
[I'm kidding, Retard. I know you miss me....] mapang-asar nanaman nyang banat.
"Ang kapal mo ah! Don't be so confident" sabi ko na ng nakaupo at tumawa nanaman sya. Well I guess this is really our way of saying "i miss you" to each other and I somehow have to deal with it.
[Thanks for anwering my call. I needed to hear your voice. There's a lot going on.] he said and gave out a deep sigh.
He sounds so tired. I honestly dont have any idea what's going on but I respect his privacy. If he's not telling me about it, it just simply means that it's non of my business.
"Okay, coconut headed guy. Please take care. Your final game is getting near. I'll be watching you play so I dont want you to get sick!"
Ilang segundo syang natahimik sa kabilang linya...
[Okay. You too. See you soon] I just said okay and hanged up the phone call.
Is it just me or somethings really happening that I dont know? Is this what they call woman's instinct? From what I've heard, it's almost always right. Do I have to find something out?
Honestly, lately I feel being left out. Nararamdaman kong may tinatago sila Pepay at Dalya. As well as Zick. I dont even want to open up to them about it. Ayokong mapahiyang wala naman talaga. I turst them, siguro nama'y kung meron mang nangyayaring importante ay hindi nila ililihim saakin.
I heard a knock on the door at bumukas iyon. Iniluwa nito si ate Weng. "Nak, mag bihis ka."
Napakunot ang noo ko at napaupo sa pagkaka higa. "Bakit, ate Weng?"
"A—ang Bise Presidente nasa baba. G—gusto ka daw makausap."
Agad na nanlaki ang mga mata ko. "S—SI GRANDPA??? NASA BABA???"
Tumango sya ng sunod-sunod at agad akong mapabalikwas para mag-ayos.
Sa pagkakaalala ko, ito palang yata ang pangatlong beses na pumumta dito ang lolo ko. Agad akong ginapangan ng kaba. Mukhang ako talaga ang pakay nya dahil kung si Mommy ang sinadya nya ay ipapatawag nya ito sa opisina.
I managed to get dressed and get ready in less than 5 minutes. To my grandpa, every tick of the clock is gold. Wasting someones time is one of his golden rule.
I have this gut feeling na napaka importante ng sasabihin nya at sya pa mismo ang personal na pumunta dito. It is very dangerous for him to go to places where some of his family member leaves. As my kuya Oliver said, he's one of the greatest man this country could ever have. Yes he's just the vice president but there were news that he was supposed to be the president if only there's no cheating happened during the election.
And the president now? Well I dont know about him but he's in a lot of mess lately.
As I went down our spiral staircase, the view of men in white long sleeves barong welcomed me. There's like four of them and 5 men who's wearing full gear military shits. They look like they can be in a war any day.
And as I reached the bottom of our staircase, a tall old man with a broad shoulders and an authoritative face was looking at me. He looked at me from head to toe as if it's his way of checking how I am doing nowadays.
"Grandpa" I manage to say and went to him for a beso.
"Sit down. I have to talk to you." His voice alone almost sent shivers down my spine. I cant remember the last time we talked to each other without anyone.
As he said, I sat down. He also sat down infront of me. I had the chance to look at his face. He aged well. He's still the good looking man we all know. His face is always shouting 'power'. You can run into him somehwere without knowing who he was and you will always have this feeling that you have to respect him.
"Zyril, I want you to take all the next words that will come out my mouth seriously. As serious as you can. Understood?"
I half consciously nodded to him quickly. "Y—yes, grandpa." What the f*ck is happening.
"As you know, I've been in the service for few years now. I only serve for the country. Not even for the president."
I nodded as he speaks.
"You may or may have not any idea what's happening but as one of my grandchild, I want you to be aware." He speak while starring dirrectly to my eyes like every word hes saying is not intended to be repeated, I understand it or not.
"There are these Organizations that has been doing some ilegal things in this country. We're talking about billions here. At alam mo naman kung gaano ka nakakasilaw ang salapi sa mga taong uhaw dito. For the past few years, ginagawa ko ang lahat sa kapangyarihan ko para maprotektahan ang bansa natin sa mga katulad nilang mga hangal ang kaluluwa. Kaya nilang pumatay para sa pera. Wala sakanila ang halaga ng buhay."
Agad na bumilis ang tibok ng puso ko. Wala akong ibang alam tungkol sa Lolo ko. Alam ko lang ay sya ang pinaka mabisang bise presidente na nagkaroon ang bansa. Hindi ko naisip na sa likod noon ay may mga tao syang mababangga at ilang beses na nga bang nanganib ang buhay nya?
Naiintindihan ko naman kung bakit pilit nya kaming inilalayo sa landas nya. Our family, morethan this country, is his most prized possession if you may say.
"These people, apo. They are monsters. Mga taong nabuhay sa masamang gawain. I'll admit. Theyre way more powerful than I am. Isa lang akong Vice President. The President is even on their side. Alam kong madaming naniniwala at nag titiwala saakin ngunit hindi ko din ikakailang may mga pagkakataon na natatakot ako sa kaligtasan ko. Handa akong mamatay para sa bayan. Ngunit naisip kong pag wala na ako ay baka wala nang prumotekta sainyo."
I heard every fear from his voice. This is probably the longest conversation I will ever have with my Grandpa and I can prove to anyone now that he's really a good person. He has so much love for this country.
"Now here's why I'm here. Zyril Shami Buenavista, I want you to take some classes"
Agad na napakunot ang noo ko. "Classes, Grandpa?"
"Yes, Classes. Lahat ng kailangan mong matutunan para maipagtanggol mo ang sarili mo."
Parang may bumara sa lalamunan kong kung ano at hindi ako nakapag salita. Kilala ko ang Lolo ko. Kapag sinabi nyang kailangan kong matuto ng isang bagay ay talagang kailangan kong hasain ang sarili ko dito.
At sa ngayon na sinasabi nyang kailangan kong matutunan ang lumaban, alam kong hindi magiging biro ang proseso nito.
"I will check on you next month. You have a month to train yourself to death. You'll be tested by all of the professionals infornt of me sa itatakda kong araw . Alam kong matalino ka at kaya mong mahasa lagpas pa sa inaasahan ko."
Napaawang nalang ang labi ko. These are too much to digest everything went like a lightning.
"Don't worry, I have someone to guide you all through out this journey. This is the youngest and also one of the skilled personnel I have, Coven."
Grandpa stood up so I followed him and stood too. A tall man with a broad shoulder walked infront of us from nowhere. He's wearing a black hoodie and it's covering his face. He faced Grandpa first and gave respect to him.
"Sir" they two gave each other a salute.
He faced me with his hoodie up. Kalmado syang nag lakad papunta saakin. Inilahad nya ang kanang kamay nya.
"I'm Coven Judecca"
Judecca... the lowest dept of hell. The round reserved for traitors to their lords, benefactors, and masters.
Inilahad ko rin ang kamay ko at agad nya itong tinanggap. The coldness of his hands sent familiar shivers down my spine.
Then he put his hood down.. and a light blue eyes welcomed me.
Again... those eyes reminded me of the ocean...
•••••••••••••