CHARACTERS™
•WINTER DELA PEÑA•
"Winning a battle doesn't mean you won; I lost the battle, which doesn't mean I lost." There's more upcoming war and more chances of winning or losing. "Win or lose, both will hurt me and leave a scar within my soul."
-TWITTER-
•KNIGHT REIGN MONTEREAL•
"Money, power, and respect. That's the only thing you need to live heavenly in this merciless and spiteful world. But still, it's an illusion we made "us," who control the inferior groups."
-TWITTER-
•LEXUS ZIKE VISCONDE•
"I don't want to fall in love again because it's painful, but why? Why do I love you so much that it hurts me? It hurts my soul, my heart... It pains me to be this foolish... Why does love make everyone go crazy?"
-TWITTER-
•SYN SNIPER AZARCON•
"I don't want to show my weakness to everyone, but that's the thing that will be my greatest downfall. I never
learned to be true to me."
-TWITTER-
•ZERO DOMINIQUE DELGADO•
"Life is a nightmare; you never know who's loyal and who's not, and it's difficult to trust. People can betray anyone, including me and you."
-TWITTER-
•RUSSELL RYE YAMAZAKI•
"I'm paralyzed in the darkness. Can someone help me? I want to live the way I want. Everything is burning like wildfire. Before death consumes me, let me say this to you: " I never considered you as a friend..."
-TWITTER-
•ECHO SHAUN ZUBELDIA•
"You can't touch the sky or the moon; same if I'm with you. I can't even reach your standards... Should I give up?"
-TWITTER-
-PROLOGUE-
Part 1.
A quiet place with a tragic past, mellow grief, and traumatizing embedded memories; kept unknown-a labyrinth full of hidden secrets.
"Win"
The abyss of pain and sorrow. He kneeled to see the man's grievous state.
"Win... I-ah -lo-ove..."
A tear fell from his eyes; the little boy was crying while grabbing the older man's hand. But it was too late. Time was ticking and death was inevitable. He cried and screamed until he felt empty.
Haywire of love, a devastating state, and a heartbreaking perfidy. The world is ruled by regnant powers. They are seeing voracious animals kill their prey. Various groups want the throne feasting on each other's necks. The abhorring feelings came from an event in life.
What we live in...
"Pain"
AUGUST
On this monotonous, cold morning, Win felt tense as these nightmares haunted him for years, yearning for answers but not being brave enough to find them. Sweating from the depth of darkness gripping the sheets, he found himself tearing up. Even though his vision was blurred, the dream felt real; He could sense the overwhelming emotions between him and that person. Win woke up; he felt the breeze coming from the opened window, and he wiped his tears away. The win got up on his bed and did his shower routine.
After that, he went to the dining room. He saw his mother cooking breakfast. The woman looks pale and sallow. Pained on his face, he looked worried about his mother's current condition.
"Mom.. let me do the work-" he looked at his mom directly in her eyes. His mother just weakly smiled at him and took the spatula, "Win... I can do it by myself, okay?" Win just gave in and gave the spatula to his mom. He looked at her; his heart ached to see his mom when he stared at her current condition, "Mom, look at yourself you're not okay. Let's go for a check-up-" The woman beside him cuts him off.
"Win? Can you please stop, okay? I'm fine... Totally fine!" The woman beside him just gave him a soft smile, and he just nodded and walked towards the circular table. He pulled the chair and sat on it. On his observation, his mother was coughing heavily, which made him worried. The lady walked in his direction and put the food on the table; they prayed after.
"Let's dig in?" She weakly smiled.
Turning his gaze to his food, the male took the fork and spoon. He stared at it before slicing the food on the plate. After eating, he went in the direction of his mother and kissed her cheek.
"Ma, Don't forget your meds," he reminded his mom to drink her meds. While her mom walked closer to him and kissed his cheeks, "Yes... I will never forget that. Good luck with your studies!" He looked at her again, and his mother gave him a warm smile. He waved at her, bid her goodbye, and left the house.
9:06 A.M.
Walking alone with his chin up, good demeanor, clean cut, and good posture, he looked more powerful than anyone else. Some were stealing glances at the tall guy. He's the mysterious senior that everyone in the university is talking about because of his "intelligence."
The male attractive features: sharp, keen eyes; a pointed button nose; pinkish-thin lips; a sharp jaw; a dimple in his cheeks; and lastly, quite soft mochi cheeks. He walked past everyone else. Hearing chatter and whispers from the students even their complaints that they share with their friends. Win had been observing everyone's actions and listening to some morning complaints. Sitting on a bench near his faculty while drinking iced coffee and reading his syllabus.
While busy reading, he took a glance at his surroundings and found himself looking at the expensive car. It's a Lexus RC series car, a black, heavily tinted RC coupe. A mid-tall man came out in the car. The guy wore a black top with a white blazer, pants, and white shoes. When he walks, everyone is in awe. If you've ever questioned if you can be hypnotized, the answer is definitely yes. Everyone is doing it right now. In fact, everyone is mesmerized by the boy's beauty: he's an amaranth; that face is to die for. He's the quote that everyone says: "Beauty may be dangerous, but everyone wants to risk themselves to be with him or wants to be like him."
"Love-lies-bleeding"
It's him...
"Echo Shaun Zubeldia"
The boy walked towards his location. When he was close to Win, he waved and smiled; he waved back at him. Echo, they're classmates in this year's major electives: They don't talk to each other that much; they are simply acquaintances and classmates rather than friends.
Now the guy was in front of him. He greeted, "Hey, Win! What's up, why are you here? Why don't you stay inside the room or even at the school's hallway stools?"
"I just like it here..." he answered; sparingly looking at him and rereading his syllabus.
"Oh well? It's your choice, the air here is still polluted. Even though you sniff some of the 'natural' air here, it's polluted due to some toxic gas emissions-It may damage some of your internal parts, and even affect your external activities. That's why I don't go around much...You know it's smoky out there..." smiled widely, while Win was just blankly staring; he enthusiastically waved again before parting in each other's ways, "See you in class? Bye!"
The male in front of him walked away; he arched his brows, arched his back, and slowly swiveled his head to the guy who was walking ahead inside the campus building.
'tsk!'
He fixed his attention on the syllabus: Win has 10 a.m. classes. He looked at his watch, and it was 9:35 am.
"Time to go..."
The room was crowded and everyone was seated. His eyes wandered around, seeing his friend, Haven, talking to a man in front of her; they were both giggling, and he took a glance to the right side, the second row, where he saw Echo, just blankly staring in front. It was a chilling, sharp stare that might frighten someone; it was stupefying. From the left side, he walked across silently in the 4th last row and sat in the left corner near window panes. He was now on the left side, Haven was in the middle, and on her right was an empty chair.
Haven tapped his shoulder and quite incisively whispered, "Psst, Have you seen Dee in the hallway?"
"Nope"
"Damn he's late again!"
"As usual"
9:57 am-When the professor arrived, everyone was quiet. He's walking across the aisle and putting his laptop on the desk. A man appeared out of nowhere; he was breathing and his heart was pounding swiftly. Quite a disheveled hair and sweat were all over his face, but still, he looked good. He heard some of them, whispering and chattering, complimenting how he looked good even though he was sweaty. Well, he's handsome after all.
"Good Morning, Sir..."
"Mr. Javier, Good Morning."
"Yes, Sir."
"Good to see... that you're not late, Mr. Javier."
"Yes, Sir..." Haven facepalmed while looking at the scene. She looked at Win, and he was busy staring outside. The male looked like a blank sheet of paper due to his nervous shell.
The professor pointed at his polo; it was crumpled due to the fact he forgot to iron his clothes, "Please fix yourself, Mr. Javier. Please be seated."
Dee walked past the professor and sat on the empty chair beside Haven. He was still sweaty. Haven looked him in the eyes, and they both looked at each other. She took her bag and looked through it for her handkerchief. When she finally found it, she immediately gave it to Dee. The male beside her accepted and mouthed, "thank you," and he nodded. But Haven just rolled her eyes, which made him confused and stare at her. From the corner of his eye, Win noticed a small scene between his friends. He crossed his arms and looked at them: He smirked.
The professor clapped his hands and coughed, which caught everyone's attention. He then rose to his feet and placed his hands on the table. He said, "Today, we're going to have a test about Philippine Legislative Politics."
He saw everyone's facial reaction-the incredulity painted on their faces. Some were fussing over it, and he, especially Echo, was just calm and collected.
"ha...Sir?" The boy in the front asked.
"Yes, Mr. Lopez. Do you have a question?"
"Nothing, Sir."
"Good. Let's Start..."
The sun comes down as the dawn rises. He was waiting outside the campus for a jeepney ride. Win looked at his watch-it's 6:41 p.m.; he needs to go home because he has plenty of things to take care of. A jeep stopped in front of him, so he went inside, bent his upper body, and leisurely walked towards the right seat in the middle. Win crossed his arms and just looked at his bag where he had put it on his lap. It was a long ride until he arrived at his home.
It was dark outside, windy, and cold; he could hear the rustling of twigs and leaves. He saw his silhouette reflected by the post office lights. Win walked inside the house; it was partially devoid of light and filled with serene silence. He clicked the button, and the lights turned on. Walking past the living room, he was calling his mom's name.
"Ma...Where are you, Ma?"
No one answered. He once again called his mother's name, but still, there was no answer. Win's passively perturbed thoughts were tingling; his mother was not answering. He walked to the dining room and kitchen, but still, he hadn't found his mother's figure or even her silhouette.
"Ma..."
"Ma..."
He walked upstairs, his heart hastily pumping; he was nervous. On his heavy steps, you could hear the noise of the tread. Once he was on the second floor, he immediately went to his mother's room and opened the door.
"Ma!...Ma..." he paused.
"No! Ma... Fuck!"
The tormenting scene: he saw a terminally- demised flower, the petals each fell from the ground; the darkness prevailed and devoured her, the running tears coming from his eyes. He's running towards her, "Ma?! Ma! Wake up! PLEASE-" he paused while glancing at the clock and then he proceed to look at his mom, he checked her pulse and she was still breathing. Win looked at her again; he hugged her trembling from fear of losing. He immediately took her body and asked his neighbors for help.
"Manong Edgar!.." He impatiently knocked at his neighbor's door. The door opened, and the short, corpulent, and geriatric man came out, "Win? What's going on?!" He confusedly asked the younger man in front of him.
Win's quivering voice firmly held his mother's body. He looked at the lifeless woman's body, "Plea-see... He-elp me-My moth-e...er-"
Mang Edgar looked at the woman's condition and he gasped, "JESUS!...Carmelita!"
"ELLA!" he shouted.
"Po!"
"Get the key's near the dining table! Hurry up!" The daughter gave him the keys, and he hastily took the keys and went to his jeepney, and they brought his mom to the hospital.
Win was silently crying on this somber night. He looked at his mother, who was carrying her on her waist, as she sat on his lap. As he caresses her pale face, the woman is his greatest strength. Now, in his safe arms, he feels the sadness of his mother's fatal circumstances. Mang Edgar glanced at Win and his mom in the rectangular mirror on the top, "Be strong, Win... for your mother..."
The younger man was still caressing his mom's face; he remained silent. Mang Edgar knew Win was a tough guy, and no matter how difficult the challenges were, he believed in him. It was a quiet ride until they arrived at the hospital. He carried his mom inside the hospital, running. The nurses ran towards him with the stretcher, and they place her body on the hospital stretcher.
After that, she was brought to the ICU. Win was waiting in the waiting room along with Manong Edgar; he tapped Win's shoulder, "Everything will be okay, son...Would you like to eat dinner?..." Win just shrugged. "You need to eat, Win...Alright, I'll buy you some water," Mang Edgar tapped his shoulder before he walked away.
Mang Edgar gave him a bottle of water; Win took it and sat beside him. Win looked miserable. He was spared the worst disasters-the raging typhoons and hurricanes, the heavy winds, the pouring rain, and the deluge of emotions that started to flow to his core. He doesn't know; there are more disasters to come.
"I haven't seen you cry," he said while he let a small chuckle. " You are a really brave child, your mother has no problem with you," along the silence, Mang Edgar just looked at the ceiling. "I've known you, Win since you were a child. You're similar to your father..." he paused, Win just idly smirked. "Whether I know him or not...Wherever he is, I hope he's happy..." Their conversation was interrupted when a doctor and nurse walked in their direction. They discussed his mother's condition. In the conversation, the doctor told them that as of now, his mother is undergoing a biopsy procedure, and they took some samples. It might take days to receive the biopsy results. Now his mom is resting in a room.
He was in the side corner where the waiting area was located. Win wiped the remaining tears from his eyes. The two teenager's arrived (18 yrs old): The boy and a girl who were Mang Edgar's children, "Pa!" the woman slowly walked across. (It's his wife). They're standing in front of them.
"Win... you may go home..."
"No-Mang Edgar, I'll look after Mama."
"Go home, you have class tomorrow, your lessons? Pending works?"
"But, Mang Edgar-"
"Alright Win, Us and the kids will take care of your mother."
"Yes, brother Win! We'll take care of it." the boy interjected. Win just tapped and he disarrayed the boy's hair, the boy smiled; he looked at the younger girl and smiled. The girl blushed, " OH MY GOD! You are really handsome." She muttered, and they chuckled because the girl was red as a tomato.
9:32 p.m.
He turned his head to the right, then he faced again in front; he did the breathing exercise to calm himself. After that, he stood up. He bid goodbyes to Mang-Edgar and his children. Win walked into the hallway (first floor), and he saw men wearing black suits; they're four in front and two at the back with a guy in the middle wearing a gray suit; his slick back hair. The men in black were walking through his distance.
"Fuck" He muffled. When he looked at the man, their eyes met. The gravity pulls him to stare at those mystic frore eyes. It was electrifying as if there were some type of connection. They stared into each other's eyes for seconds; however, the unknown man broke their eye contact and looked at the lady in front of him.
"Mr. Montereal..."
Win looked away without curiosity until he reached the exit.
Win got home; it had been a depressing night for him. He went immediately to the bathroom and washed. His thoughts were clouded by the mother he loved. He felt free; the water dripped through his body. It felt like rain; his thoughts were running through his head.
The mind-eye of the past came back again to confuse the future.
"Ma... I hope it will never happen again..."
After that, he went to his room, and he couldn't focus on the task that was assigned to him. He patted his face and he looked out his window, he saw a white-winged creature outside his room. It's a sign that a past memoir is awakened, the depth of injustice and prejudice are now creeping into his void. Win stared at the butterfly again, he smiled, and he knew he'd never be alone in any battles he faced. He finished his tasks until he fell asleep in his bed.
-end of part one-