Two weeks had passed but there were no signs of Jill and Paul. Iniwan nila ang Nightshade Academy nang malaman namin ang totoong pagkatao nila. They wanted to complete the serum and kill the remaining species around the world.
And I will never allow them, I thought in anger.
Bumangon ako mula sa kama ko at tumingin sa orasan na nakasabit sa kwarto ko. It was just four o'clock of the morning- a perfect time to train for the mission.
About that, Professor Fina had postponed our mission because of the unpleasant circumstances that happened days ago. Like Paul and Jill, she wanted to complete the serum. I had no doubt if they were all working together.
I wanted to ask her, but Doctor Marcus told us that she was still under investigation. So for now, confronting her was not a good option.
Pumunta ako sa tapat ng bintana ko at napangiti nang makita ko si Lee Ann na tumatakbo papuntang Training Hall. She was doing well now compared before. Though most of us were still hurt of what happened to Shienna, we found our own ways to live again.
But we will always remember her.
I never expected this. I never thought that we, the Blue Agents, would end up looking out for each other. Hindi lang ito simpleng samahan sa Nightshade Academy. Sa maikling panahon na pamamalagi ko dito, natutunan kong ituring ang bawat miyembro bilang isang pamilya ko. We learned how to protect each other for one goal- to save the entire species around the world.
Aalis na sana ako sa tapat ng bintana nang biglang maging yelo ito at sumabog sa harapan ko. Isang nakakabinging tunog ang kumalat sa loob ng kwarto ko.
Napaatras ako at habang nanginginig ang buong katawan ko, binalot ang paligid ko ng sobrang takot at kaba. My heart was beating so fast that I couldn't find to breath.
"Toffee!" sigaw mula sa pinto ng kwarto ko. His hands touched my shoulders and went to my cheeks. "Are you okay?"
"T-Tristan," I muttered in fear. "W-What's happening to me?"
Sa halip na sagutin niya ang tanong ko, niyakap ako nito nang mahigpit. Pinikit ko ang mga mata ko at itinago ang aking mukha sa kanyang leeg.
At that very moment, I felt so scared and confused.
It was true. I promised that I would protect myself from him, but my heart and body were telling me the opposite.
I wanted to be with him.
I wanted to feel his presence.
I wanted to be safe again.
Ilang minuto pa ang lumipas nang mapansin kong wala pala itong suot na pantaas. Tanging manipis lang na tuwalya ang tumatakip sa ibabang bahagi ng katawan nito.
Napaatras ako. I felt the heat creeping up my face and refused to look at him.
"I-I'll be fine now," I stuttered.
"I-I'm sorry. I-I was really worried about you when I heard that sound," nahihiyang paliwanag nito.
"D-Don't be," I said, almost like a whisper.
Stunned silence.
Hindi ko mahanap ang boses ko para basagin ang katahimikan sa pagitan naming dalawa. Parang bang bigla kaming natigilan at nahiya sa isa't isa.
"I-I should probably go back to my room now," he finally broke the silence.
But I called him right away, "T-Tristan!"
Huminto ito sa paglalakad at agad na lumingon sa akin. For the second time, I saw his gorgeous and undeniable body.
"S-Salamat ulit," nahihiyang sabi ko sa kanya.
He smiled at me and said, "Anytime."
Sa oras na nakalabas ito ng pinto, agad akong napahawak sa aking dibdib at napaupo sa kama ko.
What the hell are you doing, Toffee?! Get your senses back! I thought in frustration.
Lumipat ang tingin ko sa paligid ng kwarto ko. Muling binalot ako ng takot at kaba nang mawala ang mga basag na salamin dito.
Nanginginig na tiningnan ko ulit ang bintanang nasa harapan ko. Hindi ko alam kung paano nangyari pero parang walang naganap na pagsabog kanina- maayos at buo pa din ito.
Did Tommy experience this too? I shuddered in thought.
I was puzzling over it when suddenly I spotted something much more interesting poking out from underneath the blanket. It was a crumpled paper of an old book. And sure enough, it was a letter.
You are cordially invited to join me in the forest and find out the truth. You're coming alone. You're being watched, Toffee.
With love, Jill
Kinabahan ako. My blood started to run cold as I slowly realized what this message meant. I looked around my room, checking any trace of her. Was she here?
Without hesitation, I stormed downstairs and met Matteo drinking his blood and serum.
"Training?" he asked.
For a minute, I thought about blurting out that I got a message from Jill. But I took a deep breath and remembered that I would never put their lives in danger again. I needed to protect them.
"N-No. I mean, I'm going to see Doctor Marcus and ask something about my powers," I trailed off.
Luckily, he took the best excuse I could give at this moment.
"Good luck, Toffee," nakangiting sabi ni Matteo.
I smiled at him and walked outside the Blue Agents' House. I looked around to check if someone had noticed my strange behavior, but no one dared to follow me.
As soon as I got myself far enough, I hurriedly ran towards the forest and looked for Jill.
"I knew you'd come to see me, Toffee," she smiled sweetly.
Hinawakan niya ang lupa at biglang nagkaroon ng mahinang lindol sa paligid namin. Habang gumagalaw ito, nagsilabasan ang iba't ibang uri ng bato at lumapit ito sa kanya. Jill pointed her finger and then made a wall of gems, trapping us both inside.
"Cut the bullshit! What do you want from me?!" I asked straightaway.
She chuckled evilly. "Relax, Toffee. I'll tell you everything."
I waited. I took a deep breath and tried to slow down my anger.
As I expected, she talked. "You are the target ever since, Toffee. They know that you are a Pure Defender from the moment you got yourself here, and that made your blood essential to the serum."
I got curious. "Who are you working with?"
"Nice try, but I won't tell you," she answered me. "Besides, I'm under their simulation. No matter how many times you ask me, I can't give you the answers you want."
"Simulation?" I prompted.
"Let's say, I'm working with powerful vampires in town. They invented a serum that controls vampire's mind and behavior," she replied with confidence.
"That makes you a puppet then," I snapped at her.
She just smirked at me. "Say anything you want, Toffee. I'm more than grateful for what they did to me."
There's no way that I could convince her to tell me the names of these vampires. She was under the influence of this simulation that I couldn't imagine how it worked on her.
So I changed the subject as soon as possible. "If you need my blood, then why did you kill Shienna? She has nothing to do with this!"
"That bitch is nothing, but a great annoyance, Toffee!" she said bitterly. "She tried to expose me from all of you! I had no choice but to kill her!"
"Killing her wasn't that hard because you're with Paul-"
"Oops, let me stop you there," she cut me off. "I didn't do it with Paul. Besides Paul is not part of this at all."
Then a memory flashed in my mind.
🌙
"I-I thought he's with us. Are you sure about that?" naguguluhan na tanong ko sa kanya.
Shienna looked around as she replied, "I'm not sure about that anymore. I saw him talking with this girl in the forest. They were talking about the serum."
"Girl?"
"Yes. I didn't see her face. She was wearing a black cloak when she handed the files to Paul," she explained, feeling hurt and betrayed.
🌙
"You're lying. Shienna had seen the two of you talking in the forest," I reminded her.
For a moment, she looked clueless and confused. "I didn't know about that, but this is interesting. He's working with somebody else."
"Stop lying! He was with Shienna when you attacked her!"
"Apparently, I injected Paul with a sleeping serum before I killed your friend," she said, feeling proud of her accomplishment.
Then who's the girl in the black cloak? I asked myself.
She laughed again. "Perhaps, you were too busy accusing him that you forgot that he cared about you."
I looked at her in anger. "That's not true! I know my friends and I trust them!"
"Then why haven't they told you about the Triggered Genes?!"
I paused, trying to comprehend what I just heard. "W-What are you talking about?"
"Nightshade Academy is full of secrets just like the secrets your friends are keeping from you. One of those secrets is all about your genes," she answered right away.
"T-Triggered Genes," I whispered.
"Your power is getting stronger but unfortunately, you can't control it without making disasters," she paused and continued. "It feels like you need to do something to channel it properly,"
I looked at her in confusion. "H-How did you know that?"
"You and Tommy got the most powerful gift in the world. Unfortunately, that power requires a lot of darkness," she replied. "But I can teach you how to trigger your genes for free."
"I don't trust you." My voice was barely audible over my breath.
"But you're curious," she said playfully.
"I'm not listening to you. Not now. Not ever," I said, emphasizing each word.
"Come on, Toffee! If you want to channel those powers, you need to let go of your humanity. Allow me to trigger your genes."
"That's not happening-"
"You have darkness inside you, Toffee," she cut me off.
"That's not true." I glared at her as I clenched my fists.
"All the vampires you love and care about have the tendency to die on you," she said, looking worried.
"Stop!" My anger was starting to boil out of me.
She shook her head. "Your parents died because of you! Shienna was murdered and Lee Ann was almost dead because of you! You did it, Toffee! You killed them all!"
"I SAID STOP!" I screamed as I felt the power growing inside me.
"THAT'S RIGHT, TOFFEE! EMBRACE THE DARKNESS INSIDE YOU!" sigaw pa nito na mas lalo pang nagpapalakas ng emosyon ko.
Napasigaw ako nang maramdaman ko ang sakit mula sa loob ng katawan ko. Hindi ko alam kung anong nangyayari sa akin pero pakiramdam ko ay para akong sasabog sa sobrang lakas nito.
Nagsimulang mabasag ang mga batong nasa paligid namin. Nagbago din ang mukha ng kagubatan kung saan kami nakatayo ngayon. Ito ay nahahati sa apat na panahon- taglamig, tagsibol, tag-init at taglagas.
Lumipat ang tingin ko kay Jill. Nakangiti lang ito habang nakatayo sa harapan ko. Para bang naghihintay lang ito sa mga susunod kong gagawin.
You have to kill her, someone was whispering inside me.
I pointed my finger to her direction. I wished with all I had that something would hold her, and then something did.
Jill was covered with ice all over her body. I wanted to turn her into a statue of ice and later, break her body into pieces.
"Toffee! Don't kill her!" someone called behind me.
But I couldn't stop what I was doing. I held my darkness inside me and tried to kill her as fast as I could. The sight of her suffering from my power was giving me the joy I never felt before.
"You'll die," I whispered coldly.
"D-Do it! Kill me to trigger your genes!" she replied, barely breathing.
Pero naagaw ang atensyon ko ng puti at itim na apoy mula sa paligid ko. Halos wala akong makita at maramdaman sa loob nito na para bang nasa iba akong dimensyon ng mundo.
Bumalik ang tingin ko kay Jill, subalit wala na ito sa kinatatayuan niya.
"Toffee, you need to wake up," boses mula sa likod ko.
Eventually, I recognized that voice. "T-Tristan?"
Doon ko lamang naramdaman ang matinding pagod at panghihina ng buo kong katawan. Naglaho ang sakit na gustong makawala mula dito. Ramdam ko din ang pagkaupos ng apoy sa ilalim ng balat ko. It seemed everything was about to fall down.
"I'm here," he whispered softly.
I followed his voice and after a while, I found him. He moved closer to me, and before I could even react, he gently kissed my lips.
I met my own darkness.
At some point, I lost my humanity.
But Tristan found a way to bring it back.
What will I do now?
Shall I trigger my own genes by killing someone?
Or lose my powers forever?
That's the last thing I remember before everything went black.
🥀
Wizard's Note:
There are times that you can't control your own emotions which make you unlovable for some. But it's okay. Use that as your motivation to change and live better. I'm a strong believer that our imperfections make our lives perfect. We fall, yet we learn from it.
I hope you find the courage to be the best version of yourself. Don't worry, God is always with you. ♥️
By the way, this update is for you @benzwela !
Nakakatuwa po ang analysis mo. 🤗