META

06| PAGKAHIRANG

PAGKAHIRANG:
EMBLEM OF FEMININITY

IN HER DREAMS, THE PEOPLE KEPT THEIR hail of mercy–wailing like saints offering hectic devotion to their lord. The world was burning in solid colours of bloodshed, saturating the sacred land with a waft of sulfuric musty, burnt woods, and charred bodies, lingering on her nose like a barren soul. There was almost nothing that remained in the village but him, the man she loved.

        Except he looked bizarre. Standing in the wake of destruction, with an uncanny smile etched on his rosy lips, lips she used to kiss now kissing another woman, dead and burnt; the corpse of her sister.

        Her eyes flew open and the first thing she felt was a chilling rush of air permeating through the cuts of her skin. Her body sinked further into the bed as the fragments of the dream she just had faded through her memories.

        She didn't know where she was nor what happened to her. Her eyes filled with the wonder of the cause of her wounds. It didn't hurt. Not even did it sting as she sat on the bed she lay. It just felt numb.

        Nang inilapat ni Mutiara ang sugatan niyang mga paa sa sahig, kaagad na kumalat ang lamig nito sa buo niyang katawan. Kaniyang tinahak ang kakatwang lugar. It had an odd interior, too big for the eyes to wander. There were mirrors everywhere, creating illusions of images. Seeing her duplicated reflections on it made her tremble.

        In the centre of the room clamped the tremulous chandelier yielding a honey-coloured shades firing up the dark mahogany walls with its luminescent icy shards. Everything gleamed lavishly to her ignorant eyes, with all the gold accents of every design––from the vases and door knobs, to the frames of ginormous portraits and landscapes of paintings.

        Huminto siya upang pagtuunan pansin ang mahabang mesa kaniyang harap kung saan nakahatag ang iba't-ibang uri ng baril at punyal. Sa kaliwang bahagi ay ang mga magazine na puno ng naaangkop na bala at sa kanan naman ay mga pulburang inalis mula sa basyo.

        Nalilito niyang nilandas ang kaniyang daliri sa mga ito subalit kaagad ding napahinto nang may mapagtanto. Yao nga't nag-umpisa ang pangangatal ng dalaga habang sinusubukang gisingin ang sarili sa bangungot na tinulugan. Seeing various kinds of ceremonial swords and silver plated artilleries displayed in the wall rack flashed tons of scenes, reminding her where she was.

        And when the double doors flew open, the familiar blond man triggered the surge of her memories to sober up, causing her to make a quick move to escape. The blond muttered a foreign curse. He kept on telling her to stop in a language she wasn't know of. Mutiara tried to look at her back to see if the blond was catching up, and when she brought her face to front she bumped into the hard chest of another man who suddenly appeared before her eyes, with two well-built accomplice beside him.

        She almost failed to balance herself, breathing immediately caught in the presence of the heavily-tattooed man, standing against the light with shadows contouring his face as if it was his second skin. He was not as beautiful as the blond; looking like he was carved by someone with an intense penchant for malevolence yet he was nothing short of enthralling that it sends an instinctual fear down your spine.

        Bago pa man makakilos si Mutiara, walang pakundangan siya nitong hinila at idiniin sa pader. Her yelp died down when his strong hands tightly wrapped on her throat.

        "You got some nerve to look at me like that?" he said, each word carried the weight of authority. The deep scar across his left eye made her close her eyes as she felt the silent threat it held, like he could dissect the thoughts of those who dared to look at him. "Open your fucking eyes!"