Chattering voices, people debating on what and where the secret room is, loud rattling sounds from machineries used to dig and carry sands and soil can be heard from a distance. They were far from where she is standing but the wind carries the unruly sounds to her ears. It's been two days and the digging starts yesterday in the valley of the kings and here she is, standing on a boulder, way higher from where the rest of her team is.
Her eyes travel on the plain and bulky soil where fallen structures rest. She gazes at the map she's holding before scanning the area again. The map was from the previous archaeologists who dug and discovered the tombs in this area. They were lucky to be handed such a map like this.
The wind blows from a certain direction and she rolled the map and put it back on the tube container. She's wearing an O neck olive colored ribbed tank top that hugs her curves paired with a dirty white casual shirt and jeans. A strong wind blew again making her shirt follow its direction. It's April that's why the weather is like this, windy. Sandstorms are frequent in this time of the year. Kaya naman nag iingat rin sila. They don't want to be caught up in a sandstorm.
"You should take a break Ms. Cuevas."
That commanding voice made her shiver in an unknown reason. Heat formed on her cheeks but she shake her head and compose herself. It's been two days and she is sleeping in their sponsor's quarters. Marami ang nagtanong at nakiusyoso kung bakit doon siya. Kumalat agad ang chismis pati ang boss niya ay napatawag pa sa kanya. At talagang nagpaload pa ito para lang makichismis. Wala siyang maisagot sa mga ito kaya naman laking gulat niya nang ang walanghiyang babaeng kasama niya ngayon ang sumagot.
Lahat ng kasamahan niya ay nagimbal sa sagot nito lalo na siya. This woman claimed that she is in fact her fiance'. Kaya ngayon ay maraming kumukwestyon sa kakayahan niya, na baka dahil dito ay siya ang naghahandle ngayon ng proyektong ito. Galit siya, oo, akala niya ay matatahimik ang buhay niya kahit papano. But this woman has a keen cruelty of ruining her dream. Hinayaan niya itong magpaliwanag sa lahat at laking pasasalamat niya ng ipagtanggol siya nito at sabihin na hindi nito alam na siya pala ang inatasan ng boss nila na maging pinuno ng grupo. That settled them. Ngunit ang mapanuring mga mata nito ay naging mapanukso, bawat minuto na magkasama sila ay siya namang pambibiro ng mga ito na gumagawa sila ng milagro.
For goodness' sake, they don't do that. Hindi nila alam ay kamuntik muntikan na siya nitong patayin. Jusko, dai! Oo nga at hinihiling niya noon na magkajowa ng nananakal sa kama. Hindi naman niya alam na magpapadala ito ng literal na nananakal bigla para patayin siya. At hindi niya pinangarap na magkajowa ng isang nakakatakot na nilalang!
"I'm fine, Ms. Akhil. Bumalik ka na sa tenr para magpahinga."
She didn't spare her a glance and climb down on the boulder where she is standing. Malapit na siya makababa nang may mahawakan na matulis na parte kaya sa hindi inaasahan ay nabitawan niya kinakapitan. Napapikit siya at hinintay ang pagbagsak ngunit isang malambot na mga kamay at braso ang sumalo sa kanya mula sa pagkahulog.
She look at her savior wide eyed. Nakatungo ito sa kanya. Kamilah's expression is still stoic and yet, her eyes turned glowing red. Parang walang kahirap hirap siya nitong buhat at may pagdadahan dahan na ibinaba. When her shoes touched the land, she let her eyes wonder on the distance, checking if the others saw her fall but she breathe in relief when she saw no one is paying attention to them.
Nahihiyang humarap siya sa babae at sinalubong ang kulay pula parin nitong mga mata. Kumakabog ang dibdib na napaatras siya papunta sa isang sulok kung saan hindi na sila makikita ng mga kasamahan. Ms. Akhil takes looming steps cornering her, eyes still glowing in a bloody color, she licked her lips. Huminto sila nang wala na siyang aatrasan. Nakaramdam siya ng kirot sa isang kamay at nang itaas niya ito para tignan ay siyang mas lalong kumabog ang kanyang dibdib.
BINABASA MO ANG
Blood and Temptations
General Fiction[FILIPINO/ENGLISH] ON HOLD Archaeologist Series I was living in a simple world, where I know there's nothing as evolved as the human beings. But little did I know, there's so much more.. creatures living amongst us and craving a trickle of blood. W...
