Night of Waterfalls (Venom Series #2)

Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Behind Her Back

When I entered my mirror and was welcomed by this world named Nemetio Spiran, even with the stories that my grandparents had told me, still, the moment I stepped foot in this place, everything was foreign to me. Not just because of the beauty that my eyes could see, the histories and beliefs that I could hear, but also the responsibilities that seemed too unreasonable for someone who wasn't born in this world.

There was in the back of my mind a thought that everything was just a magical dream, a world that my mind had created, convincing myself that I wasn't that evil girl who grew up with blood on her hands, deaths in her eyes, and darkness in her every step, but that girl, as everyone's hero—an escape that my own mind had created from the real darkness of my world. Darkness—the only thing I knew written for my destiny.

It took me so long to realize that I wasn't in a dream. Everything was not an escape after my bruised and wounded body collapsed on my old, rotten bed as the creaking sound of the wooden ceiling echoed, the shouting of my neighbors and breaking glasses, the smell of smoke, and the squeaking of the running rats on the floor ringing in my ears where everything seemed so loud, but as my eyes closed slowly with my labored breathing, everything started to muffle, giving the back of my mind thought of a new world that would accept me.

Now that I had accepted my fate in Nemetio Spiran, I couldn't deny the fear in my heart. What if I woke up and wasn't in Tobias' bed? What if there were no green eyes to greet me and no Water Kingdom to embrace me? I am so afraid that maybe in the blink of an eye, everything will vanish, and I'll wake up in that rotten hell again.

But now was different because there was one woman who might not have witnessed how I suffered for years, yet she had been with me in both worlds, a constant companion, a friend, a glimpse of hope, and a sliver of light—convincing me that I had truly crossed from the world of darkness to this world I once thought impossible.

When I first saw her lotus, I couldn't properly describe how my heart felt so full yet with a familiar ache, as if everything were surreal and fleeting. Even from our distance, I felt like there was a warm string pulling me toward her. But now that we were inches apart, with my trembling hands cupping her cheeks and my forehead pressed to hers, I couldn't be happier.

Because at last, I finally reached her.

"Hello there, Astrid. I am here to get you."

Biglang bumalik sa mga alaala ko ang mga panahon na una kaming nagkita ni Claret. Ganito rin ba ang pakiramdam niya nang makita niya ako? Halos hindi ko na maintindihan ang saya at hindi pagkapaniwala sa nakikita ko.

Suddenly everything Claret and I shared in the past flashed back inside my mind. It was when Claret knelt in front of me and held my bruised little hands as she looked at me with tears in her eyes, I was still young back then and she had words I couldn't understand but her face looked relieved, happy, and at the same time sad. And I couldn't do anything about it but just looked at her, confused.

Ilang beses kong narinig ang malambing na boses ni Claret noong bata pa ako at kung paano niya hawakan ang mga kamay ko. At sa tuwing ginagawa niya iyon gumagaan ang puso ko. Claret was a stranger to me but the warmth of her voice, the way her soft hands held me, and those hugs, made me feel that I had a sister for a swift moment. Maybe because of the sound of her voice, or maybe because of her angelic face, but now that I could finally understand everything— it's our connection, the fate tied between us, and the prophecy destined for us together.

At ngayon na nasa pareho akong sitwasyon— ako bilang itinakdang babae na handa nang sumundo at ipakilala ang sarili sa isa pang itinakdang babae, sa kabila nang nakapikit niyang mga mata, nararamdaman kaya ako ni Astrid sa mga oras na ito?