Taming the Vampire

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED-TWO

M I L L E R

"K-Kung ganun, may balita na ba... sir?"

Suddenly, I don't feel too comfortable anymore. So, this is Mateo's father. Hindi naman sa 'di ko siya gusto, I am just not used to his presence. He is just like Mateo, but the older version. Ibig sabihin, he is much colder, much serious-looking, and much intimidating.

It's not a bad thing, actually. It's just that he is still a stranger kaya naman ay hindi pa ako masyadong komportable.

Anyway, sinenyasan ako ni Mateo na maupo sa tabi niya. Pero bago pa man ako umupo ay yumuko na muna ako sa harap ng Supreme bilang pagbati at respeto. He nodded and that's when I sat.

"We captured a bunch of them," Mateo finally replied, "A few died in the middle of the riot, as they had weak physical power. We examined them and found out that they were incomplete vampires."

Ano? Nagpadala sila ng mga hindi pa tapos ang proseso? What the hell! Hindi ba sila naawa sa posibleng trauma na idinulot nito sa mga tauhan nila?

Mukhang nabasa ata ni Mateo ang pagsapak ko sa hita ko at nagpahayag ng, "Yes. Some died during the fight, we didn't know about it until we checked the site, that's when we ran an examination to verify. And the other guys died here in the mansion."

"Did they die because of the same reason? Being incomplete?" tanong ni Mr. Lacson.

Umiling-iling naman si Mateo. That made me wonder what else could be the cause.

"As I mentioned earlier, we brought a bunch of Ronaldo's goons. We put them in the dungeon..."

"There's a dungeon here?"

Mateo heard my silent wonder, huminto siya saglit at sinabi na, "Yes, there's a dungeon here." Saka nagpatuloy sa pagpapaliwanag. "My men were trying to question them. One moment they all looked fine, we didn't use their weapon on them after all so their wounds healed fast. Yet, one after another they all began to fall. Like dry leaves on a tree."

"Huh? Why?"

Nang masabi ko ito ay tumahimik si Mateo, para bang inaalala pa niya kung ano ang kasagutan. Ganoon din kaming tatlo ng Supreme at ni Mr. Lacson, except that we all felt tense waiting for Mateo's reply.

"They seem to have committed suicide."

"What?" bulyaw ni Mr. Lacson.

I would also want to blurt out loud out of shock. Pero nilunok ko na lang ito at kalmadong nagsalita.

"Paano 'yan nangyari?" May kutob na ako kung paano. Ayaw ko lang manguna. Isa pa marami pa naman ang maaaring maging dahilan.

Mateo turned his head to look at me. He seemed worried and pissed off at the same time. He brushed his hair using his fingers.

Mateo sighed and breathed in deep. "I'm not sure," he uttered as he breathed out.

"What did you see?" sabi ni Mr. Lacson.

Bumalik ulit ang tingin ni Mateo sa ama. Umayos siya ng upo at lumiliwanag ang mga mata na nagwika ng, "I saw an object. A black pearl."

"A black pearl?"

"Yes. After they all collapsed a black pearl was seen rolling out from their mouths. But even before that, they were the ones who wanted to speak and tell us some information. They are not fully devoted to Ronaldo after all, it's easy to betray such devious character."

Mukhang bigla na lang namatay ang mga nais na kumanta tungkol sa mga nalalaman nila sa sistem sa kampo ni Ronaldo.

"Because of that no one attempted to speak anymore. They are all terrified to end up dead," dagdag pa ni Mateo.