ORGÁNOSI I: Broken Mask

ANTECEDENT: CHAPTER 48

ANTECEDENT: CHAPTER 48

FINISHED with all his preparations, Midnight planned to leave for Spain to meet Claud. He was worried about him. The job he gave to Claud was supposedly for Love, but sending Love alone was not an option.

However, Orlando phoned him—he didn't know how Orlando got a hold of his personal number—but he answered when he received a message from Orlando that it was about his brother.

Orlando didn't say any nonsense nor question him why he had changed his phone number; he just ordered him to go to the Philippines and pretend as Knight Velasquez because his brother was in the hospital.

In less than two hours, he was on a private plane under Orgánosi, bound for the Philippines.

All the while, he was worried sick about what had happened to his big brother.

He discovered only after reaching the Philippines that his brother had been punished with a whipping for breaking a rule and not completing his work. And the punishment was ordered by their father.

"I'll stay here while kuya is in the hospital." Midnight informed Cloud.

Cloud nodded and prepared a room for Midnight.

When night fell, Midnight stepped out of the house to buy something to eat. Cloud was not in the house, so he was left to his own devices and bought the easiest food he could prepare.

Instant noodles—his best friend when he was in Indonesia.

As he walked along the sidewalk on his way to the nearest store, a car unexpectedly pulled over to the side of the road beside him, and from the car door, one of his brother's friends stepped out.

He looked at the car and then at the driver. He knew his big brother's friends because it was part of being his brother's shadow and the one in front of him was Ymar Stroam.

"Where are you going?" Ymar Stroam's eyes were asking him why he was walking. "I'm heading out. Want a ride?"

Midnight was not in the mood to pretend. Mimicking his brother's smile and gestures, he waved his hand. "Pass. I'm walking for my book of life."

Ymar looked at him like he's a lunatic before going back to his car and Midnight just grinned until the car had driven away.

He didn't know a lot of things about his brother except for the reports about his big brother that his father had forcefully ordered him to memorize. That's why he kept asking himself why he knew little about his big brother when they were very close.

Had he forgotten a lot of things about his brother? Were those the memories that had been resurfacing in his mind these past years?

These past few years, he had been recalling a few of his memories—were they even a memory? He was uncertain. It's just that from time to time, a flash of memory would pop into his mind. Memories he couldn't recall. Things that he hadn't experienced.

In those fleeting memories, he saw a smiling girl, his sister. But he couldn't recall her face, nor a single detail about her, his mind a blank slate. Maybe she was just a figment of my imagination? Not only that, but there was also a flash of memory of how his brother would sneak him out of their house to buy him ice cream.

If these flashes of memories were real, then why couldn't he remember any of them? When he asked Silvanus about it, Silvanus told him he didn't remove any of his memories of his siblings.

That means, before the procedure, those memories had already been forgotten. Or they're not real.

Sighing to himself, he resumed walking and found himself in front of a barbecue stall outside the village.