Live, Alena (Luctus Academy)

Chapter 26

TWO YEARS AGO

Ali

I begged all deities. I prayed to God. Please save her.

We were running as fast as we possibly could. We needed to move fast. God, we needed to move fast. Please give us more speed. This wasn't enough.

But suddenly, I stopped. I stopped as I felt it stop.

"No, this can't be." wala sa sarili kong nabanggit. Puno ng luha. Punong puno ng sakit ang puso ko nang maramdaman kong tumigil na iyon. It felt like the world, no, mine, also stopped.

"What's happening? We need to go there fast! Pull your fucking shit together and hurry the fuck up!" Stephen shrieked. Angry.

Despite the anger, all I could do was laugh. Nakakatawa. I was both laughing and crying. Nakakabaliw. The pain... Nakakawala ng katinuan.

"She's gone." I mumbled between my mournful cries. And the funny thing was that I felt how her heartbeat stop. It halted. It ended. And I fucking felt it like a motherfucker. Damang dama ko!

Nadatnan ko ang katawan niyang nakahiga ngayon sa mga hita ng umiiyak kong kaibigan. Muli, natawa na naman ako. One hell of a man. Napulbos na ang buong paligid ngunit buhay na buhay pa rin si Colton. Malamang ay pinrotektahan pa siya ni Alena. She protected him because he'd probably die if she didn't. But, she didn't know that protecting him and making him kill her was—fuck. It was worse than death. How could she do that?

The pain inside me, plus the pain I felt for Colton, they were just too much. This was too much. Gusto kong magalit. Nagawa niyang bigyan ng hustisya ang pagkamatay ng pamilya namin sa paraang pinakahuling dapat niyang ginawa. Fuck the chaos fucking magic. Fuck it. Gusto kong magalit dahil bakit pinili niyang mawala sa mundo para protektahan ang lahat? Bakit kamatayan ang naisip niyang sagot? Paano naman kami? Paano ako?

Walang nagsasalita ni isa sa amin. Pare-pareho kaming nakatitig sa walang buhay na reyna.

That night, we settled her wake. She was lying on a bed while peacefully sleeping. I could tell it just by looking at her face. She was smiling on the last minute of her life. And I couldn't think of the situation without shedding a fucking tear. I couldn't imagine being in Colton's shoes.

We didn't know that that night... That night was the last night of Mesqueta.

Nagising akong nagkakagulo ang mga tao sa labas. Nagsisigawan na si Stephen at si Colton. Anong nangyayari?

Ngunit hindi ko na nagawang magtanong nang makita ko isip ko ang nangyayari sa labas. Agad akong napatayo. Shit.

"Thanatos..." I said that made them look at my direction. "Ms. Potts. A fucking traitor." galit na giit ko nang makita kong siya ang gumagawang portal na pinanggagalingan ng kampon ni Thanatos.

"Fuck. We must go outside." suhestyon ni Stephen pero agad din siyang napatingin kay Alena.

"Sinadya nila ito. They fucking waited for this day. For my sister's death." because Thanatos was a weak stupid king of the other dimension, the Mors. Para sa kaniya, kapangyarihan ni Alena ang nararapat niyang taglayin dahil siya ang hari ng kamatayan.

Hindi namin pwedeng iwan si Alena. Hindi pwede. Napakademonyo nila. They couldn't at least wait for days for her to take a peaceful rest! Walang awa.

Dahil wala naman akong enerhiyang napapalabas sa mga kamay ko, ako ang may hawak kay Alena. Ayoko siyang tingnan. 'Tangina, tingnan ko pa lang siya at ang nangyayari ngayon, gusto ko nang magwala. Awang awa na ako sa kapatid ko. She never deserved any of these.