S.I.A.T.T. Series Book 6: The Mysterious Beast

Chapter Twenty Four

He hugged her from behind and she just let him. Hinayaan na lang niya ito at hindi na rin siya nagsalita pa kahit may gusto sana siyang aminin rito.

She wanted to say something about what she truly feels. She wanted to be honest with him and tell him that she loves him. But then again, she got scared and just stayed silent instead.

Hindi siya makapaniwala na may nangyari na nga sa pagitan nila. At mas lalong hindi siya makapaniwala na naiwala niya ang pagtitimpi at kontrol sa sarili. Dati ay punong-puno siya noon kung kaya nga ay umabot na siya sa edad niyang yan na wala pa ring karanasan sa sex.

Pero bakit pagdating talaga sa binata ay naglalaho ang lahat ng nakasanayan niya? Naitatapon niya ang mga bagay na pilit nilalabanan noon? Na mabilis siyang nagpadarag sa tukso at napaso sa makamundong laro ng apoy.

But if she's being honest to herself, she doesn't feel any regrets about what happened between them. And maybe, it was meant to happen so she could analyze her feelings properly. That she should start to work things with him, like their relationship.

Ngayong may nangyari na sa kanila ay dapat na siguro nilang pag-usapan ang status nilang dalawa. Hindi naman pwede na wala lang iyon, na libog lang dahil ramdam niya na may mas malalim na nararamdaman sila sa isa't isa.

"Why did you choose to become a Marine?" Tanong niya habang tahimik itong nakayakap sa kanya.

Naramdaman niya ang paninigas ng katawan nito sa kanyang likuran. Kung wala itong balak na sagutin ang tanong niya ay ayos lang sa kanya. Hindi niya ito pipilitin, gayong halata niya na may malalim itong rason sa kung bakit iyon ang pinili nitong trabaho.

"The Marines have the most extensive training in the US Army. And that's what I wanted." Anito na huminto pa saglit bago nagpatuloy. "I wanted to train myself hard so that I can be who I am today. I need to be exceptionally good at everything, because I need to exact a revenge to those people who owes me."

She can sense his anger and she's curious about what caused it.

"Who? Who owes you? What did they do, Krae?"

He took a deep breath first before continuing.

"They took my sisters away from us." Umalis na ito sa pagkakayakap sa kanya at tumihaya na upang tumitig sa kisame kaya naman umikot na din siya upang mas makita ang itsura nito. "Kamila was the youngest and she was abducted when she was four. We never found her and until now, we still don't know if she's still alive somewhere or if she was long dead already." Kita niya ang pagtagis ng panga nito. "And then Kassie, she died almost ten years ago. She was brutally raped and killed on the night of their graduation ball."

Napatakip siya ng bibig sa mga salaysay nito. Hindi pala biro ang pinagdaanang trahedya ng pamilya nito at alam niyang hindi iyon naging madali para rito.

She knows how it feels to lose someone. Tatlo sa pamilya niya ang kinuha sa kanya, ngunit mas masakit ang nangyari sa lalaki dahil pinaslang at dinakip ang mga kapatid nito. Hindi niya lubos maisip kung paano kinaya ng pamilya nito ang nangyaring ganoon, dahil kung siya ang nasa kalagayan nito ay baka matagal na siyang bumigay.

"I'm sorry." She tried to console him. "I can't begin to imagine how you've been through after those tragedies. What about your parents? How are they coping up until now?"

Mas lalong tumiim ang panga nito at kumuyom ang mga kamao.

"After Kami went missing, my parents tried to look for her. My father was the one who never stopped looking. He believed that she's still alive somewhere, while we accepted that she's all gone. Unti-unti ay nakapag-move on kami, lalo na si Mommy dahil andyan pa si Kassie. But when another tragedy had hit us, she couldn't take it anymore. It placed a huge toll on her, rendering her health to deteriorate faster than we could have anticipated. Ultimately, there was nothing we could have done to help her." Huminto pa saglit bago niya nagawang ituloy ang sasabihin. "She died months after that."