On Thursday late afternoon, I was wandering in the house. Three days had passed since we came here. It was the house of the Mayrand's here in the Philippines.

The house was built near the beach. According to C, this was the place where he first saw me. I guessed, I was really back.

I roamed my eyes around. It was a beautiful house. It was made out of concrete and glass. Modern Greek style mixed of Zen style house. Ecclesiastical house, if I would put the term architecturally. It was a four-storey house and there was a basement for medical purposes.

I was walking on the stairs. It was almost sunset. I could see the orange and yellow hues on the horizon from here. The staircase was adjacent to the view of the sea. And how wonderful, because the sea was also like the sky. One of the reasons why I loved the sea, because it reflected the sky. It was like seeing the sky on it.

The sky . . . yes, the sky.

Once again, there was a familiar sensation in me. There was something in the sky . . . I was so sure of it, I knew. I wanted to remember it, but the door would not still budge.

I felt a shooting pain. Letting out a breath, I decided to ignore it. I wouldn't want to push that thought in me.

I reached the fourth floor. There were rooms. I was curious, so I entered inside. I entered all of them, but the rooms were empty.

But there was still a room that I hadn't entered. Nababakasakali ako na may makikita ako sa loob. At hindi naman ako nabigo.

It was a normal room. It screamed navy blue and white colors. It was a very manly room. The furnitures were covered by white satin blankets. There was a wall partition in this room that was made of E-glass. I went near of it and looked outside.

Whose room was this? Maybe Credell's?

My thought was cut when I heard the door cracked open. I saw Credell. He smiled, "Oh, you found my brother's room."

Instantly, my brows creased. "You have a brother?"

He only grinned with sad eyes. "I . . . had."

I pressed my lips thinly. Then Credell stood beside me. "We have been together for two years—well, if you considered the time when I was in coma, then five years—but you never told that you had a brother."

"I have just told you, Miracle." he laughed awkwardly.

"Why only now?"

"It's hard for me to open this topic up." he admitted. "You see, I loved my brother so much and it was hard to digest that he died."

I stayed quiet, silently observing his expressions. "How did he die?" and asked a shortly.

"I didn't know the reason," Credell only shrugged, "but he died because of gunshots." and stated full of loneliness. "When the autopsy came, we found out that he was shot in the heart . . . three times."

My shoulders sunk down. I didn't know, but I could feel his pain. Three bullets in his heart, it was sad. If it was sad for me, how much more with Credell's family?

"My brother died five years ago." he told me, "That was the same year when I found you. We wanted to move to England so that we could forget the tragedy." then he chuckled in low tone. "The reason why I cared you so much, because I wanted to distract myself from the pain—the pain of losing my little brother. Yes, he died, but you replaced it. I could not imagine my joy when you first laid your eyes open. How much more when you fully woke up? It was like a miracle happened." Credell took my hand and he gazed down on me. "You are my miracle, that's why I named you 'Miracle'."

There was something wrong in my emotions, but I was crying. Tears were just flowing.

I didn't know . . . I didn't know, but it hurt so much. So much that I couldn't even handle my cries and I just hugged Credell tight.

What was wrong? Why was I crying this hard? I was in pain and guilt.

My mind could not remember anything . . . But I was only thinking that my heart could remember everything . . . everything. How could my heart have a mind? Damn everything.

"You're crying so much, Miracle." Credell said to me. "Did I hit a soft spot on you?"

I only sniffed and unclasped my arms on him. "Maybe, C, maybe." then I wiped my tears. "Can I see a picture of him?"

"Oh, I think I hid his picture here in the side table." Credell went to the side table and pulled the cloth away. He opened the shelf of the side table and grabbed a picture frame.

He headed back to me and handed me the picture frame.

I looked at the frame, I saw a younger version of Credell here in the photo. I grinned at the sight of him. Then I eyed the next person beside Credell on the picture.

When I saw the picture, as if on cue, my eyes narrowed. There was a throbbing pain in my head.

At first, it was a bearable pain. I could still handle it.

I looked closer to the person . . . my heart raced. I had no reasons why my heart was skipping and thumping like crazy!

"His name was Dennis." What Credell said hit me like a thousand thunders. "Dennis Queion Mayrand, that was my little brother."

And that was the last straw. The pain in my head started becoming unbearable.

I couldn't endure the pain and let the picture frame fell out my grasps. I quickly held my head with my two hands and started screaming!

It was painful. Very painful.

There were buzzing rings in my ears. It was noisy rings that could make my ears bleed.

It just like that when I lose consciousness.

~ ♕ ~

"All of us are here for you. We'll protect you, because you are our dearly beloved, irreplaceable miracle."

"Don't be so hopeless . . . Natnat."

"I'm thankful for the miracles you gave me . . . Miracle. That's why love your name."

"Do not . . . be afraid. I know you can overcome this. . . You know why . . ? Because you are Miracle."

When I woke up, I was crying.

I heard those words in my dream. And in my dream, there was man . . . I couldn't see his face. It was blurry and vague.

He could call me 'Natnat' as if it was the happiest name on Earth.

My name was not even Natnat. Why would he call me that?

Ah, maybe my name was Natnat? Or something related to Nat?

Who was that man? Why was I crying because of him? And there was something with Credell's passed away brother.

I didn't want to conclude now. I sniffed and dried my tears.

Then I found out I was lying on bed. It was not the same room a while ago.

It was already night. The room was bit dark, but there was a lamp on the nightstand. And I found a letter on the table, so I picked it up.

It was Credell's handwriting:

Hey,

Sorry, Mira, for not seeing me on your side soon as you woke up. There was a company emergency meeting and they needed me to be present. And as much as I wanted to stay with you, my Mom and Dad needed me. I'll see you later.

PS. Dinner is ready, please do eat.

- C

That was the content of the letter.

Ah, so I would be alone for now? Well, there were maids in the house.

Once I stood up from the bed, I found out that it was passed nine in the evening. And yeah, I was hungry.

Lumabas na ako sa aking silid. Sobrang tahimik. Tulog na siguro ang mga maids.

Pababa ako sa ground floor gamit ng hagdan. Dim lights lang ang meron.

Sa aking paglalakad, bigla na lang nagdilim.

Kamuntik na akong mapatalon sa pagkagulat.

Bakit namatay ang mga ilaw? Nawala ng kuryente? Gee, impossible. There should be a generator set in this house.

And good thing, the house was installed with fire safety maintenance. Soon after, red lights were on the surroundings. The emergency lights were turned on.

I ran quickly downstairs. I should tell the maids to check the electrical room. Heading to the servant's quarter, I heard a breaking glass of a window.

Shit. Realization hit me quickly.

The house was in trouble. Someone was here. Or only God knew how many strangers were here.

But darn it, I had to alarm the servants. And why the heck there wasn't a single person responding in this situation?!

What was happening here?

I reached the door of the servant's quarter.

And I was about to knock when I stepped on something . . . something clammy and gluey liquid.

Water? No. There wasn't a water as bright red as this.

Fuck. Red . . . It was blood!

My whole body got frozen as my heart started to throbbed loudly. It was fear. I could feel fear.

But curiosity knocked me. I opened the door of the room.

And then bloody corpses welcomed me. Everyone were dead and bathed by their own blood. They were murdered mercilessly.

I couldn't respond rightly. What should I do? At the mere sight of their death made me numb. I could smell the stinking smell of the blood and it could churn my guts up and down.

I wanted to vomit. I closed my mouth with my palms and ran away from the horrible scene. My instinct led me to kitchen sink and I let it all out.

I could imagine the dead bodies on my brain. That could make me even sick.

I was trembling when I washed my mouth.

Should I call the police? Oh damn, right!

Hastily, I composed myself and started running. I was about to reach the living area when a man greeted me!

"Holy sh—!"

I wanted to curse but the man gave me a hammer fist on my jaw.

Drat it. I only felt myself on the floor and started to get dizzy. Really, really dizzy.

Seconds passed when my sights became normal.

And even though the whole place was on red, I saw the stranger in devilishly grinning down on me. He was wearing a black shirt and a combat pants. His body was full of ammunition. He was pointing a gun to my head.

"Nasa'n si Trevor Mayrand?" Tanong niya sa akin habang nakatutok ang isang baril sa ulo ko.

Trevor Mayrand was Credell's father. What did he want to him? Why did he killed everyone in this household?

"Hindi ko alam . . ." I told him the truth. I didn't know. It wasn't attached in Credell's note.

Ngumiti lang siya, "Then you're dead." Pagkasabi niya n'on, ikinasa niya ang baril.
But before he could fire the gun, my body reacted unknowingly to me.

I abruptly grabbed the gun out of his grasp and slid my other leg to whip his stature. He fell on the floor and I took the opportunity to stood up and pointed the gun on him.

And I was like . . . out of myself. I pulled the trigger.

I shot him. Two in the head and one in the throat.

When I brought back to my own self, I conceived vividly the thing I had done . . . I killed him . . . without thinking twice or trice. Unconsciously, I dropped the gun.

It looked like it was easy for me to kill. I felt weak all of the sudden.

Not from afar, I could hear footsteps. It was just a faint sound, but I could still hear it. Someone was coming again. Maybe the person heard gunshots and about to come here.

I hid myself behind the couch.

Based on the footsteps I could here, there was only a person here.

In this chaotic situation, I found myself calm. I was only waiting for the person to come to my direction. I had a plan on my head to assault him surprisingly. Of course, I knew for sure that he was armed, then I should be very careful. I only had one chance, and I should defeat him using that only chance.

I went to the other side of the couch and took a look of him. He was holding a pistol. He was very cautious in his steps. And just like the first stranger, he was filled with ammo.

Few more meters, he could reach my whereabout.

I prepared myself by calming my system. I tilted my head back, so that my mouth could face up. I breathed through my mouth. It could help me to reduce the noise while breathing and stay hidden for a long time.

Three . . .

Two . . .

One . . .

I jolted up from my seat and directly shove the gun away from him. Then I grabbed his both hands and threw him using my hip.

Shit, shit. What should I do next?

The man stood up. He was angry. He didn't like my surprise attack.

I was in the hopeless state, so I ran away. Damn. Running away was way too lame.

I was just running, but I stopped that immediately, because my right shoulder was hurting.

Little did I know, a knife was buried deep to my flesh. Fuck. I pulled it out. I couldn't move right because of it.

After pulling it out, I attempted to run again. But I was all too late. The man was already behind me, giving me a headlock.

My breaths instantly became limited. I couldn't move freely.

"Easy, girl, easy." the man shushed while still choking me. "Tell me, where are the Mayrand's?"

Although it was a lame move, I bit the arm of this man.

He cried in pain and easily threw me on the floor.

My bleeding shoulder hit something hard and it gave me another round of pain.

But it was not the time to pay attention to my wound, so I crawled on the floor as of it could help me to get away.

Only by then, when I was about to reach the staircase, the man held my left shoulder.

Damn! How could I get away from this fucker?

That was my cue, I calmed myself.

And then in a fast move, I faced him and struck the attacker with a hammer fist! His sciatic nerves were open—it was his rib area—so I hit him with a roundhouse kick on his ribs.

But he only caught my leg and locked a joint to render myself motionlessly. Briskly, he carried me and swept me out off my feet and let me fell on floor once again.

Soon as I was on the floor again, he trapped me down and went on top of me. The man strangled me using his bare hands.

I struggled hard. Giving up right now was never an option. My hands were searching for something hard. Whatever things may do, I had to knock him out!!

Seemed like the heaven was on my side and found something. It was a gun. I took it and smashed it to his head.

Umalis siya sa taas ko at agad ko naman siyang sinugod.

I reached for his head directly. Now it was turn to give him a headlock. We were still on the floor. I noticed him getting a gun from his holster. I responded quickly and kicked the hand he was using for getting a gun.

I managed him to refrain him getting the gun. Then I used my remaining strength to maneuver the situation and brought myself on top of him. The man was facing the floor now while giving him still a headlock choke. I was holding him firmly and carefully for him not to draw a trick to escape from my grasps. He was struggling so hard, but he couldn't not touch. He couldn't reach me to fight back.

I was shouting. Shouting could help me to let out my full strength.

Not that long, the male person stopped writhing. And I heard few cracks coming from his bones in the neck. He was not breathing.

Was he dead?

I held him more to make sure that he was dead-conscious. But he didn't move.

I killed him. Did I? A headlock choke was dangerous. It could either kill or make someone unconscious. The mere fact that I couldn't hear him breathing, it confirmed that he was dead.

I trembled. Another man was dead.

I didn't mean to kill him. It was a defense! Right, it was a self-defense! They killed the other living people here, they tried to kill me . . . then I was innocent. Yes, yes, I was innocent!

I stood up, still anxious. I could feel the pain on my shoulder. Not only on my shoulder, but also to my whole body.

All of the frustrations I held for a very long while, now I let it all flowed.

Tears were streaming down on my cheeks.

What should I do? What would I do?

This house was a house of the dead. What would the Mayrand's feel?

All I cared about was the people here. They were all dead. I was only the one who was standing.

And as of on cue, the lights were turned on and heard someone behind me talked.

I gasped and jumped in fright.

"Don't move." it was a man's voice. It was full of warning and coldness. "Do not speak or do something unnecessary, because if you will, I will shoot you dead. Now, raise your hands on air if you understand me."

Why was this happening? I was all innocent until back then, yet now a murderer. Was this the payment for killing the two people?

I had no choice. I raised my hands in surrender.

"Stay at your feet." he commanded and obliged. I sensed him coming to my way.

I couldn't fight back. It was my end-game now.

He took my hands while still on air and then harshly pushed me on the wall, face flat.

I was already tired and only letting him do what he should do.

Inilagay niya sa likod ang mga kamay ko pinosasan niya ang aking pulsuhan.

"Chance, damn it!!" sa 'di kalayuan, may sumigaw. Dinig ko ang mga yabag ng takbo niya sa aming kinaroroonan. "We're too late, everyone's dead!"

"Yeah, only one left here." sagot ng lalaki na humuli sa akin.

"Who? A casualty?"

Iniharap ako ng lalaking humuli sa akin sa lalaking kadarating lamang. Hawak-hawak niya ang aking posas habang nasa likod ko siya.

Napatingin ako sa direksyon ng lalaking sumisigaw kanina na patay na raw ang lahat. Nasa may pintuan siya ng servant's quarter.

Nang makita niya ako, napatulala siya.

May hawak siyang isang assault rifle, pero nabitawan niya ito.

"Fucking shit! A ghost!" he exclaimed!

"Shut up, Nate." kalmadong sabi pa ng isa. "She's just bloody, all right? She's not a ghost."

Tumingin naman sa akin ang lalaking dumakip sa akin.

Pagkuwan, agad siyang bumitiw sa akin at  lumayo habang namumutla.

"Sonofabitch." he only muttered as if I had just awoken from the dead.

↭ ♡ ↭

♕ h a n d t h e I r e n d