STRINGS AND CHAINS

CHAPTER 21

"Anong mayroon sa mga Frey?" tanong ko. I am confused. I have no idea who actually Rai is. Wala siyang binanggit tungkol sa pagkatao niya except that he was a werewolf and now he's a vampire. Hindi ako nagtanong about him, his past, and his real identity, which I don't know, probably my mistake. Maybe I didn't care dahil I know wala namang balak na masama sa akin si Rai. Well, bukod sa kama, which isn't a bad thing for me. Vamp damn it.

He mentioned his brothers. Nakilala ko pa nga 'yong isa, si Gregory at ang anak ng master niya, si Ivana. I only know one at 'yon ay kasalukuyan siyang nasa punishment ng kanyang master and somehow I saved him and he ended up here with my side. He also mentioned that their family is the current head of the vampire race. Well, big de

Bukod d'yan, I do not know anything. Mayroon bang kinalaman ang mga bampira rito? If mayroon, anong papel nila sa away between the incubi and witches? At ano rin ang papel nila Trojan, ang mga Roscoe, which is a family of werewolves, sa gulong 'to?

"He didn't say anything to you?" tanong ni Trojan.

Tumingin ako sa kanya. "Kung ikaw nga ay hindi mo sinabi na werewolf ka pala until now, do you think Raiden will say anything about him?"

Natahimik siya sa sagot ko. "Now tell me what's so special about them?"

"Frey is the first vampires who lived here. The curse of bloodsuckers started in their lineage, to their father, Lazarus Frey," wika ni Tito George.

Their father... Lazarus Frey... I remember Rai told me he was born during Middle Ages. Damn, that was a very long time.

"Lazarus Frey that time had seven sons with different women at the same time," dugtong pa ni Tito George.

Okay... Interesting... I remember Raiden said this too. But like what I said, who am I to judge?

"And these women were human?" tanong ko.

"No, they were not. Each was different species. We only know about Raiden and his mother. His brothers, that we have no idea," sagot sa akin ni Tito George.

Seven women, different species, different lineage, different creatures, at the same damn time. Holy sh-t. Then his Raiden's father was the pambansang f-ckboy that time. How did he even manage to do that?

"And?" tanong ko.

Nakita ko ang masamang tingin sa akin ni Dennis at Vanilla. Hindi pa nakakasagot si Tito George nang si Vanilla na ang nagpaliwanag sa akin. She's irritated dahil mukhang wala naman akong pakialam kung mapanganib si Rai or any of his past.

"They were the leaders of the vampire race before. But they were ousted by the other vampires. We heard that they were killed; some said they were punished for what they'd done. They killed men, women, and children. They did not care whether you're innocent or not, they would only kill. That was how they were thirsty for blood. Our race was also their victim and there were others too. Now your beloved here, who you fucked in your own bed every night, is a ruthless, cruel, and violent piece of shit who'd killed many. If you know any of this, you wouldn't even dare to touch that bastard, but because you're too dumb to know or even care, of course, you have no f-cking idea."

For once, hindi ako nakasagot kay Vanilla. Tahimik akong nakaupo sa puwesto ko habang nakatingin sa kanya, nagulat sa mga pinagsasabi niya about kay Rai at sa pamilya niya. If he really did those, I couldn't do anything about it. I was not even there during that time. That was his choices before and I am not part of it. But now, I just want to ask one thing.

Is he still the same?

I'll evade the ruthless part here, I'll judge that later even if I don't have any rights to do that. For now, I want to know more about his mother.

"What about his mother? You said he was a hybrid. So if you're a family of werewolves, may alam kayo sa nanay niya at sa pamilya niya."

Dito natahimik ang mga tao sa paligid ko.

"We are just a normal pack of werewolves and we stayed here after the long war ended between the werewolves and the vampires," wika ni Tito George.

"That war started when Katherine Fazon had an affair with Lazarus," panimula ni Tito George.

"Why would a war even started for a simple affair? Nagkanda-letse letse na ba nang nagdadalangtao na ang nanay ni Raiden? Let me guess, it's either the leaders or whoever na tutol sa pagitan ni Katherine at Lazarus ay natatakot sa magiging anak ng dalawa. Of course, who wouldn't be? It was a mixed blood of a vampire and werewolf," sagot ko.

They looked scared for a moment.

"Fazon is the biggest family of werewolves and they were here even before the vampires set foot in this world. They had the biggest pack and-" I cut Vanilla off.

"If you're telling me they are the strongest pack of all werewolves, why would they be afraid of an unborn child before?" tanong ko.

"To take a risk and announce a war against a new creature, vampires, it's a lose," sagot ko.

"Why guess it's a lose?" tanong ni Trojan sa akin.

I smiled. "Well, Raiden and his brothers lived. So they lost. You lost, don't you?"

Natahimik muli ang lima sa sinabi ko.

"What did they do his mother?" tanong ko.

Ngayon naman ay hindi sila nakasagot.

"So that's it. So there was a reason why he did become a bastard," wika ko. Tumingin ako kay Vanilla.

"Before I could even judge you, maybe there's also a reason why you're such a spoiled brat, Vanilla. Why your personality stinks. So what did you lose?"

"Stop it," wika ni Dennis.

"What did you lose?" tanong ko ulit habang hindi ko tinatanggal ang tingin sa kanya.

"You stop, whore." Sumabat muli si Dennis pero hindi ko siya pinansin.

"My parents were killed by vampires. I lost my parents. Are you happy now, Maru?" sagot niya sa akin habang nakatingin pa rin sa akin ng masama.

Tumingin lang ako sa kanya. "Let me ask you again, Vanilla. Who started all of this?"

At doon hindi nakasagot ang lima. Because they knew who started this silly war and they knew that their race is at fault. They wouldn't even have a war against vampires if they didn't take a first move. Vanilla has all the rights to get angry. Pero ang ibato 'to sa ibang 'to, 'yon ang mali. Wala akong ginawa sa kanya. Walang ginawa si Rai sa kanyang masama. It was not even Rai who killed her parents.

The similar thing about creatures and humans, they all like to generalize.

The difficult part of it, when you're eaten up by your emotions, you couldn't differentiate. They would look all the same. And you couldn't stop yourself from hating. A miserable life, some said, but it's true. There's only hate.

And we all had gone to this path. We all had experience this.

Raiden and his brothers too.

***

Bago pa man magkaroon ng panibagong rambulan sa pagitan namin ni Vanilla ay pinaghiwalay na kaming dalawa. Pinaalis nina Tita Maria sina Dennis at Vanilla sa sala. Hindi nakakatulong ang presensya ng dalawa sa pag-uusap na 'to. Nagkakaroon lang ng sagutan. Tita explained to me why my parents decided to keep me here in Roscoe's. Panatag sila na hindi kami magagalaw ng incubi rito kung mayroong nakapalibot na mga werewolves sa akin. Sinong maglalakas loob na sumugod dito?

Pero hindi ko pa rin dapat i-underestimate ang mga incubi. They are still powerful. And I do not know, or even the others, what they can do.

I'm worried about my parents. If this is their real job, killing and hunting creatures, it's too dangerous. At some point, I know there is going to happen. And I need to be strong once that incident happens. I know sooner or later someone will get hurt. And I just wish none of us, my parents, Raiden, or Trojan's family will get hurt. Pero may magagawa ba kami para maiwasan 'yon if a simple problem can turn into big and complex?

I wasn't really that surprised when I learned that my parents are hunters. Weird. Maybe I was already used to this. Magulat ka ba naman na eh 'yong aso mo pala for three years ay isang bampira na kayang magshape shift, makidnap ng incubi at makita pa kung anong ginagawa nila sa mga biktima nila, malaman na 'yong schoolmates mo palang namatay eh mga mangkukulam, ang malaman na ang magulang mo ay hunters at pumapatay ng mga nilalang na na-encounter mo, magugulat ka pa ba?

It all makes sense. It all has a point.

Maybe the incubi made me their target because they know who I am. But then Raiden said incubi are no fools and they wouldn't dare risk a fight against the hunters. There are already witches on their plate, why bother pull the hunters into this mess?

Napabuntong-hininga na lang ako at tumingin sa kalangitan. Sumasakit ang ulo ko sa kakaisip.

"If my parents are hunters, why did they build an alliance with you? They even agreed on our engagement," tanong ko kay Trojan.

"Tito Harold wasn't actually a hunter," panimula ni Trojan kaya tumingin ako sa kanya. Now this is interesting. If my father was not a hunter, then is it my mother?

"Tita Pomela's family is," dugtong niya.

"Salve, remember the surname. You might encounter some of your relatives," wika pa ni Trojan kaya napangiti ako.

I now know the reason why wala akong kakilala sa mga kamag-anak namin. I only know from my father's side, but from my mom, I don't know them. Hindi ko rin alam kung may kapatid si Mama. Hindi ko rin kilala ang lolo't lola ko sa side niya.

Maru Salve Pavlov. I still have their surname. Dala-dala ko pa rin. Baliktarin ko man ang mundo, I'm still a daughter of hunters and who knows who will come and kill me. Maybe for vengeance, maybe just because I am a Salve.

"And they are not really that friendly," wika pa ni Trojan.

"They kill whoever or whatever they see," dugtong pa niya.

"And my mom is different?" tanong ko naman.

Tumango siya. "Tita Pom and Tito Harold saved my parents when they were fleeing from their previous pack. My mom was pregnant that time," paliwanag niya.

"Bakit umalis sila Tito at Tita?" tanong ko.

"A female werewolf is very rare, Maru. The leader, the Alpha, was in need of heir for the pack. My mom was one of the few female werewolves in their pack. Even though she was married to my father, hindi nila puwedeng baliwalain ang utos ng leader nila. The alpha wanted my mom and my father had to fight for it. But my father is only an ordinary werewolf. Anong laban niya sa alpha? So they escaped."

"Is there a huge difference between the alpha and an ordinary male werewolf?" tanong ko.

"There is. Some are born from a pure blood alpha; some made their way to become the leader of a pack. They are much faster and stronger. No one can really beat them. Only another alpha can do," sagot ni Trojan.

"My family took a refuge here in this town. That time sina Tito Harold at Tita Pom na ang nangangalaga sa bayan na 'to. Hindi lang kami ang natulungan nila. Pati na rin ang mga Liverton," dugtong pa niya.

My mom, even though she is strict, has a soft heart. At sa tatay ko naman, behind a ma-muscle at nakakatakot na itsura niya, he's also a softie. I miss my dad. I miss my mom. I miss them.

"So now that incubi are wrecking some havoc here in our town, we're doing our best to solve it as soon as we can," wika muli ni Trojan.

My parents are out there, fighting for their lives and the lives of many. Ano bang magagawa ng isang anak nila na wala namang alam sa pakikipaglaban? Na hindi kayang mataim na mayroong mamatay even if it's the enemy? I don't want to see death. I don't want to see someone die, pero kung ang magulang ko na ang usapan dito, then it doesn't matter if those incubi burn in hell. They deserved it, aren't they?

So what can Maru Pavlov do? What can I do?

Well I couldn't fight. I only have my brains.

"I am not just going to sit here and wait until you give me some bad news," wika ko kay Trojan.

"I want to help," dugtong ko pa.

Trojan looked at me for a second. "How about Raiden? He won't like this," sagot niya.

"Don't worry about him," sagot ko. No matter what I do, Raiden will always be there for me. He won't stop me. He knows how stubborn I am. So in the end, to avoid fights and misunderstanding, even he doesn't like it, he will still go with me.

"How about your parents?" tanong muli ni Trojan.

"Of course, they won't like it. Sinong magulang ang gustong madamay ang inosente nilang anak sa gulong 'to?" sagot ko.

"But the thing is, I'm no innocent. Iyon ang hindi nila alam. I guess revealing what I know and Raiden is would be for the best. Even it will hurt them," dugtong ko.

"So what do you want to do? What can you do to help?" Diretsahang tanong ni Trojan kaya napangiti ako.

"Just let me work behind your shadows. Kayo makipaglaban, ako iisip," sagot ko.

Nakita ko ang pagngisi ni Trojan. "How would you even know your plan will work?"

"Confidence is the key, Trojan. I know I am smart, well at least, maybe I'm a bit fool," sagot ko. Nagtawanan kaming dalawa.

"Anong masasabi mo from your own observations?" tanong ni Trojan.

"If they went to Joseph then they still haven't got the answers from Ana and Marian. No matter what they do, they won't reveal the secrets of that orb. That I commend Livertons for being so loyal," sagot ko.

"Livertons won't take a risk. That's why they are not doing anything to save their kin. If they went there, they would have to gamble. And it will put their lives and the lives of the innocent in trouble. Or worst, I know this town would be in doom," dugtong ko.

Bumuntong-hininga ako. "There's just one thing I need to know. Bakit gustong makuha ng mga incubi 'yong orb. Saan nila gagamitin 'yong kapangyarihan na makukuha nila?"

Tumingin ako kay Trojan. "Maybe it's just your parents, the Liverton, and my parents know it, or maybe they don't have any really idea how big this is," wika ko pa.

"What do you mean?" tanong ni Trojan.

"If a simple problem can turn into worse, ano pa 'tong nangyayari ngayon?"

Tumingin ako ulit sa kalangitan. "If Vanilla has a reason why she's acting like that, then the incubi also have the reason why they badly want to get the orb."

"What I meant is, this is not just about the incubi and the Liverton. This is not just about them getting the orb for their sake. There is much more than this, more than we could ever imagine."