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CHLOE I screamed as I saw Trace being shot. Nailapitan ko si Trace. I sat in front of him. I held his hand na puno ng mga dugo mula sa dibdib niya. I was crying loud. I was losing hope. Takot na takot ako. Tinitigan ko ang tinamaan sa dibdib niya. Trace was shot near in his heart! Oh, God!!! He was having a hard time breathing. Halos pumipikit na rin ang mga mata niya at pinipilit na lang niyang idilat para makatingin sa akin. I was panicking. Hindi na mag-function ang utak ko ng tama. Niyakap ko siya at umiyak nang umiyak. “Trace…” I sobbingly said. “Shhh… Don’t cry…” mahina niyang sabi. His left hand was placed at the top of my head and ruffled my hair weakly. “You should… you should fight, roxo… rescue is coming. Any moment ay… ay nand’yan na sina Ice at Genesis. You must—” Trace coughed. “No… No…” I cried as I shook my head. “Don’t die on me… oh, please…” natatakot kong iyak. Trace chuckled. Still, he was making me feel that he’s fine. I know nahihirapan na siya pero pin
CHLOERescued and saved… That was what I thought would happen for me and Trace, but instead we were facing danger and death. May mga pumasok pa na ibang mga lalaki pagkatapos niyon. They became seven all in all circling me and Trace. Wala na akong hawak na grenade. Wala na akong alam na panlaban. Hindi naman ako gaya ng triplets o ni Cent na kayang tumayo at makipaglaban sa pitong lalaki at may pag-asang manalo. We were screwed. Literally and figuratively. “No!!!” I screamed my heart out as one guy among the seven kicked my husband before Trace lifted his arm to fire the gun he was holding. Nabitiwan ni Trace ang baril pero pilit na gumapang para kuhain iyon. Another man followed Trace and another kick was made to cease my husband from moving. That made me crawl to my husband and try to protect him from those beatings. Another guy came to me and dragged me away from Trace. I was shrieking and trying to wriggle free from the grip the man was doing to my arms as he pulled me away fro
CHLOE Two months have passed… Two months yet still I am fighting with the affliction of what happened. Hindi basta-basta ang pinagdaanan namin kay Louisianna and— Wait no! No… I should stop there. I should not go there… I sighed next. The fact that the horror is still in me and I don’t know when those nightmares will end should make me consider not to walk back and visit the past. Tapos na iyon. Ang hindi na lang tapos ay ang trauma ko. “Lalim na naman ng iniisip mo…” sabi ni Alguien na ikinatingin ko sa kaniya. I was alone earlier, hindi ko napansin na nakalapit na pala siya. “Yeah…” I agreed. “Some sort of memories.” “Minsan, may mga alaala na kailangan natin i-let go, Chloe.” “We can’t let go of memories freely, Alguien. We could live with it but we cannot make it fade away that easily.” “Louisianna took us all in vain… But she could no longer harm us, Chloe.” “I know…” Totoo na wala nang kayang gawin pa sa amin ang taong patay na, pero ang kamatayan ni Louisianna, ay
TRACE “You’re late…” nakangusong sabi ni Chloe at masama ang tingin sa akin nang lapitan ko. “It’s better late than never…” I grinned, then glanced at Willow and Gani. I nodded to Gani and said, “Pwede na kayong umuwi ni Willow. Ako na ang bahala rito.” “Sige,” sabi ni Gani at pinauna na si Willow pumasok ng sasakyan. Nakaalis na sila nang hilahin ko si Chloe papunta sa mausoleum ng mga Esposito. “Primero Esposito Dimagiba,” basa ko sa pangalan ng anak ko nang makita ko ang lapida nito. “Mabuti naman at napalitan na pala ang apelyido ni Prime,” nakangiti kong sabi. “Yeah…” Lumapit sa akin si Chloe at ipinaikot ang braso niya sa beywang ko. “At sinong dapat pasalamatan?” tanong ko sabay akbay kay Chloe. “Alguien…” Chloe shrugged, “obviously…” “Remind me.” I stared at Prime’s grave for a while. Sighed. I squatted next, but the stingy pain in my right knee made me stand straight again. Chloe concernedly stared at me. Alam kong nakikita niya na iniinda ko pa rin ang naging tama sa
TRACE‘I met you in the dark, you lit me up… You made me feel as though I was enough…’ As the famous international singer started singing his rendition of the song titled Say You Won’t Let Go by James Arthur, Chloe’s blindfold was removed. Walang kaide-ideya si Chloe na ngayon ang pinangako kong grand wedding sa kaniya. Namimilog ang mga mata niya habang inaayos ni Willow ang veil niya at ang mga mata niya ay nasa wedding gown na suot. I could read her lips asking Willow and Alguien ‘what was happening’ next.Then Chloe’s gaping eyes looked around the whole area until she saw me. I smiled at her warmly. She started sniffling. Alguien hugged her, kissed her head next, and offered his arm to Chloe. Si Alguien ang maghahatid sa kapatid niya sa akin, para patas kina Papa na stepfather ni Chloe at kay Daddy Jonas na adoptive father. ‘...We danced the night away, we drank too much… I held your hair back when you were throwing up…’I smiled wider with the lyrics of the song. Noong pinapipil
CHLOE Kanina pa ako pinapaiyak ni Trace sa mga sorpresa niya. At kaya pala… kaya pala kanina pa parang weird lahat ay dahil sa sorpresang kasal namin. Weird dahil pagdating ko pa lang sa FK kaninang after lunch, para sorpresahin sana si Trace dahil birthday niya, ay hinarang na ako ni Cent. I was informed na nalipat ang venue ng birthday celebration ni Trace dito sa Baguio. Nagtaka man ay hindi na ako nangulit lalo na at sabi ni Cent ay may threat na nasagap si Nite kaya kailangan lumipat ng location. As we travelled, kami ni Cent, from Makati to Baguio ay nakatulog ako after we stopped over in Tarlac. Nagising na lang ako na nasa kuwartong madilim. Kinabahan pa nga ako kasi akala ko ay kung nasaan na ako, pero nang nag-play ang mga videos ko noong baby pa ako, ay doon nawala na ang kaba at napalitan ng ngiti. I was beaming while watching the baby version of me until I gasped as the video clip of me in Burnham Park played. I was only seven then. The clothes I was wearing, that w
CHLOE“Tara!” Cent said nang nakalapit na siya sa akin. Niyaya ko siya na mamasyal sa park na nadaanan namin kahapon nang pauwi kami mula sa orphanage. “Let’s try the pizza from their resto,” I suggested. “Sige,” Cent agreed, then called those tailing us and told them to secure the place first. I rolled my eyes. “Aren’t we overdoing it?” “For the nth time… Kailangan natin makasiguro lagi, Chloe.”I shrugged and followed Cent as she entered her car. “But don’t you think that worrying because of paranoia will cause us to be a target? What I mean is… if we go there as ordinary people, no one notices who we are, right?”“But that’s it, we are not ordinary!” Cent sneered. “At siguro kung… kung hindi ka considered celebrity sa bansang ito ay pwede nga. But even me going out with you…” she paused and glanced at me, “d’you think na pwede tayong magpanggap na ordinary?” Cent chuckled.Hindi ako nakaimik doon. Anyway, Cent’s right. Ni hindi nga kami pwedeng mag-mall na walang dapat ikatakot
TRACE I kissed my wife’s forehead. She finally slept. Mabuti naman as we are all worried for her. We, yes. Hindi lang kasi ako ang nag-aalala, lahat kami. Sinabihan din ako ni papa na tigilan ang kakapunta sa ibang bansa, at kung kailangan ko talagang umalis ay siguraduhin na kasama si Chloe. Three weeks ago, Chloe said she found Prime. I know she was desperate after the failed pregnancy with the twins but… but saying she found Prime, it’s illogical. Hindi ko pwedeng sabihin kay Chloe na imposibleng buhay pa si Prime. Sinabi ko na lang na magpapa-imbestiga ako at ipapahanap si Prime. At gumawa rin naman talaga ako ng paraan para malaman kung sino ang batang sinasabi niyang si Prime. I told my men to investigate. I told everyone what’s worrying my wife. We digged to find the truth. We searched to find Rogelio, na sinasabi ni Chloe na buhay. Chloe even gave us plate number of the car, na sabi niya ay sinakyan ni Rogelio at ng pamilya nito. Pero paano hahanapin ang matagal nang pat