CHLOE “We need to go,” pangatlong ulit na ni Alguien iyon pero ayokong umalis sa kinatatayuan ko. “When this will end?” tanong ko habang nakatingin sa libingan ni papa. After the attack on the asylum, we stayed in Greenland until we got papa’s body and traveled back in the Philippines. We buried papa sa tabi ni Mamita. Hindi na nakapunta si Alguien sa Fielvia dahil delikado lalo na at hindi pa klaro kung sino ang umatake sa amin sa Greenland. Ang sabi ni Trace ay imposibleng si Louisianna ang may gawa ng pag-atake dahil hindi sapat ang oras ng pagkawala niya para makaplano agad ng pagsugod sa amin. Ang isang tinitingnan na anggulo ay ang pag-atake na parang sinadya kasi naroon kami ni Alguien nang araw na iyon. Baka raw kasama kami sa planong patayin sa nangyari kaso nakaalis na kami sa kuwarto ni papa bago pa nangyari ang insidente. And Trace was right with his assumption dahil after that day ay may mga naka-engkuwentro pa ang mga tauhan ni Alguien na mga hired assassin na hind

CHLOE“Hi!” I suddenly rose up in bed. Narito si Trace sa kuwarto ko, nakangiti na nakatingin sa akin. I felt delighted but then I remembered how he avoided me. “Why are you here?” I sadly asked. “I missed my wife,” he lopsidedly grinned at me. Lumakad siya palapit sa akin at mabilis akong tumayo para layuan siya. “I was raped and I know how disappointed you are!” sabi ko agad sa kaniya. Natigilan naman siya sa paglapit sa akin at tinitigan lang ako. My eyes turned blurry because I shed tears. I sighed. I was right then. Iyon nga ang dahilan kaya ayaw na niya sa akin. Nakokonsensya lang siya siguro kaya narito na ulit. “CJ—”“I don’t want to do self-pity, Trace, but I do understand. You are the head of Foedus and you cannot have a wife who has been sexually assaulted, right?”“Don’t you remember how you pissed me off when I learned you were a virgin?” tanong niya sa akin na ikinalaki ng mga mata ko. Yes, he didn’t give a damn care with virginity before but that was another case

TRACE Great! Asking me of Foedus is asking me for my life. What a fucking deal indeed! I chuckled the moment I figured out what to do now, as I realized that Louisianna was not as weak as I thought she could be for hiding behind Raymundo and Helio. She was far from weak. She’s one of the most dangerous ones I've ever met. “Why?” tanong ko kay Louisianna nang makita ko sa wakas ang speaker device na nakakabit nang pasimple sa likod ng collar ni Chloe. I will run the show now and I won’t waste any moment. “Why you become like this… Loui?” Louisianna stopped laughing. Silence came next. I tried not to grin but I was right. Calling her Loui was a way to make her remember how she used to be, a nice and sweet young lady whom I fell for before. “That night was like a dream for a boy like me, Loui…” Fuck that I need to say this in front of Chloe but this is the only chance I have. I need to buy time and reminiscing is the only way for now to make Louisianna be calm. Mas kalmado siya

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

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