18 Dark Side II

Nakaupo ang magkapatid sa basement ng mosuleyo. Di umiimik si Mon habang tinitignan ang mga nakalagay na letrato at sulat sa pader. Hindi niya alam kung magagalit siya sa kapatid o malulungkot.

"Kelan mo planong sabihin sakin to ate?" frustrated na tanong ni Mon. "All these years, you have been keeping these secrets. Why?! Wala ka bang tiwala sakin?" tanong niya.

"It's not that I don't trust you. Hindi ko lang alam kung paano ko sasabihin sa'yo. Takot akong malaman mo kung ano ang mga nangyari sa akin." sabi ng dalaga na iniiwasang tignan ang kapatid.

"Ate naman! We've been running for more than six decades! You can practically tell me anything! HECK! Everything! Why do you have to be so hard on yourself?" tanong ni Mon sa kapatid. Ang dami niyang tanong sa ate niya noon na hindi niya matanong. At ngayon ay tumambad sakanya ang lahat.

"I'm sorry. I thought I was protecting you. Kaya ko tinago lahat ng mga nangyari, I didn't want you to be involved." sabi ni Katleya.

"Why?! I'm your brother!" di niya na alam ang sasabihin kay Katleya. Gusto niyang magwala sa galit pero gusto niya ring malaman ang kwento sa likod ng mga sikreto ng ate niya.

"Wala na akong maitatago sayo. You already found out." sabi niya nalang.

"Since when were you doing this research about getting a cure for us?" tanong ni Mon.

"1970. Remember we fought about leaving Huyenbi? Sobrang galit ka sakin nun kasi sinabi kong we can't come back. I remember you stormed off to get some fresh air and I jumped off the cliff dahil di ko na rin alam ang gagawin at dahil hindi tayo namamatay, I just woke up again. Dun ko naisip na since di naman ako namamatay, I can experiment." sabi ng dalaga.

Pumikit si Mon at humingang malalim. "You could have told me." sabi niya.

"Oh believe me I wanted to. But you were so angry and I didn't know how to fix it back then." sabi niya.

"So what happened?" tanong ni Mon.

"1980, I met a doctor in Sanjati. I was using my real name back then." sinimulan ng dalaga. "I worked as his intern and I saw him experiment on animals. He was researching about how to prolong life. He was Val Vasquez's father." lumaki ang mata ni Mon at tinignan ang kapatid.

"So you mean to say, you have been involved with the Vasquez since 1980?" hindi makapaniwala si Mon sa sinasabi ng kapatid. Tumango ang dalaga at tinignan ang isang lumang letrato ng matandang Vasquez. "He was nicer than his son, he was humane."

Hindi nagsalita si Mon sinipa lang niya ang kahon na katabi niya.

"I stayed under his wing for 6 years. I was afraid he'll notice that I wasn't aging at all. That time I took copies of his notes and ran away. I made my own experiments and I kept failing." sabi niya at pinulot ang isang journal sa lamesa. "These were my findings." sabi niya at inabot sa kapatid ang journal, halos manginig naman si Mon ng binuklat niya ang mga pahina ng journal, detalyadong mga pangyayari at mga resulta ang nakalagay. Hindi niya pinagpatuloy buklatin ito dahil hindi niya lubos maisip ang pinagdaanan ng kanyang kapatid.

"Remember what I did 20 years ago? Sa city hall?" tanong ni Katleya kay Mon. Tumango si Mon. Of course he remembers clearly. Who wouldn't?

"That wasn't the first time I killed someone." sabi niya. Tila binagsakan ng langit at lupa si Mon. How could her sister become a monster? "Alam kong iniisip mo kung paano, bakit, at anong nangyari sa akin. It happened once, while I was hiding out in an island near here. A group of men went to the island, there was one in particular who caught my attention. I kinda liked him, we got drunk, things happened. I got pregnant."

"Y---you what?" gulat na tanong ni Mon. Hindi niya alam na nabuntis ang ate niya. Nagpatuloy lang ang kapatid sa pagkwento.

"When I told him, he got so mad that he said he didn't want the baby and wanted to abort it. I can't do that. He forced me pero di ako pumayag, he then called his friends and almost killed me. But since I can't die, I kinda scared them to death when they stabbed me in the neck and I just woke up like nothing happened. I felt scared that they will kill my child so...I did what had to be done." sabi ni Katleya. Halos sumakit ang ulo ni Mon na naririnig niya.

"What happened next?"

Naiiyak ang dalaga. "I gave birth of course. Then put her up for adoption, she went into a good university and took up Psychology, then she fell in-love with that Anthony Vasquez! And he... he... he killed my daughter!" halos lumagapak si Katleya sa sahig. Hindi alam ni Mon na ganoon ang nangyari. "She was sweet, caring, and adorable. Mabait siya sa lahat and Anthony used that against her. She became his guinea pig, for two years she was a prisoner of Anthony. I couldn't do anything. I... I let her die!" hysterical na sabi ng dalaga.

Mon felt helpless, he couldn't do anything. Narealize niya na all these years ay tinago ng kapatid niya ang lahat ng pinagdaanan niya. Everytime nagkikita sila ay masayang aura lang ang nakikita sakanya, he never saw his sister breakdown like this.

Namumugto ang mata ng dalaga at humihikbi.

"Will you still be my brother Mon? Will you still accept me as your sister after all this?" malakas na loob na tinanong ni Katleya.

Tinignan lang siya ni Mon. Pinulot ang mga papel at mga letrato na nakakalat sa sahig at sinunog ito sa harap ni Katleya.

"You are my sister and nothing will change." sabi niya at niyakap ang ate niya.

Parang nabawasan naman ang pasan ni Katleya, lumagan ang pakiramdam nito dahil nailabas niya ang mga pinakamaduduming sikretong itinago niya all these years.

"We have to get rid of these." sabi ni Mon at pinagsama-sama ang iba pang mga papel at letrato, at sinunog ito.

"From now on, don't hide things from me. I can't afford to lose you ate." tumango lang ang dalaga. Panatag na loob niya.