Chapter Four: Evan

That night was long and cold, just like the many nights that passed.Tahimik na naihiling ni Evan na sana ay matapos na ang gabing iyon. He was tired of hearing his parents shouting at each other. It was always like this. Nasa ikatlong palapag ang kwarto nilang magkakapatid ngunit kasing klaro ng tubig ang mga boses ng mga ito. Sometimes he really hates his psychic abilities lalong lalo na ang mga sensitibo niyang pandinig. He keeps on hearing things he don't want. Gusto na niyang matulog ng mga oras na iyon ngunit hindi niya magawa dahil sa ingay ng kanyang mga magulang sa ibaba. Their fighting never seems ceased rather, it becomes more intense as the days passed.

"I can't take this anymore, Lucienne! Please, just let me leave.."

" Yngrid... "

" You said you love me. You promised me that it will worked out in the end- na masasanay din ako sa paraan ng pamumuhay niyo pero hindi eh. I have been stucked here for 10 years," hikbi nito.

Their mother is a human which makes them half-blood. It was almost ipmpossible for a vampire to bore a child with a human but then here they are. Pero hindi iyon naging madali. Pansin niya na napipilitan lang ang ibang bampirang pakisamahan sila dahil sa mataas na posisyon ng kanyang ama sa council.

" It's dangerous outside. People can hurt you. Dito lang kita maproprotektahan- kayo ng mga anak natin."

" You know I really hate it when you say that, na pinoprotektahan mo lang kami pero yung totoo you just want to locked us out here- in the middle of nowhere."

" No... that is not true. I love you that is why I care about you. Please, let us talk about this when you're already calm."

His mother was pregnant with his fifth sibling. Marahil ay iyon ang dahilan kung bakit ito nagkakaganoon. O baka naman hindi na nito kayang mabuhay kasama silang mga halimaw. Evan felt a tinge of pain in his young heart.

" Aalis ba si Mama, Evan?"

Sa totoo lang, hindi niya alam ang sagot sa tanong ng nakababatang kapatid. Their mom changed a lot eversince nabuntis ito sa ikallimang nitong anak. Naging agresibo ito lalo na pagdating sa kanilang magakakapatid. Nikolai was just 9 at isang taon lang ang agwat niya rito. Habang ang kambal namang sina Stanley at Margaery ay pitong taong gulang. Tulog na ang mga ito dahil sa maghapong paglalaro. He felt relieved that they don't have to hear all of this mess.

"I badly wished I never met you. I wish I never loved you."

" I am sorry for dragging you into this mess, Yngrid. But please, don't leave us."

" Sana umibig na lang ako sa normal na tao. I wouldn't have lived my life with monsters nor will I ever be a mother of these monsters!"

Monsters. Those words resonated into his heart and bore a hole in his soul. Sunod nilang naring ang mga pagjalabg at pagka basag ng ilang gamit sa sala. A tear escape from Evans eyes as soon as the realization hit him. He felt a part of him being ripped out.

" I want to forget everything. Please, let me forget everything so I could get back to my normal life, Luciennce."

Pagkatapos noon ay binalot ng mabigat na katahimikan ang buong bahay. Evan slept through the night with a wounded heart. Two months past and his monther's conditioned seemed to worsened to the point that his father isolated her from them. Ikinulong ito basement. Tinangka lang naman nitong kitlin ang sariling buhay.

When his mother finally gave birth to Freya, his father have no other choice but to let her have the freedom she wants. Ang uncle niyang si Dylan na may kakayahang manipulahin ang memorya ng tao ay hinipnotismo ito upang makalimutan nito ang lahat patungkol sa mga bampire- pati na silang mga anak nit. She began to get back to her old self. She finally learned to smile and laugh. But then her memories of them- vanished like snowflakes before they can even touch the ground. She treated them like a complete strangers. Nang masiguradong maayos na ang kondisyon nito ay pinauwi ng kanyang ama ito pabalik ng Pinas. Simula noon ay wala na silang naging balita dito, not that he is interested anyway. All through these years he had harbored hatred to humankind. He does not want to do anything with them. Pero sa sitwasyon ngayon ay imposible nang mangyari ang gusto niya. May tulay na ng nagkokonekta sa kanilang mundo sa mundo ng mga tao at siya ay nasa sentro ng lahat ng iyon.

Walang sabi-sabing lumabas si Evan sa sala. Nitong mga nakaraang araw ay hinayaan niya ang kanyang ama na diktahan ang bawat galaw niya. Tiniis niya ang lahat ng ito dahil sinabi ng kanyang ama na kailangan niyang malaman ang mga tamang tao at koneksyon sa labas ng mundo. Pero ang pagpapadala sa kanya sa Pilipinas? That'soverboard.

He sniffed he air to know his father's whereabouts. As soon as he was quite sure he is inside their house, he vanishes into thin air and appears within seconds in front of his father's office. Kumatok siya bago binuksan ang pinto. He immediately saw his father sitting on his desk and working on a pile of documents.

" What do you need, Evan,?" simula nito nang hindi man lang siya tinitigan. He was too absorb on his task.

" Is it true that you are sending me off to the Philippines?"

" I need not to ask who told you that. Knowing our kind, it hard to keep secrets. To answer your question- yes. "

" And may I know why?"

Doon lang siya tinapunan ng tingin ng kanyang ama. His father is not the type who beats around the bush so he prepared himself for his answer. He can feel it in his guts that this whole thing is a big deal.

" To meet someone."

He clenched his fist in annoyance and frustration. Mukhang alam na niya ang kung saan tatakbo ang usapan.

" Who?"

" You future wife."

Wife? Marriage? Then it all came down to his head. Ang magaling niyang ama ay ipinagkasundo siya sa isang babae na hindi niya naman kilala. Arrange marriage are still a common practice among their kind but to be bethrothed to an outsider, something surely smells fishy in that.

" I am not getting married to anyone," kada katagang lumabas sa kanyang bibig ay may diin. He wanted to emphasized to his father that he is dead serious. " And I am not going to that bloody place just because you told me so!"

" Evan!" his father's raging voice echoed throughout the whole room. " This marriage will save us- our kind Now that we are more bare and exposes to our enemies, they will do anything intheir power to hunts us all down. Naiintindihan mo ba ako? Hunters are everywhere and they are waiting for the right timing to strike. We are a divided now, we need assurance from our allies. Tandaan mo, hindi lang tayo ang may impluwensiya sa ating angkan. Maraming ibang pamilya ang naghihintay na bumagsak tayo at palitan ang ating pwesto."

Their eternal nemesis- the hunters have been on their trail as far as he could remember. Their hatred for his kind runs deep. No one know or how or when this all rivary had started. For years, the hunters has vowed to erased their existence in the face of the earth that is why they hide from the rest of the world. Tama ang kanyang ama , lahat ng mata ay nakatutuk sa kanila. Their hiding away are next to doing nothing at all. An alliance with an influential pack will give them an insurance. The last great war had almost wipe out their entire race. Hunters and vampires are on par when it come to prowess but when in comes to numbers, they are sure no match. While their race has isolated itself from the rest of the world hunters had been weilding their influence and control over humans in millenias.

" You are the eldest, Evan. Ikaw ang magmamana ng titulo at katungkulan ko sa angkan natin. I know how much this situation burdens you. I know that you hate human because of your mom--"

"I don't hate them because of what mom did years ago,"

" If thats what you say. You don't have much of choice in this matter. "

Kelan pa ba ako nagkaroon ng choice? He badly wanted to say those words. Even at a young age his future has already been decided for him. Iyon ang bagay na dala-dala nitong mga nakalipas na taon.

He sighed, defeated. If that's what his father wanted, he will get married to a bitch or a witch to save his family.