NICCOLA was about to open the door of her house when she heard someone wail.
Sinundan niya ang tunog na naririnig at dinala siya ng mga paa sa may hagdan. She saw a girl sitting on the staircase.
Nakita niya kung paano tangkaing isaksak ng dalagita ang ballpen sa braso nito.
She was about to do it when Niccola stopped her from doing so. She quickly grabbed the girl's hand.
Lumingon sa kanya ang dalagita na may basang mga mata at walang kabuhay-buhay. She had seen that eyes before. It resembled her cousin Achilles' eyes. No life, full of grief and suffering.
"L-let go of my hand," sabi nito na sinubukang langkapan ng pagkainis ang boses, ngunit sa halip ay mahina iyon at walang lakas.
Kinuha ni Niccola ballpen mula sa kamay nito at ipinasok sa kanyang bulsa. Umupo siya sa may hagdan patabi sa dalagita.
"Do you know the story of the Tiger and the Two Cubs?" she asked after settling herself in the steps.
"I am not a kid anymore," bulong nito.
Nagpatuloy ang dalaga sa pagsasalita at hindi pinansin ang sinabi nito. "There were two tigers in the wild, Mr. and Mrs. Tiger. They were living happily and love each other so much that no one can break them apart. They were inseparable.... Then one day, Mrs. Tiger announced that she was pregnant and Mr. Tiger was so delightful. They can't explain how happy they were.
"Then, winter came. Because of too much happiness and all their attention was on the unborn baby, they forgot to store food. They ran out of supplies, so Mr. Tiger decided to go outside the raging storm and search for food." Nakita ni Niccola na matamang nakikinig ang dalagita sa kanya kaya ipinagpatuloy niya ang pagkukuwento rito. "He saw a fox. The fox had a lot of food in her house. Without thinking twice, the tiger robbed the fox and steal all her food. Unknowingly, the fox was a fairy. She transformed into her original form and cast a curse on the tiger..." Tumigil sa pagsasalita ang dalaga at tinitigan ang dalagita.
Si Xylona ay dahan-dahang lumingon sa gawi ng dalaga dahil bigla itong tumigil sa pagkukuwento. Nang makita niyang nakatitig ito sa braso niya ay hinila niya ang mahabang manggas ng damit upang matakpan ang mga pilat sa kanyang pulso.
Nag-iwas ng tingin ang dalagita, muling yumuko at itinuon ang paningin sa mga paang walang sapin.
"Do you want to hear the end of the story?" Niccola asked the girl. Ilang segundo ang lumipas bago ito tumango bilang tugon. "Tell me your name first. And what are you doing here?"
"I... I am Xylona Clarkson. I live here," Xylona answered in a small voice.
"Xylona... Beautiful name. You're Mason's sister?" The girl nodded. "By the way, my name's Elize Niccola. Nice to meet you, Xyxy."
Tumunog ang tiyan nito kaya napahawak doon ang dalagita at nahihiyang lumingon sa kanyang gawi. "Do you want to eat with me? I am your brother's neighbor. Come on, I'll cook adobo. Do you want something?"
Nakita ni Niccola ang pag-aalangan ng dalagita kaya hinawakan niya ang kamay nito at inalalayan patayo.
Magkahawak ang mga kamay na pumasok sila sa kanyang unit. Pinasuot niya ito ng tsinelas at pinaupo habang siya ay naghahanda sa pagluluto. She cooked food while she was watching her.
Noong una ay hindi ito masyadong nagsasalita at siya lang ang dumadaldal. Ngunit kalaunan ay mukhang nakuha na ng dalaga kiliti nito dahil mas naging komportable na ang dalagita.
They were in the middle of eating when the doorbell rang. Tumayo sa pagkakaupo si Niccola at tinungo ang pinto.
Si Mason ang nasa labas na nakalarawan ang pag-aalala sa mukha. "Have you seen a girl— Xylona!" bulalas nito na nakaramdaman ng relief nang makita ang kapatid na nakasunod kay Niccola.
Niluwagan ni Niccola ang pagkakabukas ng pinto at pinapasok ang binata sa kanyang unit.
"I told you not to do anything stupid! You don't listen! Paano kung—"
"Hey, Mason." Hinawakan ni Niccola ang braso ni Mason upang patigilin sa pagsasalita. His voice was loud and anger was evident. Nginitian niya ito na may kasamang babala. "We are in the middle of eating. You can join us if you want... Let's go, Xyxy." Marahang hinawakan ni Niccola ang kamay ng dalagita at iginiya pabalik sa kusina.
Nayayamot na napahagod si Mason sa buhok at walang magawa kung 'di ang sundan ang dalawang babae papasok sa loob ng kusina.
"Come here, dig in," aya ni Niccola sa binatang nakatayo sa bugad ng kusina at nakatingin sa kanila habang kumakain.
Muling nagpakawala ng buntung-hininga si Mason, lumakad papalapit sa mesa at umupo katabi ng kanyang nakababatang kapatid na maganang kumakain. Sa nakalipas na mga araw ay ngayon lang niya nakitang kumain ng gano'n si Xylona. She was eating with gusto. Samantalang kahit magpa-deliver siya ng pagkain mula sa isang mamahaling restaurant ay hirap siyang pakainin ito.
Tahimik lang na kumakain si Mason habang nakikinig sa dalawang babaeng nag-uusap.
"Our family is pretty unusual," Niccola said while chuckling lightly. "My parents have three sets of twins."
"Really?" Xylona asked in amusement.
"Yes. The first twin was me and my brother, Lucas. Then Krishia and Keishia Snow. After them, there are Alson and Sandor—they are both boys." Niccola was smiling as she remembered her siblings. "Our younger brothers were pretty different from each other, but we love them equally. Sandor was more responsible and mature than Alson, he's in the state studying pre-med. Alson is more on the lazy side. He loves to stay in his room all day long and play video games. He doesn't like to go to school. In short, he's a total pain in the ass."
Mason was listening attentively to her. He doesn't like noise and was more likely to enjoy the silence, but he loved to hear her talk for some strange reason.
"That's amazing," Xylona said in amazement with a hint of jealousy. "I only have one brother and for the past years, I didn't get to see him frequently." Muling ibinaba ng dalagita ang ulo sa pinggan upang itago ang lambong sa mga mata.
Nakaramdam si Mason ng guilt dahil sa narinig mula sa kapatid. He can barely talk to her when he was still in the Navy. They only see each other on the phone.
Pagkakain nila ay nagboluntaryo si Mason hugasan ang kanilang pinagkainan. Hinayaan ito ni Niccola at niyaya si Xylona na manood ng palabas sa Netflix.
Pagkatapos ni Mason paghuhugas ay lumabas siya ng kusina. Tumigil siya sa bukana nang makita at marinig ang dalawang babae na tumatawa. He cannot believe that he was seeing his younger sister laughing and smiling.
Nalipat ang tingin niya sa katabi nito. Parang may sumipa sa kanyang dibdib habang pinagmamasdan ang babae. She's glowing and he can't take his eyes away from her.
Tahimik na lumakad at naupo sa isang sulok si Mason habang hindi inaalis ang kanyang buong pansin sa dalawang babae. Hindi niya namalayang ilang minuto na siyang nakaupo roon at pinagmamasdan ang dalawa, partikular na ang kanyang kapit-bahay.
Pagkaraan ng ilang sandali ay namayani ang katahimikan sa paligid.
He stood up from his seat and walked towards the two. Mason saw his sister leaning on Niccola's shoulder with her eyes closed and her breathing was even.
Tumingala si Niccola sa binata, inilagay ang hintuturo sa tapat ng bibig at bumulong, "she's asleep." Maingat na kinuha niya ang ulo ng dalagita mula sa kanyang balikat at isinandal iyon sa sandalan ng malambot na sofa.
Mason sat beside her and looked at her face. He sighed and muttered a, "thank you."
Lumingon ang dalaga sa binata na nakaupo sa kanyang tabi, muntik nang magtama ang kanilang mukha dahil sa biglaan niyang pagbaling sa gawi nito. Pasimpleng umiwas si Niccola, ibinaba ang tingin at kinapa ang bulsa.
Inilabas niya ang ballpen at ibinigay kay Mason. "Looks like you forgot to hide this from her," she said in a low voice.
Mason sighed for the nth time and took the pen from her hand. "You've seen her? Did she do it?"
Niccola gasped when she figured that Xylona had done self-harming a lot of times. "Yes, I've seen her. Napigilan ko siya sa gusto niyang gawin. I've seen the scars too... I'm not trying to pry or something."
"I'm sorry you have to see that. Xylona is—"
"Depressed. She's depressed, I know. May kilala akong kagaya niya. Well, he is not exactly like her in her situation right now, but they are both suffering. Hindi sa nangingialam ako, I barely know her, I barely know you. But she needs all the support she could get. And I know you are giving that to her. Please don't be so hard on her. I mean, she's young and she's still a child. It would help if you were gentle with her. You can be hard when she's out of hand. You know, my cousin is like her..." She stopped when she saw him staring intently at her.
"I didn't know that you're a psychologist aside from being a police officer." She heard a little sarcasm in his voice. Hindi niya pinatulan ang pagiging sarkastiko nito. "Tell me about your cousin," he muttered in a shallow voice but she managed to hear it.
"It was not my story to tell. But he's slowly progressing now. There's one time that I shouted at him, I was angry. I told him to fix his life and moved on already. And now I'm glad to see him trying hard to survive, he is slowly recovering. Slow, but it's still progress." There was a hint of a smile in her voice.
"Did somebody told you that you talk too much?" he asked in jest.
Lumawak ang pagkaka-ngiti ni Niccola nang marinig ang sinabi ni Mason. "Yeah, I get that a lot. Well, that's one of my charms aside from being persistent."
Unti-unting nabura ang ngiti ni Niccola nang makita ang pagkakatitig ni Mason sa kanya. He was constantly looking at her eyes, then down to her lips. Hindi niya maiwasang kagatin ang pang-ibabang labi dahil sa intensidad ng mga mata nito habang nakatitig sa kanyang mukha. His beautiful blue eyes were staring at her with emotions that she saw before, especially from her exes eyes! Her body was reacting differently from the way she reacted to her past boyfriends.
Hindi niya nagawang igalaw ang mukha upang umiwas nang bumaba ang mukha nito sa kanya. Sa halip ay ipinikit ng dalaga ang mga mata at hinintay ang paglapat ng mga labi nito sa kanya.
His soft lips touched her lips very lightly at first. Testing the tide. When she didn't shove him away, he pressed his lips in hers tightly.
Unang lapat palang ng mga labi nito sa kanya ay nakaramdam na ng kiliti si Niccola na sumuot hanggang sa pinakatagong bahagi ng kanyang katawan. Hindi niya naramdaman ang ganito sa mga naging kasintahan. The kiss was soft and mellow but she was so much affected by it.
Dahan-dahang gumalaw ang mga labi ni Mason at kinubkob ang kanyang pang-ibabang labi. He slowly sucked her lower lip and bit it. Mahinang napadaing si Niccola.
Ibinuka niya ang mga labi at nasa aktong tutugunin ang halik nito nang marinig niyang umungol ang dalagita sa kanyang tabi. Mabuti nalang at hindi ito nagising.
Mabilis na itinulak niya si Mason at tumayo na hindi niya dapat ginawa dahil nanghihina ang kanyang mga tuhod.
"X-Xylona needs a comfortable bed," pasimpleng taboy niya sa lalaki. He was looking at her but she was avoiding his gaze.
Tinalikuran niya ito at naunang lumakad patungo sa direksiyon ng pinto. Binuhat ni Mason ang natutulog na kapatid at walang sali-salitang lumabas sa unit ng dalaga.
Tulalang isinara ni Niccola ang pinto at napasandig doon dahil sa nararamdamang panghihina. Tumaas ang kanyang mga kamay sa labi at sinalat iyon. She can still remember the feel of his lips against hers.
Ang kanyang isang kamay ay lumapat sa tapat ng puso na nagririgodon sa loob. "What's happening to you?" Mahina niyang tinampal-tampal ang dibdib.
These feelings were new to Niccola and it was scaring the hell out of her.