Vladimir’s POV
“Can you at least pretend just for a while,” Cassandra started, habang nakaupo siya sa tapat ng telescope.
She was already done naming all the constellations, stars, and galaxy she’d seen through the telescope. Napagod na siyang magdaldal habang pinapanuod ko pa lang siya kanina.
Though, okay that’s a lie.
I didn’t just watch her, I talked to her and for the first time we actually found something that we could talk to. I always loved the universe and never found someone who loves it just as much as I do.
Kanina, we talked with sense, not that she’s been talking nonsense since the first time I met her pero this is the only time na we had a topic that we both like. Weird, I’ve felt like I’ve seen through her soul.
She even told me all the stories of the constellations, each of them though I already know them. Hearing it from other people, from her, made me still listen. She even listed Andromeda and Cassiopeia as her favorite. I’ve got the chance to ask her about her family, to which she replied they are already in heaven. She must be lonely living alone then.
It was a long night, but it seemed like a second when she stopped talking. I saw the tiredness in her eyes. That's why hinayaan ko na lang siyang pumikit at magpahinga. It took her minutes to speak those words again.
“Please!” She looked at me, with sincerity. “Just for a while. Just until you finish doing my bucket list.” Nilagay niya sa harapan ko ung bottle na may pitong nakatuping papel.
“Please, just do this for me. Sige na, easy lang naman yung nasa bucketlist ko e, actually it’s eight but you already did yung una which is to watch the universe with me,” paliwanag niya. “Please, please?” nag-pout siya which I found cute.
“Why me?” natanong ko. “Why of all people is it me?”
“Kasi may pang-blackmail ako sayo?” tanong niya na sinagot niya rin ng tawa. “Saka, I cannot find someone I like better than you. Gwapo mo kaya, sadly you just don’t see yourself,” She smiled. “Please, just finish it para tapos na. Saka, wala ka namang ginagawa e, para naman maging masaya tong lifetime mo na ito,” pagkukumbinsi niya.
“Ayaw mo ba akong maging girlfriend? Ganda ko kaya,” ngumiti siya ng pa-cute. Beautiful is even an understatement if I would to describe her. She’s like an angel, her face is so serene that when you look at her every negative thing you’ve got will fade away.
“Please,” ulit niya ng hindi ako magsalita. “I promise that when you are done doing it, I will disappear in your life.” Iniwas niya ang tingin niya sa akin nang tumayo siya bago niya bitiwan ang mga salitang, “…forever.”
She got that magic that would make me say yes since the first time I saw her.
I know how to cook, but I never cook. Once, I tried going to a culinary school kasi wala akong maisip na gawin sa lifetime na iyon so I tried it even though I don’t eat. I experience eating before when I was still human at kahit papaano I still have the memories of what food taste like. Minsan, I tried eating din but it tasted worst kaya hindi ko na ulit ginawa. Right now, it’s my first time cooking again without tasting the food. I might use my sense of smell at bahala na kung hindi niya magugustuhan.
I picked the paper that says number 2 in her bucket list and she likes someone to cook for her everyday. I don’t even understand myself why I’m doing this pero wala naman akong ginagawa and I used to be bored so might as well be good to her, after all my parents told me to watch over her.
They decided na it isn’t the time for her to be reported sa council kasi wala naman siyang ginagawang masama and if she’s a threat sana matagal na niyang sinabi ang tungkol sa amin. Though, naisip na rin naman na baka spy siya but we want to make sure kasi hindi naman namin nafe-feel sa kanya ang pagiging threat so they told me to go with the flow at as soon na may gawin siyang masama I should kill her. I hope it won't get to the point of killing her. Sana nga wala siyang masamang intensyon.
I went to the school with a packed lunch for her. We usually walk while going to school. We have a car but we never use it, kumbaga gagamitin lang namin siya if we need it but most of the time we walk or we run.
Iniba ko ung daan ko papunta sa school dahil narinig ko na may gulo sa kabilang street at ayoko namang matagalan at maipit pa sa kaguluhan so I went the other way not knowing that I would be able to see her. She’s actually walking down the streets, likod palang niya ay alam ko na agad. She was wearing our uniform. I wonder what she would look like if she’s not wearing our uniform.
Tatawagin ko na sana siya nang bigla siyang tumigil sa simbahan. Binigay niya ang dala niyang paperbag don sa mga batang pulubi na nakaupo sa gilid ng simbahan. Tuwang-tuwa ang mga bata at narinig ko pang sinabi niya na nagustuhan nito ang dala niya ng pagkain kagabi. So, dito niya dinala ang mga pagkaing binalot niya mula sa bahay.
I smiled at bit.
Hinayaan ko na siya at diretso nang pumasok sa university. I saw Van and Via on their way sa classroom nila. Pumasok ako sa dalawang subject pero hindi ko nakita si Cassandra. Nagtaka ako dahil kaklase ko siya sa halos lahat ng subject.
Hindi siya pumasok? Agad akong lumabas pagkatapos magpaalam nong professor. Pupunta na sana ako kay Via para itanong kung nasaan siya nang bigla siyang sumulpot sa harapan ko.
I raised an eyebrow. “Where have you been?”
“Uy, missed me?” patawa-tawa niyang sabi. “Grabe to, ilang oras palang yon paano kapag hindi na talaga ako nagpakita-“
Hindi ko tinapos ang sasabihin niya. Inabot ko sa kanya yung paperbag. Mabilis akong umalis at hindi na pinansin ang pagtawag niya. Hindi na niya ako nagawang habulin dahil narinig kung tinawag siya nung professor.
Nakakainis! Naiinis na naman ako sa kanya sa di malamang dahilan.
I decided to go to the garden and sleep. It was after an hour nang maamoy ko ang dugo niya. This time, dumilat na ako to make sure na nasa harapan ko lang siya. I saw her standing an inch away from me.
Dala niya yung paper bag na binigay ko. I stared for a while then look away. Pinikit ko na lamang uli ang mga mata ko.
“I forget to tell you last night,” she started saying. “The real reason why I wanted it to be you and not any other guy.”
Hinintay ko ang sasabihin niya. I got curious at naramdaman ko na naman ang pag-ikot ng sikmura ko na para bang may lumilipad sa loob nito. I don’t know this feeling. I haven’t felt it before. This girl made me feel things I don’t even know how to name.
“I want you to remember me.”
“What?” I opened my eyes and looked at her. “Who are you?”
“Hindi mo ba talaga ako natatandaan?”
“Are you the same girl who appeared in my dream?”
Hindi niya sinagot ang tanong ko. Hindi naman niya kasi sinasagot ng diretso ang lahat ng itatanong ko sa kanya which really made me irritated. Naiinis ako kapag wala akong makuha na sagot because I need, I need something to explain why I am feeling this.
Why, why do I feel this?
Why do I feel my heart beating everytime I’m with her? Why, why… I hate it! I don’t even know if I’m just imagining it but I’m feeling alive every time she’s there with me.
“Thank you for the chicken soup. It’s my favorite.” Nilapag niya ung paperbag sa gilid ko. “Pwede mag-request ng brownies, tapos damihan mo na din, please?”
“Why,” I asked, desperately. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“You quite deserve it,” She plainly smiled. “Anyway, please ung mga kids sa church kanina they said they like brownies, e. Please, nakita mo kami kanina’, right? Make some, at least just for them and not for me. Thank you!!!”
“Why not make it for them? Why ask me?”
“Well, I don’t know how to make one. At isa pa, I am very sure you can’t say no to me.”
Naglakad na siya at iniwan akong mag-isa don, habang nakatulala. Damn, why, why are you so sure that I can’t because I can’t even explain why I really can’t say no.
Is she a witch?
Napatayo ako sa naisip ko. She could be one. I’ve met witches before. They can disappear through spells, and they can make people obey them too with spells. Ang alam ko, they are great friends with vampires. They help us win the ancient war with the half-bloods. She could be one of them.
I went fast to the admin office and asked Stan about it. I remembered he had an affair with a witch before and the witch covenant did not allow it so they parted ways to prevent war between us.
“Cassy, a witch?” he said, using the nickname Via gaved. Stan used to talk to her too, dahil kay Via. Via and Cassandra are so close now like a sister that sometimes I wonder if they knew each other before. “That’s, wait I never thought but she could be,” nag-isip siya.
“I remember my long-lost love,” he said with bitterness. “Mira,” saglit pa siyang natahimik. It’s been a hundred years but he still can't forget her. Maybe that is love, he said before that Mira made her feel alive again that when they parted ways he felt dead again, until now.
Love, could it be.
“I sometimes wish she didn’t come from a powerful covenant, at least maybe we could arrange it,” Stan sighed.
Mira Gemini came from the most powerful covenant of witches. They rank the highest which doesn’t allow them to mate with other covenants and another clan because they want to keep their power and name just like us vampires.
“Going back, she doesn’t look like a witch.”
“How would you distinguish a witch in a modern world, Stan?” I asked.
You can’t. You can’t even distinguish vampires now from other humans because we dress, live and act like humans.
“I don’t know, but hey...” Pumitik siya sa ere. “I remember Mira saying na each witch of each covenant ay mayroong birth tattoo na naka-mark sa likod nila for them to be distinguish kung saan sila galing. And hindi natatanggal yung tattoo no matter what spell you use. It is actually engraved daw sa likod nila connected to their hearts, which means kapag sinubukang alisin ay mamatay ka,” paliwanag niya.
“To make sure, kailangan mong tingnan kung may tattoo siya sa likod. Yung tattoo ni Mira was a gemini twins because she came from Gemini Covenant. At sa kwento ni Mira, there are only twelve covenant of witches in the world named after constellations.”
Hearing constellations really made me think. She loved constellations. She loved the universe. Hindi kaya, she feels like home whenever she sees the universe because she belonged to one of the covenants of witches?
“Wait, is there an Andromeda or Cassiopeia Covenant?”
“They go together,” Stan said. “Peiameda but Cassiopeia is the symbol they use. Yeah right, her name is Cassandra. They may have derived it from the two constellations.” Stan said.
I thanked her and asked him again to monitor Cassandra.
I looked for Via. It’s only Via who could do it. Hindi naman ako ang pwedeng tumingin noon without looking suspicious. She was wearing uniform, at mahaba din ang itim na itim na buhok niya. Via could do it, bahala na siya since pareho naman silang babae. Maghihinala lang yon or baka isipan niya pa ako nang masama kapag ako ang nag-try na gumawa.
I told Via all the details and she told me na siya na ang bahala.
I saw Cassandra on my way to the gate. Nagpaalam na siya don sa mga kasama niya. Narinig ko pa nga ung isa na nagsabing mag-ingat siya sa akin because I might do something bad at her. Ngumiti lang siya at diretso nang umuwi.
Sinundan ko siya palabas. Balak ko siyang ihatid sa kanila para malaman ko kung saan siya nakatira and get some information. Diretso lang ang pagsunod ko sa kanya ng tumigil siya sa may pedestrian lane.
“Hanggang saan mo ako balak sundan?” tanong niya.
“I just want to make sure you are safe. I am your boyfriend, right?”
Lumingon siya sa akin. “It’s okay. Hindi naman kasama yon sa pagiging boyfriend mo. Kaya ko namang umuwi mag-isa kaya kahit hindi na, okay?”
“No.” I insisted. At kung aangal pa siya ay gagawa pa rin ako ng paraan para malaman ko. She seems like she doesn’t want me to know her house. May tinatago ba siya? Wala na rin naman siyang nagawa noong sumunod ako.
Tahimik lang siya, mabagal ang paglalakad niya. Her way is different from my way home at medyo may kalayuan na rin ito. Hindi ko nga napansin na malayo na ang lakad namin until she stopped at the middle of crossroads.
Tinitigan niya ang papalubog na araw sa kanyang kanluran. “Where do you live? Where is that Heaven Street? There is no such thing as—“
“Oh, why?” tumawa siya. “Meron, doon kaya ako nakatira,” she answered.
“Where is that?”
“Over there,” tumuro siya sa kaliwa kaya lumingon ako upang tingnan.
“Saan, ang daming—“ napatigil ako.
Nawala ang amoy ng dugo niya.
She disappeared as soon as the sun set.