CHAPTER 6 - " THE UNEXPLAINED ATTRACTION "
771 Words
The city outside was half-asleep. Sa labas ng bintana, sumasayaw ang ilaw ng mga billboard sa basang kalsada—parang mga alaala na ayaw mamatay.
Amber leaned on the cold glass wall of her penthouse, staring down at the world she was supposed to own. Pero ngayong gabi, pakiramdam niya, hindi sa kanya ang mundong ito. Hindi siya makatulog. Hindi matapos-tapos ang mga tanong sa isip niya… lalo na si Miguel.
Her body still remembered the heat of his hand from that night—the way he pulled her out of the crowd, the anger in his eyes, the blood on his knuckles.
Bakit ganon? Hindi siya sanay sa ganitong kaba.
“He’s dangerous,” her best friend Alyssa told her. “Hindi siya para sa’yo, Am. He’s not from our world.”
“Maybe that’s the point,” she had answered, before she realized what that meant.
The elevator chimed behind her. Hindi na siya nagulat. Only one person knew her private code.
Miguel stepped out, still wearing his black jacket, wet from the rain.
“Pasensya na, hindi na ako nag-text,” sabi niya, halos hindi makatingin. “Pero kailangan kitang makita.”
Amber turned slowly, her voice calm but her pulse racing. “You always do what you want, no?”
He didn’t answer. Tumigil siya ilang hakbang mula sa kanya, at parang lahat ng tunog sa penthouse ay biglang tumigil—kahit ‘yung ulan, kahit ‘yung heartbeat ng siyudad.
“Akala ko kaya kong umiwas,” Miguel whispered. “Pero tuwing tinatanggihan kita sa isip ko… mas lalo akong nalulunod.”
Amber’s breath hitched. She wanted to laugh, pero hindi lumabas ang tawa.
“Hindi mo kailangang sabihin ‘yan, Miguel. You know this can’t—”
“—happen?” putol niya. “Wala pa ngang nangyayari, gusto mo na agad tapusin.”
Lumapit siya. Isang hakbang lang, pero ramdam na ramdam ni Amber ang init ng hininga niya.
Ang lalim ng boses, ang mabigat na paghinga—parang lahat ng linyang i***********l ay gusto niyang tawirin.
“Miguel…”
“Sabihin mo kung ayaw mo.”
Pero hindi niya nasabi.
Instead, her silence was an answer neither of them wanted to admit.
Miguel reached up, brushing a wet strand of hair from her face. His fingers lingered too long.
And then—his hand dropped.
“Hindi ko kayang sirain ‘yung mundo mo,” he said, backing away. “Pero hindi ko rin kayang itanggi na… gusto kitang maging parte ng mundo ko.”
Amber stepped closer. “You think I’m scared of your world?”
“I think you don’t know how dark it gets,” he said, his jaw tightening. “May mga bagay na hindi mo kayang saluhin.”
“Try me.”
That was all it took.
The air cracked like thunder between them—isang titig, isang hinga, at bumigay ang pagitan.
The kiss was soft at first—hesitant, almost guilty. Pero nang maramdaman ni Amber ang kamay ni Miguel sa bewang niya, at ang sariling mga daliri niya ay kumapit sa balikat nito, ang guilt ay napalitan ng gutom.
For a moment, she wasn’t an heiress, and he wasn’t a fighter.
They were just two people who found each other in a city too cruel to care.
Pero katulad ng lahat ng bawal, may hangganan ang sandali.
The elevator beeped again.
Amber’s father’s voice echoed from the intercom: “Amber? Are you still awake?”
She froze. Miguel’s eyes widened. In a heartbeat, he stepped back, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.
“Go,” she whispered, pushing him toward the service door.
“Amber—”
“Please. For me.”
He hesitated, then nodded.
Before leaving, he took her hand, pressing something cold into her palm.
“Pag may nangyari, tawagin mo ako. Kahit saan.”
Nang umalis siya, tiningnan ni Amber ang bagay na iniwan niya: isang silver keychain—half-broken, engraved with an address she didn’t recognize.
Her father’s footsteps approached, and she hid the keychain in her robe pocket.
“Anak,” he said, standing at her door, “you should be asleep. You’ve got the Monasterio Gala tomorrow.”
“I know, Dad,” she smiled faintly. “Just thinking.”
He nodded and left.
The door closed. The rain returned.
Amber sank onto the couch, hand over her chest, feeling her heart still racing like she had run miles.
And when she opened her palm again, the keychain shimmered under the moonlight—
the symbol of something she shouldn’t have, but couldn’t let go of.
- Writer
