The Host

Chapter Three

The knock came just after dawn.

Three short, deliberate taps.

Alina paused in the kitchen, one hand holding a steaming mug of coffee, the other trembling ever so slightly. Her lola was still asleep in the back room, the quiet of the morning broken only by birdsong and the ticking of the old wall clock.

Something didn’t feel right.

She moved closer to the window and peeked through the edge of the curtain. A black vehicle was parked outside. Unmarked. Tinted windows. Its engine was still running.

The knock came again. Louder.

She froze.

Run.

The word echoed in her mind, but her feet stayed rooted she can’t move a muscle, this feeling that Alina have right now its frightening her.

“Lina?” her lola called groggily from the other room.

Before Alina could answer, the front door exploded inward with a deafening c***k! Splinters flew as armored men poured into the small provincial home like a flood of shadows.

“DOWN ON THE GROUND!” one of the armed man shouted

Alina screamed as strong arms grabbed her from behind and slammed her to the wooden floor. She kicked, fought, but she was no match.

“Lola!” she cried out. “LOLA, RUN—”

She caught a glimpse of her grandmother, pushed back by another soldier, helpless and sobbing.

“Leave her,” one of them ordered. “Target acquired.”

Her wrists were zip-tied. A black cloth was shoved over her eyes. And just like that, the world became darkness and chaos.

They dragged her outside.

She screamed until her throat burned.

No one came.

No neighbors. No barangay tanod. No one even looked out their window.

The village had been silenced before they came. It was planned all along to capture her, because if it was not naglabasan n asana ang mga kapitbahay nila upang humingi nang tulong. Pero parang pinagsakluban sila ng langit at lupa, no one helped them.

The van door slammed shut. The engine roared. And Alina, blindfolded and gasping for air, knew her life would never be the same again.

-------------Unknown Facility----------

She didn’t know how long the trip lasted.

Her sense of time shattered in the darkness. Her hands were numb. Her thoughts spiraled with one word over and over:

Why?

When the van finally stopped, cold air hit her skin like ice as they pulled her out and led her through a series of metal doors. Her blindfold came off under a blazing white light.

She squinted. Everything around her was stainless steel.

A woman in a white coat approached—calm, composed, clinical.

“Alina Reyes,” she said smoothly, “you are being secured for your safety and the safety of others. You may be experiencing confusion, fear, and possibly physical changes. We are here to help you.”

Alina’s lips parted, her voice hoarse. “What… what did I do?”

The woman smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“You were chosen.”

“chosen?” Alina’s face shows a lot of emotion, questions aroused inside her mind, but none of it was answered.

That woman turned her back on Alina as it walks away while talking

The guards dragged her again—this time into a bare room no bigger than a storage closet. A single metal bed. No windows. No clock. No escape.

They left her there.

The door hissed shut.

The lock clicked.

She was alone.

================================

Alina curled up on the bed, every inch of her body sore, her mind buzzing with questions.

She didn’t scream. Not anymore. All she can think about is her grandmother, she was too old to be dragged like this, hindi na nila dapat ito dinamay.

She had screamed in the van. In the hallway. When they strapped her down and jabbed needles into her veins. She had begged.

Pleaded.

She keep on shouting on the first day “ nasaan ang lola ko! Ilabas nyo siya! Anong ginawa nyo sa kanya” she keeps on screaming dose words over and over her heart is aching her voice broke the only family she have what have they done to her.

but

None of it mattered.

They weren’t listening.

They didn’t want answers.

They wanted control.

But she wouldn’t give them anything.

She had nothing to give.

Not yet.