End Game

Chapter 14 - Too Late To Apologize

Present Time

“YOU WERE wrong, Bella. It was me who doesn’t know what to do without you. You can always survive without me. Napatunayan mo ‘yon sa loob ng maraming taon. But I can’t survive without my Keeper. You don’t really need me, you know. But I need you. I need you so much so please have mercy and wake up,” bulong ni Claude.

The Isabella that Claude met back then saw the world through rose-tinted glasses. Naging posible iyon matapos niyang burahin ang mga alaala nito noong bata pa ito. She had friends here and there because just like him, people craved her vibe. Pero kahit pa parati silang magkasama, minsan, pakiramdam niya ay may invisible barrier na nakapagitan sa kanilang dalawa.

It was like her way of saying, “Claude, stay in your line and I will stay in mine because this is how far we could only go.”

May mga araw na maayos ang samahan nila pero may mga araw ding para bang gusto ni Isabella na idistansiya ang sarili mula sa kanya, mula sa sariling pamilya, mula sa lahat. There were days when she would suddenly disappear as if she didn’t want to be found by any of them. During those moments, all they could do was wait for her to come back on her own. After all, she made sure to always come back.

Being with Isabella had its downside, too. Because Claude had to watch her fall in love many times with different men, but never with him. Minsan, pakiramdam niya ay dinadaya na siya ng tadhana. Dahil hayun siya, nakahandang ialay ang lahat sa dalaga pero parating sa iba nakatutok ang mga mata nito. Parati na lang iba ang tinitingnan nito.

He thought Vampires and Keepers were supposed to hit it off instantly. Well, they did. But it was a different case. They hit it off as friends.

It was always a different case with Isabella.

Sa kabila ng matinding attraction na maaring maramdaman ng mortal na Keeper sa isang bampira, may kakayahan pa rin itong pumili kung sino ang gugustuhin nitong makasama habang-buhay. Pero ang bampira na hindi pinili ng Keeper ay hindi na makakapili pa ng iba, he was bound to be alone for eternity. That was the tragedy of the Keeper thing that Claude had only found out after meeting Isabella. Hindi iyon patas para sa mga bampira pero wala silang magagawa. That was how it always had been since the beginning of time.

Claude would have made a move on Isabella if only he saw an opening, no matter how little it was. But there was never an opening. So, he tried to become the next best thing since he would also be the one to suffer more if he was away from Isabella. He became her friend, her very best friend.

And he got stuck to that level ever since.

“Natatakot ako, Claude. Paano kung hindi ko ma-meet ang expectations ni Luke sa akin? What if I fail to become a good wife to him? What if I fail to become a good mother to our future children? Paano kung iwanan nila ako?”

Bumigat ang kanyang paghinga nang maalala ang mga tanong na iyon sa kanya ni Isabella isang araw bago ito ikasal. Nabosesan niya ang kaba sa tinig ng dalaga nang tawagan siya kaya gaya nang lagi niyang ginagawa, he rushed to her side that day and was almost tempted to take her with him and run somewhere else had he not seen the glow in her lovely eyes. Kaya sa huli, kahit halos mabaliw-baliw na siya sa sakit, in-encourage niya pa rin ang dalaga na magpakasal sa iba.

At iyon ang pinakamalaking pagkakamali na nagawa niya sa buong buhay niya. He never should have done that.

“I wonder when exactly it happened, when you became so important to me that I find it hard to smile without you around, when I could not function properly knowing you are somewhere I could not reach. I wonder when I started to care for you this much, when I started to love you this much.” Buong pagmamahal na hinagkan ni Claude ang palad ni Isabella. “Kung ako sana ang minahal mo, hinding-hindi kita iiwan gaya nang ginawa niya sa ‘yo. Hindi kita sasaktan. Bakit hindi na lang ako, Bella? I could have given you anything, everything. And you did not even need to ask.”

Humugot si Claude ng malalim na hininga nang mag-ring ang cell phone niya. Kahit pa hindi niya silipin ang screen, alam niyang si Raven iyon para ipaalala sa kanya na oras na para umalis siya. It was time to put a mask on because he would be facing a lot of people he had never faced before.

And it was all for the Sire position, something he had never really desired before until this happened to Isabella.

Hinagkan niya ang noo ng dalaga. “I will see you again tonight, princess.”

Tumayo na si Claude at palabas na sana ng kuwarto nang biglang bumukas ang pinto. Blood instantly rushed in his head upon seeing the very face of the human that he had loathed the most. 

It was Luke.

Sa paglipas ng panahon, napatunayan nilang espesyal si Isabella. May kakayahan itong pagalingin ang lahat ng uri ng mga nilalang sa mundo, kabilang na ang mga bampira. And they were usually descendants of both human and powerful Mages. But as time went on, their human side became the most dominant one and only a trace of their ancestors was left in their body.

And Isabella had that in her.

Si Martin ang nagpaalam sa kanya ng tungkol sa natuklasang kakayahan ng anak nito. Minsan na itong nakaengkwentro ng mga Rogue para protektahan si Isabella na nangyari noong nasa ibang bansa siya para sa isang misyon. Ayon kay Martin, nang magtangkang pumagitna si Isabella para umawat, hindi sinasadyang nasugatan ang braso nito. The Rogue used a dagger crafted by the enemy Mage that’s why although Martin was able to defeat the Rogue, he still suffered a heavy blow that was impossible to heal overnight but when Isabella’s blood accidentally dropped into his wound, he was able to heal right away. Iyon ang isa pa sa mga alaala na binura nito sa isip ni Isabella dahil wala sa kanila ang may gustong ipaalam rito ang tungkol sa tunay nilang mundo.

When the smell of Isabella’s blood began attracting not only Claude but other Vampires as well, he used a spell to hide it and to drive away other creatures from approaching her through the necklace that he gave her. May protection spell siyang nilagay sa pendant niyon. Walang ibang nilalang na may kakayahang humawak sa kuwintas maliban sa mga mortal.

And if only this lying son of a b***h did not steal the necklace from Isabella seven years ago, no Vampires would have been able to harm her.

Sa isang iglap ay nakatayo na si Claude sa harap ni Luke. Iyon ang unang pagkakataon na nagkita sila uli pagkalipas ng maraming taon. Luke flew to another country along with his lover. Bago iyon, dala marahil ng guilt, inamin nito sa kanila ang lahat ng nangyari sa pagitan nito at ni Isabella bago ito dinukot ng mga tauhan ni Marcus. That was the reason why even if Luke and Jackson just went through a surgery because of their encounter with the Rogues, they still suffered a few broken ribs because of Claude and Martin.

The Andersons also made sure that their daughter would no longer be associated with those bastards. Pinapirma ng mga ito ng annulment papers noon si Luke na mabilis na naiproseso dahil sa pinagsamang impluwensiya ng pamilya Anderson at McNiall.

Luke used the Andersons’ power, money, and influence to save their retail company. At nang wala na ang mga Anderson para maging back-up ng mga ito sa business world, mabilis na nawala ang investors ng mga ito hanggang sa na-bankrupt na ang negosyo. Kung tutuusin ay hindi pa sapat ang nangyaring iyon para kay Claude. He would have done so much more to make sure that Luke and his lover would be crushed permanently but that would be breaking the code of the Vampires.

They were not allowed to mess with the human lives unless it was extremely necessary. At kinailangan ni Claude na i-maintain ang magandang imahe dahil nagbago ang mga plano niya nang gustuhin niya nang maging susunod na pinuno ng mga bampira. When he turned Isabella into a Vampire, the Clan let it slide only because she was his Keeper.

Agad na nawalan ng kulay ang mukha ni Luke nang makita siya. Creating Isabella’s necklace took a toll on some of Claude’s magical ability. Dahil doon ay nawalan siya ng kakayahang mabasa ang isip ng mga tao. It normally would not have mattered to him until Isabella introduced Luke to him one day.

Kung sana ay nagawa niyang malaman ang takbo ng isip ng lalaki noon, nagawa niya rin sanang pigilan ang mga plano nito. Nagkakilala ang dalawa noong mga panahon na ilang buwan siyang nawala sa Pilipinas dahil sa importanteng misyon na ipinagawa ng Sire. Nang bumalik siya sa bansa, may relasyon na ang mga ito.

“N-nagpunta lang ako rito para bisitahin sandali si Isabella. Hindi ko alam na nandito ka rin pala. I… I’m sorry. I know I’ve said this before. I also know that what I did was unforgivable but-“

“What makes you think that you can still show your nasty face here, you rotten bastard? How dare you?” sa halip ay sagot ni Claude bago nagpakawala ng suntok sa panga si Luke. Seeing this rotten person after all this time reminded him of the gut-wrenching feeling that he had felt after discovering that Isabella had been abducted by the Rogues.

Ngayon ay alam niya na kung bakit kahit pa gaano kabuti ang naging pagtrato sa kanya ni Luke, kahit kailan ay hindi niya ito nagawang magustuhan para kay Isabella. And he knew that it had nothing to do with his feelings for her. It was something else. Pero binigyan niya pa rin ang lalaki ng benefit of the doubt. Claude gave Luke his full support and entrusted Isabella to him because he saw that only this guy could make Isabella happy.

And he regretted that every day for the past seven years.

Dumugo ang bibig ni Luke. If only he was not trying his best to control his self, Luke would have suffered a major blow from his fist. Kung tutuusin ay kayang-kaya niyang tapusin ang buhay nito gamit lang ang kanyang mga kamao nang oras ding iyon. At natutukso na siyang gawin iyon. Looking at Luke’s face again made Claude feel like he was now on the brink of losing all the self-control that he had mustered for so many years.

If not for Martin who suddenly appeared, Claude would not have stopped punching the hell out of Luke.

“My wife and I were only gone for a while but it looks like the maids allowed a rat to get in. Pagsasabihan ko sila lahat mamaya para makasigurong hindi na mauulit pa ang ganitong bagay,” ani Martin sa mariin na boses. “You are not welcome here anymore, Reynolds. Young Master Claude could erase your existence right at this very moment if he wanted to so I suggest that you get the hell out of here as quickly as you could before he explodes.”

Napayuko si Luke. “I-I’m really sorry, Sir Martin. Please spare the maids. Wala silang kinalaman dito. I begged them to let me in so I could see Isabella even for a while. Believe it or not, pinagsisisihan ko na ang mga ginawa ko. Nagsisisi na rin si Jackson. Hindi namin alam na sasaktan si Isabella ng mga taong ‘yon. They only said they wanted to make a deal with Isabella. We never thought that they would go as far as torturing her to get what they wanted from her. I honestly didn’t know what got into me to do what I did. I was such a fool,” paliwanag ni Luke. There were tears in his eyes when he turned away. Palabas na sana ito ng pinto nang bigla na lang sumulpot si Claude sa harap nito.

Napasinghap ito. “H-how did this happen? P-paano mo nagawang-“

“Don’t play dumb on me, you asshole! You were so eager to be with your lover, Luke. And that was the reason why you wanted to get rid of Isabella. And you took a shortcut in doing that." Nagtatagis pa rin ang mga bagang na sinabi ni Claude. "The fact that those men sent you that bloody stuff about Jackson already indicated that they were psychos. And yet, it did not even cross your empty head to ask anybody for help! Deep down inside, alam mo ang dahilan kung bakit, Luke. Ginusto mong lumaya mula sa marriage n’yo at nakakuha ka ng chance na gawin ‘yon through Marcus and his men. Alam mo kung gaano kalakas ang impluwensiya ng pamilya Anderson. If you could find a way to keep banging Jackson despite your situation, then you could also find a way to ask for their help. So don’t act like you didn’t have a choice because you did. You just chose to ignore it; you piece of shit.”