A Night With Visitors
MHIAMB Fanshot #23
[December 2018]
DUKE LIONHART'S NARRATION
There could already be a thousand of moments when I wished Duchess is with me tonight. My head’s awfully spinning because of the continuous tantrums of the toddler I was unfortunately assigned to take care of. I am never good even at normal interacting with humans in general yet ironically, here I am, basically filling in for this brat’s toy.
“Seriously, Duke?! What kind of books are these? Ang boring naman. Ugggh. Ba’t ba kasi ngayon pa nawalan ng kuryente?! Lumabas na kasi tayo. Nagugutom na talaga ako.”
“Lovelle, I told you. Nagpadeliver na nga ako. Just wait, will you?” Maybe having my voice inevitably sound so dull as always can be at advantage at times. Or maybe it’s because I’m too sleepy.
“BUT I’M FREAKING HUNGRYYYYY!”
Agh, there she goes again. Rolling and yelling, rolling and yelling. For pete’s sake! Isako ko kaya ‘to?
“Hindi ka ba kasi marunong magluto?!”
Dahil nga walang ilaw, parehas kaming nasa sala at kanina pa nya ako niyuyugyog habang nakahiga ako sa sofa. Now tell me how will I even get a nap. May transaction pa ako mamayang madaling araw.
“Even if I do, madilim sa kusina so it would be difficult to cook.” Nakapikit kong sabi habang nakatakip pa rin sa mata ang isang braso.
“Iilawan nalang kita. C’mon, move! Bisita ako dito oh.”
To refrain her from whining even for a while, napilitan na akong tumayo para magluto ng instant food since I’m getting pretty hungry as well. Kung ba’t ba naman umalis sina Mama at sumama pa si Duchess. Geez.
Lovelle was holding the flashlight and been clinging to me all the way to the kitchen. I felt like having a tarsier on my arms, momentarily yelling out of no particular reason. God, my eardrums are gonna be bleeding.
“Ouch! Dahan-dahanin mo naman, napapaso ako oh.”
I tssed. Siya ‘tong todo makakapit eh. Add the fact that the flashlight was useless because she’s been pointing it to everywhere she’d hear sounds from.
“Quick, Duke. Quiiick.”
‘Kung di ka naman magalaw, kanina pa tayo tapos.’
Nang maisalin ko na sa plato yung pagkain namin, nahagip ng mata ko ang isang anino sa labas ng bahay na mabilis na gumalaw. Napatigil ako sa paghalo sa pagkain ng ilang segundo then continued as if I was unaware of it. But then, I knew there was another visitor.
“Stay here.” Sabi ko kay Lovelle at inurong patapat sakanya yung plato.
“San ka pupunta? Don’t tell me you’re gonna leave me here?!” Her usual bratty tone.
“May kukunin lang ako.”
Hindi ko na siya hinintay sumagot at pumunta sa sala. There I had to minimize my movement and silence my steps. Amidst the darkness in the living room, knowing the house for years, I got to easily get the pistol inside the Lionhart’s secret cabinet. Who would be here? Why and how? Matapos kong kabitan ang baril ng silencer ay umakyat ako sa kwarto ko kung saan may terrace. There I could see the spot where I first saw the shadow through my peripheral vision.
Tumalon ako pababa at sinimulan ring ikutin ang bahay. Because of the black out in the city and malfunction in the generator, our residence security has been almost shut down. Pero dalawa o tatlo lang ang pwedeng makapasok.
Dinaanan ko rin ang kaninang dinaanan ng anino. From there I could see Lovelle eating, obviously still unaware. Then I sensed my prey’s movement from behind. I knew my head would be the first target so before he could even launch his attack, I rolled over averting his attention from Lovelle and vice versa.
“Who are you?” Malalim ang boses at seryosong tanong ko sa balot sa itim na lalaking tinutukan ko ng baril.
Hindi sya sumagot bagkus ay panibagong atake mula na naman sa likod ko ang dumating. I was barely able to jump backwards. Kasabay ng pagtalon ko ay ang pagwasiwas naman ng nauna ng swiss knife. Knife? Too naive. So after successfully landing, I turned to give the second guy a roundhouse kick. He was sent down on the grass, giving me a chance to point him my gun.
Pero umatake na naman yung isa kaya napilitan akong harapin siya para paputukan. Kanan, kaliwa at gitna. All just his predictable movement within two seconds after having a gun pointed on him. Kaya sa pangalawa at pangatlo ay di sya nakaiwas.
Aiding his companion, the other guy tried to stand up disregarding the thought of my alert level and so, one blow on his head from the force exerted on my feet turned him down unconscious. It was no more than a minute to take the wounded guy down all more with a gun. I couldn’t kill him yet so three shots enough to make him fall unconscious were given.
I heaved a sigh. Who could these people be? What organization are they from? This can wait, Duke. Check Lovelle first.
So, I went to a part where I could see Lovelle. She was safe and still eating inside. Being a visible shadow from her peripheral vision, I got her attention, making her gaze shift to my direction and well, yell.
“DUUUKE?! Omg, may multooooo!”
It’s my silhouette, Lovelle. Seriously.
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