Abanir left her to pick one flower and returned quickly, the moment he was done. The four elongated petals and heart-shaped leaves were healthier this time. And the fragrance, oh heavens, it was the sweetest!
In a distance, someone was coming to join them, and Sophia was certain it was an old friend—Rabel. Out of thrill, she immediately stood up to meet him and bequeathed him her earnest hug, as Abanir went along with her.
“I’m glad you’re here!” She could almost cry of excitement, and both winged creatures could simply feel her warm-heartedness, her humane gesture.
All the same, Rabel tried to understand her words. He showered her his warmest welcome too, and shortly after, turned to his raha.
“Datu Ilak has been looking for you,” he said. “The tribe needs you.”
The message saddened Abanir. His nostalgia for Sophia hadn’t subsided yet and he wanted more time with her. He didn’t want to leave her nor let her be seen by the tribe. He didn’t have a choice…
“So, my suspicions were true!” A voice suddenly sounded from nowhere. But Abanir and Rabel were pretty sure they were accustomed to the voice. The resonance of its might could make every Vangkekan bow down, in reverence.
They looked around until they saw the wings of Datu Ilak. Unknown to them, he followed Rabel stealthily.
Sophia, although she was clueless about what the spearheaded one was saying, bowed down in awe of his highness. But, she could sense he did not like her presence and acquaintance with his son.
“Why are you with the human?” Datu Ilak detested to see how his son had become a prisoner inside himself, but Abanir wanted only to make sure Sophia was right behind him. “She is a human, can’t you see? You don’t exist for this. A Vangkekan is not for a human!”
“But I’m your son!” Abanir defended. “Can’t you see I feel alive, with her?”
“This is madness, My son!”
Although Sophia was clueless about what they were arguing about, she could tell he was against their dalliance.
Rabel, as he listened to the dispute, tried to calm Datu Ilak. And Datu Ilak could only sit down now on the large stone nearby, and massage his head out of distress.
“Abanir, My son,” he said. “Your youth is distracting you. Don’t you understand?”
“I will leave, then…” Abanir dared his father and held Sophia’s hand, a sigh he was choosing her over his father. Over his tribe. His race. Everything.
“What?” Datu Ilak quickly stood up to stop him. “You can’t do this to me.” Then he mellowed down when he saw his son’s tight grip on the human’s hand and decided to accept things. “All right, what else can I do?” He was looking desolate.
Abanir’s eyes ignited, then. “Thank you, Father,” he said and passed Sophia a positive look.
“You’re my only son now. And I can no longer afford to lose another one.” Datu Ilak admitted the memory of Karan. Until now, he was still in mourning for his death. And each time Abanir would disappoint him, the twinge deep down was only mounting. “But this must stay among the four of us until I settle things.” Datu Ilak added and signed to Rabel to go back to the tribe, and Sophia could only look at them with shame. She knew she was the reason behind all these.
CHAPTER 26
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when choosing is the only choice
The next day, there came no dawn for the Vabueretti Family. Darkness had been luring around for hours since they discovered of Sophia’s unforeseen disappearance.
“Where is Sophia?” The shout of Grandma Lucy resounded against the high ceiling of the manor as Philippe and Elizabeth queried the police men of Sophia’s whereabouts. They had been searching for her since last night.
“We found a truck at the lake house and we think it belongs to one of your helpers,” Sheriff Sanchez relayed to the Vabuerettis.
“What’s the color of the truck?” Grandma Lucy asked impulsively.
“Red.”
“I think it’s Pedro’s!” Grandma Lucy said and ordered one helper nearby to confirm the matter.
“I can’t believe this is happening again!” Elizabeth’s fears grew worse and recklessly, she announced she was going to the lake house to look for her daughter. Her voice revealed, though, that she would faint at any moment.
“Honey, we have to leave it to the sheriffs,” Philippe responded, not to offend the then-grimacing sheriff. “They’re doing everything to find her.”
“I’m going alone!” Elizabeth was determined. Philippe didn’t have the chance to refuse.
Away from the corner of the family room, Nadine was eavesdropping. When she heard that Sophia was still gone, she couldn’t stop herself from meddling with the adults.
“Mom, where’s Sophie?” Her voice, although slow and tiny, seemed piercing as it hit the couple, hard. To see their little child more sorrowful than them was a scorching blade to Philippe and Elizabeth. If only their own gloomy eyes could speak for them and cheer Nadine up, and tell her everything would be all right… but the pressure had kicked in instead.
“Sweetie…” Elizabeth bent down and cupped her daughter’s chin. “We will find her, okay?” She tried to smile, and was relieved the moment she saw her daughter’s emerging smile. “We will find her,” she repeated, now in a whisper, and took Nadine in her arms.
Philippe joined them.
“You have to stay with Auntie Bea now, okay?” Elizabeth then looked at Bea. In her eyes was a message, asking to take good care of Nadine while they were away. They needed to find Sophia now, before the worst could happen.
Bea, who stood there with the family, offered a careful hand to Nadine and led her upstairs to her room as the adults exited the manor for the lake house.
“Are you insensitive enough, not knowing that bringing Dr. Lee to the party would only hurt our daughter?” Elizabeth didn’t hesitate to say it to Philippe as they drove to the lake house. “You see what happened now?”
“Trust me, Eliz! I had no idea about it. It was probably mom’s plan.”
Elizabeth hated the reason, now. It burned in her. So Grandma Lucy had always been a big player in Sophia’s irresponsible escapes and misadventures.
When they reached the lake, they were teeming with shock to see Jericho seated on the timber doorsteps, his bowtie loosened, hanging on his neck, and his face looking old and rotten, in grim exhaustion.
Philippe dashed toward him. “Son, I thought you’re—” he was saying when Jericho already spoke, before he could finish.
“I followed her,” Jericho said, his voice so weak, the couple almost didn’t hear him.
“What do you mean?” Elizabeth demanded, passing a condemnatory stare, thinking Jericho was involved in this mess again, but Jericho talked more.
“I’ll wait until Sophia returns,” Jericho griped and broke off, to give himself a moment to breathe. That tangled the two in a series of speculations. What was he talking about? Could this mean he knew where Sophia was?
“What? Son, what exactly are you saying?” Philippe drew nearer, looking way too troubled than earlier. And just like Elizabeth, he also wondered if Jericho was involved in Sophia’s sudden disappearance.
“You don’t know what I saw.” Jericho now skewed his jaw to face them. As much as he wanted them to know, he just didn’t know which way to start. It was all too hefty and complex. He might sound crazy once he dropped the details.
“What did you see?” Elizabeth attempted again, her look less fatal this time, but with a growing weight on her chest.
Jericho turned mute. His mind flashed back to the moment he saw Sophia hug back the winged creature and wondered how the hell did it happen. How she came to know one? And even be fond of it?
“Answer me!” Elizabeth demanded again, her angry voice crushing down Jericho’s reminiscing, that left him look hopeless. Lifeless, even.
Then Jericho responded when he finally found the strength. “Last night, when I saw Sophia asking for Pedro’s keys,” he moved away from them temporarily and continued between breaths, “I got curious and I tried to ignore it. But something bothered me throughout the celebration and I felt like I had to go to the lake house.” His speaking was sluggish, but Elizabeth pressed for fast explanations. She would shatter at any moment now, and there was no more room for delay.
Jericho tilted his chin to carry on. “When I got here with my motor bike, I didn’t know I arrived first, before Sophia. And when I saw her coming, I hid through the trees.”
The moment Elizabeth learned Sophia visited the lake house, she began spying around and noticed the main door was never opened, and turned to Jericho again.
“Watching Sophia at the front porch, I didn’t expect something would appear in front of her,” Jericho added.
“What was it, son?” Philippe leaned closer.
“The legend is true. They truly exist.”
“You mean the strange creatures?” Philippe was taken aback. “Did that creature take Sophia?” He gripped Jericho’s shirt while asking. “Did he take her?” he repeated, his eyes admitting that it could be impossible to get her back if it did actually happen.
Jericho only nodded, as though a zombie about to fade. “No, he kissed Sophia first…”
And then it was out. No single muscle moved even as Philippe then Elizabeth hovered between feelings of madness and confusion. What did Jericho mean—the creature kissed Sophia?
Jericho was also flabbergasted. What did they mean strange creatures?
“It seemed, Sophia knows him,” Jericho said, further. “I didn’t believe it, at first.”
“Honey, what is he saying?” Elizabeth probed, but got ignored when Philippe confirmed the matter first.
“It was real. I wasn’t hallucinating,” Jericho claimed. “He took Sophia into the forest. I tried to follow them. I was at the forest all night, looking for her.”
Philippe was devastated but he must outdo this. He had a daughter missing and a wife about to lose her mind if they couldn’t pull this off.
“We will get her back.” He tried to deliver it with certainty though he, himself, was more than afraid of the possibilities. He had to be brave.
The darkest part of the evening shadowed Abanir and Sophia as they tried to comfort each other at Harem Falls. But their emotional state was even darker than any hour of the night. They were filled with despair ever since Datu Ilak confronted them.
Rabel came back to them before dusk. “Don’t you think she needs to go back to the lake house now?” He told Abanir.
The misery manifested in Abanir’s eyes. His hakaro was right, but he didn’t want her gone. Then, the flute that slung at Rabel’s back reminded Abanir to play music, and he asked him to hand it over to him.
He examined the flute for a short while and tried to recall the loveliest melody he had ever played, an escalating one, rich with too much gushes and passions.
Sophia closed her eyes as she began listening to the harmony, the sound so mellow it could calm down the rush of the falling water nearby. Abanir wasn’t only heavenly while singing but also heavenly while playing the musical instrument. Slowly, she opened her eyes and caught the way Abanir drifted with his own music. Both sank into the loveliness of it all and coasted away for a moment until they heard the flop of wings coming toward them.
“So this is what you’ve been busy with?” Reyna Kaya said, that put the three to a halt. Another grueling time came, and they were not ready for Reyna Kaya.
“Mother!” Abanir pulled Sophia in his back and made sure she was standing firm.
“Your father told me about this. I am very worried, My son!” Worry raged in Reyna Kaya. “This is peril!” she said, as though she already knew of the daunting things that could happen in the forthcoming days.
“My Reyna…” Rabel tried to speak for the two but Reyna Kaya persisted to talk.
“Your father couldn’t accompany me. He is with his advisers at the moment, but he’s far too worried of your stay here, with this human.” Then she shifted her look to Sophia, sharp and uninviting.
Sophia sustained being wordless, shaking, uncertain what to utter to make up for the grim situation.
“I was alarmed so I came without further ado. This must stop before the entire tribe knows…”
As much as he wanted to answer his mother, Abanir found no words to say. He found no courage, either. This condition with his mother was much different and more consuming. He loved the two females standing beside him, and he couldn’t afford to lose either one of them.
“This is a mistake, My son! Return her now to where she belongs!” Reyna Kaya was not mellow anymore. And this prompted Abanir to answer her.
“No, this is not a mistake, Mother. This will never be a mistake!” Abanir declared. “And this is where she belongs.”
Reyna Kaya ignored the way his son had answered her. Sending the human away was much more important for her, at the moment.
“She is a threat to our tribe, can’t you see? If the humans know about us, they will search for her here, and this will put us all in danger!” Reyna Kaya’s look was sharper this time and her voice broke as she suddenly sobbed. “Now, if you don’t return her to where she comes from, I will do it myself!”
“Mother…” Abanir griped and held his mother’s hand, imploring ,as much as he knew how. “Please, don’t do this.”
Sophia oozed with tears as the scene seemed to punish her. She might not understand their language but she knew his mother wanted them apart.
“My son, you have drifted away from us because of love, you have forgotten your responsibility to our tribe.”
“What do you want me to do?” Abanir then moaned. “I can’t just let her go.”
“Yes, you can. You are stronger than this. Don’t be a fool, My son.”
Then Sophia began blaming herself. She made a step back, and strode away from them, but Abanir saw him.
“Sophia…” Abanir stopped her but Reyna Kaya followed them. So did Rabel.
“Human!” Reyna Kaya surprisingly took hold of Sophia’s arm, stopping her. “Have no fear of me. I admire you, you see, but your world does not fit into my son’s world. And he does not fit yours. So go and forget all of these.”
The strange words seemed clear to Sophia. It was easy to feel them. Her heart was shattering and so was Abanir’s, but it was for everyone’s sake that she had to leave now.
“I know this is hard but it’s for the best of us, all,” Reyna Kaya told the two and patted her son’s shoulder as comfortingly as she could.
Although Sophia was only a couple of inches away, Abanir already felt the inches had widened into leaps and bounds. He had to make the right choice now. Or regret, forever.
“All right!” Abanir grumbled. “I will return her but it doesn’t mean that I can’t see her again.” Abanir collected his fist as he uttered the words, then shifted his look quickly to Sophia, his eyes saying he already missed her. Then a lone feather from his back fell off the ground, as if a sign that he was weakening inside, too.
Sophia watched it dance in the air and frowned. She didn’t feel good about it. To her, it was bad luck, and she could only pretend she was strong with this. Little did Abanir know she was also waning, within.
Abanir joined her in watching until it hit the ground. Then he picked it up, opened Sophia’s hand, and handed it to her. Smiling, he said, “A part of me wants to be with you. Take it. Take good care of it, and think of me, only me, when you see it. This isn’t goodbye, My Love. This is just the beginning of what is yet to come… for us.” Then he bestowed her with the longest and sweetest kiss, on her forehead.
Sophia knew nothing but the softness of his kiss, and as she looked over the sole white feather in her hand, she saw there the purity of his love, too.
“I will always be at the lake house every night, wait
ing until dawn.” Abanir looked her in the eyes and reassured her. “I will always keep you here in my heart, Sophia.” Abanir pointed to his chest and looked at her with brimming tenderness.
Sophia could only stare down in awe at the loveliness of it all. She was smiling. Hoping. And for one more moment, she came within his reach and was flown away by his majestic wings.
EPILOGUE
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Bright as the sky
Sophia looked through the bright sky from the balcony of the manor. It was a glorious sunrise. The sun could easily glisten on her vibrant skin. The mountains reminded her so much of the forest.
She looked down, and her family was almost done putting their suitcases into the trunk, all set for Orlando. Although the sun was out, she was wearing her white shawl—the one that Abanir gave her once, when she got lost in the wilderness. But, with everything that happened, she knew she was lost no more. The direction was clear to her now and it pointed toward Abanir.
At her palm was his fine feather. She could think of him, and only him. She could imagine him around her, breathing in the scent of her skin, their smiles merging in the harmony of their mutual adoration. But her daydreaming was suddenly broken the moment Bea went to check on her.
“They want me to ask you if you’re ready for Orlando.” Bea’s soft voice was cautious.
Sophia smiled, nodding, and glimpsed at the mountains once again, with a stare as though she was seeing Abanir there.
“I’m glad you’re wearing that shawl again,” Bea praised as she joined her musing over. “The last time I saw you wearing that was the night we were at the lake house, when we had a bonfire and played a charade.” Bea was beaming, and turned gloomy when she also remembered, “But… that was before… you had the amnesia, Sophia.”