IT WAS ten o’clock in the evening when Helios got home. Zoe’s friend is still in the house, and both decided to do a sleepover. Hela Selene was already asleep upstairs. She’s with their maid named Bea.Helios went home not alone. He’s with this guy named Ali, together with Grant and Calyx. She smiled when she saw the reaction of her friend, Cindy. Cindy spits the water she’s drinking when she sees Calyx.They were busy watching when the men arrived. Cindy is at the edge where she back faces the main door—she didn’t expect the arrival of Calyx.Helios approached her and kissed her on the forehead. “Where’s Hela?” he asked.She was about to answer when Cindy and Sam started to tease her. They’ve repeatedly been saying the words, ‘long table’. At the same time, Helios's companions began to whistle.She shook her head and smiled. Then she looked at Helios again. “She’s already asleep. What took you so long?”Helios sat down beside her, and he put his arm around her. He leaned the back of
THE NEXT day, Helios and his friends leave early. Cindy and Sam decided then that they would stay for a while.“You didn’t come down last night, huh, Zoe? What did you do inside the room?” asked Cindy, carrying her daughter. After bathing her daughter and dressing her, Cindy immediately took the little girl.“Yeah. You left us with those jerks downstairs,” Sam complained while busy tying her shoelaces.Zoe was delighted that Sam could get along and erased the awkwardness.Zoe just shook her head and returned things to her daughter’s bag. “We just talked,” she replied.“Really? Just talking… no touching?” asked Cindy.She rolled her eyes and shook her head.“Ah, that’s why there are hickeys on the top of your left chest and neck?” asked Sam and grinned.“Oh. My. Gosh! Is that hickeys?” uttered Cindy and laughed along with Sam.At that time, she wants to be swallowed by the ground. When she finished, she acted as if she was not affected by the teasing from her friends.“We will be going
HELIOS went out early to visit Grant’s twin brother, but those guards outside Gunner’s room were already dead when they arrived. They didn’t see any gunshots because all his men were drugged to death, and Gunner was missing.“Damn that, Bill!” Grant murmured as he punched the wall.Ali approached him and touched his left shoulder. “Calm down, Grant. Don’t let your rage eat you.”“How the shits I can calm down? He took Gun—he took my brother!”Helios then let Ali calm his cousin. He massages his temple. Bill is getting on his nerves.“He already found out that we knew his plan and Gunner’s betrayal! And I’m sure he’ll kill Gun! That psychopath will think that Gunner talked about his plans to us. Fuck!”"We need to go back," said Helios."Where to?" asked Calyx.“At home,” Helios replied and twitched the doorknob, and went out of the room. He pulled out his cell phone and called someone to remove the corpses inside the room before the police could see them.When he hung up, his phone ra
“I’m begging, Bill. Please, let us go. And please, let me hold my daughter,” Zoe pleaded.Her heart was almost broken because of the constant crying of her daughter, who Bea was holding. They give her milk in the bottle, but her daughter is still dependent on her—she’s breastfeeding the child.How cruel will they be?“B-Bea, please, let me hold my daughter! Let me go!” Her voice was cracked, trying to hold back her tears. “Let me go… let me go,” she said, almost whispering.Bill just laughed while he could see her suffering. What a demon!“That’s right. Feel my wrath, Zoe—Helios’s kryptonite that can serve to be the source of his death,” he said and devilishly laughed along with her daughter’s loud cries.“L-Let me hold my daughter…” she said weakly. She felt dory for her daughter, who won’t stop crying.She doesn’t know where they are. They were immediately blindfolded when they saw the driver on their way to Batangas. When those demons removed their blindfolds, they saw tall trees.
BILL came out from an old room and laughed as he pointed a gun at Helios.“Hello, Helios,” he said demonically.The man stopped a few meters from where Helios was. “So, Helios… let’s start some convo, shall we? How are you, my brother?” asked Bill as the muzzle of the gun still aimed at Helios.On the other hand, Helios remained calm that even if he wanted to blow Bill’s head off, he couldn’t because his loved ones were inside.“I’m not your brother,” he replied emphatically.The man laughed. He put down his gun, and his men pointed theirs at Helios.Zoe wiggles and tries to speak even though Helios can’t understand them. Helios glanced at her, and pity registered in the young man’s eyes. And his heart pounded fast when he saw his daughter lying on a wooden table, sleeping as Bea patted her.“Do you like what you see, Helios?” asked Bill.Helios turned to Bill. “No. Let’s end this. Let them go, and you can have me. I’m the only one you need, right?” he said and gritted his teeth.Bill
“WHAT a cute family?!” shouted Bill and laughed. “Do you think things will be easy just like that? I’m not a fool, Helios. If I die, I will drag you down. And I’m going to take this building down. Now, let’s play, finding the bombs,” he said and grinned.“Helios...”Helios kissed Zoe on her forehead, “Everything’s going to be fine. Let’s get you out,” he said. “Don’t let them escape. Take all of them out of this building!”They were about to leave when Amanda screamed. Her sister’s attention was on Beige. Helios turned to them.“Sir, the bomb in him is activated,” one of the assassins said.“I told you. I’m not a fool, Helios!” shouted Bill, who the two men were holding.Her eyes widened as she trembled because of fear. The timer is only one minute and twenty seconds. Her eyes were enveloped by tears again, as she was afraid of what she was seeing. But Helios led her out. Her chest was heavy as she left the place.“Helios, where’s Sam and Cindy,” she asked between her sobs.“Grant to
ZOE’S POVSIX MONTHS.Six months had passed swiftly, but Helios was still not waking up. There’s still no progress. And I almost wanted to give up, but I knew he was trying to fight. He’s trying to come back for me… for us. And every single thought of losing him almost tears me apart.How many medications have been injected into him? I lost count.I pray every day, especially when I’m on his side, holding his hand, pressing it, and talking to him. I know there’s still hope. And I believe a miracle could exist.Our daughter turned one about a month ago. We celebrated it inside his room, trying to lighten the atmosphere that day, but even if we tried hard, we all knew we couldn’t. We can’t be happy, seeing Helios lying on this hospital bed, apparatuses plunged into some parts of his body and sleeping so sound that it gives a false alarm—that he will let go at any moment.Damn it! May God forgives me. Many people out there wanted to take themselves for useless things. Why should it be hi
ZOE’S POVWhen we got inside the hospital, and inside Helios’s room, I fell on the floor, crying incessantly. They were all inside Helios’s room. Helios is already covered with a white blanket. The apparatuses are also gone.I no longer knew who had pulled me up and led me near him.He gave up!He didn't fight for me... for us.God never answered my prayers.Why?Why do I have to feel this agony?Why do I have to experience this epic romance? I thought things like this would just be in a movie.I immediately hugged his corpse.Corpse?No. I didn’t know what to feel as I hugged his body. Why didn’t he fight for me… for us? Why did he let this happen? Did he not miss us? He promised me. He’s a fighter, but why?“Why?! I screamed. “Why did you leave us? Why did you let go?! You promised that you were going to marry me. You’re being unfair! You’re leaving me alone again while I deliver our child. I want… I also wanted to you—"“Zoe, calm down. Breathe, sweetie. Slowly… Something might hap