At first, I couldn't understand what he said, not until Luke came out of nowhere and I saw how his fist clenched as he saw us hugging each other. He walked towards us, and he was about to grab Ysmael by his shoulders when he swiftly grabbed my brother's hand.
"You told me you wouldn't say anything." Luke sounded so pissed.
"She needs to know it anyway; it's her life, and you can't do anything about it," Ysmael said as he harshly dropped my brother's hand.
"I thought we had a deal!" Luke almost shouted, and so I butted in.
"What deal?" I asked.
Luke looked in my direction and sighed.
"Get the hell out of this house right now," he said, like he was ordering me.
"No," I said with finality. "You don't get to tell me what I'll do with my life."
"Don't be stubborn --"
"I'm not stubborn at all!" I yelled at him. "I'm trying to figure things out, and I'm not being stubborn about knowing something that I should have known in the first place."
Luke got startled, and he eventually lowered his head. His fist is still clenched, and I know he's trying to contain his emotions right now.
"You don't get to tell me not to do stuff that, in the first place, I should have known," I said as I walked towards him. "You're not our parents, Luke. Don't be one of them, please."
"He already did."
Ysmael's statement echoes in my head. I'm still processing what he just said when I felt a swift move coming from Luke, and just like that, he grabbed Ysmael by the neck and held him up as he pinned him on the wall.
"Stop it!" I yelled.
"This man is testing me," Luke suddenly said, and the seriousness in his voice got me frightened. "Ever since he came into our lives, he has already ruined everything."
"Stop it already, Luke," I said in a threatening voice this time.
When Luke heard the tone of my voice, he let go of Ysmael and looked at me.
"You're trying to defend this guy over me? I'm your brother, for Pete's sake!"
"But it doesn't mean that you're always right and I'm always on your side!" I replied instantly.
He looked so surprised by the way I put things out, and even I got startled by how I said those things to him. I think this is the first time I've been in a position where I'm against him. I guess there's always a first time for everything.
His expression went cold.
"You want to know the truth?" He suddenly blurted out.
I gulped twice and nodded slowly.
"He's right; you're tortured," he sighed as he kept on talking. "But we only did it for your own sake. We don't have any plans on doing it to you, but we hope for your fast recovery at that time, and the only way to save you from the poisonous serum that intoxicated you was the serum I made to heal every creature in their dying state."
I couldn't understand what he was saying, and all I could process was how they managed to do it to me. And what poisonous serum was he talking about?
Minutes passed, and I stopped him from talking. I can also feel something's not right. By the way Ysmael looks at my brother, it just says everything. Luke's lying to us, and Ysmael is just watching him lie right in front of our faces.
I couldn't bear to keep this thing going on, so I ran upstairs and locked myself in our room. In that way, I can totally ignore my brother, who's been lying to me. I hope that he will say anything, but it only gets worse.
I'm sorry, but I couldn't trust you for now, Luke.
…
Later in the evening, I heard a knock at the door, which woke me up from a little nap. When I opened the door, Shaina was already outside, waiting for me.
"Who sent you, huh?" I asked rudely.
"No one," she said as she walked into our room. She sat down on the single couch near the glass doors to the balcony. She looked outside from afar, and I just watched her do that for a moment.
There's a feeling inside of me that Shaina was never on my side or his. It's like she's always neutral in everything she does, yet for some reason I know we never get along either.
"Did you know how much he loves you?" She suddenly asked, but then she was still looking away.
I couldn't answer her question. It's obvious that she's talking about Ysmael. I knew for quite some time that she had feelings for him. I can see it from her stare and even the way she approached him. I don't even want to argue with how she means to do all of that in front of me, as I am clueless, and I know for sure that there's nothing to worry about.
"I don't even know what to feel," I said almost like a whisper.
"It's okay," she said shortly. "Besides, you can't just force something to feel about him. Only time will tell, and you will definitely know about it."
"Do you think I can regain my memories again?" I asked.
She remained silent after my question. I don't even know why she's here in the first place, and I just let her in. I know she won't find the answers to my question, but I'm hoping she came here to at least tell me that she also hopes for the best.
"Like I said, only time will tell," she said without even looking at me the whole time I was talking to her.
She stayed in our room for almost half an hour, but even though we're not saying anything to each other, I sense that there's no tension between us at all right now. If it happens earlier, maybe we're already fighting in here. She eventually stood up and looked at me. I felt so confused by the way she looked at me. Did something happen?
"I know this is not the right thing to do, but..."
My eyebrows furrowed upon looking at her. What is she trying to say?
"But what?" I asked.
I noticed how her hands turned into fists and the way she clenched them, like she was trying to fight back something she wanted to express anyway. She eventually noticed how I looked at it, and she hid it from behind.
"What do you want to say, Shaina?" I asked in a demanding way this time.
Her lips parted, like she was a bit startled by the way I called her by her name. It doesn't mean anything, but the impact on her was a bit obvious, and I know she's trying her best to stay calm.
"I'm not in the right place to say it to you," she said as an excuse.
"It's fine; I won't tell," I assured her.
She lowered her head.
"I know things..."
She spoke up, but then she kept on pausing, like she was still hesitating if she wanted to continue.
"Things that will eventually... you know..."
As she stated that, I heard someone from outside the room rushing to get upstairs. I panicked for some reason. She has something to say, and if she doesn't say it now, I might not even have the next chance to know about it.
"Say it now," I said, like an order.
She bit her lips, and the moment she closed her eyes, I took a deep breath.
"I know something that will help you remember!"
With that, the door opened, and Ysmael came in. His eyes looked so intense, and he was panting. My expression went cold as I realized what he was supposed to do.
"Shaina," I called for her name. I saw her looking at me in my peripheral view.
"Tell me how I can remember."