Mermaid Blues: Beasts, Giants and Spirits

The Case of Asunta de la Rochaz

Seven o'clock in the evening. The moon is already up as seen in the sky at Ongasan, Loakan, Baguio City.

Grace is standing in their front yard. She is standing still as she gets nervous. She is staring at the house while she thinks of reasons to tell her mother if ever she asks where she'd gone and why did she arrive home late. She looks at the window of the kitchen, the light is open. She thinks her mother and Janus are already having dinner.

Then, the door opened. Janus opened it from the inside. He sees Grace standing in the distance. "Ate Grace!" he calls as he runs toward her. Instead of her mother, her neighbor Deborah is the one who came out of the door after Janus went out to meet his big sister.

Janus wraps his hands around his big sister's waist. He wraps his hands tighter. He is crying because of fear. Grace begins to wonder. Why does he look scared?

Deborah slowly to her. She looks at her with sadness painted on her face. Grace wrinkles her forehead. She is looking at Deborah tearing up. Her eyes were filled with worry and fear.

"What happened?" Grace asked.

"Your mother...she got taken by two men. She got taken to the same spot you are standing right now," she informed. "I am sorry."

Grace gasped. She covers her mouth with her hands. She got terrified. Fear is overtaking her.

:::::::::::::::::::

Ana is walking along the road. She is back at Suello Village, the village where her home is. She is by the sidewalk passing by houses. She's already close to their gate. She's twenty meters away from it.

She finally arrived at the gate. She found Kate outside sitting on the sidewalk. She sees her crying. She can tell that her big sister is losing hope, lost in frustration. She walks slowly towards Khate. Ana is horrified as she looks at her in depression.

"Ate (big sister)?" she calls.

Kate glanced to see the girl at the back who she thought she was. She immediately stands up and faces Ana. She is showing her sad face to her. Her eyes are red due to the tears. Her face is also turning red. She sobs as she looks at Ana with sadness in her eyes. She steps closer to Ana. Then, she swats her like flies.

"Where have you been? We are worried about you!" she yells in anger.

Ana is just flinching. She didn't resist her attacks. She believes that she deserves Khate's anger at her.

"Your mother is gone! They took her. Do you know that? They took her and where have you been? They took her."

"Ate enough!" Ana said in a soft tone of her voice. She holds her big sister's arms. She hugged her. She is terrified by the fact that she is told that their mother is gone. However, she has to deal with her sister's anger right now. She has to calm her down. "We'll find her... I promise... We'll find her..." she comforts while she rubs Kate's back.

While comforting her sister, she looks at the gate. She is surprised to see yellow tape stretching across it. The tape blocks the gateway. The tape says "police line do not cross".

***Blue Water***

In the interrogation room inside the headquarters of the NBI. Gaston is sitting next to the table. His hands are put together on the table while they are handcuffed. He is silent. He is staring at the one-way mirror in front of him. He could feel that there were people watching him on the other side of the mirror. He fidgets his right leg due to his boredom. He was waiting for someone to come in for thirty minutes.

Then, when he feels his patience is running out, he shouts at the mirror hoping that there is someone listening on the other side. "Would you please get this over with? I have a job to do that is more important than sitting here!"

Meanwhile, the doorknob turns. Someone outside pushes the door to open. It is Mr. Donald Dulnuan. There is a laptop folded close, tucked in between his left arm and his chest. There was a folder in his hand. He pushed the door close. He walked to the chair across from Gaston. He sits down. He laid the folder and the laptop on the table.

"Ahem!" he cleared his throat. He squints at Gaston anxiously.

"Come on. You don't need to handcuff me. I don't have any reason to kill anyone in here," Gaston teased.

"It is just for a precaution, Mr. Detective," he said. "Or shall I mean, Mr. Gaston?"

Gaston smiled. "Oh, wow! Congratulations."

"It is easy to find someone when we know he should have been in school somewhere in the timeline of his life. Lucky you, we have your photo and we just compared your face to the faces of previous students by guessing your batch, your age, the year you are possibly in college, and searching every archive of schools in Baguio. Thank God, you graduated college here in Baguio."

"Well, done. Mr. Dulnuan," he said.

"I would like you to explain what you are doing here in this picture," he said. He showed Gaston an image taken from the CCTV camera along the road of Kennon Road. "You are seen going to the crime scene before the explosion. Who are you after?"

"The investigation is top secret. You don't need to know what happened back at Camp 1."

"Who are you after and who owns that house that exploded?" Dulnuan said.

"The confidentiality of the case doesn't concern you," Gaston insisted to tell him.

Mr. Dulnuan retrieves the image. This time he lays down three photographs before Gaston. Gaston is looking at the photographs. The first picture he sees is an eye. He recognizes the eye. It was one of those eyes displayed on a shelf along with other organs. The second picture he sees is fragments of bones in a ziplock. The third picture is a gold cube that looks like a dice.

"We found this evidence from the remains of the mansion. You know what? We are intrigued by the result of the eye. The DNA indicates it belongs to an unknown animal. But then, it indicates it belongs to a human."

"Intriguing, I know," Gaston nodded.

"Who are these people that you are after?" Dulnuan asked.

"They are terrorists," he answered. "That is all."

"I don't believe you!" Dulnuan slammed his hands against the table as he stood up. He is getting angry. "I know these guys are more than just terrorists. Did you know that one of my agents was taken away by them? These guys took her because she was investigating them. Now she is out there nowhere to be found. Her family is worried sick because of worrying that she is dead."

"If you release me, then I can help you find her," he said. "We are wasting time!"

"Look...watch!" he said. He opened his laptop and he faced its screen on him. He showed him the footage of the scene that happened in Camilo's house's yard. "Look...anything familiar? Those are your guys, right?"

Gaston watches two of his men entering through the gate. But then, they got shot by the masked men on the patio. Another five agents came in to rescue their comrades but they didn't notice that there were other enemies coming from behind. The enemies shoot them before they have the chance to fight. There are now seven agents lying, bleeding in the front yard of the Camilo Family's house. Moments later, the masked men shoved Mrs. Cynthia inside the van that had just parked next to the sidewalk.

The backup agents came shooting the van. The van immediately flees before the agenst completely catch up. But as a result, the van left out five of them. Three are shot on the spot. Two run away, being chased by the agents.

"My agent is not the only one they have kidn*pped, right? Based on this video alone, you are also protecting this Camilo family," he suspects. "What do they want from her?"

"You know, you are delaying everything," Gaston protested. "You know that we are also trying to save that woman from those men, right? As fast as possible. Then, why am I still inside this box handcuffed like a convict?" he complained.

"You are not going anywhere unless you are going to tell me who do you work for. What really is your job? What is your connection to these people you call terrorists?"

"Let me tell you this once again. I work along with the government. Our work is confidential even to the government. Even to the NBI guys like you," he said. "For the record, we are also dealing with the case of your lost agent, whose name is Asunta de la Rochaz. We are aware of every move these guys take to achieve their goals."

"Why do they need my agent?" Donald Dulnuan asked.

"It is confidential," he replied.

"Confidential! Confidential! Confidential! When will your confidentiality stop?" Donald exclaimed in frustration. "That woman is my agent. Without any information on why they kidn*pped her, they won't help us find her. You have agents too, right? What would you do if one of them is gone, huh?"

"Then, stay out of it!"Gaston also got upset. Then, he took a deep breath. He calms himself down. "If you release me here, I won't waste my time and focus on finding them: both Cynthia Camilo and Asunta de la Rochaz."

"I am telling you to cooperate with me here. I refuse that you are the ones taking our case," he said.

"You have no idea who you are dealing with. These criminals are hundred more times more dangerous than the typical criminals that you chase and put behind bars. These guys are different. You and the bureau can't handle them," Gaston argues.

"Are you underestimating our abilities?" Donald protests as his eyes are saying to have a bet with Gaston.

Then, the door opens. Japeth immediately came in. "Okay. Enough is enough. I need that guy over there, right now!"

"Sir. Who are you?" Donald Dulnuan asked.

"I am his attorney and I demand you to release him immediately," Japeth introduced.

"He hasn't answered my questions yet," he protested.

"Have you heard of the 'right to remain silent', Mr. Dulnuan?" Japeth argues. "Besides, this country needs him more than you!" Then, he looks at Gaston who is sitting next to the table with his hands cuffed. "What are you doing? Stand up! Let's get out of here," he yelled at him.

Gaston immediately stands up in fear of the raging Japeth. He walked toward him.

"We are not finished yet, Gaston Abuwan," Donald said.

"Thanks for the evidence you have shown me. Now, we must confiscate it," Japeth said.

Japeth opens the door. He let Gaston out first before him. Seth pulled the door close when he was completely outside. They left Donald alone in there. Donald feels defeated. He rubs his face with his hands as he walks around, pacing because of dismay towards himself.

:::::::::::::::::::::::

Asunta opens her eyes. She gasps as she realizes she's inside a huge vertical tube that spans from the ceiling to the floor. She is completely sealed in there. The diameter of the tube is four meters. The tube is transparent and made of glass. She approaches the glass. She knocks it. She can tell it is not easily broken.

Her weapons are not with her. Her uniform shirt was stripped off from her. She is only wearing her sando and her slacks.

"Hello?" she calls. "Hello!" She is getting scared. She knocks on the glass again as she calls for help. "Everybody there? Help!" No one is answering. She looks around as she begins to calm herself from panicking.

She doesn't know that she is inside a cave underground. The place is dark. Just a lamp on the table at the distance lights the place. She breathes heavily when she gets scared.

"Hello?" a woman nearby calls.

Asunta looked in the direction where the voice came from. She realizes that there is another woman also sealed inside a glass tube right beside the tube where she is in.

"Someone?" she calls.

"I am here!" Asunta replies as she faces the woman.

"Why am I here?" the woman asked. She is frightened while looking at the glass.

"Oh my God, have you been kidn*pped too?" Asunta asked in horror.

The woman nodded. "Where are we?"

"What is your name?" Asunta asked.

"My name is Cynthia. Did someone kidnap you too?"

"Yes," she replied. "But don't worry, ma'am. I am an NBI agent and I promise you we are getting out of here. I will figure it out."

"Where are we?" Cynthia asked.

"I don't know," Asunta replied. "Why did they kidnap you?"

"I... I don't know," Cynthia answered. "Some masked men just sneaked into our house and they grabbed me. I haven't done anything wrong in my life."

"Don't worry, we'll get out of here," she said.

Cynthia, who was shaking in fear and nervousness, nodded her head. "I hope so," she replied.

:::::::::::::::::::::::

Seth is back inside the interrogation room. This time, he is facing the three captives, the rebels of KHASIM. Somehow, he made one of them talk. He convinced him, making a deal with him that if he confesses, the Bakunawa Association will grant him the freedom to see his family again and provide him with a job away from Mindanao.

There is his translator standing by his side. He translates every word the convict says into a language Seth knows and he translates Seth's words into Maranao dialect in order for the convict to understand.

"We are only assigned to kidnap Cynthia Camilo. We don't know about the NBI woman. We are tasked to kidnap Cynthia Camilo and bring her to Camp 3 where she will be picked up by our contact," he explained.

"Who is assigned you to kidnap Cynthia Camilo? And who are you going to bring her to?"

"A guy by the name of Gabriel. I do not know his last name. We just call him Gabriel," he said.

"Gabriel? Is it Gabriel Ramirez or Gabriel Umali?" he wanted to confirm.

"Don't you dare tell him? You will be killed!" the man sitting beside him threatened. The translator heard what the colleague said but he brushed it off. He didn't tell it to Seth since it would make his temper rise.

However, the man doesn't care about the threat and he continues to answer. "Gabriel Ramirez. I don't know the name of the contractor but they say he is dangerous, but he is willing to give a truck full of guns in exchange."

"You said you dropped her at Camp 3, right?" Seth mentioned. "Where is it specifically?"

"Ishmael!" the colleague shouts to shut him up.

"Continue..." Seth just said without any further reaction. "Where are you taking her?"

"I don't know the place. I am sorry, I am just new in this place. I am just doing what I was told. I was just following what the others do. I... We...we came from Marawi and immediately we are sent to kidnap the lady in the picture that they have sent," he said nervously. "I...I can't read. I can't write. The only thing that I know is Camp 3 and our leader, Gabriel. Our driver is the only one who knows around here and there."

The translator translates what he said. Seth sighed. He looks at the guy who confessed in the eyes. He examines if he is telling the truth or not.

On the other hand, Grace and Ana are in the other room. They are listening through a speaker and watching the conversation inside the interrogation room through the one-way mirror. They saw how the guy confessed. They are standing next to the mirror. They are tearing up as they got further worried about what happened to their mothers. Moreover, whatever happens to them, it will be their liability since they are the reason why their mothers got kidn*pped. The fear is now rising as they now know that Gabriel Umali and his gang are going to use their mothers to convince Ana to erase the last tattoo being held by none other than Kianu.

Gaston is standing beside the girls. He watches them cry in sadness as they face the mirror.