Bottle of Death

Chapter 11

#BoDChapter11

Christle POV

“I already know the answer ma’am!” sigaw ko na pumukaw ng atensyon nilang lahat. No one dared to utter a word kaya ako na muli ang nagsalita. I really know this code, my father used to use that code every time he has to set the password of his phone.  And I’ve learn more about that code when someone taught me more about it.

“I know the code,  we just need to use the Digraph Cipher,” dagdag ko saka medyo yumuko ng kaunti.

I look at them and stand firmly. I’m not into attentions, I easily got shy. I prefer to be alone and read many books. Yeah, just like what an outcast and nerds do. I’m a bashful type of person, I would even Pero bakit ba ako nandito eh hindi naman ako officer?

Truth is, I heard about Daphne, that kid must be save from whoever merciful person who took her. I knew her, and she knows me too well. We easily get along, may time pa nga na nagpaturo siya sa akin. Wala siyang pakialam kahit pinagtatawanan na siya ng mga classmate niya makasama lang ako. What a very nice and smart kid she is. Napakatapang at buting bata, that’s why she must be save, she never deserve to get involved in any of this.

Dumapo ang tingin ko sa mga kaklase ko, naabutan ko silang nakatingin lang sa akin ng may pagtataka sa mukha, nakataas naman ang kilay ni Daivy but then when she caught me looking at her, she immediately walk closer and whispered something.

“Act like a project manager, since Erish is not here.” I just nodded my head. Mabilis niya naman akong hinila papunta sa kanilang pwesto at wala naman na akong nagawa pa. Nahihiyang nginitian ko na lamang ang mga kaklase ko, I know they would never leave me behind.

Daivy raised her hand atsaka nagsalita.

“Ms. Alfer, seems like our project manager knows the code. Let’s hear her out, shall we?” she asked in a-not-so modest manner. It took seconds before Ms. Alfer nodded and motion me to go upstage. I give Daivy a look but she just told me to go. Hindi pa sana ako kikilos ng hawakan ni Joyce ang kamay ko at saka inalalayang umakyat sa stage.

My clammy hands started to tremble and it makes me nervous so much. Ganito ako lagi kapag haharap sa maraming tao, I have this mental disorder or I don’t know. My body gets easily shake and my hands turn to be clammy. Tear pours at my forehead and so even in my back.

When we reach the stage, Ms. Alfer gave me the microphone. Kinuha ko iyon gamit ang nanginginig kong kamay na mamasa masa na sa pagiging pasmado. I heave a deep sigh before I speak.

“u-uhm…a-actual-ly–“ Joyce cut me off and whispered me to act normal, she even showed to me our hands that we entwined. I closed my eyes and calm my system, ng medyo kumalma ako ay saka ako muling nagsalita. Sa pinakadulo ako ng auditorium tumingin kung saan walang tao.

“A-about the code, it s-says ‘Go to the Science Laboratory’. TS GS GZ RO PY RT PC YG OS EG GS EI. When you write a sentence you would write it in pairs of twos, the pairs of letters will be the coordinates for the two letters. To decipher it the decoded letters will be the coordinates.” Sunod sunod kong sinabi. Wala paring nagssalita at tila ba ay binibigyan nila ako ng oras para maipaliwanag kung bakit naging ganun ang ibig sabihin ng mga letrang iyon.

I sighed.

“TS stands for Go, GS for To, GZ for Th, RO for eS, PY for ci, RT for en, PC for ce, YG for La, OS for bo, EG for ra, GS for to and EI for ry. So it’s Go To The Science Laboratory. The person who wrote this letter wants us to be in the Science lab, maybe s-something’s in t-there.” I said almost ending my explanation but my heart beat skipped the moment someone from the crowd asked me.

“How can we be sure that it wasn’t you who planned all of this?” the boy from the highest section said. I pressed both my lips and stoop. Why do I feel like crying? Why am I such a cry-baby?

But how dare he to say such thing? Pinagbibintangan niya ba ako porke alam ko ang ibig sabihin ng code? Why of instead saying thank you ay iyan pa ang igaganti niya? How unfair of them to judge me when in fact I’ve already helped them?

“Pardon, Roque!? Did you just point your dirty finger to the person who helped us to solve this bullshit code? Ganiyan ka ba magpasalamat?” Nagulat ako ng biglang sumabat si Gian na agad namang sinundan ni Joyce sa tabi ko.

“Ok, kung alam lang namin na manghuhusga lang pala kayo edi sana hindi ko nalang siya pinapunta dito sa taas.”

“The f*ck, dude? Yabang mo ah?” iritadong bulalas ni Johan. Agad na nagkaroon ng mga bulong bulungan sa paligid at alam ko, kami nanaman ang hinuhusgahan nila. Magaling silang apakan ang aming mga pagkatao ni wala silang mga basehan.

 Ganiyan na lang ba sila kung magisip? Sobrang kitid ba talaga ng mga utak nila? Hindi man nila sabihin pero alam na alam naming kami ang pinagbibintangan nila, which is laging nangyayari. Lagi nalang kami, lagi nalang ang section namin.

Our section, our class, our room is the worst among all of the sections our school has. Iyan ang lagi naming napapakinggan sa mga bibig nila. Wala kaming kaide-ideya kung bakit ganiyan sila sa amin. Ever since when we entered that room of our section naging usap usapan na agad kami.

“This hall is full of ungrateful people!  Masiyado kayong mapagmataas at mapanghusga. But truth is, sarili niyo lang nahuhusgahan niyo, sobrang kitid ng utak niyo at kung makapagsalita kayo para bang ang peperpekto ninyong tao. Sana nalang pala kami nalang ang ipinatawag, dahil wala naman kayong lahat kwenta!”

My eyes widen when Grachell’s voice echoed in every corner of the whole hall. I can feel and hear how angry she is, her voice is blazing like fire, she fist and balled her shaking hands as if she is just stopping herself not to burst in anger through grasping her hands tightly.

Ever since Mary died, Grachell changed a lot. The Grachell I used to know was kind and sweet not the Grachell I am seeing right now. Para siyang isang tigreng magwawala na sa isang maling galaw mo lang.

“Enough this, officers! Don’t be so immature, and Mr. Roque, I did not like what you just asked to Ms. Curcuera. We are here to save Mr. and Mrs. Medez’s daughter and not to have an argument or a fight. Para kayong mga elementary!” sigaw ni Ms. Alfer na ikinatahimik naming lahat. Humahangos na kinuha ni Ms. Alfer and remote sa akin.

“Sorry for that, Ms. Curcuera.”She whispered and I just shyly nodded my head and replied.

“Okay lang po, Ma’am.”

Ilang sandali pa ay muling nagsalita si Ms. Alfer at inutusan ang iba na bumalik na sa kaniya kaniyang klase. But I got shocked when she mentioned our section and asked for our help. Natigilan kaming lahat at nagkatinginan. We can’t find words to say especially when Ms. Alfer pleased us. Parang ang hirap paniwalaan, dati kami ang hindi pinapansin at binabalewala, ngayon parang bumaligtad ang mundo.

“Okay, ma’am. We are honor to help to find Daphne, she’s one of a good friend of mine.” It was Daivy na parang naging santa bigla. Well, I just smile and we proceed in the Science Lab.

*

“The heck, wala namang kakaiba dito ah?” Terrod exclaimed upon seeing the Science Lab.

He’s right, wala namang kakaiba dito sa Science Laboratory. Everything look so normal, ang mga apparatus at mga microscopes at nakaayos ng salansan sa bawat shelf. The Human Body parts ay maayos na nakaorganize sa loob ng glass wall. Ang iba pa ay walang bakas ng mga kakaiba, but then when I look at the note board where announcement are written, I saw different types of chemical and non-chemical elements.

Nangunot ang noo ko. Kakagaling lang namin dito kahapon at alam kong kami ang huling gumamit ng Science lab pero wala namang sinulat si Mr. Arzobal na ganiyang mga elements. Saka anong pagkakaparehas ng mga ito? Bakit may nararamdaman akong kakaiba?

“I found the code. The person behind all of this is such a mad-coder. Mahilig siya sa mga code at lahat ng ito ay ang nasa mahihirap na level pa. How smart.” Prince said that caught all of our attention. At tama nga ako, nakatingin din siya sa note board kung nasaan ang mga elements.

I knew it, something’s wrong with the arrangement of this elements. Saka ang nakakapagtaka pa ay dahil may mga magkakaparehas dito.

“What do you mean, Mr. Bumatay?” naguguluhang lumapit si Ms. Alfer kaniya at mariing pinagmasdan ang mga elements na may mga meaning, symbol at numbers of electrons. Lumapit narin sa amin ang iba pa at pinagmasdan din ang mga elements na nakasulat sa board.

“As you can observe ma’am, sa unang tingin pa lang ay may mali na agad sa bagay na ito. You can see that these elements don’t contain formulas but just it. And using s***h to separate elements are not in the rules. So talagang kahinahinala.” Dagdag niya pa at napapatango na lamang ako. He explain everything clear and comprehensive.

Maybe that’s the perks if you memorized the elements in a periodical table of elements. Prince is good at science, alam niya lahat ng mga formulas at mga rules ukol dito. Sa aming lahat, walang makakatalo sa kaniya, not even Freshue nor Matt. But if Fresh was here? She can be able to notice it first.

Wala sa sariling tumingin ako kay Matt. I don’t know what’s with me but my heart beat race the moment I laid my eyes at him. Weird, sa mga ganitong bagay ay hindi siya papahuli. That is Matt, but seeing him quietly staring at the elements without any expression found in his face makes me wonder.

What is wrong with this guy?

“Rodniel get the periodical table over there!” sigaw ni Yuri na agad namang sinunod ni Rod. Bumalik ang atensyon ko sa kanila. I saw Prince seriously looking at the board and right now, I know that he is drown by his thoughts.

“Pwede bang tawagin si Freshue? Maybe she can help us and make this solvation quick. She’s good–“ but before Carlo even finish talking, Ms. Alfer cut him off and what she just said makes me tongue-tied.

“Sorry dear but the person behind this warned us. We received another text message saying that we could asked for help, but once we enter this lab, hindi na pwedeng humingi pa ng tulong sa iba. Kaya nga kayo ang pinili ko dahil naniniwala ako sa inyo. Ang sabi niya ay masasaktan ang bata kung susuway kami, I’m sorry.” She said and all I could do is to split out a sigh.

So kami lang ang magreresolba ng code na ito na hindi namin alam kung ano ba ang ibig sabihin at nais ipahiwatig? How can we able to solve this one if even an internet we couldn’t be able to use?

“Then let’s used the internet and search it online? Mas madali la–“ again, Ms. Alfer cut Joyce off.

“Kung ang tulong na nga lang ng iba ay hindi na pwede, paano pa kaya kung ang pinakamakakatulong na? Internet is very powerful nowadays, and once we use that I’m sure na mas lalala lang ang sitwasyon. And I can’t let that happen. Magagawan naman ninyo ito ng paraan di’ba? I mean, kaya natin ‘to.”

Binigyan niya kami ng tingin isa isa at ang tanging mababakas sa kaniyang mata ay pagaalala at lungkot. Wala sa sariling lumapit ako sa isang monoblock chair at pabagsak na umupo.

Alam kong meron pang malalim na dahilan sa bagay na iyan. Nagtataka rin ako kung bakit siya lang ang guro o school staff na kasama namin. Someone is missing at hindi iyon basta basta, kaya bakit siya lang ang nandito at hindi tumutulong ang iba? Nakakapaghinala, may roong tinatago sa amin si Ms. Alfer. At gusto ko iyong malaman.

I look at her and bravely find my words to ask her without being stuttered.

“May mangyayari po bang masama kung sakaling hindi masolve ang mga code?”

I saw how Ms. Alfer ceased moving and confusion was written all over her face. I knew it, she’s hiding something.

[End of Chapter 11 – Thank You!]