Someone I'm Not

22| Secrets to unfold and keep

[Before Houdini and Vianne decided to show up.]

"Finally, you decided to show up." Eduardus sighs in relief as soon as Soroya comes in full sight. She pants heavily after stopping right in front of him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I had already told you why I would be a bit late. That is if you're head is on to something." Soroya relies on teasing suspicion as she clenches the bag strap tighter.

"Yeah, genius," Eduardus replies, now sensing something from Soroya. Was it fear? Or was it absolute confusion? "And you know you can't hide something from me, right?"

'sh*t! Does he already know?' Soroya asks herself as she shifts her gaze away from the man while she feels the unceasing beat of her heart.

"Come on, tell me what's going on."

•••

Vianne is now sticking to her gut to follow Houdini. It wasn't a choice she had to make, but her gut feeling told her that going on in the direction she had to take was wrong. Thinking of only two options, one of them is to find out if Houdini is to be trusted. When Houdini took a different direction from where he was supposed to be going, Vianne followed. Her eyes were wholly directed forward, now wanting to lose a moment because she might not be able to follow. Following from a great distance, she had her hands bent down like a real apparent stalker on the loose.

"Uhm, excuse me miss?"

"WHAT-" Vianne had her concentration blown up when a student decided to steal her focus. What meets her gaze is a fine male figure wearing the university's school uniform. She could feel her cheeks get warm as the feeling of embarrassment because of shouting for no reason at a student who kicked her right in the face.

"Oh my goodness, I am so sorry! What was I thinking about shouting at you? I hope I didn't startle you." She apologized as the student scratched the back of his neck.

"No, not at all!" 'Liar!' his thought contradicted.

"By the way, you called for me? what is it?" Vianne decided to cut off the chase as the edge of her eyes lingered on the getting smaller and smaller figure of Houdini. "I am kind of in the middle of something, so..."

"Oh, I'm just going to ask if you're looking for someone? You seem to like it's your first time coming here to our university. Perhaps I could help you?"

"And what kind of help can you give me, exactly?" Vianne couldn't comprehend the situation quickly, making the guy wear a patient smile.

"Well, we can start by giving me a name and year and course so I can direct you to their department. Or we can go to the-" as the guy continues to explain, Vianne's eyes widen after realizing one thing. As if her ears stopped listening to the guy and started listening to the voice in her head, she clapped her hands and wore a broad smile, startling the guy once again.

"What's your name again?"

"Uhm, it's Philip."

"Great! Philip. . ." Vianne paused for a second before pointing at the path that Houdini took. "Where does this path take you?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure because that goes to another department-"

"But, this path leads to a secluded or closed area aside from the main building?" Philip started to think deeper.

"I am not quite certain there's a closed area there aside from the classrooms and their cafeteria and library. But if I remember it correctly, I think this path leads to a subject park."

"park?"

"Yep! I wasn't sure if it was science or math park-" Vianne grabs Philip by his wrist with only a little patience.

"Look, kid. I don't have any time for this. There's only one way to find out." they stared at each other for a few seconds as if Philip was waiting for the woman to go on.

"And. . . why did you grab me exactly?"

"Because you offered your help. And now, I need you to come with me."

•••

Philip had only wanted one thing, and this was not what he had seen himself doing. Now being dragged into following a woman he doesn't even know, all he has to do is think of positive thoughts, hoping the discomfort the situation is giving him will somehow fade.

"By the way, I haven't got your name earlier, miss."

"Oh, really? Well, I'm Vianne," the woman walking in front of her replied, and suddenly, she stopped and turned to Philip. Keeping a straight face and raising her eyebrows, she spoke. "And what now? Should I say, HEY! NICE TO MEET YOU? You're shaking, dude. You seem nervous. Don't worry; this will only take a second. . . A minute. . . Maybe a minute and a half? Or probably longer than that. Or was it-"

Vianne talked as if she was in the middle of a rap battle, and Philip was at a loss in her eyes. For a moment, Philip's shaking starts to fade as he enjoys the scenario where the woman in front of him, who seemed confident a while back, is now the nervous one.

"Did you even understand every word that I said?" Vianne snapped her fingers in front of him, but all Philip did was chuckle. "What's funny now?"

"Oh, nothing. It was just. . . You were talking about me shaking, and now, the table might've started turning?"

"And you think you're confident in yourself?"

"Hey, just chill, Vianne-"

"Manners, young man!"

"Okay!"

The conversation stopped right there as they looked in a different direction. It was unquestionably awkward, but the reason for Vianne and Philip being stuck in the middle of a tense conversation was another.

"Look here, kid. I'm sorry if I sounded tense, but I'm just not feeling good for today, okay?" Vianne, being the older one, decided to explain her situation. She doesn't want to be defensive, but she doesn't want to sound wrong. "I had a lot going on on my plate, and I'm not sure if coming here was worth it."

Philip tended to feel the sincerity in her voice, making him look at her. Their eyes met before Vianne looked away and shyly scratched her nape.

"Wouldn't it gurt if I ask what were you doing here in the first place?" Philip asks in a very calm tone, wanting the presence of dying tension.

"Someone told me that I should be here today. . . But I don't know what to do with my presence in a place like this. I'm not even from here."

"Really?"

"Yeah. . . But, a part of me told me that I should be here. Otherwise, I'd be eaten with regret and question my whole life. And I don't want to live with that, you know?"

Philip only had to do was nod his head. He was paying attention, and he wanted something today. But, he couldn't seem to find the spark to say something.

"I have a sister, and she's here."

"Sister?"

"Yeah. A friend of hers is studying here, and she told me she's coming to pay a visit."

"-and you don't trust her? I mean, aside from your guts telling you that you're meant to be here. . ." Philip took the chance to cut Vianne off, making her look at him for a second before giving him a small smile.

"It's not that I don't really trust her. Yeah, well, a small part of my instinct says I should somehow check on her, but I do trust her because, technically, she's my sister."

"Then, would you have trusted her if she wasn't your sister? At all?" Vianne's smile slowly turned upside down, making Philip feel that he had just opened up a personal question. "I'm sorry, I- well, it was not my intention to ask that, hehe. Maybe I was just too coping up with the situation and-"

"Do you have siblings, Philip?" Philip couldn't reply as quickly as possible now that Vianne had decided to go on with the topic. Vianne sighs as they keep stepping forward, still seeing no visible structure of a park where they're headed to.

"I don't know. . . Maybe we are not just kids anymore, making me feel the bond between us seem different." she sighs again. "But, I want to trust her, I really do. But, maybe just this once, I feel like something will happen and that I need to be here. So. . ." she even fakes a chuckle to make things more awkward. But then, before she could even divert the situation with another unrelated question, Philip decided to speak.

"Yeah, I have a sister. She's older than me, but I acted more like a brother to him." He started, making Vianne purse her lips and listen. "And to cut the story short, I also may have the not-so-perfect relationship with her that made me feel like we've already built our walls." This time, Philip wore a sad smile before looking ahead and raising his pointer finger forward. "Oof, there it is. The math park."

His words immediately hinted to Vianne that he didn't want to go further with the story. He sounded hurt; he looked pained by it and probably not ready to open it up yet.

"Oh, right. Let's hurry our steps then!" Vianne lifted her spirit as they did the run-walk pace to get in the park faster. But when they were just a few steps away, they both noticed the sudden shifting mood of the atmosphere, making them wonder why. And just then, a sudden robust gush of power shocked their nerves, pushing them forcefully away. Philip and Vianne fell hard on their backs, but both eyes were wide open in surprise.

But then, as Vianne was just about to complain about the ache created by the force and the collision of her body on the ground, an incomparable, questionably possible image before her triggered her anxious nerves.

"Soroya, no!"

•••

[Soroya and Eduardus]

[A few minutes earlier]

"When you are on call, I can already envision you walking back and forth while resting your chin on your fist. So, what's up?" Soroya started the conversation, trying to pull out the best joke she could muster to lessen the tension she'd smelled since the call. Instead, Eduardus wasn't pleased with him at all.

"So, what's up? Am I hearing the sound of a very comfortable person running out of time?"

"Chill, bro. I'm just trying to set up the mood. You seem so stressed already and-"

"I AM STRESSED OUT!" Eduardus shouts, not having a bit shame of who might hear him. "And yet, here you are, enjoying the bits of your remaining days as if your sole purpose of being here is not clear anymore." Eduardus exhales the remaining frustration in his body, making Soroya more confused.

"Let me remind you that you are HERE to find your killer. You shouldn't have the time to walk around and feel like you're still the same as the others-"

"Hey, first of all, I know that you're stressed out, but can you please stop scolding me without even explaining to me what's happening because, clearly, I don't know what your reason is-"

"Oh, you don't know? YOU DON'T KNOW?" Eduardus scoffs and looks away for a few seconds before looking at her with mad eyes. "Do you even know what day it is today?"

Soroya then started to count the days, but she couldn't get her mind straight with the numbers but was intimidated by Eduardus's presence and where she was standing.

"See? You couldn't even tell me the exact date today!" Instead of feeling sorry for herself, she again attempted to count the numbers while slapping her senses to think straight. And when she realized what Eduardus was trying to point out, she gasped almost silently.

"Holy shit."

"Yeah, you're running out of time. So, let me ask you. How was finding a lead that could lead to your killer? Have you had any more clues to find? Or is your mind somewhere else?"

"No. . . It seemed so fast! It couldn't be three weeks already?! I need more time-"

"Unfortunately, you've been too careless of your decisions that led you here, so if you want to find your killer, you have to act fast."

"But, how can I have a clue for just one week?"

"Clearly, you had four. And, again, you wasted three. So, it's up to you to figure out how." Eduardus ended the conversation bitterly, making Soroya panic.

"And also, you don't only have bad news for today because I still have one thing to unfold." Soroya groaned and rolled her eyes when those words escaped Eduardus's mouth.

"Why do I feel like I don't want to hear it anymore?" she wanted to murmur, but she intentionally made her say those words louder.

"It's because it's bad news. And only a psycho would want to hear that."

"Okay, fine, no more 'not so encouraging words from you, and tell me what's up."

"It's about the glitches you were talking about."

But when Soroya was about to ask him about it, she started to feel something inside her. It was weird that she witnessed how quickly the mood inside her promptly changed.

"Hey. You seemed so pale in a quick second. Are you okay?" Soroya could hear Eduardus ask, but she couldn't find the strength to reply. Her words started to turn while her stomach felt turning as well. Her skin felt so cold as if someone was sucking the warmth away.

"Let me go, let me go!" The voice inside her head starts making noise, as the soul of Phoenix is now triggered. The agent is beginning to push the soul away from the body.

And he could feel the separation starting.

"LET MY BODY GO-"