GRIEVOUS VENGEANCE

SPECIAL CHAPTER 2

"Thank you for accompanying me today," Marvin said while driving. "I'm not yet familiar here." He glanced at Jackie.

"You've never been in the Philippines before?" Jackie asked.

He shook his head. "I was born here but we moved to the US when I was still a baby."

"Why did your parents suddenly decide to stay here for good?"

"Mina died," He said. "My father is concern about my uncle's health. He decided to have their retirement here and spend the rest of their lives with his brother. Also, Mark needs help with the family business. Uncle, Mark's dad, is planning to retire as soon as he and I graduated college."

"It must be difficult for you to change environment. It's totally different here."

"A little, yes," he agreed. "There are advantages and disadvantages being in a third world country, but it feels home."

Jackie smiled. "You like it here?"

"Yeah," he said. "I mean, traffic jam is normal. Pollution is normal. Busy streets and crowded places are normal. Crime is normal. You can encounter those everywhere, but the feeling of belongingness is priceless. You can't just find it everywhere."

"You have a point there."

"I may have encounter deaths and crimes on my first week here, but I also found new friends." He grinned. "Oh, we're closer, I think. The agent will meet us at the ground floor of the condominium." He checked the GPS and they are five minutes away from the building.

"I hope you will like this one." She laughed. They've been to three condominiums but he didn't like them.

"I follow my gut feelings," he said.

"I know. We might be able to find something interesting here." Jackie looked out of the window. Five minutes became fifteen minutes because of traffic jam. "We're stuck."

"That's normal anywhere." He laughed. "I should get used to it." It took them a few minutes more before arriving at the open car park in front of the building. They both went out of the car and went to the entrance.

One of the guards stopped them. "What are your purpose of coming here and do you have an appointment with anyone?"

"Yes, I am looking for Therese Santos, she's our agent here," Marvin said.

"She's right there at the Marketing office, the one with the glass door, right beside the elevator." He pointed at the glass door at the far end of the ground floor.

"Thank you." Marvin held Jackie's hand and walked ahead in the lobby. Jackie was startled but she just ignored it.

Jackie looked around the lobby. It has a solemn and peaceful ambiance. She was about to focus on where they are heading when she saw the guy at the front desk. She was sure it was Darryl. She just shrugged her shoulders and ignored him.

They reached the marketing office. Marvin knocked twice before pussing the glass door. "Hi, I'm looking for Therese Santos."

They entered the office. The wall paint is off-white and it looks tidy. The room has glass panel divider to separate it into two. There are five office table in the first half of the room and there's one smaller space with just one table in it, probably the Marketing Manager's space.

"Mr. Marvin Garcia?" the girl in her thirties asked. She looks small and fragile. Her hair is tied up and she's wearing eyeglasses. Their blue marketing uniform looks neat and presentable. "I'm Therese Santos, your coordinator here."

"Nice to meet you,' Marvin replied. "She's Jackie Mariano. I'm looking for a unit with one or two bedrooms in it. It must be spacious and there's enough space for the kitchen and dining area."

"We have those features in some of our units, but only few are limited." She walked towards her desk and pulled out a map from her drawer. "Here, Sir." She pointed on the building plan. "three units on the 5th floor has 1 bedroom, two units on the tenth floor has two bedrooms, and two units are available on the top floor but both are penthouse style. We have other unit types but they won't match your preferences."

Marvin stopped for a bit to think his options. "I'd like to see one unit on the fifth floor and one unit on the tenth floor. I don't want to be on the top floor."

"Sure, Sir, follow me." She took out key cards from her drawer. "I'm sure you will like the two units I'm going to show you."

They walked out of the Marketing office and proceeded to the elevator. The coordinator pressed the UP button. A few seconds passed before the elevator door opened.

Up," the elevator girl said.

They entered the elevator. "Fifth floor, please." Therese smiled at the girl. 'We have elevator operators. You won't feel alone inside. There are some unit owners here who hate to be alone in the elevator."

"That's true," Jackie agreed. "I don't want to be alone in the elevator."

Marvin laughed. "Seriously?"

Jackie nodded her head several times. "I hate being alone especially in a tight, dark and closed room."

"Don't worry, I'm here." Marvin grinned.

Jackie just realized they are still holding each other's hands. She felt something blocking her air passage. She cleared her throat and ignored the tension she felt. They reached the fifth floor. Everything around is still solemn and peaceful.

"The community is peaceful and the residents are quiet. The rooms also have sound proofs. You will have privacy in your home." She stopped in front of one unit, two rooms away from the elevator. "This is one of our vacant units." She tapped one of the key card on the door scanner, they heard a click sound.

"Cool!" Jackie said.

"Our doors are hand print activated. Just now, we used a generic key card since no one owns the unit yet. Come." She pushed the door and entered the room. She turned on the lights to show the beauty of the unit.

"it's beautiful and spacious." Jackie's amazed by the simplicity of the room. "It is empty but it already feels like home."

"The kitchen counter is right here, separated from the living room. The cupboards and counters are built-in. Then the common toilet and bath is the first door. The second door is the bedroom." She opened the bathroom door. It was all marble tiled floor and wall. "There's not bath tub here, just the sink, the toilet and the shower. You have your own bath tub in the bedroom's toilet and bath." She went out of the common bathroom and opened the bedroom door. It has built-in cabinet and the glass window is wide, overlooking the busy streets of Fairview.

"I like it," Marvin said. "It's simple yet spacious. Not too high from the ground floor."

Therese went to the bathroom door and opened it. "Same deisng but bigger than the common bathroom. Check it out."

Jackie peaked at the bathroom. "It's bigger than my own room." She laughed.

Therese laughed, too. "I know, right. My room is smaller than this, too."

"I think I like this one, but can I also see the one on the tenth floor?" Marvin asked.

"Sure, Sir. Will this be for your future family?" the coordinator asked.

"Yes," he simply replied.

Jackie's mouth went wide open with what he said, she just ignored it. "He probably has a girlfriend he left somewhere," she said to herself.

They went out of the unit and proceeded to the elevator. They rode the same one with the same elevator girl. "Welcome back again, Ma'am Therese." The girl laughed.

"Hello, again, Jane," she greeted back. "Tenth floor, please."

The elevator girl pressed the button. They heard the bell before the door opened. Therese proceeded to the far end unit. "Here's the vacant room here." She tapped the other vendo card. The door made a click sound. Therese pushed the door. It has a bigger space of living room.

Jackie pulled Marvin's hand slightly to call his attention. "The first room we saw is better, I think." She rubber her free hand to his arm.

"I think you also have an ability you are not aware of," Marvin whispered in her right ear.

"Seriously?" she gave a strange look to Marvin. He walked towards the other door beside the unit they are supposed to see while still holding Jackie's hand.

"Can you feel it?" Marvin asked. Jackie nodded.

"Mr. Garcia?" Therese called from the door.

"I'm sorry, I think I heard a weird noise from this unit," he said in excuse. "I think they are fighting."

"Really?" the lady asked nervously. It will lose her a sale if she won't check the tenants in the unit. "I'll check it out." She proceeded to the other unit and knocked at the door. "Hello?"

No one answered nor responded to her knocks. They heard a loud bang on the floor. Therese pulled out her phone and called the security.

"Please, come here on the tenth floor. Something is wrong in unit 1015. Come here, now!" Therese instructed the security.

Jackie and Marvin are looking at each other. "Can we force entry now? Can you use your card?" He pointed at the card Therese was holding.

"I'm not sure if it will work." She tapped the card on the scanner and itc clicked. "It did? How come?"

Marvin pushed the door and they all went in, only to see a bloody girl in white while standing in front of a woman lying on the floor.

"Holy molly!" Therese said. She did a sign of a cross while looking at the fave of the scary girl. The skull on the head is visible and the flesh on her face is rotten.

"You're not Sandy," Jackie said. Marvin pulled Jackie and covered her with his body to protect her.

"You leave now or you'll regret it," Marvin said to the evil spirit. The bloody girl in white gave a scary look before she slowly turned into smoke. The smoke went straight to the phone screen on the floor.

Jackie sighed in relief. She looked at the girl on the floor. "Sally," she called the girl's name.

"You know her?" Therese asked. "And what was that scary thing?" She grabbed her chest anxiously. "Is she dead?"

"Unexpectedly, she's my classmate," Jackie replied. "Let's call the police." Jackie dialed SPO3 Alistair's number. "Uncle, someone died here at the condo, and we saw Sandy's spirit. I'll text you the address."

"I'll take the fifth floor unit. I can't stay here knowing something like that appear beside my unit and kill me," Marvin said to Therese.

"O-okay, let's proceed to the office," she said. "What should we do about her?" She pointed at Sally's body.

"Please prepare all the necessary documents I need to sign. I'll comeback here tomorrow to sign it. We already called the police," Marvin instructed the coordinator. "And don't tell the security about what we saw. They won't believe us anyway."

"S-sure. I'll also let the security to check the entire building and just tell them we saw a thief on this floor." Therese walked faster than the usual to leave the floor immediately.

They waited for thirty minutes before the police arrived. "Jackie," SOP3 Alistair called her name.

"Uncle," she greeted back. "Her body's inside. We just waited here to avoid tampering the evidences."

"Good," he said. He pulled Jakie in the corner. "But you mentioned about Sandy's being there at the scene?"

Jackie nodded. "It's not only me and Marvin who saw her, even the marketing coordinator here."

"We need to talk to her." They called Therese to get a statement from her. They looked for her in the marketing room and talked to her privately.

"I didn't see anything, that's all I have to say?" she asked.

"Yes, for you to still live peacefully. No one would believe us if we tell people a ghost killed those victims."

"O-okay, I understand.," Therese agreed. "I know those news about the girl who committed suicide and the murders from the same school. I can't blame her though."

"She was nice, kind and shy when she was still alive," Jackie said. "I pity her. I can't also blame her."

"You go home for now, kids. It's getting late. Go to our house and wait for Janine and Mark. I'll stay here for a while to conduct more investigation. We also need to call Sally's parents to tell them what happened."

"Okay, Uncle, we're leaving now." Jackie stood up.

"We'll go ahead." Marvin held Jackie's hand and assisted her in going out of the condominium.

"Today is a heavy day for us," Mark said. He sighed deeply as he buckled the seat belt.

"I know. We were just looking for the unit..." Jackie stopped and faced Marvin. "Was that your instinct?"

Marvin shrugged his shoulder. "You were the one who found that coordinator online."

Jackie's mouth opened but she couldn't say anything. Marvin just started the engine and drove faster, away from the condominium.

Jackie can't think clearly. "Are you saying I have your ability, too?" She pointed to Marvin then pointed to herself.

Marvin glanced at her and nodded slowly. "How many times have you helped Janine to figure out what to do next?"

Jackie stopped and recalled those incidents. "I can't remember."

"See?" He chuckled. "You are also a Claircognizance, but you're not aware of it because no one told you. Some people think it's just the usual instinct,. or just a coincidence, but no. Clear knowing always gets to something with good results."