The Abyss in Between

Alt 28: Knocked Knocks

"Kovie? Hey, wake up," a voice called. Dahan-dahan kong iminulat ang mga mata ko ngunit agad ding napapikit sa silaw sa liwanag. Ilang segundo lang ay nakapag-adjust naman na ako roon at nakita agad si Doktora Kovie sa gilid ko. She's standing tall, and she looks fine.

"What... Anong nangyari?" tanong ko sa kanya. Tumayo ako ngunit napahawak din agad sa ulo ko nang nakaramdam ng kirot. "Sorry, tinahi ko iyan. Are you fine now?" sabi niya sa akin. Tumango ako.

"We were, uh, I don't actually know what they were doing here. Maybe to rob us?" patanong niyang sagot. Tinignan ko ang mga tinutukoy niya at nakita ang tatlong lalaki sa gilid. 

"Are they dead?" I asked. Kita ko ang takot sa mukha ni doktora ngunit napahinga rin agad ako ng malalim nang umiling siya. Nandito pa rin kami sa lugar niya. The all-white wall is now stained with red splashes, which I'm guessing, are blood. Maybe some are even mine.

Huminga akong malalim at hinawakan ang bandang noo. Naramdaman ko roon ang tinutukoy niyang tinahi niya. Naalala kong hinampas ako sa noo kaya ako nawalan ng malay. Muli kong tinignan ang tatlong taong nakahilera sa gilid.

"Wait, ikaw ba gumawa niyan sa kanila?" tanong ko sa kanya. I didn't expect her to be the violent type. "Uh, I really didn't want to, but I had to! And for some reason, my body felt like it knew how to fight or whatever I did right there!" she explained. Her voice shook because of the obvious fear dripping from her words.

"Okay lang 'yan. They deserve it anyway," sabi ko. Hampasin ba naman ako sa ulo at tutukan ng baril. I could've done worse. Buti at marunong siyang makipaglaban.

"Now, anong gagawin natin sa kanila?" tanong ko sa kanya. "Let's let them be here?" she suggested. Umiling ako. "We can't. Kung maiiwan sila rito, we wouldn't be able to freely go in and out of this weird passage," I told her.

Ang kama ay nakasara pa rin. Hindi ko alam kung paano sila nakapasok pero alam kong dito sila dumaan. There's no other way. Isa pa, rito rin nanggagaling ang mga katok nila. Maybe they were checking if doktora was here? 

If that's the case, then are they a frequent robber here? 

There's too many possibilities. But only one way to know the answer. Well, two ways. Ask them, or force them.

"May bakante pa bang kwarto rito na may pinto o kahit anong harang?" tanong ko sa kanya. Tumango siya. "Hindi pinto, but the storage here has a cabinet in front of it. It serves as the door," she answered. "Pwede na 'yon."

Binuhat namin isa-isa ang mga walang malay na katawan nila. They look so beaten up. Grabe, ano bang ginawa ng babaeng ito sa mga kawawang magnanakaw? They're like punching bags of known boxers! 

"You know, hindi ko talaga inaasahang kaya mong gawin iyan sa kanila," sabi ko sa kanya habang hinihila namin ang unang katawan. The body is scraping all the dirt on the floor and bringing it with him along.

"Yeah right, adrenaline is crazy," she said while laughing. I laughed along. "By the way, shouldn't we have another name for each other? I mean, naguguluhan kasi ako sa pagtawag mo ng Kovie. It's weird to hear someone who looks like me call me, you know?"

Mas natawa ako roon. It's baffling how she could think of that while we're literally pulling an unconscious man over. "Call me Royle, I'm more comfortable that way. And remove the doctor, it feels weird hearing it. My ears are tingling." Inalog niya pa ang ulo niya habang tinuturo ang tenga. I laughed at her weird actions.

Malayu-layo ang sinasabi niyang stock room niya. We stopped in front of a huge, and of course white, cabinet. Its height is half more than ours. Nagkatinginan kami. "Kaya ba?" tanong ko sa kanya. Alanganin ang tango niya ngunit wala rin naman kaming pagpipilian kung hindi kami ang magtulak nito.

"One, two, three!" I counted and we simultaneously pushed and pulled the cabinet away from the doorway. Kaunti lang ang unang naiurong namin ngunit nasilayan ko agad ang maliit na parte ng butas. The doorway is polished, obviously sinadya talaga ang butas na ito.

So there's a secret space. What if there's a door in there? To the outside world?

"One, two, three!" I counted again and this time, we succeeded in removing the whole cabinet away from the doorway. The dark room showed nothing as no lights helped our eyes pick up anything inside. Sinundan ko ng tingin si Doktora Kovie-- Royle, habang pumapasok siya.

She looked for something on the left wall and I heard a click along with the lights turning on. Tumingin siya sa akin at tumango. Mukhang papasok na siya kaya't tinawag ko siya. "Kovi-- Royle!" I called her.

Nang nilingon niya ako ay naramdaman ko ang awkwardness na tawagin pa rin siya sa pangalan ko. It was better than Kovie, though. Mas sanay ako sa Kovie at bihira ang taong tumatawag sa akin ng Royle. 

"We need to carry this man, remember?" I told her. Mukhang natauhan naman siya at bumalik sa pwesto namin kanina. We counted to three and pulled the body up and carried it inside the room.

Pagkapasok pa lang ay halos maubo na ako sa alikabok doon. There's no window in here. Pagkalapag namin sa katawan ay tumingin ako sa paligid. Wala akong makitang maaaring daanan palabas. All there is are old stuffs, all in solid white color. Broken chairs, sofas, and old mattresses were stuck in one corner.

Nothing helpful, basically.

"Here, tie him up," Royle said. Nilingon ko siya at nakita ang inaabot niyang mga lubid. May hawak din siyang duct tape at nakita kong may takip na sa bibig ang lalaki. Tatakpan pa sana niya sa mata ngunit pinigilan ko na dahil naawa akong matanggalan ng pilik-mata iyon.

"That's not necessary," I told her in a shrieking voice. The gore image of eyes being removed along with the tape scarred my mind. Ew.

Tumango lang siya at lumayo na sa katawan. Ako naman ang lumapit para talian ang mga kamay at paa nito. When it was his feet's turn to be tied, muli kong nakita ang paru-paro sa paa niya. "Royle," I called. "Look at this."

"What's that?" she asked. Hindi ako sumagot. I had a hunch that it's some kind of insignia or symbol. The three butterflies flying in a diagonal direction seemed to have some kind of meaning. "Are they familiar to you?" she asked again. This time, umiling ako. I don't know anything about butterfly symbols. I haven't interacted with one before this.

"Let's check on the other two," aya ko sa kanya at umalis na roon. Mabilis naman siyang sumunod pagtapos siguraduhing nakatali ng maayos ang kamay at paa noong lalaki. We tied him around a post in the room. There were four so it should be fine for the other two.

Pagkapasok namin ng kwarto ay tulad kanina, tulog pa rin ang dalawa. I wonder how hard did Royle hit them that they're knock-out like this. I mean, if they're robbers and they didn't do this for fun, they must have knowledge about some fighting techniques. To be taken down by a homebody scientist seemed impossible to me. Lalo pa't lalamya-lamya talaga ang pagkakakilala ko sa kanya.

"They're smaller than the first one," she told me. I looked at her. "And?" I asked. "I was thinking, maybe we could carry them one on one?" she suggested. Tinignan ko ang dalawa. She's right. The frame of the first man is the body of this two combined.

"Oh, okay. Let's do that," I answered at umiwas ng tingin. Wow, I didn't think na ganoon na ako katanga para makaligtaan ang detalyeng iyon. This saves time and is more efficient than the first one.

Pinili ko ang isang mas malaki at hinayaan siyang hilahin ang isang mukhang mas bata. I wanted to check their feet now for their tattoos but the younger man is wearing some kind of overall while this man has socks. Sucks for us.

Tahimik namin silang hinihila. Ang tanging nag-iingay ay ang tunog ng tela ng mga damit nila habang tumatama sa sahig. The tiles now looked cleaner each time we passed by them. Nice, instant mops.

I laughed at my thought. "Huh?" Royle asked. Inilingan ko siya at tumikhim habang pinipigilan ang ngiti. Stop being a weirdo, Kovie.

Pagkapunta sa kwarto ay dire-diretso na lang kami. All three are still unconscious. Itinali ko ang hila kong lalaki habang si Royle naman ay nilalagyan ng duct tape ang isa sa bibig. Pagkatapos ko 'tong itali ay nagpalit kami at tinali ko ang mas bata.

I looked at his face while tying his hands. Mukha talaga siyang bata. I bet he's younger than us. He reminds me of Accel, the kind of face you'd want to punch when he smiles. Huh, I remembered Covet's annoying smile.

Krys' weird laughter. Adi's once in a blue moon half smile. Aiden's loud and annoying laugh. Ayla's weird look at us when we're having fun. Tobi being an ass and adding to Accel's teases. Suddenly, I miss them.

"Hey, you okay?" biglang sabi ni Royle sa tabi ko at tinapik ako sa balikat. That made me get out of my weird memory flashbacks. Bahagya kong iniling ang ulo ko at tumayo na. "Yup, may naalala lang," sagot ko sa kanya. Hindi na siya nagtanong pa, something that I'm thankful for.

"So, what are we going to do with them after tying them up?" tanong niya. Hindi agad ako nakasagot. Oo nga pala, what's next?

"I honestly don't know. Let's let them be?" tanong ko pabalik. "Let's check the bed," I said, realizing we've been walking past it all these time. Ito ang target namin mula pa kanina. Tumango lang siya at sumunod sa akin palabas.

We made sure that we returned the cabinet back and she added some kind of lock under it, para raw kahit itulak mula sa loob ay hindi mabuksan. It was an amazing idea. 

Dumiretso na kami sa kwarto at agad na tinignan ang kama. Still the same look. Tulad ng kanina. The bed floor is still attached. I knocked for a joke. Tumawa ako at natawa rin si Royle sa kalokohan ko. Iaangat ko na sana ang sahig nang nagulat kami sa narinig namin.

One knock... and an explosion.