Euclid Shellingford

CHAPTER 1: A Case in the First Day of School

Since I really have no choice and neither would I pick the idea of staying at home the whole day until they come back, I'll go to that Elite's Academy.

Well, aside from having no choice, curiosity also strikes me to know how it feels like studying in an ordinary school.

Ever since I was a child,  I've been trained to become a special agent of the Mensa International. They developed my skills and abilities so as to be useful in  the intelligence community.

This is my very first time going out of the borderline where I used to live and act.

I don't know why but it kind of excites the hell out of me.

Am I weird? I chuckled at the thought.

With the use of the GPS tracker installed in my car, I have successfully located the coordinates and drove my way through the Elite's Academy. Mabilis lang din naman ang naging byahe since hindi naman siya ganun kalayo mula sa bahay. Ipinakita ko ang registration form at I.D ko sa may entrance at pagkatapos ay naghanap ng pwedeng pagparking-an. 

Huminga muna ako ng malalim at saka isinukbit ang backpack ko. I also checked the time in my phone at saka ito inilagay sa bulsa ng coat ko.

This is it!!

I went out of my car and started to look around. May mangilan-ngilang mga students ang naglalakad papunta sa iba't ibang direction. May napansin pa akong grupo ng mga babaeng nakatingin sa direksyon ko. 

"OMG! Look at that guy!! He's so hot!"

"You're right girl! Transferee siguro siya..."

"Ano kayang course nya? Kyah! Sana ka-college natin!"

Napaubo na lang ako sa narinig at saka pasimpleng hinanap ang building na nakalagay sa registration form ko. Binilisan ko ang lakad para malampasan sila at pagkatapos ay hinanap ang unang kwartong kailangan kong puntahan.

Location: Engineering Bldg, Room E-31.

Huminga muna ako ng malalim bago pumasok sa loob.

Weird.

Bakit biglang tumahimik?

I looked back to see if there's someone they're looking at pero wala naman. Nagkibit-balikat na lang ako at saka umupo sa bakanteng upuan sa likod. Hindi ko na lang pinansin ang mga bulungan nila at tinginan. Kinuha ko ang phone ko at pagkatapos ay nagsimulang magbasa ng mga news online. 

I looked at my watch after few minutes.

Jeez!

Its already 15 minutes past 10!

Late yung professor! Ayoko pa man din sa lahat yung pinaghihintay. Umubob na lang ako sa desk ko at saka pumikit. Wala rin naman palang pagkakaiba kahit nasa school o nasa bahay. There is nothing which could excite the hell out of me here.

Boring!

I was like beginning to fall asleep, entering the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) stage already when someone opened the door so hard that it creates a very loud noise. Napatingin ako sa lalaking hinihingal pa habang nakatayo sa harap. Sa itsura nito, mukhang nagmamadali itong tumakbo mula sa kung saan papunta dito.  

"CLASSMATES! CUT NA DAW ANG CLASS THE WHOLE DAY! MAY NATAGPUANG PATAY DAW KASI SA KABILANG BUILDING!!," sabi nung lalaking nambulabog samin. Nagpanic naman yung mga estudyante at pagkatapos ay napuno ng bulungan ang paligid. 

Dapat di nila pinapakalat yang mga ganyang balita eh! Tsk!

Tumayo ako't lumapit sa kanya.

"What building?," I asked.

"Hah?"

"The one you were talking about! Where is it?," I replied trying to calm myself. One of the characteristics I hate in an ordinary human--they're slow!

"Ah sa building N&CH2, sa may CR ng third floor!"

"Gotcha! Thanks!," pagkasabi ko nun, lumabas na ko't hinanap ang building na yun. Madali ko rin naman siyang nakita since maraming students na nakikiusyoso at mga police cars sa baba nito. Dali-dali akong umakyat papunta sa third floor at saka lumapit sa crime scene na napaliligiran na ng 'Police Line Do Not Cross' barricade.

Just great!

Pinipicturan pa lang nila yung crime scene.

I can still gather the clues here.

Base sa itsura ng dinrawing nilang figure of the body, its definitely a man lying on the floor. Mga 5'6 ang height, at medyo slim ang katawan.

There are blood all over the tiles. But something peculiar caught my eye.

Tiningnan ko muna yung pulis na nandun. Mahirap ng masita. Nang makalayo na siya, I took the opportunity and went inside the CR.

Great!

I took out my phone and capture the image of the word written in blood at one corner.

RACHE.

It looks like the culprit wrote the word first then blood started to cover it that's why it's unnoticeable at first glance.

Is it a dying message or its only a word written by the perpetrator to set the authority upon the wrong track?

Hmm...

***

I was so sure that something's terribly wrong with this case.

RACHE.

It makes me feel uneasy... something like deja vu? I don't know.

I faced my phone and started to scroll down my list of contacts. If there could be someone who I can ask anything today considering their schedules, then there could only be one.

I started to dial that number. After few seconds of waiting to connect overseas, the other line took the call.

"Hello?"

"Dr. Pascal?" I asked to confirm.

"Speaking, who's this?" he answered with a soft sound of some background noise. I can guess that he is currently at the pantry drinking his favorite cappuccino. 

"You're having fun with your cappuccino, professor?"

"Oh! Euclid, my favorite student! So how are you there in the Philippines huh? Oops!"

Napakunot naman ang noo ko sa sinabi nito at saka napangiti ng mapakla. I knew it. All of them knew about Mom's plan of bringing me back.

"Well, I must say it's not actually that boring scenario I was expecting, Professor."

"O-Ohh... You've got your hands in some case there?" sabi nito at saka sinundan ng pilit na tawa. 

"That's right and I wanted to ask you something that's why I called sir."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Have you heard of the word Rache?"

"Rach?"

"Yeah it spells like uh.. R-A-C-H-E"

"Hmm... it kinda reminds me of study in scarlet..."

"You mean, the novel with the first appearance of Holmes?"

"Uhuh"

Napatapik ako sa noo ko. "Oh men... how stupid am I to forget about that! Thank you, Professor!"

"Haha no problem, good luck!"

"I will Professor, bye!"

I ended up the call and hurriedly went on the parking lot of the school. I have to get out of here immediately. I drove the car as fast as I could to get home.

"Where's my laptop? Where's my laptop?!" it's kinda crazy going around my room looking for that darn thing which I found to no avail!

Jeez!

"Yaaa!," I shouted to call our maids.

"Sir?" entered a middle-aged woman who is holding a deeper in one hand, maybe out of her immediate response to my call, she forgot to leave it behind.

"Where's my laptop?" I asked.

"Ay nasa kabilang room po sir."

"WHAT?!" I rolled my eyes then let out a deep sigh, trying to calm myself.

Easy Euclid... you're just too excited!

"Ahh.. what's your name... po?" I remember mom always telling me before to use 'po' and 'opo' at the end of sentences whenever I speak to elders.

"Ah ako si Fe, Yaya Fe na lang itawag mo sakin sir!"

I nodded.

"Ah... yaya Fe, salamat po, pwede nap o kayong bumalik sa trabaho niyo"

"Sige po sir, tawagin niyo na lang po ako pag may kailangan kayo."

"Yeah sure."

After umalis ni yaya Fe, I immediately went on the other room which I found to be my room when I was a child. Everything is still in their old places. Nothing changes. 

Nostalgic.

I smiled to myself.

Kinuha ko na ang laptop ko at naupo sa may table na nandun.

I started to run the program that will hack the system of the police force in this area. It took me half an hour to break through their system then poof! Now I can freely browse their files. I searched for the present case and after few minutes, the system loaded the file I need.

The screen finally displays the initial information about the murder case a while ago. Mukhang mabilisan lang ang ginawa nilang paggather ng mga informations about the possible suspects. Kung sabagay, mukhang kanina o kagabi lang nangyari ang krimen kaya hindi nakakapagtakang kakaunti pa lang ang datos nila. Kumuha ako ng kopya ng file at pagkatapos ay tinransfer ko ito sa PC. I returned the police system to normal and delete all traces I made along the process.

Sinunod ko namang i-hack ang system ng Elite's Academy. Medyo mas mahirap ito ng kaunti kaysa sa nauna pero dahil magaling ako ay nagawa ko pa ding mapenetrate at madisable ang security system nila.

Huminga muna ako ng malalim at saka pinindot ang last key.

SCREEN DISPLAY: System is hacked by EFREET.

A feeling of satisfaction has burst within myself. But it was just the beginning so, calm yourself Euclid! Kinopya ko ang buong database ng mga students ng E.A at pagkatapos ay sinarado ko na ang windows pagkabalik ko sa dati ng mga ito.

Binuksan ko yung mga files na kinopya ko at saka binasa ang mga ito.

So the name of the victim is... Chris Drebber, 20 years old, nursing student.

He has a cut on his left chest that penetrates and literally breaks his heart. No wonder the scene has a large amount of blood. What else? The fingerprints found on the knife belongs to...

Him? As in himself?

Now this is interesting!!

I looked at the names listed under the label 'Suspects'. There are six of them.

6 suspects, all nursing students, one victim so far...

And there's only hint that the culprit left which only means one thing—REVENGE.

This is getting more and more exciting!

I felt my phone vibrate so I immediately took it from my coat's pocket. It's apparently a call from an unknown number.

"Hello?"

Narinig ko pa ang paghugot ng malalim na hininga ng kung sinumang nasa kabilang linya along with some familiar background noise.

"Efreet?"

Napaawang ang bibig ko sa pagkabigla. Papaano niya nalamang...

"You hacked our system. You think you can just get away without being punished?"

I gritted my teeth. Did I miss some loops while doing the hacking? Nah, imposible. Imposibleng may nakaligtaan ako. I always make sure to be very careful when it comes to cyber security which means, this caller is...

"Hisashi buri... Inspector!" A wide smile has curved in my lips. I can now imagine an old man with brown jacket paired with brown hat, a usual getup of him. His not so big eyes which were hidden by his thick black eyeglasses and his moustache which often gives him a look of a serious man.

Napangiti ako nang marinig ang mahinang tawa nito sa kabilang linya. "You sure hasn't changed kiddo!"

"I knew it. Imposibleng may naiwan akong trace sa ginawa ko kanina kaya hindi mo ako pwedeng takutin, Inspector... or should I say... uncle Dy?"

"Mas okay sa'kin ang Uncle Dy. Anyway, your parents called me this morning kaya alam kong dumating ka na nga. Hindi na nga ako nagulat nang may mareceive agad akong balita na may natagpuang patay sa school niyo. After all, it's your curse right?"

"I wouldn't call it a curse, uncle. 'Cause for me, it's more of a blessing. A blessing to stimulate my brain cells."

"You're still the same Euclid."

"I sure am."

"Do you want to join the investigation?"

"Tinatanong pa ba yan, Uncle?"

Narinig ko pa ang malakas na pagtawa nito bago tuluyang ibaba ang tawag. Few seconds passed before I finally received a text from him containing the address of their headquarters.

Great. Just great.