Shades Of Black

Chapter 14. Tired

P  H  O  E  X  E

. . .

"Hey," pumasok ako sa kwarto ni Mr. Walter at nakita ko na gising na si Scarlet. Habang si Mr. Walter naman ay naglilinis ng mga nagamit niyang equipments and tools.

May nakita akong benda sa kamay niya at meron ding pangsupport doon. Mukha siyang napilayan, which is true.

Nang makita naman niya ako ay nakita ko na nakahinga siya ng maluwag. Ngumiti naman siya sa akin. Nakita ko naman na papalabas si Mr. Walter kaya pinagbuksan ko lang siya ng pinto.

"Thank you, Ms. Eren." pagpapasalamat nito at umalis na.

"What happened? Anong lugar ito? Sino iyon? He didn't harass me, right?" sunod sunod na tanong niya

Lumapit naman ako sa kaniya, nakakaupo siya sa higaan at mukhang okay na talaga siya.

"Arius makes you sleep so that you won't feel the pain. We bring you here, in Henry's mansion. And the guy who fix your fracture is Mr. Walter. He's a nicest person, he saved someone." sagot ko.

"We need to go back. Kuya Gerin and the others will look for me all night. I don't want to make them worry." sabi niya at bumaba ng kama hindi ko naman siya pinigilan.

"Sinabi ko na sa kanila. Sinabi ko na nadapa ka kaya ka nabalian ng buto. Kaya dinala kita at pinatingin kita sa doctor which is si Mr. Walter."

"They didn't look for me?"

"I told them that you don't want to make them worry."

Tumango naman siya at umupo ulit sa kama. Nilibot ko ang paningin ko sa kwarto ni Mr. Walter. Ang laki din nito at maliwanag. Mukha talaga itong hospital, puting pader, puting kisame. At kung ano-ano pa. Bigla naman akong natakot sa lugar na ito. May namatay na kaya dito?

"What happened to that guy? Epiales?" napaisip naman ako napagusapan din namin ang tungkol dito kanina.

Kanina, nagtanong ako sa tumatawang kambal kung anong nangyari pero mukhang busy sila sa katatawa. Kaya sinagot ako ni Mr. Henry, inalala ko ang sinabi niya at inulit muli iyon

"Epiales took the advantage to fool Arius and Sirius. He changed himself into their father's and he also told them that he killed them. They stood there, frozen, bewildered on what they're going to do."

"He change - what?" naguguluhang tanong ni Scarlet.

Bumuntong hininga naman ako at sinabi na sa kaniya. "He can do illusion in his own body. He can immitate someone, he even immitated you. The truth is you really don't have a twin sister." I chuckled, iyon ang una kong maisip ng sandaling makita ko silang dalawa. Pero nang bumalik sa isip ko ang tumatawa ng demonyo ang kaanyuan ni Epiales na si Scarlet, bigla akong kinilabutan.

"Yeah, right!" she said and I was surprised that I heard her sarcastic tone.

Tumayo siya at nagpabalik-balik. She's anxious. Hindi ko naman mabasa ang nasa isip niya. Parang may nalaman siya na hindi maganda sa itsura niya. She's freakin' out!

"H-how did that guy makes me fall asleep?" biglang tanong ni Scarlet at nakakunot na ang noo nito. 'yon ba ang iniisip niya? Of course, she was confuse about that. Maybe this was the first time she'll ever met a person like her.

"I think you should asked him about that. Baka magalit siya sa akin kapag sinabi ko—" hindi pa natatapos ang sasabihin ko ng biglang bumukas ang pinto at rinig na rinig ko ang malakas na pagtawa nilang dalawa.

"Hilarious! HAHAHAHA!"

"He said: Don't touch me." Arius makes a face and immitate the tone of Henry.

Napangisi naman ako sa pinagtatawanan nila. Imagine Henry said that. That will be totally hilarious.

"Ano nanamang trip nyo?"

"Oh, Phoexe! Hinahanap ka ni Henry." pagbibigay balita ni Sirius na ngayon ay napahawak na sa pader sa kakatawa. Tumatawa pa rin sila at unti-unti na akong naiinis dahil napakaingay nila.

"Bakit daw?"

"Pumunta ka na lang doon, hindi rin namin alam." umirap ako sa kanila at magsisimula na sana maglakad ng hawakan ni Scarlet ang braso ko. Nakatingin siya sa kambal na nagtatawan. I don't know but I saw her flinched.

"I'll come with you, ayokong maiwan dito kasama ang dalawang 'yan."

Natawa naman ako nang sabihin iyon ni Scarlet. Tinanggal ko ang pagkakahawak niya sa akin at umiling.

"You won't want to see Henry. You'll regret coming with me. Just stay with them."

I wonder what whould be her reaction if he knew that Henry sneaked in his mind.

She sighed in defeat while I left the room. Sakto namang pagkalabas ko ay nakita ko sa malaking hallway si Mr. Walter. Meron itong cart na itinutulak. Ngumiti siya sa akin nang hindi humihinto.

"Good evening, Ms. Eren." how come he's always this nice?

Atsaka ko naman naalala, saan ko pupuntahan si Henry? Masyadong malaki ang mansion na ito para hanapin siya. Sumabay ako kay Mr. Walter atsaka ito nagtanong.

"Uhmm, Sirius said that Henry wants to talk to me. Do you know where he is?" inalalayan ko naman siya s pagtulak ng cart pero sa tingin ko ay hindi namn ako nakatulong. Besides, he's strong.

"He's at the salla informatique. Looking something in the footage."

Footage. So nakuha niya na nga iyon? I wonder what's his reaction when he saw me leaving my apartment. And what time he discover it.

"French." I said bewildered. "Does this mansion have a map or something?"

Mr. Walter chuckled and wrinkles form when he smiled. "Unfortunately, it haven't. Im going to cuisine and we're going to passed by at that room. Im going to take the lead and leave you at salla informatique."

Ngumiti naman ako at ilang minuto rin ang lumipas na sinusundan ko siya. Tahimik lamg kaming naglalakad habang ako ay tinitignan ang bawat hallway na nadadaanan namin. I don't really care about the design of it but it was so antique. Parang may kung ano akong nararamdaman kapag naglalakad ako dito.

"Kayo lang po ang nakatira dito?" out of curiosity, I spit the right word. Pero kung sila lang ang nakatira dito, mahihirapan silang maglinis.

"No. Trusted maids lives here too." atsaka naman siya huminto at binuksan ang pinto sa bandang kanan nito. "I'll leave you here, Ms. Eren."

Nagpasalamat ako kay Mr. Walter bago ako tuluyang pumasok sa kwarto. Naalala kong ito rin 'yung kwarto na pinasukan namin ni Henry noong may pinanood siya sa aking footage.

Nilibot ko pa ang paningin ko hanggang sa makita ko na may nakabukas na computer sa bandang kaliwa ko at doon ko nakita si Henry na pinapanood ang footage. There was a set of computer screen there and the cctv footage were installed. From here, I can saw myself in the screen talking with Lina. While Henry sat on the swivel chair and his back faced me.

"I can't read minds through screens." and he faced me with his crossed arm.

Lumapit ako sa kaniya. My eyes were locked at the footage on the screen.

"Well, you've already read my mind. I think of about that too in that time." I said and finally looked into his eyes.

"But what if I didn't get that look? I didn't saw you that day, so I would never had a chance to understand what is in your dream. You should have told me that you're going to their place."

"Why would I do that? You told me that you only need my nightmare. Telling you where I went wasn't applied on that." nakataas na ang kilay ko. Hindi pwedeng lahat ay alam niya, lahat sasabihin sa kaniya. I can make my own move without him, although I know it's reckless.

"Did you have an idea on what happened here when you're gone?" Since when did he acted like this? Why did he even care about that? We should be talking about Epiales. Personal topics were the last priority.

"Uh-huh?"

"I just blackmailed the Silvestre brothers just to save you. What if they were late? You almost die!"

"Wow. So, kasalanan kong b-in-lackmail mo sila Arius?" I asked, toxicity was on my tone.

He heaved a deep sigh, "You don't understand, Ms. Eren. You're a big loss if you die."

I blinked on what he said. But it didn't happen, everything was destined to happen. There's no need to questioned it. But what's odd is he cared about me, dying.

"Wow. You're concern about me, now?" I teased, forming a grin in my lips

I like this part of his personality. Not that he cared about me. But the one who are talkative, it's like he's being fair about what he feels, on what he think. He understand someone, but I think it's not bad to let them understand him too.

Nakita ko naman na tumaas ang kilay niya at alam kong binasa nanaman niya ang iniisip ko. Napairap na lang ako. Right, I shouldn't talk clichès.

"No," napangiwi ako nang bumalik nanaman sa pagigong matipid ang mga salita niya.

Hinarap niya ulit ang screen at may pinindot sa keyboard na nasa harap niya. Ang bilis niya magtype hindi ko alam kung anong nilagay nito. I put my hand in my mouth before yawning.

"Why do you have to blackmail them? Kung pumunta ka kasama sila, nabasa mo na sana ang nasa isip ni Epiales. And now, everything will be done!" meron pa rin siyang tinatype hanggang sa makita ko na naiba ang set ng footage.

"Arius and Sirius can fought that guy. I don't have any idea that you'll going to meet Epiales. Did you know who the hell knock on your door that day? It's the girl next door. I came on Scarlet's house and read her mind. While the twin saved you."

I yawned again.

He stopped typing but what shocked me the most is Lina holding the letter and knocked the door of my unit. The way she stand, the way she knocked, the way she hold the letter, it was all odd for a girl like her. It's not the real Lina.

He may look like her but im sure that Epiales used her feature to easily sneaked in the apartment without any confusion and suspicious eyes.

So he really came but he went on Scarlet's house, reads Lina's mind and finds out that she was innocent. That's the reason why he was so frustrated and not in a "good mood" just like what Mr. Walter said.

I think he knew that Epiales has a far advantage between us. He knows us but we don't know him. We don't even know if he's a girl.

Bigla namang nagseryoso ang mukha ni Henry pero nagawa ko paring humikab.

"Based on what I saw in Arius' mind. The red haired girl killed their parents and they suspect Scarlet but I can prove Scarlet that she was innocent. Epiales used the feature of her to kill the couple. And now he's here, to kill her-no- to dispose her. He thought that she was already died, but he was wrong. I think he's going to do that pattern again. He'll going to kill the girl next door just to dispose her. And take over her body for immitation."

He informed me but I can't concentrate on his words right now.

I yawned.

"Therefore, you conclude that you need to save Lina." I finished his conclusion. Hinila ko naman ang upuan malapit sa kaniya at umupo dito. I relaxed my back on it, and I can feel myself getting so sleepy because of that. What makes me so comfortable like this?

"I think you should tell Arius and Sirius about this, not me."

Napatingin naman ako kay Henry na ngayon ay nakakunot noong nakatitig sa akin. Bigla na naman akong naconscious kaya umayos ako ng upo at hinarap siya kahit na pumipikit-pikit na ang mata ko.

"What?"

"Are you really that tired?" napapikit ako at dahan-dahang sumandal sa upuan. Tinignan ko naman ang relo ko at 11:56 PM na.

"Who would not get sleepy? 11:56 PM na." humikab ulit ako at sinandal din ang aking ulo sa likuran ng upuan. I stared at the ceiling while forcing myself not to sleep. I don't want to sleep.

Nakita ko naman sa peripheral view ko na, tumayo si Henry sa upuan niya at umalis. Maya-maya pa ay bigla siyang nagsalita.

"Hindi ka sanay sa puyatan." narinig ko na bumukas ang pinto at pati na rin ang boses ni Mr. Walter.

"Can I sleep here?" I asked, more like a mumble.

"It's fine, ihahatid na lang kita bukas."

"Okay."

Napapikit na lang ako ng makaramdam ulit ako ng antok. Nandidilim na rin ang mata ko kaya ipinikit ko na lang ang mata ko. Pinilit ko na huwag munang matulog. Pilit kong inisip kung bakit ako inaantok. Bakit nga ba? Parang kahit anong oras ay makakatulog ako.

"After 3 minutes, another day will pass. You should sleep, maybe you'll see another nightmare again. Prepare yourself." naramdaman ko naman na merong kumot ang bumalot sa aking katawan. When I felt the warm it brings to me, I suddenly feel so tired and eager to sleep.

"Happy nightmare to me," I mumbled

And before I fall into the darkness, I heard his soft laughter.  

. . .

Unedited