Nemesis (Taglish)

Chapter 3 (Hope)

Seven years ago... 

"Mandy, umamin ka na kasi..."  

"At ano naman ang aaminin ko?" natatawang tanong niya kay Catherine. 

"Hay, naku!" paismid nitong sabi sa kaniya. 

Natatawa naman siya sa reaksyon ng kaibigan, wala naman kasi talaga siyang aaminin kaya kahit ano drama gawin nito ay wala ito mapapala sa kaniya. 

"Bilib na rin talaga ako sa inyo ni Neo..." nakangiti nitong sabi, "paano niyo nagagawa itago ang relasyon niyo?" 

"Magkaibigan lang kami... Lat him wait kung talagang kaya niya ako hintayin katulad ng pangako niya." She was smiling with that. Totoo naman na lagi silang magkasama ni Neo, but it doesn't meant na sinagot na niya ito. Neo has just become her male friend, a confidante. 

"Pero in love ka na sa kaniya?" pangungulit pa rin ni Catherine. 

"Wala naman silbi ang in love, in love na 'yan kung hindi tayo magpaplano. Marami kasi puwede mangyari na magpapabago ng lahat sa isang iglap. Maraming what if..." she shrugged her shoulders after saying that. 

"Iba ka talaga, my friend..."   

"I am just being realistic. Ayaw ko kasi masaktan sa bandang huli katulad ng mga nangyari sa iba nating friend at kaklase na naapektuhan ang grades dahil may iniyakan..." 

"Ako naman yata tinutukoy mo eh... nakakainis ka ha?" aniya nito na animo ay nagtatampo. Sumimangot pa ito at binigyan siya ng masamang tingin.

Natatawa naman siya sa naging reaksyon nito. Catherine always fell in love. Lagi itong in love ayon dito. Kahit crush lang ay iniiyakan nito kapag nalaman na may girlfriend na pala. Her friend was easily distracted. 

Patuloy silang nag-aasaran at nagtatawanan nang mag-ring ang phone niya. Neo's calling. Agad siyang napangiti dahil doon na hindi naman nakaligtas sa paningin ni Catherine. 

"Hindi raw sila pero in love ang ngiti ng lola mo..." gigil na kinurot pa nito ang braso niya at natatawa siyang umiwas. 

"Hello!" she answered the phone call at lumayo ng bahagya kay Catherine na nakaismid kunwari sa harapan niya. 

"Hi! Can I invite you on Sunday?" Neo asked her. 

"Saan?" Curiosity was all over her face when she asked.

"Sa MOA, manood tayo ng sine. Gusto mo 'yong Avengers 'di ba?" 

"Showing na ba?" she excitedly asked. Ilang buwan niya na inaabangan iyon, since napanood niya ang trailer ng movie sa YT.

"Yep… and invite sana kita bukas kaso busy ka sa ospital bukas, 'di ba? Kaya sa Sunday na lang." 

Napangiti siya sa sinabi nito. That was what she likes with him the most, iyong pagiging considerate nito sa kaniya. He never demanded, he was just following what she wanted. 

"Sige. Sa Sunday morning na lang then attend tayo ng mass after." 

"Yes, of course." 

****** 

Present 

"A package for Neo." 

Napalingon siya sa nagsalita. Kasama niya ito sa trabaho. Nagkatinginan naman sila ni Tyrone. A package? Who would send him a package? 

"Did you check it?" Nagdududang tanong niya sa kasama na may dala ng package. 

"We did. It's safe," sabi naman nito. 

Tyrone got the package at pinakinggan kung may kakaibang tunog ba itong maririnig. He put the package back in the table then said, "no ticking sounds. You just need to open it to make sure. But I think it's not what we are thinking. The courier used is very well-known. Imposible naman na makakalusot sa kanila ang bomba nang hindi natsi-check." 

Napatitig siya sa package. Tama naman si Tyrone. Hindi gumagamit ng courier ang mga terorista. He checked the name of the sender. He frowned with what he read. Sender was Amy Nem. 

Bigla siyang kinabahan. Amy Nem? He felt odd with the name. Amy Nem seems to be a shortcut for Amanda and Nemesis? 

"F*ck!" He bursted with what he thought at kinuha na ang balisong na nasa drawer ng desk at hiniwa na ang karton na lagayan ng package. 

What they saw were confettis at maraming styro na dinurog-durog. Kunot-noo habang tinitingnan ang laman ng package na puro basura lamang. Napapikit siya sa sobrang inis. Napatiim-bagang. Galit na ibinato ang karton sa dingding ng opisina. Nabuhos ang lahat ng laman nito and Tyrone saw something na nakadikit sa karton. He took it and gave the box back to Neo na gigil na may ini-encode sa computer nito. 

"Neo, check this." Naiiling na lang si Tyrone habang nakatingin sa kaniya. 

His eyes went to Tyrone's face then look at the box na inaabot nito sa kaniya. He saw instantly what Tyrone was saying. May nakadikit na SD card sa isang bahagi ng box. His eyes brightened. 

An SD card. The sender was obviously making everything hard for him. He took the SD card and inserted it into his computer. The computer read it instantly, and they saw some files in it. Video files na walang mga titulo. 

Twenty video files in fact. He opened the first file and it was just a clip from an old movie. He closed the file instantly dahil ayaw niya magsayang ng oras doon. He opened the next file and another video clip from an old movie flashed on the screen. Naiinis na siya at inihinto ang ginagawa after the tenth file he opened. 

He turned his swivel chair paharap kay Tyrone at tumayo na muna. Palakad-lakad para makalma ang sarili. Whoever sent the SD card really wanted him to be pissed. Tyrone checked the other files at puro gano'n rin ang nakita nito. May mga video clips at ang iba ay mga music videos. Hindi na nila pinapatapos ang bawat file dahil sayang ang oras. 

Inis na kinuha niya ang SD card mula sa computer at ipinasa sa kasama nila na tech expert. The programmer-s***h-hacker of their team. 

"Check anything na pwede pakinabangan," he instructed. 

Agad naman nitong kinuha ang SD card and began on checking it. Iniwan niya ito na sinimulan na ang panonood ng mga video clips. Inis na naglakad na siya pabalik sa mesa niya. 

"Who do you think that Amy Nem is?" 

"I don't know, Ron. Ayoko isipin na si Nemesis iyon. Ayaw ko isipin na he was using Amanda's name and his code name para inisin ako. If that was the psychopath na hinahanap natin ay talagang magaling siya gumawa ng plano. Magaling siya manggalit. Ang nakapagtataka lang ay bakit niya ako kilala. Kasama ba ako sa target niya? He took Mandy and I felt na ako talaga ang puntirya niya at hindi si Mandy. Kung ako man ay sana hindi niya na lang dinamay si Mandy."

“Maybe he took Mandy because he wants to get you. Or maybe he took Mandy para lalo mo siyang hanapin. Baka alam niya na ikaw ang pinaka-tumututok sa paghahanap sa kaniya.”

“How did he know? Restricted and lahat ng galaw natin dito. Sino ang pwedeng nagsabi sa kaniya? Do you think na meron tayong kasama rito na may direct contact sa baliw na ‘yon? I don't think so, Ron.”

“I don’t think either dahil kung mayroon man ay delikado tayong lahat kung gano’n. Ayoko isipin na may traydor sa grupo.”

“Nemesis is not an ordinary criminal. He’s totally crazy. At hawak ng baliw na iyon si Mandy. I need to look for more different angles para mahanap siya. Para makita kung muli si Mandy.” 

"What was your plan now?" 

"The courier. We need to know kung saan ang branch nagpadala ng package ang sender," Neo said and then called some of his team mates. 

He instructed them to look for the courier's certain branch. He said na i-check ang CCTV ng branch para makompara nila ang taong nagpadala kay Nemesis. He was instructing other things to his team mates when Rodel, the tech savvy, called his attention. 

"You need to see this, Neo." Lumapit naman silang lahat sa pwesto ni Rodel at sinimulan na nito ang pag-play sa video na naka-pause. 

They saw what's hidden behind those video clips. The video clips were edited. Sinadya na putul-putulin para hindi nila agad makita ang nilalaman. On the fifteenth video clip ay doon makikita ang kamatayan ng isang babae. The woman in the video was Belinda Mendoza, the second victim of Nemesis, a call center agent.

All of them went still, nakatitig lang sa screen monitor, habang pinapanood ang ginagawa ng isang lalaki sa isang babae na nakahiga at nakatali sa isang tila kama na katulad na ginagamit sa mga ospital.

The woman was alive when the psychopath started to cut her limbs. She was crying while the psychopath started to stitch her lips using a tire wire. Then the psychopath tattooed her face. He lastly took her eyes out. She wasn't killed instantly but she was obviously under some drugs or anaesthesia kung kaya hindi ito makagalaw. She was alive while she watched Nemesis cutting her limbs. 

"F*ck!" tanging nasabi niya. 

Dahan-dahan siyang napaatras nang pumasok sa isip si Mandy na dinukot ni Nemesis. What if Nemesis did that to Mandy too? 

He went still because of that thought. Agad umatras at bumalik sa pwesto. Tulala na muling tumayo at galit na pinagsusuntok ang pader ng opisina. 

"Pare, tama na." 

Narinig niya ang boses ni Tyrone na inaawat siya pero hindi siya tumigil. Nang nakaramdam na ng kapaguran ay pasalampak siyang napaupo sa gilid ng pader. Nakatingin sa kaniya ang mga kasama. Ramdam ng mga ito kung bakit ganoon ang nararamdaman niya.

Si Mandy? Sana ay okay lang si Mandy... 

He took all his strength na natitira at muling tumayo. Inutusan niya ang mga kasama na bumalik na sa trabaho. He went back to his swivel chair and opened his email account. Bago niya lang napansin ang dumudugong mga kamao. 

He heard Tyrone tsked at hinawakan siya sa balikat. His friend was trying to comfort him. "Huwag tayo mawalan ng pag-asa," sabi pa nito. 

Hindi siya sumagot. Ayaw niya sabihin na nawawalan na talaga siya ng pag-asa. He pursed his lips para pigilan ang sarili na umiyak. He couldn't do that in front of anyone. He couldn't let anyone see him crying. 

Tyrone tapped his shoulder again at lumakad na ito palayo sa kaniya when he called him. Napalingon ito. 

"Don't tell Catherine about the video. I will find Mandy no matter what consequences I need to face,” he said. 

Tyrone just nodded and gave him a trustful smile on what promise he said, “we trust you could do that, Neo. Keep in mind that we are helping you too. Mahahanap natin si Nemesis at mababawi natin si Mandy.”