Before Reality Knocks (DLC Series #1)

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

"What are you doing?" gulat kong tanong kay Damphier.

He stood up nonchalantly as though there wasn't an unconscious man beside him. 

Bumaba muli ang tingin ko sa lalaking walang malay. Kumunot ang noo ko nang mapansin kong pamilyar iyong lalaki na iyon.

I tried to recall kung saan ko nakita iyong lalaki.

Teka.

Siya iyong kasama ni Aeros noong magkaharap sila ng grupo nila Jamarius noon! 

Kaya ba walang malay siya ngayon dahil nag-away sila ni Damphier?

"He was following you."

Agad na umangat ang ulo ko. Napatingin ako kay Damphier at napansing nakatingin siya sa lalaking nakahandusay sa sahig. Bigla niyang inilipat ang atensyon niya sa 'kin. 

"What do you mean?" kunot-noo kong tanong. 

"He was following you," pag-uulit niya. 

Muli akong napatingin sa lalaking nakahandusay sa sahig. 

Naguguluhan ako.

Ako iyong sinusundan ng kasama ni Aeros?

So tama ba iyong hinala ko na may sumusunod nga sa 'kin na balak akong ipahamak? Ito ba iyong dahil kay Alnea?

Napatingin ako kay Damphier. Siguro bakas sa mukha ko ang pagkalito dahil nagpaliwanag siya.

"He's been following you for days now."

Kumunot ang noo ko. "How did you know?"

He arched an eyebrow. "I was observing you, remember?" Gusto kong mapairap sa pag-gamit niya muli ng term na 'observe' ngunit pinigilan ko nalang ang sarili ko. Pinaganda niya lang iyong salitang 'stalk' eh! "I noticed him following you." Pag-tukoy niya sa lalaking nakahandusay sa sahig.

Nanatili lang akong nakatingin sa kanya.

"It's true that I was suspicious of you; I really thought that you had something to do with the student's death," he paused a bit before continuing. "But that was prior to me finding out that Aeros had one of his guys follow you. If you don't know who Aeros is, he's Alnea's older brother." Paliwanag niya. Marahil ay hindi niya alam na matagal ko nang alam na kapatid ni Alnea si Aeros.

"How long have you known that I was being followed?" I asked instead.

He shrugged. "A few days now."

Kumunot ang noo ko. "Then why do you still follow me? I thought you only followed me because you thought I had something to do with the student's death?" I gave him an inquisitive look. "Why do you care?"

"I don't," he answered in a beat. "I just don't want to hear about another dead body in this school."

I suddenly felt the urge to roll my eyes.

"I'm curious though," aniya nang nakatingin sa kawalan. Bigla siyang napatingin sa 'kin at mariin akong tinitigan. "What did you do to have Aeros send one of his men after you?"

I frowned. "I didn't do anything."

He smirked. "I doubt it."

I rolled my eyes. "I seriously didn't do anything."

He arched a brow. "To his sister then?" When I didn't answer, he continued. "Thought so."

"His sister is a bitch," ang nasabi ko nalang. "Actually, parehas silang magkapatid may saltik sa ulo." Dagdag ko habang tinuturo iyong ulo ko.