BOOK 3 -- XYRENE: THE GIRL WHO TOLD THE TRUTH

CH. 1: A Monster's Doing

The writer heaved a shaky sigh, hands shaking in nervousness as he mustered up the courage to tell her. He was afraid he'd be in trouble, so he spoke in a soft manner. "Behind all those confident smiles, confident speeches, or whatever the mayor did, I tell you he was horrible."

Xyrene raised a brow. "Mind telling me more?'' She grabbed a stool, sat down, and prepared herself to listen to whatever the writer had to say. Told her sidekick to shut up for he was being a little too noisy.

"Before Carlos became mayor, he committed a number of crimes that I couldn't count. I- I do not know what specific crimes he's committed, but s-sure ako na they were as horrible as what people say back then. On the day he became mayor, he-- h-he threatened to close every publication company who published articles of his crimes. T-There are situations too na h-he'd kill those journalists if they won't l-listen. Tapos he hired a professional, or perhaps a hacker to hide all those articles in this one certain website in which you could access with a certain code you need to find. N-Not only that, pero he also forced them to spread fake news about him to make himself look like the good guy." He said this with a frantic voice, you can hear the fear in his voice, like he has seen the grim reaper.

Her brows furrow in disappointment, eyes frantically looking around as she tries to calm her down. "So he was THAT horrible, huh?" Xyrene couldn't even describe how she felt. How could a mayor do such a thing? So Taguig wasn't a peaceful city after all. It was a city of foolery.

Rafael looked at her, pulled her down to sit once he noticed the deep breaths Xyrene was taking. She wasn't just mad, she was raging mad. "Xyrene, kalma lang." he says. "I know how you feel. I feel it too, but--"

"Rafael, we're going out there." Xyrene looked at him dead in the eye. "I am sure there are more for us to find. And don't tell me to calm down, because all this is just messed up. How could I? Knowing how Mayor de la Corte made a fool out of everyone here in Taguig?"

"But--"

"No buts, Rafael. Now come with me." Xyrene dragged him with her. Thanked the writer for all the information he's given her before barging out of the place.