Mirrors Of The Knotted Shadows

Prologue

"Jiana Rei Luvin! Kinakausap pa kita! Look at me now, Woman!" He shouted.

I just rolled my eyes. Kinabit ko agad ang headphones ko sa tenga, acting like I'm really listening to music. Naiirita nako sa lalakeng 'to! Kitang nag-iisip yung tao eh!

"So, you're telling me na nawala mo yung hard drive mo?! 'Di mo ba talaga maalala kung saan mo 'yun nalagay or what? Baka nasa bag mo lang 'yun?!" as he leaned on the table. I look at him tiredly.

"Wala nga. Chineck ko na pati sa mga bulsa ko." I hopelessly replied. Ibinaba ko nalang ang tingin ko sa mga kamay ko. I'm screwed!

I can feel his eyes piercing my soul and I heard him sighed.

"Ano na gagawin natin ngayon?" he paused for awhile and he continued. " You know what? Puntahan ulit natin ang cafe. Baka sakaling, nandoon pa yung hard drive mo." sabay higit sa akin papunta sa main door. Nandito pala kami sa waiting area ng company pinagtatrabahuhan ng manager ko na si Xavier Sanchez, which is bestfriend ko at ang kasama ko ngayon obviously.

Beastmode ako ngayon kasi nawala ko yung hard drive ko. Oo, ang hard drive ko! Nandoon lahat ng pinagpuyatan ko tapos mawawala lang?! Kung hindi naman kasi ako tatanga-tanga, edi sana makaka-uwi ako nang mapayapa ngayon!

"Get inside now, Jiana" Nasa parking lot na pala kami. Pumasok agad ako sa passenger seat at nagseat-belt.

Habang nasa byahe, may tumawag bigla kay Xavi sa telepono. Tinignan naman niya ako at tumango naman agad ako bilang sagot bago niya sagutin ang tawag ng katrabaho niya. He's an Architect.

Malapit na pala kami sa Cafesthetic kung saan kami ni Manager nagmeryenda kanina at kung saan ko rin naiwala yung hard drive ko.

To cut the story short, I did some of my work in the cafe and I mindlessly put it on the table. I totally forgot to put it back in my bag. Ba't ko naman kasi kinalimutan?!

Pagkatapos i-park ni Xavier ang sasakyan, bumaba na agad ako ng kotse at tumakbo papunta sa loob dahil hindi na ako mapakali. Kailangan ko talaga 'yon...

Pagkapasok ko sa loob ay hinanap agad ng mga mata ko ang lamesang inokupahan namin kanina at saka lumapit kahit may lalakeng ng nakaupo doon. Kakapalan ko muna ang mukha ko para sa kinabukasan.

I simply coughed to get his attention. He looks at me from reading a familiar book-- Wait a second! That's my book! OMG! 

Hindi ko namalayan na nakatitig pala ako sa libro. Bumalik lang ako sa katinuan ng magsalita siya. Medyo na-overwhelmed kasi ako kaya napatitig ako sa librong sinulat ko.

"Excuse me, Miss...? Do you need something?" He asked with his deep voice. Infairness ha! Ang ganda ng boses niya! 

Tumingin naman ako sakaniya at nagtanong.

"Oh! Sorry for the disturbance but have you seen a light blue hard drive? I actually lost it minutes ago here on this table..." I explained to him. 

He just gave me an intimidating look with his eyebrows raising. Not gonna lie, ang pogi niya!

He's wearing a Black and White flannel with Black shirt inside and White-washed Blue jeans. He paired them with White Air force 1.

"Sorry to burst your bubble but wala akong nakitang hard drive dito sa table, Miss..." He replied coldly sabay inom ng kape niya at binalik ang tingin sa libro. Sh*t! Paano na 'to?!

"Ah ganun po ba? Uhm salamat!" At nagmartsa papunta sa counter. Nagtanong na rin ako sa mga staffs dito kaso wala daw talagang nakakita sa hard drive ko. Ang malas ko naman!

Bagsak-balikat akong nagpasalamat at nanlulumong lumabas sa cafe.

Napabuntong-hininga nalang ako at tumingin sa paligid. Ang lakas ng hangin at sumisilip pa rin ang sinag ng araw. Napaka peaceful ng paligid ko, kabaliktaran naman sa sitwasyon ko ngayon.

"Oh Jiana! Anong balita? Nakita mo ba?" tanong ni Xavier. Naluluha ko siyang tinignan.

"XAVI! WALA TALAGA!" At napahilamos nalang sa mukha. Napatakip naman siya sa bibig bago magsalita.

"Ga*go! Anong gagawin mo, Tol? Nandon din ba yung mga sinusulat mo?" sabay hawak sa magkabilang balikat ko. Tinignan ko naman siya ng naluluha.

"Nasa laptop ko sila kaso yung planner ko at mga movies na dinownload ko nandun din sa hard drive!" Sabay tanggal sa mga kamay niya at naglakad papunta sa sasakyan. Teka...Anong oras na ba? 

Gosh! Late na pala ako sa meeting!

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1st person's POV

After I finished my coffee, I casually close my book and got up from my chair while I slung my Black Gucci sling bag on my left shoulder while my other hand's the book.

I remembered about the girl few minutes ago and I checked the table, also the floor but saw nothing then I got out from the cafe while ruffling my hair. Ahh...I'm sleepy.

While I'm walking to my car, I felt something strange on the book. It has a lump like I put a ballpen between the pages. Out of curiosity, I look into the book and got surprise of what I saw.

It's a hard drive with silicon light blue cover. 

I frowned of the sight. This thing was never in my book and I don't own this either.

That's strange...

I pick it up and put it inside of my bag then continued walking towards my car.

It's been hours ago and I'm now here in the 2nd floor of the library to read more books to have my day off from work peacefully.

After finding books to read, I seated comfortably on the floor in front of these huge book shelves.

While I'm reading the book, I felt that someone's sitting also beside me with personal space.

I suddenly felt like someone's watching me then I turned my head to my left and...

Switching...

Can someone explain to me what's going on??

I'm completely speechless. Seryoso ba talaga 'to? 

Tinignan ko naman siya, nakakunot ang noo niya at binaling ang tingin sa akin.

"I am not convinced to this, Mr. Xondi..." sabi ko sa kaniya ng mabagal. Nagpatuloy naman ako, "You're expecting me to believe it? I need a scientific explanation!" While pointing to this thing.

"I'm not forcing you to believe it anyways..." He replied coolly. Napanganga nalang ako. Tinignan ko naman ulit ito. Still processing on what's going on...

Suddenly, goosebumps traveled around my body as I dive into it.

Is this even possible? Totoo ba talaga 'to? Eh bakit ako?  O baka naman joke time lang ha?

Or so I thought?

"Shocking right? You know it already, Ms. Jiana." "Tell me then, Cryn!"

Hi, I'm Jiana and I never imagined that we have another shadow in another shadow planet. Great!