One, Two, Three | Published Under PaperInk Imprints

I

"One, Two, Three."

I slowly turned my head in front of me when I heard her counted. Kasabay ng pag-angat ng aking paningin ay ang pag-tingin niya rin sa akin.

"Ah no, it's nothing. I just read the title of this book," sambit niya at inituro ang kaharap na laptop.

Kasalukuyan kaming nasa loob ng aming pinagtatrabahuhan. I worked as a romance writer under a publishing house kung saan ay pinagsasama-sama nila ang iba't ibang manunulat at ang kanilang mga gawa.

"Ano 'yan?"

Sabay kaming napa tingin sa nagsalita. It was Mira and behind her was Kleo, the siblings who where notorious for their thriller novels, and they were also the oldest in our group so they have most experience in writing a novel.

"Itong libro na 'to. Hindi ba kayo nacu-curious?" aniya.

Sabay na lumapit ang magkapatid at tumingin sa laptop ni Aliyah. She was also a writer, sa aming lahat ay siya ang pinaka-matunog ang pangalan dahil sa mga dramang kaniyang isinulat na halos matanda man o kabataan ay napaiiyak niya sa kaniyang mga matalinhagang salita. Habang ako ay hanggang ngayon ay nagsusumikap na patunugin ang pangalan gaya ng kanila.

"Look Shaina, aren't you curious?"

Sabay-sabay nilang iniharap ang laptop ni Aliyah sa akin. Dahan-dahan kong tinignan ang librong tinutukoy nila. I smiled, at last I have something to be proud of.

"I know something about that book. I heard that every woman that was mention there was the missing person way back." I smiled at them.

Aliyah rolled her eyes while Mira laughed at me.

"Everyone knows that, Shaina. " She laughed at me.

I bit my lower lips as I tried to stopped my self from laughing. Oo nga naman, alam nga pala ng lahat 'yon, bakit ko nga ba 'yon nakalimutan?

Last two years ago, A crime happened in this city. Woman around 18-25 years old went missing, every person who knows every victim testified that they suffered from depression due to different reasons and attempted to kill themselves, but suddenly they went missing, Until now, they never found any of them.

Or maybe someone was hiding them.

"Ako, I know something about that book!" sambit ni Mira dahilan kung bakit sabay-sabay kaming napa-tingin.

"The places that was written there was actually true! Look here, "

Kuryuso ang kanilang mga mukha habang tutok kay Mira. They're all curious, scared and amazed at the same time.

" Grabe, seryoso? Totoo yung mga lugar?" sambit ni Kleo sa kapatid habang manghang manghang nakatingin. Bakit hindi niya alam, e magkapatid sila?

"Oo, I even went to some of those places with my uncles e!" Mira said, boasting.

"Of course, if a writer really loves her work, she will explore places, duh," she said while flipping her hair.

My smile faded and looked at her flatly. Kita ko rin ang pag-irap ni Mira ngunit kalaunan ay tumawa rin.

"Okay, most known author, " Kleo kidded, making them laughed more.

"Stop being so obnoxious, Aliyah. Every career has an end," Mira said bluntly while looking at Aliyah.

Her smiled faded and looked at Mira with widened eyes, Kleo laughed awkwardly while looking back and forth at Mira and Aliyah. While I was observing them, jealousy, hatred and pathetic was visible in their face.