The Senses II

Chapter 5

Seine

I stared at the view of the beach just outside the vehicle we were on. Matagal at malayo rin ang naabot namin dahil sa paghahanap sa 5th Sense. Hanggang ngayon, wala pa rin kaming alam. Hindi ko nga maintindihan bakit ang hirap niya hanapin.

We had access to her name but her existence still eluded us. The problem lies in the people we encountered. They didn't remember a thing about Francesca Lopez.

Nanatili akong nakatingin sa labas. Kamusta na kaya ngayon si Serene at si Xavier? Sa huli kong pagkakaalam, lalabas daw sila ngayon para makipagkita kay Morrie. As if that man could be trusted. He's Dreamcatcher, for goodness' sake. Hindi ko alam kung paano nila nasisikmura na makasama ang isa sa mga officials ng Erebos.

If I had it my way...

"Seine," tawag sa akin ni Zero. "Ang lalim ng iniisip mo ah."

"It's nothing..."

I knew that wouldn't have thrown him off my case. For all the idiotic things he does, Zero actually has a brain and he's, no exaggeration intended, one of the smartest people I know.

Umalis siya sa inuupuan niya at tumabi sa akin. Bakit ba siya tumabi? Naramdaman ko ang kamay niya na lumapat sa noo ko at lumapit din ang mukha niya.

"Hindi ka naman nilalagnat..." saad niya. "Bakit ka ba kasi namumula at natutulala?"

"Wala nga eh."

I swerved my head in the other direction. I caught Azazel's gaze and he gave me a smile. We still weren't that close, even though we're both Senses.

Papunta kami ngayon sa seaside town na pinuntahan namin noon. Sino ang mag-aakala na ang lugar kung saan namin nakita ang Book of Taste ay ang lugar din na kinalakihan ng 5th Sense?

Mere coincidence? Or something deeper?

Pagbaba namin ng sasakyan ay nakita na namin si Mr. Villanueva. Nauna na siya rito dahil siya talaga yung main searcher namin para sa Senses.

Inalalayan naman ni Marcus si Minerva pababa ng sasakyan. Ever since that kidnapping incident, I noticed that Marcus was more thoughtful of Miss Minerva. Perhaps it's just my imagination?

Well, not that it's my business. My business is knowing what did they do to her that night.

Wala masyadong may maalala si Miss Minerva. Ang huli niyang naalala ay parang may bumubulong sa isip niya.

Habang magkausap ang mga guardians namin, magkasama naman kaming tatlo ni Zero at Azazel.

"Mukhang malalim ang pinag-uusapan nila ah," sabi ni Zero. "Naririnig mo ba?"

"Well, I could if I want to but I make it a rule not to eavesdrop on other people," I responded.

"Kung ano man ang pinag-uusapan nila, naaamoy ko ang pag-aalala nila. I'm guessing they still haven't found anything."

After that, Marcus briefed us on what Mr. Villanueva has found. Basically, he found nothing.

Tulad ng mga nangyari sa ibang lugar, walang may nakakaalala na may nakatira na Francesca Lopez sa bayan na ito. We did entertain the thought of using a false name but even after pursuing that lead, we still found nothing.

Pagkatapos niya kami kausapin ay nagtanong-tanong kami sa mga tao sa bayan. That's what our purpose here is for. I would scan their thought while Azazel is responsible on the emotional side.

However, even after a whole afternoon of searching, we still found nothing. Marcus proposed that we should get back to the hotel but Zero said he was gonna walk around town.