ABDUCTED, AGAIN

Kabanata 25

Mas lumakas noon ang ulan nang makarating kami sa bahay. Hapon pa lamang ngunit dumidilim na sa labas dala ng makulimlim na kaulapan. Napakalakas din ng kulog at kidlat na sa tuwing dumadating ito, napapapitlag na lamang ako sa gulat.

The lights in the entire house are all out as well. There has been a power shortage due to the heavy pour. We are all gathered at the lounging area on our second floor. Nakaupo kami palibot sa mga sofa habang ang iba ay sa sahig nakaupo. Bahagyang madilim ngunit may sapat namang liwanag upang makita namin ang isa't isa.

Tahimik lamang kaming naghihintay na makabalik sina Tom at Gavin. They went to check Mama and Ate as they are asleep. Pinapakaba ako ng katahimikang ito. For some reason, they all look so stern as we wait.

Usually, when we're all gathered like this, we will be filled with laughters. But right now is just different, parang kagaya lang din ng ulang ito, na pawang naghuhudyat ng pagdating ng isang bagyo.

Nilingon ko ang katabing si Hendrix na kumportable lang na nakasandal sa sofang inuupuan namin. He rubbed my back with his palm as if telling me nothing bad will happen. Lumihis ang tingin nito at napatingin din ako roon. Nakabalik na sina Tom at Gavin habang ang kaba ko naman ay sumiklab ulit.

"I'm sorry for the delay," panimula ni Tom habang umuupo ito sa sahig sa bandang paanan ko. "I should've done the work in 12 hours but this one took a lot of work and time."

Without wasting anymore time or warning he started the talk. Noong umpisa'y sandali pa akong nalito sa tinutukoy niya. Pero nang makita ang cellphone na kinuha nito mula sa bulsa ay agad ko itong nakilala bilang pag-aari ng lalaking nahuli namin nitong nakaraan. Sa aming dalawa lamang ni Ryzel niya ito pinakita na pawa bang kami na lang ang hindi pa nakakaalam ng tungkol dito.

He scrolled through the call logs and I was surprised to see how lot the phone numbers were there. Iba-iba ang mga ito at lahat ay walang pangalan.

"Whoever that bastard is, I'm sure, all of these phone numbers belong to him."

Tom sighed as he places the phone on the low table in front of us.

"I can't really trace the number unless it is still active. Kaya inisa-isa namin lahat ng ito, but almost all of them are already deactivated. The few numbers that we had contacted are from public telephones, yung iba naman ay mga telephones sa mga tindahan. We tried to check the CCTV footage from those places but still got none. Masyadong malayo ang kuha ng camera, natatabunan ng mga tao, but we got this..."

This time he is scrolling through his own phone. Pinakita nito samin ang larawan ng isang lalaking nakasuot ng cap, mask at malaking jacket. Bukod sa hindi makita ang mukha nito, napakalabo rin ng larawan dahil isang kuha lamang ito mula sa CCTV footage.

"And this, too, is useless."

Sandali kaming nagkatinginan ni Ryzel, parang napapatanong sa isa't isa kung pamilyar ba sa amin ang imahe ng taong iyon. But we only shook both of our heads.

"But there's this just one phone number that is still active and I managed to get its signal."

Nakuha ni Tom ang buong atensyon ko noon. Nagpalipat-lipat ang seryosong tingin niya sa amin ni Ryzel. But in the end, he fixed his eyes on mine. Parang hinahanda na ako sa susunod niyang sasabihin.

"And it's from your school."

Those words became one with the sound of the thunder. But instead of making me flinch, I only felt the cold suddenly lingering on my nape. Nakaupo ma'y pakiramdam ko bigla pa ring nanlambot ang mga tuhod ko. I suddenly thought about that day when I thought I saw Vince at school. He is already gone, it's impossible that what I saw back then is real, that what I saw back there was really him.