Danger, Danger, Mr. Stranger

#DDMS11

#DDMS11

The issues discussed in this chapter are inspired by true events.

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FEUILLE

"SHIT!"

Xantiel cursed through gritted teeth as we saw what was on the screen of his phone. The veins on his hands bulged prominently as he tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "Shit . . ." he repeated.

"Hey, that's—" Natigil ng paglunok ang aking sasabihin.

I've seen that interface way too many times, I can't possibly mistake it for something else. After all, I was the one who designed it.

"W-What are you doing in that website?" mahina kong bulong na halos hindi ko nabigkas nang maayos. "Paano mo nalaman ang t-tungkol dito?"

Glaring in bright colors is a pop-up message from the DangerDanger website, flashed on the engineer's phone screen.

Huminga nang malalim si Xantiel. Lumunok siya nang mabagal at napagmasdan ko ang pagtaas-baba ng kaniyang lalagukan. He licked his lower lip before answering.

"I was . . . monitoring your website. I always have it open in case you leave a message, you know?" Dahan-dahan akong tiningnan ng kaniyang mga nagmamakaawang mata. "I was desparately looking for you and I needed every lead I could get. Every lead. So I always kept my phone on high alert in case there's a new post."

He didn't really answer my question directly. Hindi ko pa rin alam kung paano niya nalaman. Pero kinailangan ko munang isantabi ang mga katanungan at nararamdaman ko. May isang user sa ilalim ng pangalang HairaLiana na humihingi ng saklolo.

There wasn't any message. Just a pinned location and three letters: SOS.

***

MABILIS na iniliko ni Xantiel ang kaniyang sasakyan. Hindi pa humihinahon ang puso ko mula sa tensyon na namagitan sa 'ming dalawa, ngayon ay mas lalo pa itong nagwawala dahil sa sobrang kaba sa kung ano ang posibleng nangyari.

I was biting my thumb and fidgeting with the hem of my jacket as Xantiel speeded towards the area that Google Maps is taking us to.

"Hello?" pagtawag ko habang kumakatok sa pintuan nang makarating kami sa isang maliit na apartment. "Tao po? May tao po ba?"

Nagkatinginan kami ni Xantiel. Nang hawakan ko ang door knob ay nagulat kami nang bumukas nang kusa ang pintuan.

We went inside, but no one was in the living room.

My footsteps were loud as I scurried upon the sight of a petite figure inside a room. Xantiel followed me closely.

And a young woman was there, at the farthest corner of her room, hugging her knees as she rocks herself back and forth while shivering in fear.

She was unresponsive. It was like her soul left her eyes.

Lumapit ako't lumuhod sa kaniyang harapan. "Miss, what happened? Please tell me."

It took a minute before she realized our presence. "I'm sorry. I-I panicked. So I did what what he told me to d-do."

"He? Sino'ng he? Ano'ng nangyari? Ano'ng pinagawa sa 'yo?"

Saka ko lamang napansin ang kaniyang suot. Kaya niya pala yakap-yakap ang sarili, dahil nakasuot lamang siya ng bra at panty.

Sa kaniyang tiyan ay may nakaguhit na simbolo gamit ang itim na pentel pen. It's a creepy smiley face with the letters K and J as its eyes, while its mouth is a wavy line that looks like a woozy expression.