She's The Cursed Goddess (Self-Published)

XLVII: Find Me at Sea

Nkri's Point of View

Hanggang ngayon ay nakakunot pa rin ang aking noo. Sinusubukang hanapan ng kasagutan ang mga nangyayari nitong nakaraang araw. Nasa last day na ng school fest ang academy. The Anostatos managed to win every competition two days ago.

Chry won in duel fight. Erin and Zuki won the archery competition. Me and Blaze won the sword fight. And Violeta and Ace won the pageant competition. At dahil dito nagpadagdag ng bigat sa pakiramdam ni Heshiena.

I know she wanted to bring the win to our class in her game, but she couldn't when she suddenly passed out with no apparent reason. Hindi naman daw si Xsanter ang dahilan kung bakit siya pinagkaitang huminga sa mga oras na 'yon.

In the end, Xsanter was declared the winner. Hindi na pinagtatalunan dahil parehong bagsak sina Heshiena at Reynir. But what's odd is. Nakatanggap din kami ng balita na nawalan ng malay si Violeta sa labas ng mall. May sugat pa ito sa tagiliran.

Pareho silang walang malay sa araw na 'yon.

Mas lalong gumulo ang utak ko nang maalala ko ang weird na kilos ni Heshiena noong fight examination. Tirik na tirik ang araw at buwan, katulad noong araw ng kaniyang laro. Napapansin ko rin noon na tila naapektuhan din siya sa tuwing nasusugatan o nasasaktan kami.

"May balita na ba kayo kung sino ang sumaksak kay Violeta?" biglang tanong ni Chry. Nakatayo ito sa gilid ng bintana, habang nakamasid sa labas.

May kaniya-kaniya kaming mundo.

Violeta, who recovered the day after she was attacked, and Ace were on the veranda. They were busy talking about beauty products. Anything that related to their personalities. At parang mga batang naglalaro kasama ang mga koleksyon nilang barbie at tom and jerry.

Fuego wasn't around. Nandoon siya sa pinaka-paborito niyang lugar. Ang armory. Plus, mukhang pinapatawag siya ng academy para humingi ng tulong sa kaniya para mamaya sa laro ni Blei. Si Mavros naman ay hindi mapakali sa kinauupuan niya. At alam ko kung bakit.

Si Dash naman ay nasa labas ng dorm namin. Marahil ay inaalagan na naman niya ang mga halaman namin. O 'di kaya'y kinakausap sila. Blei and Erin were on the living room, watching television. Heshiena, on the other hand, is still inside her room.

"Negative," it was Blaze who answered Chry's question. Nasa harap siya ng laptop, nanood ng CCTV footage ng mall. "Wala namang person of interest na nahagilap ng camera habang namimili si Violeta sa mga beauty products. But right after she get outside the mall, she started bleeding and then fell upon the floor," paliwanag niya.

Nagpakawala ako ng malalim na buntonghininga. Dahil kahit na ilang ulit pa naming panoorin ni Blaze ang video ay ganoon pa rin.

"Wala bang kakaiba sa kaniya noong nakaraan?" tanong ni Chry. Tumingin siya sa veranda kung nasaan si Violeta. "Look at her, she acted as if nothing happened," she commented.

Sumunod naman ang nakakunot niyang noo. Habang ako naman ay napaisip nang malalim. Violeta did indeed acting strange the last time I saw her. She was sweating profusely, it's as if she's nervous over something or it could be someone.

Idagdag na rin ang pagmamadali niya. Or is it just her being Violeta? Being hysterical over make-up. A true reaction which she can't live without. We all know how she would exaggeratedly react when her beauty seems to fade.

Or perhaps, it could be used to fabricate some things. I don't know. For the very first time, I couldn't tell what's true or not. And it's a pain in the ass. Only Violeta knows what really happened the day she was stabbed.

We asked her, of course.

Pero katulad ng nasa video, ganoon din ang isasagot niya. Nagkatinginan kami ni Blaze nang sabay kaming napabuntonghininga. We look each other in the eye, and we both know something fishy is going on around here.