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CHAPTER 1: SNOWMAN
I was taken in the middle of December along with lots of kids. It was below zero I'm shivering and freezing, the temperature dropped and we are freezing inside a dark room with not a speck of light. The room starts to crumble and a metallic sound starts to echo around us. I am afraid, afraid enough to stay still at the very corner of the four darkened walls and dare not to move a single bone. Little wails and screaming of children my age and gun shots. DEad...DEAth...
I am the only one they left alive.
Hawak-hawak ko ang ibinigay niyang kuwintas noong una kaming magkita at habang nanginginig ay pilit ko pa ring tawagan ang kanyang telepono kahit na alam kong walang sasagot ngunit naniniwala parin ako kahit na sa katiting nagbabasakali na maaabot siya ng mga tawag ko.
"Jay!" mabilis na lumiko ang kanyang sasakyan sa kabilang direksyon at hindi man lang siya lumingon. Maulan nung gabing iyon at lahat kami ay hinahabol ng kalaban ngunit ang malaking tanong ay bakit hindi siya sumama sa amin? sa akin?
Ang mabibigat na paghinga at mga putok ng baril ang aking naririnig nalang noong gabing iyon. I offered my hand for him to take but he did not even glanced at it.
At every end of the call a small long beep is a warning, another warning that adds fear in every parts of me and followed by eerie silence that breaks me. I saw it, I saw how he waved and smiled at me like its alright before we moved out to carry out the mission.
Lahat kami ay magkasamang nakabalik ngunit wala siya, nagpupumiglas ako na umalis para hanapin siya ngunit kahit anong pagpupumiglas ko ay hindi ako makaalis. Kaya nga ako nakakulong sa loob ng kulungan na dati ay kwarto ko lamang.
"Jay, asan ka na ba...?" hindi namin alam kung nasaan siya napunta o buhay pa ba siya, hindi siya nawawala nang halos isang buwan. Babalik siya alam ko sa sarili ko. Sinusubukan ko na pigilan ang nagbabantang luha na kumawala sa aking mga mata, hindi ko dapat ipakita na mahina ako. Sinisisi ko ang aking sarili kung bakit wala siya sa aking tabi ngayon.
Dalawang katok ang aking narinig sa aking gilid at sinubukan kong ayusin ang gusot sa aking damit at ayusin ang aking sarili bago humarap sa taong tumawag sa aking pangalan. Hindi dapat ako narito, dapat magkasama kami sa kinaroroonan niya ngayon, kung saan man 'yun. Hindi dapat ako narito naghihintay, dapat naghahanap ako hindi naghihintay ng bagong utos. Hindi ako makalabas. They locked me inside my room and put two soldiers outside.
"Claire..." ang malinis na boses ni Atlantis na sinundan ng mahinang pagbukas ng pinto. Hinarap ko siya nang diretso at hindi matatago ang pagod sa ilalim ng kanyang mata. His bloodshot eyes scans the floor as he stood still and cannot directly looked at my eyes. I hate it.
"Ano ang kailangan mo?" he gulped before he slowly approached the look I gave him. He is a coward, everyone of them is a coward. I clenched my fists and it took every nerve inside me not to kill him where he stood.
"Claire...Levi requests an audience with you" he firmly stood. Levi? He never goes out his cave unless someone or something makes him go out. Did someone posed a threat that even that mouse got out of his humble home?
I came face to face with the snowman, the cold-blooded psychopath who feeds on to every violence he could satisfy his sadistic side. I hate him he is an insane man but Alec needs his skills, that is the reason why he is breathing and alive and not rotting six-feet below the ground. He showed me the grounds of every fucking thing and he made me into a killing machine.
His back facing me as I close the obsidian door and as to what I expect the door was locked. I was left alone with the demon.
"Claire!" he exclamed. Lumapit siya at niyakap niya ako.
"What do you need?" poison was evident from the words I tried to speak.
"My..my..are you in grief my little joker?" he made our eyes meet.
Gusto ko siyang patayin at ipakain sa mga aso. Hinding-hindi ko makakalimutan ang pinaggagawa iya sakin. But he shocked me when he laid a phone in my hands.
"Nakita ng isa kong tauhan sa isang bodega malapit sa redstone" I was shaking while holding the gadget, the cracks and small dents. I shifted it between my two hands, the small sticker of a donut at the back tells me that this is his.
I clenched my teeth. This ain't free. He needs me to do something to secretly give me something I want without the others knowing.
"What is it?" he smiled.
"Sharp, as usual. I want this guy in my office tomorrow" he showed me a photo of a high school kid. Why would he need a kid?
"I need him alive, he'll be your new partner" the hell!?
