What the Trees Kept Whispering [COMPLETE]

❧ 36 ☙

I quickly dashed towards the house only to find the baskets of mangoes at the side of the gate. Mas bumigat ang kabog ng aking dibdib nang mapansing wala rin ang tsinelas ni Caloy mula sa balkonahe.

"Tio Gimo! Tia Amel!" I frantically screamed as I ran straight inside the door.

"Oh, Biyan? Ano ga't ika'y nagmumulakmol diyan? Bakit? Anong nangyari?" tarantang sulpot ni Tia Amel mula sa kusina. Nasa likod naman niya si Tio Gimo'ng mukhang nagulantang din sa aking paggaralgal.

"S-si Caloy po?" halos hingalin ko pang tanong.

"Oh? Ay akala ko baga'y kasama ninyo?" taas-kilay na sagot ni Tio Gimo.

"Hindi na po kasi siya sumama sa 'min pagkatapos pong mamangga kina Ralph eh," katwiran ko, sinusubukang pahinayin ang sarili. "Sabi niya po sa 'min, uuna na po siyang umuwi."

Tio Gimo and Tia Amel looked at each other with puzzled eyes.

"Ay hindi pa nauwi dine si Caloy, Biyan. Bumalik siya dine kanina at may nakalimutan daw tapos kumaripas na ulit ng alis. Ay matapos no'n ay 'di pa siya nabalik." May halong kaba sa tono ni Tia Amel nang kanyang banggitin iyon.

Bumalik siya kanina?

My finger rested on my chin, contemplating all the information I now know.

"Kung 'di pa siya nauwi..."

I tried to recall all the things that had happened within the day.

"Baka nama'y nagkakasalisihan la'ang kayo?" si ni Tio Gimo.

Hindi, Tio. There's something off here...

"S-saan mo nakuha 'yang kwintas mo?"

"Tanggalin mo 'yang kwintas."

"Iwanan mo na 'yang kwintas dine. Ano... k'wan. H-hindi bagay sa suot mo."

"Si Caloy? Hindi mo ba kasama?"

"Sabi niya kukuha lang siya ng panungkit eh. Kaso hanggang ngayon, 'di pa siya nabalik."

"Sensya na, napatagal."

Napatagal... Napatagal...

A drop of his sweat rippled with my puddle of thoughts, Caloy's voice continuously echoing in my mind.

"Tanggalin mo 'yang kwintas," were his last words that lingered in my mind. His image flashed in front of me with a tricky grin plastered on his face. I pictured his neck laced with a woven twine and a handcrafted pendant in a shape of a key.

"No," I muttered, my eyes and mouth gaping wide.

Hindi na ako nag-aksaya pa ng ibang panahon. Kaagad akong tumakbo paakyat ng hagdanan tungo sa 'king tinutuluyang kwarto. Kaagad kong napansing awang ang pinto nito na siyang nagpabigat ng buo kong sistema.

When I got in, I immediately searched the bed where I remembered I last put that necklace—the one Euthymios gave me.

The one with the lock-shaped pendant.

Lock and key.

"Nasa'n 'yon‽" Ginalugad ko na ang buong kwarto ngunit wala akong natagpuang kwintas.

"Run, Vian. Run."

Goosebumps ran over my skin as the sound of the trees tingled my hearing. When I looked outside the window, I saw how the trees watched my every move with such intent.

As the wind swept by, it almost seemed like it twisted the trees' branches, forming a face of a recurrent creature. Almost disbelieving my eyes, my heart skipped a beat when they drew the image of the tikbalang in one of my dreams.