I drove myself home after I dropped Rheanna off at her house and made sure she'd finally calmed down. I’m not worried about her anymore since her mom was there to accompany her.
I’m still trying to absorb everything that happened a few hours ago after the ritual and after I found out that the lady was my uncle’s ex-wife. I’m still overthinking about the possible reasons why the old lady didn’t want to tell me about my family.
What is she hiding? And what did she mean that my uncle stop changing wives? Bakit? Anong koneksyon n’yan sa akin? Gustong-gusto ko ng malaman ang mga rason kung bakit ganoon na lamang kasama ang tingin at turing sa akin ng mga tao sa village na tinitirhan ko ngayon at kung bakit napaka-weirdo ng pamilya ko, pati na rin ang rason kung bakit ang daming kakaibang kaganapan sa buhay ko.
Rheanna’s place is not that far from my house. I reached the village, and before I could speed up my car to head to my house, I saw a small crowd in front of my neighbor’s house.
Anong nangyari?
I could hear cries from inside, and my curiosity started to rise again. Ipinarada ko ang kotse at bumaba ako ng sasakyan para malaman kung ano bang nangyayari.
The constables scattered the crowd, so I made my way as near as I could, and I went besides the lady to see her clearly. Kapitbahay ko sya, magkatabi lang ang bahay namin. She’s crying while hugging the man who lies on the ground. The man is covered with blood. I look at the house, and I can see from the distance that there are many pieces of stuff on the floor.
“We received a call about the incident,” the police said.
“I had called you, sir. The husband of the lady has been missing for hours. I’m her friend, so she called me to ask if her husband passed by our house, and I told her that I didn’t notice. She asked me to come over and help her search for him, and we just discovered a dead body in her backyard,” a young lady stated.
“We will check the house first,” the officer nodded in response.
The officers went inside the house with two constables. A group of uniformed women sat around the lady, who was crying loudly. She is beating her chest and is crying her heart out; she can’t barely breathe. She had a lot of blood on her hands. I observe the guy lying on the floor; his head is bleeding heavily, and his arms and legs are dislocated. He was murdered brutally.
“Excuse me, ma'am. Please tell us what happened exactly before you went to sleep or after you woke up. "The officer holding a small note and pen asked.
She continues to cry loudly.
“Ma’am, please tell us what happened so that we can help you," the officer patiently asked.
“I don’t really know; I just woke up this morning and found him missing on the bed. I thought he had gone for his morning walk. I got up and prepared for my morning rituals. I waited for him to come back before I asked my friend to come over and ask her to help me search for him. We went to our backyard.” She stopped and sobbed while catching her breath. “And we found him laying in the ground with a shirt covered with blood.” She continued and started crying again.
This was strange. The fractures in the man's head, arms, and legs are exactly the same as those in Rheanna’s sister. Is it coincidental? Or is it possible that the one who called Rheanna’s sister is the one who's behind this? There’s a big possibility that my thoughts are right. I should tell Rheanna about this when I get home.
The officer asks his constables to look around for any clues. They looked all over the place for almost half an hour, but there was no trace. They called for the sniffer dogs; the dogs roamed the place, but there was no sign of any evidence.
Impossible!
Sobrang linis ng pakakagawa, siguradong pinag-plano-han ng maayos o sadyang eksperto na talaga sa pagpatay ang gumawa nito.
The lady was still crying; her hands were trembling, and she inhaled heavily. She’s having panic attacks. She was accompanied by an officer and a few medical workers, who tried to calm her.
After roaming and searching for evidence, the officers came to the lady and assured her that they would search to find out who’s behind this. They also asked her to come with them and file an official complaint.
Tinulungan nilang tumayo ang babae na ngayo’y nahihirapan pa rin sa paghinga at tuluyan na nilang tinakpan ng puting kumot ang patay na katawan. Pilit pa ring hinahawakan ng babae ang katawan ng biktima ngunit isinakay na nila ito sa kotse para ma eksamina nila ang katawan.
Tinapik-tapik ng kanyang kaibigan ang balikat ng babae to calm her at inilalayan nila ito sa paglalakad; she was so weak. Nang makarating sila sa may gawi ko ay tumigil ang babae sa paglalakad at tumingin sa akin. Nang mamukhaan niya ako ay agad nya akong sinugod at pilit na inabot ngunit na awat naman sya agad ng mga kapulisan.
“Ikaw! Ikaw ang dahilan bakit ’to nangyari! Bakit ka pa ba bumalik dito! Demonyo kayo! "Aniya habang nagpupumiglas sa pagkakahawak ng mga pulis.
Nagulat ako at hindi na nakapagsalita sa ginawa nya.
Agad syang dinala ng mga pulis papasok sa patrol car at tuluyan ng dinala sa police station para sa iilang mga katanungan.
Ano bang ibig nyang sabihin na ako ang dahilan? Hindi ko maintindihan. Tumalikod ako para bumalik sa kotse ko.
I snitch my phone in my pocket and dial Rheanna's number. An old man with the same faded t-shirt came near me and whispered, “This was meant to happen. He will never stop until he's got you; he will never let you have a normal life. Ito na ang nakatadhana sayo.”
Before I could speak or ask anything, he immediately vanished into the crowd.
Ano bang ibig nyang sabihin? This thing doesn’t make sense!
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ODOODEM: The Serdtse Pole
HorrorI was drawn back to experiencing a traditional faith more than anything else because of the vitality of ritual in this place. I had explored different forms of religious and spiritual beliefs, but I didn't feel as though I had entered a place like t...
