Amidst Havoc

Chapter 14

P I E R C E

"Noong minsan, nakatapak ako ng tae sa daan pero dahil masipag akong estudyante, pumasok pa rin ako kahit may bahid pa ng tae ang ilalim ng sapatos ko!"

"I don't know if that's supposed to make me laugh or feel grossed, Alixe."

Thirty minutes...

It's been thirty minutes since Belinda entered the room where she sprayed Aloha's perfume. Thirty minutes since she took that bottle from me and put her life at stake. Napabuga ako ng hangin at napasapo sa sariling noo. So far, nothing unusual is happening to her. She went inside the room with a phone as per Alixe's suggestion at ngayon ay magka-video call silang dalawa. Nasa sala si Alixe habang kami naman ay nakahiwalay sa kaniya. Belinda seemed hate the idea of people being so concerned about her kaya ayaw niyang maraming tao sa background habang kausap niya si Alixe.

But there's no way we would not feel worried.

"Amihan," Amihan went to the fridge next to me to get a glass of water. Kanina pa rin siyang walang imik.

"She'll be fine." I said in an attempt to make her feel better, but I know na walang talab iyon. Matapos uminom ay ibinaba niya ang baso saka huminga ng malalim. She placed her palm against the counter table where I'm leaning and bowed her head.

"What if I was wrong?" she asked, bakas sa tono ng boses niya ang pinaghalong kaba at takot.

"We have few minutes left and so far, Belinda's not showing any sign of turning into a Dripper. This could be a good sign for us." She sighed again then looked at me.

"Are you not going to ask me anything?" I looked at her. Alam ko na kung anong ibig niyang sabihin. She's probably referring to me witnessing her hallucination earlier.

"I won't ask. But... I'm willing to listen."

Five seconds.

"Amihan," Arc suddenly came.

It's always five seconds before our eyes let go of each other. It's like a different five second rule between us.

"Are you feeling better?" tanong ni Arc at tumango anman si Amihan. She flashed a quick smile na halata mong pilit.

"Puntahan ko lang si Alixe," she then excused herself and left the two of us in the kitchen.

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing." Arc said while getting the glass of water beside me where Amihan drank. I just rolled my eyes and scoffed in disbelief.

"Whatever I am doing should be out of your business, Arc. Amihan is no longer your girlfriend, baka nakakalimutan mo." Agad niyang ibinaba ang basong hawak niya saka ako kinuwelyuhan. Hindi ko siya ginantihan sa pagkwelyo niyang iyon pero ginantihan ko ang nanlilisik niyang mata.

"Stop acting like I am the only reason why Amihan's hurting. Does she know? Alam niya ba talaga ang rason kung bakit galit na galit sa kaniya si Keva? Should I tell her?"

Ngayon ay ako naman ang humawak ng kwelyo niya. 

"Shut up." He smirked.