Random Oneshots

85.1: LILACS

"LILACS"

The scent of lilacs filled the air, making me dizzy. Every time I smelled that scent, my mind goes back to that moment. The place feel colorful. Bright, loud reds and oranges, mixed with the overwhelming feeling of panic. The scream, her scream, high-pitched and terrified, still echoed in my head like a badly played violin.

That was the last thing I heard from Liese before everything turned cold. Hindi ko nakita kung sino ang bumaril. Hindi ko nakita kung saan nanggaling ang bala. All I saw was her body collapsing in front of me, her blood staining the street like dark, red ink spilled across a page.

Now, all I had were flashes. Random colors, sounds, and scents that triggered the freaking memory over and over again. Hindi ko alam kung dahil ba 'to sa synesthesia ko, o dahil nag-guilty ako sa nangyari.

I pressed my fingers against my forehead, trying to make the lilac scent go away. "Fuck. Just go. I need to focus," I whispered to myself.

But how could I focus?

How could I think straight when the only friend I had was gone and taken right in front of me. And then everyone just expected me to move on? Tingin ba nila gan'on 'yon kadali?

Sabi ng mga pulis, random lang daw na pamamaril ang nangyari. The detective in charge, si Detective Rivera, kept repeating the same thing over and over again to me. Pero hindi ako naniniwala. Alam kong hindi lang 'yon basta bastang pamamaril. The same feeling I get when I taste the color blue. It was deep and unsettling. I wasn't able to see the shooter, pero alam kong hindi ito aksidente.

Liese was never the type to get into trouble. She was sweet, shy, always blending to people. We're like yin and yang. If anything, ako pa nga ang troublemaker at matigas ang ulo sa aming dalawa. So why her?

I had to know. I had to figure it out.

------

The first clue came unexpectedly. I was sitting in Liese's room, staring at her desk. Everything was neat and in order, just like how she always kept it. She's very different from me. My room was messy and nalilinis lang iyon kung darating si Liese.

I can see the lavender floating around the room. It was her favorite perfume, the one she always wore. I looked around to observe them, hoping it would bring me some sort of comfort, but instead, it just made me sad and guilty.

Liese's laptop was still open on her desk, nakapatay ito pero nakalagay lang roon. Usually, pagkatapos gamitin ni Liese ang laptop niya, ibinabalik niya iyon sa bag saka itinatabi. Pero ngayon, nandoon lang siya sa study table niya.

I reached for it hesitantly. I knew I shouldn't be touching it, pero gusto kong malaman kung anong ginagawa niya bago nangyari 'yung lahat. Maybe there was something, that could help me figure out why she was killed.

I pressed the power button, and the screen flickered. I was immediately greeted by a flood of pinks and soft blues. Her wallpaper was a pastel beach, the kind of place she'd always dreamed of visiting. She'll always tell me that that is her aesthetic or something.

But what caught my attention wasn't the wallpaper. It was the email notification flashing at the bottom of the screen.

New message from: [Unknown Sender]

Napakunot ang noo ko. Who would email her from an untraceable account? I clicked it open, and my eyes widened.

"We know what you did. You can't hide forever."

The words felt like a scream in my head. Loud and angry deep shade of red. I stared at the screen, unable to move. What was this? What did Liese do?

And Liese? Impossible. Naniniwala akong hindi niya kayang gumawa ng kahit anong masama.