CRIMES AND MYSTERIES 3: AKO SAPATOS

XV. BEHIND THE LINK

XV. BEHIND THE LINK

~Lou’s journal~

Dahil hindi namin makontak si Fille, dumiretso na agad kami sa bahay nina Jhake.  But we were too late.  Jhake has just committed suicide.  Same scene, really.  Nakaluwa rin ang mga mata niya.  Hysterical si Kei nang makita ang bangkay ni Jhake.  Sino nga bang hindi magiging hysterical?  Mas mukhang brutal na pinatay si Jhake kaysa nagsuicide.

“May chatmate rin siya?” malungkot na naitanong ni Nastja.  “Kagaya ni Mommy.”

“Imposible!  Hindi mahilig sa chat si Jhake!” kontra ni Kei.

“Kung ganon, Kei, how would you explain all these?  He died the way Maruja, Gretchen and Mrs. Sevastova died,” I asked.

“I’m gonna go see Jess.  This is getting freakin’ serious,” sabi ni JR.

“Wag, ka-jerjer.  Wag ka munang umalis, kailangan mo pang irewind ang nangyari kay – ”

Hindi pa man tapos magsalita si Lou, nagsalita na agad si JR.

“What about my sister?  Don’t be stupid, Lou!  It’s obvious how Jhake died.  Do you want that to happen to Jessy too?”

“Link lang ng… ng isang porn site ang binuksan niya, hindi siya nakipagchat,” wika ni Kei.

I looked at JR.  “C’mon, man, nandito tayo sa bahay nina Jhake.  Give some respect.  Don’t you see how heartbroken his mom is?” Inginuso ko ang nagpapalahaw ng iyak na nanay ni Jhake.  “The police won’t ever find out what happened.  You’re the only one who could.”

“Pupuntahan ko si Jessy!” Robin concluded.  Then he quickly left.

“C’mon guys,” bulong ko sa mga kasama.  “Akyatin natin ang room ni Jhake.  JR, come on.”

Nag-alangan si JR pero sumunod rin siya sa amin.  Palihim kaming umakyat sa kwarto ni Jhake habang busy ang mga pulis sa pag-iimbestiga sa iba pang parte ng bahay.

“Ano yung link, Kei?”

“Ewan.  Hindi ko na matandaan,” sagot ni Kei.

JR touched the laptop in Jhake’s room.

Nakapikit si JR nang muling magsalita. “www.eta.mta... Wait.  I need to write down the link he had opened.”

Isinulat ko ang mga letrang ini-spell ni JR.  It was something like www.eta.mtahcd.esruc.com.  I instantly thought that it was a weird pornographic website.  Mtahcd?  How the hell are you supposed to read, or even remember that when you want to open the site again?

We clicked the link, pero error lang ang lumabas.  So how would he die over a mistyped link?

“Cur… cursed chatmate,” Nastja said.  She was standing behind me.

“Ha?” nagulumihanang tanong ni Anjo. 

“Yep.  The link.  It’s a hidden inverted cursed chatmate.  Look!  Tanggalin niyo lang ang www at com,” JR agreed.

We looked at the link I’ve written.

www.eta.mtahcd.esruc.com

eta.mtahcd.esruc.

curse.dchatm.ate

cursed.chatmate!

“So this is the online curse!” I said.  A chatter with the username “cursed_chatmate.”

“No!” sigaw ni Nastja.

“What?” JR asked her.

“That user… chatted with me too.  And.  And Maruja’s soul chatted with me too.  I know this sounds crazy, pero totoo ang sinasabi ko, Maruja told me na ikaw, Lou, si cursed_chatmate!”

“Of course that’s not me.  You’re an emotion reader anyway.  I’m telling the truth.  See?” I challenged her.  She softly nodded.

Hindi pa man kami nakakarecover sa natuklasan, nagulat kami nang biglang umilaw ang screen ng laptop ni Jhake.  There was a message on the desktop.  The message was menacingly frightening:

YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!

We were all taken aback.  Mabuti na lang at umakyat na ang mga pulis para tingnan ang crime scene at pinababa na kami.

We offered our condolences to Jhake’s family, pero bago pa man kami makaalis sa bahay na ‘yon, isang pangyayari ang hindi namin inaasahan.  Biglang pumasok si Fille sa loob ng bahay nina Jhake.

“Fille?” sabay-sabay naming nasabi.

“What’s wrong, Fille?” I asked.  “Bakit hindi ka nagrereply sa mga texts at tawag namin?”

She didn’t say anything.

“She’s… emotionless,” Nastja observed.

“Labs?”

“Fille?” si JR.

Palapit na sana si Anjo kay Fille nang bigla itong lumakad patungo sa restroom.  Then, she locked the door.

“What?  What’s the emotion you read?” I asked Nastja.

“I told you.  Emotionless.”

“Is that possible?  Did that happen to you before… na wala kang mabasang emosyon sa isang tao?”

“Mondael’s.  I never read his emotion,” she answered.  “But I could always read Fille’s and everybody else’s.  Something’s wrong.”

Tumingin si Kei sa oras.  “Mga ka-jerjer, puntahan niyo na kaya si Fille.  Tagal na nun sa CR ah.”

We obliged.  Halos patakbo na akong nagtungo sa labas ng restroom.

“This doesn’t make any sense.  The lights were turned off,” JR observed.

“Pero… hindi pa siya lumalabas ng restroom, at mapapansin natin ‘yun kasi wala naman siyang ibang dadaanan palabas,” sabi ko.

“Fille?” malakas ang boses na pagtawag ko.

#Fille!  C’mon, talk to me! I tried to talk through her mind, but nothing happened.  She didn’t answer me.

Nag-ring ang cellphone ni Anjo.  Si Jessy raw ang tumatawag.  Maya-maya pa ay nanlulumong ibinaba na ni Anjo ang phone.

“You are worried like hell!” Nastja told Anjo, reading his emotion.

“What?  What happened?  What did she say?” JR asked Anjo in a demanding tone.

“Robin and Jessy are… being attacked in your house,” sagot ni Anjo.  “Lou… nagkaroon raw siya ng premonition tungkol kay… Fille.”

“Fille!  Open up!  We need to help Jessy and Robin!  Come on!” I shouted through the restroom door.

Sinipa ni JR ang pinto.  Nabuksan ito agad.  Wala si Fille sa loob!

Chills ran down all over my body as I realized we haven’t seen Fille at all.  It was just a doppelganger!

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