Sonkan 2 (The Revolution)

Chapter 17

-Alexi-

AS SOON as she cast her eyes on me, I tried to remain calm. Preventing myself from showing any signs of uneasiness. Hoping she wouldn't recognize me. We're doomed if she does. I saw in my peripheral vision that the people here bowed their heads a bit so I did. Now it proves how Red Lady respectable is. Para bang kasalanan kapag hindi mo siya binati o magpakita ng senyales ng respeto sa kanya. I felt goosebumps on my skin. She really has this intimidating aura and it feels like you're not a normal person if you don't feel it.

"Pagbati sa'yo, ma'am"

"Yeah, hi" walang buhay na sagot ni Red Lady. Maya maya'y naramdaman ko nalang ang iba na umusog sa gilid para bigyan ng espasyo si Hermione dahil dadaan ito. That's it. Hermione only needed to see how the people shows their respect to her or worship her like a goddess when she's around. 

"I swear, I much scared of her than Ghost Lady's creepiness" bulalas ni Shane sa kabilang linya. I've known Shane for quite some time, and it's her nature to voice out whatever unnecessary comments she has to say.

Nakahinga ako ng maluwag nang lumagpas na sa amin si Hermione. Malaya kaming nagpatuloy sa paglalakad at makihalo sa mga taong nandito. I thought the short intense moment of meeting Red Lady finally gone but we all stopped moving again like a robot who was being paused by a remote control.

"Wait"

My heart never calmed down. It's still beats faster because of anxiousness. I could feel the beads of sweat in my temple even though the whole hallway was as cold as at the North Pole. Pinilit kong hindi lumingon dahil ayokong magtagpo ulit ang aming mga mata. I feel like I had a sudden paranoia that her pinning her gaze at me would create a spare chance to recognize me behind my mask and glasses. These eyeglasses are transparent, and I met her a lot of times. I'm just hoping she hadn't paid any attention to my eyes whenever we had an interaction.

Narinig ko ulit ang maingay na takong ni Hermione kaya doon na ako napalingon sa kanya. Mas lalong lumakas ang kabog ng dibdib ko nang makitang papalapit siya sa aking direksyon. Nag-angat ako ng tingin gaya ng normal na reaksyon ng taong naiintriga at walang iniiwasan. She raised a finger and pointed it at the girl who was standing within a meter from me.

"You" matapos niyang ituro ang babaeng hanggang balikat ang buhok ay sunod niya akong tiningnan pati ang babaeng nasa likuran ko. "And you two, I want you to make a test from this sample. I want results within two hours" sa akin niya inabot ang maliit na bote na naglalaman ng asul na likido. Malapot ito na parang dugo. I know it's her normal tone but it didn't fail to send chills on my spine, terrified of being caught under my act. Her aura screams authority with menace. At ang utos niyang ito ay tila mas importante pa sa buhay namin.

Agad din itong umalis at hindi na hinintay ang sagot ng isa sa aming mga inutusan niya. I looked at the other girl whom Hermione first pointed. It was Coleen. A sigh of relief silently escaped from my lips. Hindi namin kilala ang isa ngunit sinenyasan niya kaming sumunod sa kanya. Good thing our faces was hiding behind the mask and glasses. It didn't appear how intense I was in front of Red Lady. 

The girl in the same lab coat as us has short hair. I remember that's what exactly Coleen's hair length was before, which now grew a few inches. We followed the short-haired girl while Coleen and I exchanged glances, trying to manage the act. May mangilan ngilan kaming mga naka lab coat at guwardiya na nasasalubong. I tried to recall all the directions I reviewed on the map since this wasn't the way where we were supposed to go first.

"Nasa'n na kayo?" Kaiden was the first one to break the dead air on the other line.

"We're following this lab tech girl," Coleen answered in a lowly voice. "We'll connect to you guys later"