SOUL SNATCHERS

Chapter 17

Edna noticed the darkening sky from the window of their fourth-floor room in the five-story hotel building. Her mind was filled with worry about her daughter, whose whereabouts they still had no idea about. Roland and Julius had already searched the hotel area, but they hadn't seen Rose. She walked closer to the window and gazed outside. Below, she saw a large swimming pool where many people were enjoying the artificial waves generated by the machine beneath it. Looking towards the horizon, she noticed the cumulonimbus clouds forming a thunderstorm on the western part of the sea. Flashes of reddish lightning and low rumbling thunder from the massive clouds indicated that a strong storm was approaching.

She returned to the bed and continued packing their clothes into their suitcases. Despite being thirty-six years old, she looked two years younger. She had a slim, elegant figure, standing at five feet and six inches tall, with smooth white complexion that added to her youthful appearance. She dressed stylishly and carried herself with refinement. She was an educated woman, having completed her MBA degree at one of Manila's prestigious schools.

When she married Roland, she took over the management of her father's furniture business, which had been closed for over three years due to bankruptcy. With integrity and hard work, she turned the business around, and within two years, they became one of the top furniture exporters in the country.

With the birth of Rose, their love for each other grew stronger. Despite Roland spending most of his time in Connecticut for his engineering work in his own construction company, Edna never suspected he had a family in the United States. She was content with the love, care, and attention Roland showed her and their children. He made regular visits to the country, and they often vacationed together in his ancestral home in New England. Besides, she had already forgiven him, and what mattered most was that Roland had filed for an annulment with his wife, Margarette. However, on what grounds? Filing for an annulment was not a simple matter. There needed to be acceptable reasons and grounds to establish the fate of the annulment case against Roland's legal wife.

Glancing at the wall clock, Edna noticed it was already 3:30 in the afternoon, and her husband was still outside searching for their daughter. She stood and stared through the window, noticing a small island in the western portion of the sea that she hadn't seen before. Her motherly instincts told her that Rose might be on that island, exploring. She walked slowly back to the window and fixed her eyes on the white shore of the small island, where some people were present. If Rose wasn't in the vicinity of the hotel, the only place she could be exploring was the island, which was a popular destination for adventurous teenagers. Would Rose venture there alone? Edna and Roland had tried numerous times to call her on her cellphone, but she might have turned it off. They were genuinely worried about her whereabouts. Rose had never turned her cellphone off, especially in situations like this, and she had never broken promises before. Edna thought there was something her daughter wasn't telling her, keeping it a secret. A few days ago, she had accidentally read a text message from a guy named Karl on Rose's cellphone. When Edna asked about it, Rose became defensive about her privacy regarding personal messages. Now, unable to contact her daughter, Edna knew she had to do something. She needed to inform her husband to search for Rose on the island. Her intuition told her that's where she needed to look, and she had to trust it. She walked towards the door and left the room. She hurried down the hallway and headed for the elevator. She constantly reassured herself that nothing bad would happen to her daughter. Rose would return safely.

Standing in front of the elevator, she pressed the button, eager to see her husband and share her intuition with him. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her right foot tapped nervously on the floor. Then, she heard a metallic hum from the elevator, and the door clicked open. She entered and found herself alone. Pressing the button for the ground floor, she expected the door to close, but instead, it started to open again.