Sindak

KABANATA 37

Alas k'watro ng hapon, tulog pa rin si Jasmine. Mukhang napagod ito sa walang tigil naming ginawa in the last two hours. I took that opportunity to book our plane ticket from Dumaguete to Manila tomorrow morning. Sa Dumaguete kasi ang pagmumulan namin after an hour or two--it depends on certain conditions--of ferry ride from the Island of Siquijor.

After I had things take care of, I went back to bed, not to sleep, but to watch the television. I can't find any interesting show to watch kaya kahit I kept it on--at minimum volume--I ended up browsing several social network news through my cellphone.

Bungad pa lang sa newsfeed, napapailing na ako.  Puro kasi fake news ang pinaglala-like at shine-share ng mga nasa friends list ko. Some of them are into those tacky graphics from trending pages na kahit ayokong patulan, napapabulong pa rin ako ng, "Get a life, morons!" O napapa-facepalm na lang sa utak ko.

I sighed out of frustration. Hindi ko kasi maintindihan kung bakit tila parami na nang parami sa mga Pinoy ang humihilig sa mga kababawan at kabaduyan. I observed these after several stupid posts na umaabot na sa libo-libo ang natatanggap na likes, samantalang 'yung mga magpopost ng may sense, 'yun pa ang hindi napapansin. No wonder why the decreasing number of sensible people are getting pretty much convinced that human beings who actually use their brains are already heading to extinction.

Copyright ⓒ DyslexicParanoia (Angela Atienza) 2014, All rights reserved.

I was scrolling down when I saw my best friend John's most recent posts. It was a photo of him showing off his new tattoos and piercings. My brows furrowed dahil he doesn't seem like the John I used to know anymore. Ang kilala kong John, however wild his imagination was, was never into those kind of stuff. Ito pa nga ang nagsabi sa akin noon na h'wag na h'wag daw akong mapapa-tattoo. Katangahan lang daw kasi itong maituturing, at ginagawa lang ng mga taong hindi alam ang pagkakaiba ng papel sa balat ng tao.

I went to his profile. Nami-miss ko rin man ang loko dahil hindi na kami nakikita tulad ng dati. Napanganga ako sa mga nakita kong bagong pictures n'ya sa wall. He changed his hairstyle from neat to unruly. He have countless ear and nose piercings. Kalalaking tao naka-dark eyeliner at lip stain. He have definitely turned into some kind of gothic weirdo that I could barely recognize.

Besides his photos, I also find his other posts quite disturbing. I can't believe he also shared videos of creepy recording of actual human sacrifice. Regular posts such as... "Hail Satan..." with a picture of inverted crucifix has also began to give me the chills.

What happened to my best friend? Have he gone insane?

I dialed his number, but he can't be reached anymore. Mukhang binago na rin nito ang number niya nang walang pasabi.  He left me with no other choice but to send him a private message on Facebook:  John, what's up? I haven't heard about you in a while? Did you changed your number?

I am tempted to ask kung anong nangyari sa porma n'ya, and what's up with his new dark emo pero I ended up with...

...Guess where I am right now. I'm in Siquijor! I hope to hear from you soon, pare. Kita tayo minsan.

Jeez. This is the same feeling I endure every time I write-up a rejection letter. It's like treading on a string; too careful of the words I use, just so I can release an intentional slap with no intention to cause any pain.

I sent the message, but before I could even exit the messenger, I saw that he have already seen my message.  I waited for about a couple of minutes for any sign that he's typing, but I saw no sign of any possible response from him. It's going to be a big lie if I say that it didn't bother me at all. Hindi kasi gano'n si John. He never ignored me in any medium of communication ever...until now.

***

"Jeff?"

9 PM. Nagba-browse sa tablet ko si Jasmine. She's seated on the bed habang nakasadal sa headboard. I am the last one to prepare for bed time kaya nagtu-toothbrush ako sa banyo when she called my attention.

Sumilip ako sa kanya mula sa banyo, "What?"

"Ano nga ulit ang pangalan ng horror series n'yo? 'Yung compilation ng mga isinulat ko?"

"Ah." I went in the bathroom again to gargle and spit. "Sindak." I wiped my mouth with a hand towel.  "Bakit?" I went out and immediately sat next to her.

"Are you aware of these incidents?"

Ipinakita n'ya sa akin ang isang confession site with series of threads stating that there have been incidents of mysterious deaths by cardiac arrests; as well as people who had suddenly gone insane and suicidal. Some of the participants claim that it has been going on all over the isolated parts of the country.  Nangyari raw ang mga ito after they've read a compilation of horror stories called...SINDAK.  May mga nag-post ng screenshots ng first two issues, meron ding memes in bold print...SINDAK HORROR SERIES STORIES FROM HELL or A SILENT SERIAL KILLER CALLED SINDAK.

"Is this website even legit?"

"I don't know, pero may mga posts sila coming from legit news networks tungkol sa mga taong bigla na lang namamatay dahil sa atake sa puso o nagpapakamatay sa mga buildings, malls at mga umaandar na sasakyan out of the blue."

Naka-fix ang mga mata ko sa tablet.  "And how can they possibly link that to our series?"

"Marami raw ang nagke-claim na nangyari lang 'yun within 24 hours after nilang mabasa ang alinman sa mga issues ng SINDAK.  Binasa mo ba ang mga isinulat ko?"

"I hope it won't upset you. 'Yung una lang. I'm not even sure how many stories you've submitted." Hindi ako makatingin sa kanya. "I totally passed the whole project to my assistants."

"Oh...I see."

Ugh! I could probably qualify as one of the most insensitive human being in the planet...but I can feel her disappointment with me. And for that, I feel really uneasy right now.

"Are you mad at me?" Pumuslit ako ng mabilisang sulyap sa kanyang mukha.  Hindi naman ito mukhang galit, more like, nag-iisip nang malalim.

"Oh no it's not that Jeff."  Nakahinga ako nang naluwag. "I'm just trying to figure out kung anong nangyari sa 'yo dati when you've read the first stories I gave you."

Namilog ang mga mata ko. Partly dahil hindi ako makapaniwala na nakalimutan ko na kung ano ang naging epekto ng mga istoryang 'yun sa akin. 

"I saw, felt and experienced horrible things." Sabi ko, "But isn't that because of the creepy book rather than your stories?"

Nagkatinginan kami.

"We need to find out for sure Jeff...I can't live  peacefully knowing people are dying because of anything I did or wrote."

"What do you suggest?"

"First thing's first. I need to see a copy of each issue."

"I still have a copy of your manuscripts in my cloud drive. Do want them back?"

"No, Jeff. I need the actual book released by AlphaDelta Publishing.

"For?"

"What is your guarantee na identical ang naka-imprenta kumpara sa manuskrito? We have to check that beforehand just to eliminate my nagging feeling na may sumasabutahe sa 'yo o sa akin. Ano? Can you produce a copy of the released issues for me?"

"I have no problem with that pero--"

"Please Jeff..."

"O-ok."

[Itutuloy]