The Stray Kids of Edogawa Rampo

I ran out of breath

 I ran out of breath 

 "Cars are nice," 

 Z E N Gomez 

December 5. 9:15 pm. 

 It all started when the Wysteria-Gomez massacre took place six months ago which erased my whole family. I was the only survivor, obviously. Di ko alam kung mabuting bagay 'yun pero di ko 'yun kinakatuwa. 

 "You have to decide soon," Spencer, the only friend I have, said as he played with his PS vita. "It won't be too long until the whole Philippines will want your head."

 "Shut up." was the only thing I said. Ilang buwan na akong nagtatago sa underground den ni Spencer ever since my parents and siblings died. Simula kasi noon, sinubukan na akong kupkupin ng mga kamag-anak kong mga mukhang pera. If it's not my relatives then it'll be filthy rich businessmans wanting me to marry in their family. All because of one reason... 

 Because of the fucking 10 million dollars. 

 "Bro, kung ako'y may 10 million dollars, pwede kong bilhin ang kaluluwa ng kahit sino." Spencer averted his eyes from his PS vita to look at me. "Kaya di mo sila masisisi kung kaya nilang ibenta ang kaluluwa nila sa kung sinong demonyo para lang sa sampung milyong dolyar."

 I nibbled my lower lip and pulled my hair in frustration. Goddamn, who wouldn't want an easy 10 million dollars? Of course, everyone will make a fuss about that! But the thing is, why me?

 Bakit ako kung pwede namang iba? 

 "Hindi ko talaga maintindihan." sabi ko saka tumayo at kumuha ng canned beer sa fridge. "Bakit ako lalagyan ng ganong kalaking life insurance ng mga magulang ko? And worst, I don't even know who's the beneficiary!" 

 Bumangon siya mula sa pagkakahiga. I tossed a can of beer which he barely caught and stared at me for a couple of seconds before opening it. Uminom siya saka bumalik sa pagtitig sakin.

 Maniwala kayo sa hindi, Spencer is the most intelligent person I know. 

 "Alam mo ba kung anong insurance company 'yang may hawak ng insurance mo?" 

 I pursed my lips and shook my head, "No. Actually, I just received a letter from an anonymous sender about the sudden happenings. Ni di ko nga alam na may insurance ako. After that, everyone went crazy over me." 

 He bit his thumb and looked up at the ceiling, it was his gesture of concentrating. "Kung di mo alam ang insurance company, it would be impossible for those people to get the money. There are two reasons for that."

 "Uhuh, one of them is because they're not the beneficiary." 

 Tumango siya, "Yup. But! If they know who the beneficiary is, pwede nilang suyuin ang taong 'yun o di naman kaya'y patayin para makuha ang pera. You know, the norms?" 

 I grimaced, "That's definitely not a norm." 

 "Going out with a gun is not a norm too but you needed it for safety purposes. They're pretty much the same," he shrugged. He scratched his bronze-coloured hair before continuing. "The second reason is..." 

 "Is..?" 

 He sighed, "This is just a hunch of mine but I know your parents ever since we became mates. Oo, sobrang yaman ng pamilya niyo. Pero kahit pa ganon, mahal ka ng parents mo. I don't think they'll give you an insurance na para sa isang benefactor na di mo naman kilala. I think that whole 10 million dollars is for you."