Years After (Completed)

56 - What Happened?

They are all silent on their way from the school to Victor and Laura's house. As they reach home, laura immediately served dinner to Thirdy and Althea. She does not know what happened but the way she looks at the two, she can see how scared they are as they barely touches their food.

"Baby, please naman pilitin mong kumain. Pass nine na ng gabi and you said lunch was the last meal you had." Allie told Althea but as what happened earlier, Althea again bursted into tears.

"I'm sorry po I got you all worried." She keeps on saying.

"Baby, normal lang naman sa amin ang mag-alala, but we are happy you are safe." Laura said.

"Ang dilim-dilim sa storage room, Mommy. The longer I stayed there, the more it gets darker and scary." Althea said while sobbing continously.

"If you don't want to eat then halika na, sasamahan na muna kita sa kwarto mo para makapagpahinga ka na lang muna at makalimutan mo ang mga nangyari sa inyo today." Allona said and Althea nodded.

Allona leads her out of the dining area when suddenly Althea stopped after few steps and turned to Thirdy. "I will forever be grateful to God because when this happens you were there with me. I do not know what will I do kung mag-isa lang ako sa madilim na room na yun. Thank you Thirdy." Althea said.

Thirdy smiles at her and said, "You're welcome, Thea." Then Althea and Allona walks out of the dining area.

"That statement made me confused. What does Althea mean?" Victor asked Thirdy.

"Love, pareho silang nakulong sa storage room. Perhaps we should give Thirdy time to rest bago natin sya tanungin what really happened. We can all talk about this tomorrow when we are no longer exhausted." Laura said.

"It's alright ma'am, you can ask me anything. I will answer." Thirdy bravely said.

"Very well, then care to explain bakit magkasama kayo ni Althea na nakulong sa storage room?" Daniel asked.

"We did not go to the storage room together." Thirdy started telling his story.

"What do you mean you did not go together in the storage room?" Victor asked.

"I go there after I got permission from Ms. Santos to search for Althea's old painting. The one she displayed during the family day. And since the school is no longer using it, I thought of buying it as a gift to my Mom for her birthday. We also agreed na hahanapin namin dalawa yung painting. But I decided na wag na lang isama si Althea sa paghahanap." Thirdy said.

"And then?" Daniel asked.

"Kasama ko po yung janitor nung pumunta ako sa storage, but he eventually left because tapos na po yung shift nya. I handed him the storage room key and promised him na ako na lang ang magsasara kapag nakita ko na yung hinahanap ko. It is a huge storage room, and sa dami ng mga nakatambak nahirapan akong hanapin yung painting. I got tired and rest for a while, hindi ko namalayan na nakatulog po ako. Nagising lang po ako nung may narinig akong sumisigaw and I saw Althea banging the door, while screaming." Thirdy continued.

"You have your phone why did you not call for help?" Victor asked.

"Before pa po ako pumunta sa storage room, empty batt na po ako." Thirdy said.

"Paanong napunta si Althea sa storage room, does she knows na nandun ka kaya pinuntahan ka nya? She was supposed to meet, Krissy for their group study." Laura said.

"According to Althea, sabi daw po kasi ni Bria she were able to obtain permission from Ms. Santos, too. And sila Marga po ang kasama nyang pumunta sa rooftop because they volunteered to come with her. Not knowing they have malicious motive on doing that." Thirdy said.