12 Ways To Die

How to Die: 7

Chapter 7

Give them heartbreak.

Demi

I bit the tip of my pen, looking at a shelf in front of me. What am I suppose to see here again?

I turned to my right to raise my brows at Stacy who is now biting her nails in anticipation, "Anong meron?" I asked.

"Check!" Utos niya sabay kumpas ng kamay patungo sa shelf. I was in a middle of a class when Stacy called saying it's urgent. At dito niya ko dinala. Sa lumang library na wala nang gumagamit.

I see a bunch of thick books about the theological virtues neatly arranged in an old bookshelf. "Well, they're books, Stacy," I rolled my eyes, stating the obvious. Inis naman siyang napabuntong hininga at bahagyang lumapit sa marungis na shelf.

Itinaas niya ang kaniyang cellphone sa aking mukha na naglalaman ng isang text.

I've got a clue. The theological Virtues at the old library.

"I just got a new phone and I received this text message. Wala pang nakakaalam ng bagong number ko kaya nakakapagtaka kung paano niya ako natext. I went here as soon as possible and found this. I brought you here because I can't find a clue, so I must've missed something," she explained, looking back at the books. Sinundan ko na lamang ang kaniyang tingin at mataman din itong inobserbahan.

The whole library looks like a messy storage area. It almost looks like a tsunami went in here and wrecked the whole place. Nagkalat ang mga libro sa sahig, mga sirang upuan at lamesa at mga maalikabok at inaamag na mga shelves at libro. Everything seems to be a complete chaos except for this specific shelf. Maalikabok din ito pero hindi kasing tindi ng sa ibang mga gamit dito.

I then noticed a book in the middle that is suspiciously spotless. Nakakapagtaka dahil pinagigitnaan ito ng mga maruruming libro samantalang ito ay walang kahit anong dumi o agiw. It's as if it was newly placed.

Aabutin ko na sana ito nang makarinig kami ng mahinang tunog. Nagkatinginan kami ni Stacy at sabay na napatingin sa bookshelf. A faint ringtone coming from it.

Dahan-dahan ko itong nilapitan habang nagtago naman si Stacy sa aking likuran. I carefully took the book out. It was a red hardbound book with its title embossed on it in gold writings.

It was supposed to be titled as

The Deduction of the Theological Virtues.

But someone crossed out the letter D and E on the deduction and scribbled letter A and B on it. So it appeared as

The Abduction of the Theological Virtues.

Nagulat ako dahil hindi ito ganoon kabigat katulad ng inaasahan. I opened it only to find that the entire book was hollowed-out and inside the carved empty space was a phone. Agad-agad naman itong dinampot ni Stacy.