The Unsolved Case of Mara Dela Cuesta

Chapter 1

I hate romance movies.

Bukod sa cliché ang pangyayari, sobrang predictable pa ng ending. May magaaway dahil sa third wheel tapos hahabulin hanggang sa magkakaayos rin lang.

I should've said no nung nag aya si Ry ㅡ my girlfriendㅡ manood ng sine. But I couldn't resist when she already started sulking.

"babe please???" she said with her sad puppy eyes.

I'd rather watch murder documentaries sana. Mas interesting pa. Especially the unsolved ones.

Like, the case of JonBenét Ramsey. The little kid from Colorado that was found dead by her dad in their basement. Broken skull and strangled head, they say. The suspects were either her parents or her brother. Pero until now, wala pang sapat na ebidensya laban sa mga magulang niya o kung sino man ang totoong pumatay sakanya. Damn! Who would do that to a kid?!

I've always been interested sa mga real life murder investigations ever since I was a kid. My dad's a lawyer so you couldn't blame me.

I would always snoop around his office then I would look at some pictures of dead bodies or suspects sa mga case folders niya. I felt shivers when I first saw them. I didn't want to stop though. It felt like drinking coffee, bitter but very addicting.

When my dad found out that I've been secretly entering his office, nagalit siya of course. Dahil daw baka may mawala ako or may masira ako kasi importanteng files mga iyon. Naiintindihan ko naman siya pero I didn't want to accept the fact na baka hindi ko malalaman kung sino nga ba pumatay kay Mrs. Germar, isang english teacher sa Cavite, kung di ko tapusin ang pagbasa sa files ni dad.

I locked myself inside my room that time and cried my eyes out. Then after an hour, I heard a knock sa pintuan ko. Hindi ko sana bubuksan pero bigla siyang nagsalita "Yohan, open up! May ice cream ako." He definitely knows my weakness.

He then gave me my favorite vanilla ice cream topped with chocolate chips and a cd. I was confused about the cd so he said "this is my favorite documentary noong nasa law school palang ako. It's about a high school teen who was missing for 20 years. I have noticed na mahilig ka sa ganito kaya ipapahiran ko muna sayo. You can use the computer para panoorin to pero walang manonood ng past 9. Okay?" I didn't notice na I was already smiling from ear to ear.

I hugged him tightly and he hugged me back.

"uhmm dad?" I said shyly.

"Ano yun?" he answered.

"What happened sa case ni Mrs. Germar? Is it really one of her students that killed her?" I asked.

His face looks a little disappointed but nevertheless, he said he'll feed me with the information I wanted to know.

"I shouldn't be even telling you this kasi bawal. But since you already know some of it I might as well tell you what happened." he scratched his head while smiling nervously.

I smiled as if I'm about to find out the greatest story of the universe.

He then whispered and said, "Wala pang nakakaalam kung sino talaga pumatay."

"DAD!"

Umasa akong malalaman ko na nagyari. I pouted.

I can still remember him laughing so hard he couldn't breathe.

Dun na nagsimula pagkahilig ko sa mga murder cases. I was 12 back then.

- - - -

"Love, wake up!" I dodged but I didn't open my eyes. Not right now please I'm so sleepy.