Dala na rin siguro ng pagod sa pag-iisip at sakit ng ulo, nakatulog ako sa sarili kong kusina.
Nagising ako bandang alas otso dahil sa isang malakas na katok.
"Tangina. Ano na naman? Di ba pwedeng magpahinga ng walang istorbo?"
Sobrang sakit ng ulo ko. Para akong may hangover kahit hindi ako uminom. Punyeta.
Sunod-sunod at malalakas na katok.
I groaned out of frustration and pain.
"What the fuck can't you wait?! Masyado kang atat!" Sigaw ko na akala mo nama'y maririnig ng kung sino mang alagad ni Hudas yon.
Tumayo ako at sapo sapo ang ulong naglakad patungo sa pinto.
As the door swung open, I immediately regreted I opened that damn thing.
How I wish I just pretend that nobody's home.
How I wish I just get my emergency bag and ran away.
If only I knew that I would remember things later on.
"Tito Klein..." I said, and to my luck...
"Hello there, my niece."
"Tita Chandra..."
I am doomed.
-------
"I am surprised you still manage to keep this house clean and tidy while studying and working, Hija." Tito Klein said.
"Hindi naman ako namamalagi dito, Tito. Makapal na ang alikabok sa mga shelves. Ni hindi nga ako nakapaglalampaso. Nakakapagwalis ako minsan, pero hindi malinis ang bahay" kasing dumi na nga ng budhi ko e
"But still, nasa ayos pa din ang mga kagamitan."
I just smiled as an answer.
"By the way my niece, we just came here to say na dito kami mamamalagi for 1 week. Isn't that good?" Tita Chandra said with a wide smile plastered on her face.
I looked at her, surprised, mouth wide opened, and shocked as fuck. Wtf? Paano na ako? Ang libangan ko?
"What? Why?"
"Oh dear oh dear. Why are you that surprised? Haha. Isn't that good? Huh? Maaalagaan at matitingnan ka namin. Besides, 1 week lang naman." she said while looking at my eyes.
"At isa pa, kung may nanliligaw man sayo o boyfriend ka na, pwede mo nang ipakilala sakin at kikilatisin ko." He said mockingly.
"Ew. Men would be the death of me. Sakit lang sila ng ulo. Saka, never ako magboboyfriend" at ang babaeng kaharap nyo, babae din ang gusto.
"Nah-uh wag ka magsasalita ng tapos, Hera. Lalo na't hindi mo pa nakikita kung sinong kasama naming umuwi dito.
"Sus. As if naman. Mas gugustuhin ko pang tumandang dalaga kaysa magkaboyfriend at mag asawa. And sino na namang kasama nyo, Tito, Tita?" ito talagang mga to. Isa pang sakit sa ulo.
Tito Klein just laughed and shrugged at me.
I rolled my eyes.
"You can cook whatever you want. May stocks naman sa ref. Except sa milk. Magbibihis at papasok na ako. Mauna na ako tito, tita."
Hindi na ako nag-abalang mag antay pa sa sagot nila. Malelate na ako. Nooo.
-----
"Salamat sa pag hatid tito pero hindi na mauulit to. Hindi na ako pre-schooler."
Yes. You heard it right. I refused but he insisted. Hindi naman ako mananalo sa kanya, kaya no choice.
He just laughed at me and wave me goodbye. I waved back but I rolled my eyes at him.
"Bullshit. I am 13 minutes late."
And talk about me being unlucky today?
"Hmmn... Miss Vasilieva. You're 10 minutes late." Mr. Dimaapi said, and terror pa sa terror namin teacher. Why terror? You wouldn't want to know.
"Sorry Miss Vasilieva, but... hindi ka pwedeng pumasok sa klase ko. And please, write me a letter explaining why you are 13 minutes late and a 1000 word essay regarding our last topic. And you too, Mr. Torres." Shocked, I looked behind me and there, I saw a devil named Ryan Torres. " And I need both of that this afternoon. Now go." Mr. Dimaapi said while cleaning his eyeglasses.
"Yes sir. Sorry sir." Ryan and I said in unison.
I glared at him as he closed the door in front of us.
"Jerk." I whispered, pero ang laki yata ng tenga nya at narinig niya pa ako
"Well, I'll take that as a compliment, Clio. Shall we go now?"
I rolled my eyes at him.
"Go your face. Umalis ka na. May sarili akong isip at paa. Hindi ako sasama sayo. Manyak."
"Talk about being pervert and sadistic, Miss Vasilieva." he said mockingly "Also, I would like to include 'being mysterious and secretive' on what I've just said."
"Lolo mo mysterious. Lumayo ka nga. Hindi tayo close." I said and walk as fast as I could. Pero putek. Ang hahaba ng binti niya kaya't naabutan niya din ako.
Bakit kasi ang liit ko?
"Oh c'mon darling, you can't just ran away from me just like that." He then grabbed my arms.
"Darling?" I asked, and as if on cue, my head ached again.
This is too much.
Friday the 13th ba?
"Hey, Clio? What happened? Sorry. Napalakas ba hatak ko? Hey. Look at me. Are you okay?"
"Putangina mo Ryan." hirap na akong magsalita at dumilat pero...
"Putangina ka kahit kailan bobo ka. Mukha ba akong okay?"
He kept on saying sorry but my head is aching for God knows why.
Everything now is blurry and all I can hear is Ryan's faint voice asking for help.
Few more seconds and everything went black.
"Papa... hindi ko kaya..."
"Kaya mo yan anak. Gawin mo na."
I blinked, and to my surprise, it was the same man and the little girl from my dream last night
"Pero pap----" aangal pa sana ang kawawang bata pero...
"Gagawin mo sa kanya o sayo ko gagawin?" pinanlakihan siya nito ng mata.
Nanginginig na lumapit sakin ang bata.
Ilan pang hakbang at tuluyan nang nakalapit saakin ang bata.
"Pasensya na..." bulong niya.
Ngumiti ako sa kanya bilang tugon.
Nakakatakot yata ang itsura ko kaya't napaluha siya.
"Pasensya na po talaga."
Kasabay nito, ay ang pagsaksak niya sa tiyan ko.
Lumingon siya sa lalaking ngayo'y nakangiti sa kanya.
Ilang ulit niya pang sinaksak ako.
"Pasensya na talaga. Hindi ko naman to gusto." muli ay bulong niya.
Muli, ngiting malungkot lamang ang naigawad ko sa kanya.
Napadako ang tingin ko sa kabinet na gawa sa salamin na nasa tapat ko.
Gulat sa sariling repleksyon, nababalot ako ng dugo at sugat.
Ngunit sandali.
Napakunot ang noo ko nang may mapansing isang bagay.
Hindi ako ang nasa repleksyon.
Hindi ito ang katawan ko.
Pero teka...
Sino nga ba ako?
BINABASA MO ANG
Babaeng Sinukahan ng Asul
Mystery / ThrillerMeet Clio Hera Vasilieva, your typical 2nd year college student at Gibson University slash part time barista at Han's Cafe. What could she be possibly hiding behind that blue clothes and innocent face of hers? Any guess?