STYGIAN | completed

37

ASTRIA

round and rigid, it can ever be
dark and creepy, it is really eerie
shout, and someone would reply
in this place where lights die

Huh?

This is the first clue that has been given to us by Ms. Montgomery. Umpisa pa lamang ay parang napakahirap na nito, pero gusto ko itong tapusin. Something inside me is itching to solve this mystery na para bang may madudulot itong iba sa akin.

Marami sa amin ang tila pasuko na dahil ilang minuto na kaming nandirito lang sa may gitna. Halos lahat sa amin ay hindi pa nasosolve ito. Ang iba naman ay naghahanap na lamang sa kung saan saang lugar ng mannequin dahil hindi nila masagutan pero sa tingin ko hindi nila agad makikita iyon. That's why we need these clues to help us find that mannequin.

"Do you get it?" Aegan asked me.

"Uhhh..." I trailed. "Medyo lang, some lines seems too vague for me."

He nodded and looked at the piece of paper once again. Pinakatitigan niya iyon ng matagal at bigla na lamang nagliwanag ang mukha niya na parabang may nakuha siyang kung ano mula rito.

"Ano?" excited kong tanong sa kanya. "May nakuha ka na ba?"

Tumango siya. "The line, 'shout and someone would reply', isn't that like uhm... echo?"

Echo?

"Woah. Oo nga no!" bulaslas ko sa kanya. "But what are those places na may echo?"

Nilagay niya ang kamay niya sa ilalim ng baba niya. "I think it's something empty. 'Di ba nag-eecho lang naman ang lugar kung wala halos itong laman?"

"Yeah."

Biglang tumayo si Tamara at ang kapartner niya kaya naalarma ako. Alam na kaya nila kaagad? How...

"Bilisan natin, Aegan!" pagmamadali ko.

"Let's focus on the other lines," tila hindi nababahalang sagot ni Aegan. "May mga sinabing dark, creepy tapos where lights die, so I think madilim ang lugar na ito.."

Ano ng ba ang lugar na madidilim at nag-eecho?

A dark room? No, this is an open space.

A well? There's no way we can enter that.

A cave? W—wait.

Is there a cave here?

Kung meron man, then it must be that right? The creepy ambiance that a cave was giving. The reverberations and echos. It's really a cave!

"Aegan!" excited kong baling sa kanya.

"What? Alam mo na?"

"Yes, yes! It's a c—" He covered my mouth with his hand and shushed me.

"Shhh, Astria. They're looking at us. They might hear you." I looked at everyone and noticed their eyes prying on us. Nag-iwas lang sila ng tingin ng masalubong ko rin ang tingin nila.

Inalis ko na kaagad ang kamay ni Aegan sa pagkakatakip sa bibig ko. "Pweh! Ang alat ng kamay mo!"

"Eh?" He chuckled. "Pero alam mo na nga?"

"Yes!" I leaned closer to him para wala ng ibang makarinig pa ng ibubulong ko sa kanya. "It's a cave! The answer to the riddle is a cave!"

He smiled at me at ginulo niya ang buhok ko, napapout tuloy ako bigla. "You're so good, Ms. Detective. Let's go?" anyaya niya sa akin.

Kaagad na kaming umalis sa lugar na iyon para maghanap ng kuweba sa lugar na iyon. A cave is the only thing that I think suits well with the riddle. Feeling ko saktong-sakto talaga iyon. The eyes of our other classmates are still on us. Mukhang hindi pa rin nila nasasagutan iyon kaya hindi pa sila umaalis doon. I wonder what's next...

-+-

"Ohhh!"

Nakarating na kami sa kabilang bahagi ng lugar na ito and we found a cave near the seaside. Maliit lamang ito, pabilog ngunit madilim sa loob. I could already see lights coming from inside kaya sa tingin ko ay may nauna na sa amin sa loob.

"You, ready?" tanong sa akin ni Aegan. I nodded at him and we walked inside the cave.

Nakita na namin doon si Tamara at ang kapartner niya but they seem cool with us. They just looked at us with those empty eyes of theirs. Hays salamat naman, mukhang hindi naman nila ganoon sineseryoso itong game na ito to the point na magagalit sila sa amin.

Hindi ko pa rin pala natatanong 'yung pangalan ng kasama ni Tamara pero wala na akong pakialam doon. He looks like he's quiet kaya hindi ko na tatanungin pa kung sakali. They are both holding their phones that serves as their light para makita ang nasa loob ng cave, so we took out our phones too and opened the flashlight.

"Have you already found something?" I glared at Aegan after he asked that question to them. Parang gusto niya pang makipagtulungan sa dalawang ito.

He mouthed "what?" kaya inirapan ko na lang siya. I pouted. Well... wala naman atang masama sa ginagawa niya 'di ba? Hayaan ko na nga lang.

"Nothing," the guy said. "We just found this bottle with a note inside."

He handles us the bottle and Aegan quickly pulled out the paper in it

darkness engulf the reality
put a splash and you will see
what was hidden to the naked eye
can answer your hows and whys

O...kay?

Another riddle, eh?

Andami namang riddle grrr.

Itinapat ko ang phone ko sa paligid at hinayaan muna silang magdecode ng riddle doon. May mga nakita ako ritong used bottles, lots of rocks, small pieces of paper, a pail, a broomstick and a knife. Ano dito ang dapat naming gamitin na sagot sa riddle?

Tiningnan ko ang iba pang parte ng kuwebang ito. The walls are all made from strong concrete kaya malalamang man made lamang ito and just used for tourist attraction. But a wall seems different, it's texture is somewhat grainy. Hinawakan ko ito and pieces of sand dirt ang dumikit sa akin kamay. What's special with this wall?

"Look!" I shouted at them. "This wall looks..  weird. Ano kayang meron dito?"

They all nodded at me. "We just have to solve the riddle," Tamara said.

"I think I got it," the guy whom I didn't know, confidently stated.

"What is it, Pan?" she asked him.

So Pan pala ang pangalan niya? Now I know, haha.

Pan turned around and walked towards the things scattered at one corner of this cave. He then grabbed the pail on his hand and splashed it on the weird wall earlier.

W-wait..

Ba't parang may naalog?

Is there an earthquake?

I looked at where the shaking is coming from and there I saw. THE WALL IS ABOUT TO COLLAPSE!

"Shit!" Napaatras ako.

We didn't panic. But everything went black after.

-+-

A/N: Tamara is from Are You Ready?, you may want to check that out. Si Pan naman, sa susunod kong story after this. Hindi pa ako sure sa kanya since medyo vague pa 'yung plot ko sa kanya. Hehe.