PSYCHESTRAIN

01| The Agent

01| The Agent

"You might have landed in Davao already, or perhaps you were maneuvering your way in the Trevejo's, but I hope I wasn't interrupting you. I'm just going to remind you that Allysa is not the usual patient you ever handled. She is just normal, and she doesn't like being treated as someone who seems not."

Hearing that from Glen's voice message invokes Irwan's anticipation of meeting his new patient. He has been told that Allysa is not the type who is odd, like most of the patients he handled. Allysa is not someone who tends to look like she has trouble with herself. She is said to be just an ordinary girl who manages to get along with people her age.

Irwan glanced at the monitor, learning that he had to turn left, which he did. He has gone away from the highway and has even reached the highland part of the city, where he no longer encounters or sees any vehicles on the road. Yet it seems he's still distant from his destination. He has turned left and right, got into the narrowest road, and is now entirely surrounded by towering trees.

He dialled Glen's cell to vent his concern, only to learn that his line didn't have much signal to reach others and that he ended up sighing. A bit hopeless and indeed helpless, fortunately, sooner in his journey he had grasped hope by seeing in the navigator that he had reached his destination and even saw a tall, rusty gate inches distant from the gutters of the roadside that stood in the middle of its fences that was wrapped with ivy's and veins.

On the other side of the road, there is already a cliff behind the barricades. He took a turn through the entrance and halted inches away after the closed gates. He honked the horns several times, but no one seemed to be hearing them. Apart from the fact that behind the gates, nothing could really be seen but trees surrounding a concerted pathway heading straight through somewhere, that made Irwan, once again, doubtful.

He hopped out of his car and walked near the gates to peek inside. On the right side, there is a guardhouse, but it is empty. Yet there is a surveillance camera attached to the ceiling of the guardhouse. He extended his arms a bit, leveling the visible spot, and waved it.

***

"Naa sa office niya karun si Don Trevejo, naa ba kay appointment sa iyaha, or at least nakapahibalo ba ka nga moadto ka?" A woman in her early sixties asked Irwan, who was leading him through the mansion of the Trevejo in the middle of their farm.

"Hindi po ako marunong mag-bisaya," he gently averred.

"Hay na'ko jd ani nila oi!" The woman retorted, and although Irwan didn't understand her remark, he knows she is pissed.

"Pasensya na po talaga. I have been in numerous places all around the country, but I don't have much chance to familiarize myself with their language."

The woman just shook her head at Irwan while clicking her tongue. She led him into the other side of the casa, passing the staircase, then the balcony, and even the dine. He ends up finding himself ambling through the narrow hallway, walled by glass panels that lucidly show the lavish nature outside.

Although the place is noticeably archaic, the modern touch is not absent all over the house. Irwan's regaled by recalling and noticing the interior touches of the casa that he almost did not notice that they had arrived in his client's office already.

The old woman partly opened the door and peeked in. She told the attorney about Irwan's arrival, then turned back to him and beckoned. She stepped aside to make way for Irwan, and before entering, Irwan nodded and smiled at her.