The Stray Kids of Edogawa Rampo

Tea

Tea

L A N C E Useda
December 30, 12:12 am.
The Mansion

This err coldness in the atmosphere will make me go nuts. Nagpapawis ang mga palad ko at nanginginig ang mga daliri ko dahil sa kaba at tensyon. Nananatili lang akong nakatingin kay Spencer, na mukhang patay na sa sobrang putla, habang nagsusukatan sila ng tingin ni Twelve. To be completely honest, I have noticed that Spencer changed a lot physically ever since the last time we saw him. His skin became greyish pale and we can see his bluish purple veins protruding from it. His cheeks have sunken and his eyes were darker. He looked bonier than before, it makes me wonder what's actually happening to him. Is he actually sick or just transforming to a full-fledged vampire?

"I figured half as much," Twelve shrugged a bit and grinned. Kahit pa mukhang pagod na pagod na siya at fed up nang makipaghabulan, nagagawa niya pa ring mamilosopo.

Tumango-tango si Spencer, "That's good," then cleared his throat, "I would like to ask for your cooperation not to interrupt me as I speak. I am easily distracted and if you ask questions in my mid-story then I might lose track of what I'm saying. You can reserve your questions for later, but I will try my best to answer all the thoughts you might have in mind as I tell you the truth. Promise, the chronological order of stuff is important. And you don't want to mess the timeline. This is a fucking history lecture." He said and rolled his eyes.

"We're listening." June said, halata pa rin sa tono ng boses niya ang pagkairita.

Well, sa totoo lang kahit ako ay naiirita. Sa dami ng pinagdaanan namin, all this time siya lang pala ang hinahanap namin pero wala siyang ginawa kung hindi manood lang. Yes, I'm holding a grudge. In the end of the day, pinabayaan niya pa din kami. Pinabayaan niya si Twelve.

"You know Zen's parents right?"

Tumango ako, "Zonoid Gomez and Risa Wysteria."

"Exactly," he said. "As you know, Zen's parents lead the largest pharmaceutical company here in the Philippines. Not because they are just mere business tycoons, but also, they used to be an outstanding doctors and medical technologist. Do you know about this?"

Napatingin ako kay Zen, mukhang sa aming lima ay kami lang ni Hiro ang 'di nakakaalam nito. Zen answered with a small sigh.

"Mum and Dad used to practice medicine, but when they had me they retired from the field for some reasons and focused in building the corporation."

"At least you know they're former doctors. And I would understand if you didn't even wonder about the reason why would they retire. As far as things went, Risa and Zonoid avoided discussing this with you and your siblings. At all cost, they tried to keep the history in the past, but of course, they can never bury everything," sabi niya habang nakatingin sa malayo. "When they were still at their peak as medical savants, Risa and Zonoid became well known in the Southeast Asia as geniuses, attending lots of international conventions, meeting a lot of scientists, discovering medical advancements and etcetera. They were phenomenal, almost like someone you'll see in a history textbook, but they weren't alone. They were a team of three. They get to have Fiore Maldova with them."

Nanatili kami nakikinig sa kanya, pero napansin kong nag-iba ang ekspresyon ng mukha niya nung nabanggit niya ang pangalang Fiore Maldova. May bahid ng inis at lungkot, 'di ko alam kung alin 'don ang nararamdaman niya, pero nanatiling walang emosyon ang boses at mata niya. And Maldova...

"That's the surname we saw on that torn gazette," I murmured under my breath. Napatingin sa akin si Hiro at nanlaki din ang mga mata niya.

"Fuck, no shit."