Infernum

↺ [17]

━━━━━━━━━━ ↺ [17]

"Everyone's a sinner,
then again, maybe not."

. . . . . . .

[ JENSEN ]

NO ONE left the room, abiding by Johannes' words. Magmula kanina, we just stayed here. We don't know how much time has passed. But nothing happened during the time that we stayed still inside the room.

Nakaupo kaming lahat sa mga bakanteng upuan. I sat a bit farther from everyone else. My gaze happened to fixate on Hideo who was silently knocking his knuckle on his table.

I couldn't help but wonder if he really knows the truth. He must have known, if not the whole truth, then probably a fragment of it. Kaya siguro galit na galit siya sa akin. He even saw me all bloodied up the night that Eurydice died.

Did Johannes really tell them?

"Hey..." I heard Jiro call me. From my periphery, nakita ko siyang tumayo sa tabi ko. "I need to talk to you."

Hindi ko siya pinansin. I just continued to sit and look down on the floor.

Jiro sighed. "Dude, please, speak up. Explain mo ang sarili mo. You can't keep being silent about this."

I showed him a bitter smirk.

"Ano ba'ng gusto mong marinig mula sa 'kin, Jiro, ha?" I couldn't hold back my annoyance.

"I want you to confirm kung totoo o hindi 'yong mga sinabi ni Hideo about sa 'yo. If you really..." Huminga siya nang malalim. "Everything that he said... was any of that true?"

I scoffed. "Kung magpapaliwanag ako ngayon, will anyone of you believe me?"

"If you could defend yourself, well, then yes."

I just clicked my tongue. And how would I do that? Ang dami nilang alam laban sa akin. Siguradong ako na ang ididiin nila ngayon.

"Were you the one who really—" Hindi na natapos si Jiro sa pagsasalita. I turned to look at him and there was an inexplicable expression on his face. He looked so conflicted and... betrayed.

Mas lalo akong nainis.

"What?" I couldn't stop the rage in my voice from coming out. "Was I the one who really killed Eurydice? Is that what you want to say?"

Napansin kong unti-unti nang napapalingon sa amin ang iba. I could feel Hideo's heavy gaze on me, but I just ignored him.

"Tigilan niyo 'yan," rinig kong awat sa amin ni Soren.

"Baka ikaw ang pumatay sa kaniya, Jiro," I said, finally standing up.

Jiro's eyebrows furrowed as his forehead creased. "Dude, don't put the blame on me. I'm just asking you since you never bothered telling Soren or me about anything. I thought we were friends. How come you're hiding so many secrets?"