Lost Sinister

Chapter 43

'Summoned by the Devil'

The night after that bloody mess, Baxter remembered. Silence covered the house. They would separately eat and avoided making noises. We would go straight to our classes and never spoke to each other. Matthew explained everything to Baxter since he forgot about what happened. And then silence covered us again.

Everyone avoided Walter.

Walter wanted to leave out of embarrassment, but I made him stay. It's only rightful of him to know how the team would feel after what he's done.

"Okay, Team Alpha. Wala pa rin ba si Jun?" tanong ni Sir Jez habang may hawak-hawak na plan board. "Royalty duties," tipid na sagot ni Milo habang nakatingin sa cellphone niya. Tumango naman ang lahat habang nakatingin lang ako kay Sir Jez.

"Very well, let's proceed. Hunters are attacking the—what's this?"

Saglit siyang tumigil at inilapit pa ang papel na binabasa niya sa mukha niya at inilayo ulit. It seemed like he was confused with what he was reading. "It's 'the entrance'. What does that mean?" tanong ni Sir Jez at tumingin sa amin.

"It's the entrance to hell," sagot ko dahilan para tumingin silang lahat sa akin. Huminga ako ng malalim.

"Hunters normally trash the entrance to hell since there are fresh demons and souls there. Hunters feed on souls," paliwanag ko habang hindi tinatanggal ang tingin ko kay Sir Jez. Tumango naman ang iba at ngumiti sa akin si Sir Jez.

"Very well, you know what to do. Take care of the Hunters. Kill if you must," utos ni Sir Jez at inayos ang mga papeles sa mesa niya. The word 'kill' ringed in my head. Hmm... kill.

"I'll be going now." huling sabi ni Sir Jez bago siya tuluyang umalis.

Tumayo ako at lumapit sa locker. Ganoon rin ang ginawa ng iba at isa-isa na kaming nagdamit. Tiningnan ko na lang ang picture na nakasabit sa likod ng locker ko. It was a polaroid photo of Team Alpha minus Seth, Vernon, and Joshua's appearance.

Sinara ko ang locker ko at inayos na ang suit ko tsaka umupo ulit sa sofa at naghintay na matapos sila sa ginagawa nila.

"Xin, how did you find out about it?" Jayden always had the guts to ask me even if I'm not in the mood. Jayden wouldn't care about moods because if he wanted to ask, he will ask, and nothing can stop him. Tumingin ako sa kanya at sa iba na nakikinig lang.

"In case you forgot, I was an assassin before I joined the team. Finding leads and clues are like paper games to me. It's so easy especially if clues are being left everywhere," sagot ko at kumuha na naman ng lollipop sa bulsa ko at binalatan ito tsaka nilagay sa bibig ko. Huminga ako ng malalim at tumingin sa whiteboard ng headquarters.

"Clues? Anong ibig mong sabihin?" tanong ni Dino nang umupo siya sa paanan ng sofa habang inaayos ang boots niya. Tiningnan ko siya habang tinatapik-tapik ang baril sa binti ko.

"Clues. Like how Miu remembers the team and how Lorisse knew where the Alpha House was."

Kumunot ang noo nila noong sinabi ko ang pangalan ni Lorisse. Mahina akong natawa. Ahh, little things really slip out of your mind when you're too busy looking at big things, huh? "Milo has a bad habit of ordering take outs and not telling the address," sabi ko at tiningnan si Milo. Agad namang napaawang ang bibig niya at tumango-tango pa.

I have been suspecting it since the first time Milo ordered from Jezzy Chicken and he said his name and what he would like to order. He didn't include the address, so I was expecting the shop to call again but then I was surprised that the chicken was already delivered. And surprisingly, it was delivered by Lorisse.