REMEMBER ME?

“Hon,” I said to Raphael when we were already on the bus, going back to Manila.

He had his eyes closed but I knew he was awake.

“May I know how your parents died?” I noticed on their tombstones that they died on the same date, February 14.

He slowly opened his eyes. I had no idea if it was just an illusion but he had that sinister grin before he answered. Even though it was just momentary, it sprouted a doubt in my system.

“They killed each other.” He laid his head on my shoulder, which he usually hates to do. “It’s really good to be free, hon,” he added in a low voice.

My heart suddenly kicked hard in my rib cage but I didn’t know why. With it, the family picture I saw in my nightmare last night and what Lola Remy said dawned on me.

“Don’t let yourself be deceived by him. He’s deluding you. Help our grandson.”

I turned my head to look at Raphael, whose head was still resting on my shoulder. Never had he called me that endearment before. I already noticed this sudden change in him—or was I just getting crazy?

I closed my eyes. A few moments later and I felt that cold air that passed by me.

“Sweety…” My eyes flew open because of that whisper.

“Raphael?” I exclaimed in a hushed tone. I looked at him. He still had his eyes closed like he hadn’t heard me. Maybe it was because he was in a deep sleep.

I took my cellphone from my backpack pocket that was beside me. I captured a picture of him that I will use to tease him. He hated it whenever I took a picture of him while he was asleep. When I was done, I checked each picture that I took. There were five of them. However, my brows furrowed when I noticed that I was clearly captured in all the pictures while Raphael was blurry.

I suddenly recalled what Lola Remy and I were talking about when we were left alone earlier, before Raphael and his grandfather went out to get a tricycle for us to ride out of their barrio. I felt Lola Remy’s doubts until she told me the story.

Raphael’s parents usually fought when he was yet in high school. But there was a night when none of their neighbors heard them fight. Three days later, a postman smelled the sickening stench at their house. The police were called and arrived then. And there, they found Raphael’s mother’s body in the toilet, hanging by a rope. On the other hand, his father was found in a sack, buried near the guava tree. They found Raphael in a room. He was huddling in a corner. They could not talk to him like he was traumatized.

“When my husband and I came here, we noticed the big change in him. He isn’t the same Raphael who was used to talking to people…”

“What do you mean by that, Lola Remy?” I asked with my brows furrowed.

“He was like Ramel, his twin brother who was gay.”

Raphael hadn’t mentioned to me that he had a twin brother, so I was surprised by that revelation.

“Since that incident, we have never seen Ramel. Raphael hadn’t said anything about his brother’s whereabouts. Since he was little, Raphael had a slight mental problem. Because there was no evidence that could point to Raphael that he committed the crime—especially with his condition, he was admitted in to a mental hospital. Less than six months later, he was better and we took him in. My husband and I decided to live here with him. But as time went by, we saw Ramel in him—our quiet and timid grandson.”

I hugged myself and looked at Raphael again. He was still asleep. Then I felt that coldness. It was like someone suddenly embraced me, which I could not understand.

I shut my eyes, trying to sleep too because we were still far from our destination.

“He killed our parents. He will kill me… but I killed him. Help me to get back to my own body, Annie…” Raphael entreated as he cried in front of me. I was trying to hold him but I couldn’t.

“In his bedroom… under his bed…” he told me over and over again, while he was getting farther and farther away from me, with tears in his eyes.

That moment, I awoke. I felt the tears wet my eyes. Confused, I looked at Raphael who was already awake and was staring at me. Then I saw how the corners of his lips lift into a chilling smile.

“Remember me?” he coldly asked as his sharp eyes bored into my face. It was so creepy that it gave me a chill to the bone.

The end.