Chapter 43: The Last of Augustus XIV (Epilogue)

133K 8.2K 9.4K
                                    

A/N: Tenth update in a row! To perfectly wrap up the "The Last of Augustus" arc, here's the epilogue!

Tama kaya ang theories n'yo sa previous update? Alamin!

Tama kaya ang theories n'yo sa previous update? Alamin!

Oops! Ang larawang ito ay hindi sumusunod sa aming mga alituntunin sa nilalaman. Upang magpatuloy sa pag-publish, subukan itong alisin o mag-upload ng bago.

LORELEI

AUGUSTUS' FACE haunted me that night. The way his widened eyes stared at me. The way his mouth was gaped. I may not have a strong memory like Jamie, pero nakikita ko pa rin ang mukha niya kapag pumipikit ako.

Nakaupo lang ako sa aming couch at nakatulala sa dartboard kung saan naka-pin pa rin ang butas-butas na photo ng late editor-in-chief. I was expecting that once we cornered him, he would cooperate with us and take down M's organization. Well, may kakaunti siyang na-share sa amin. He even admitted to us that Stein Alberts is M. However, he said that it wasn't as simple as it seemed.

Maybe the biggest question right now was who killed Augustus in the board room? I saw a red dot on his neck. Hindi ko masabi kung related ba 'yon sa pagkamatay niya. Maybe that was an insect bite? Or maybe that was the spot where he was pricked with a needle laced with poison.

What terrifies me was not how he died, but who were with me when he took his last breath. Kung nilason sa labas ng board room si Augustus, there could be a hundred of suspects. Pero kung sa loob siya nilason, the suspect list could be narrowed down to seven people: Me, Jamie, Alistair, Luthor, Maggie, Rye and Professor Jim Morayta.

"So only the seven of you were here when he collapsed on the floor?" the chief of the campus police asked me when they arrived at the scene. It's been a while since I last saw Inspector Morgan Morales. Last week, noong solidarity night, nahagilap ko lang ang mukha niya mula sa malayo. There hasn't been crimes lately in Clark High kaya madalang na lang namin siya makita.

He shook his head the moment na makita niya ako sa board room. Remember that he banned us from going to crime scenes. Ayaw niyang ma-involve kami sa mga imbestigasyon. Unfortunately, today, we didn't go to the crime scene. We were already in it.

Nanginginig pa rin ang mga kamay ko. I tried to firmly clasp them together, but the shaking wouldn't stop. For the last time, I saw Augustus' body being carried on a stretcher and covered by a white cloth. He was brought out of the room.

"Given your experience in amateur crime scene investigation, why didn't you contain the suspects in this room? Why did you let them go out for a while?" tanong ni Inspector Morales. "I don't wanna assume yet that one of you did it, but if that's the case, you have given the culprit a chance to throw any incriminating evidence."

Teka, bakit parang kasalanan ko? "I thought we could still save him! That's why I asked them to call for help. Dapat po ba tumayo na lang kami at pinanood siyang mangisay sa sahig?"

What happened was unexpected. Shocking. My instinct told me to try to save Augustus from dying. To call for help. I was hoping that we could stop death from taking him from us. He was about to tell us something about M!

Project LOKI ③Tahanan ng mga kuwento. Tumuklas ngayon