Anathema

May 4, 2019

Okay. Pinayagan ako ni Mama na pumunta sa party kasama si Dodge.

But only if I promise that I'll be home before 11 PM.

Fair enough.

Since I'll be going to a place where the populars dwell, I need to look the part. Good thing Dodge came over to help.

He let me borrow his black leather jacket so that I can wear it on top of my plain white shirt. Then I put on my black pants and sneakers. I also used hair wax (which I rarely do, by the way) to style my hair.

By 7pm, handa na kami ni Dodge para sa party. Kailangan na lang namin maghintay kay Mama para makaalis na kami. Hindi ko kasi pwedeng iwan si Marty dito nang mag-isa at baka kung ano pa ang mangyari sa kanya.

Para magpalipas ng oras, nahiga si Dodge sa kama ko at naglaro ng mobile game. Ako naman, kinuha ko itong diary para magsulat.

"Woah, nagsusulat ka pa rin diyan?" hindi makapaniwalang tanong ni Dodge nang makita niya kung anong ginagawa ko.

"Project natin 'to, diba?" tanong ko sa kanya pabalik, in a sarcastic way.

"Alam ko," sagot niya. "Pero iniisip mo ba talaga na hindi ibibigay 'yung report cards natin kapag hindi tayo nagpasa niyan?"

Well, alam ko naman na mare-release 'yung report cards namin, no matter what. Pero ewan ko ba. Parang medyo nagugustuhan ko na rin na magsulat dito sa diary. Pakiramdam ko kasi, may interesado na malaman ang mga nangyayari sa bawat araw ng buhay ko. Like a true friend.

Ang drama ko nanaman.

Hanggang dito na lang muna. Isusulat ko na lang 'yung mga nangyari sa party pag-uwi ko mamaya. That is, if something interesting happens.

Ciao.

*****

Hey, I'm back.

The party was uneventful.

The interesting part is what happened after.

Since hindi rin naman ako makasabay sa mga pinag-uusapan ng mga um-attend, nagpaalam na ko kay Dodge para umuwi. Hindi naman niya ako pinigilan. Probaby because he was too busy stuffing his tongue inside Maricar Fajardo's mouth.

9 PM na nu'ng lumabas ako ng venue. Nagdesisyon ako na sumakay ako ng bus para makarating sa subdivision namin. I immediately wished that I took a cab instead.

Standing only sa bus na nasakyan ko. Every stop, padagdag nang padagdag 'yung mga pasaherong sumasakay. Grabe, sobrang hirap talagang mag-commute dito sa Pilipinas. Sana gumawa ng paraan ang gobyerno natin para mabawasan ang struggle ng mga commuters.

What was supposed to be a 10-minute drive turned out to be almost an hour of agony. What do you expect? Sobra ang traffic, eh. You'd think na dahil summer vacation ngayon, mababawasan ang mga private vehicles na gumagamit ng highway? Well, you're wrong.

After the agonizing trip, sa wakas ay nakarating na rin ako sa Eagle Homes. Muntik na akong mapa-"thank you, Lord" nang makalabas ako sa bus at nakalanghap ng hangin. Even the polluted air tasted good for my struggling lungs.

May mga tricycle drivers pa na naghahanap ng pasahero sa labas ng subdivision, pero parang trip kong maglakad. After a party with pretentious people and a suffocating bus right, I could use some air.

Kaya naglakad ako.

It was already past 10, so naturally, most of the folks living here were already snuggled up inside the comforts of their home. I was not scared to walk alone, though. The street lights are lit, CCTVs were up and running, and one of the reasons why my Mama chose this place as our residence was because of the low crime rate here.

I silently trudged the paved road, expertly navigating the maze-like turns of the streets. Finally, nakarating ako sa Rizal, ang pinakadulong street ng Eagle Homes, kung saan nakatayo ang 2-storey Victorian-style na bahay namin.

The last lit-up streetlight is situated on top of a pole beside Mr. Harold's house. After that, almost-complete darkness. Hindi na kailangan pang pailawin pa nila ang mga streetlights pagkatapos ng bahay ni Mr. Harold, dahil mga bakanteng lote na ang kasunod nu'n. Magsasayang lang ng kuryente ang may-ari ng subdivision.

Tumigil ako sa paglalakad sa tapat ng bahay namin, habang sinusubukang silipin kung bukas pa ang ilaw sa loob. Baka kasi gising pa si Mama at hinihintay akong dumating.

I took a step towards our house, but something stopped me cold.

You see, I'm not scared to be alone outside at night. As I've mentioned earlier, the crime rate in this community is low, almost non-existent. But at that moment, it was like my heart was gripped by fear, squeezing slowly until I cannot breathe anymore.

There, on the left dark side of his own house, Mr. Harold was holding an axe, hacking at a figure on the ground. It was too dark to see, but I swore I saw the figure twitching. And I can hear it whimpering.

Out of fear, I involuntarily took a step back, accidentally knocking over a trash can.

Mr. Harold looked up at me, his eyes almost shining in the dark. He looked at me which such predatory hunger, his smile slowly turning up into a sneer.

Kumaripas ako ng takbo papunta sa bahay. Nanginginig pa ang mga kamay ko, pero nagawa kong ipasok ang susi sa door knob. Nang makapasok ako, itinulak ko pasara ang pinto at siniguro na naka-lock ito.

Napaupo ako sa sahig dahil hindi na kinaya ng tuhod ko ang labis na panginginig. Until now, even as I write this, I can't seem to shake off the feeling. Pakiramdam ko nalulunod na ako sa takot.

Ano 'yung tinataga ni Mr. Harold kanina? Posible kayang...tao iyon?

Nope. I will not let my mind wander there. Mr. Harold might be weird, but I'm sure that he's not a killer.

Or is he?

I probably won't be able to sleep tonight, after seeing what I saw. But I gotta try, right?