━━━━━━━━━━ ↺ [13]
"We always reap what we sow"
. . . . . . .
[ JIRO ]
EVERYTHING IS messed up — that's what I kept thinking while looking at my friends. There was a noticeable distance between us. Jensen, Hideo, and Nyle were a few steps away from us. I saw my friends fight a lot before, but this time, I could see na they're really doubting one another.
"Pakyu, Nyle! Ano ba'ng pinagsasasabi mo?!" Johan groaned. Hinila ko lang ang braso niya para awatin siya.
He looks so frustrated about this whole thing. He's doing everything he can just to keep us whole. But right now, the group seems to be finally falling apart.
"Kuya, think about it! Hindi na tumunog ang alarm last cycle. Tumutunog lang 'yon kapag pinapatay tayo ng halimaw. Kung hindi 'yon tumunog, ibig sabihin hindi halimaw ang pumatay sa 'tin! It all makes sense!" Nyle declared, looking at Hideo desperately.
"Wow. I don't—" Johan raised his hands, an unamused expression plastered on his face. "You know what — Wow. Just wow. Ayoko na lang mag-talk. Pakshet." He stared at everyone like he was so done with everything before sitting on a vacant chair near us.
"Nyle, we're telling the truth. It was the monster that killed us last cycle. It used Silas' face. Johan and I saw Silas' corpse in the CR's cubicle. When we met back then sa pool area, the 'Silas' that you and Hideo were with was the Red Man," I explained. "Please, listen to us."
"That makes sense..." Jensen looked at us with furrowed eyebrows. "The 'Silas' that killed me didn't feel like it was really Silas. There was something odd about him. It wasn't the same Silas I knew."
"Also—" Johan clapped to get our attention. "Hindi niyo ba napansin? Jensen, tinawag akong 'Johannes' no'ng Silas na kasama natin no'n. Never akong ni-real name basis ni Silas kahit magsakalan pa kami kapag nag-aaway. Doon pa lang sa CR, nakaramdam na ako na parang may mali. 'Di ko naman alam na posibleng napalitan na pala ang best friend ko ng bwakanangshet na halimaw na 'yon."
Soren took a deep breath and faced us. Napansin kong he hid Silas behind him. "Maniwala kayo sa 'min. Nakikita ko na kung bakit ginamit ng halimaw na 'yon ang mukha ni Sil — It was to make us lose our trust at each other. Gusto niya tayong pag-awayin. Mukhang gumana naman dahil tingnan niyo tayo ngayon. Please, don't let this place destroy us."
Hideo sighed while Jensen lowered his head. I saw Johan smirked at what Soren said. Silas just watched us helplessly. Meanwhile, Nyle only stared at us in disbelief.
"No one in this group will hurt us," Johan said. "Magkakaibigan tayong lahat. Pa'no niyo nagawang isipin na kaya nating saktan ang isa't isa?"
Umiwas ng tingin ang lahat.
"It's not enough." Nyle suddenly shook his head and turned to Jensen. "Kuya Je, what if alibi lang nila 'to? Ginagamit nila 'tong pagkakaibigan natin para mapaniwala tayo sa pinagsasasabi nila! They're manipulating us—"
Nagulat kami nang biglang ibinato ni Johan ang inuupuan niya papunta sa board. Out of a sudden, the feedback from the speaker started. The alarm blared through the whole room too accompanied with red lights scattered all over the darkness.
Everyone covered their ears, except for Johan who marched towards the door. He opened it, stopping the alarm. I flinched when he suddenly slammed it shut after.
"Pakshet! Ano na?! Mag-aaway pa ba? O habulan na? Tangina! Ano?!" he screamed.
"J-Joh, kalma..." Lumapit sa kaniya si Silas but he just continued to stare at everyone, especially Nyle, with an exasperated look on his face.
"Nyle, kahit gawin pa akong punching bag ni Hideo, kailangan ko 'tong masabi sa 'yo ngayon." Johan took a deep, long breath. Nagulat kami nang tinaasan niya ng middle finger si Nyle. "Pakyu, motherfuckeeeer! Tropa kita pero shut the fuck up! Tangina ka! 'Di ka nakakatulong sa sitwasyon! Sabing inosente nga kami! Delusyonal kang hayop ka, gawa-gawa ka d'yan ng kwento! Continental pakyu, bitch!"
Johan said a lot more after that pero pinili ko na lang na lapitan siya at pakalmahin tulad ni Silas. But of course, Nyle isn't someone who just gives up during an argument. Next thing we know, both of them were already raising their middle fingers while cursing at each other.
"Tumigil kayo!"
Silence enveloped when Soren's scream filled the whole room. We all turned to look at him and to our surprise, he brought out printed pictures from a folder. Inilapag niya ito sa desk na malapit sa amin dahilan para muli naming makita ang mga ito — the seven pictures that he showed us last cycle.
"Tigilan na natin 'to. Umamin na ang mga dapat umamin."
I gulped, so did everyone else.
Soren grabbed a picture at ipinakita ito sa 'min. It was the seventh photo — the black one. "Hindi ako sigurado kung ano'ng ibig sabihin ng litrato na 'to, pero ia-assume ko na para 'to sa walang alam kung ano'ng nangyayari. I'll claim this as my picture because I have no idea what the hell is going on."
Bago pa may makapagsalita sa 'min, he suddenly raised the first picture "Kung hindi ako nagkakamali, kay Johannes ang painting na 'to. Ito 'yong painting na sinabing ninakaw ni Eurydice para sa contest na sinalihan nilang dalawa."
My eyes met with Johan's. He shook his head. All I could do was swallow hard.
He sighed. "Oo, tama ka. So that must be my picture kasi akin 'yang painting na 'yan. Nanakaw lang."
"Teka lang!" Nyle stared at Johan and Soren, forehead creased and eyebrows furrowed. "Masyado naman sigurong obvious kung sa 'yo nga 'yang picture na 'yan? At ikaw, Soren, I refuse to believe that that picture belongs to you. What would we know kung may ginawa ka na palang katarantaduhan. Baka nga may kinalaman ka sa nangyari kay Eury—"
"Walang ginagawa si Soren," Silas defended, but Nyle just scoffed.
"Sinasabi niyo lang 'yan kasi magkakakampi kayo. For all we know, maraming alam si Johannes pero hindi niya lang sinasabi kasi pinoprotektahan niya kayo — kasi may ginawa kayong mali."
"Nyle," Hideo scolded him, even grabbing him by the arm.
But Nyle didn't stop. He just grinned as he watched Johan staring back at him in silence. "Oh, ba't ka nanahimik? Tama ako, ano? May kinalaman kayong lahat sa nangyari sa babaeng 'yon. You probably know who really killed her, ayaw mo lang sabihin. Handa kang mahirapan tayo nang paulit-ulit para lang protektahan 'yang mga kaibigan mong mamamatay-tao!"
Binalot kaming lahat ng katahimikan. Everyone looked at Johan who had his head hanging low, staring mindlessly at the ground. Out of a sudden, nag-angat siya ng tingin kay Nyle.
"Gusto mong sabihin ko ang nalalaman ko? Sige." He grabbed a picture and showed it to everyone. "This is your picture, Nyle."
Nyle's eyes widened, his face contorted in pure shock. Nakita ko kung paano siya namutla habang nakatingin sa litratong hawak ni Johan.
It was the second photo — the one that went viral because it was Eurydice kissing another guy.
"H-How..." Nyle couldn't even finish his words.
"I know more than you can ever think of, Nyle." Johan smirked. "'Wag na 'wag mo akong susubukan."
━━━━━━━━━━
[ JENSEN ]
THE WHOLE room fell silent upon hearing Johannes' revelation. Napatingin ako kay Nyle na tulala pa rin, gulat at hindi makapaniwala. He was so caught off guard that his silence was already speaking volumes.
I looked at Johannes and there was still a smug look on his face.
He really does know everything.
"Ano'ng ibig mong sabihin, Johannes?" Hideo asked, face contorted with confusion. Then, he glanced at the picture then to Nyle. "Paanong naging litrato 'to ng kapatid ko? Ano'ng alam niyo?"
Hindi umimik si Nyle at yumuko lang. Hideo looked at Johannes but he just rolled his eyes and sat down. Napasinghal na lang si Hideo dahil sa reaksyon ng mga ito.
"Tangina. 'Yan, d'yan kayo magaling. Ang gagaling niyong magbatuhan ng mga salitang wala namang patutunguhan. Tuwang-tuwa kayo na nagmumukha kaming tanga dito na walang alam," Hideo grumbled as he snatched the second photo from Johannes' hand.
For a split second, Johannes and I glanced at one another.
I heaved a deep breath before facing everyone. "Let's all calm down, okay? Clearly, we won't get somewhere if we just keep on fighting. We need to think—"
Hindi ko na natapos ang sinasabi ko nang biglang tumawa nang mahina si Hideo. I turned to look at him and saw the sly smirk on his lips.
"Makapagsalita, huh?" he said with an obvious hint of sarcasm.
My eyebrows furrowed. "What does that mean?"
He scoffed and leaned his back on the wall. "Ibig sabihin no'n, tantanan mo 'yang pag-arte mo na akala mo ikaw 'tong boss namin. Hindi ka namin leader, Jensen—"
"That's not what I'm—"
"Student leader ka, oo. Top student ka sa buong university, oo. Pero hindi ibig sabihin no'n na ikaw ang aaktong parang boss naming lahat. Tigilan mo 'yang kakaganyan mo. Nakakasuka."
"Hideo, ano ba'ng problema mo?"
"Ikaw! Tangina. Ang plastik mo. Bait-baitan ka sa harap ng maraming tao pero napakadami mong itinatagong baho—"
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
Instead of answering, Hideo just clicked his tongue. He looked away from me, but there was a bitter smirk on his lips.
I've known him ever since we were kids. He was always hot-tempered and reckless. In fact, we were the total opposites. He was chaos personified, while I was the one who always tried to bring peace to a room.
But despite our differences, he was still my friend. Kaibigan ko siya. Parang kapatid ko na siya. But as we grew up, things between us drastically changed.
I don't know when it started, but he'd always look at me with so much hate in his eyes.
Hindi ko alam kung dahil ba sa kaniya kaya kami nagkaganito ng taong halos ituring ko nang sariling kapatid.
"Ano 'yon? Ano'ng alam mo, Hideo?" Soren asked, looking back and forth at the two of us. Kahit ang iba, tahimik lang kaming pinapanood.
Umiwas lang ng tingin si Hideo mula sa kaniya. Soren grunted in frustration.
"Oh, tamo! Ang lakas mong magalit na walang umaamin pero ikaw mismo, ayaw mong sabihin kung ano'ng alam mo!" Soren shouted in a fit of frustration.
Hideo clicked his tongue again and glanced at Nyle. On the other hand, I looked over to Johannes who was watching us with a confused expression.
Bigla kong naalala ang sinabi ni 'Silas' sa akin.
Did Johannes really tell them about it? Or did the Red Man just lied so it can make me doubt him?
"Jensen, ano ba'ng sinasabi ni Hideo? Kung gusto ninyong matapos na 'to, sabihin niyo na ang alam niyo!" Soren said, looking so desperate. I quickly looked away from when his lifeless face last cycle flashed in my mind.
"I don't know what he's talking about."
I heard Hideo chuckle sarcastically. "Hindi mo alam kung ano'ng ginawa mo?"
Bigla akong tinamaan ng matinding kaba.
"Di, what are you—"
Hideo suddenly raised the picture that he grabbed from Johannes. My eyes widened when I finally pieced together what he was trying to say.
"This isn't Nyle's picture," he said. "This is Jensen's."
Everyone looked at me, confusion written on their faces.
I gulped.
I saw Hideo's lips curve into a bitter smirk.
"He was the one that Eurydice cheated on me with."
. . . . . . .