I feel like everyone is sounding like Dominic but there is within me telling that it's just manipulation or some works of technology. Hindi naman kalumaan itong school na ito para maiwan sa kalumaan ng panahon.
"Ganda," halos madapa ako nang may pumatong na mabigat na kamay sa balikat ko.
Tinignan ko siya at pinaikutan ng mata. "Why again?"
"Wala lang. Hindi ba puwedeng miss lang kita?" Aniya saka inangat nang ilang beses ang kilay. "Hell week na next week."
"Ah, oo nga pala, examination na," tugon ko at habang siya ay nakakunot ang noo. "Bakit?"
"Walang exam dito," aniya. "Hell week means death, ganda."
"Could you please stop calling me ganda?"
"Okay," aniya saka inilayo ang kamay sa balikat ko at humarap sa akin. Nasa balcony kami natapat kung saan nakikita namin ang maraming estudyanteng naglalakad paroo't parito. "Sabi ko nga hell week means death. Killing is allowed on this campus, huwag ka lang papahuli sa awtoridad," blangko lang akong nakatingin sa kaniya habang hinihintay ang bawat salitang kaya niyang ibigkas. "Sa hell week, malaya ang lahat na pumatay kahit pa sa harapan namin, kahit pa sa harapan ng mga instructors."
"That is totally insane," I gasped a breath and tried to calm myself down. "This place is insane."
He looked down on those students who were walking. "Everyone must be involved."
"You mean, we have to kill someone because we must?" He nodded. "Kahit na ayaw ng taong pumatay?!"
"Calm down, ganda. Kung galit ka sa taong ma-assign sa 'yo, that means okay lang sa 'yo na mabura siya sa mundo. If not, you have to face it unless you're going to catch death for him," napalunok ako ng laway at napatingin sa kisame, pinipigilan ang luha ko.
"We shouldn't have decided to go to this place. Baka mamaya, mga kaibigan ko pa ang ma-assign sa akin, hindi ko kaya iyon at hindi ko rin kayang harapin ang kamatayan. Duwag ako. Wala ka bang magagawa para i-postpone muna iyan kahit ngayon lang?"
"Dahil sa distribution of maps, dumarami ang population ng school since walang nakalalabas ng buhay. Lewis and instructors had to come up with this idea of killing so that it'll lessen the numbers of students. We do this twice a year," his face is so calm like he isn't scared at all.
"Aren't you scared?"
"By just standing beside Lewis? No."
"Pati rin ba kayo bibigyan ng person na papatayin?"
"No. We are assigned to dispose of the dead bodies."
"Hindi ka ba kinikilabutan? Nababahiran na kayo ng dugo. Paano na lang kung biglang mabuwag itong lugar na ito at paghuhulihin kayong lahat? Una sa lahat, nasa bansa pa rin kayo kung nasaan may batas at patakaran. Pangalawa, hindi habang-buhay nakatayo itong paaralan na ito," I explained.
"Wala pang nakabubuwag ng lugar na ito, ganda. Kahit pa may mga nagtangkang gawin iyong pero hindi sila nagtatagumpay kaya't huwag mo na rin naisin because all of them are dead now. Because of their ambitious hopes, they were killed."
"Paano kung mamatay si Lewis?"
"That is... quite possible. Since may grupong nagmamanman sa mga galaw namin."
"Iyong ba iyong Los Leones?" Kaagad niyang tinakpan ang bibig ko at nagtingin-tingin sa paligid.
"Huwag na huwag mong babanggitin iyan sa public, baka marinig ka ng isa sa kanila," bulong niya at napatingin ako sa kaniya. That's the time I realized that we were too close to each other - it was an inch distance between our noses.
He let go of my mouth so I fixed my face.
"Now, my mind asks a lot of questions that need an answer right at this moment," I whispered and left him there.
Sobrang dami kong nalaman kay Axel ngayon pero hindi pa rin sapat. Dahil nga paparating na ang Hell Week, I should decide as soon as possible kung sasama ako sa kanila.
I went straight to the library after conversing with him and to my surprise, there was no student there. Maybe because real study doesn't matter here.
Gusto ko lang mapayapa kahit saglit lang, kahit dito na lang dahil namomroblema ako sa paparating na literal na hell week. Depucha ng mga imbento ng mga ganitong bagay na hindi naman dapat.
Distribution of maps? Utot nila, magdi-distribute ng maps tapos papatayin lang din dito sa loob dahil sa dumaraming population. In the first place, hindi na sana sila nag-distribute. Nampapahamak pa sila ng tao.
Because of Lewis' disappearance case... we are here.
"I heard you with Axel talking about Hell week and other things?" Napaangat kaagad ako ng tingin sa babaeng nagsalita sa harapan ko.
Naka-glass siya with her books on her arms - like a regular student here.
"What do you care about?" I ignored her by rolling my eyes.
"I am Leah, nice to meet you," she gave me her hand but I just stared at it, raising one of my brows. She sat. "I was thinking if you need legit information about this place."
"What is it?"
"Kung anumang sasabihin ko sa 'yo, huwag sanang makalalabas kahit sa pinakamalapit mo pang kaibigan," she whispered so I nodded.
"You can count on me."
"This is Lewis' place but before it was his father's," she looked at her back when someone entered the library so she dragged me to the corner of the library, away from everyone. "Plano talagang magtayo ng paaralan ng mga Yasay but the government didn't agree with it so they abandoned this place."
"How come?"
"You cannot support education when the government disagrees with it," she answered. "I know, you came here because of Lewis' case outside, that he went missing since 2012."
I nodded. "My friend, Tammy drove us to this adventure."
"He rebelled in his family and went to this place as their failed project and lived this into a chaotic one. I don't know the reason why he rebelled. He started to distribute maps after 5 years of his disappearance because he thinks that it might drive them to their curiosity and go to his place. He likes to read mysteries and action stories so he came up with an idea of setting this place as a free place where you can do whatever you want that you cannot outside - killing, one of them."
Her information is helpful but a lot of loopholes.
"How can I trust you with this information?" I whispered and she held my hand.
"I was once their secretary. Higit na mas nauna ako sa 'yo ng limang taon pero pinalitan nila ako nang ma-in love si Lewis kay Juliette but she abused the power she has," I blinked a lot of times.
"Iba talaga ang nagagawa ng pag-ibig," bulong ko. "Available pa rin ba ang secretary position? Because they are asking me to be with them, to be safe."
"If you want to gather information about leaving this place, that might help you but if you don't want to get into a war, then don't. I know that you are aware of Los Leones, they are the threat in Lewis' life. Naghahanap na lang sila ng kahinaan ni Lewis gayong hindi gagana kung sasaktan nila ang mga kaibigan nito na sila Axel at Dominic dahil wala naman talagang pake si Lewis sa kanila dahil lubhang matatapang ang mga iyon. Kaya nilang makipaglaban."
"What do you mean by war?"
"Los Leones is just preparing for the war against Lewis. Gusto nilang mapabagsak si Lewis kahit na kapalit nito ay buhay, basta lang makita nilang mamatay at manalaytay sa sarili niyang dugo ay ayos na sa kanila. Mag-ingat ka, dahil mga estudyante lang din sila dito. If you want to stay away from dying then don't go near Lewis."
"Ano pa bang ganap ng Los Leones bukod sa mapatay nila si Lewis?"
"Ang mapabagsak ang lugar na ito at maalman ng awtoridad sa labas ang tungkol sa lugar na ito at balita ko at wala pang namamatay na kahit isang miyembro nito kahit na may hell week na nagaganap."
"Kapag ba sumanib ako sa kanila, tiyak ang kaligtasan ko? At reserved na ako as makalalabas ng buhay dito?"
"Hindi. Huwag na huwag kang aanib sa kanila dahil baka gawin kang pain, alam kong ayaw mong pumatay."
"E, sa darating na hell week, may maia-advise ka ba sa akin? I'm very scared that week."
"Wala. Kailangan mo lang mapatay ang naka-assign sa iyo kun 'di ikaw ang mamamatay."
"Now I know how weird this place seems. Pero, Axel and Dominic told me na kapag sumama ako sa kanila ay tiyak ang kaligtasan ko at ng mga friends ko."
"Don't believe them."
I don't know what her purpose in my life is but thankfully, Leah's here to give me some of the information that I need to know as a living human in this place.
"Be careful. Alam kong kapag marami kang alam, mas nasa panganib ang buhay mo kaya mag-iingat ka, ha. Thank you also for sharing this with me," sambit ko sa kaniya habang hinihimas ang kamay niya then hugged her.
"Mag-iingat ako," her words made me feel at ease.
It's already night and I'm still thinking about the hell week. Hindi ko alam kung anong gagawing pagtakas o pagtago ang kailangan namin para lang hindi kami makapatay o mamatay. And as I know, maraming excited na mangyari ito dahil kabi-kabila ang mga awayan.
And Los Leones? What are they really? Sila ba iyong mga lumalabas lang kapag lagpas 7 pm? Iyong muntik nang pumatay sa akin n'ong bago pa lang ako? That time when I met Axel?
And those thoughts made my sense better that I saw in my peripheral vision, someone passed my window, casually wearing a uniform. My brows furrowed as I watched her walk in the dark... Alone.
Curiosity drove me to follow her and as I was walking behind her, she seemed familiar to me. She entered the darkest room I've ever seen aside from the detention where they cut my hair.
I still followed her until she reached her destination. There, a light and a man who's also wearing a uniform but also a mask. He pulled a knife that seemed familiar to me - a black knife with a letter L in it.
The woman I had followed looked beside her and there I saw her face and it was...
"Tammy!" I shouted without even thinking.
People in the room looked at me synchronized and there I felt the shivers in my body, crawling. I couldn't utter a word as Tammy kept her eyes on me. It felt like I froze in my place.
"Who are you?" The man under the torch asked me with his monotone voice.
"T-That woman is... m-my f-friend," I even stuttered as I answered because of the fear.
"Are you also joining?"
Joining? That means... This is the place of Los Leones?
"Are you Los Leones?" I asked but he just sighed so I took it as a yes.
"What you see, what you hear, leave it here," he muttered.
I was planning to spill the tea pa naman kay Lewis about their kuta but I guess, once I open my mouth, that'll be the end of me.
"Sorry for the invasion but I was concerned about my friend," I spoke.
"No one cares," he said then nodded to the man in front of Tammy. Kinuha niya ang kutsilyong may ukit ng L sa hawakan nito at sinugatan sa braso si Tammy.
Her voice echoed in the whole room because of pain perhaps. I covered my mouth, as I saw her knelt on the ground, tearing. I wanted to run but Los Leones covered the whole exit area. Hindi ako maaaring mapabilang sa kanila.
Hindi pwede.
"You're next?" The man I talked to earlier asked and I nodded aggressively.
Samantalang ang lalaking sumugat kay Tammy ay naglakad na papalapit sa akin kaya nagpasimula akong humakbang paatras but their team mates blocked my way and even held me to not escape.
"I told you! I was just passing by when I saw my friend here! I don't have the intention of joining your cult!" I shouted again and again as the man approached me.
Tumingin ako kay Tammy nang may nagmamakaawang tingin pero she seems unbothered. Pinapanood niya lang akong ma-trap dito.
Maybe, kapag wala na akong takas ay hanggang dito na lang? Aanib na lang siguro ako sa kanila para wala nang gulo and half of me is sure that they will protect me next week.
But, as the knife slowly approached me, a hand blocked its way and the blood started to droop on my feet. My eyes were widened because of surprise but my soul left my body when I saw him.
"Nicho?"