"Wait a second." Leon excused himself. Hindi pa pala namin naisasarado ang pintuan kaya nilock na rin niya ito.
"Eva-"
"If hindi kayo 'yung mga nakasama ko, how come the Trix there had the key to their Villa?" Tanong ko sakanila. They gave me a worrying look while Trix gasped as she held her chest.
"Eva, don't you remember? I gave you the key 2 weeks ago. Ikaw ang nagbukas nun!" Trix answered.
"What? Ikaw kaya nag-buka—"
"So the drug is still in effect huh? Kaya hindi mo talaga maalala lahat ng nangyari?" Pagputol ni Vince sa sagot ko. This is so complicated! I learned from attorney that a drug was found inside my body... But I didn't know that it is still there!
"P-pero hindi ba tinanggal ng mga doktor ang sinasabi niyong drug noong inexamine ako? Shouldn't they remove this dr-"
"Eva, for god's sake, we already told you that someone out there is messing with us! Minamanipula nila lahat!" Pia shouted habang hawak-hawak ang kanyang sentido.
"T-teka... Ano ang motibo nung mga nasa likod nito... at ba't di kayo nagpakita sa lahat para malaman nilang hindi ako pumatay?!" This time, ako nanaman ang sumigaw sakanila. They could have been great evidences para mapatunayan na hindi ako guilty!
"Dumb girl. Kung magpapakita kami then there would be media everywhere. Might I remind you na convicted rin kami from other places far from here. We only got out cause Leon saved us. Apparently, ineffective na ang drug sa kanya. Same with us... Yung sayo lang ang hindi." Trix with her annoyed tone.
"Wait... oh god, how am I supposed to believe all this!" I screamed as I grabbed strands of hair out of frustration. "But still... If we all go out together, it would clear our names! Kasi makikita nilang lahat tayo buhay!"
"Mag-isip ka nga Eva! It would only make things worse. Kasi alam mo anong magiging resulta nun sa media? It would be, the international model Eve and her friends murdered 6- scratch that! 42 people! Cause we really did kill people Eva!" Trix retorted.
"Ba't niyo ba ako sinisigawan?! Nagtatanong lang rin naman ako ah?" I angrily asked kaya pumagitna sa amin sina Leon at Vince.
"Hindi kami galit Eva. We just want you to realize na kahit anong gawin natin, we'll still be at fault. Kahit self-defense pa man yan o ano, tayo parin ang lagot. Eva Marie Salazar, the fact that they managed to intrude your lab result and paid our conviction, hindi magiging imposible sakanila na manipulahin ang lahat, ang batas laban sa atin." Sunod-sunod na sagot ni Trix, but calmer. "Do you get our point?" I merely nodded.
"Good. Ngayon, ang tanging magagawa lang natin ay hanapin ang katotohanan. Hanapin ang mga nasa likod nito. And we sure as hell know that the law will not help us. We don't have anything except eachother." Pia concluded.
"And Eva, in order to find the truth, we need you to remember what hapenned that night." Halos bumulong na si Sue.
Knock Knock Knock
Si Leon na ang nag-ayang tingnan kung sino ang kumakatok but then agad rin siyang bumalik saamin.
"Nandito na sila." Tila nagmamadaling bigkas niya.
"What?! Let's go!" Hinila ako ni Trix and made me exit the room using the fire exit.
"A-anong nangyayar-"
BLAG!
Kasunod nung kalabog ay mga tunog ng bala na pinapakawalan. Anong nangyayari?! I hurriedly went downstairs and waited until lahat na rin sila nakababa.
"Dito!" Sigaw ni Vince kaya sumunod kami sakanya. We rode his black Fortuner away from the hotel.
"Who the hell was that?" Hinihingal kong tanong sakanilang lahat nung makalayo na kami. We were all catching our breaths.
"They were chasing us the whole time Eva. Ever since we escaped prison." Paliwanag ni Trix.
"Sila na ba yun? Sila ba yung nasa likod ng lahat ng ito?" Tanong ko muli. Naguguluhan na talaga ako.
"We don't know. Ikaw lang ang makakapagsabi niyan Eva. When you remember what hapenned that night."
"Teka ba't parang 'yung akin ang pinakaimportante sa lahat? Didn't you say na you were also put in the same situation?" I curiously asked.
"Dumb girl. We said you'll only understand if you remember what hapenned." Trix sighed. "So please... remeber what happened that damn night."
I had the feeling na ibang night ang pinagsasasabi nila.
We decided to stay at a motel for the night. Isa nanamang motel. Dalawang room ang kinuha namin. Vince, Pia and I are in one room while the other four are in the other.
"Great! Walang tulugan to!" Masayang sigaw ni Pia.
I appreciated them for how they still manage to laugh and enjoy when we are literally wanted by the law.
I stepped put and saw Leon by the handrail. "Leon... can we talk?" I asked Leon to which he responded with a nod. Nauna na siyang lumabas kaya sumunod ako while avoiding everyone's teasing stares. Nasa labas din pala ang iba sa amin.
"Leon... Sorry for doubti-"
"No need Eva. I understand." He cutted me off. I suddenly remembered how he sighed when I made my distance when he took me from the court.
"Leon. Can I be true to myself?" I asked him which made him look at me with confusion.
"What do you—" I stopped him from speaking by sealing his lips with mine. Gulat na gulat siya noong humiwalay ako sakanya. His eyes were wide while he continued on staring through my soul.
"Yown oh!" I heard Vince cheered.
"Wh-what does that mean Eva?" Tanong saakin ni Leon. I was about to answer when
BAAM!
"Evaa!!!" And then everything went black.
Third Person's PoV
"Sigurado ka bang hindi ako niyan makikita?" Tanong ng isang lalaki sa babaeng nasa harapan nito sabay turo kay Eva na kasalukuyang nakatunganga.
"Oo nga. I made sure that she's in deep hallucination. Baka nga sa mga oras na ito eh iniisip niyang nagbibihis siya at nagpapaalam na aattend ng birthday party eh." Sagot naman nung babae.
"Buti naman. Basta, sinigurado mong binasa niya ung mga nakasulat sa papel hah? Yun kasi ang mga gagawin niya sa oras na tumalab na talaga ang gamot na pinainom mo sakanya."
"Opo sir. Siguradong sigurado."
"Mabuti naman. Don't worry, nakalagay na rin dun sa sulat na saiyo niya ibibigay ang mga ari-arian niya. This would be the best plan I ever executed."
"Pero Sir, sigurado po ba kayong walang butas itong plano niyo?" Nagaalalang tanong nung babae.
"Wala nga. Wag kang mag-alala."
"Eh yung mga kaibigan niya?"
"Hindi naman dapat sila kasali rito eh. Pero since posibleng maging malaki silang hadlang sa plano ko, may inutusan rin akong manipulahin ang mga pag-iisip nila." Pag sisigurado nung lalaki sa babae.
"Ito po sir, last na po toh. Ano po ang kailangan niyo kay Eva at umabot pa kayo sa ganitong punto?"
"Wag mo ng alamin. Ang importante, everything went according to my plan."
"Infairness po Sir, ang galing ng plano niyo. Ano po ba ang trabaho niyo?"
"Psychiatrist. Anyway, maraming salamat sa pakikipagtulungan mo saakin. Malaki ang naging kontribusyon mo sa plano ko."
"Walang anuman ho Sir. Ingat po kayo."
"Okay. Boys, get Eva. Hinay-hinay lang at baka magising ang ulirat niyan. Mahirap na." Binuhat naman nung mga tauhan nung lalaki si Eva na nakatunganga parin. "Sigurado kang walang ibang tao rito hah."
"Opo Sir. Nasa kabilang building ho sila."
"Sige salamat Montemayor. Demi Montemayor."
Eva
Nagising ako nang may maramdaman akong kirot sa may kanang hita ko.
"Naku po nagising! Bes, sorry pero masakit to." Napasigaw ako nang mas lalong humapdi ang kanang hita ko hanggang sa humupa na ang sakit nito. Ramdam na ramdam ko rin ang hapdi sa may kaliwang braso ko at sa may dibdib ko.
"What hapenned." I almost did not recognize my voice. Napaka husky nito!
"You were shot thrice. Buti nalang at nakatakas pa tayo mula sakanila. I looked around and we're in some kind of an abandoned building. "We don't know where we'll go so we decided to stop by here para narin magamot ang mga sugat mo." I was about to ask how when I remembered na doktora nga pala si Sue. She must have some of her tools in Vince's car.
"Sila nanaman ba iyon?" I asked them saka sila sabay sabay na tumango. "I am so sorry guys." I apologized saka ako napahagulgol.
"Uy! Ba't ka umiiyak?" Trix worriedly asked saka niya hinipo ang likod ko. I wiped my tears and stared at them one by one saka ako ngumiti ng mapait.
"I remember."