Jane
Bakit ba nangyayari ‘to? Why did our supposed-to-be enjoyable trip turn into a deadly one?
My tears started falling as I lay down the ground, embracing my knees tightly.
Pilit kong inaalala ang mga panahon bago kami mapunta sa sitwasyong ito. Those moments na nagtatawanan lang kami, nagkakainan, nag-aasaran.
Masaya.
Wala akong ibang masasabi kundi masaya.
Pero kanina... Nakita ko...
The bolo knife shined under the moonlight as if it has diamonds embedded into it. I froze when the coated man pointed the blade to me, but luckily Jessica pulled my arm and we ran.
My spine is still tingling from t-that... experience. I really hate pointing sharp things in front of me.
Why do things need to get worse? Why do we have to experience something like this?
Napapikit na lang ako at humikbi.
Nasaan na kaya ang iba? How are they doing? Hinabol kaya sila noong nakakatakot na tao?
Pakiramdam ko ay sasabog ang utak ko sa mga biglaang pangyayari.
“Why are you crying again?”
Napalingon ako kay Jessica, ang nag-iisa kong kasama ngayon. She’s staring at me intently while leaning against a tree.
Suddenly, parang narinig ko ulit ang mga boses nila... Boses ng family ko na walang ginawa kundi pagalitan ako at i-point out ang mga mali sa akin. Just before this trip, they even gave me those endless blabbering saying that I’m going astray in my life. They treat me as if I’m an unknowing seven-year-old.
“Why?” Napasinghot ako bago sumagot.
“Because... it’s the only thing I can do perfectly. No one can tell me that I cried the wrong way... No one can bring me down anymore when I’m crying...”
“Ang pangit mong umiyak, Jane.” I gasped at the sudden words of Jessica and stared at her.
“See? I can still mock you even while you’re crying. And others will always find a way to do it, too. Learn to be brave, Jane. What if they look down at you and overlook your abilities?”
“They’ve always been overlooking my abilities! In everything I do, there’s always a flaw! There will always be something wrong with me!” Hindi ko na napigilan. My emotions that I’m always hiding these past few weeks finally came out. I let out a sigh as more tears flow down.
“Did you forget something? We are humans. Tao lang tayo. As they always say, nobody is perfect. So why?”
I did not dare to look at Jessica at this moment. Sigurado akong mas maiiyak lang ako at hindi makakapag-explain nang maayos.
“Alam niyo naman…” Pinunasan ko ang mukha ko using my arms. That my family is a perfectionist ‘di ba?”
“Wait. We already talked about this before. Akala ko ba you’ll start being strong? Nasabi na namin sa ‘yo na disregard those criticisms, and do not be afraid to be yourself!”
“Hindi ‘yan madali, Jessica! Akala mo ba hindi ko sinubukan? I tried my best! Kulang na lang kalikutin ko ang tenga ko para alisin ang lahat ng nga masasamang naririnig ko! Pero no matter how hard I tried, wala pa rin!” Tumayo ako at hinarap si Jessica. My vision is blurry dahil sa walang patid na pag-agos ng luha ko.
“Do you know what’s the biggest problem? My family! My own family is the greatest source of hurtful criticisms! Isipin mo, we are living under the same roof, paano ko naman—”
“Okay, stop! Stop... calm down.” Jessica raised her hands as if she’s trying to stop me. Napahinga naman ako nang malalim.
Jessica held me in my arms and guided me to sit down again.
“Okay, I’m sorry. I know that I shouldn’t even question your feelings right now. Lalo na’t we are in danger,” she uttered. Niyakap niya ako at mas napaiyak lang ako. I buried my face into her chest and I felt her fingers caressing my hair. I released all the burdens I’m feeling right now.
After a while, I gradually stopped crying and calmed down. We slowly parted from our hug and sat side to side on the tree’s roots.
Huminga ako nang malalim at napalingon kay Jessica.
Her perfectly pointed nose, long eyelashes, hazel brown eyes, and her luscious lips. Not to mention her slightly tanned skin with sweat that glistens like crystals when they roll down her face.
Shocks. Her side profile is glorious. She looks like a warrior princess who defended herself from enemies. Lalo na ngayon na she’s wearing just her white sando tucked in her denim shorts na ipinalit niya kanina. She’s my kind of Lara Croft.
“You know what…” She tucked her hair behind her ear, but instead more strands slided to her face. Hinipan lang niya ang buhok na nasa tapat mismo ng bibig niya. Gosh. That... emphasized the image I just thought about her.
“W-What?” I even almost forgot to respond to her. She looked down before speaking again.
“Just like you, I’m also scared. I also want to cry. I’m also weak inside.” I blinked twice at her statement. Tumingin siya sa akin and she smiled bitterly. “Yeah, yeah. I know na hindi halata. But what I said is true. I’m just a girl like you. Natatakot ako because I don’t know what’s going on at hindi ko alam kung makakauwi pa ba tayo nang buhay. Pero kita mo naman ‘di ba? I stand up as if fear has no place in me.”
Hinawakan niya ako sa balikat at tinitigan ako sa mata.
“That’s what we want to see in you. It’s okay to be scared and it’s okay to cry. But you should not let your fear devour you and your tears drown you. If you push aside your fear, you can slowly become strong even when you are really weak inside. You need to be strong in our situation, Jane.”
Every word from her is full of sincerity, and I felt that. Her words did not pass from my one ear to the other, but it went down to my heart and mind. I let out a sigh at hinawakan ang kamay niya.
“I’ll be strong. We’ll get over this.”
Jessica smiled sweetly and so did I. Take note, that was a genuine smile. I’m taking her advice seriously and I’m not letting myself be overcame by fear anymore.
“Nasaan na kaya ang iba nating—” Jessica didn’t finish talking because a ray of light suddenly flashed past our faces. Nagkatinginan kami ni Jessica and we quickly stood up. We hid behind the tree we were leaning on and held our breath as we heard footsteps coming to us.
I looked at Jessica with bulging eyes. Is that... the attacker? Are we done for?
Jessica seemed to understand me through my gaze and signaled me ‘hush’. I prevented myself from sobbing because I can’t control myself and my tears just started falling. I clutched Jessica’s hand tightly.
My gosh, kasasabi ko lang na I’ll be strong but here I am, crying again. Why am I like this?
I held my breath as the footsteps sounded as if they’re just behind us.
“Sigurado ka bang nakita mo sila?”
“Of course. I caught a glimpse of their faces and I think those are Jessica and... Jane?”
My mouth fell open as we heard two voices. Tumingin ako kay Jessica na gulat na gulat rin. We know those voices!
Agad kaming lumabas at nagpakita sa kanila— kina Noel at Ryan. Their lips formed a smile as we saw each other.
“Babe!”
“Jessica!”
Jessica and Noel clashed to each other and went into a hug. Lumapit naman ako kay Ryan na nakangiti sa akin. We hugged for seconds. After that, hindi ko na naman napigilan. My eyes became a tear faucet again. But this time, it’s not because of fear or worry. I’m just really happy that we found each other.
“I thought... hindi na namin kayo makikita.” I turned to see that Jessica is crying while holding Noel’s hands.
Oh, so that’s what she’s been keeping to herself this whole time. Tama nga siya, she can be strong when she needs to. Ngayon, she’s the Damsel Jessica who is always with her Knight Noel.
“Mabuti at ligtas kayo,” Ryan said. He smiled at me again and patted my back. I wiped my tears using my fingers.
“You’ll never know how much relief I’ve felt when I found you. We’ll always be together from now on,” Noel added while smiling.
A moment passed between us na nagtititigan lang kami. It’s like we haven’t seen each other for years, kahit magkakasama lang kami kanina.
“‘Yong nangyari kanina... is that a prank?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“If that is a prank, that is a really bad one. They almost killed us in terror!” answered Jessica.
“No. The bolo that was used earlier is not fake. You saw it closely, right?” Noel turned to Ryan.
“Oo. Kitang-kita ko na bumaon ‘yong talim sa puno sa likod ko. Totoong itak ‘yon,” Ryan replied. I bit my lip.
“So... we’re really in danger.”
“I’m afraid so,” answered Noel. This time, nararamdaman ko na namang gustong tumulo ng luha ko but I prevented it. Well, I was just hoping that everything’s gonna be alright. But that’s not the case right now.
“Nakita niyo ba lahat ng kasama natin kanina, habang may umaatake sa’tin?” My forehead creased upon hearing Ryan’s question.
“I-I’m not sure because it was all so sudden... Bakit?” asked Jessica. My answer is just like hers so I didn’t speak.
“Sa tingin ko kasi... isa sa atin ‘yong tao kanina.”
What? Kaibigan namin ang taong may itak kanina?
“How did you say so?” I commented.
“Hindi ko rin alam... Pero hindi ba kahina-hinala na basta na lang tayo susugurin nang gano’n? Kahit hindi natin kilala?”
“Paano kung may crazy serial killer dito?” Our heads turned to Jessica. Lalo tuloy akong kinakabahan sa mga sinasabi nila.
“Puwede ba, let’s stop this killer talk? Natatakot ako lalo. What about the others, hindi ba natin sila hahanapin?” I suggested.
“Maybe that’s the best we can do,” Noel agreed. He signaled us at naglapit-lapit kaming apat.
“I have no clue as to where everyone else is, and I guess so are you. We’ll venture through this forest to find them. We need to be very careful dahil baka umaaligid lang d’yan kung sino man ang umatake sa atin. Okay?” Tumango kami sa sinabi ni Noel. He’s serving as our leader right now.
Wala nang umimik sa amin at naglakad na kami. We headed sa direction na pinanggalingan nina Noel at Ryan. Nakakapit ako sa braso ni Jessica, Noel is in front of us and Ryan is at the back. Noel is the only one who has a flashlight, so our vision is limited. Minutes passed and we kept on walking while observing the surroundings.
This forest is really healthy, if that’s the correct word. The trees are very tall and there are no traces of human activities. That made our search difficult since parang paulit-ulit lang ang nakikita naming mga puno at halaman. Isama pa ang fog na nakalalabo ng paningin.
“Wait, stop.” Finally, nagsalita si Noel. We stopped and looked where he is looking. My eyes squinted. Hmm... I can see in the distance that there is a light... light coming from a fire?
“May bonfire?” blurted Ryan. Nakisilip siya sa amin para makita ang liwanag.
“Should we go there?” stated Jessica.
“What if it’s a trap by the attacker?”
“Hindi ako sigurado, pero baka puwede nating lapitan. Baka nand’yan si Catherine, o ang iba nating kasama.” Ryan refuted Noel’s assumption.
“Do you think they will really do that? The fire can attract the attacker too, right?” countered Noel.
“He’s right,” I seconded. Ryan seemed to think seriously kaya natahimik kami.
“Kahit na. Opportunity na ‘to para makita ang iba. May tsansa rin na trap nga lang, kaya maghanda tayo. Maghanap muna tayo ng mga sandata o kung anong pandepensa para masaktan man lang natin ang taong umatake sa atin kung nandoon nga siya. Saka tayo tumakbo nang mabilis,” he ordered.
I’m not really sure about this, but eventually, we all agreed at namulot na kami ng mga bato at kahoy sa paligid namin.
“Are you ready?” Noel asked. Tumingin ako sa mga batong hawak ko. I really hope na wala roon ang killer because I don’t think we can evade him. I nervously nodded and we continued walking.
Maya’t maya kaming tumitigil to see if there’s another person approaching. Hindi nagtagal, nakalapit na kami sa liwanag. Just like we thought, it is a bonfire. Ilang puno na lang ang layo namin dito.
When we finally came close to it, agad napukaw ang pansin ko sa isang tao: si Steve. He’s just staring at the fire with enlarged eyes.
“Steve!” I got excited and called him. Napangiti ako dahil nakita na namin siya. I stepped closer at umuna na ako kay Noel. Napatingin naman ako sa apoy.
Then it struck me. This is not a simple bonfire. At the base of the dancing fire, there’s a...
“What the...” Noel’s voice trailed off as they also saw what I did.
At the base of the fire, there’s a body. A human body. Nilalamon ng apoy ang kabuuan nito but I can still see a part of the shoes.
“Oh my gosh...”
I noticed a stake standing just beside the fire. My eyes slowly focused on a thing that seemed to be stuck on the stake, and...
My heart skipped a beat.
There’s a head. A s-severed human head resting on the stake...
What’s more, I recognize the face... I will never fail to recognize that face...
My knees suddenly lost their strength as I feel myself approaching the ground.
W-Why...
Why did I see Kelly’s head impaled on that stake?
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