CHAPTER 15
"W-What's happening? Bakit patay ang ilaw?" Kinakabahang tanong ni Effie sa mga kasama.
"Chaos! Where are you and your team?" Midnight shouted.
"We don't know. Madilim ang paligid. We can't see anything." Chaos answered back.
"This is one of Seven's game. Damn it. Where the hell is he?" Galit na samit ni Rebel.
Habang sina Matix naman ay sinisigaw ang pangalan ni Twilight. "Twilight! Where are you?"
"Hey why are you only calling our sister?!" Slate asked, shouting.
Matix shouted back, "my tablet is with her. She'd just have to turn on the flashlight and I can track where Seven is." Aniya.
Then, all of a sudden, the lights turned on.
They all squinted their eyes from the sudden light. Nang magkita ang dalawang grupo, they immediately grouped together.
"Where's Twilight?" Nagtatakang tanong ni Friday sa Agati Brothers.
The three suddenly became agitated when they didn't saw Twilight.
"Fuck, where is she?"
"Wait, what's with the loud gunshot earlier?" Chaos suddenly asked.
The others shrugged and again, the lights turned off.
"What the hell is happening?" Tanong ni Rebel.
With the lights turned off, another loud gunshot was heard. Sobrang lakas nito na para bang ang lapit niyon.
Friday flinched when she heard the loud gunshot.
"I-Is someone dead?" Kinakabahang tanong ni Effie.
Silence filled the whole warehouse.
Until the lights again turned on but infront of them is Seven's dead body lying on his own pool of blood while Twilight is holding a gun pointing at Seven!
"Twilight..." Friday uttered.
Twilight panicked and with her shaky hands, she threw away the gun she was holding.
Sa kamay ni Seven ay may isang papel. Naunang lumapit si Chaos sa katawan ni Seven at binasa iyon nang malakas.
"She is X."
They all looked at Twilight, confused.
Si Twilight naman ay pinagpapawisan at naguguluhan sa nangyayari.
"Guys..."
"Y-You..You're X?" Midnight asked.
Marahas na umiling si Twilight. "No...hindi ako si X! Trust me, please." She sobbed.
"Pero.." Effie uttered.
"NO! I am not X!" She snapped.
Then, an automated voice spoke.
"Welcome to the Seventh Game! This game is called, "How to Get Away with Murder." As of now, the police are on its way to investigate Seven's murder and the prime suspect is Twilight with her fingerprints on the gun. But the thing is, Twilight Martinez did not kill Seven. Who did? You have an hour to investigate what really happened. You only get one chance to answer this correctly. Press the red button on the wall and shout your answer. Enjoy!"
"Damn it.." Chaos uttered under his breath.
Si Twiligt naman ay humihikbi habang nanginginig ang kamay. "Am I going to jail? But I did not kill Seven..." hikbi nito.
Agad siyang niyakap ni Friday at inalo. "Shh, calm down. We'll figure this out together. Kumalma lang tayo."
Twilight sniffed before looking at Chaos. "I trust you. Please solve this."
Chaos nodded earnestly. "You can trust me in this. I just need to know how you ended up holding a gun." Aniya at sinuri ang patay na katawan ni Seven.
Twilight wiped her tears. "S-Someone dragged me away from my brothers." Aniya habang inaalala ang nangyari. "Then a gunshot was heard. The first gunshot. Sa pangalawang gunshot, someone dragged me again. Then something fell on my feet. Hindi ko nakikita kung ano iyon kaya pinulot ko. Saktong bumukas ang ilaw and then Seven is already dead."
Honestly, the fact that Seven is dead shocked the eight. Ang pinaghihinalaan nilang si X ay patay na. Paano na ang mga nakulong dahil sa mga krimeng nagawa niya? Paano na ang mga pinatay niya? They can't give them justice now that Seven is dead—just like that. He was so easily killed that it cannot ease the pain of those families who lost their loved ones because of this heartless monster.
As Chaos examines the dead body, his furrowed eyebrows held up to Midnight. "Where were you when the lights turned off?" He curiously said.
Kunot noong napaisip si Midnight habang sinusuri ang buong warehouse.
Then after a couple of minutes, he pointed towards the right where several boxes are stacked. "We were there. I remembered."
Tumango si Chaos at nauna nang naglakad patungo roon. "Twilight, where were you facing when the lights are turned off?"
Lumapit si Twilight kay Chaos at bumalik sa pwesto nito dati bago ito hinila ng kung sino. "I was facing the wall and someone dragged me from my left."
"If someone dragged you from your left," he walked sideways towards the left side, "then you stopped here." He stopped in front of a door and kneeled.
Using a handkerchief, may pinulot itong maliit na bala ng baril. "It's a 9mm Luger Bullet. The first gunshot we heard, someone who killed Seven missed the first shot. When he realized that Seven wasn't killed, he turned off the lights again and shot him for the seconds time."
Tumayo si Chaos sa pagkakaluhod. "We know answered one question: what happened during the first gunshot. We still have four to go."
"What questions are those?" Friday asked.
Chaos raised his thumb finger. "The second question we need to answer is: who killed Seven? And why did the first gunshot missed?"
He raised his index finger. "The third is: why would Seven drag Twilight to the middle of the room when the lights turned off for the second time? He dragged her for the first time here. He surely has some motives."
He raised his middle finger. "The fourth is: why would someone kill Seven? If he's X, then he can't easily be killed. I mean, we all know what X is capable of. Unless the person who killed him has greater power than X himself."
Then, he raised his ring finger. "Lastly, was it really murder? Or Seven killed himself to stage one of us as the suspect? We don't know yet. Since we don't know further details to what really happened, we should be open to any possible situations."
"You forgot one thing." Midnight interferred .
Chaos crossed him arms. "What?"
"Why would Seven, out of all people, pick Twilight to be the suspect of his own murder? And take note of his last note. 'She is X.' Why not Friday and Effie? They are a 'she'. Why Twilight?"
Hindi makapaniwalang napatingin si Twilight sa kapatid. "Are you suspecting me, kuya?!" Galit na tanong nito.
Midnight looked at his sister intently. "Just like what Chaos said. We need to be open to any possible situations. You could be the real X. I mean, remember when Seven barged into our office and you said he just placed secret cameras? You lied."
Natigilan si Twilight at nagbaba ng tingin. "I..I was..."
"Seven did place secret cameras but he also stole one of our confidential files. Why would you keep that a secret, huh?"
Twilight didn't answer. She just sobbed and kept wiping her tears.
"Fuck it, Midnight. Don't suspect our sister!" Rebel pushed Midnight by the chest.
Midnight shrugged. "As what Chaos said, we need to be open to any possible situations."
Galit na tinuro naman ni Slate si Effie. "Then why don't we put the blame on her?!" He gestured towards Effie and looked at Chaos. "She betrayed you before, right? What makes you think she won't do it again?"
Effie became agitated. "Uy teka, bakit napunta sa akin?" She pointed Friday. "Si Friday sisihin niyo. Huwag ako."
Friday frowned. "Bakit napunta na sa akin pagbintang niyo? Nananahimik ako rito." She pouted.
"ENOUGH!" Chaos suddenly shouted.
Silence filled the whole area with Chaos's shout. No one dared to speak.
"Don't blame each other. Yes, I said that we need to be open to any possible situations but putting the blame to someone without evidences is wrong." He explained.
"Twilight can be a possible suspect as of now. Until we prove her innocence, she's our suspect."
"Chaos!" Slate and Rebel shouted.
Mariing tinignan ni Chaos ang dalawa. "This is not the time to be emotional with your sibling. If you want to prove Twilight's innocence, then cooperate." Giit niya at sinuri muli ang paligid.
Muling tumingin si Chaos kay Twilight. "You said that something fell from the floor, right? When you picked it up, it's a gun."
Tumango si Twilight. "Yes, it's a gun."
Lumapit si Chaos sa tabi ng katawan ni Seven kung saan nakatayo si Twilight kanina.
"Where exactly did the gun fell?" He asked.
Using a handkerchief, Twilight took the gun and placed it to where she found it.
"Here." She pointed out nang nilagay niya ang baril sa paanan ni Chaos.
"Hm, based from what happened earlier, it took merely three seconds before the lights turned on after the gunshot."
"Chaos, anong sinasabi mo?" Slate asked.
"Notice Seven's right hand and the position of the gun. Seven's right hand is just beside the gun. At mabilis ang pagbukas ng ilaw kanina. Kung may bumaril sa kaniya, it would take five or ten seconds for the lights to open."
Twilight gasped. "So you're saying..."
"I'm saying that this is suicide."
"Why are you suddenly deducting that this was suicide?" Rebel asked with arms crossed.
Chaos, using a handkerchief, disarmed the gun. Pinakita niya ang magazine ng baril. It contains five 9mm luger bullets.
"The bullet used to kill Seven was a 9mm luger bullet. He used this gun to kill himself."
"It could be a decoy. Maybe it was a long rage shot. That someone shot him from afar using the same bullets." Friday suggested.
Umiling si Chaos. "The gunshot was so loud. So loud that it was near to us. If it's a long range shot, medyo mahina ang pagkakarinig natin."
Twilight's tears fell. "So it was suicide..."
Tumango si Chaos. "Down to four more questions."
"We know that Seven committed suicide. So what happened during the first gunshot? Why did he missed?" Midnight asked.
Lumapit si Chaos sa kung saan nangyari ang unang gunshot. Sa tapat ng isang pinto.
He gestured towards the doorknob. "This has been disturbing me since earlier," he continued, "the doorknob is broken."
"What could have happened?" Effie asked.
Binuksan ni Chaos ang pinto. It lead to an exit. "Sira din ang doorknob mula sa labas. Someone from outside probably broke it since it was locked."
Rebel spoke. "This is just my deduction but what if someone broke the door to stop Seven from killing himself? When he successfully broke the door, saktong malapit nang iputok ni Seven ang baril so that someone immediately stopped Seven. Maybe that explains how the gun missed."
Chaos nodded. "Based from the broken doorknob from the outside, Rebel's deduction may be right. But it leads us to another question: who tried to stop Seven?"
Midnight interferred. "And why would he commit suicide?"
Friday, who's been quiet finally spoke, "because he's guilty?"
Midnight frowned. "Guilty of what? Killing and murdering several people?" He scoffed. "Friday, he's X. He doesn't have any conscience."
Friday crossed her arms. "Guilty as in, pretending to be X?"
Chaos furrowed his eyebrows. "You think Seven is pretending to be X?"
Friday nodded. "I referred to the note he left." She pointed at the note on the floor.
"Maybe it was just a prop. To stage Twilight as the killer—"
Chaos snapped his fingers making Midight stop talking.
"That note is real and Seven is indeed pretending to be X."
The Agati siblings frowned. "I'm not catching up. How did you suddenly think of that?"
"Based from what Friday said, Seven left a note saying, 'She is X.'. I think it is not just a prop but a hint that he is not the real X!"
He continued, "do you remember when we found a file from X saying X is a female? It cannot be a coincidence that Seven dropped us a hint that X is a girl."
"This is some deep shit. Why do you all believe that X is a girl?!" Slate commented.
"All has been changed. Our questions now lead to: one, Is X really a female? Two, who is Seven pertaining to as 'she'? Three, why would Seven drag Twilight instead of Effie and Friday if all this was just for the sake of his game?"
No one spoke. All was silent as they process everything that Chaos explained.
Now they deduced that Seven isn't really X. But who could be it?
They believe X is a girl who probably hired Seven to do her job.
With all the defeaning silence, an automated voice spoke. "You have thirty minutes left before the police arrived. Press the red button to answer: What happened to Seven? Who killed him? Why was he killed?"
Nauna nang tumayo si Chaos at naglakas palapit sa red button na nasa pader.
"Chaos, stop!" Friday shouted. "Hindi pa tayo sigurado kung tama ang pinagsasabi natin. Yes, we all know that Seven committed suicide but we are still not yet sure why he killed himself."
Umiling si Chaos. "My deduction is right. Trust me on this one." He said then looked at Twilight. "I'll prove your innocence."
Twilight nodded and once again, tears fell from her eyes.
Chaos gently and slowly pressed the red button bago huminga nang malalim.
He started to answer, "The Seventh game was all about how to get away with murder. Someone has to be dead while one of us has to be staged as the suspect. But Seven, turned the tables around. He changed the plan and on the spot decided to kill himself. The reason why the first gunshot was missed because someone tried to stop him from continuing his plan. So Seven dragged Twilight away from the door to make his plan a success. When the second gunshot was heard, that's when Seven killed himself.
"The reason why he killed himself is because his conscience is eating him up since he is indeed not the real X. The identity of X remains unknown but based from the hint Seven left, we believe X is a girl." Chaos stopped explaining.
The automated voice once again spoke, "wonderful! Seven indeed turned the tables around and planned to kill himself. He is indeed not the real X because the true X is a female!" It exclaimed.
Their eyes widen in glint. Chaos's answers are correct. This means Twilight's innocence is proven—
"However, Seven missed the gunshot not because someone tried to stop him but because he hesitated to kill himself. The doorknob was broken because Miss Twilight Martinez attempted to escape. Your answer is still wrong. Twilight continues to become the suspect. Twenty minutes before the police arrives."
With wide eyes, they all looked at Twilight who is standing with tensed shoulders.
"Bakit hindi mo sinabi na ikaw ang nakasira ng doorknob?" Friday asked.
Twilightt wiped her wet eyes. "When Seven dragged me near the door, I already knew he was gonna commit suicide because he kept crying while mumbling 'I want to die'. Dahil sa takot, sinubukan kong tumakas. Then I saw through his plan. He was gonna stage me as the suspect so I opened the door and broke the doorknob from the outside. Kung tatakas ako, mas lalo akong magmumukhang suspect." She explained.
"Twilight, you did this not because you're X, right?" Rebel asked.
Marahas na umiling si Twilight. "I'm not X, I swear."
Then, Matix, who's been so quiet since from the start stood infront of Twilight who is still tensed.
He's looking intently at Twilight's features like he is memorizing it. "I knew it..." he uttered.
Twilight's eyebrows furrowed. "You knew what?"
Hinawi ni Matix ang mahabang buhok ni Twilight na nagtatakip sa leeg nito.
"You're not Twilight.." he softly spoke.
Natigilan si Twilight at mapaklang tumawa. "Matix, anong sinasabi mo? This is me, Twilight."
"The Twilight I met during my childhood, she has three small moles on the neck. You don't have one." Matix explained.
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Rebel exclaimed.
"What do you mean she's not Twilight?" Slate asked.
Midnight crossed his arms as he walked towards Twilight. "She's not Twilight." He said while looking at his sister intently. "Because she's Vesper. Our 'dead' sister."
And everyone just stilled. Lahat ay nagulat sa sinabi ni Midnight.
"S-She...She's our dear Vesper?" Naiiyak na sambit ni Slate.
Vesper can't look at her brothers' eyes. She just looked down. Feeling ashamed and guilty of pretending to be Twilight.
"So that's the reason why Seven dragged 'Twilight' and staged her as the suspect. Because she's Vesper. The real X." Rebel said.
Nagtatanong ang matang tumingin si Slate sa kapatid. "Vesper...you...you're X?"
Vesper slowly nodded. "I am."
Slate's tears fell as he ran towards Vesper and hugged her. "W-We thought you're dead. We have always been empty because one of us is dead. Buhay ka naman pala.." he mumbled.
"I have always been alive, kuya. I have been with you all this time. Our dad told mom that I'm dead and sold me to the Genesis. After we turned 13, Twilight and I got switched. That's when we joined the organization." Vesper explained.
"Twilight...where is she?" Matix asked.
Vesper looked at Matix softly. "She's with the Genesis. We don't have any communication. Inaalam ko lang ang kalagayan niya dahil laging nagrereport sa akin ang mga kasamahan ko doon. She's safe and well.." napangiwi ito. "Probably normal."
Napangiwi si Rebel. "You're still in contact with the Genesis? Is that why you became X? You betrayed the organization?"
Vesper pouted. "The Genesis blackmailed me. They would hurt Twilight if I continued being on team with the organization."
Slate hugged Vesper once again. "Now that I know you're really Vesper, I can't help my self but hug you and never let you go. I'm scared that if I let you go, you will really die."
Vesper hugged Slate back. "You don't know how much I was holding back this whole time not to hug you weirdos. Dad said I should act like Twilight. Nahihirapan akong magpanggap bilang si Twilight dahil iba naman ang ugali niya sa ugali ko."
Then Midnight spoke, "but you're still X. You need to pay for your crimes."
Vesper smirked and showed Midnight her palms. "My hands are clean, kuya. I never ever once killed a single soul. I make people do my job. Just like Seven. I hired him to kill people for me."
Friday interferred. "What about the gun? It has your fingerprints on it."
Vesper smiled. "Trust me, the police won't arrest me. I already planned this whole thing through. I just want to spice everything up a bit. And I created this game so I could introduce myself to all of you as Vesper. Not Twilight. Napaaga lang dahil nalaman agad ni Matix na hindi ako si Twilight." She explained.
Then after a couple of seconds, they heard several police sirens surrounding the warehouse. The door opened and three to five policemen entered.
"Officer." Vesper called.
"Kayo ba ang tumawag sa amin na may suicide dito?" Tanong ng officer habang may nagliligpit sa katawan ni Seven.
Vesper nodded. "Kami nga."
"Bakit kayo nandito? Madaling araw tapos kayong mga bata nandito?" The officer tsked. "Mga bata nga naman oh. Umuwi na kayo ah." Aniya bago umalis.
They all chuckled. "You really planned this through, huh?" Midnight said then looked at Vesper. "I'm sorry for being harsh on you earlier, Vesper."
Vesper smiled. "I know. I understand."
Chaos then interferred. "What were those seven videos on your file?" He asked.
Right, they almost forgot about that one.
Vesper smiled softly. "Those videos contains the truth about what really happened to our family. ." She looked at her brothers.
"But wait, what's the Genesis? Kanina mo pa binabanggit iyan. The real Twilight is there too, right?" Effie asked.
Vesper once again smiled softly. "That's a top secret for out organization. The Genesis is our main enemy."
"Then does this mean that te real Twilight is your enemy?" Matix asked.
Vesper nodded earnestly. "That's why starting from now on, my brothers and I will try our best to bring Twilight back."
The Agati brothers can't help it but hugged their dear sister. "Ouch. Nasasaktan ako." Vesper was laughing. She really looked happy.
"We're so happy you're alive. Someday, the five of us will be complete. One of these days, kasama na natin si Twilight." Midnight commented.
Vesper nodded earnestly. "I hope so." She smiled widely.
While the Agati siblings are having their 'reunion', Matix went near Chaos, Effie and Friday. "Finally, It's done. Our lives will be back to normal."
"Oo nga. Pero parang hindi na ako sanay ma maayos na buhay natin." Effie answered with a chuckle.
Chaos held Friday's hand tightly and looked at her warmly. "I just do hope that our peaceful lives stay the same way for a long time." He said while looking at Friday with so much love.
Everyone nodded earnestly.
Then Friday clinged unto Chaos's arms. "This may be weird but can I tell you something?" She asked.
Hinawi ni Chaos ang buhok ni Friday sa mukha nito. "What is it?"
Friday heaved a deep sigh. "I'm thinking of joining their organization." Aniya habang tinitignan ang Agati Siblings.
Chaos held Friday's hand. "You're not the only one." He said then looked at Matix and Effie who's also looking at her.
"We also considered joining the organization." Ani Effie.
Matix nodded, "in fact, Effie and I already agreed to join. Kayo nalang ni Chaos ang hinihintay."
Friday smiled widely and looked at Chaos to get his answer. Chaos chuckled and looked at the Agati Siblings. "Looks like our next adventure has begun."
-END-