04:25 P.M.
Katrina Fajardo's Residence.
July 20th, the year 2018. Friday.
Katrina was still staring out of the window when a car stopped right outside of her house. She stood upright. She saw someone climbing out of the car who Katrina doesn't recognize.
Katrina furrowed her eyebrows over there. She heard the whistle of the winds as someone limping came out of the car and faced the house. Katrina widened her eyes as she saw Xian over the right side of the car.
Katrina immediately swept the curtains closed. She felt her heartbeat got louder than usual. She panted, realizing that Xian might confront her with the scandal.
Katrina doesn't have the audacity to go to Margo's funeral that day. She knew Carmela would push her away even if she did that. The loud ringtone of her cell phone startled Katrina as his aunt came knocking at the door. She answered the call first before opening her bedroom door.
"Katrina," her aunt muttered, looking at her clothes. Her aunt mumbled someone was here to see her. Katrina raised her eyebrows and asked who it was.
"It's Xian, your schoolmate, and friend at Del Rio University, right?" Auntie Karyn asked, as Katrina heard Mina's anxious voice over the phone. She put the cell phone over the other ear and nodded.
"Yeah, I'll be downstairs in a minute," Katrina mumbled as Auntie Karyn nodded. She suggested Katrina should dress more decently. Katrina closed the door gently as she asked why Mina was calling.
"What? You're on the way to my house? Why?" Katrina asked those questions while retrieving shorts from her drawer. Xian must have been waiting downstairs now since she heard the loud slam of the front door. She leaned the cell phone over her shoulder as she undressed her pajamas and wore the shorts. She straightened her dandelion hoodie and looked at her reflection in the mirror.
She pulled off the tie on her hair and let it all loose over her shoulders.
"Yeah. I'll be on my way there. You don't have any plans going out of the house, right?" Mina mumbled from the other end of the line and Katrina sighed. It felt like there was something strange going on with Mina and Marcus. The two of them were asking about her whereabouts, yet Katrina was all along in the house for weeks now. Nothing seemed to excite her about bumping through the nearest mall.
"Yeah. But, why do you ask about if I were in my house right now or not?" Katrina asked worriedly as she wore slippers from the rack and opened the bedroom door. Mina exhaled from the other end of the line which made Katrina tilted her head to one side. She felt that there was something going on, and Mina wasn't going to tell her that.
She knew her best friends' attitudes all the time. She knew Marcus and Mina were hiding something.
"What? Am I asking about what?" Mina lied at the other end of the line. He pretended no one ordered him to go to his house.
"You, Mina. You were asking me about that, and you sounded so worried. I never heard you like that," Katrina muttered.
...
Mina swiveled his car over the side street and stepped on the breaks. He halted right and got his cell phone out of the holding rack.
"It's nothing, Katrina. I want to see if you are okay, hm? Let me be. I'm your best friend, right?" Mina said while looking out through the side railings of the bridge. He didn't know why Marcus wished him to be there for Katrina.
One thing is for sure, she is in danger and he needs to protect her. The tone Marcus possessed at the call earlier might have been the sign. He knew he would say everything to him once he fulfilled his wish.
Katrina opened her mouth to say anything when he heard her aunt and Xian talking downstairs. They were casually talking about something. Katrina can't help but eavesdrop on their conversation.
"You came all the way here with that injury on your leg?" Auntie Karyn asked him. Xian cleared his throat and said yes.
"I'll hang up, Xian is here," Katrina said shortly, which made Mina raise his eyebrows towards his cell phone. He placed his cell phone back in his car and brushed his face.
"Why would Xian be there?" Mina whispered to himself as he started the car again and zoomed off through Bella's Main Highway. He dialed Marcus's number right away as he carefully glanced over his speedometer.
Katrina stuffed her cell phone back into the pockets of her shorts . She leaned over the wood railings at the top of their stairs. She heaved a heavy sigh as she heard Xian was at her house to talk about something.
"Is Katrina home, Auntie Karyn?" Xian asked, stepping his right leg only one centimeter from the floor. It's painful, unbearable. He can't explain how he still talked with his eyes straight. His voice was still the same, with no trace of helplessness in it.
"Yeah, she's upstairs. Probably changing. Should I call her right now?" Auntie Karyn stood up from her seat as Xian said that it was okay if he waited for another minute. Xian pursed his lips and observed the cast surrounding his leg.
He can't seem to know why he slammed Marcus on the walls of the station with all his might. He can't feel anything. All he wanted was justice for Margo Monteverde.
He knuckled his fists as he realized that for a minute that had passed he would see Katrina again.
"Then, why are you here? You have something to ask Katrina or what?" Auntie Karyn asked, smiling. Xian's going to say something but there were those loud footsteps from the stairs.
He clenched his jaw right away. He saw Katrina's crossed arms over her chest. Arrogance was all over her face. Katrina looked straight away at Xian's eyes. They both stared at each other with blazing fire.
Auntie Karyn beamed. She excused herself as she got back to the kitchen area again to prepare some food. Katrina and Xian both glared as she removed her gaze. She looked outside of the windowsill over the living room.
Xian picked up the two wooden crutches over his side and slowly stood up as Katrina rolled her eyes.
"What in the world were you doing here?" Katrina retorted to Xian. He placed the wooden crutch over the floor and leaned all of his weight over there. The pain subsided a bit as he averted his eyes towards Katrina again.
"Do you think I am here to have a fun talk with you, huh, Katrina?" Xian raged, which made Katrina raise her eyebrows towards him. She creased her forehead right away when she saw how feistier Xian was.
"No, why would I have some fun talking with you, Xian? After what you did to Carmela, huh?" Katrina retaliated back as she undoes her arms over her chest and pursed her lips.
"It's not about anything about Carmela, Katrina. I am here to say something much more important to you," Xian began. Xian retrieved his cell phone on the backside with no help. His hands were shaking as Katrina got even puzzled by his actions.
He swallowed constantly as he pressed the recorded message over his application. Xian raised the volume of the cell phone's speaker up to the maximum level. She darted her eyes everywhere and checked whether her aunt was peeping from the kitchen. Katrina's astonished by that.
She clasped Xian's shirt, whispering, "Let's go outside, press the pause button. Quick."
Katrina did the thing even if Xian was holding his phone and she hissed at him to get moving. She walked fast ahead of him while Xian got limping behind him. Katrina felt the nervousness surging through her veins as he reached their garden. She turned around and saw Xian stopped right two feet away from him.
Katrina felt the tears brimming in her eyes. Xian played it again with the same angry tears pouring down his cheeks. She swallowed, hearing every word pierced through her heart.
"Lieutenant Dela Rosa. The bracelet that's found on the crime scene of Margo Monteverde right at the top of the hood of her car. It's positive about Katrina Fajardo's fingerprints. The forensic team sent it over through the international forensics for the test. The scanners have been out for almost three weeks now."
"Where... where did you get that?" Katrina stammered, knuckling her fists. Xian glared at her as the message stopped. His teeth gritted, Katrina glowering at him,
"Why do you have the guts to ask me that? You... you have been there at the crime scene of Margo?" Xian spat. Katrina shook her head aggressively as Xian scoffed.
"Admit that you killed her, Katrina!" Xian shouted over the confines of the garden, as Katrina couldn't believe what she had heard. Katrina shook her head repetitively as she held her chest and gasped as much air as she needed.
"You killed her, Katrina! You were the one who murdered her!" Xian bellowed, sobbing uncontrollably.