12:30 A.M.
Abbey and Xyrelle Martinez's residence.
July 21st, the year 2018. Saturday.
Katrina Fajardo's 23rd birthday.
6 hours and 2 minutes since Katrina Fajardo went missing.
"That is why he answers none of my calls. He was asleep right now," Abbey whispered through the window. She observed his brother's bedroom, and she stood upright when she saw that someone was moving.
A silhouette over the window danced around the shadows. It made Abbey climb out of her car immediately. The figure fell back onto the bed. She's puzzled that she opened the gate hastily.
"He wasn't asleep?" Abbey whispered to herself as she opened the front door and switched the lights on. She sighed as she saw how clean the living room was and stared at the staircase. She wore off her shoes first over the door and picked up slippers on the rack.
Abbey walked up the stairs and stopped by her brother's bedroom. She silently put the side of her head over the door and widened her eyes when she heard someone gasping.
Abbey grabbed a hold of the doorknob and quickly opened the door. Her brother sat down on the bed while the lights were off. Only the lampshade was giving a glint towards the room. They both screamed at each other as Abbey covered her eyes abruptly, slamming the door.
Abbey gasped, leaning back on the door. She grimaced at herself when the lower part of her brother's naked body crossed her mind. She closed her eyes, shaking her head repetitively, disgusted by what she saw.
She knew how shameful it was to see her brother like that, and she hurried. Xyrelle froze at his place when the door closed again and he was holding his pants high through his front. He gasped and widened his eyes at the door as he scrambled upon his comforter. He covered the lower part of his body as he whispered something to himself.
He guided his arm and mumbled, "Did Abbey see anything?"
He closed his eyes and creased his forehead as his breath quickens. He heard loud footsteps over their stairs and breathed a sigh of relief. Xyrelle knew Abbey would go down immediately.
"That's why I said to knock on my door before entering," Xyrelle hissed through the door. He stood up from his bed and rapidly wore his pants. Xyrelle screeched in pain as he held his sprain to his feet.
He fell back on his bed as he examined the gauze that surrounded his ankles and looked upon his toenails. Xyrelle sighed as he zipped the fly closed and stood up erect as he could.
He observed his messy hair over his head, straightening it. He sighed, disgustingly staring at his feet and muttered, "Why the hell I have to deal with my arm injury and a sprain? I can't even do a thing with my arm being like this. Now, I have to endure this sprain all over again."
He exhaled, looking over the clock on the bedside table. He saw it was already thirty-five minutes past midnight. Xyrelle once again smiled at his reflection. He limped over to the bedroom door while abiding by the pain that his sprain brought upon him. He opened the bedroom door, hearing a loud clanking of the glass downstairs.. He guided his feet towards the steps.
After he reached the foot of the stairs, Abbey was sitting in the living room while drinking coffee from a cup. She was holding a saucer underneath, and she opened the lights over the room. Abbey was sipping her coffee when she saw her brother by the foot of the stairs. Xyrelle immediately smiled as he limped towards the couch on her side.
Abbey's confused eyes observed Xyrelle. She raised her eyebrows when she saw how he walked... or more like, he's limping.
Abbey's face turned into an anxious one.
"What happened to your feet? You were alright earlier when I was going out of the house. What did you do this time?" Abbey asked, crouching down and observed the gauze around his ankles. Xyrelle dashed his feet away from her touch, and Abbey's hand froze in the air. She raised her eyebrows, tilting her head to one side. She got puzzled by that reaction.
"It's, it's painful... I don't want anyone to touch it for some time... I needed to take some rest. Don't worry, this sprain will heal in a matter of days," Xyrelle stuttered. Abbey scrutinized his bothersome face. Abbey breathed, sitting back down in her chair.
Xyrelle stood up from his seat suddenly, which made him lose his balance. Abbey gasped.
Xyrelle screamed in pain and held his arm higher from the floor. He elevated his left foot too so that it would not slam right through the floor. Xyrelle grimaced as he felt the pain from his foot when he lost balance. He grunted as Abbey held his feet with a light touch. It was too late to stand up from his place and whished that hand away. Abbey peeked underneath his feet and saw oozing blood from the gauze.
She opened her mouth wide, staring into his brother's eyes immensely.
Xyrelle stood up with his right hand supporting all of his weight as Abbey stared at him with baffled eyes. Xyrelle bit his bottom lip, muttering, "I fell down the stairs earlier. I'm surprised to see a lot of blood over the backside of my feet. I immediately went to call a doctor so that the injury can't be severe anymore."
"You guys stay there. I need to question Xian over something about his accident. Don't go anywhere. And I was updating the officers over the woods so that we can have a lead. There's a shot on the culprit's leg. Not sure if it's the left or right. But I'm certain he's bleeding right now."
Abbey swallowed, remembering Marcus's words on the group call earlier. She stared into her brother's eyes. Abbey looked back at his feet and she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw it was by his heel bone, not on his leg.
She blinked several times, glancing at his brother's innocent eyes. Abbey swallowed as she stood up and guided Xyrelle towards the couch.
"Thank you so much, sister," Xyrelle mumbled, grunting. He leaned back on his seat.
"You should sit down for a while. You know, this kind of injury took several weeks to heal. If you move swiftly, it'll take a month before you can recover."
Abbey sat down, picking up the coffee on the table. Katrina's smile crossed her mind again as her cell phone vibrated over the pockets. She retrieved it, seeing the birthday reminder once again.
"I apologize, Abbey. I should have called you earlier, but I don't have the time. My ankle was killing earlier," Xyrelle muttered as he observed the dirt over his cast. Abbey clenched her cell phone, snoozed it off, and drank the remnants from the cup. She swallowed as she glimpsed over her brother's left foot.
"It's okay, Xyrelle. I've been out of the house since 6am in the morning yesterday. I don't have time to watch for you," Abbey affirmed. She furrowed her eyebrows, still staring at that ankle.
"Don't you ever think you are irresponsible right now. You are the best and most caring sister I have ever met," Xyrelle chuckled. Abbey didn't know if she should beam or not. The smile on his face vanished, asking what her sister was thinking.
"Someone abducted Katrina, and we don't know where she is right now." Abbey looked at her lap, forming in her eyes. It was her birthday today. She wondered if Marcus was doing fine. His body was scrambling in and out, trying all his best to capture the culprit.
"I received a call earlier at the office, and I was so shocked when Mina said that she was missing. I don't know what to feel that time when I rode my car and zoomed out of Dera Group of Companies. It's like the world I had been living in for about 22 years had been sinking deep into the ground." Abbey buried her face in her palms.
The tears trickled down.
"Katrina is my best friend, and she is one of the most important people in my life. I swear I will find the one who abducted her. I'll beat him out of death." Abbey gritted her teeth, looking down at the kitchen alley.