YSABELL'S POV
Those untrustful smiles behind their immense and colorful masks, to the gigantic, enormous gate, and even their attires, are really something.
Bakit ba hindi nila 'yon napansi-
"Hey!" may sikong tumama sa aking balikat.
Ylise gives me a squinting look. "What are you thinking?" tanong niya habang inaayos ang magulo niyang buhok. Nakatulog kasi siya sa buong biyahe kaya nagka-umbok ang likod na parte ng buhok niya.
"About those caretakers," I mumble while staring at her, giving her a meaningful stare that asks for sympathy.
She glances away, her eyes suddenly looks disturbed. "M-maybe t-they just f-forgot it," she reasons out while hiding her eyes with the strands of her hair, pero hindi pa rin ako kumbinsido.
How can you forget the face of the only heiress of your boss?
"Ylise-" sinubukan kong magsalita ngunit pinutol niya ang aking sasabihin.
She looks at me with pleading yet angry eyes. "You know what, Ysabel? Stop it, okay? Don't make it creepy for me. You're aware that I trust no one, right?" her voice rises up, but the last sentence she said turned into a whisper.
Kuminang ang kaniyang mga mata dahil sa nagbabadyang mga luha ngunit iniangat niya ang kaniyang ulo upang pigilan ang pagtulo ng mga ito.
My brows knit, but I restrain myself from uttering a word.
Baka nga tama siya.
That I should stop this nonsense. Baka nga iniimbento lang ng aking isip ang lahat ng bagay na napansin ko. Maybe they noticed nothing because there was no wrong in the first place. Maybe those masks are really just for fun. To give us a lively welcome.
Maybe.
I hope so. That's all I can do, to hope. I don't wanna ruin this trip and make it creepy by giving them the suspicion and uneasiness.
"I'm sorry," mahinang usal ko saka ko inalo ang kaniyang balikat upang pakalmahin siya.
I didn't expect it to turn out like this.
Sinubukang ngumiti ni Ylise. "It's okay." huminga siya nang malalim saka siya tumingin sa akin. "Let's go?" she adds while faking a beam.
Tumango ako habang ipinipikit ang aking mga mata saka ko siya binigyan ng pilit na ngiti. "Mmm."
I hold her hand, and we both left the retro van.
When our feet reached the ground, it created a crunchy sound because of the pile of dried leaves. Natatakpan ang sinag ng araw ng mga naglalakihang puno na nagkalat sa buong gubat. But some patches of the sun are touching my bare skin. I feel like we're in the hunger games. Everything is just so epic.
Otomatikong umarko ang ngiti sa aking labi. I shut my eyes and free myself from all the burdens that almost ruined my day. Ang lamig ng simoy ng hangin ay dumadampi sa aking mukha at naging dahilan upang lalong maging magulo ang ayos ng aking buhok. Ang huni ng iba't-ibang uri ng mga ibon ay tila musika sa aking tenga.
God, this is so relaxing.
My eyes automatically open when I hear Gia's complaining voice. "They don't even have signal here!" she howls at us while waving her phone in the air. She's a bit far from us dahil naghahanap siya ng internet connection.
Napangisi ako. Clay is calling her to come back on where we are, near the van.
He walks toward me, smiling.
"Thank you, Ysabel," usal ni Clay habang nakangiti sa akin.
My brows furrow. "For what?"
"For trading seats?" he laughs with the thought and so do I.
"Don't mention it." kinindatan ko siya at saka kami nagpalitan ng mga ngiti. I don't wanna open the topic about the conflict between him and Leighton because I'm afraid that I might bring fuel to the fire, so I just divert my eyes to Gia.
"Look how alienated your girlfriend is," I mumble while crossing my arms.
"I love her so much," sagot niya habang nakatitig sa kasintahan na kasalukuyang tumatalon habang itinataas ang kaniyang kamay na may hawak na cellphone.
Napairap ako ngunit hindi ko mapigilang mapangisi. "I didn't ask."
"Just saying," saad niya kasabay ng mahinang tawa.
"Whatever, you guys will gonna break up, anyway."
"Oh, shut up."
I chuckle, but I almost leap in shock when someone taps my shoulders. I peek at my back.
Noah is beaming while holding a bottled water. "I w-wonder if y-you..." he scratches the back of his head while forcing himself to continue talking, and that made me giggle. "...want some w-water?" he offers with his face blushing.
Clay interrupts, "I'm thirsty too, Mr. Knight in shining armor." he blinks beautifully while clamping his palms on his mouth. Gross.
"Really?" tinapunan siya ni Noah ng napipikong ngiti. "Go drink yourself up, milady." marahas niyang ibinato kay Clay ang bottled water na hawak niya ngunit agad na nakaiwas ang huli.
Clay gives him a smirk. Noah just rolls his eyes then he holds my hand. Sa lamig ng kaniyang kamay ay muntik na akong mapaatras palayo sa kaniya.
"L-let's get outta h-here. There are annoying w-wild animals everyw-where," he sternly utter while looking at Clay.
We walk away to Clay, who's now laughing. "Look who's pissed!" sigaw niya habang patawa-tawa.
Habang naglalakad kami palapit sa malaking bahay ay tiningnan ako ni Noah. "Are you... y-you know?" bulong niya at napansin kong muntik na niyang suntukin ang kaniyang sarili dahil sa pagkautal niya. He shifts his head to his side and whisper, "Damn, why is this so hard?!"
"Thirsty?" tanong ko habang sinusubukan kong itago ang aking ngisi.
"Y-yeah," sagot niya habang umiiwas pa rin ng tingin sa akin. Namumula rin ang kaniyang tenga.
"Nope. I'm good." I tighten my grip to his hand.
Bigla siyang namula at sinubukan niyang itago ang ngiting sumisilay sa kaniyang labi.
"H-here's your... ahm, l-luggage," he says and I notice that he's holding two black suits on his right hand.
When I pick my malice, our hands touch. "Thanks," I mumble with a smile.
He just nod and I swear, his face turns into a tomato.
Tumigil kami sa paglalakad nang nasa harapan na kami ng Casa. Gia is still looking for some signal because I can still hear the sound of crunchy leaves while she hops.
The Casa is vintage at palagay ko'y lagpas isang daan na ang tanda nito. Based from its appearance outside, masasabi kong mayroon itong dalawang palapag. It is made out of bamboo sticks that are painted in dark brown. There are two old but not rusty metal swings on its terrace which are colored as dirty white. Meron ding dalawang wind chimes sa harap ng pintuan and a head of a doll is hanging in between them.
Well, that's a bit creepy.
There's a big acacia on its right side that covers the whole house's red roof from the sunlight. Mayroong maliit na tree house sa itaas ng punong 'yon at ang hagdan patungo ro'n ay ang maliliit na mga hukay na ginawa sa mismong paligid ng puno. From my view here, I can say that it is not that high and I am able to take a sight of some Christmas lights sparkling inside of it even though December is still months to go.
I turn my gaze back to the Casa. It's just an ordinary yet dazzling house. It looks like the other heritage houses you will see in our country. Except that it has a glass covering throughout its entire area. I think it's renovated. Its layer is thin, tho. Maybe they put that to prevent termites from entering, I guess.
"Hey, Gia! Come here already!" sigaw naming lahat sa kaniya nang mapansing siya na lang ang wala pa rito sa harapan ng Casa. She's still leaping with an exhausted face. She looks awful.
She stops and rests her palms on her knees while breathing heavily. "Wait, just give me a minute! Kailangan kong tawagan si mama!" sigaw niya pabalik habang hinahabol ang kaniyang hininga.
Ylise responds, "You won't get anything. There are no cell towers within this property. The last one was a kilometer away!"
Gia looks at us with incredulity. "Bakit ngayon mo lang sinabi!?" naiinis na sigaw niya habang nakapameywang.
Natawa kaming dalawa ni Ylise. "I thought you're rehearsing some tribal dance, so I didn't interrupt you," pamemeste ni Ylise sa kaniya na ikinatawa naming lahat.
Nagdadabog na naglakad palapit sa amin si Gia habang inaayos ang nagulo niyang buhok. Sweat is all over her face. She looks stale. Sinalubong siya ni Clay na may dalang tissue.
Danielle forces a cough to get our attentions. "Okay, are you guys ready to enter Casa Réal?" nagagalak na saad niya habang bitbit ang dalawang maleta.
"Can someone tell her that we already did ten minutes ago?" Leighton whispers to nobody.
"Oh, shut up, Cody. I'm talking about the house." Danielle frowns at him while pointing the door with her hands, but the latter just ignored her and even whistles an annoying sound.
Ylise interrupts, "Can you just open it? The sun's starting to burn my skin."
Napaismid si Danielle. "God, you're ruining the excitement," buwelta niya habang binubuksan ang glass covering saka isinunod ang kahoy na pintuan. One of the caretakers handed the keys to us before we entered the gate.
Danielle's drivers are already starting the van up. Sinabihan na rin nila kami na babalik sila upang sunduin kami paglipas ng dalawang linggo. Wala kaming ibang magagawa kung hindi ang maghintay dito dahil nga wala naman kaming kahit anong connection sa syudad.
Gia and Clay are at our back. We walk towards the entrance but was interrupted by a loud thump coming inside of the house.
"What's that?!" I abruptly ask as my eyes widen. Lahat sila'y napatingin sa akin dahil sa biglaan kong pagsigaw.
They all move to give me a way, and I almost run to the door. My feet are making a sound as I rush towards the door and so does my heart.
Then, I see Ylise lying on the floor, laughing.
What the hell?
"Babe, I just slipped. Why so serious?" she laughs while holding her stomach. The latter chuckles, except for Leighton.
Ipinikit ko ang aking mga mata.
Damn. Why am I being so anxious? I shouldn't take everything seriously.
Nilibot ko na lang ang aking mga mata sa loob ng Casa para maibsan ang inis ko sa kanila. May chandelier na nakasabit sa itaas na nakatapat sa sahig kung saan nadapa si Ylise. Its colors are sequences of green, yellow, and red. The kitchen is also visible from here and I can see such things like an oven and set of knives.
In the center of the living room, there's a long maroon sofa with flowers printed on its old silk. In front of it is a giant tv— a modern one, and there are two black antique speakers on its both sides.
There's a brown circle carpet placed on the center of the living room, where Ylise tripped. A fierce wolf was printed on its middle part. Lahat ng aking mga kaibigan ay pumasok na upang tingnan ang bahay na titirhan namin sa loob ng dalawang linggo. It's really cool, actually. Everything is fascinating and so vintage. Even the brown cassette player in the corner beside the carpet with a glowing sticker of a pointing finger also fit with the ambiance.
Huminga ako nang malalim. This is it. I need to ease up my mind with every woe that I carried.
It's time for myself, with my friends.
"So, where's my room?" Ylise asks when she stands up. Pinagpagan niya ang kaniyang sarili.
Gia rubs her chin. "Hmm, let's see..." she starts scanning the whole area with her finger, but she was stopped by Leighton's voice.
"There are five rooms," maikling saad niya.
Napapalakpak si Danielle dahil sa narinig. "Great! You can share a room by pair, and I'll enjoy my own room!" she leaps in excitement.
"As if we'll let you," sabat ni Leighton dahilan para mapasimangot si Danielle.
"Can you be a gentleman sometimes?" she spits while raising her eyebrows.
Leighton answers her with a firm NO that made her cross her arms.
Muli kong binilang ang mga kuwartong nandirito. There really are five in here. Two rooms are on the left side near the the TV, the other two are in between the kitchen and the restroom. Wala akong nakikitang kahit anong hagdan kaya sa tingin ko'y may kataasan lang ang bubong ng Casa kaya aakalain mong may dalawang palapag ito mula sa labas.
Napakunot ang noo ko nang makita ko ang ikatlong kuwarto. All the doors of each rooms are painted white, but this one was painted with a dark bloody-red color and a black doorknob.
"You sure you wanna sleep in that creepy room?" I ask while locking my eyes on it.
"Is red creepy for you?" asks Gia, confusingly mocking.
Napakurap ako. "I— I don't know. It's just that— the aura," sagot ko habang nauutal. Nakapako pa rin ang tingin ko sa ikatlong kuwarto. It seems like it's hypnotizing me and I can feel something inside of it.
Someone seizes my shoulders, Danielle. "So, can I have it, then?" she playfully mumbles to my ear that tickles me.
"No," Ylise and Leighton both spits. I notice that Agnes does frowns because of that. Well, that's unusual.
Gia laughs and looks at Noah. "Oh, our baby boy is not complaining, eh? It's not like you and Ysabel," she glances at me. "Will sleep in one room." she giggles while shaking her head.
I turn my gaze at Noah and he lowers his head. I blush with the thought. Heat is now rushing up in my face. Does Gia know the word 'embarrassment'?
Danielle interrupts, "So, does that mean that you and Clay won't sleep in one room, either?" she mockingly asks.
Gia's face drops. "What? We are a couple. Of course that's different-" she tried to defend her side, but she's interrupted by Ylise.
"Rules have no exceptions, babe," she utters while crossing her arms.
"Fine!" Gia slumps her back on the maroon sofa and it made a creaking sound that annoyed everyone's ears.
Lumapit ako sa kulay pulang pintuan at hinawakan ang doorknob nito. It's frosting kaya agad kong hinila pabalik ang kamay ko, but I noticed something. It's locked.
At ang ipinagtataka ko pa ay may nakadikit na screen sa ibaba ng doorknob nito. It's a digital lock. My eyebrows furrow, the rest of the rooms don't have that kind of security except for the unlocked doorknobs. And what puzzles me is the fact that there's no numbers in it, rather the letters of the alphabet.
"Hey guys," inilingon ko ang aking ulo sa kanila. "I can't open it," saad ko bago tuluyang binitawan ang malamig nitong pihitan.
"What?" nagtatakang saad ni Danielle saka agad na naglakad palapit sa akin. She flinches when her palms touches the doorknob but she manages to twist it.
"Naka-lock nga," she mutters to herself, then she turns her head to the gang.
"Try the key they gave us," I suggest.
Nang gawin ito ni Danielle ay wala ni isa sa mga susi ang naging daan para mabuksan ang pintuan. "None of them is its key."
"Can you call the caretakers?" tanong niya kay Gia. She seems not to notice the lock at hindi na ako nag-abala pang sabihin ito sa kaniya.
"Have you already forgotten that they don't have any signals here?" Leighton utters in a matter-of-fact tone. Napabuntong hininga na lang si Danielle dahil doon.
"Okay so, how would we know who will be roommates?" asks Ylise while raising her hand.
"Is that a big deal?" Danielle answers then she looks at me. "I'm gonna sleep with Ysabell," she exclaims.
Gia stands up. "Well, so I'm gonna sleep with-"
"You're not gonna sleep with your boyfriend," pagputol ko sa sinasabi niya. Now our position is reversed.
She smirks as if she just realized something. "We are eight Ysabell," she says, stating us the obvious. "Three boys and five girls. Sa ayaw at sa gusto niyo ay isang babae ang kailangang matulog na kasama ang isa sa kanila." she answers while grinning.
Okay, she won.
Umismid ako bilang hudyat ng aking pagkatalo dahilan para mapapalakpak siya sa tuwa.
"Let's go, Agnes?" Ylise turns her head to Agnes who's quietly listening to us.
Agnes nods with a half smile, then they walk towards the fourth room with their malices.
Bigla akong inakbayan ni Danielle. "Let's go!" masiglang saad niya saka kami naglakad patungo sa ikalawang kuwarto na nasa tabi ng kulay pula.
The minute that the door opens, I jump on the bed and rest my head on the white pillow. I feel like the linen is sucking my body, and it feels so good.
I hear the door locks.
I rest my face on the pillow for a while, not caring about my luggage na si Danielle na lang ang nagdala.
"You seem really tired," she utters, and I can hear that she's fixing something.
I turn my body to face her, she's arranging her skin care kit on the mini table in the center of the room.
The room is not big, it's actually like the half of mine. Inside is a wooden double decker bed, and there's a black speaker on its low white ceiling. Its design is a modern one because it's all painted white. And that's all, we don't even have our own rest room.
Danielle didn't say anything after that. Maybe she's exhausted, too. She just climbs on her bed and after a couple of minutes, I hear her heavy breathings. She's asleep.
My head recalls everything that happened today and the unsolved issues about the school. I promised myself that I won't think of any problem that will just ruin my supposedly happy vacation here.
So I take a deep sigh to remove all the woes that I carried up in here. I should disregard all of them for two weeks, at least.
My eyes are starting to get heavy and blurry. I can hear a relaxing tone passing through my ears.
Suddenly, I'm all alone.
All I see is darkness.
And it feels so empty.
I'm in a closet. A very tight cabinet.
No windows. I'm suffocating.
My hands are scratching my neck and I can feel blood rushing on my fingers.
I can't breathe!
Something is obstructed in my throat.
No.
These are not my hands.
Someone is trying to strangle me.
I saw her eyes. They are flaming, and it burns me. It burns my entire body.
"L-lola!" I tried to shriek her name, but she's not responding.
She continues on tightening her grip on me. Her fingernails are sinking on my neck and I can feel the blood that continuously dripping down on it.
"S-stop!" I tried to touch her face, but I failed.
I'm dying.
I shut my eyes vigorously, I feel like my eyeballs are coming out.
No, Ysabell, this isn't real. Take a deep breath.
I— I can't, she's holding the passageway of air.
Suddenly, I felt no hands on my neck.
I catch my breath while my head is facing downward.
I noticed some liquid dripping from my eyes to the metal floor.
It's not dark, and I'm not in a closet anymore.
I'm in an elevator. With her.
She's in her wheelchair.
Her eyes widens. Seems like she's running out of breath.
I saw hands with visible veins are gripping her aged and saggy neck.
I tried to take a peek to the person who's killing my grandmother.
I sight her face on the metal wall of the elevator.
It was me.
My hands.
On her neck.
My eyes widens. I'm breathing heavily and my heart is thudding. I hear nothing except for the echo of my heartbeat.
It's haunting me.
I'm weeping and I tried to shout, but no sound came out from my mouth.
Nothing but my silent sobs.
I'm not alone. They are with me, my friends.
My eyes unconsciously scan the area. I'm in the room. This is where I slept a while ago.
I suddenly regret that I took a nap. Why can't I fucking forget what happened?
No. I didn't kill her. I will never kill lola!
Napahagulgol akong muli. I can't remember anything that happened in the past. Everything is blurry.
Everything changes all the time.
Nothing is evident but her death. But I don't know why she died.
I think I don't.
I wish I don't.
Embrace yourself, Ysabell.
You. Are. Not. Alone.
I keep on reminding myself that nothing bad will happen, again. But I'm just ending up with a heavy cry.
My head is killing me. I can feel my blood rapidly passing through my pulse. It feels like my head is cracking and splitting into two. It hurts!
I saw someone coming out to the door, head is lowered. Wearing a violet jacket.
It's probably Danielle. Because it's only the two of us in this room.
I'm too busy to compose myself that I didn't even try to call her out. I can't even utter a word. And if she sees me like this, how would I explain it to her? That I'm a mur—
I hear a heavy breath above me.
My eyes bulge and I shiver.
Agad akong tumayo mula sa pagkakahiga. I almost hit my head to her bead.
I look at the mirror that's facing our double decker bed. My eyes are swollen and red. Sweats splattered all over my face and even on my hair strands.
But what I saw made me wobble.
I saw Danielle.
She's sleeping. On her bed. While hugging her pillow.
But I just saw her coming out of the room. She's wearing a violet jack— fuck.
Danielle hates violet.
I rush outside the room.
Who was that?
I have a really bad feeling about this. As far as I know, Danielle locked the door. And no one has a spare key for every room.
I closed the door when I'm finally outside, and it made a clang. I scan the whole Casa. No one is outside their rooms. All of their doors are closed, too.
But I saw someone outside, panting, holding his chest, like as if he just finished a long run.
He's wearing a white shirt, not a violet jacket.
But it's wrinkled.
And I'm sure that it's not the shirt that he wore a while ago.
His hair is also messy which is so unusual of him.
Noah is standing in front of me, and his expression is panicking and exhausted.