YSABELL'S POV
The moment I opened my eyes, I already assumed that I will be in the torture room.
But I am not.
Nakahiga pa rin ako sa malamig na sahig ng living room. Nasa harapan ko ang basag na baso at nagkalat ang bubog nito.
Masakit man ang aking ulo'y pinilit ko pa ring tumayo. As usual, I can feel the blood pumping in my head as I move my body. But I have to stand up. I have to identify which one of my friends is the next chess piece they've chosen.
Mabilis na tiningnan ko sila isa-isa at dahil sa biglaan kong paggalaw ay biglang kumirot ang aking leeg at nanlabo nang bahagya ang aking paningin.
Okay, Ysabell. Hold on. Take it easy.
I take a deep breath at marahan kong sinipat ang bawat isa sa kanila. My heart is still hoping na kumpleto pa rin kami, na walang kulang sa amin. But my mind is stating the otherwise.
That something is for sure, one of them will be missing my count.
Nanginginig ang kamay kong binilang sila. Agnes is here, so is Leighton.
Sa tuwing dadapo ang aking hintuturo sa bawat kaibigan ko ay nararamdaman ko ang magkahalong saya at takot.
Tuwa na nandito siya, at ang takot na kung kaninong mukha at pangalan ang hindi ko makikita.
Clay is here, obviously, because his turn ended already, but I still sigh in relief nang makita kong mahimbing siyang nakahiga sa sahig habang nakasapo ang kaniyang kamay sa kaniyang ulo.
Noah is also here. Thank God. I still haven't explain that thing to him and I also can't afford losing him that easily.
I still need to clarify some matter with Noah.
My eyes widen when I catch a sight of Ylise. Her palms are bleeding. Wait, is she the chosen chess piece and the game already finished but we didn't notice it because we all fainted?
No. That's impossible to happen. I saw the shattered glass beside her. So that explains why her palms are bloody.
Pero muli na namang nanlaki ang aking mga mata nang aking mapagtanto kung kaninong pangalan ang hindi ko nabilang.
"Gia!" I yell when I confirmed my suspicion.
"Ugh." I flinch when I forcefully turn my head at my back. I run my sweating palm on my nape to ease the pain of my sudden jolt but I stop when I take a glance at the open television.
Gia's photo has the frame of color green.
She's the next chess piece chosen.
"No!" someone shouts, and I saw Clay when I turn my head again back to the other side.
His eyes starts to water, and his expression is terrified. Sinubukan kong lumapit sa kaniya ngunit nakita kong nagising na rin ang iba dahil sa pagsigaw ni Clay.
"Clay, what happened- Oh, God," Danielle shrieks when she saw Gia's picture flashed on the television.
Clay suddenly grunts at napahandusay itong muli sa sahig habang marahas na sinasabunutan ang kaniyang sarili.
"No! No! Bakit siya!?" he shrieks and he starts punching himself kaya naman agad siyang sinunggaban ni Noah.
"Dude, calm down, please. You're hurting yourself," pag-aalo nito sa kaniya habang hinahawakan niya ang nagpupumiglas na mga kamay ni Clay.
Clay suddenly cries out loudly that makes Agnes, Leighton, and Ylise wake up. "T-they're so cruel. They might k-kill he-" he haven't finished his sentence because he's already at the end of his limit. Tuluyan nang sumabog ang mga paghagulgol niya saka niya marahas na niyakap si Noah.
We are all crying, but I notice that Ylise is biting her fingernails while she's weeping like she's losing her mind.
Why do we need to experience these kind of things?
Then, a voice flashes in my mind. "Because you're sinners," that voice says.
For a few seconds, you can hear nothing except for our cries na sinasapawan ng mga hiyaw ni Clay. He's more in pain compared to us. He suffered first and he hasn't recovered yet both physically and mentally, but they took his girlfriend to be the second chess piece the very next day. There's no word that can describe how painful this scenario is for Clay kaya hindi ko rin siya masisisi kung bakit siya nagwawala nang ganito.
We just know how cruel they are, but Clay felt it.
A creak comes from the speaker kaya natigil kaming lahat sa pag-iyak. We all turn our gazes to the television while waiting. Clay hasn't stopped crying but he's not yelling anymore. He somehow managed to compose himself. Akap pa rin siya ni Noah habang pilit na pinapatahan siya nito.
"I guess Gia is a very lovely girl, isn't she?" the gamemaker's mocking voice appears, then he chuckles.
Clay didn't say anything. He's just weeping but I know that his ears are listening to what the gamemaker is saying.
"Cut the shit. Where's the riddle," sabat ni Danielle habang sumisinghot.
"Are you going on a date Danielle? Why are you such in a rush?" he asks in a flirty tone then he laughs childishly, harder than the first one.
"Can't you just be straight forward-"
"Will you shut up?!" sigaw ko kay Danielle habang nagngangalit akong nakatingin sa kaniya.
She falters but she manages to continue her words, "Ysabell, I'm not the enemy here-" I cut her off again.
"I know! But what he's doing is pissing us off. The more pissed we are, the more pleasure he gets!" I shout at her face para ipagduldulang mali ang desisyon niyang sumagot pa siya sa akin.
I don't care if she'll get mad at me for acting like this, but everyone has to stop entertaining their bullshits because it will just satisfy those devils.
Danielle blinks unconsciously and her jaw drops before she replies, "I understand. I'm sorry." Her eyes are fixated on mine so I pull them back from hers with a sigh that came out of my nose.
I look again on the television but it's still flashing our pictures kaya nagsalita na ako, "Where's the riddle?" I ask sternly, talking to no one.
The gamemaker chuckles before he finally speaks. "So much rage," saad nito saka na tuluyang nawala ang boses niya mula sa speaker.
Then a few seconds later, the riddle appears on the screen. Bago ko binasa ang riddle ay tiningnan ko muna si Clay. "Do you wanna watch it?" I ask politely because I don't know if this will be offending for him. I mean, if someone bumps into me and asks me if I wanna watch my boyfriend die, I'll slap his face hard, so I'm being cautious with Clay's feelings.
He just weakly nods bago siya muling yumakap kay Noah. His eyes are red and the bags under it are charcoal. I force a smile at Noah but he alters his gaze to somewhere. He's still mad on what happened, I guess.
I take a deep breath before turning my direction into the television and then I read the riddle.
"On Calvary
There were three, not six
It's also known
As a crucifix"
Kumunot ang aking noo dahil wala akong mahanap na sagot mula sa tanong na ito. I glance at Ylise but I saw her not paying attention, she's still looking at somewhere while still biting her fingernails in a very weird manner, so I read the riddle again to get the answer by myself.
Calvary? What does that even mean?
What's three and six? Is it math solving? The fuck.
I don't understand anything. Until I saw the word crucifix. Then I remember that we tackle crucifixion when I was in ninth grade.
"Cross?" patanong na sagot ko dahil hindi ko naman talaga alam kung 'yon ba talaga ang tamang sagot para sa riddle na ito.
Then, a check sign appears on the television that made Danielle and Agnes gasp.
That's when I realized one thing.
Crucifixion is the event where they nailed Jesus Christ on a cross.
There's no way that they will do it, I tell myself. But deep inside I know that it's not impossible. As I've said and seen from their actions, they are not afraid to kill someone, rather it's their pleasure.
"No! Please, no!" muli na namang sumigaw si Clay at napapikit na lamang ako habang umaasang matakasan ko ang tunog ng naghihinagpis niyang paghagulgol.
The television flashes the torture room. There's nothing new in the room except for the fact that the bed was replaced by a chair and Gia is striped on it. Kumunot ang noo ko habang sumisipat ng krus kung saan nila maaaring ipako si Gia.
But there's none.
Tahimik lang na natutulog si Gia habang nakayuko ang kaniyang ulo. She is surrounded by two pawns wearing their usual rabbit masks. My confusion rises when I noticed that she's wearing a blue cloak with a red chemise underneath.
There's no doubt in what I'm seeing, she is dressed as Virgin Mary.
"Baby..." nanghihinang saad ni Clay habang tinititigan si Gia at ilang sandali pa'y tuluyan na siyang nawalan ng malay dahil sa sobrang pagkapagod.
"Dalhin na muna natin siya sa kuwarto," suhestiyon ni Agnes tsaka ito tumayo mula sa kaniyang pagkakaupo.
"Good idea," Danielle replies and they helped Noah to carry Clay to their room. Only me, Leighton, and Ylise are left here.
Kanina pa ako nagtataka kung bakit tila hindi mapakali si Ylise. I'm about to ask her why she's acting like that but I notice that the timer inside the torture room starts ticking. It started from one minute and as seconds passed by, my mind is filled with thoughts.
I take a long deep sigh when finally, the clock strikes at zero. My heart jumps when I heed that we only have five minutes to witness what they're going to do with Gia so we better cheer her up.
As soon as the clock runs, one of the pawns aggressively shakes Gia to wake her and the other one walks somewhere so he disappeared from the camera.
Bakas sa mukha ni Gia ang pagkirot ng kaniyang ulo dahil sa marahas na panggigising ng lalaki sa kaniya. When she saw that she is in an unrecognizable room, her face was confused for seconds, then she began crying when she realized that she was the next chess piece.
Nagwawala siya sa kaniyang kinauupuan habang nagsisisigaw. We can't hear her, but I can see the sounds coming out of her mouth.
Muntik na siyang matumba nang bigla niyang sinipa ang isa sa mga lalaki sa maselang bahagi nito ngunit nasalo ng isa sa kanila ang kinauupuan ni Gia at mabilis na inayos ito patayo.
After a few seconds of wincing in pain while holding his crotch, the pawn aggressively jumps to Gia and he slaps her face. I can't imagine how hard the slap is, but it is enough to make Gia pass out.
His colleague nudges his elbow and he whispers something on his ears that made the pawn who slapped Gia walks out of the picture. He strides where the other pawn walked a while ago and he came back while wearing gloves and he is carrying a flaming-red metal cross.
"No, Gia! Wake up! Gia!" Ylise finally shouts nang bumalik siya sa huwisyo at mapagtanto niya kung anong gagawin nila kay Gia.
Napaurong ako nang dahil sa aking nakikita. I thought they will nail her down on a cross, but I guess it's worse than that.
"Holy mother of God," Leighton mutters with exhaustion while clamping his mouth.
Gia's face is still facing downward.
"Oh, shit," bulong ko sa aking sarili nang makita kong itinaas ng isa sa kanila ang nagbabagang krus at itinapat ito sa pisngi ni Gia.
"No!" sigaw ni Ylise nang tuluyang idinikit sa mukha ni Gia ang namumula sa init na bakal. Smoke comes out of it at kitang-kita ang pagbula ng parte ng kaniyang mukha habang ito'y nasusunog.
"Aahhhh!" Gia screams when she was awoken by the burning heat on her face but we hear no sound. We can just see her screaming from the torture room and we can feel how painful it is for her. Her hands are shaking while she's forcing those chains that are entagled on her to let go of her body, but it didn't work out.
I saw the pawns laughing as they see Gia wincing in pain. One of them starts dancing an ethnic dance at inikutan niya ang tumatangis na si Gia.
Gia's eyes are pleading the guy who's holding the cross metal because there are no words coming out of her mouth except for painful screams. Kasabay ng pag-urong ng mukha ni Gia upang umilag ay ang pag-abante naman ng umuusok bakal na nagiging dahilan upang mas lalong bumaon ang baga nito sa kaniyang pisngi.
I slap my mouth to keep it shut. Ylise is shrieking like she's starting to lose her mind on what she's witnessing while Leighton is just silently staring at the television without any tears, but his eyes are wide open and jaw dropped.
I can't say anything, either. I want to cheer Gia up. I want to make her feel that she's not alone in this kind of situation. But how can I exactly do it? I feel like I swallowed my tongue and there's no voice coming out of my mouth whenever I tried to speak. Puro iyak at nakaririnding tunog lang ang lumalabas dito sa tuwing susubukan kong magsalita.
We are here, staring while they are trying to kill Gia.
We're powerless.
I guess Danielle was right. That obeying them is the only key for surviving, and being a bitch is like writing your own name on a death note.
Finally, the pawn removes the metal from Gia's cheek. May balat pa na sumama sa bakal habang mabagal na inaalis ito ng lalaki. Gia screams again at wala nang tigil ang pagpatak ng mga luha niya. When he finally removed it, I saw Gia's flesh from her left cheek and blood starts dripping down from it. Namumula rin ang kalahati ng mukha niya at kita ko na ang mga ugat sa kaniyang noo.
The pawn who is dancing wipes the blood using his gloved finger at marahas niyang sinabunutan ang nakayukong si Gia upang itaas ang ulo nito. Her face is tired and exhausted. She looks like she passed out again because of too much pain.
The pawn draws a pentagram on her forehead and a cross on Gia's right cheek using a black marker. Nag-apiran silang dalawa nang matapos sila sa kani-kanilang ginagawa. The other pawn came back with another burning metal again. A pentagram this time.
No fucking way.
Itinapat niya ito sa noo ng nahimatay na si Gia habang sinasabunutan pa rin siya ng isa sa kanila at ilang saglit pa'y marahas niya itong idinikit sa balat ni Gia.
Biglang nanlaki ang mga mata ng huli at muli na naman itong nagising dahil sa init ng nagbabagang bakal na nasa kaniyang noo. Her eyes are terrified and in pain at the same time. "Ahhh!" she shouts but I close my eyes to stop witnessing how cruel they are to her.
But there's no need for that, because the television shuts down as they remove the burning metal from her forehead.
A moment of silence swallowed us. Ylise is gasping for air while staring at nowhere and after a few minutes, I jolt because she starts shrieking and she falls to the floor. Agad akong gumapang palapit sa kaniya at sinalo ang kaniyang ulo bago ito tumama sa sahig. "Ylise, what's happening?!" pasigaw na tanong ko upang makuha ang atensiyon niya dahil kita ko sa mga mata niya ang paghihingalo. She even scratches her neck that caused red claw marks on her skin.
She didn't respond and she still continues wobbling so I grab her arms to stop her from itching herself. "Ylise! Ylise, look at me." I hold her jaw to face me. Her eyes are terrified so I gaze at Leighton. "Why is she acting like this?" I ask him dahil sobrang natatakot na ako sa inaasta ni Ylise.
"I guess she's having a breakdown," Leighton replies with sympathy but he didn't help me.
"So, what to do now?" I ask again because I know nothing about this stuff. Pinandilatan ko siya ng mata nang taasan lang niya ako ng kilay.
"Leigh—"
"Calm her down," maikling saad niya.
I glance at Ylise. How to calm a person? I ask myself and I use the first answer that popped up into my mind.
"Inhale, exhale," I shakily utter while keeping an eye contact with her but she isn't doing what I am instructing.
"Ylise! Come on!" I shout at her face and I can see my own saliva splattered on it but I still got no response from her. She's still wobbling while crying loudly habang nagpupumiglas ang kaniyang mga kamay mula sa aking pagkakahawak.
"Ylise!" I shriek at binitawan ko ang kamay niya para sampalin siya pero may pwersang tumabig sa aking katawan dahilan para tumilapon ako palayo kay Ylise.
My butt aches when it hits the floor. I glance at the person who forcefully shove me away from Ylise.
Agnes.
"Why did you that—"
"You're about to slap her face!" she yells back at me dahilan para matahimik ako mula sa aking pagkakaupo. I am taken aback because of the tone of her voice. I have never heard Agnes shouted like that. I can see the rage in her face and the veins in her neck are pumping.
"It's because she's freaking out," I answer but now in a low tone. I feel guilty about the thought of me slapping Ylise's face but I can't admit it to Agnes, especially now that I can see that she's angry because of my actions.
Why is she even acting like that, anyway?
Agnes' face falters then she gulps before answering. "Ako na ang bahala sa kaniya," she answers in her usual tone. The voice that everyone used to hear from her.
I just nod because I'm still in shock because of her sudden and eccentric rage.
Mahinang tinapik niya si Ylise sa pisngi at hinawakan niya ang mga kamay nito saka niya pinaikot-ikot at nakabibiglang naging malumanay nga si Ylise dahil sa ginawa niya.
I stare on what Agnes did but she avoids my eyes at tinulungan niyang tumayo mula sa pagkakahiga si Ylise. Niyakap niya ito nang mahigpit at may binulong siya rito. Maya-maya pa'y naglakad na sila patungo sa kanilang kuwarto.
I can't get my eyes off of the door of their room that just closed. It seems like Agnes knows everything about Ylise already.
Everything about my Ylise that even I don't know.
Leighton snickers dahilan para mapatingin ako sa kaniya. "Look who's jealous," he mocks then he walks toward his own room while still chuckling.
I'm about to stand up and take a rest in my room too when the speaker rumbles.
"It's time to find out, sinners. Go and check room number three." the gamemaker's voice echoed in my ears.
Agad akong tumakbo papunta sa ikatlong kuwarto. Its redness is teasing me and I wanna put that door on fire so badly.
Muli ko na namang naramdaman ang pamilyar na pakiramdam. The feeling that I never wanted to feel again. For the second time, this door is going to decide Gia's fate.
No, her fate was decided already. We just have to find out its outcome.
Narinig ko ang paglabas ng lahat maging ang susuray-suray na si Clay na inaalalayan nina Danielle at Noah. His eyes are really tired. Ylise is holding Agnes' shoulders and I saw Leighton comes out from his room, too.
When I saw that we are all gathered, I turn my gaze to the red door and enter the word 'cross' on it.
The feeling is similar to what I felt when Clay was inside this room. The only difference is Gia's in here right now.
Guess what?
The door opens.
This is like a déjà vu. A déjà vu that I always want to experience whenever I enter a word as the password to open this door.
Just like yesterday, my feet gave away the moment it opened. Muli na naman akong napaupo at hindi na nakayanan ng mga tuhod ko ang nag-uumapaw na takot at tuwa na buhay si Gia.
Someone grasps my shoulders to help me stand up. I take a look at him and my smelling sense didn't disappoint me because I'm not mistaken that this person is Noah based on his perfume.
"C-can we t-talk?" he whispers on my ears that made me shiver.
I give him a confused look. "Can we do it later? Gia is—"
"P-please." His pleading voice and his watery eyes made me agree to his suggestion.
I think he should know that thing as soon as possible.
"M'kay," I say as I nod at him.
Inalalayan niya akong maglakad at nilagpasan namin sina Ylise at Agnes na parehong tinititigan kami.
I wanted to tell him the truth right now to ease his woes even if I feel that now's not the right time to do it. Mahirap kasi ang may iniisip ka dahil hindi ka nito patatahimikin hangga't hindi mo nakukuha ang sagot para rito.
He should know. He must.
Because he's part of—
Nabitawan ko ang kamay ni Noah nang may pamilyar na tunog akong narinig.
My knees collapse once again habang tulalang nakikinig sa kanta.
When you're alone and life is making you lonely
You can always go
Downtown
No fucking way.
Not again.
Not this early.
I thought I am just hallucinating. But I can see the green air coming towards us at dinig ko ang sigawan ng aking mga kasama sa aking likuran.
Then, everything went black.
--
When I opened my eyes, I'm lucky that I'm still lying on the same spot where I was lying a while ago.
My head is killing me, as expected.
Pero hindi ko ininda ang nakapipikon na sakit ng aking ulo at agad akong tumingin sa aking mga kasama.
Who is it now?
Binilang ko sila habang binabanggit sa aking utak ang kanilang mga pangalan. Gia is still lying on the bed inside the open room three.
Six people are already on my fingers. Tinitigan ko ito at tuluyan nang tumulo ang mga luha ko.
They should be six, not we.
Muli ko silang binilang at napahagulgol ako nang makumpirmang hindi ako nagkamali ng bilang.
Six people are still here.
And I'm part of those six on the list.
But we were eight.
So we should be seven by now.
Shit.
Ylise and Noah are missing.
Both of them are out of my sight.