Third Person's View
"Damn! They're taking too long!"
Flare is tapping his finger in the desk impatiently. He is glaring at the wall. Are they wasting my time? He gritted his teeth.
"F*ck waiting!" He stood up from the couch, grab his coat, put it on, and exit the club, making sure it was lock and got the key with him on his pocket.
Fast footsteps echoing in the hallway with heavy thumps of his shoe rubbing with the marble floor. Heavy breaths and the building anxiety inside me made me more impatient.
He got his cellphone out and tried to call Friar's number. It rings. But that's all there is to it. It just rings. No answer.
"Tch." He ended the call and tried to call several times but still no answer.
The anxiety inside of Flare increased. He walked down the stairs frantically until he met an old woman in her late 40's hardly pulling a trolley—full of mops and wet, old handkerchief—passed by.
He stopped, turned to look at the old lady and thinking if he should help her or not. Then, he found himself helping the old lady.
"S-Sir Flare?! A-Ano po ang ginagawa ninyo?" gulat na sambit ng matanda at sinubukang pahintuin siya. "Sir, a-ako na ho! Baka mapagalitan pa po kayo ni Sir Ferris."
"Let me," sabi niya at tinulak ang trolley pero pinigilan uli siya ng matanda.
Nervousness is visible on the old lady's face. "S-Sir, ako na ang gagawa niyan. Baka po talaga mapagalitan ako ng may-ari kapag—"
"Dad won't scold you in accepting my help," pagputol niya rito at sinimulan ulit ang pagtulak sa trolley. "So, saan tayo papunta?"
~***~
The old lady thanked him and he left to continue his search. He contacted Yna and the other High Reapers but they are all busy.
"Damn it!"
Nagpatuloy siya sa paghahanap. Sa first floor, second floor, sa mga pasikot-sikot na hallway, sa mga opisina, even he visited some clubs pero wala sila do'n. The only place na hindi pa niya na pupuntahan is the cafeteria.
So, he went there.
Mahaba ang pila ng makarating siya do'n. Well, it is meryenda time. Pa'nong hindi dadami ang estudyante? But that line splits as they saw Flare. He took the opportunity and walked past the people until he is on the school cafeteria's counter.
His only concern in the moment is he needs water.
Lumapit sa kanya ang babaeng nasa counter na may ngiti sa labi sabay sabing, "What can I do for you, sir?"
"One bottle of water please," sabi ni Flare.
"Wait a moment, sir," sabi ng babae at umalis. Ilang minuto lang ay bumalik na ito at binigay ang tubig. "15 pesos po 'yan, sir."
Binigay ni Flare ang bayad at aalis na sana ang babae ng pinigilan siya ni Flare.
"Yes po, sir?"
"By any chance, is the PRO and Vice President of the SSG came here?" tanong niya.
He knows Friar love foods and Lucas is always following her behind.
"Hindi ko po sila nakita dito, sir," sagot ng babae. Disappointment washed over Flare but he doesn't let it appear on his face. He nodded and was about to leave when the woman suddenly continued speaking, "Pero, sir, may pumunta po dito na babae. May gustong ipabigay sa inyo."
"Who?"
"Hindi ko po alam ang pangalan pero may ipinapabigay po siya sa inyo. Ay, teka lang po! Kukunin ko lang po saglit."
She left but then came back a few minutes with a brown envelope. She lent it to him. Flare felt the object in his head slightly heavy.
"Ayan na po ang binigay ng babae. Sa pagkakaalala ko po, ang ibigay ko raw pong pangalan niya sa inyo ay Puck."
He frowned. "Puck? A vulcanized rubber disk used in ice hockey?"
"Parang gano'n po ata ang sinabi niyang pangalan. Hindi ko po sure eh. Sorry po."
"Never mind. Thanks for this," sabi niya.
He ran and got to the nearest bench he will find, put the water bottle down and touched the outside of the brown envelope. There is something inside but it's not a stack of paper nor a frame. He raked his fingers slowly to feel the object inside.
He finally opened the brown envelope and there is one iPad that looks new, and one bond paper neatly folded in half. Without a single hesitation, he took the half-folded bond paper and read it:
Hi there, Mr. President. If you are reading this, you need to solve this code of mine in fifteen minutes. Ready? Go.
Suddenly, the iPad opened on its own and a time starts running. One minute. That's how much minutes to finish the mystery. He looked back again at the paper and read it fast:
1,2,3, Let's play hide and seek, shall we?
4,5,6, The time starts ticking, can't 'you see?
7,8,9, You are running out of time
10,11,12, Keep your eyes wide open and think wide
13,14,15, Your friends are with me
16,17,18, This is just basic
19,20,21, Oh! What did I have done?
22,23,24, Solve it quicker than you have done
25,26,27, Blimey, blimey, you're such a witty
28,29,30, Fast, fast, what is the answer in five plus three?
Time ticks and solve it as long as you can so your friend could not die in the end.
Fifteen minutes left before your friend will be meeting death.
Meet me...
10-15 23-7-4 16-13-3 22-4-15-10-16-21 7-0-13-13-26-0-30
Flare looked over the iPad and saw the timer is 55 seconds left. Tumingin ulit siya sa mga sentences at nag focus sa dalawang lines: "16, 17, 18, This is just basic" and "28, 29, 30, Fast, fast, what is the answer in five plus three?"
At inisip niya rin ang mga meanings ng ibinigay na pangalan ng babaeng nasa counter kanina. Puck... I have three possible meanings on that, aniya sa kanyang isip.
"First, it has an archaic meaning old and no longer used, or useful of or relating to ancient times; Second, it is an evil spirit or a demon and; third, a hogoblin that causes fear or worry," he muttered.
So, this "Puck" is a pawn that could be disposed of once it's no use for the mastermind of this play.
"Once a pawn is out of use, the player must leave it to be eaten or defeated huh?" What a clever move you have.
Then, he thought about the two lines fast. Five plus three is equals to eight. Basic math. Too easy to say the least. And speaking of basic, the meaning of the word is forming or relating to the most important part of something, forming or relating to the first or easiest part of something; not including anything extra.
And so, this has to relate something within the message. He closed his eyes and think thoroughly, trying to connect the lines together. Bey-sik... Beysik... Beysik... Bey-s...
He opened his eyes and smirked. "Got it." He took the iPad and said the answer, "Base Eight. That's the answer to the riddle."
There's a beep sound and timer stopped but then it faded, making the screen black. After a few moments, something popped out of the screen that says, "CONGRATULATIONS!" and it went black again.
Again, there's another appearance but there's only a sentence and small lines resembling the position of the numbers in the paper. This is what it looks like:
Put the answer to the lines below:
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
He folds the paper in half again and tucked it in to his trouser's pocket, took the iPad and type the answer.
Put the answer to the lines below:
IN THE OLD SENIOR HALLWAY
He clicked 'ENTER' and it faded once more. Then, a map of the school suddenly popped on the camera, automatically zooming in to where the location is.
There is a red line leading to the senior hallway leading to where Mavis and "Puck" might have gone. It is where Lucas, Tyrone and Throne used to play as their background when they're little.
"Tch." He never expected that the location would have been so obvious if he isn't a jerk who puts personal feelings over rational thinking.
Napabuntong-hininga na lang siya at tumayo sa bench, kinuha ang bottle of water at ininom iyon hanggang sa maubos, at itinapon iyon sa trash can bago siya magsimulang gumalaw.
I'm coming, Mavis, sister. And f*ck you, Lucas.
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