REVALAUN

Tinawagan namin ang mga pulis para ipaalam na nahanap na namin ang nawawalang ulo ni Rage Uy. Pero hindi namin pinaalam ang tungkol sa tela na nahanap namin sa loob ng bibig niya  Sinarili na muna namin upang hindi kami matunugan ni Gavin o ni Simon.

Hindi pa rin makapaniwala ang dalawa pa naming kasama pagkatapos namin ma-decode kung ano ang ibig sabihin ng nasa mensahe. Lalo na ngayon papunta kami sa lugar kung saan kami tinuturo ng mensahe.

"Teka lang, sigurado na ba kayo dito?" Tobi complained, his hands tightly holding on to the arms of his wheelchair. "Hindi kaya delikado ang ginagawa natin?"

"Delikado talaga ang ginagawa natin," walang buhay na sagot ni Taylor.

"Bakit kasi hindi natin sabihin sa iba para may backup tayo?" Patuloy na pagmamaktol niya.

"We can only trust ourselves. If we tell the others, Gavin would've found out," Detective Davis explained. I saw how her hands hover over her gun which was strapped to her black belt, with a leather clasp securing it into place.

"You trust us?" Taylor chuckled lowly. "How sure are you that we won't tell Gavin about your absurd ideas?"

She laughed, after it died down, she spoke with her voice laced with humor. "Don't give me that bullshit, Taylor. I know you guys finally realize what we're going on about. If you planned to tell Gavin from the start, then you would've left after listening to our 'absurd ideas'."

Napangisi ako sa sinabi niya na nagpatahimik sa dalawa na kanina lang ay patuloy ang pagrereklamo.

"Here we are!" I declared.

We stood in front of the wide gate of an old orphanage. They tried to rebuild it but the funds stopped pouring in, and everyone else forgot about it.

We heard it burned down years ago, killing the nuns and the orphans in the fire. Nobody knew what happened and why they couldn't get out when the fire erupted, but I heard that after the fire, investigators found that the doors were chained which deprived anyone of escape.

Considering the orphanage's history, I think this is where my father grew up, and the one Rage Uy told me he had set on fire. Now I know the significance of this place for the Ripper, this is the place where my father's first murder or murders took place, my father, Valentine Gio – the Ripper's idol.

Going back to how we figured out the message, it wasn't hard nor easy. It did brought me back to the time Taylor, Gavin and I used to play codes and detectives back when we were little. I'll have to hand it to him for trying to use one of the good things I remember from my childhood, and twisted it to his favor yet again.

"Alam ko na kung ano ang gagawin natin," sabi ko. Tumingin ako kay Tobi at tinuro ang hawak niya. "Tobi ilagay mo ang tela sa lamesa."

"Bakit hindi mo na lang kunin sa'kin?"

"I'm not touching that."

Tumawa si Tobi pero ginawa niya naman ang hiningi ko.

"It could be an anagram," I suggested. "Detective, may I borrow a marker?"

Binigyan ako ni Detective Davis ng marker at papel, alam niya na kung ano ang pinaplano kong gawin.

I re-wrote the words from the cloth on a sheet of paper. Any word or phrase that reproduces the letters of the original in another order is called an anagram.

An anagram is direct word switch through rearranging the letters of a word or phrase using all the original letters. It can be a synonym or antonym of the subject which can sometimes change a proper noun or a name into a sentence. Since it's a three-word anagram, sa tingin ko kailangan isang phrase o sentence ang makukuha namin.

We need to find the original word or phrase of Shrapnel Into (Artemis), but I have no idea what the open and close parenthesis is for.

I heard Detective Davis ask. "If it's an anagram, how do we determine what we're supposed to make out?" Tinuro niya ang sinusulat ko sa papel. "We could find many possibilities if we just keep on reshuffling them to make out a new one."

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

I'm still not sure whether or not anagram is the right way to decipher this message. If I consider all three of them, there will be countless of other words we can get from it, and it will be difficult to narrow it down to smaller words. Detective's right, we need to know what kind of words we're looking for.

"Ano sa tingin niyo ang kailangan natin gawin sa Artemis?" tanong ko.

Umangat ako ng tingin sa kanila at napansin ang pagkunot nila ng noo.

"It's the only word inside a parenthesis," punto ni Taylor.

Detective Davis took the marker from me and crossed out the word Artemis. "What if we try excluding it? Pakiramdam ko hindi natin kailangan isali ang Artemis."

Ibig sabihin ang parenthesis ay maaaring palatandaan na hindi dapat isali ang salitang Artemis sa pag-rearrange sa mga letra. If we exclude that, we'll be left with Shrapnel Into. Pero bakit sinali pa ang Artemis kung hindi ito magiging significant?

Kumuha pa si Detective Davis ng ilang pirasong papel at binigay sa dalawa pa naming kasama. Kinuha nila ang mga papel at nagsulat. Mukhang nakuha nila kung ano ang dapat namin gawin.

"Separate the vowels and consonants, write all vowels in a column and the consonants at another. That will make it easier," utos ko sa kanila, at nagsimula na rin magsulat.

"How did you even know about anagrams?" She asked in a low voice which only I could hear.

"We played a lot when we were kids," sagot ko, napasulyap kay Taylor na tahimik na nagsusulat sa kanyang papel. "We like playing detectives at marami kaming natutunan na codes and ciphers."

I felt another pang of pain in my chest.

I can remember most of past. Some of them were good memories so I thought at least I had a childhood but now...

"That explains why Simon knew about it as well," I heard her mutter.

"Shouldn't we call him by his real name?"

Umiling siya. "I don't have the courage to. Kung tawagin ko siya sa tunay niyang pangalan, I'll be reminded of our friend, not a criminal."

"Y-You're right."

This is all too much to take in. How could our friend, send me a severed head to threaten me? How could he kill people and walk around like he did nothing wrong? How could he feign innocence?

Naging abala kami sa pagsusulat. Mahirap dahil marami kaming nabubuong salita pero wala kaming ideya kung paano namin magagamit ang mga salitang 'yon. Ano kaya ang gusto niyang makuha namin mula sa mga 'to?

Tumigil ako sa pagsusulat at kunot-noong tinitigan ang papel ko.

"May significance ang Artemis," pigil ko na nakakuha ng atensyon nila. "Kung ipagpapatuloy natin 'to wala tayong mapapala kundi mahabang lista. Sa tingin ko, importante ang Artemis para makuha ang tamang salita."

Tumigil sila sa pagsusulat at binaba ang mga hawak na marker. Sinulat ko muli ang salitang Artemis at binilugan.

"Who is Artemis again?"

"Artemis is the goddess of hunt in Greek Mythology," Detective Davis replied.

"And?"

"Goddess of animals and wilderness," Tobi said.

Taylor added, "Goddess of childbirth and virginity."

Natahimik kami pagkatapos isa-isahin ang alam namin kay Artemis. Hindi ko pa rin maintindihan kung para saan namin gagamitin ang Artemis.

"Protector of young children." Napaangat kami ng tingin kay Detective Davis sa sinabi niya.

Huminga ako ng malalim. What if...

"Hindi kaya pangalan ng tao ang dapat makuha natin? Anagrams doesn't just result to sentences or phrases, sometimes it's a name of a person or place," suhestyon ko, tinuro-turo ang papel ko gamit ang marker.

I stared at the paper, thought for a while before scribbling words from under the words Shrapnel Into. Mahahalata ang panginginig ng kamay ko habang nagsusulat.

Ang naging resulta ay pangalan o sabihin na natin titulo para sa isang tao.

Binitawan ko ang marker at tinulak papunta sa kanila ang papel.

"Silent Orphan."

"Silent Orphan. Is that some sort of a code name?" Narinig kong tanong ni Tobi. Napatingin kami sa kanya. "Did he want us to look for this orphan?"

"Maybe, but there's no way we'd know for sure," I replied. "There's still Artemis. I used the idea of Artemis as the 'protector of young children', so I thought either one of the resulting words from the anagram could pertain to children."

"Silent Orphan. Silent Orphan. I feel like I've read it somewhere," Taylor chanted to himself, then fished out his phone and started typing on the screen.

He turned his phone towards us, in the screen is an old article posted in La Salve Times with a photo of a burned down building. It was posted years ago. The building was completely destroyed, dark smoke surrounded the area and the only thing left of the large building was its skeletons. The headline is what caught our attention: ARTEMIS ORPHANAGE BURNED IN ITS HELLFIRE – only survivor is a silent orphan

"Who is the silent orphan?" tanong ko.

Binawi ni Taylor ang kamay niya at tiningnan ang screen ng phone, nagscroll siya pababa at nang makita ang hinahanap pinaharap niya ulit sa amin ang screen.

Napasinghap ako nang makilala kung sino ang batang lalaki na nasa larawan.

"Valentine Gio."

Ang bata niya pa sa larawan pero nakilala ko siya dahil sa mga mata niya na blankong nakatingin pabalik sa camera.

Wait a minute. Didn't Rage Uy told me that my father burned an orphanage when he was younger? So this orphanage was that orphanage he was telling me about.

"Tinawag siyang silent orphan dahil hindi 'to nagsasalita kung paano nasunog ang orphanage at paano siya nakatakas," Taylor explained, referring to the article, his eyes were furrowed as he continue. "It says here that one of the orphanage's mission was to protect the orphaned children hence the name. But the orphanage isn't what it seemed, according to the article. It said the orphans were subjected to labor despite their age resulting to their deaths from the work load, and some were used for... sexual means."

Disgusting. How could they take advantage of the young and innocent?

Kapag may ginagawa silang mali sa iba, wala lang sa kanila, pero kapag sila naman ang ginawan ng mali, akala mo kung sinong inosenteng hayop na inapakan.

Hindi man lang sila naawa sa mga bata.

"But what does that have to do with what Simon wanted us to find?" Nanigas kami sa kinatatayuan namin nang marinig binanggit na pangalan ni Tobi.

We didn't expect him to say that name when he laughed at us not long ago. When we turned to give him a questioning look, Tobi only shrugged.

"We'll have to go and find out ourselves," I told them. I swallowed hard, unsure whether this is a good idea or not.

Now here we are, standing outside the gates of the unfinished reconstruction of Artemis Orphanage. Tinulak ko ang kinakalawang na gate ng orphanage, dahan-dahan itong bumukas at gumawa ng ingay na tila nabibigatan sa biglaang pagbukas at sa sariling bigat.

We walked down a stone pathway which led us to the concrete staircase of the orphanage. Now that we're nearing the unfinished structure, we realized how big it really is and how it could be compared to a mansion. The orphanage's overall structure is grotesque, it adds more to the eerie atmosphere now that we know the dark and repulsive history of the orphanage before it was burned in flames.

There are plastic coverings in some of the windows, and abandoned piles of bricks and bags of concrete mix by the entrance. When we reached the last step, we stood still in front of the doorless entrance, and saw the inside of the building – it was a dark and empty hallway.

"Mag-ingat kayo, may mga parte ng gusali na hindi pa tapos," Detective Davis reminded us, and took out her flashlight.

We each took out our phones and turned on our flashlights.

Pumasok kami sa kadiliman ng pasilyo. Nilibot ko ang flashlight, at nakitang may mga kwartong hindi pa rin natapos dahil sa pagpapatigil sa reconstruction. Kaya siguro maraming pagala-gala na mga bata sa La Salve dahil wala silang mapupuntahan na lugar na kukupkop sa kanila.

La Salve could've done better for people like them to build an orphanage for the least fortunate children minus the bad people who'll take advantage of them.

"What exactly did we came here for?" I heard Tobi asked, behind him is Taylor who is pushing his wheelchair.

"To find out why Simon wants us to come here," I told him.

"He didn't tell us to come here though."

"Yes, he didn't exactly told us to, Tobi. But for what other reason does he have for giving us the name of this place?"

Tobi was about to open his mouth, but I could already sense Detective Davis' temper was on the edge.

Tinapat niya ang ilaw ng kanyang flashlight sa amin kaya wala kaming nagawa kundi ang itikom ang mga bibig namin.

Marami na kaming nadaanan na mga kwarto. Ilan sa kanila ay hindi pa tapos at ang iba naman ay nasira na dahil bumigay ang ilan sa mga foundations ng gusali. Gusto sanang umakyat ni Detective Davis sa ikalawang palapag pero agad namin siyang pinigilan.

"We'll be fine. Mukhang masarig pa naman ang flooring nila," she assured us, but we're far from convinced.

She look up at a spiral staircase leading to the second floor. She threaded the steps carefully and instinctively grab onto the bannisters when one of the steps creaked under her weight.

"It's too dangerous, detective. Bumaba ka na diyan," I warned her, but she ignored me.

She threaded the remaining steps until she reached the top. She looked down on us with a victorious smile and gave us a thumbs-up.

"It's fine! Kayo na ang bahala sa baba, kami ni Revalaun ang titingin sa taas."

"Bakit ako?"

"Umakyat ka na lang!"

Napabuntong-hininga ako. Wala na akong magagawa kundi ang sumunod sa gusto ng babaeng 'to.

Napatingin ako kay Tobi na naka-wheelchair at si Taylor na nakatayo sa likod niya. Tumango sila sa'kin, inuudyok akong sumunod kay Detective Davis sa taas.

I'm still hesitant about this, but since I have no choice because Taylor and Tobi had to stay in the first floor, I thread up the stairs carefully.

"Why do you think Simon wants us to come here?" I heard her ask once I reached the top of the stairs.

I shrugged as a reply.

Nilibot ko ang tingin sa paligid, at napansin na may ilang kwarto ang ikalawang palapag na natapos na. Ang iba ay hindi pa, nawawalan pa ng bubong o kaya may butas pa ang pader dahil hindi na naipagpatuloy ang paglagay ng semento.

Ang nakakuha ng atensyon ko ay ang maliit na sinag ng ilaw sa isa sa mga natapos ng kwarto.

"Detective?"

"Nakita ko," bulong niya.

Her hand hovered over her gun, and with the little light that we have from our flashlight, the gun looked smaller than compared to the first time I saw it. She unclasped the leather that is securing it in place and pulled out the gun.

"Get behind me," she ordered.

I did as she told me to.

The room with a light leaking out from the gap under the door was three doors away from us. We stalked towards it as quietly as we could but the creaking of the floor boards gave us away.

"What do you think it is?" I asked.

Detective Davis held on to her gun tighter. "More like who."

"Simon?"

"Most likely."

Bumilis ang tibok ng puso ko nang mapagtanto na maaaring si Simon nga ang naghihintay sa amin. Hindi na namin pala kailangan isekreto sa kanya ang pagpunta dito.

As we neared the door, Detective Davis aggressively pulled my arm and put a hand over her lips. She held out three fingers, and I knew she was going to start counting before she pry open the door.

I counted along with her. "One, two, three!" By the count of three, Detective Davis pushed the door open and wielded her gun forward, aiming at whoever was inside the room.

Pareho kaming nagulat na makitang walang tao roon kundi isang closet cabinet, lamesa na may nakapatong na kandila, at upuan na mayroong nakaupo na manika.

"Bakit may mga gamit dito?" Nagtatakang tanong ko.

Wala kasing kalaman-laman sa ibang kwarto, lalo na't hindi pa natatapos ang paggawa sa gusali tiyak nasisigurado namin walang gamit kaming makikita dito.

Nilabas ko ang phone ko at binuksan ang camera. May camera flashed in the dark.

"What the hell are you doing? You're giving us away!"

"We already gave ourselves away ever since we threw open this door." And your screaming.

There's no doubt that whoever could be hiding in this room already knew we're here. If there is someone hiding in this room.

Tiningnan ko ang larawan na nakuha ko. Kinilabutan ako nang makita ang itsura ng manika ngayon na naliwanagan dahil sa ilaw na nagmula sa pag-flash ng phone ko. The doll looked hand-made. From the eyes, nose, lips... the doll's features resembled mine.

The doll is like a mini version of me.

"What kind of sick joke is this?"

Without even thinking, I walked inside the room with a bundle of nerves. Detective Davis yelled at me to come back, and rushed inside. Suddenly, the door closed shut. Nabitawan ko ang phone ko dala ng gulat.

The only remaining light was the candle and Detective Davis' flashlight. She immediately aimed the gun at the door. There was a looming figure standing by the door, small and petite frame of a woman. Judging by the chill down my spine like spiders crawling on my skin, I knew that someone standing by the door is looking at me. I recognized her immediately.

"Do you like it?"

Riley Hyde's eyes flickered from the light of the detective's flashlight as she turned to look at the two of us. I saw another reflecting light from her but this time it's not from her eyes but from a knife she's holding.

"Put down your weapon!"

Riley Hyde only tilted her head as if to taunt us.

"I demand you give us the Dying Moon first," kalmadong utos ni Riley Hyde.

Kumunot ang noo ko sa tugon niya. "What do you need it for?"

"I need to take it so you won't have to die," she replied, coldly.

"Revalaun, we don't need to listen to her bullshit." Narinig kong pagpipigil ni Detective Davis pero tinaas ko ang kamay ko para pigilan siya.

"Let's listen to what she has to say," I told her, although my eyes never left Riley Hyde who stared back at me with empty eyes.

"What are you—"

"It's a deal I had to make to someone." Riley Hyde quickly cut her off from speaking.

"Someone? Is it Simon?"

She fell silent, but the shock in her expression was obvious. It only confirmed my suspicions.

"What does he want from the book?" I ask her.

She took a step forward. Detective Davis immediately raise her to aim the gun at her.

Riley Hyde looked at me before speaking. "He said you would know, Revalaun Gio"

She suddenly raises her hand that was holding the knife.

"Put down your weapon!"

Narinig ko ang pagkasa ni Detective Davis ng kanyang baril. Nang inangat niya ulit ang kamay niya, narinig namin ang biglang gumalaw ang aparador at lumabas ang isang lalaki.

Before she could react, the man already pulled out a hatchet and strike her hand with it. I heard her cried out an ear-piercing scream, the gun and her hand fell to the ground, and blood spilled on the wooden floor in a scary crimson red.

My heart raced when I saw how much blood was spilling from her wrist. She kneeled down, shoulders trembling and eyes tearing up from the pain.

The man stood beside her, holding the hatchet in one hand stood. While his face is masked by the shadows of the room, I thought it was Simon, but the  light made me able to see the man's face.

Kid Schneider.

Nakita ko ang muli niyang paggalaw sa kamay niya na akmang tatagain muli si detective.

I panicked and for a second my mind went black. I don't know what to do but when I saw Detective Davis' flashlight on the floor, I ran towards it. Nagulat si Kid Schneider nang mabilis akong lumapit sa kanila, binawi niya ang kamay at inamba sakin ang hatchet.

Yumuko ako bago niya maiugoy ang hatchet sa direksyon ko, at mabilisan na kinuha ang flashlight sa sahig. Ang sunod kong ginawa ay tinapat ang ilaw ng flashlight sa mukha ni Schneider upang masilawan siya ng ilaw. Nang makita ko ang pag-iwas niya ng kanyang ulo at ang pagkalito sa nangyari, kinuha ko ang oportunidad na 'yun para sunggaban siya gamit ang buong lakas at bigat ng katawan ko.

The floorboards broke under our weight when we fell on the floor, and I felt something that was once holding our ground loosened from its foundation. That's when I realize that tackling someone in an old building is a mistake on my part. Because of our weight and sudden force, the floor gave in.

The floorboards sink when the support from under it finally broke apart. Then we found ourselves falling.

Our screams could be heard even outside of these walls as we fell down to the first floor. The fall wasn't too great and we're lucky enough to survive this. Naramdaman ko ang pagtama ng likod ko sa sahig kasabay ng pagbagsak ng iilang debris at floorboards galing sa itaas na kwarto.

As I lay down on my back, gaping at the hole made after the floorboards gave in, I saw two figures looking down at us and one of them was pale from losing a lot of blood.

Detective Davis is still up there.

I groaned when I tried to sit back up, my whole body was searing with pain and it felt like if I try to move I'd hurt even more. My eyesight were getting blurry and I fear that I'd be losing consciousness again. I wanted to close my eyes but fought it off when I saw a figure running towards me.

"Revalaun!" It was Taylor.

He must've heard the fall and our screams.

Bago pa man siya makalapit, naramdaman ko ang pagbangon ni Kid Schneider. Nahihirapan rin siyang gumalaw pero kumpara sa'kin nakaya niya pang bumalik sa kanyang paa, at matalim na binaling ang tingin sa'kin nang makita ako.

"You fucker!" Kid Schneider was about to run towards me but he was stopped by a wheelchair zooming in to his direction. Tumama ang paa niya sa gulong ng wheelchair dahilan para mawalan siya ng balanse at madapa sa sahig.

"Taylor! Revalaun!"

Napatingin ako sa pinanggalingan ng boses ni Tobi, at nakita siyang nakaupo sa sahig. It looks like he got off from his wheelchair, and using his good leg he pushed it towards Schneider who was running to my direction.

Natawa ako ng mahina, despite of how serious our situation is I still found myself laughing at what Tobi pulled.

"Tobi, you fucking idiot."

"Revalaun, you're the fucking idiot!" S
sigaw niya pabalik. "Tumakbo ka na!"

Sinubukan ko muli tumayo.

Nang muntik na akong matumba naramdaman ko ang malakas na paghawak ni Taylor sa braso ko. Sinuportahan niya ang bigat ko at tinulungan akong tumayo.

Sa kabilang banda, muling tumayo si Schneider at napatingin sa direksyon namin. At dahil nanlalabo na ang mga mata ko, hindi ko maaninag kung ano ang ekspresyon ng kanyang mukha nang tumingin siya sa'min.

Bago pa man ako mawalan ng malay, nakita ko ang pagpasok ng bagong dating. Lumiko sya mula sa pasilyo na kung saan mahahanap ang daan papuntang entrada.

Natigilan siya nang makita kami.

"Gavin!" I heard Taylor shout. "Davis is upstairs. Ako na ang bahala dito."

Mabilis ang naging pagsugod ni Schneider sa direksyon namin. When Taylor noticed, he pushed me aside, my body slamming back on the floor, and I saw him grabbed Schneider's hand that was holding the hatchet.

My eyes were droopy and gradually closing. Blink. I saw Tobi crawling his way to me. Blink. Gavin running up the stairs. Blink. Taylor took the hatchet from Schneider and hit him with one strike.

***