A/N: This is the start of a new story arc! Expect more chapters in the second wave of updates this June!

LORELEI

"Loki! Al!"

I NEVER thought that this day would come. We only wanted to retrieve the device that contains blackmailing materials left by Augustus. Hindi ko in-expect na aabot sa punto kung saan dadanak ang dugo. We thought all the time that our mission would end peacefully, with no one getting harmed.

Unfortunately, some things don't go exactly as planned. Augustus' layout was the perfect example. He thought everything was proceeding exactly as he had foreseen. But he was wrong.

Someone was murdered. Loki and Alistair stood before the corpse.

"My God!" Jamie gasped as soon as she saw a dead man on the floor. Her widened eyes quickly looked away as she turned her back to the corpse. Her retentive memory might have saved a snapshot of the grisly scene that could haunt her in her sleep. I felt lucky na wala akong gano'ng ability.

Maging ako'y sandaling napabalikwas ang tingin. That's probably one of the messiest scenes that my eyes have laid on. But I took the courage to look at the dead man. He was shot in the chin. His grey matter scattered on the floor. A pool of blood formed near his head. Mabilis akong tumingin sa ibang direksyon at napatakip ng bibig. Halos masuka ako sa aking nakita.

Loki knelt beside the corpse and fixed the way that the dead man was holding a gun. Suot niya ang pares ng latex gloves na laging dala-dala niya. Maayos niyang inilagay ang daliri nito sa gatilyo ng baril.

Why on earth did this happen?

"Don't worry," Loki muttered, still staring at the corpse. He's been used to crime scenes that he could look at a dead body for minutes. Ang tibay ng sikmura niya. I could only gaze at it for a few seconds. "The police will look at this case as a suicide. They won't see it as a homicide."

"But what if—just a what if—they consider the homicide angle?" tanong ni Alistair. He looked really worried. "Won't they trace this case back to us?"

"As long as we don't leave any DNA evidence, they can't pin this crime on us," kumpiyansang sagot ni Loki. May ipinakita siyang nakatuping papel sa amin. "This is a suicide note. Once the police find it, they will quickly jump to a conclusion that the man committed suicide. That's how dumb most of them are. They won't think for a second that we killed him."

My hands began shaking uncontrollably. Sinubukan kong pigilan ang panginginig ng mga 'to. I clasped my hands together and tightened my grip. Ilang beses din akong huminga nang malalim para pakalmahin ang sarili ko.

Things weren't supposed to go down this bloody route.

"S-So what are we gonna do next?" tanong ko. Nagpalipat-lipat ng tingin ang mga mata ko sa tatlo kong kasama. Jamie only shrugged her shoulders as she was clasping herself while Loki and Alistair exchanged glances.

"We need to get out of this apartment as soon as we can," Loki suggested. Mas hininaan pa niya ang kanyang boses. "We shall leave no traces that we've been here. No strands of hairs. No fingerprints. No footprints. We will burn our clothes and our shoes. We shall never speak of this incident again."

"Isn't that too much?" Alistair asked softly. "Why do we have to bu—"

"We have to make sure that nothing can be traced back to us," Loki cut his words short. "I don't want any of us going to prison because of that man. You can debate me all you want, but that man had it coming. Understood?"

Tumango kaming tatlo sa kanya. We couldn't stay in this place any longer. Kailangan na naming umalis bago pa may ibang makakita sa amin.

"This might be the perfect crime that was ever pulled off in the city," Loki muttered, leading the way to the door.

We quickly left the apartment and walked at a normal pace as if nothing happened. Mabuti't walang nakatambay sa labas ng unit kaya walang nakapansin sa amin. If the police were to interview the other tenants, none of them could claim that they saw four teenagers sneaking into a dead man's place.

I hope we could get away with what happened.

But first, let me tell you how we got into this situation.

Augustus' death gave me nightmares. The way he looked at me as he was dying. The way he tried to pull my hair as he struggled to tell me a name. The way a tear rolled from his eyes as he took his last breath. Parang isang scene sa pelikula na paulit-ulit na nag-play sa panaginip ko.

His last words echoed on my mind. I'm... me... I'm... me...

Loki deduced that Augustus was trying to say "Hay-me," which sounded like the name of Jamie's late brother, Jaime Santiago. I was confused kung paano ba talaga ang pronunciation ng pangalan niya. Jamie pronounced her brother's name as "Jey-mi," which was exactly the same as hers.

Remember when we had that trip in Subic, thanks to the Mendez patriarch? Noong natanong ko kay Luthor kung may alam ba siya tungkol sa involvement ni Jamie, he thought I was referring to the late student council president. I had to correct him na ang kasama ko sa QED Club ang tinutukoy ko.

I don't know what the proper pronunciation of Jaime's name is, but what's more important is that we are a hundred percent sure now that he's a major piece in the Moriarty mystery. Otherwise, Augustus wouldn't have struggled to tell me that name in his last moments.

Ang tanong: Paano siya nagfi-fit sa puzzle?

That's a mystery we're about to solve next, but there seemed to be another problem that we needed to address first: Augustus' last threat.

Nang ma-corner namin siya sa board room, the late Augustus revealed that he had his own version of Pandora's Box and threatened that he would expose the secrets in Clark High if we wouldn't let him get away with his crimes. If that were true, malaking gulo ang idudulot nito. Imagine how those secrets could destroy anyone in the campus. The result would be devastating.

"Maybe he's bluffing," Loki commented after I raised the concern during our morning execom meeting the next day. "He was cornered around that time. It's natural for someone to think of a way to get out of the mess they're in."

"But he sounded pretty confident," Sir Jim Morayta said. The execom adviser wasn't always present in our meetings. Kadalasan, pinapaubaya niya na kay Maggie ang pagpe-preside bilang chairwoman. But given what happened these past few days, maybe he felt that he needed to be directly involved.

The day after Augustus' death, back to normal na kami sa trabaho namin sa execom. We didn't have time yesterday to discuss the aftermath of the late editor-in-chief's death. We've been through a seemingly traumatic experience. We're so shocked to even speak of it. We had to call it a day.

Speaking of death, it's still a mystery to everyone kung sino ang naglason kay Augustus. And the possible suspects? Ako, Jamie, Alistair, Maggie, Rye, Luthor at Sir Jim. Bale lahat kaming nandito sa execom office maliban kay Loki na naka-detain noon. However, based on the police search on our bodies and inspection in the nearby areas, walang nakitang suspicious item na pwedeng gamitin para lasunin ang editor-in-chief.

That may sound like a relief for all of us. I don't want to think na isa sa amin ang pumatay kay Augustus. Kami-kami na nga lang ang pwedeng magtiwala sa isa't isa, tapos may isa pang magtatraydor sa amin?

Still I found some circumstances suspicious. Ang biglaang pagpatay ng ilaw sa board room. Ang red dot sa leeg ni Augustus. It's only normal to assume that something happened during the blackout. Maybe someone shot a dart at Augustus habang madilim ang paligid. I remember the Avada Kedavra case in Hershey's school kung saan pinatatamaan ng dart na may curare ang mga biktima.

But that's somehow absurd, right? How could anyone see perfectly in the dark? How could anyone shoot Augustus at his neck? Paano kung gumalaw siya habang blackout? The alleged assassin in the board room would have failed in their mission.

Kaya nga I'm seriously considering the possibility that Augustus was already poisoned before we went to the board room. Mas maliliwanagan sana kami kung may access kami sa toxicology report. The poison used to kill the editor might give us a hint. Sa kasamaang palad, the campus police was no longer cooperating with us.

"If his threat is real, why haven't we heard of anything?" tanong ni Loki. "Augustus is already dead. The dead man's switch should have been activated. Clark High should have been drowning in scandals. But that doesn't seem to be the case."

"Pero Loki dear, baka hindi agad-agad maa-activate ang nabanggit mong switch," tugon ni Jamie. I thought she would be backing the Augustus-is-a-bluffer theory. Normally she'd be behind Loki's argument. "Wala pang twenty-four hours nang mamatay si Augustus. I don't know, but it might take some time?"

She has a point though. I have no idea how Augustus would pull off the expose stunt from the grave, but I assume na hindi agad maa-activate kung anumang trap card ang inihanda niya sakaling mawala siya.

Nagawi ang atensyon ko kay Jamie. After the Jaime revelation last night, I have a couple of questions for her. May ilang theories na nabuo sa isip ko. Ang ilan, may sense. Ang iba, parang imposible. Maybe she could either confirm or debunk the thoughts in my head. But this may not be the time to bombard her with questions. There's so much going on. Hahanap na lang ako ng tamang timing.

"I don't know Augustus that well, but is he the kind of person who would make an idle threat?" tanong ni Alistair sa aming chairwoman.

"Sa pagkakakilala ko sa kanya, he doesn't make idle threats," sagot ni Maggie na may kasamang pag-iling. "Kapag sinabi niya, gagawin niya."

When Augustus and I had a one-on-one talk last Monday, he threatened that he would tell Loki that I lied to him kapag hindi ko inamin na may nakasulat sa notebook na nakita namin sa desk niya. He didn't strike me as a man who would make an empty threat. And that's purely based on my personal encounter with him.

I also wouldn't be surprised kung meron siyang pinagkatiwalaang tao na magbubukas sa kanyang Pandora's Box sakaling may mangyaring masama sa kanya. He's fond of layouts, remember? He may have prepared a bunch of "layouts" in case something untoward happens to him. He may be a forward thinker.

"Be that as it may, why should we feel so concerned about the some secrets being exposed?" nayayamot na tanong ni Loki. "If I were an outsider, I would consider the opening of Augustus' box as a service to the Clark High community. We would know what stench some students are hiding."

I heaved out a sigh, dahilan para sandaling magawi ang tingin niya sa akin. Hindi niya talaga naiintindihan, 'no? "Don't you see kung gaano ka-delikado kapag na-leak ang sikreto ng ilang estudyante sa campus? Think about the toll on their mental health. Think about what would happen on their image."

"Some secrets need to be kept as secrets, that's why they are called secrets," Jamie added, her tone became serious. "I have one or two secrets myself, and I won't appreciate it kapag may ibang taong nagkalat no'n."

I wonder what those secrets might be. Iba pa ba 'yon sa alam namin tungkol sa kanya?

"We aren't also sure kung gaano ba ka-authentic ang mga mali-leak na information," dagdag ni Alistair. "Someone's reputation might get tainted even if the info isn't true. People will easily fall for anything as long as it piques their interest."

"Whether those secrets are true or not, kailangan nating mapigilan ang expose na 'yan," sagot ni Maggie, inilapag ang kanyang phone sa mesa. "We need to protect the students, teachers, and other school personnel. We need to keep the peace and order in Clark High."

"How can we protect them from something that may or may not exist? That's like fearing the unknown," Loki asked. "Now here's a question out of curiosity. Does anyone here have a secret that Augustus may have known and is at risk of being exposed?"

In my months of stay here in Clark High, wala pa akong ginawang bagay na pwedeng gamiting pam-blackmail sa akin. I haven't committed any crime. Siguro ang makasisira lang sa image ko ay ang mga embarrassing stolen shot ko. But that was not a serious concern for me.

Maybe the only thing that Augustus might have against me is the recording of our conversation where I admitted na merong nakalagay sa notebook na ninakaw namin sa desk niya. If he saved that audio clip to his Pandora's Box and it got leaked, all my efforts of hiding what's in the notebook would be in vain. Loki would know I lied to him, and who knows what might happen next?

"Since I'm a transferee here, I don't think Augustus has something against me," sagot ni Alistair. He's also a stickler for the rules. I doubt the late editor had a photo of him cutting classes.

"Well, ano pa bang secrets ang itatago ko?" sagot ni Jamie. That's my question as well. Ano pa bang secrets ang pwede niyang itago sa amin? "Kung meron mang paninira sa akin, siguro 'yong pamba-bash mula sa mga hater ko. Alam n'yo na, 'yong mga 'di biniyayaan ng ganda at malaking future."

She managed to keep a secret from us so I wouldn't take her words seriously.

"I can't recall anything at the moment," Maggie answered, shaking her head. "Matino naman akong estudyante at dumaan sa background check bago ako in-appoint sa execom. They found nothing on me."

"None," Rye answered, biting a lollipop stick.

Sir Jim shrugged. "Maybe angry student rants about me?"

"Wala naman," sagot ko na may pag-iling. I'm well aware that I was lying when I shook my head. I couldn't say the same for everyone in this room. Like me, maybe they also have something to hide but they chose to deny it in the presence of others?

"If there's really none, then we have nothing to worry about—" Loki declared gleefully. I quickly glared at him, forcing him to add, "—Just in case we fail to prevent the leak. Of course, we will do our best to protect the secrets of every student in the campus. Isn't that right, madam chair?"

"That's our mandate," Maggie nodded. "It's also the express order of the student council. Once we confirm that the threat is real, we need to neutralize it."

"Let's keep our eyes peeled for any incident that might hint na totoo ang banta ni Augustus," sabi ni Sir Jim. "It might come days after his death. By the way, I heard that the school will be holding a memorial for him tomorrow."

"Aside from Augustus' threat of exposing secrets," Maggie added, "maybe it's worth discussing that he admitted that Stein is M. Hindi ko naintindihan 'yong sinabi niya na medyo complicated daw ang explanation. Not as easy as two plus two or something. He tried to say that Stein is a su— but we didn't get to hear the rest of it."

Pasimple kaming nagpalitan ng tingin ni Loki. We have an idea on what Augustus tried to say: successor. Stein is the successor of the "Moriarty" title. Parang isang korona na ipinapasa ng hari sa kanyang tagapagmana. Loki theorized that if Stein is the current M, then someone else is the original M who's either dead or incapacitated.

"We will not tell the execom anything about the successor," Loki told me last night nang naitanong ko sa kanya kung ise-share namin kina Maggie ang theory namin tungkol sa "su—". "Given that the execom members and my brother are potential suspects in the poisoning of Augustus, it's probably best not to share the information until we clear everyone of suspicion."

Under normal circumstances, I would disagree and argue that we need to share what we figured out. Pero may punto naman kasi siya. Hangga't hindi pa namin tuluyang nae-eliminate bilang suspect ang mga taong nasa board room, mas mabuting sa amin na muna 'yon. We had to be cautious of who we trust with crucial pieces of information.

"Stein being M is not news to us," Sir Jim said, sighing. "If only Augustus was still with us at handa siyang mag-testify laban kay Stein o may ibinigay siyang evidence na susuporta roon, we can build a solid case."

"Unfortunately, Augustus died without him revealing any substantial info to us." Maggie clicked her tongue, looking disappointed. "Kung sanang meron siyang naiwan na hint sa atin na pwede nating gamitin bilang lead, we would have something to work with."

"In other words, he's a dead end," Rye commented. "Literally."

The main objectives of taking down Augustus were to: first, stop him from using some of Clarion's budget to fund their organization's operations; and second, force him to cooperate on taking down Stein and the organization. With him exposed and dead, we only accomplished the first one.

"Mukhang kailangan nating maghanap ng bagong thread," sabi ni Sir Jim na may pagbuntong-hininga. "When he started talking about Stein, I thought we already had the truth in the bag."

If only they knew what Loki and I know, they would have realized that Augustus left an interesting thread for us to follow before he took his last breath: Jaime Santiago, the late student council president. Maybe there's something in his death that would pin down Stein or anyone in the organization.

"Augustus also tried to distract us by saying that Luthor is part of their organization," Maggie shared, chuckling.

Uh-oh. I haven't told Loki about that part. Hindi dahil nakalimutan ko, kung 'di dahil sinadya kong hindi sabihin sa kanya. I wouldn't have to give him any hint or idea about that possibility. But alas, the cat is out of the bag.

Loki let out a chuckle which eventually turned into a laughter. Parang may sinabing joke si Maggie na sobrang benta sa kanya. We all looked at him curiously.

"Augustus was really desperate, wasn't he?" komento ni Loki. "Why on earth would my brother join their bloody organization? This is the reason why I think he's bluffing about the Pandora's Box. He started spouting some nonsense to divert your attention. I'm proud that none of you fell for it."

"Paano kami maniniwala? That sounded so absurd!" dagdag ni Maggie na parang natatawa rin. I didn't expect them to be laughing with each other. Sometimes, it's Maggie laughing at Loki's expense. "He tried to drag Luthor's name into the dirt dahil na-corner na namin siya. Tunog desperado nga talaga siya noon."

Naramdaman kong bumigat ang dibdib ko. Sinubukan kong ngumiti para makisakay kung gaano ka-nonsense ang accusation na kasama si Luthor sa organization ni M. The people around me quickly dismissed it as a mere joke or a lame attempt by the late editor.

Ganito pala ang feeling kapag ikaw lang ang nakakaalam ng totoo. Dumodoble o tumitriple ang pasanin mo.

"But you've always described your brother as evil," I told Loki when he finally stopped laughing. "Do you think he doesn't have it in him to be part of M's organization?"

It's an out of the blue question that I was willing to risk. I wanna know what he thinks. I wanna know if the idea crossed his mind.

Tumingin sa akin si Loki at naningkit ang kanyang mga mata. "I may have called my brother an evil incarnate or a manipulative bastard of the highest order, but that was only a hyperbole. Those who join Moriarty's organization are monsters, and my brother is anything but a monster. Oh, wait. Why does that sound like I'm defending him?"

Loki may be right, Luthor is the only exception. He joined the organization because he has a purpose. To protect his younger brother and destroy the group from within. He's willing to get his hands dirty for a noble cause.

Muling nanumbalik sa akin ang pangamba sakaling malaman na ni Loki ang katotohanan. Right now, he's pretty confident that there's no way on earth Luthor would join M and his cabal. Pakiramdam ko, pagsasakluban siya ng langit at lupa kapag nalaman niyang mali ang akala niya. If that day ever comes, I hope he would listen to reason because that's the only way he could understand the situation.

"I'm telling you right now that Luthor is one of us. If you don't want to believe me, wait until something happens to me. His secret will be exposed. By that time, I won't be there to tell you 'I told you so.' Mark my words."

Napapikit ang mga mata ko nang maalala ang mga sinabi ni Augustus sa board room. I hope that Loki's right, na nagba-bluff lang noon si Augustus tungkol sa kanya umanong Pandora's Box. If he wasn't bluffing, then Luthor's secret is still at risk of being exposed.

"Anyway, habang wala tayong gina—"

Natigil si Maggie sa pagsasalita nang mapansing nag-vibrate ang kanyang phone na nasa mesa. Kumunot ang noo niya habang binabasa ang nakalagay sa screen nito. Her eyes widened.

"What is it?" tanong namin.

Nagmadaling tumayo si Maggie at kinuha ang kanyang laptop. She opened it quickly and her fingers flew all over the keyboard as she typed her log-in credentials. We all shot her with the same curious gazes.

Napatayo na si Sir Jim at tiningnan kung ano'ng ginagawa ng aming chairwoman. Tumayo na rin kami sa naglupong sa likuran niya. What's with her reaction?

Pagtingin ko sa screen ng kanyang laptop, I noticed that she was checking her school email. Nanlaki ang mga mata ko nang makita ang pinaka-recent na email na na-receive niya.

Augustus Moran      |     Hello From The Other Side      |       9:18 AM

Nagkapalitan kaming lahat ng tingin. Biglang lumakas ang bawat kabog ng puso ko.

"B-But Augustus is dead, isn't he?" nauutal na tanong ni Jamie na namutla, tila nakakita ng isang multo. "P-Paano pa siya nakapag-send ng email?"

"He was declared dead by the coroner," pagkakatanda ko. I also checked his pulse nang nakahiga siya sa lap ko kahapon. Wala na siyang pulso. He's dead. "There's no way he can still be alive."

"Maybe he used an application that can automatically send an email kapag hindi siya nakapag-log-in sa specific na time period," Alistair guessed. "Maybe that mechanism can activate the so-called dead man's switch?"

"Or maybe someone else is using his email address," Loki added, squinting his eyes. "What's in it?"

Maggie double-clicked on the email.

From: Augustus Moran ([email protected])
To: Student Council ([email protected]), Student Executive Committee ([email protected])
Subject: Hello From The Other Side

"There's no text," bulong ni Maggie sabay scroll pababa. "Only a video attachment."

Sa thumbnail pa lang, kitang-kita na namin ang nakangiting mukha ni Augustus. That was the same grin that he had when he thought he had already won.

Maggie clicked on the video and played it.

"Hello there. You thought you've already seen the last of me, didn't you?" Augustus said in the video.

q.e.d.

And we're back! If you've enjoyed reading this update, share your thoughts or theories on Twitter using the hashtag #ProjectLOKI!