The black automatic roller shutter door took its time as it rolled its way up the moment Rafael got close enough to it, exposing the fleet of cars that were parked right inside. Rafael drew a deep breath, folding his sweaty palms into a fist, giving himself reasons to not want to get in. Reasons to not turn back.

Rafael shut his eyes for a second. The house was so quiet. Too quiet. He really hoped no one had informed his parents he was there yet. Thanks to the security cameras at every corner of the house including the gate, Rafael knew it was almost impossible driving in without anyone noticing. He just needed some time; some time to satisfy his curiosity. Some time to really see the voices in his head were wrong.

'You have nothing to worry about. There's nothing there.'

He kept reminding himself as he took a step into the clean garage. The lights came on, brightening up the place. Rafael needed his memory to lead him, to help him to the secret compartment. It had been years since he had even been to that part of the house. Finding the secret door was almost impossible especially since he knew there weren't exactly clues on the wall. There was no door, no indication of an extension. Rafael looked at the walls, they were so white, so....plain.

He walked straight to the wall at the end of the room, right behind the black SUV his father really didn't ride anymore.

He could remember it was somewhere around there. It was almost like he was so sure. There had to be something. A loophole. A way to find whatever it was he was looking for. Rafael swallowed hard and then slowly placed his hands on the wall so he could feel it. There was nothing. Nothing at all. Everything looked normal. So normal. He hit the wall a little bit and then heard a creaking sound from behind him. Rafael quickly turned, wondering where it came from. There was nothing, no one there. Just cars. He hit the wall again and then another creaking sound was heard, this time, it came from right in front of him. From the SUV.

Rafael took a step to the car parked behind him, cautious of every step. He walked around the car, watching it slowly like he was trying to find a connection until he was right behind it again. He slowly placed his hand behind it and then the other. Rafael pushed on it slightly and he heard another cracking sound. This time, it came from the wall.

He turned quickly to see what it was and then slowly turned back to the car. Now he was sure there was something. Something about it. Rafael drew a deep breath. This was it. He pushed harder on the SUV, as hard as he could in attempt to move it a little bit. He pushed the car and it moved. The cracking sound got worse. Rafael turned quickly and swallowed hard the moment he saw a tiny demarcation between the wall. He could see a black box right in between with buttons. Rafael could feel his legs pushing him towards the direction of the box that looked like a safe. Like a security safe. Like he was supposed to press a code to find out what was behind it. Rafael glared at it for a while. Thinking of what the six digit code could possibly be.

He rubbed his palm together. He had something he really want to try. The first numbers that came to his head. The date of the ALCS crisis.
One-two-one-nine-nine-five.

He pushed the buttons on the box consecutively and then a loud beep echoed around the room followed by a tiny crack sound. A hole appeared beside the wall, right beside the box. A dark hole. It looked more like a space. That had to be it. That had to be the room. Rafael knew he couldn't afford to stall anymore. He placed his hand into the hole and then pulled the door to the side till the hole was big enough for him to pass through.

He turned back to the garage to make sure no one was coming. There was no one in sight. Rafael slowly turned back to the dark room in front of him. It was a room. It had to be. He walked in as fast as he could, down the ramp slowly reaching for his phone so he could see admist all that darkness even with the tiny ray of light that came in from the garage.

Rafael turned his flashlight on, covering his nose to protect it from all that dust.

What was this place? It was like no one had been there in years. Rafael managed to find the light switch and with it, he turned the white lights on.

He took a slow glance around the empty room. Almost empty room. He could find something in the middle of the room. Something that looked like a vehicle or a machine or a truck and it was carefully covered with a really dusty brown car cover. Rafael found his way to it slowly, taking his time, taking deep breaths too till he was standing right behind it. He glared at the vehicle for a short while. He could see huge tires from beneath it. He then reached for the cover with his shaky hands. He rose it just a little bit, exposing the blue steel that was hiding underneath.

Blue steel. A blue truck. His heart was racing and he hadn't even taken the cover off completely yet. Rafael pulled the cover further, gulping hard as the other parts of the huge vehicle were beginning to uncover themselves, until he saw it. There was no plate number. No form of identification. Rafael turned to the side of the really old car, coughing loudly as specs of dust found its way into his nose as he tried to raise the cover further so he could see the name beside it.

Rand oil

Rafael could feel his hands shaking uncontrollably. It was it. It was the bus Musa had described. He could see it even though he didn't need to pull off the cover completely. Rafael hurried back to the door at the back of the bus. Now he wanted to see. He wanted to know more. He just needed to be sure his mind wasn't playing tricks on him. He opened it hurriedly, his eyes widening in surprise at the glimpse of all those chemical containers. About six of them with a large X written in red on them.

Rafael steped away from the bus as fast as he could. His head was racing. He couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe all of it.

Think Rafael, think.

He had his eyes glued to the really old truck with dust all over the insides. He could feel a large chill pass through him. It was it. The truck Musa had described.

It couldn't be. Rafael had a lot going through his head. Why? What was going on? The possibility of learning the truth scared him even more now. He needed to understand. He needed answers and he knew exactly where he could find them. Rafael hurriedly walked back to the truck and then closed the doors, pulling the covers carelessly back in place.

He ran out of the room, the door closing right behind him the moment he walked briskly away from the garage. Rafael walked as fast as he could to the front of the building, trying to walk even faster. He needed to hurry. He walked into the house.

"Sir Rafael."
He stopped the moment he saw the old maid that hurried to him, a look of worry on her face.

"Where is my mother?" He asked her with a cold look in his eyes.... a frightening look.

"She should be in her room-"

Rafael took off before she could say anything else, hurrying as fast as he could to the long spiral stairs till he was at the top of it. He turned to his left, heading straight to his mother's room.

"Sir Rafael."

He ignored the group of maids that stopped walking the moment they noticed him, bowing down to show their respects. Their respect was the last thing that concerned him at that moment. Rafael got to the brown door and pushed it open as fast as he could, hurrying into the large bedroom.

He halted, taking a quick glance around. There was no one there. Not a single soul. He turned to the center table right at the mini parlor, close to be huge glass mirror and door at the other side that led to the balcony.

He could see wine glasses. Two to be exact and a bottle of red wine. He had missed her. Rafael could tell that it hadn't been long since she left the room.

He found his legs leading him to the table. Why? He was barely even thinking about anything else. What he had seen was a lot to take in already. Rafael stopped right in front of the table, taking a deep breath as he looked out through the glass.

There had to be an explanation. He convinced himself. He just had to be patient enough to get one. He just had to wait a while longer and demand for one. He turned back to the table and it was then, at that moment Rafael saw it. The brown envelope.

He paused for a moment, he could feel his muscles tense as he narrowed his gaze to it. To the picture of Olivia on top of it. He didn't understand. Why?

Why was his mother keeping a picture of Olivia? What was in the envelope? Now he was curious. His curiosity was on a lot of adrenaline that day. Rafael reached for the envelope quickly and then opened it. He pulled out a paper from it, glaring at the words "DNA results" in it. He could recognize Olivia's name but he had no idea who the other people were. He could tell from their last name that they were somehow related to Olivia.

Rafael lowered his gaze to the bottom of the paper so he could see the words "99.9% positive" written in red right there. He swallowed hard and then returned his attention back into the envelope. He wanted to understand all of it especially since his mind was all over the place now. He could see somethings in the envelope. He reached for them. They were pictures. Old pictures. Pictures of a man. Rafael dropped the envelope so he could give the pictures his full attention. There was another one of a woman. Rafael shut his eyes for a while and then shook his head slowly. He was having a tiny migraine like he was trying to remember something. There was a feeling of familiarity he was feeling. Like he knew the woman in the picture but he just didn't know how or where.

Rafael took out another picture. Now he could see the woman, the man and a little girl. They looked like they were in a park playing. They looked so so happy. Rafael's eyes returned to the girl in the picture, his frown thickening. It was that feeling again. That familiar feeling as he looked closely at her. He swallowed hard the moment he recognized who it was. It was Olivia.

What was the meaning of this? Was was going on?

Rafael hurriedly reached for the last picture. His eyes widened as he saw it again. The blue truck, exactly the truck he had seen at the hidden garage. It looked like it was on a bridge, with a lot of rain and a man standing in front of the truck looking into the river.

Rafael could feel his hands go so numb and cold all of a sudden as a cool breeze began to pass through him. He could feel tears well up in his eyes all of a sudden just as it came, memories, thoughts, passing through his mind all at once. He could feel his heart rate rising as more clues came in. At that second it was like he was creating a possible connection in his head. The tears clouding his eyes were increasing.

He could hear a tiny creaking sound from behind him. He halted. He was freezing all of a sudden.

"Rafael." He heard his name in a tiny whisper, he could hear her from the door where she stood. He could sense the shock and fear in her voice.

Rafael staggered, slowly turning to her.

Sommadinah swallowed hard the moment she saw him, the moment she saw the look of fear in his eyes. The tears in his eyes. She felt her heart almost jump from her mouth when she saw him slowly raise the pictures up just so she could see them. The pictures shaking in rhythm with his shaky hands. She could feel his lips shaking. Like he was trying to say something but he couldn't.

Rafael took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He needed to understand. He needed an explanation. He glared into her eyes, and from that moment, everything stopped. Everything was static. He rose his thick brows so she could know just how serious the look on his face was. How dangerous.

"What is the meaning of this?"