YVES

Jade’s missing. Others might say it’s too early to say, but she hasn’t come back since the call was disconnected. It’s not a question of what’s taking her so long. What happened to Jade?

She sent us a text though, after our call got disconnected. It said: Hey, my battery’s running low. Don’t worry it’s false alarm, jusy someone passing by. I’ll be back in a few :))

At first Zeke and I were relieved but when thirty minutes passed to forty until it became an hour, that’s when we started to worry. There wasn’t any sign of Jade. Anywhere. Why did I even feel relieved when I read her text? I know danger was still lurking in the shadows for her. A Lost boy could’ve hurt her or worse, the game master finally catching up to her.

“Anong gagawin natin?” Zeke asked, hands over his head. “Dapat sinamahan ko siya. Hindi ko dapat siya hinayaang umalis mag-isa.”

“This is not the time to blame ourselves, Zeke.” Oh god. Watching him pacing back and forth is making me anxious.

“We can’t just sit here doing nothing!”

“We can’t freak out either. Jade needs us, and the only way we can get through with this is to calm down.”

Zeke closed his eyes. I watched him as he struggle to calm down, breathing loudly through his mouth while he leaned his forehead on the wall. When he eases up, I say to him, “We should call the number again. I don’t think it’s coincidental that Jade disappears after that call, the ringing on the other line—”

“Pero nagtext si Jade na pauwi na siya.”

“Jade’s not here,” I spat angrily. “It’s impossible she’s lost. This is a small town.”

“Tumawag na kaya tayo ng pulis?” Zeke suggested, pushing himself away from the wall.

“I know you’re aware how competent our policemen are,” I told him, shaking my head. “They won’t take it seriously since she hasn’t been gone for over twenty four hours. Jade won’t be considered a missing person.”

“Then let’s tell them she’s in danger, and my sister needs help.”

I glared at him. “In danger from what? What would we even tell them? We don’t even know what we’re up against, or rather who.” Even though I have a vague idea who. But I can’t disclose that yet. We don’t have a solid proof.

If only asking for help is easier. Asking for it doesn’t always help you in a way you expect it to.

Some policemen are as rotten as politicians, they make it difficult to entrust our lives in their hands. They failed me in the past. They didn’t listen to me. They let my father’s case run cold so the injustice was like a claw to our hearts. I’m aware there are good ones. But you can’t really distinguish the bad from the good, can you? And even if you could tell who are the good ones, sometimes their silence is as bad. There isn’t much difference.

“I don’t trust a man in uniform,” I admitted, my bitter tone didn’t miss a beat.

Zeke and I stayed in the room in silence, waiting patiently as we dial the number over and over again. The call’s going in but no one’s answering. And the longer it’s taking, ever second that passed I feel like we’re not only wasting time but also our chances to save Jade.

“Hindi talaga tayo hihingi ng tulong sa pulisya?”

“Trust me, they won’t be any help.”

“Paano natin malalaman kung hindi natin susubukan?”

“I tried before but they didn’t help. And they still won't.” I tried to convince him but I don’t know if words are enough to get through his thick skull. “The only people who can help Jade is us. Alone.”

Zeke shouted a “Wow!” and threw both arms in the air to show me his disbelief. “Well this is not the same as before. This is different, this is about Jade!”

Tumigil kami sa pagtatalo dahil sa pagpasok ng nars. She came to check my vitals, and told me I’d still need to stay few more days for close observation.

While she told us what will happen in the next few days, my mind couldn’t process the words, but instead dull it out only to focus between two other nurses passing outside my room’s open door. Their voices were loud enough to hear their conversation.

“All this time, mali pala ang iniisip natin.”

“Nakakapangsisi ang nangyari. Hinayaan pa natin na isang corrupt ang umupo sa pwesto na dapat ay nanatili kay Mayor Antoni.”

What’s going on?

Zeke seems to catch on. He turns to the nurse and chatted with her. When his eyes widens at what the nurse told him I grew more curious. After the nurse left, Zeke gave me a worried look before turning around to turn on the TV. What greeted was a shocking news.

“Nagkaroon ng kaguluhan sa Desmond High. Nagsilabasan ang sinasabi nilang ‘sekreto’ ng mga estudyante,” paliwanag ni Zeke. Ang pinapakita sa TV ay ang Desmond High, kung saan nagsisiiyakan ang mga estudyante, ang iba ay kung hindi nagwawala, at nakikipag-away sa kapwa estudyante.

The chaos could only mean one thing, their fears came true—their secret is out. But Carlos found her! How can she not keep her promise when she said so in her message?

“Ayon sa nars iniimbestigahan ngayon ang mga messages na biglang natanggap ng mga estudyante. The crazy part is that,” he paused only to look me straight in the eye. “There was also a live broadcast after the messages blew up, and it’s about your father.”

As if to prove that, the TV news anchor began talking about the said broadcast. The middle age anchor claimed that their station was given an anonymous tip, with a brown envelope and a tape consisting a recorded audio of the former and current mayor, Antoni Morgan and Mayor Victor Kennedy's conversation.

“Hindi ‘to ang pinagkasunduan natin, Victor. Pinalitan mo ba ang mga materyales?”

Para akong sinuntok sa dibdib nang marinig ang boses ni Papa.

“I’m just being practical, we’ll save more money if we use cheaper materials. It’s not much of a difference.”

“In exchange of my people’s safety!? Victor, people died because of your poor judgment.” A buzzing sound came next, followed by a defeated sigh. “I need you to return the money, Victor. Alam kong kinuha mo ‘to. They’re meant for our people, not in your pockets.”

My tears warmed my cheeks which ached from smiling all throughout. I’m relieved to hear that my father didn’t selfishly pocket the money. He wanted to give everyone what they deserved.

We could hear footsteps, then suddenly, we heard groaning and then a thud. There were more undescribable sounds, which I was pretty sure was made due to struggle. To my horror, I think this part of the recorded audio is when my father was attacked by none other than... Victor Kennedy.

“According to our source, the brown envelope contains the ledger which listed the amount of money the former Mayor of Lost Valley, Antoni Morgan, had purchased for the materials used in building the townmall,” the news anchor narrated, a paper in her hands. She showed it to the camera. “There are no discrepency in the numbers, the remaining amount of money from the purchase was kept into account of the Morgans, but not in the way we thought they were keeping it for. Our source claimed that the Morgans kept the money in their own safe, not in any of their bank accounts, but unfortunately after the incident it was nowhere to be found.”

The safe in the townmall. It’s the same safe Cleo tried telling me about, but he thought my father was keeping the money to himself. I wonder if Cleo is listening right now. Are people finally going to listen to my father’s side of the story?

The news went on a short break. When they returned, another person was sitting beside her, another reporter. First, they made a recap of the broadcast before coming down to a scripted conversation between the two.

“It may be true that the materials were great quality, but we can’t deny that the mall collapsed on its opening day two years ago. What could’ve been the reason?”

The female anchor smiles. “The fact about the Lost Valley townmall collapsing got everyone questioning the reliability of our source. So, let me tell you this,” she said, acting nonchalant and invested in the conversation then glances at the camera for effect. “The brown envelope didn’t just contain the ledger, but it also contained an investigatory report of the said incident, which our anonymous source claimed that the policemen responsible didn’t disclose—a forensics report based on a sample of concrete and debris from the collapsed mall.”

“Holy shit, Yves Morgan.”

My own breath got caught in my throat. My eyes widened from what I’m reading on the screen. A residue of a kind of powder used in bombs was found among the concrete and debris. A bomb! Not just one, apparently, since they found it on other debris from different foundations of the collapsed mall.

“The forensics were able to identify where the bombs were attached before exploding, according to where they found the residue.” I said it aloud with them. “Around the mall’s underground parking space.”

That’s why the whole building collapsed. It’s not because of faulty engineering or weak materials. Someone forced it to fall on the ground.

The anchor continue to talk about it, inciting questions like who could have thought of such method, to destroy the hardwork of the townspeople and stain the former Mayor’s reputation? Why didn’t the former Mayor explain what happened and took the blame instead? Why didn’t the police disclose their findings in public?

While they were asking questions, I also had mine which my only dead father could answer. Why didn’t you do anything, Papa?

“You knew, didn’t you?” The same question I asked two years ago rang in my ear. I could almost imagine my father standing by the door, preparing to leave.

“You knew the mall was going to collapse,” mapait na akusa ko. “Cleo’s right, you stole their money. Do you know what’s the price you have to pay for your selfishness?”

My father responded. “Our family’s been paying the price for decades.” I didn’t know what he meant by those words.

“Papa, sagutin mo ako!” sigaw ko. “You knew what will happen if you exchanged that money for fucking weak materials! You knew this could happen!”

My shouts were caught short because of a shooting pain in my head. As I clammed my hands on my temples, the images snapped repeatedly in front of me like a scene from a movie. It wasn’t a happy ending.

“Whose death did you see this time?” My father asked. He didn’t bother coming to my side when he saw I was in so much pain. He just stood there, staring at me from that distance.

The blood rushed to my cheeks, I puffed them out of anger and glared at my father. He was staring at me, waiting for an answer. I thought he was making fun of me after I told him about the visions I had, about the mall, about Cleo and Amy.

Back then I didn’t know he was actually asking me directly. He was taking me seriously. He believed me.

Sinabi ko sa kanya ang sunod kong nakita, na mamamatay siya kung aalis siya ngayon. Pero ayaw niyang makinig.

“If you continue being an idiot, you will definitely die!” I screamed. “Makinig ka sa’kin. Pupuntahan mo si Tito Victor, hindi ba? Huwag ka pumunta. Please. Papa, please.”  

“How am I going to die?”

Tears welled up in my eyes as I recalled the scene. My father standing up from his seat, turning his back only to have someone stab him with a knife. The last thing I saw was a red object in the perpretrator’s finger.

“Well, whatever it is, then so be it. We can’t outrun fate.” My father’s last words was a whisper of secrecy, straight from a family secret I wasn’t aware of. Until now.This memory of him ignoring my warning was mixed with so much anger and hatred towards him.

He turned his back on me, even after what I told him. I felt ignored and stupid. Little did I know that that last moment with him was spent in waste, and became a bad memory filled with resentment. I instantly regretted the way my father and I parted that night.

My father knew what I was seeing. He knew I awakened the family’s curse. Not only that, he knew about the incident and he knew he was going to die. What reason does he have to remain calm? It’s not because he already anticipated, he fucking knew. He knew who could be behind the bombs, he definitely did.

“Whoa, whoa. Yves, anong ginagawa mo?”

Zeke quickly grab my hand from trying to pull out the IV line. The tears finally stopped spilling, but I’m certain what’s next to be spilled is blood. My last memories with my father just reminded me my purpose for staying behind, and one of the reasons why I came back.

Sensing my anger, Zeke grab my shoulders and forces me to look at him. “Look, man. I know you’re angry, but what good will your anger bring?” he sighed when he saw I wasn’t listening. “You told me to calm down, and you should, too. We can’t get eaten up by our emotions, and we can’t freak out either. The only way we can get through with shit is to calm down.”

For fuck’s sake. Am I really going to take this idiot’s advice? He practically fed me with my own words. I couldn’t help but laughed at the irony of it. I told him to calm down so we can calmly analyze the situation, but what am I doing? The exact opposite.

“I didn’t know you can say smart stuff like that,” pang-aasar ko.

Tumawa siya. “What, did you take me as an idiot?” I only gave him a look, which made his smile disappear. “You actually think I’m an idiot? Then why did you let me take responsibility of your studies?”

“So I’d have more reason to call you between the lines of ‘You’re an idiot’ or ‘You fucking donkey’.”

“Are you quoting Gordon Ramsay?”

“Yes, yes I am.”

He heaved an exasperated sigh before settling back down on a chair. Zeke had his hands tugging at his hair when he sat down, seemingly as frustrated as I was. Umangat siya ng tingin sa’kin. “Let’s calmly take in the situation then.” I nod in agreement, blowing off a breath. “Jade sent us a text, at alam natin hindi siya ang nagtext. Sino ang kukuha sa kapatid ko? Ang bobo niya pa para magsend ng text para hindi tayo mabahala at hanapin siya.”

Says the person who almost believed that text message.

“I have some people in mind who I think could do such a thing. Though I think you won’t like it.”

And so I told him everything, starting from the pictures Carlos sent us, the game, the twins, then came the murder that led to the warning and target on Jade, courtesy of the Lost Boys being hired to do it. And then the recent misgivings up to this day.

I check his mood again. He’s smiling, but the anger is quickly boiling up to this point.

“May kinalaman rin ba ang pinag-usapan ni Jade at ng Carlos na ‘yon sa tawag?”

I nod. “And everything else.”

“So you’re telling me that a nutjob hired gangsters to hunt down my sister,” he growled, his anger rising. “Hunt her in terms of what? Were they told to kill my sister!?”

I thought we talked about handling things calmly. Zeke breathed in collectively, an effort to calm himself down. Thankfully he managed.

“Let’s not assume the worst. Jade’s safe, I’m sure she will be. She’s Jade Montero for heaven’s sake,” I reminded him. It was more like convincing myself. Who knows what kinds of dangers Jade’s facing right about now.

She could be in the hands of a revenge-driven killer. And judging from the fact she almost foiled that person’s plans, she’s in grave danger. I hope it’s the Lost Boys who got her, or better yet no one. I hope she only fell in a sewer and lost somewhere underground. That would be better than dead, right?

“Gaano ka kasigurado na hindi magagawang patayin ng gangsters na ‘yon ang kapatid ko?”

“They’re not gangsters. Just a group of boys working together. They might hurt her though, but will definitely not kill her.”

Zeke was hysterical now. “How is that going to make me less worried?”

“Then, let’s not waste any more time. Let’s find Jade before they could lay a hand on her.”

Zeke scoffed. “Easy for you to say. Hindi ka pa nga pwedeng umalis.”

“Then let’s go on with it. We won’t let them know.”

“Pwedeng huwag ka na lang sumama?”

“Fuck you, Zeke. Do you expect me to let you go off on your own after what happened?”

“If Cleo was here he’ll insist you staying for your own safety.” Tumigil siya para tingnan ang katawan ko, tinitingnan ang mga sugat ko.

“Speaking of Cleo.” I almost forgot about him. “What’s taking him so long?”

I know it won’t take him long to get to a shop and back. It was just a car key and a repair shop. It wasn’t much of a heavy errand to keep him up longer than expected.

“Oo nga ‘no. Kanina pa wala si Cleo.”

At kanina pa wala si Jade.

***