Song: Helium- Sia

Evil

"What? What do you mean? How did you know?" sunod sunod na tanong sa akin ni Caitlyn matapos kong sabihin sakanya ang nangyari. Halatang-halata sa boses niya na gulong-gulo siya sa nangyayari.

"Sam went here. She's awake and she doesn't remember anything—even her name. She... she has amnesia."

Parang nanghina ang loob ko nang sabihin ko ang salitang iyon. She doesn't even know if that's temporary or not. I mean... I can handle a temporary amnesia. I will wait until she finally remember everything again. Kayang-kaya kong ipaalala sakanya ang lahat.

Pero kung hindi ito temporary... hindi ko alam ang gagawin. Now she probably thinks she's in love with someone else. What should I do to make her fall in love with me again?

"Wait... hindi ko maintindihan. Paano nakapunta diyan si Ate Sam?"

"'Yun ang hindi ko alam, Caitlyn. I'm still trying to figure everything out. She even thinks I'm a jewelrer! She returned the necklace I gave her!" I frustratingly said.

"This doesn't make sense. Ilang beses na akong nagpupunta sakanila Ate Isabella pero hindi ko nakita si Ate Sam doon."

"They're probably hiding her somewhere." Hula ko.

"But how did you know that it was Ate Isabella?"

"Caitlyn, alam ko ang itsura ng ate mo. And when she called Sam, alam kong siya nga iyon."

I heard her sigh. Nakita ko naman ang pagpasok nila Ryan at Tony sa loob ng bahay. They both have a confusing look on their faces. Tiningnan ko sila. They are waiting for me to finish my phone call with Caitlyn para makausap nila ako.

"I'll come over, Kuya. I'll see what I can do." Aniya sabay ibinaba na ang tawag.

Nagpakawala ako ng malalim na hininga at tsaka inilapag na ang aking cellphone sa kaharap kong lamesa. Inangat ko ang tingin sa dalawa.

"It's Isabella." I said. Hindi na nagulat si Ryan. Tumango siya at naupo sa harap ko.

"I knew it... boses palang, Zach... alam ko nang siya nga 'yun."

"I need to go to their house. I need to get Sam away from them."

"Relax, Zach. Baka mapahamak ka sa gagawin mo." Paalala niya.

"I don't care!" I raised my voice. "What matters is that I need to get Sam away from them!"

Kung hahayaan ko pang manatili si Sam sakanila, they'll probably feed her mind with lies! Nakita ko namang umiling si Tony.

"Even if you try to do that, we're still not sure if she's going to come with you."

Sandali akong natigil nang dahil sa sinabi niya. He's right. Sam looks scared of me when I crashed her into a hug a while ago. She looks scared of us! She's looking at us like we're some form of creepy strangers.

Hinilot ko ang sentido ko. "What am I supposed to do now? She doesn't remember a single thing! She even thinks that Timothy is her boyfriend!"

I don't know what Isabella did to her para paniwalain siya sa mga bagay na hindi naman totoo. She's filling Sam's head with lies! She even made her think her name was Savannah!

"Zach..." Ryan called. "Hindi kaya... nagtulungan si Isabella at Timothy sa pagkuha kay Sam?"

Inangat ko muli ang tingin sakanya. Nagtataka ko siyang tiningnan.

"What do you mean?"

"Isabella and Timothy are in a relationship, right? Timothy is very powerful when it comes to business. He has a lot of connections at baka nagpabayad pa iyon para lang maging successful ang plano nila."

"It doesn't make sense, Ryan." Umiling ako.

He's being impossible. I know Isabella can do such thing. But drag that Timothy guy's name here? I don't know. Baka nautusan lang rin siya ni Isabella.

"Maybe they were pretending to be in a relationship because they were planning this all along."

"And why would Timothy do that?" tanong ni Tony.

Tony knows Timothy because of business. Naalala ko pa noong engagement party nila, nandoon si Timothy at kasama niya si Isabella. At sa mga oras rin na iyon, naalala ko kung gaano nagulat si Sam nang makita si Isabella at Timothy doon.

"Because Timothy used to like Sam."

My mouth parted because of Ryan's statement. My forehead immediately creased. Napaayos ako ng upo at agad na ibinigay ang buong atensyon sakanya. And how did he know that? Walang sinasabi si Sam sa akin tungkol diyan.

Umirap si Ryan nang makita ang reaksyon ko. "Zach, I'm Sam's best friend for a reason. Alam ko ang lahat tungkol sakanya. There are things that happened before you entered her life."

"Ryan, this is confusing the hell out of me. Just please tell me everything now." I pleaded.

Kahit pala sinasabi sa akin ni Sam ang lahat, may mga bagay parin pala ako na hindi alam tungkol sakanya. Huminga si Ryan ng malalim bago ipagpatuloy ang kanyang sasabihin.

"Before Xander and Sam became in a relationship, nanligaw sakanya si Timothy. Hindi niya sinagot dahil si Xander ang gusto niya. You probably know that Alisha used to be Sam's best friend, right? She's Timothy's sister. Hula ko, nagpatulong pa iyon sa kapatid niya kaya madalas rin si Sam sa bahay nila dahil lagi siyang iniimbita doon."

"At anong ginagawa nila sa bahay nila?" I asked.

"Samantha doesn't tell me much. She's mostly invited for dinner."

Kumunot ang noo ko. Sinusubukan kong intindihan ang lahat pero nagugulohan parin talaga ako. I tried to remember things that Sam told me before. Wala akong maalala na may binanggit siya tungkol kay Timothy. We never came across that name before. Ngayon lang.

Bigla naman akong may naalala. I remember her telling me that she bumped into Xander somewhere. Naalala ko rin na sinabi niya sa akin na sinabi sakanya ni Xander na may pinaplano si Isabella. Maybe this was it. Maybe this is what they're planning all along.

Did they also plan Sam's accident?

"Sam told me before that Isabella was planning something." I said. Nagulat naman si Ryan.

"Baka ito na nga 'yun, Zach!"

"Maybe they also planned Sam's accident." I concluded. Agad na umiling ang dalawa sa akin.

"Sam's accident doesn't seem like it's planned. Maybe... they used Sam's accident as an advantage." Ani Ryan.

"But how did they know that Sam got into an accident? As far as I know, we tried to stop the media from spreading the news." Ani Tony.

"As I've said a while ago, Timothy is very powerful. Kayang-kaya niyang gawin ang lahat ng gusto niya. And maybe... he also took this as his chance. He made Sam believe that he's her boyfriend because he still wants her."

Hinilot kong muli ang sentido ko. Bakit biglang gumugulo ang lahat?

Mamaya pa ay dumating si Caitlyn sa aming bahay. Pagkapasok niya palang ay bakas na agad ang pagkalito sa kanyang mukha.

Sinabi naman namin agad sakanya ang lahat. Kahit siya ay hindi makapaniwala sa nangyayari.

"Sigurado ako na may iba pang rason si Ate Isabella para gawin ang lahat ng 'to." Aniya. Bumaling ang tingin ko sakanya.

"And what do you think it is?" I asked.
"I don't know. I'll try to find out." She bit her lip at tsaka nag-isip muli.

Nanatili kaming tahimik. Tila ba prinoproseso pa ang lahat. Nagulat kami at napaayos ako ng upo nang biglang tumunog ang cellphone ko. Kinuha ko ito at nakitang may unknown number na tumatawag.

I picked up the call.

"Hello?"

"Zachary Dela Merced," the speaker said sweetly on the other line. Alam ko na agad kung sino ito.

"Isabella,"

Napalingon ang tatlo sa akin. Caitlyn gave me a questioning look.

"How was seeing Sam?" tanong niya. May halong pangungutya ang kanyang boses. "How was seeing her and figuring out that she doesn't remember anything huh?"

"Damn you, Isabella! Ikaw ang kagagawan nang lahat ng 'to! Paano mo nalaman kung nasaan si Sam ha?"

She laughed mockingly. "Ha! That's a very easy thing to do. Ask Caitlyn."

Kumunot ang noo ko at napabaling ng tingin kay Caitlyn na mukhang gusto nang malaman kung anong pinaguusapan namin ni Isabella.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh. That's easy. Caitlyn was always on her phone. That it made me wonder kung sino ba iyong kausap niya. And then I found out it was you. She thinks no one's listening but I do. I think you need someone who's a little more careful than her. She didn't even noticed that I got her followed!"

She laughs mockingly again. She sounds like a witch.

"When will you stop pulling these stunts, Isabella, huh? When will you stop ruining Sam's life?!"

"Until I make you mine, maybe?" Walang pag-aalinlangan niyang sinagot.

Kumunot ang noo ko sa sinabi niya. What the hell is she saying?

"H-Huh?"

Tumawa siyang muli.

"You think I only wanted to ruin Sam's life? Of course not! I have a lot of reasons to ruin her. She ruined my family. My father died because of her. And she has you! At gusto kong kuhanin ang lahat ng mayroon siya and that includes you!"

"Fuck you!" I cursed, hindi na napigilan pa ang sarili.

"Fuck Samantha! She almost ruined my family, now it's my time to ruin her!" She laughed evilly. Gustong gusto ko siyang paulanan ng mura ngayon pero hindi ko magawa.

"How was it knowing that you're not her boyfriend anymore?" She asks.

"This is your fault! Stop all your fucking plans, Isabella! I swear I will may you pay for everything you did to her!"

"Hmm... let's see if you can do that."

"What do you want? Huh? What do you want? Fucking tell me!" Hamon ko.

Sandali siyang natahimik hanggang sa marinig kong humalakhak siya.

"Isn't it obvious, Zach? I want you! I already gave Timothy what he wants. And now... it's time for him to give me mine. Watch him do everything for Sam, until you go crazy because she will no longer recognize you as someone she used to love before. Mababaliw ka at ako ang sasalo sa'yo. Wala kang choice kung hindi ang bumigay-"

"You're crazy! Demonyo ka! Kahit kailan hindi ako magkakagusto sa isang demonyo na kagaya mo! Ibalik mo sa akin si Sam, Isabella! Sinasabi ko sa'yo! Ibalik mo siya-"

"Ohh... not so fast. You have to earn it." She said sweetly. That sent shivers down my spine.

"Hindi ako titigil, Zach, hanggang hindi ka napapasakin. Tandaan mo 'yan." She warned me.

"Hinding hindi mangyayari 'yan! Hindi ako bibigay sa isang demonyo na kagaya mo!"

"Hmm... baka kainin mo 'yang sinasabi mo."

"You're sick! You're out of your mind! You should rot in hell."

"Oh... then I'll bring Sam with me. After all, she ruined my family. My father is gone because of her. She should also rot in hell." she chuckled. Napapikit ako. Kinuyom ko ang aking kamao.

Kung hindi lang talaga babae 'to baka kung ano na ang nagawa ko sakanya. At kung hindi lang talaga siya kapatid ni Sam, baka wala na siya dito sa mundo ngayon!

"Goodbye, Zach. Pag-isipan mo ang lahat ng sinabi mo. Baka mag-sisi ka. Tandaan mo, nasa akin si Sam. I can do everything I want to do. I can make her believe in lies. I can cloud her head with something that isn't even real. Kaya pag-isipan mo ng mabuti ang sinasabi mo."

Then she hang up the call after that.