Authors POV
The living room of the Fernandes mansion, once filled with the warmth of homecoming, now felt like a pressurized chamber.
Percy fiddled with the wires, his tongue poking out in concentration, while the rest of the group settled into the plush velvet sofas.
Even Ion sat perched on the edge of a mahogany chair, her gaze flickering toward the screen with a haunted, distant longing.
Author's POV
The screen flickered to life, the grainy texture of old VHS tapes filling the frame with a nostalgic, amber glow. It was a sun-drenched afternoon in a sprawling garden years ago.
A younger, chubbier Percy was seen sprinting across the grass, waving a plastic sword and screaming at the top of his lungs. Behind him, a pint-sized Aries followed, his brow furrowed in a permanent scowl that hadn't changed in a decade.
"Oh my god, look at Aries!" Ella squealed, clutching a throw pillow to her chest. "He looks like a little angry steamed bun! I want to pinch those cheeks!"
Aries groaned, burying his face in his hands as Percy and Keifer snickered. "Percy, I am going to delete your entire digital existence for this."
The footage jumped. Now, the "KYAP" crew—Keifer, Yuri, Aries, and Percy—were huddled together on a picnic blanket. They were barely seven or eight years old. A young Keifer, with messy hair and a visible gap where his front tooth used to be, was earnestly trying to share his crackers with a stoic, silent Yuri.
"So cute..." Jay whispered, her lips curving into a genuine smile. For a moment, the tension of the day evaporated.
Suddenly, a six-year-old Jay toddled into the frame. She was wearing a bright yellow sundress with oversized matching ribbons that bobbed with every step.
"Wow, Jay. You were so cute too.",Cin said .
Tiny Jay marched straight up to Aries and wrapped her tiny arms around his knee.
"Kuya!" she chirped in the video, her voice a high-pitched bell.
The younger Keifer on the screen immediately stood up, his eyes widening as he stared at the little girl. He started to shuffle toward her, reaching out a shy hand, but the mini-Aries reacted instantly. He stepped in front of Jay like a miniature bodyguard, shoving Keifer back with a tiny, protective palm.
"Stay away from my sister!" the mini-Aries yelled on the recording, his voice cracking with prepubescent authority.
The little Keifer didn't back down. He peeked around Aries' shoulder, a slow, determined grin spreading across his face. "No! I won't! She's beautiful!"
In the present-day living room, a chorus of "Oooooh!" and whistles erupted.
"Wow, Keifer, you were a smooth talker even back then," Rory teased, nudging Keifer's shoulder hard.
Keifer felt his face heating up, a deep crimson crawling up his neck. He didn't look away from the screen, though. His eyes were fixed on the tiny version of Jay, who was currently giggling at the boys' antics.
"She really was beautiful," Keifer murmured, his voice low and sincere, causing Jay to shift uncomfortably as her own blush deepened.
The video transitioned to a scene of the four boys standing in a circle, looking incredibly serious as they "consulted" with the young Jay. .
It looked like a top-secret meeting of a very exclusive club. Suddenly, the little Jay looked down at her plastic Mickey Mouse watch. Her eyes went wide with genuine terror.
"Oh no! I have to go!" she cried out, her little legs already beginning to churn as she bolted toward the house..
"Jay-Jay, what happened?" the young Percy shouted after her.
Without looking back, she yelled at the top of her lungs, "I have to go! The Demon is waiting for me!"
The room went silent for a heartbeat before Rakki broke it. "Wait... who is 'The Demon,' Jay?"
On screen, the young Percy turned to the camera with a knowing, weary look. "Of course, it's Angelo."
The living room erupted in chaotic laughter. Angelo, who had been sitting with a stiff, regal posture, glared at Jay, though the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.
Jay just shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "Hey, you were scary back then, Kuya! You had those 'I'm-going-to-ground-you-until-college' eyes."
As the clips continued, showing birthdays and messy cake fights, the atmosphere shifted. A clip from a public park appeared.
The camera was shaky, held by a younger Tita Gemma. In the background, past the playing children, the camera panned slightly too far to the left, catching something it wasn't meant to.
In the blurred, shadowed background, two men in dark suits were standing near a black SUV. They weren't playing; they weren't looking at their phones. Their eyes were fixed intently, unnervingly, on the children.
The atmosphere in the room chilled instantly. Jay's grip on the couch cushions tightened until her knuckles turned white. Her breathing became shallow and jagged. Those two shadows... she didn't remember them, but her body did. Her pulse spiked, a primal alarm ringing in her ears.
Keifer noticed the change immediately. He saw the way her body locked up, the sheer terror reflecting in her pupils.
"Turn that off! Percy, turn it off now!" Keifer shouted, his voice booming through the room with a command that brooked no argument.
Percy, startled, fumbled with the remote and killed the power. The screen went black, but the image of those men felt like it was burned into the back of Jay's eyelids.
"Jay? Jay-Jay, look at me," Keifer said, reaching for her hand.
"I'm fine," she snapped, her voice trembling so hard it was barely a whisper. She stood up abruptly, her chair scraping loudly against the floor. "I'm fine! Just... leave me alone!"
She turned and bolted up the stairs, the sound of her frantic footsteps echoing like gunfire through the silent house.
Percy's POV
I didn't wait for the others. I knew that look. I'd seen it before, in the dark aftermath of the incident. I ran after her, bursting into her room just as she collapsed against the side of her bed, clutching her head as if it were about to split open.
She was gasping for air, her hands clawing at the silk sheets. Her eyes were glazed over, and she was shaking so violently I thought she might go into shock.
"Jay! Jay, hey, talk to me. Where is it?" I knelt beside her, my heart hammering against my ribs. "Jay, where is the medicine?"
"In... cabinet... second drawer..." she choked out. Her eyes squeezed shut, her face contorted in agony. "Percy... my brain... it feels like... 1,000 needles... pushing through my skull..."
I scrambled to the bathroom, tearing open the second drawer. I found a small, white bottle with no label—only a cryptic prescription number. I grabbed it and ran back just as Keifer, Aries, and Angelo reached the doorway and other standing at door.
They pushed past me, their faces masks of horror.
"What's happening to her?" Keifer demanded, his voice cracking as he reached out to steady her shoulders
"Get back, give her air!" Angelo barked, though his own hands were shaking as he stroked Jay's sweat-dampened hair.
I didn't answer. I unscrewed the cap, shook out two pills, and forced them into Jay's hand. "Drink, Jay. Swallow them. Now." I handed her a glass of water from her nightstand.
She swallowed them greedily, her breath coming in ragged, pathetic sobs until the chemicals began to dull the sharp edges of her panic.
Author's POV
Slowly, the agonizing tension began to drain from Jay's limbs. Her head lolled back against the mattress, her eyes fluttering. The room was deathly quiet, save for the sound of her receding gasps and the distant hum of the air conditioner.
Keifer looked at the bottle in Percy's hand, his expression dark and dangerous. "What medicine is this, Percy? What exactly is she taking?"
Percy looked down at the floor, his shoulders slumped under the weight of a secret he couldn't fully explain. "I don't know the clinical name. Jay has just... been taking them. For the headaches. For the memories that try to come back."
A soft, hesitant knock at the door broke the heavy silence. A maid stood there, her eyes wide. "Sir, Dr. Lucas is here."
"Let him in," Percy said, not looking up. "I called him the moment she ran."
Dr. Lucas, a man with a calm demeanor and a medical bag that had seen better days, entered the room. He walked straight to the bed, checking Jay's pulse and shining a penlight into her pupils.
"Ms. Mariano," Dr. Lucas said softly. "Do you remember anything specific? From the video?"
Jay's head moved in a slow, weak shake. "No... just the pain. The blackness."
The doctor sighed, adjusting his glasses with a grim expression. "The triggers are getting stronger, Jay. You cannot overdose on these. It is extremely harmful to your body and your neurological recovery. If the pain persists, you call me immediately. Do not take more than the prescribed amount, or the damage could be permanent."
He gave a few more hushed instructions to Angelo and then took his leave, the weight of his warning hanging in the air like a shroud.
Angelo moved to the edge of the bed, his "Demon" persona completely shattered, replaced by a brother who looked like he'd aged ten years in ten minutes. Jay reached out, her weak fingers catching the edge of his sleeve.
"Kuya... I'm tired," she whispered, her voice fading.
Angelo nodded, his throat working as he swallowed his emotions. He looked up at Keifer, Aries, and Percy—the boys who had grown up alongside them, who were now men standing guard and others"Everyone, go down. Let her rest."
The others began to file out, but Keifer, Aries, and Percy didn't move far. They stayed in the corners of the room, silent sentinels watching over her. Slowly, under the watchful eyes of the boys who had loved her since she was a little girl in a yellow sundress, Jay drifted into a heavy, drug-induced sleep.
A/n
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