[Start]
ROGER's POV
Damn it! Why can't I contact Isko? Our agreement was that he would follow us here to Clarisse's province at dawn. That guy is truly lazy. Just because I said the drive is faster in the early morning—he didn't go with us last night.
Anyway, here Ka Pineng and I are, heading toward Clarisse and Roli's former house. Ka Pineng is the driver. But before that, we stayed briefly at a hotel earlier this dawn to let the morning pass. Isko and I agreed that he would meet us there. But it's already noon, and there's still no sign of him.
I've noticed Ka Pineng's large luggage since last night. I wonder what's inside? I just shrugged it off.
"Who else knows about this place?" Ka Pineng asked while driving.
"Mrs. Ocampo, aside from me." I kept dialing on my cellphone.
"Has Mrs. Ocampo been a long-time friend of Clarisse?" he asked again.
"Probably. But what I know is—Mrs. Ocampo and Roli used to be lovers for a long time."
He seemed to choke and slammed on the brakes. "You mean... Mrs. Ocampo and Roli were former lovers?"
"Yup! I actually thought back then that they'd end up together but—Laurie suddenly arrived." I pulled out the photo Isko gave me before we parted ways last night.
"Laurie was the one Roli married..."
"And where is this Laurie now?" our car came to a halt.
"Never been found until now. And I doubt Roli was the one who murdered his wife and child." I got out of the car.
"Wife and child? You mean, they had a kid too." He got out as well.
"I also suspect Roli killed Ara."
"I don't think so." He shook his head.
I frowned. "How can you say that?"
"Isko told me it's possible the killer is a woman. Based on his investigation of the wounds Ara sustained—"
"Can we stop talking about that?" I cut him off. I didn't want to talk about how my daughter was killed.
He just sighed. "Okay. One last question."
I remained silent.
"You were Roli's defense attorney, right? Did you notice if he was left-handed when writing?"
"Right-handed," I responded quickly.
"So it really isn't him. According to Isko, the killer is left-handed and—I'll stop talking. You might choke me." He patted my shoulder. He looked at the picture I was holding. "What's that?"
I looked at it too. "This is a picture of Clarisse when she was only nineteen years old." To be honest, it was my first time seeing this photo.
"Who is she with in the picture?"
"I don't know either," I exhaled sharply. "Isko said he just found it under our bed in the room."
"Well, I'm expecting we'll see many things like that here in Clarisse Villaverde's old house..." He looked around.
"Wait! Why are we here anyway? Clarisse's house is still quite far from here."
I checked my wristwatch. It was already one in the afternoon.
"We're just waiting for someone for a moment."
After a few minutes, two men appeared.
"Here they are." Ka Pineng greeted them immediately. "They're my crew..."
"Huh?" This old man even brought backup.
"Guys, this is Roger," he turned to me. "Roger, this is Cary." He pointed to a small, curly-haired blonde man. "And this is Fin..." He patted the shoulder of a large-built man wearing eyeglasses and a thick mustache.
"Hi, Roger... nice to meet you," Fin greeted me.
I pulled Ka Pineng aside. "What the hell are they doing here? Don't tell me you're bringing them along?"
"Listen to me, Roger. We need them. They've been with me for more than ten years in these kinds of activities," he whispered to me.
"What do you mean activities?"
"Paranormal activity." He looked back at the two. "Those two have sharper senses than I do."
I just shook my head. "Okay. But they're your responsibility, okay?"
"Of course!"
Then we all got into the car toward Clarisse's place. This Fin guy was quite talkative for a big man. Meanwhile, Cary was just quiet. He did nothing but stare at me, which made me feel uncomfortable.
In a few minutes, we arrived at the old house. Everyone was amazed by what we saw. Yup! This house is huge and—it looks like a haunted house. It's been standing here for a long time, probably since the Spanish era. It's far from other houses and surrounded by forest. I couldn't remember how many rooms were inside. Five or four? All I know is it has two kitchens, six small bathrooms and one large one, and three living rooms.
Then we entered. As soon as I opened the main door, a foul smell greeted us. It was strange that Cary and Fin seemed hesitant to enter.
I signaled them. "Let's go inside..."
But they just looked like idiots, staring blankly at the interior. I looked inside too. Ka Pineng was ahead of me, also staring blankly.
"What is that smell?" I was about to step forward when Ka Pineng stepped back.
He was following something with his eyes. I followed his gaze too, but I couldn't see anything. Then he straightened up. "Go home, Roger. We'll take it from here."
"Huh?"
"This place is dangerous." He was still looking around.
I was starting to sweat profusely. I swallowed hard. "What do you mean?"
He looked at me. "This is where they killed—
ARA..."
Oh, Lord! I recoiled at what he said. But I forced myself to be brave. "I'm not going home!"
He just looked down. "Okay... but only until tonight, okay."
Tonight? Meaning—we're sleeping here? Damn, I'm already scared and it's still daytime, how much more when it gets dark. I just nodded even though I wasn't sure.
Cary and Fin entered as well, carrying Ka Pineng's large luggage. It contained candles, flashlights, and what looked like a lot of thread. It was strange, not ordinary at all.
We headed to the second floor. In the middle section, they got a chair and made Fin sit there. "Don't leave this spot," Ka Pineng instructed us.
He and Cary went down with the threads. But before that, they tied a thread to Fin. I was curious, so I followed them. I saw them tying the threads to various parts of the house, and the ends of the threads were connected to Fin. I went back to Fin. "Are you guys sure about what you're doing?"
He smiled at me. "We've been doing this for a long time."
I didn't say anything more. It probably took them a few hours to finish. All the threads were connected to Fin, tied to windows, doors, bathrooms, rooms, and everywhere else someone could pass through. After that, we each held a flashlight. It was just about to get dark. Damn, I'm getting nervous!
"Listen," Ka Pineng whispered. "This thread is glow-in-the-dark, so we can see it in the dark. Our base is Fin. If any thread connected to him moves, we need to go there. It's easy to follow." He turned to me. "But—if you feel like you're getting lost, come back here to our base. Is that clear, Roger?"
I just nodded, even though I was already trembling with fear.
"We need to find her," he added.
"Who?" I asked immediately.
"Ara."
My eyes widened.
"When you see her, bring her here to our base immediately."
I was stunned. I don't think I can do this.
"One more thing..." Ka Pineng spoke again. "We aren't allowed to shout. Whispers only."
I wondered why. Instead of asking more questions, I just stayed quiet. I could feel their silence too. It seemed even they were nervous.
Until it finally got dark. I remembered there was no electricity here in the Villaverde mansion.
The three were serious. Fin seemed to have fallen asleep while sitting. Does he even know these threads are wrapped around him?
Meanwhile, I kept trying to contact Isko. He still wasn't answering. Damn! What happened to that guy?
Suddenly, Fin opened his eyes! I was startled. "Downstairs... outside," he said.
I looked at one line of thread.
It was moving.
"I'll go?" Cary said. He had a flashlight.
Ka Pineng just nodded. Cary went down the stairs slowly. How brave of him.
After a while, another line of thread moved. "In the bathroom... the big bathroom..." Fin said. His eyes were open and he wasn't blinking.
Ka Pineng looked at me. "Go to it..."
I closed my eyes! Could I refuse? But I mustered up my courage. I turned on my flashlight. Who knows, I might see Ara right away.
"Avoid hitting the threads, okay?" he reminded me.
It was easy enough to avoid. The threads were clearly visible in the dark.
I slowly went down the stairs. I was following the movement of the thread. Yes, it was indeed heading toward the large bathroom.
I stepped forward cautiously.
It was dark.
I was going down the stairs.
It was cold.
Where was Cary? I kept looking around. This house is just too big and vast. I didn't realize that I had lost sight of the line of thread I was following.
But I spotted something.
To my right.
Down below.
Something moved.
The thread—it moved!
So I approached it slowly.
Good thing I had a flashlight. I shone the light. No one was there.
I went down further.
I shone the light.
No one was there.
I followed the movement of the thread.
Entering the bathroom.
I shone the light.
No one was there.
Then I saw something.
A child was running.
My God! A child was running!
How could there be a child here?
So I shone the light.
But they were gone.
Bullshit! I'm shaking now!
I felt like I was getting lost.
Ka Pineng's instruction was that if I felt lost—I should return to the base. So I quickly went back to where I came from.
I ran up the stairs, to the center.
There was Fin. Still sitting. But Ka Pineng wasn't there.
I approached Fin. "Where is Ka Pineng?"
He didn't respond to me.
"Fin?" I called again.
Then I shone the light on him.
I used the flashlight I was carrying.
His face was revealed to me.
His face.
His face, goddammit!
It looked like it had been struck by a hammer; his face was caved in!
Fin is dead, motherfucker!!!
Who did this to him?!!!