Project Indigo 7 The Disappearance Of Rea Dizon

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Chapter Four

The Disappearance of Rea Dizon

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AFTER dad was bailed out of jail, of course, he thanked us especially Chaos who solved half of the case. Ngayon, balik na kami sa school while my sisters are back in Manila. Kasama ko si Paulene and Belle ngayon patungong canteen ng school. Nagtatampo na raw sila dahil hindi ko sila nakakasama. Mostly kasi kapag umuuwi ako sa dorm, gabi na at tulog pa sila at maaga akong nagigising kaya nauuna na akong pumasok.

Nakangiting b.u.maling sa akin si Belle. "Friday! May theater play mamayang after school. Naisip kasi namin na wala namang a.s.signment na gagawin so manonood nalang kami ng play. We happen to have one extra ticket so..sasama ka?"

Ngumiti ako at tumango. Wala naman sigurong masana kung manood ako ng play and lend some time with my friends. "Sure. Anong play ba ang papanoorin?"

"Oh, it's a midsummer night's dream by William Shakespeare. Maganda yun." Paulene answered.

"Sige. Sasama ako."

Napasuntok sa hangin si Belle. "Yes!" I chuckled at magtatanong sana kung anong oras ang play nang biglang sumulpot sa harap namin si Daeril.

"Daeril.." nanlalaki ang mga matang nakatingin sakanya.

"Friday, can I talk to you? Alone?" Seryosong tanong ni Daeril.

Sumulyap ako sa mga kasama ko at tinanguan nila ko at umalis. May mga kakaibang ngiti pa sa mga labi nila.

Nakakunot ang noo kong tumingin kay Daeril. "Bakit? May nangyari ba?"

Daeril ignored my question sa halip ay may binigay sa akin maliit na envelope. "What's this?" Tanong ko.

"A ticket. Please be there as my companion.

Binuklat ko ang envelope. It's a ticket to a theater play called a midsummer night's dream.

"I'll be playing Lysander and I hope you could watch?"

"Oh, Daeril. Uhm..ininvite na kasi ako ng mga kaibigan ko kanina lang. Don't worry, isusupport naman kita so no worries!" I cheered.

"You'll be there?" Daeril asked in a hopeful voice.

Tumango ako. "Yup. I want to see how you act." I chuckled.

Daeril smiled and he tried to hide it pero nakita ko naman.

"Anyways," biglang sumeryoso ang mukha nito, "tell your sister, Monday, that she owes me ten pesos."

k.u.munot ang noo ko. "Why?"

"When we were searching for evidence to prove your father's innocence, she uhm..an unexpected thing happened."

"What happened?" Naguguluhang tanong ko.

"I told her that she might accidentally sat down on a ketchup because when I looked down at her pants, there was ketchup then she suddenly hit me and told me to buy napkin on the vending machine."

Tinaas ko ang kilay ko. Seriously? Daeril thought it's ketchup? Hindi yun nakuwento sa akin ng kapatid ko, ah.

"And you really bought her napkin?"

Umiling si Daeril. "I bought her tissues instead. Why would you use napkin if you have ketchup on your pants?" Naguguluhang tanong ni Daeril.

Tumawa ako nang malakas. "What did Monday said?"

"She hit me very hard and asked me to eat the tissues."

I laughed really hard. Di ko akalaing sobrang inosente ni Daeril.

k.u.munot ang noo ni Daeril. "Why are you laughing? I did the right thing, didn't I?"

Tumango ako. "Yup. You certainly did." I answered. Maasar nga ate ko mamaya.

Tumango si Daeril at mataman akong tinignan. "Promise me you're going to watch our play later."

I nodded earnestly. "I promise."

Daeril slightly smiled and then left. Mag-isa akong naglakad patungong canteen nang may mabangga ako. Nahulog ang laptop niya at mga notebook pati mga papel. "Sorry.." sambit ko at tinulungan siyang kunin ang mga nahulog na papel.

Nang subukan kong kunin ang laptop niya na nahulog, bigla niya iyon kinuha na parang pinoprotekta niya iyon. Hinayaan ko nalang siya. Privacy din niya iyon.

k.u.munot ang noo ko nang iba't ibang notebook ang dala niya na may iba't ibang pangalan. Mukhang napansin yata ng lalake ang itsura ko kaya nagsalita siya, "I do their homeworks in exchange of money." Anito at nilahad ang kamay. "I'm Mateo Xavier Mendoza. Matix for short." Tinanggap ko yun at nakipagkamay sakaniya. "I'm Friday."

Ngumiti ito at nagpaalam na umalis. Nang makarating ako ng canteen, I saw Chaos sitting and eating lunch alone at hindi pinapansin ang mga estudyanteng b.u.mabati sakaniya. I rolled my eyes. Typical of Chaos Salazar.

Hindi ko nalang siya pinansin at pumila para b.u.mili ng pagkain.

"Hey."

Napaigtad ako at lumingon sa likod ko kung saan nanggaling ang boses.

I sighed heavily and rolled my eyes. "What do you want, Chaos?" I asked.

"You said you'll help me find the person who killed my parents and sister."

Oo nga pala. Nakalimutan ko na yun. "Look, wala tayong clues or evidence kung sino ang pumatay sa pamilya mo. All we have are stupid notes na probably ay prank notes lang."

k.u.munot ang noo ni Chaos. "What do you mean, prank? Friday, this is not a prank. Whoever sent this, is not kidding. We need to stop the person sending these notes because this person might be the same man who killed my family and fifty students including teachers of Liberty High."

I breathed heavily. "Fine. As I promised, I will help you."

Tumango si Chaos. "Good." He left the line at b.u.malik sa table niya at tinuloy ang pag kain.

~~

"So, ito ang theater hall ng Liberty High?" Tanong ko kina Paulene at Belle habang nililibot ng tingin ang buong lugar. This looks like a theater stadium! Ang laki ng loob at parang nasa one thousand plus ang audience capacity ng hall.

"Yup. Ang mas magaling, five months lang ito ginawa. Usually kasi kapag mga malalaking building tulad nito, years bago magawa." Paulene answered.

Tumango-tango ako. Umupo na kami sa seat namin. Di naman malayuan ang seat namin eh. Mga nasa fifth row kami.

"Akala ko late tayo." Bulong sa akin ni Belle na katabi ko.

k.u.munot ang noo ko. "Bakit? Anong oras ba start ng play?"

"6 am dapat start ng play. 6:30 na, wala pa rin."

Biglang tumutok ang spotlight sa gitna ng stage at lumabas ang isang babae na wavy ang buhok at halata ang pagkabahala sa mukha. "Uhm..h-hi. I'm Effie Cruz. The director for this play. I'm sorry to announce that the show will be cancelled. I—"

Napatigil sa pagasalita ang babae na biglang humiyaw ang mga tao sa galit at sumisigaw ng refund.

"I-I'm sorry but the school restricts the no refunds policy. The show will be rescheduled. P-Please wait for further announcement." Anito at umalis ng stage. Umalis na rin ang mga tao at akmang aalis na rin kami nang may tumabi sa akin.

It was Chaos.

"What?" Tanong ko.

"I have something in mind. What if the person sending the notes is a student? I know this is not possible since the one who killed my parents is an old man—"

"Excuse me?"

Napalingon kami ni Chaos sa nagsalita. It was the theater director.

Akmang aalis si Chaos nang pigilan ko siya at pinandilatan. He sighed heavily at parang bata na sumalampak ng upo sa upuan.

"I need your help. Rea Dizon, the actress who was supposed to play the lead role, Hermia, didn't show up. Kaya kinansel namin ang play. Ang akala namin ay malelate lang siya ng ilang minuto pero ilang oras na ang nakalipas, wala pa rin."

k.u.munot ang noo ko. "Why ask for our help? Call the police." I suggested.

"I heard what you did with Hazel Ravena's case. You guys were the on e who solve it." She pointed out.

Effie continued, "anyways, pinuntahan ko siya sa dressing room niya pero wala siya roon. Only a note was left," binigay niya sa amin ang note. Chaos stood up at binasa rin ang note ko.

"And the note was addressed for Chaos Salazar. Kaya naisipan kong puntahan kayo. You are Chaos, right?" Tanong ni Effie kay Chaos.

Hindi siya pinansin ni Chaos at tinuon ang pansin sa note.

'Rea Dizon reminds me of your sister. I wonder if killing her is the same as I killed your beloved sister? come and find us using the given clue below: if you haven't found her in twenty minutes, I'm not sorry but you'll find her in the place where I started torture. (Not the rooftopX) - The Beast'

BBAABAABBBBAABAABBBABABABAAAAB BAABBABABB BABBBBBAABABAAAABBBA ABBBABABABBABAB

k.u.munot ang noo ko at binalingan sina Belle at Paulene na nakatingin sa amin at parang hinihintay ako. "Uhm, mauna na kayo. Susunod ako."

They pouted then left anyway. Tinignan ko si Chaos. "They're for you. The person who killed you family and sister is after you." Sambit ko.

"We need to crack the code—"

"I already cracked it." Nakangiwing sabi ni Effie, "sorry at pinakielamanan ko ang note. I really love codes and ciphers kaya di ko mapigilan ang sarili ko."

"How?" Tanong ko.

Effie smiled at k.u.muha ng papel at ballpen sa bag na dala.

"The sender used two codes in one message," anito habang nagsusulat, "the first one is Bacon's cipher. It uses only two subst.i.tution alphabet, A and B. Kung madecode mo ang message, you'll get: ZHSOVB TL XZIO OVV and that's where the next code comes in. The sender used atbash. Atbash is just the alphabet backwards. So A is equals to Z. You'll get Ashley Go and Carl Lee." ani Effie habang nagsusulat at pinapakita sa amin.

Nang matapos magsulat, nagsalita ito muli, "Ashley Go and Carl Lee were students at Liberty High. They are supposed to be Senior highs by now."

"Were?" Tanong ko.

Tumango si Effie. "They were killed."

Ang kanina pang tahimik na si Chaos ay biglang nagsalita. "You said they were killed?"

"Yes."

"Where?" Tanong niya.

Effie shrugged. "I don't know. Narinig ko lang ang news na patay na sila."

"When did they die?" Tanong muli ni Chaos.

"12 years ago."

"That was 2 years before the ma.s.sacre at the rooftop! That must've been the sender's first torture! We just have to find where Ashley Go and Carl Lee was killed."

I looked at my watch. "We only have 15 minutes left." I panicked. What if an innocent student die because of us?

Effie grinned, "don't worry. I know just the right person."

~~

"THIS IS Matix Mendoza. He's known for his—"

"Okay, Matix, what can you do?" Chaos cut off Effie who's introducing Matix to us. Nakilala ko na si Matix kanina. Siya iyong nabangga ko.

"Uhm, di ko alam bakit pinuntahan niyo pa ako rito sa computer lab but I'm good at hacking, programming, trouble shooting and in short, I'm good with computers."

"Good. Give us Ashley Go and Carl Lee's student files." Utos ni Chaos.

"Give me a minute—or seconds." Mabilis ang kamay na nagt.i.tipa sa keyboard si Matix at makalipas ang ilang segundo, pinakita niya sa amin ang dalaw.a.n.g files.

Ashley and Carl's files.

"So, they are cousins." Chaos uttered.

"What are we looking at here?" Matix asked.

"We are investigating their deaths 12 years ago." I answered.

"Then we should be looking at their death reports, not their student files." Matix suggested.

k.u.munot ang noo ni Chaos. "How? It will take days to get their report to the police station and we approximately have 12 minutes—"

"I think I mentioned earlier that I'm good at hacking." Saad ni Matix at agad na nagtype nang mabilis sa keyboard. After seconds, nakuha na niya ang reports.

"I can only provide two minutes before the police could track the address of the computer." Ani Matix.

"They were killed by bullets in the head and strangulation?" Saad ni Chaos.

"Look, they were found dead on an old warehouse near Liberty High." Effie stated.

"Then we got our answer." Ani Chaos at tumakbo palabas ng computer lab

"I'll expect my payment tomorrow! That's two hundred pesos for letting me hack the police station!" Pahabol na sigaw ni Matix.

~~

Agad kaming nakarating sa lumang warehouse. Mayroon pa kaming seven minutes. Maliligtas namin si Rea Dizon.

Pagkapasok namin, madilim ang paligid at tanging walang ilaw ang nakasindi. We can't see anything but we heard soft whimpers and sobs.

"Rea? Rea Dizon?" Pasigaw kong tawag.

"H-Help me..please.." sabi ng boses.

"It's Rea's voice." Bulong ni Effie.

"Where is she?" Tanong ni Chaos.

Dahil sa patuloy na paghikbi ni Rea Dizon, di ako nahirapan na sundan ang boses. Nang mahawakan ko ang kamay niya at akmang tatanggalin sa pagkakatali, biglang b.u.mukas ang ilaw. Ilang dangkal ang layo ko kina Effie at Chaos.

Hindi ko tinuon ng pansin ang biglaang pagbukas ng ilaw at tinuloy ang pagtanggal ng tali sa mga kamay at paa ni Rea.

Nang matapos kong tanggalin ang mga tali, tinawagan ko ang mga police na tumulong din sa paghahanap kay Rea Dizon.

"Chaos." Tawag ko sa pangalan niya nang makalapit ako sakaniya. Akay ko pa rin si Rea na nanghihina. Pero hindi sa akin nakatuon ang pansin niya. Deretso ang tingin niya.

Binalingan ko si Effie at ganun din ang reaksyon niya.

Sinundan ko ang tingin nila. Isang malaking pader na may malalaking letra na nakasulat:

YOU'RE TOO LATE AND I AM COMING FOR YOU ALL.

- The Beast

What does he mean by too late? We got here minutes before the due! Rea is alive and safe. The man got it all wrong—

Napatigil ako sa pagiisip nang biglang mag-ring ang phone ko. It was Paulene. "h.e.l.lo?"

"Friday.." she can hear Paulene's sobs.

"Why? Anong nangyari?"

"Belle..l-lumabas lang ako saglit p-para b.u.mili ng dinner namin pero p-pagdating ko, w-wala na siya." She cried harder.

"Hey, kalma ka lang, Pau. What do you mean na wala na siya? She left?"

"She's dead, Friday. I saw her in her own pool of blood. May sulat pa nga rito eh. Para sayo. Please come here quick. I need you—"

Tinapos ko na ang tawag. I need to come to my dorm!

Hinintay muna namin ang mga pulis para masiguro na ligtas si Rea pati na rin kami. When I was about to leave, Rea snuck a note to my pocket. "He said to give it to you." Aniya at umalis kasama ang mga police.

I opened the note:

AVOID HIM AND ALL THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE WILL BE IN DANGER

~~

"I ALREADY called the police. Papunta na sila rito." Naiiyak na sabi ni Paulene.

I hugged her to calm her down. "Shh..it's okay. None of this is your fault."

Paulene dried her tears then handed me a note. "May note kanina sa tabi ni Belle. It was for you so I didn't opened it." Sabi ni Paulene bago siya tawagin ng mga police to get her statement.

HELP HIM IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE, I WILL BE COMING AFTER YOU TOO.

~~

BC SAYS:

No update the whole day dahil nanood ako ng Lucifer! Haha! I highly recommend it. Super ganda!