Chapter 03 - Cornered

CHAPTER 3 �" Cornered

Alan David Toledo (Prime)

I may be immortal, I may never die.

I just don’t think I can make it any longer. I now have two deaths to investigate. And my Luisa alter-ego barely keeps me going. Time is running out. Sooner or later even my classmates will figure out my disguise, especially since Nathan is so invested in me that I suspect he already knows something is off.

I finish my long ritual of transforming into Luisa in front of a mirror, and although I feel uncomfortable with women’s clothing, I bear with it. I slay it anyway. I mean, who would think that beneath the most beautiful face and physique is someone who only fights for justice in the most twisted manner?

As I near the classroom, my classmates seem to murmur because it’s like their voices do decrescendos when passing by me.

“Who would have thought so?” I heard one as her talking voice immediately reaches the level of that of a whisper. Did they know about Alisa’s death now? Am I suspicious? I’m madly anxious I need to talk to Gwen.

But as I enter the room, I immediately see Nathan, his chin resting on his palm by the door. It’s his spot. We were eye-to-eye, and I glare at him. But to my surprise, he just looks away, as if he did not taunt me yesterday. When I turn around, everyone seems to be looking at us, but then turns away as if they did not. What the f**k is wrong with the world?

I reach for Gwen near my seat. “Gwen, I �"”

“Oh, here you are sweety!” She looks excited as she greets me.

“What’s with… the people?” I ask. “I’m getting weird looks.”

“Well, sizzz!” She guides me to my chair and makes me sit. “Somebody saw you and Nathan going into an empty classroom yesterday.”

I felt chills. Did they know? Am I being cornered? No!

“W �" what do you mean? No way was I going with him!” I turn around to glare at him. Perfect timing since he’s also looking at me with that confused but ‘I-don’t-give-a-f**k’ look. Then I turn back to Gwen.

“Apparently, someone saw you.” She says mischievously. “Never thought the place you meant you needed to go was Nathan.”

“No way!” I exclaim.

“Come on, just tell us the real score between you two.” And my eyebrows meet. “For your information, Nathan never talked to anyone ever since Jacob transferred in and hogged all the glory last year. It’s a miracle you were able to get in his side!”

“Well it would be a miracle because I hate that guy’s guts too!” It was late when I noticed how loud I was. “Now go tell whoever spread the rumors to stop it because there’s just no way I’m ever being goody-goody with him.”

Gwen’s mood suddenly shifted, from bubbly to awry. “Are you saying, I’m a liar?”

My eyes widen. So this b***h… “What?!”

How could this be? I made sure yesterday that no one was following me! But then remembering how Nathan just casually grabbed me and forced me into the room, perhaps I didn’t see Gwen from a distance too.

“No, you aren’t! It’s just… maybe you saw something else.”

“No, you’re implying that I’m a liar.” She says in the softest tone, but I can feel the anger in it. She gently seats herself and looks straight. As I look around, our classmates has stopped with the murmuring too. The heavy mood that follows the silence is just so awkward. I think I just lost a new-found friend.

But I have to focus. Luisa was born not to make friends, but to investigate and prove my innocence. I am an indispensable beauty after all, unlike the shallow friendships such as Gwen’s.

The class passed by normally, and even more peacefully since Gwen is not trying to talk to me. Of course, I would catch the weird stares from Nathan. But everything just makes me uncomfortable �" the dress, the pretense. I need to end this soon. I need to find the killer. For justice of Jacob and Alisa. But where do I start?

“Okay, class dismissed.”

And everyone is in a rush. This time though, Gwen did not at least try to talk to me, but I can clearly hear her as she was talking with some other girls in the class as they exit.

“Hey girl. Did you see the news yesterday? Jacob’s ex was really trying to rat out that Kim person!” She says as if it was a national issue. “What was her name again? Was it Celia?”

“No, it’s Cecilia.” Answered the gossip girl.

Well, that dented my heart a bit. But it gave me the ultimate idea, the lead as to where I’ll pick up.

No wig, no make-up, no woman persona. It’s me, Kim, on my way to this very familiar house I had been for at least once in my life. With black tight clothes, and a small pouch that contains emergency materials, I look like a burglar with no mask!

I look at the security cameras around �" there are two, three �" no, four! Four cameras! �" and effectively calculate the blindspots. I stealthily sneak through the lawn to the back of the house, and using the vines intentionally grown on the wall, I grab onto them and help myself up towards the veranda. Man, this tight suit is really helping with the friction I need to keep me from falling. Once up, I rest for a few seconds, and on my toes, make my way to check the large sliding window that separates the room and the veranda. It’s not locked.

I quietly slid one frame and make my way inside.

“I knew you’d come, Kim.”

There she is, at the door, clicking the knob locked. “You can come up here, but it would be riskier to fall through the veranda.”

“Cecilia, I’m not trying to hide. I need you to hear �"“

“How could you do this to me, Kim?” Her eyes tear up as she cautiously move step by step towards me. “I trusted you that I never thought you could do this!”

“Please hear me out first �"”

A slap.

“I can’t believe you killed my ex and got me through this mess!” She lashes out. “You were not contented with giving me a heart break, you also ruined my future! How could you?!”

“Cecil, I did not kill him.”

“You did!” She angrily accuses. “The footage does not lie!”

“Someone killed him and it’s not me, okay?!” I also lash out. I’m irritated. “One more thing, can you please stop pretending? You were not dating Jacob, he told me so!”

“I was trying to protect his identity!” She rebuts.

“No, you are trying to protect yourself!” Silence follows, and it’s like I hear a clock ticking. I need to make this quick! I sense danger. I mean, isn’t her timing perfect? It seems like she was expecting me!

“How did you know I was coming?” I ask, just to make sure.

“You missed the camera right over the veranda.”

Oh s**t. So there is one I failed to notice.

“I’ll make this quick, Cecil, so please listen to me.” She gives me a blank look. “I did not kill anyone. Someone did get in Jacob’s room that night, and it’s definitely not me! I’m trying to find him now, because I can not hide forever, do you understand me?”

Instead of a good ‘yes’ that I’m trying to get from here, it’s this: “It’s your fault for being so selfish.”

“What?!”

“If only you did not go with the thirst, none of this would have happened.” She says softly, but with gravity.

“I was set up, Cecil! Don’t you get that? Can you really believe that I could do something like that?” I say that loud enough for her to feel the intensity of my mood, but not loud enough to be heard outside. “Now tell me, why is it about selfishness now?”

“Did you not really know?” She asks in a tone full of remorse.

“What did I not know?” I’m confused. What is she trying to pull?

But then someone loudly knocks on the door. “Cecil! Open up, Cecil!”

And in that moment, my heart literally raced like I just did a hundred meter dash at my ultimate speed. I look at Cecilia, she looks puzzled, and I am trying my best to think of ways on how to get away from this situation. If her mother comes in and sees me, I’d be dead!

Just as she makes her way to the door, I quickly grabbed an armful of pillows from her bed, make my way outside the sliding window and jump off the veranda. I swear to God I thought my breathing stopped when I was mid-air.

I land on my chest, cushioned by the pillows but my dominant arm is forced against the ground and it really f*****g hurts.

“Kim!” She screams. Was it that quick? “Oh no, Kim!”

I try to get up, but then when I did my ankles and knees also hurt so much that I fall back down to the ground. Ouch! But then on the second try, I pick myself up well enough. I pause to breath for a few seconds, and internalizing all the painful parts of my body, without even bothering to look if Cecilia is above, I run like a wounded animal that limps of anguish randomly.

From a distance, I take a glance of our old home. It is filled with police investigating. But then they can’t find anything there since I’m out and nobody lives there anymore. Tears fall down my eyes when I remember how I played with my mother and father as a child on the balcony, how I run around freely as my father sits on a wheelchair, waiting for his doom due to a terminal disease that slowly ate him and his personality, how I cried my heart out on that same field when my mother died of heart failure shortly after my father passed.

I think sometimes it’s nice to be sentimental like this. At least I relieve the memories of my parents when they were alive. At least in me, they are always there �" they will never die, they are immortal. But then reality is much more cruel than that. Now I’m running for my life.

And I can’t stay there anymore.

I wipe my tears with the back of my hand and leave.

I watch Alisa’s apartment from a distance in order to at least have a glimpse of my best friend who gave me protection and another identity. There were no police yet, it seems the neighbors are not even aware of what happened that night when she was killed.

Perhaps I can make camp in this place? I have no more place to go. That run-down shack I settled myself in order to transform into Luisa after Alisa died is most likely temporary and will soon be infested with police.

Before I could step forward, my phone rings = a message. And who might this be?

Then it seems like all blood come rushing to my face the moment I opened it.

Did you not really know?

Who killed Jacob?

9PM. Houston Hardware Stockroom.

Be there or someone’s next.

I check the sender details = it’s an unknown number. I immediately dial it. But the phone was blocked. Whoever did this is a very intelligent person. He got me cornered.

But then I recall Cecil asking, “did you not really know?”

I don’t want to think it’s her, but I guess I need to come in order to put an end to all this. I need to at least get a good reason as to why she’d do that. I’m trying to hold back my tears. I’m trying to erase from my mind that Cecil is the culprit. But it’s just so hard. It hurts really, really bad that it physically feels like a hundred needles continuously prick my chest.

But then there was this very strong force. Something very intense coming from somewhere around me. It seems like someone is watching me suspiciously. I look around, at all corners and all spots, but I just can’t find anything or anyone suspicious.

It’s five in the afternoon, but the whole place is so barren. The wind is blowing really hard that I can hear the trees moving, and in my ears it’s as if I hear the sound of my own blood flowing.

I wipe the drips of water under my eyes and move. It might be the sender. I will catch you later, anyway.

8:55, the moon is full and bright, and I am walking alone towards the empty stock room aforementioned. There are sacks of cement around, steel on suspensions above.

I went in my Kim persona. If I am to face Jacob’s killer, it’s gonna be the real me he or she would be facing. I glance at the side to see crystals that effectively reflects my physique under the moonlit darkness. Well, just how could a single street light illuminate such a large area?

For the first time this week, I have seen myself through the reflection �" my ever pale lips complement the scrawny look I have on this flawless face that looks pretty whether you take me as a boy or a girl; my dark brown eyes look like they faintly glow with strength; and my body �" my ever perfect body that is not that tall and curvy, but sexy enough to be owned by either sex.

By looks I’m androgynous, but dangerous.

But I am taken aback when the familiar aura from this afternoon seemed to follow me and materialized behind me. It’s a very strong force that it gives me the chills. And to be honest, I am really, really scared right now that I could not afford to turn and look behind.

8:59. I manage to see the time on my watch. It’s the killer.

I can feel that aura coming closer to me that I can hear the careful footsteps. The intensity of the atmosphere starts to eat me, that I can hear my heart pumping blood �" beating, rather.

Tugdug. Tugdug. Tugdug.

And when this entity is right behind me, there was literally a chill. A chill so cold, that I immediately knew it’s someone else.

TugdugTugdug.Tugdug.Tugdug.Tugdug.Tugdug,

I gather all of my energy in order to turn around and face him �" just to see for myself Jacob’s killer.

With a look full of remorse, and my eye swollen from holding back too much tears, I face him.

“Nathan?!” I exclaim.

“It’s you…” He has this puzzled �" no, surprised look, and then he proceeds to show me the look like he’s warning me with something.

I look at the clock. 9:00

When I look up, I realize that this is a death trap. I hear a gun being shot and the bullet hitting another metal.

Is this what people see before they die? Everything is in slow motion. 

The dual-suspension which holds tons of steel directly above me is fractured on one side that led to its imbalance, causing all the steel it contains to fall down towards me.

But in a split second, Nathan quickly grabbed me and carried me with him as he moves away until the first steel, followed by tons of steels waiting to smash, hits the ground with such force �" that we barely made it outside the giant stockroom.

We both lost our balance and the next thing I knew was that I was on top of him as we fell to the ground. He cushioned me and the roaring sound of steel violently hitting the ground went on.

While at that uncomfortable position, I could not help myself but look at his cold, black eyes. And the way he looks at mine seems like he was looking through me, which is quite… scary.

After a few seconds, the violent sounds stopped and there were a lot of dust in the air.

We immediately get up and I wipe the dust off me.

“I knew it. Luisa is a fake, after all.” He mumbles in his arrogant tone. “And you had the nerve to deny it.”

“And what the f**k are you doing here?” I ask him in retaliation. Well, really. Why is he here?

He then shoved his phone on my face to show me a message. What mannerless prick! But then all my hairs stood up after reading exactly the same message sent to me. 

Did you not really know?

Who killed Jacob?

9PM. Houston Hardware Stockroom.

Be there or someone’s next.

“Who sent that?”

“I’m also tagged. So I’m investigating too.” He says without looking at my eye. The manners! “Excuse me, homo.”

“What the f**k?!” I exclaim to him but he did not even bother to bat an eye or at least turn around to say anything.

He covers his nose with his bare hand and moves inside again, and seems to scan the surroundings.

“Over there!” He says while pointing above where there is… a gun? “It’s a timed mechanism �" the trigger is pulled to fracture the suspension and make steel kill us.”

“I must say, you’re brilliant to be able to know as much as that.”

“Starting this moment, you need to cooperate with me and rat the culprit soon. We only have a little time to spare.”

“And why should I?” I ask him arrogantly. “I can do this alone.”

He flashed a smirk. “Well, someone’s trying to kill us both.”