Book Of Unknown

CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

Matthew’s Point Of View

It was four o’clock in the morning and I was busy fixing the wires connected to the few CCTV cameras we had placed inside the abandoned house. We were just waiting for Bellia to answer her cellphone so we could go straight to Jordan’s house.

Itiningkad ko ang dalawa kong talampakan nang nahirapan ako sa pag-aayos sa mga nagkanda-buhol-buhol na mga wires. Ito na lang ang pinagkakaabalahan ko ngayon, maayos at handa na ang lahat, si Bellia na lang ang hinihintay namin na magparamdam.

“Why is she not answering my calls? I inflated her cellphone too high before I held it to her.” I heard him saying as he looked at his cellphone’s screen, “Dude, she’s not responding. I have to check her, I’ll be back right away.”

Naipatong ko ang siko ko sa binti ko bago ko siya tingnan. “Yeah, you should, something might happen to her at these past hours. She said that there was a power interruption, right?” I replied while fixing the wires I holding.

He shooked his head while putting his cellphone in his pocket. “No. There’s nothing happened to her, Matt, don’t be so negative, do not make me so negative. I gotta go. I will send a message to you when something’s up.” He came out and didn’t wait for my response.

I stared at the door where he past through for a few seconds and picked my cellphone on the table. I searched for Bellia’s social media account on FaceTap and checked if she’s online. “Active 9 hours ago. Hinatid siya ni Gabriel around 7 p.m., she called Gabriel around 8 p.m. and didn’t reached him again, tumawag sana siya para sabihin kung naayos na ba ng fixer ang bombilya niya sa kwarto. Hmm, that makes sense, Matt.”

In the middle of my thinking on Bellia’s possible reasons why she wasn’t answering Gabriel’s calls my cellphone suddenly rang. I didn’t look at who it was and then answered.

“I have a bad news, Matt.” Ang boses ni Kalea ang narinig ko sa kabilang linya.

Napakunot ako ng noo sa narinig at napaayos sa pagkakahawak ng aking cellphone. “What?” I asked directly.

I heard her take a deep breath before she spoke. “It was Jordan, Matt. But, wait, let me spill this one. Before I came out of the Student Council’s room, I talked to her about random stuff. She was confused but she didn’t refuse to talk with me. And yes, as she turned back when she was about to leave me standing, tinawag ko siya at bahagya kong inayos ang buhok niya, mabilis kong nilagay ‘yong tape-tracer sa likod ng tainga niya.”

“And the bad news is? I am waiting for the bad news, Kal, don’t make me wait.” I said to the next line. She’s the queen of tracing, kahit anong bagay makakagawa siya ng paraan para makapag-trace lang, and it sounds crazy and it was like “obsession”.

“So here it is, she noticed it, she noticed it after about three hours. I put it around 3 o’clock, Matt. How could she have noticed it? It was a tape, it is impossible it got itched, it wasn’t itchable, believe me.”

I suddenly touched my lower lip while thinking. If she had actually traced Jordan, she would have known where the last signal of Jordan's position was before it even noticed. She put it at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, and Jordan removed it around 6 o’clock in the evening. It was 7 o’clock when Gabriel took Bellia into her dorm, geez, there’s something in here.

“You got traced her, right? Saan ang huling signal na natanggap mo na nanggaling sa kanya?” I asked as I grabbed a ballpen and a piece of paper as if I had something to write.

Dinig ko ang pagkalkal niya sa mga papel na nakapalibot sa kanya ngayon na parang may hinahanap. “That question didn’t popped up in my head a while ago. So, yes, here it is. She was heading to a building, wait, what? Yes, to a building, what building? Oh, my god, Matt, sa building ng dorm namin. Jordan, what are you really thinking?”

Naging blanko ang isip ko sa sinabi niya, what the f**k is happening? “Okay. Cancel everything. Thank you for your cooperation, Kal. Take a rest now.”

“Ma—”

I didn’t listen to what she wanted to say to me and just hung up the phone because Jordan had given us enough signals, this girl is totally insane yet creepy. Anong pupuntahan niya sa building na ‘yon? In addition, she did not pick a dorm, and she doesn’t have friends in the building. She’s not that sociable, she can’t stand on her own when she’s talking or interacting with someone she’s not familiar with.

Lumabas na ako sa abandonadong bahay at hindi na nagawang naisara ang pintuan nang maayos. Sana mahimbing lang ang tulog ni Bellia kaya hindi niya nagawang sagutin ang mga tawag ni Gabriel sa kanya, sana walang nangyari sa kanya na si Jordan ang may kagagawan.

Hindi pa ako nakakalayo sa abandonadong bahay ay nakaaninag ako ng taong mabilis ang paglalakad na papalapit sa akin. Nasigurado kong si Gabriel ‘yon dahil wala siyang alinlangan na tinawagan ako.

“Where is she?” I asked without any hesitation.

“Matt, she’s not in her dorm, her door is wide open. I am now panicking deep inside, Matt, where is she? I had no idea where she is right now, help me to look for her, please.” I could feel his worriedness because of his tone.

“You don’t have to please me, Gab, you’ll always count on me. So, we’re meeting with someone, you better come with me.”

“Who?”

“Who knows? The danger is now starting, and it is starting with your best friend.”