The Collector's Item

Second

Her feet automatically moved to follow him like a spy in a detective movie

“My 20/20 vision does not fail me. It was certainly Jeff!”

“Who’s Jeff?”

She turned to her right and unfortunately; he was there.

“Aren’t you leaving?”

“Now that I will witness some funny drama? Heck no!”

They followed Jeff, even though she got nothing to do with the medicine aisle. She quickly snapped videos and photos of them grabbing condom packets.

It was a good thing Kent agreed to carry her shopping bags while gathering evidence.

They chilled at a famous fast-food chain. She shook her head while scrolling through the photos she collected while sipping her Coke float.

“You know, Jeff’s lucky. He’s getting laid tonight. So, if you...”

The young man dropped the burger in his hand as Maxine’s aura became dark. A child even cried when it saw her reaction.

Droplets of sweat tumbled on Kent’s skin even though they were inside a fully air-conditioned establishment.

“Hey, relax. Is it bad to express my opinion? You know, men have special needs.”

“You want to get laid? I’ll lay you on your coffin.”

Then she grabbed his collar.

“I’ll buy you milk tea for three days.”

Maxine’s aura became sheeplike after he stated his offer.

“You’ll buy me milk tea? And you won’t ever dare to piss me off? Then, if I needed you as a witness, you’ll agree?”

“Whoa! Three requests?”

In a blink of his eye, Maxine switched to her killing aura. The poor guy eventually agreed.

She couldn’t sleep a wink that night. Whenever she closed her eyes, the image of cheating Jeff was all she could see.

"What should I do? If the same scenario happened to you, what would you do?"

She shrieked when her phone rang. Who would send her a message at 3 am?

It was the mischievous Kent.

“Hey, still thinking about your best friend?”

Her eyebrows met. She kept on recalling when did he accept his message request.

She ignored his message and closed her eyes, hoping drowsiness would visit her at any moment.

The next morning, one janitor who she became friends with almost dropped the mop when she arrived at school an hour earlier than usual. Like a cat who waited for its owner, she stood right beside her classroom’s door while checking the time on her phone’s screen, but the first period began without showing its shadow.

Maxine had eye contact with her teacher. She even jotted down helpful notes, however, her mind wandered in the possibilities behind her best friend’s absence.

"Maybe she didn’t ring her alarm again," she said to herself.

At last, the school hours ended. She dashed into the sixth floor’s elevator and pressed the button five times.

She removed the hands of whoever daring soul tried to touch her.

“Hey, why do you always look pissy whenever we meet?”

She faced the elevator again. Dealing with this man was not her priority right now.

“After you made me carry your shopping bags, you’ll ignore this awesome man behind you. I’ll buy you milk tea as I promised.”

Breathing exercise plus tapping her fingers on her thigh became her coping mechanism against the man’s persistence on which milk tea flavor she craved for.

This man stuck around her like glue ever since they became acquainted yesterday. Maxine considered changing partners if this event continued.

Soon, the elevator opened, and that’s when the ray of hope shone upon her. She hopped right into it and pressed the G button.

“Hey! Let’s go to the cafe near the school! Their milk tea was one of the best.”

Her right arm was his captive that stepping forward became impossible.

“I’m Sorry Mr. Bertrand, but I had to deliver someone’s notes.”

Kent loosened the grip on her arm.

“Bye!”

The man only watched her figure getting smaller as the distance between them increased.

***

“Maxine!”

Mrs. Perez hugged her tightly and hooted like an owl the moment it opened the door for her. When she calmed down, she led her into their living room and prepared a glass of orange juice and slices of a club sandwich.

“I’m glad you came. I called your mother, but she said you were at school. Helga didn’t come home until now, so I wanted to ask you if she told you where she went.”

Maxine choked upon hearing Mrs. Perez’s revelation. Unlike her, Helga always craved company whenever she did something, so she couldn’t go somewhere alone.

“The last time I saw her was before my meeting started. She invited me to have a karaoke night here, but I refused since I had an important matter, I took care of.”

“Yeah, she texted me telling you declined her offer so I don’t have to cook huge servings.”

“Did you try to ask Jeff?”

Mentioning his name was taboo to her. She sipped from orange juice to cleanse her tongue.

“Yes, He did a school project with his friends. He didn’t answer my calls today.”

Maxine didn’t understand how buying condoms while flirting with another woman became a school project. In her opinion, it must be a baby project instead.

Three days had passed since her visit happened. People who knew Helga had an impression they eloped since Jeff went missing too. If that was the truth, then Maxine had received a message from Helga, but not a single text came.

One day, Maxine passed by the coffee shop where she used to hang out with Helga. A man in a black V-neck shirt holding a walking cane in his right hand was staring at Helga’s poster.

“The last time I saw this lady, her eyes were droopy and sad.”

She was not a gossiper, but it was a different story when the topic was about her missing friend.

Instead of grabbing the cafe’s doorknob, she approached the man.

“Grandpa, is that right? You saw my friend.?”

The man adjusted his glasses and looked at her from head to toe.

“If she was your friend, why was she alone, begging for her life?”

The man’s words punched her... Hearing those words showed terrible signs.

“Yes. I’m her friend. She hasn’t come home, her family worries about her. Grandpa, I beg you, if you know where she was, please... tell me.”

“I know where she is. My question was, what would I get?”

Maxine stood next to the wall where they pasted the poster. She pointed to the line of texts below Helga’s picture.

“Helga’s family will give a reward.”

“This old man did not need that kind of reward. Soon, I’ll reach the finish line.”

“Tell me, Grandpa, what does your heart seek?”

“Have you heard of Karma?”

Yes, she did! She believed this event was because of karma. If she didn’t become selfish and turned down her friend’s karaoke invitation, maybe they were enjoying a slice of pistachio cake and cups of cafe latte inside.

“You had to collect the spirits and put back the stones to its rightful place. That’s the only way to fix your bad karma.”

Raindrops touched Maxine’s skin, so she dug for the umbrella in her bag. When she was about to offer it for the old man, he already dissipated in the air.

She scratched her head. How could the man who barely ran disappeared in under a minute?

“Maybe, he bluffed.”

Heavy rainfall visited their area in the middle of the summer. Weather forecasters widened their eyes to see the red mark only in their city. There was no typhoon, so how did this happen?

News channels also reported the strange phenomenon. Residents living near the shore and low-lying areas evacuated.

Thankfully, Maxine lived in an elevated area. Her parents said they should still be vigilant.

12:03 am. Her throat was as dry as the drought, so she wanted a glass of cold water. When she stepped her foot on the floor, her mind awoke in an instant. The floodwater was up to her ankles!

She couldn’t decipher how did the flood water reach her home. It was impossible! If this happened, then her entire city submerged!

All she thought was to wake up her parents. She opened the door, but for some certain reason, it won’t open.

Everything turned worse when the floodwater goes higher and her room looked like a mermaid’s chamber.

As every second passed, it became harder to breathe until...