The Orphic Secret

Chapter 13

RORY

"Y-yes. He used to visit us before. He's my brother's friend," sagot ko at nagpumiglas sa hawak ni Kaiden. Sinubukan kong tumakbo papunta sa kotse, ngunit mabilis akong hinila ni Kaiden pabalik.

"The heat of the car's fuel might burn you, dumb."

"Pero baka alam niya kung nas'an si Kuya!" angal ko.

He sighed loudly, "Kapag nakita ulit natin siya, saka mo tanungin. We need to find a way to the underground cities."

I pouted and turned to the elevator. Nauna na akong pumasok dahil sa pagka-badtrip. I could have asked Kuya Ten about Kuya Nine! This is so frustrating.

"Kailan ba natin siya makikita ulit?" tanong ko, at malakas na nagbuntung-hininga.

"Malay ko."

Napairap agad ako sa sagot niya. Napakapit ako sa metallic na pader nang biglang bumaba ang elevator. I held my breath when it fastly went down. Napahawak pa ako sa ulo ko, dahil para akong nahilo.

Ano ba 'to elevator or ekstreme tower? Naramdaman ko pa ngang humiwalay ang paa ko sa sahig. Napailing-iling ako nang sa wakas ay tumigil na ang elevator. Bumukas 'yon, at napagtanto kong nasa unang palapag na kami.

"What's our plan, Kai?" tanong ko.

"Lourd and Astraeus suggested this plan. You see, inquisitors in this area are very strict. Kaya mayr'ong ilang mga naghahack or gumagawa ng fake identities para makapasok sa ilang buildings. You will enter the C building through hacking. You still don't have an Orphic ID, so we made you a fake one. The building is where the biggest night bar is located."

"Ano namang gagawin ko r'on?" tanong ko. "At saka bakit sa bar? Paano ka?"

Kaiden winked at me, "I'll be following you from behind. Kailangan mo lang magmasid sa paligid. If you find someone weird—"

"Weird kayong lahat," sabat ko agad.

Inirapan niya ako, "Most underground citizens have tattoos, like a mark of which organization they belong, pero tago ang mga 'yon. Madalas din silang nagmamasid sa paligid. They usually make transactions in the bar."

"Can you give me a picture of what the tattoos look like?" tanong ko.

Nilagay namam ni Kaiden sa harap ang bag niya. I just waited for him to finish finding the tattoo while looking around.

This building looks like a hotel, though. My eyes caught a glance of one man looking at us. Naningkit naman ang mata ko nang bigla niyang iiwas ang tingin niya. His neck had a small circular tattoo. I looked around more, and realized that there were more men looking at us.

"Nevermind, Kaiden. Huwag mo nang ilabas ang picture," sagot ko.

Nagtaka naman siya, "Huh? Bakit? Paano mo—" Hinawakan ko ang leeg niya kaya't natigilan siya. I pulled his face closer to mine and whispered.

"Some people are watching us."

Humiwalay naman ako nang nakangiti, "Saan nga tayo pupunta?"

Pasimple namang tumingin si Kaiden sa paligid habang sinasagot ako, "C building! The night bar."

Tumango naman ako, at naglakad na kami palabas. One of the beads in my orb bracelet separated from the others. It floated up in the air. It will serve as my third eye, literally. Not the third eye na nakakakita ng mga ghosts.