Encoded

Chapter 36 : Trying

MHOREIN

"Baka mayroon kang nakalimutan." Chain reminded me as I shoved my stuff in my backpack.

"Wala, Hon." I checked the room for anything else.

"Sa dami nang pwedeng makalimutan, Ito pa talaga?" Chain tossed a medicine bottle. My Prozac.

"Thanks." I've noticed that since we saw Aiden again, The nightmares decreased and the flashbacks are less vivid.

"We ready to go?" Chain asked carrying his bag. Tumango ako.

Tinignan ko ulit ang telepono ko para masiguradong naka-save na ang numero ni Aiden.

"Let's go." On our way out we saw Eryn. He waved at us.

"Pauwi na kayo, Detectives?" He started to walk with us.

"Yeah. You?" Chain asked.

"Im getting breakfast." Eryn smiled. He held a camera in his hand.

We made our way into the lobby and parted ways with him. Chain talked to the receptionist for a couple of minutes before we got out of the hotel room.

We made our way to the parking lot. I looked around one more time to ease the paranoia. When I was sure that no one that involves Morse, Scarlet or Acros was around, I got in the car.

"Ah. Sa wakas." Chain exclaimed when we slammed the car doors shut. I took my phone out when I heard it ring. It was a text from Aiden.

(Magingat kayo, Guys. Nakausap ko na si miss Prina. Sila na daw ang bahala sa lahat. Salamat :))

(Thanks Ai. Take care.)

Chain started the engine and begun driving. I stared out the window, Thinking of what we have waiting for us.

My eyebrows met when it seemed like I saw someone behind the tall dark oak trees. Chain kept driving but I kept my eyes on the figure as long as I could. The car wasnt moving too fast since there are multiple bumps on the road. The figure seemed to be following us.

"May problema na, Hon?" Chain asked and got a grip of my thigh. I pointed outside the window.

"There's someone there..." Binagalan ni Chain ang sasakyan at tinignan tinuturo ko.

"Must be a camper." Chain started to drive normally again.

"Tumigil sila." I said as I co tinued to stare at it.

"Of course it did, Hon. Wala iyan, Okay? Masyado ka lang nagiisip." Chain calmed me down. Maybe he was right. Maybe PTSD got me paranoid.

It was a quiet and long ride as usual. We got back to my appartment by 7:00 P. M.

Chain laid on the sofa, Exhausted. He sighed.

"Sa office tayo bukas, Hon. Andoon lahat ng files." Chain said softly with his eyes closed.

"Safer there anyway." I entered my room. The shattered glass and pieces of cement were still there. Dust from the wall and a few small pieces of foam from the bed and pillows were scattered on the floor.

I grabbed some pillows and a blanket. I decided ti sleep on the sofa since the atmosphere of my room gives an uneasy feeling.

Chain looked up on me.

"We're sleeping here?" He asked.

"Opo..." I tossed the blanket and pillows at him. He chuckled softly.

Nagpunta ako sa kusina at naghanap nang makakain.

I opened the cupborads. My heart banged and I felt it skip a beat when everything inside it fell. My insticts got me into a stance and a closed fist.

"Shit..." I whispered when I saw the mess infront of me.

"What happened?" Chain asked while he helped me pick up cereal boxes and cans.

"Hey look." I looked at Chain holding up a cereal box. He picked up a knife.

"Pag sinaksak ko ito, Magagaya ko sa kanilang tatlo." I looked at him confused.

"Oh..." I didnt know if I wanted to laugh of cringe. Chain chuckled and put the box back to where it was.

"Natignan mo na ba yung code? What do you think?" Chain asked as we munched on a bowl of cereal on the sofa. I shook my head.

"I dont know what to make of it. Multiple codes and ciphers use keywoards." I put the bowl down and checked my phone.

"The password is Moriarty? How cliche is that?" Chain asked while he peeked on the phone from beside me.

"Naglalaro lang sila. Wala sa kanila ang seryoso dito." I said.

"What about keyword cipher? Try that first. Yun ang pinakamadali." Chain grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil.

"Thanks..." I said as he handed it to me. I substituted the alphabet with the password.

M - A
O - B
R - C
I - D
A - E
T - F
Y - G
B - H
C - I
D - J
E - K
F - L
G - M
H - N
J - O
K - P
L - Q
N - R
P - S
Q - T
S - U
U - V
V - W
W - X
X - Y
Z - Z

YPNKDILNL72J -

"Yeah. It's not that." Hindi ko na sinu ukang tapusin ang pag-decode nang mapagtanto kong may mga numero ang code na ito.

"You have any other ideas on what it could be?" Tanong ni Chain. I pursed my lips.

"Could be some kind of cipher that they invented. The clue could be writen there." I let out a sigh.

"That's gonna be difficult to guess." Chsin commented.

"Exactly why Im not guessing." I stared at the photo.

What does 6 x 6 mean? Or moriarty? Is it just meant to confuse us? Does it actually have significance to the code? What if it's just as simple as rot13 and they're just messing with us?