Last Day at St. Louie

13 - The Transferee & the One who Failed

13 - The Transferee & the One who Failed

"How are you all related to Lance Peña?"

Iisang reaksyon ang bumakas sa mga mukhang bahagyang naliliwanagan ng nag-iisang cellphone sa sahig-gulat. Nagtaka maging ang mga pulis. Ngunit ang dalawang nag-akalang pinagkakatiwalaan na sila ni Ally bilang walang kinalaman sa nangyari ang naunang mag-react.

"Bakit nakatingin ka din sa'kin?" tanong ni Arkin.

"Are you also asking me that question, Allysa?" tanong din ni Vince.

"All includes you," simpleng sagot ng dalaga.

"Sandali." Nagtaas si Hailey ng isang kilay. "Did the three of you plan to get us all in here so you could play detective?"

"We have to know why we're here." Iyon lamang ang isinagot ni Ally.

"May mga bumabaril sa atin kanina at alam nila na nandito tayo sa loob ng auditorium," pagsali ni Felicity sa usapan. "Mabilis lang tayong mapapasok dito. O sa lagay ng mga kwento ninyo, baka sunugin tayo ng buhay dito. Kailangan nating lumabas."

"We can stay here." Bahagyang nilakasan ni Vince ang kanyang boses. "The voice said that we can stay inside the campus for a month. We won't, but they're not rushing so we don't have to rush either. Arkin locked the doors and turned the main switch of the auditorium off so whoever's behind this wouldn't hear this conversation and see us from here."

"Sigurado kayong hindi tayo lulusubin dito?" nagdududang tanong pa ni Cholo.

"Edi sana kanina pa may pumasok," tinatamad na sagot ni Arkin. "Kahit sinong may utak, alam na hindi tayo tatagal dito. Kakailanganin din nating lumabas kung gusto nating mabuhay."

"So the three of you really planned this," may mapait na ngising sabi ni Hailey.

Bumuntong hininga si Ally. "I didn't answer the calculus problem."

"H-Ha?" Naguguluhang humakbang si Lia palapit. "What do you mean? Paano ka nakalabas?"

"I was given a choice to wait for an hour and I would be shown something."

"You chose to make us all worried?!" hindi makapaniwalang tanong ulit ni Hailey. Agad niyang naramdaman ang kamay ni Noah sa kanyang balikat. Napairap na lamang siya.

"What did you see?" Tinignan ni Noah ang dalaga diretso sa mga mata nitong kumikislap dahil sa liwanag na nagmumula sa cellphone na nasa sahig. "Allysa."

"A closed figure with eleven sides." Sinalubong ni Ally ang tingin ng dating Student Council Vice President.

"It's not really a coincidence that eleven of us were left." Napatingala si Vince at napapikit.

"I-Ibig sabihin, t-tayo talaga ang target ng nasa likod nito?" mahinang tanong ni Jerome, bakas ang takot sa mga mata.

"A red circle at the middle is connected by lines to all sides of that figure, except for one," dagdag pa ni Ally.

"And you're thinking that the red circle is Lance Peña?" tanong naman ni Lia.

"The initial set of the given numbers from the third question is three, nine, and twenty." Muling inilibot ni Ally ang tingin sa lahat. "What else happened on the ninth of March, last year?"