32 Case of the Missing File (Part Two)

Volume 2

Chapter Five

Case of the Missing File

Part Two

FRIDAY POV

As soon as we entered the storage room, Mabilis na binura ni Matix ang cctv footage kung saan pumasok kami ng office ni Twilight at mga kapatid niya.

"So, ayan ang nakuha niyo? Did you read it?" Matix asked.

Chaos shook his head. "We didn't have the chance. Bumalik agad sila but the fact that they hid this somewhere hard to find only means that it contains confidential secrets."

"Basahin na natin." Utos ni Effie.

Binuksan ni Chaos ang brown envelop at inilabas ang isang makapal na folder na may nakasulat na "UNDERCOVER" sa harap nito.

No one dared to speak and just waited for Chaos to open the file.

Nang buksan niya iyon, limang dokumento ang naroon at mga larawan. A letter was also stated.

Kinuha ni Matix ang nga dokumento at sinuri ito. "These documents are birth certificate of...Twilight and the three weirdos." Pinakita nito ang birth certificate sa amin.

"Is that their surname?" Tanong ni Chaos.

Matix shrugged. "Could be."

"Their surname is so weird. That explains their weird personalities."

"Kung apat sila, kanino iyang isang dokumento?" Tanong ni Effie habang hawak ang iilang larawan.

Matix's eyes widen in shock. "They're...quintuplets."

Huh?

"Quintuplets?" Tanong ko.

Matix nodded. "The last one, Vesper, is a girl."

"A weird name and a weird surname." Ngumiwi si Chaos.

"Hm, nasaan na si Vesper ngayon?" I asked.

"Hey, we stole this to find out the secret they're hiding. Not their personal lives. Labas na tayo kung anong nangyari sa kapatid nila." Chaos uttered.

Tama naman siya. We are intruding the four sibling's personal lives which is hindi tama. But to think of it, stealing some of their property isnt's also the right thing to do.

"This pictures," tinaas ni Effie ang mga larawang hawak, "they are stolen pictures of different people. Sa likod naman ay mga pangalan nila."

Matix interfered, "wait, is that me?" Naguguluhang tanong nito at tinuro ang isa sa larawan na hawak ni Effie.

Tinignan naman namin iyon. "Oo nga no." Sambit ko.

It was Matix's stolen picture. Kumakain ito sa isang restuarant magisa habang nasa harap ang laptop at nagtatype. "Who the hell took a picture of me?" Inis na tanong nito.

Binasa naman ni Effie ang likod ng larawan. "Matix Mendoza after thirteen years. -Twilight."

"Twilight? The girl took a picture of me?!" Galit na sambit nito.

"To think of it, kanina, habang nagtatago tayo, one the brothers told Twilight that Matix didn't remember her." Chaos said.

Oo nga. I forgot who that was but someone really said it. Could it be that Matix and Twilight were childhood friends?

"I'm certain that Twilight and I never met before." Lukot ang mukha nito.

"Enough of that for now. Sa ngayon, let's focus on unleashing the four sibling's identities and secrets." Ani Chaos.

This time, kinuha ko ang letter. "What's that?" Chaos asked.

"It's a letter," nanlaki ang mata ko nang makita ko kung kanino galing iyon, "from Mr. Albert."

"Read it." Utos ni Chaos.

Binasa ko nga ang sulat nang malakas. "Midnight, kindly pass this to your siblings. I know that someday, my son will be my downfall. When that time comes, take my position in my behalf. For your sister. For your parents."

"That's it?" Chaos asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"When was the letter dated?" Matix asked.

"October 7th 2018." Sagot ko.

"That was last year. When the beast came into the picture." Chaos answered.

"Wait, so Mr. Albert was pertaining to Chaos as his downfall. Tapos, pinakiusapan niya sina Midnight na akuin ang posisyon niya kapag nawala siya. The question is, what position was it? To be X?" Effie asked.

Chaos carressed his chin. "Could be. They could be X." Anito.

Then, Matix snapped his fingers and typed something on his laptop. Kapagkuwan ay may pinakita ito sa screen ng laptop niya. It was the video of four children. The video we found after Mr. Albert was imprisoned.

"This could be them." Ani Matix na ang tinutukoy ay ang mga bata sa video.

He continued, "three boys, one girl. The children matches the four siblings."

Are they thinking what I'm thinking? That Twilight and her brothers could be X?

Akmang magsasalita ako nang bumukas ang pinto ng storage room at sumalubong sa amin ang hinihingal na si Twilight kasama sina Midnight, Rebel at Slate na nakatayo sa gilid niya at seryoso ang mukha.

"We believe you have something that's ours." Rebel stated na masama ang mukha.

"After we conducted series of investigations, the answers led us to your team, Chaos." Seryosong sambit ni Midnight.

And we just all stared at the fours siblings. Silent and unmoving.

TWILIGHT POV

"Search for any possible areas. Any time and any place." Utos ni kuya Rebel.

I rolled my eyes. "It's the third time I checked the cctv footages. I told you, the person who stole the file deleted the footages."

"You're Twilight. Find something." Aniya.

I just grunted and continued searching for clues. Ilang beses kong pinanood at iniscan ang footage but it was clean. Though the cctv footages were deleted by someone. Hindi ko lang alam kung sino.

Isang tao lang naman ang kilala kong magaling sa ganito.

Matix...

I shook my head. Imposibleng si Matix iyon. He would never go that far..

Or would he?

"Found anything?" Kuya Rebel asked.

Nalukot ang mukha ko. "Pwede ba, don't pressure me. Hindi ko nagagawa ng maayos ang pinapagawa mo eh!" Sigaw ko.

Hindi makapaniwalang tumingin sa akin si kuya Rebel. "Did you just disrespect me?"

I looked at him flatly. "I did so shut the fuck up." I cussed and my brothers immediately stood up.

"Hey, no cussing allowed!"

They all said in unison.

"Fuck, where did she learn to cuss like that?" Kuya Slate asked himself.

"Maybe she got that from that Matix!" Sigaw naman ni kuya Midnight.

Napailing-iling nalang ako at nagpatuloy sa ginagawa. When I watch the cctv footage from the sixth time, I realized something.

Dahil hindi matahimik ang utak ko, I will hack Matix's computer address to enter his system and see his deleted files. Baka nandoon ang deleted footages kung sakaling siya nga ang nagdelete nun.

Agad kong tinipa ang computer address ng laptop ni Matix. Good thing I had it memorized. I used different hidden and silent viruses to enter his sytem. Knowing Matix, his laptop will alarm if it detects an unknown address entering his laptop's system.

I pressed enter and agad akong nagkaroon ng access sa laptop niya. I opened the files applications and clicked random files. Agad naman akong napangiwi nang makakita ng porn sa laptop niya.

Agad na nagkomento ang OA kong kapatid na si Midnight. "Holy—why tha fuck are you watching porn?!"

"Twilight is watching porn?"

"Did she learn that from Matix?"

The other two asked.

I tuned them out at pinindot ang isa pang file na nakakuha ng atensyon ko. It has a title, "Her."

Agad na kumabog ang dibdib ko. My heart was racing so fast that it's like it's about to pop out due to nervousness.

The file contains several images and I clicked them all.

I stilled when the first image came out. It was me and Matix at seven years old. Nakaakbay si Matix sa akin habang ako naman ay bala sa pagkain ng ice cream.

I clicked next and a new image came out. This time, Matix and I were at the Matrix Laboratory, playing with a robot, isa sa mga inventions ng ama ni Matix.

So he do remembers...alam kaya niya ngayon na ako ang nasa picture?

"Are you fucking crying?" Kuya Rebel suddenly asked.

Agad kong inexit ang file na iyon at pinunasan ang luha ko na hindi ko namalayan na tumutulo na pala. I didn't even know why I'm crying.

Maybe because Matix is really special to me. I grew up with Matix being my only friend and I had to leave him to live a life I never wanted.

All because of my manipulative father...

"Fuck. Let's kill Matix. He fucking made Twilight cry." Kuya Midnight cuss.

Suminghot ako. "Shut up." Mataray kong sambit at ipinagpatuloy ang ginagawa.

I came across a file that says AQJQEQ.

I smiled softly. That sly boy..

AQJQEQ means DELETE. Sa keyboard, two letters before D is A. Two letters before E naman is Q and the rest is also the same.

Paano ko nalaman? I taught that code to Matix myself. When we were ten years old, nahiligan ko ang codes at tinuruan ko siya ng ilan sa mga codes na alam ko. Isa ito sa tinuro ko.

Agad kong pinindot iyon and smiled when a video was there that says, "Third floor cctv footage."

"Bingo." I uttered.

Niretrieveko muna ang cctv footage bago umalis at dinelete ang computer address ko sa laptop system ni Matix.

When I played the video, it was Chaos, Friday and Effie entering our office.

"Is that the cctv video?" Rebel asked.

Tumango ako at pinakita sa kanila ang video.

When we entered the office, doon natapos ang footage. Then I realized something, so when we entered the office before classes, nandito sila sa office at nagtatago?! Then they heard our conversation? Oh gosh...

"We need to install hidden cameras here in the office next time. Mahirap kung wala." Slate suggested and we all agreed.

"Let's visit Chaos and his team. We need to get what's ours." Ani kuya Midnight.

Halos takbuhin namin ang kwarto kung saan nagsstay ang grupo ni Chaos. It's almost 7 pm. Two hours before the curfew sa dorm namin.

I'm sure nandoon pa sila at binabasa ang file na tinago ko.

Damn, that file contains our connection to Mr. Albert and some pictures of the people we were suspecting as X.

Other than that, nandoon ang picture na kinuha ko kay Matix when I was deep undercover. I happened to pass by on that restuarant and saw Matix by himself so I took the chance and took a picture of him. Kung makita niya iyon, di ko na alam gagawin ko.

As soon as we entered, team Chaos stilled while they were holding the pictures, the letter and the documents.

I sighed in relief. Good thing hindi nila binasa iyon. Mabuti nalang ay hindi nila nakita yon. Mukhang hindi nila nilabas iyon sa envelope.

"You took something from us. We need it back." Seryosong sambit ni kuya Rebel.

Si Chaos naman ay tumingin kay Friday. "Let's give it back. We gt what we need anyway."

My heart pounded in nervousness. My nalaman ba sila?

"What did you found?" Slate asked anxiously.

"We found out that you're X." Deretsahang sagot ni Chaos.

Ahh yun lang pala—wait, what?

"What did you say?" Naguguluhang tanong ni kuya Midnight.

"You heard me. I said you're X." Ulit ni Chaos.

We were all silent. Di namin alam kung ano ang isasagot. Do we tell the truth?

Kapagkuwan ay nagsalita si Matix. "Twilight..."

My heart pounded. "W-What?" I asked.

Matix stared at me for seconds until he shook his head. "Nothing." Anito.

"Stop the act, guys. Alam naming kayo si X." Saad naman ni Effie.

But if we tell the truth, we'll be risking the secret we've been keeping for years.

Kuya Midnight spoke, "you have the wrong idea." Anito.

Chaos snorted. "Yeah, right. Nahuli na namin kayo. You're X."

"Stop it, Chaos. We told you, we're not X." Inis na sambit ni kuya Rebel.

"Then prove it." Chaos crossed his arms. Friday was silent as she study our expressions.

Nagkatitigan kami ng mga kapatid ko. "Do we tell them?" I whispered enough for them to hear.

Kuya Midnight shrugged. "Guess we had no choice. We need their help."

Tumango ako at sabay naming pinakita ang tattoo sa likod ng forearm namin, malapit sa kamay.

A tattoo that is designed with a small logo of a hat of a detective symbolizing the organization we're in.

Finally, Friday spoke, "ano yan?" Tanong nito.

"It's a tattoo that means you're a member of the organization for detectives." Sagot ko.

And Chaos, Friday, Effie and Matix just went silent.