Stalker 2

Before Lyrica could throw a punch and had the stalker's nose running with blood, the stalker himself fell on his butt in surprise.

"How pathetic, falling to the ground on your own... So why are you following us? And who are... hm?"

Lyrica had her guard up as she asked the stalker about his motive as well as his identity. But as the stalker reveals his familiar face to the girl, her fist begins to relax.

"You..."

"It's kuya Robert!"

Before anything else, Lyrica's eyes carefully pan around the street. The feeling of someone stalking her and Rona ever since they start going around town has now disappeared.

Lyrica refused to believe that the feeling she's getting isn't coming from a kid at first. But now that it's gone right as they caught Robert tailing them, her doubts have disappeared.

"Kuya Robert, what are you doing here?" Asked Rona in confusion. "The house is far from here. Aren't you supposed to be playing sungka with kuya Nilo?"

"Sorry..." Robert replied. "... I just wanted to go out, too."

Rona's cheeks puffed up as she gets angry at her older brother and his response.

"You. You wouldn't let me play sungka with you and kuya Nilo, but when I want to play outside, you'd follow me whether I like it or not! You're the worst, big brother!"

"Well, well..." Lyrica steps in between the siblings. "Don't you want to have fun with your big brother? He's here with us, now you two can have fun together!"

"Well... i-it's not like I'm against it at all," Rona responded while making a pouty face.

As the little girl continues to speak in the background, Lyrica squints down at Robert who's sitting on the floor, avoiding eye contact from Lyrica.

Robert is following after them not because he wants to go out and have fun walking around town with Rona. Yes, he lied. And Lyrica knows that. To tell the truth, Lyrica also knows why he's following them.

'At first, I thought it was just some wild curiosity. Or perhaps an overwhelming admiration, so I decided to just ignore it. But...'

From the time he suddenly opens the door to Riko's room, to her and Rona leaving the house to go for a walk. Robert would steal a glance at Lyrica, with every little chance that he can get.

'No way someone, even a kid, would decide to stalk a person just because they are curious or admire that person.' Said Lyrica to herself. 'There has to be another reason.'

With that being said, Lyrica told Robert, "Sorry, boy. I'm not interested in someone younger than me."

"Huh?"

It's the one reason she could think of other than it being just a kid's wild curiosity and overwhelming admiration. And if that truly is the case, Lyrica thought it's only reasonable to make Robert forget about it right then. After all, there is nothing for him to gain by harboring that feeling for long.

"It's not like I'm interested in you or anything... I think."

"Yeah, right... Huh?!"

Robert's response is not what Lyrica had in mind. But what other reason could urge him to try and stalk Lyrica other than being interested in her? Lyrica could not come up with anything else.

"Why did you save kuya Riko and the others?" Robert asked Lyrica out of the two, leaving her frozen.

"Eh, kuya Robert?"

"Why, you ask...?"

She looks at Robert with her eyes trembling uncontrollably. Right then, for some unknown reason, Lyrica recalls the moment when she saved the old man from being hit by a jeepney, as well as the time when she came to the scene to save Riko right before the Guardian Snake attacks him.

"... Well, I happen to be in the forest when they foolishly confront the Guardian Snake. Thought I had to go and help, so I did," Lyrica answered awkwardly as she averts her gaze from Robert.

As a brief silence ran across the street, Robert uttered, "You're here."

"Uh... yeah? I'm here."

Robert grabs Rona's hand out of the blue and tells Lyrica and his younger sister, "Let's go home."

Right then, he drags Rona forward, leaving behind Lyrica who stood still in the same spot.

As the distance between Lyrica and the two siblings widens by the second, the girl ponders about the words that came out of Robert's mouth.

"You're here."

When Lyrica heard Robert say that, she felt as if the kid is telling her something else other than just her being there.

'But what could it be?' She wondered.

"Hey, Ate Lyrica!"

"Are you coming or not?"

Lyrica returns to her senses as the voice of Rona and Robert, whose seemingly timid demeanor suddenly took a complete 360 turn, rang through her ears. She then takes a step forward as the two siblings continue walking.

"Wait for me!"

Following the same path they took after trying to confront the stalker who turned out to be Robert, the three revisits the town square.

'This is troublesome. I got so many things in my head, I can't think properly.' She thought to herself whilst following Robert and Rona's backs. 'I need to relax and think things through one at a time. Relax, relax...!'

Thump!

"Ate Lyrica? What's wrong?"

"You look like you've seen a ghost."

Just when she's trying to put her thoughts at the back of her head, Lyrica had once again felt the feeling of someone stalking them from somewhere in the town square.

'So that feeling did not come from Robert? What's going on here? What do they want?'

Lyrica pans her view around the town square, looking for a person who's acting suspiciously. But to her dismay, it was hard to find anyone in the middle of the crowded area.

"Hey, we need to move. Lola and Ate Nela must be looking for us right now. Or just me actually."

"Ate Lyrica? Ate Lyrica?"

Lyrica felt a bit relieved that they are in the crowded area. No way they'll make a move and cause a scene in the middle of the town square. However, on the flip side, the three of them need to move.

'I can't let us stay here forever, but I can't let Rona and Robert go on their own either.'

Lyrica also doesn't want whoever is watching her from somewhere to follow them back home.

'How troublesome!'

Lyrica proceeds to push Rona and Robert forward.

"Let's move, quick. Let's get you two home."

"Hey, careful!"

For now, she decided to take Robert and Rona home with her. This way, even if they try to follow them to Rona and Robert's residence, she at least knows that they are safe.

Taking the fastest route home, Lyrica and the two siblings soon reaches the street where their residence is situated. However, the instant they reached the street, the feeling Lyrica felt on the town square quickly disappeared, leaving Lyrica in shambles.

'What's going on here? I can't keep up at all. Can I get a break, please?'

"Hey! You guys sure explored the town, huh?"

Nela's voice as she shouts from afar prompted Lyrica to face forward. There, she can see Nela waving at them as well as the old lady standing beside her.

"Ah, Robert! Where did you go? I was looking for you!"

"Crap, ate Nela's mad."

"You followed us without telling everyone? That's dangerous, you know." Lyrica added.

"Welcome back, did you have fun?"

The old lady asked as Rona ran straight to her for a hug.

"Yes!" Rona replied ever so cheerfully. "It was fun! But kuya Robert followed us so we hid in an alleyway to catch him."

Nela smacks Robert in the head like a chopping board in the process.

"Going out without telling us... You had us worried, you know!"

"I'm sorry."

"At the very least, nothing happened to him." The old lady interjected. "He just followed Rona and Lyrica, so it's all right."

"Will you stop defending her, Lola, you just came back, too!" Nela reposted. "You should tell us when you're going out! I was worried sick, looking for you too, you know!"

"Well, well... Let's all cool down, shall we?"

Lyrica chimed in, trying to calm Nela down. Only for Nela to point her anger towards the girl.

"Are you trying to defend them, ate Lyrica?"

"That's not my..."

"Nevermind." Nela turns her back towards everyone as she faces the door. "At the very least, everyone is all right. Let's all go inside, the ulam is almost ready."

"Yey! What's the ulam today?"

"I can smell the ginataan from here. It has to be a Tilapia."

"Tilapia? Yey!"

Following her lead, everyone heads inside the house. Except for Lyrica. She then squinted behind their backs.

"I see now..."