♡ Author's POV ♡
Who would thought that everything would end up like this? It never happened before, right? Pero bakit ngayon nangyayari ang lahat ng 'to? What did they do to encounter something horrible like this? Is it because of Dean Carson's absence or is it because they can't handle the situation anymore?
Many questions were left hanging in their minds habang nag-iisip ng paraan kung paano nila aayusin ang susunod na problema. A never ending problems. It's normal to encounter it, but is it really normal to make things more complicated? To be honest, everything is really hard to explain. Everything is falling down and reaching the end. A dead end.
Roxanne, Clyde and the main members Vipers including Bliss Syden decided to have their meeting in the staff room which they find more comfortable than the bloody room. Masyado kasing tago ang kwartong 'yon and they want everything to be kept secretly dahil sa binabalak nila. No one must find out about their plan.
Lahat sila nakaupo sa isang pabilog na lamesa habang nakatayo naman si Clyde sa harapan nila at nakaupo sa kanan nito si Roxanne just like the others. But he couldn't start since there were two missing people hanggang sa dumating ang mga ito. Pagpasok nina Syden at Dave sa kwartong 'yon, napansin nila na maliit lang ang kwarto kumpara sa bloody room at agad din namang isinara ni Dave ang pintuan. This was the first time na ginamit nila ang lugar na 'to for important matters. Well, they can use whatever place they want because they are the Blood Rebels' group.
Seryoso ang itsura nilang dalawa at tinignan nila lahat ng kasama nila, "Is everything alright?" seryosong tanong ni Clyde kaya napatingin sila sa kanya. Tumango si Syden at nagkatinginan silang dalawa ni Dave bago sila umupo sa kaliwang banda ni Clyde.
"I think you already know kung bakit nandito tayong lahat. This is the most efficient way to execute our plan." saad ni Clyde na ipinagtaka ni Oliver, "So may plano na?" he asked.
"We already have a plan since we already have a conclusion."
"And what's the conclusion?"
Tinignan ni Clyde sina Dustin at Dave na halatang nagkausap na tungkol sa plano. Of course, the acting leader, the right hand and the loyal one have already talked about it. With that, Oliver seemed to be so interested about it. He never showed too much interest before.
"The enemy doesn't plan to attack us all at once because they know na hindi nila tayo kayang pagsabay-sabayin." pahayag ni Dave. Nakakibit-balikat ito at medyo nakayuko na halatang malalim ang iniisip.
"I had to think about it many times. Kung paano nila pinili ang mga bibiktimahin nila sa grupo natin." dagdag pa ni Dustin. All of them appeared to be so serious.
"Did they choose to attack the weaker ones?" tanong ni Stephen na ikinailing ni Dustin. Of course he would know the answer dahil sa kanilang lahat, siya ang pinakamagaling sa obserbasyon aside from their leader. His calculations are deeply unreachable.
"There would be no chances for them to find out who are the weaker or stronger. It's already given that all of us are strong. When I checked the rooms of our members who were killed, I just found out that they would start executing their plan once they find out whose room contains the weakest barrier."
"So do you mean, it depends on the door?" tanong ni Caleb kaya napangiti ng masama si Dustin, "Exactly."
"Our rooms have same doors but the difference comes on the lock of the doors...the door knob I mean. They will immediately test all of it silently kung anong kwarto ang pwede nilang buksan ng mabilis and that's the time they will finally have their victim. So we can't say which of us would be their next target unless we're going to test each of our doors para malaman natin kung kaninong kwarto ang papasukin nila but that's impossible to do because they will know that we already know how their plan works and it's not that easy to check whose door contains a weaker lock."
"That's why, instead of defending ourselves...we're going to utilize their plan for our plan to work." saad ni Dustin.
"We'll make their plan work?" tanong naman ni Oliver.
Hinawakan ng dalawang kamay ni Clyde ang lamesa at bahagyang yumuko. Hininaan nito ang boses niya ngunit sapat na upang marinig ng lahat, "We'll let them do as they want. We'll play along with their plan. This time, we're setting the trap. Once their plan works, it will eventually trap not everyone but one of them enough for that unlucky someone to speak once we catch him." and with that, napangiti ng masama si Clyde.
"What if hindi siya magsalita?" tanong ni Caleb, "We'll do everything to make him speak, even if it means doing the torture thing." singit naman ni Roxanne. Obviously, she doesn't feel well dahil nawalan siya ng members. She's the leader yet she wasn't able to do anything for her members. They don't want to torture someone again but if it's the only way, they will have no choice.
"So, what we're gonna do? How would the operation work?" -Caleb
"For the rooms of Redblades and Phantoms who were attacked, they had to use substitute keys in order to unlock the doors secretly in a faster way." -Dustin
"As you've mentioned about keys. May alam pa ba kayong iba na pwedeng may hawak ng substitute keys bukod sa mga owners ng bawat rooms?" -Stephen
"Council officers?" sagot ni Syden kaya napatingin sila sa kanya.
"That's what we thought too but I think they are not the one behind this. Earlier when I checked the door knob of the victims' rooms, the lock of the doors were completely destroyed because they might have used paperclips, bobby pins and many more to unlock it. If the council was the one behind this, for sure hindi na nila papahirapan ang sarili nila and they would directly use keys to open the doors and the locks would not be destroyed totally." -Dustin
"It's okay if we don't know the enemy yet, but we're going to find out soon. Kahit pa anong klasing pagtatago ang gawin nila, they could never hide from us." payahag ni Clyde sa kanila. This time, he seemed too calm. He felt the pressure pushing him to the limit but for him, staying calm is the best way than to let his hot-headed mind bursts out.
"We found this malapit sa pintuan ng kwarto nila." itinaas ni Dustin ang kamay niya kaya nakita nila ang tatlong hawak nito. One straightened paperclip, one bobby pin and one philip's head screwdriver.
"Obviously, this were all used trying to unlock the doors quietly but none of this work kaya basta-basta na lang nilang iniwan without even thinking that we would notice it. These things did not work easily kaya gumamit pa sila ng ibang paraan para mabuksan ng mabilis ang pintuan. What do you think did they use?"
"Drill?" saad ni Caleb na tila wala sa sarili at patuloy pa rin sa pag-iisip kaya napatingin ang lahat sa kanya na ipinagtaka naman niya. Without a second, natawa na lang lahat ng kasama nito.
"Of course, drill can also be used but that's too noisy enough for us to notice them bro. Bago pa man sila makapasok sa mga kwarto natin, naunahan na natin sila." pahayag ni Dave habang natatawa din ang iba at napapailing. Si Roxanne, napahilamos ng mukha.
"I think you should rest, Caleb. We're talking about how they got in easily and secretly. Drill is too noisy and easily recognized man." pagtataray naman ni Roxanne sa kanya.
"So back to the topic guys. They couldn't get through the door knob, that's why they had to aim for the volt...to the lock itself. We all have that thing I guess and we used it once when we had no choice." then slowly, unti-unti na ring nalilinawan ang iba tungkol sa sinasabi ni Dustin.
"Credit card?" tanong ni Stephen kaya't mas napangiti pa si Dustin, "Exactly. They tried to use paperclip, bobby pins and screwdrivers but it was too risky...slight sounds could be made kung gagamitin nila ang mga 'yon that's why they had to use a credit card. They aimed for the lock itself. You enter the credit card, aim for the lock, bend it and click. Just one click and everything is settled...quickly and secretly. That's what they did." ipinatong nito ang mga hawak niya sa lamesa at itinaas naman ang kabilang kamay niya na may hawak na credit card. It was a black credit card.
"Masyado silang nagmamadali thinking that we might catch them until one of them didn't notice that this fell off the ground. I found it inside the room of one of the victims." dagdag pa niya.
"Then we can use that to find them." pagsasalita ni Syden kaya napatingin sa kanya ang lahat na ikinaseryoso naman ng mukha ni Dustin, "You're right, but we can't." sagot nito na ipinagtaka ng lahat.
"Why? If that's a card, there must be an information about the owner, right? It could lead us directly to the source." dagdag pa nito.
"This card only contains one thing and we should not play safe about it." they started to feel uncomfortable dahil sa seryosong itsura ni Dustin, "What do you mean?" tanong ni Syden.
Isa-isa silang tinignan ni Dustin at napayuko na lang ito. Nagbuntong-hininga siya at nagsalita, "I've never heard it before..." ipinatong niya ang hawak niyang card sa lamesa habang nakatingin pa rin doon, "Dark eagle society." when everybody heard it, they had no reaction. A complete dead air for a moment. They were thinking but it wasn't familiar nor did they have any information about it except for one person.
"Savannah Burleson and Fortune Beatrice Rosenheim." wala sa sariling nabanggit ni Syden ang mga 'yon kaya napunta nanaman sa kanya ang atensyon ng lahat kaya napatingin siya sa kanila.
"The officers mentioned that society once." sagot nito sa kanila.
"Then...does it mean na kasabwat ang council dito?" tanong ni Caleb kaya nagkatinginan silang lahat, "But I think that's impossible." saad ni Dustin na muling napaisip.
"What makes you think that it's impossible? Hindi naman malayo na tirahin nila ang grupo. When it comes to power, we're almost the same." pahayag ni Clyde.
"I agree with Clyde. Don't you think it was really a coincidence na kung kailan wala si Dean doon nila tayo aatakihin? No doubt na may kinalaman rin ang council kung bakit hindi pa nakakabalik si Dean at Julez when they were the one who gave permission to our leader para umalis and save Julez, right?" dagdag pa ni Roxanne.
"Then what is with that society?" nalilitong tanong ni Stephen. Obviously, no one knows why. Syden might be familiar of the society's name but she doesn't even have little informations about it. If the council had to do about it, then what?
"That was the first time I heard it." -Roxanne
"There's nothing much to prove unless we do the plan perfectly." sambit ni Dustin, "For now, it's not important kung sino nga ba talaga ang kumakalaban sa atin because soon, we'll definitely find out. Just stick to the plan." seryosong saad nito at isa-isa silang tinignan.
"So can you tell me exactly what is the plan?" tanong ni Caleb kaya sumandal si Dustin sa kinauupuan niya. Kinuha nito ang black card na ipinatong niya sa lamesa at maiging tinignan 'yon bago nagsalita, "I'm telling you that no one will be attacked tonight. Sigurado akong alam na nila na may pinaplano tayo that's why they will try to attack tomorrow night or maybe the night after tomorrow...anytime but not tonight. That's why we must always be on guard. They will use everything to enter our rooms secretly. That's what we're going to set a trap. We have to make sure that the doors of our rooms will be hard to unlock from the outside using anything unless one thing." maigi nitong tinignan ang lahat na seryoso namang nakikinig sa kanya, "They will use paperclips, pins, screwdrivers and credit card but we'll make it hard for them to enter. If they don't have anything to enter secretly, we'll make it obvious to them that they are already trap and if you know that you are already trapped. What would you feel?" tanong nito sa kanila.
"Scared? Nervous?" -Caleb
"Panick?" -Stephen.
"Absolutely. Once they feel that, there is only one thing to escape...to invade one's room all of a sudden. There's only one thing to enter not secretly but in a faster way. You guess Dave." pahayag nito na ngumiti ng masama kay Dave.
"Newton's third law." sagot naman ni Dave dito kaya masama silang ngumiti sa isa't isa. Different devils with same perspective.
"What?" naguguluhang tanong naman ni Caleb. Obviously, both Stephen and Caleb don't have an idea about it kaya si Roxanne na ang sumagot.
"For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. If they already know that they are trapped, they have no choice but to use their feet to destroy the door and enter." -Roxanne
"What's good about that is that when they enter the f*ckin room..." at mas lumapad pa ang masamang ngiti nito, "There will be no one inside. In short, all of us will be waiting for them outside. They will have no choice but to speak or else, they will not be able to go out of that room alive." napatango silang lahat at nagkatinginan. Even without having a very very long explanation, they clearly got it. The plan must be executed perfectly but both Syden and Dave's mind couldn't be in peace.
Nagkatinginan silang dalawa and even without saying a single word, sa tingin pa lang nagkaintindihan na sila. They felt so worried because the plan might not be executed perfectly at may mapahamak.
If the plan doesn't work, then it only means that one of the people inside that room listening to the plan, is the traitor present in the group. Saad ng dalawa sa isip nila.
Syden...
Dave...
Roxane....
Clyde...
Dustin...
Oliver...
Stephen...
Caleb...
It's impossible that one of them is the traitor, but if it's impossible then it can also be possible.
To be continued...