"Angel..."

Nakaramdam ako ng malamig na simoy ng hangin na dumampi sa aking pisngi. I slowly opened my eyes and found myself lying at the center of a dimly-lit room.

Isang pamilyar na boses ang aking naririnig. Paulit-ulit nitong tinatawag ang aking pangalan at habang tumatagal ay palakas ito nang palakas na tila hinahanap ako ng taong nagmamay-ari ng boses na iyon at anumang oras ay malapit na niya akong matagpuan.

The voice was calm but it didn't made me feel safe at all. Nanindig ang mga balahibo ko dahil unti-unti kong nakikilala ang may-ari ng boses.

It was my mother's voice...

The voice sounded like my mom when she's still alive. A voice that I really missed for a very long time. A voice that I didn't expect to hear once again.

Specially not this way.

Kung sinuman ang pinagmumulan ng boses na iyon, it's probably the wraith that Margot had told me before. Oras na mahuli nila ako, siguradong hindi na ako makakawala sa kanila.

My soul would be harvested in exchange with an older one.

Dahan-dahan akong tumayo, sinusubukan ang lahat ng aking makakaya na wag gumawa ng anumang klase ng ingay.

I looked around me once again and I finally deduced where I am. Nasa basement pa rin ako ng mansiyon nina Lara and there's a lot of empty pedestal surrounding me.

Hindi ko lang maaninag ang lahat ng iyon dahil sa dilim ng paligid. My eyes could only adjust to darkness as  how much of this room I had seen before. At dahil hindi gano'n kaliwanag nang dalhin ako rito nina Greta, I wasn't really sure where I'm exactly standing right now.

And that's when the voice sounded nearer than before.

"Angel?" It was getting louder too.

Hanggang sa makarinig ako ng tunog mula sa di-kalayuan. Someone is opening a door and once it did open, there's a little gleam of light passing through the seam underneath it.

I immediately hide behind one of the pedestal. Hindi ko iniiwas ang tingin ko sa nilalang na pumasok sa loob ng basement. It looked like my mother, and it looked so calm at the moment.

Hinahanap ako ng wraith na nagpapanggap na ina ko. The thing that I've noticed about it is how its eyes are colored white. Siguro ay hindi ito nakakakita at dumidipende lang sa kanilang pandinig.

"Angel..." it started walking slowly.

Unti-unti siyang naglalakad papalapit sa direksiyon ko pero gano'n din ang effort ko na gumapang palayo sa kaniya. I silently crawled my way a few pedestals more from it.

Hanggang sa tuluyan ako nitong malagpasan at patuloy lang ang paglingon nito sa paligid habang sinusubukan akong matagpuan. I saw how its ear twitches, it depended to its sense of hearing.

Tama nga ang hula ko sa bagay na iyon. Having to clarify its weakness, I'm just going to make sure that I will escape this place as silent as possible.

But how will I do that? In a situation just like this, time is always the thing that binds me. Kapag hindi ako nakaalis rito sa lalo't madaling panahon, ang katawan ko pati na rin ang katawan ni Monalisa ang malalagay sa peligro.

This is a matter of life and death situation. It's not just me whose in danger right now. And no one knows what the odds of keeping ourselves alive both in the physical world and the metaphysical world of Wichita.

Silently, I tried peeking to see where the wraith is going on. Gaya kanina ay patuloy pa rin ito sa paglalakad ilang metro ang layo sa pinagtataguan ko.

I estimated the distance between me and the door. Masyado itong malayo kung dahan-dahan akong gagapang.

That's why I started standing up. At nang makatayo ako ay saka ako maingat na naglakad patungo sa nakabukas na pintuan.

Sa bawat hakbang ko ay lumilingon ako sa direksiyon ng halimaw sa aking likuran. It was certain that I'm in this room yet it doesn't know where to find me exactly.

I'm glad that this metaphysical world have its own flaws.

Few steps more, and another glance on my back, I am moving synchronised to the movements of the wraith.

Para kaming nagsasayaw ng isang waltz, ngunit ang pinagkaiba ay buhay ang nakasalalay sa bawat galaw. It wants me, but I don't want to be found.

Ilang hakbang pa ulit ang aking nagawa. Bawat hakbang ay katumbas ng mahina at kontroladong paghinga, sapat para hindi ako kapusin nito. Sinumang may sakit sa puso ay tiyak na aatakihin oras na maranasan nila ang tensiyon na nararamdaman ko.

This is just a complete torture.

Mas lalo akong nakaramdam ng galit at inis nang mapagtanto kong ilang mga journalist na ang nahulog sa ganitong patibong. I couldn't imagine how fearful they are when a creature like this is following them.

They would be so afraid that screaming could only be the only choice they have as they run without proper directions to escape from this nightmare.

Fortunately, Margot has told me the way to escape this world. But before that, I have to find Monalisa. She's the only way for us to get out of here safely.

Ang daming tumatakbo sa isipan ko dahil sa kaba. Pinipilit kong alisin ang takot na nararamdaman ko kahit na alam kong imposible na mangyari iyon. Despite how much I want to deny it, I am really scared of this creature.

The way it moves, the way it wanders around this room, it's like something that completely came out from a survival horror themed game. A monster who would surely incapacitate you once it get you.

Hanggang sa mapagtanto kong malapit na ako sa pintuan. Pinilit kong huwag huminga nang bahagya akong tumiyad papunta sa nakabukas na pintuan.

Bago ko hawakan ang seradura ng pinto ay sandali muna akong lumingon sa direksiyon ng wraith. But to my surprise, it was no longer there, nabalot ng kadiliman ang buong basement lalo na at nahaharangan ko ang liwanag na nangagaling sa labas ng pinto.

"Shit," I cursed under my breath as I tried searching for the wraith's whereabouts.

That's when I fully regret my overstay as I heard my mother's voice calling for my name, nearer than the first calls it had done.

Hanggang sa bigla na lang may sunod-sunod na yabag akong narinig na patungo sa direksiyon ko. Mabilis at padabog itong tumakbo papunta sa akin kaya't agad kong isinara ang pintuan at umakyat ng hagdan palayo sa basement.

As I come upstairs, I've seen nothing unusual but the absence of furniture in this house. That has made my way easier as I ran fast.

Dire-diretso at walang lingon-likod akong tumakbo palayo sa basement hanggang sa marinig ko ang malakas na pagkasira ng pintuan nito.

"Shit, shit, shit..." I couldn't stop myself from cursing.

Tensiyonado na ako at hindi ko malaman kung ano ang dapat kong gawin. I don't know the way out of this mansion, kaya't kung saan-saan ako napadpad.

I turned another hallway when I've reach another one and as soon as I turned another left when I reached the end of the first hallway, I felt myself at lost.

May dalawang pasilyo kasing nag-aabang sa akin sa dulo ng hallway kung saan ako lumiko at hindi ko malaman ang gagawin kung saan ako pupunta.

Worse is, both of the options that I have is not helping me. Wala akong makitang ilaw sa magkabilang direksiyon. It was dark on both sides.

But the sound of the wraith has pushed me to go on my limits. Dali-dali akong tumakbo hanggang sa dulo ng pasilyo at agad na lumiko sa kanang direksiyon.

That way has lead me to another set of stairs leading me up to the second floor.

And as soon as I set foot on its floor, the wraith's voice went louder than before. It sounded as if my mom is shouting my name with fury.

Unfortunately, the way where I chose to go doesn't have lights to use as my guide. I couldn't see anything but darkness.

Ngunit hindi ako huminto sa pagtakbo. I continued running and accidentally collided to a wall, leaving me nothing but a painful bruise.

Habang hawak ko ang bahagi ng ulo ko na tumama sa pader matapos kong mauntog dulot ng aking pagmamadali ay agad akong lumingon sa aking likuran.

The silhouette of the wraith is clearly visible from my location. It was there, on the opposite end of the hall, trying to sense where to look for me.

"Angel..." bulong nito.

Still holding on to my head, I eased my way away from the wraith's direction.

On the contrary, the wraith is moving onwards, and it looked like nothing could stop it from finding me.

When it's almost a few meters away from me, I almost finally gave up everything when a pair of hands pulled me up and covered my mouth.

"Shhh," isang boses ng babae ang aking narinig.

I looked behind to see who the girl is despite the sheer darkness of our location. But due to the lime light coming from the end of the hallway, I could see a vague familiarity on her facial features.

That's when I silently whispered, "Monalisa?"