Chapter 2: How will we find the destination?

Estelle

"Flora and fauna, endangered species, wild animals and active volcano means an exciting natural adventure coming!"

Honestly, I am balancing my thoughts. I don't know what to do already. I can't lend this to the association because I can really feel that something is off. I want to risk but I don't want too at the same time.

I get back into the present when I feel a cramp on my left leg. My jaw tightened because of the irritation. I stop in a certain area to cure this cramp. While massaging my legs I scan the area.

This place is strange. It's very unusual from what I believed. There is no single bird in tree, there are flora but no fauna and the weirdest thing is the air doesn't seem fresh as I expected.

The pain is finally gone. I stand and started to wander again. I am few meters away from Oliver but my vision is clear that he is frowning. I know that he feels the weirdness too. I myself is not an expert when it comes to technology but I feel that there is something that makes the atmosphere or the place itself weird.

I walk as fast as I could so that I can catch up to them. I am looking at the ground when I bump a body same built as mine. Thankfully, we share the same built or else I will find myself in the ground or vice versa.

"Watch where you're going, Estelle. Ouch! My likod hurts," maarteng sabi ni Heartle while putting her bag down and massages her back.

I just sigh and there I realized they stopped already. I glanced at the area in front of us. It is a long solid iron. I slowly walk nearer to it and I stared at it for a minute or so. I suddenly hear a footsteps approaching my direction.

I glance at them and I saw Oliver moving towards the gate by himself. He ducks and touch something on the surface. He stand after some seconds while holding an envelope.

I move towards him with a frown in my face. The two, Heartle and Loris, followed me. We formed a circle as Oliver opened the envelope. It's actually not just a basic envelope that you will find in the city. It's actually made by a thick paper. It's a lot thinker than oslo paper but the color is crimson with a black lining as the outline.

"Underground Academy, the school of conundrum thrill," I said. It is what you can read on the first part.

We exchange glances at each other. I glance at the trees. I start to step away from them. I turn my head because I heard some footsteps approaching me. It is from Oliver, the weirdo.

"We are very pleased to welcome you here in Underground Academy. But a tip, if you want to get in, make sure you can get out. We, the Underground Academy staffs, don't accept losers because losers has no room here in our kingdom. Good day. Sincerely yours, UA Staffs," he mumbled while approaching me.

I chuckled, a sarcastic one.

"What's with the chuckle, Stellar or should I say Sarcastic?" Oliver said.

I roll my eyes. He's at it again, making names which is far from our original names. What a weirdo.

"Loris, can we punta na there?" I heard Heartle saying.

Oliver and I directly turn our bodies. Loris is staring at the iron gate while Heartle looks like his child begging for some chocolates. I sigh. Why are we here again?

"Heartle, seriously, I don't know. This is really a conundrum thrill. It's confusing me from head to toe, " Loris said while having his formal hand gestures.

"But Loris, that is bakit we are here right?"

Loris glances at Heartle and he smirks. "Okay, if you can speak in straight Tagalog."

Heartle pouts her lips. Seeing Heartle like this makes me think she's not a heartless person. She actually is but it depends on the situation. Heartle is a bipolar kind of person. Her attitude and personality depends on her mood. It's a thing that I am nervous about.

"Honestly, I badly want to go in—" Oliver said.

I glance at him and discover that he is looking at the tall iron gate. I frown. "But you have reasons that is stopping you from doing so."

"Cut off, stop cutting me off." He glance at me and glance at the gate back again. "I have many reasons to go and reasons to stop myself from entering."

"Like what, family?"

"Partly but what is stopping me is the unusualness of everything. It started with the security system of the mission, the combination, the way everything takes place seems like manipulated."

I feel that too. But if that is stopping him, curiosity must be the one that's pushing him because every person always makes a decision out of curiosity, either intentionally or accidentally, to know what's the mystery behind in every possible thing.

"Ti, ti, la, la, so, la, ti, do. Are you familiar with this?" he asked.

The way he said it was like a tune. The three Ti has the same key. The three La has the same key as well but lower than Ti. The So has a lower key than the La. The last is the Do which corresponds to the highest key among the rest, if I haven't misheard.

"Hey! What did I just narinig!?" Heartle shouts.

Oliver left me in the area and approaches Loris. Heartle, on the otherhhand, is approaching me with a sly yet angelic smile. I mentally roll my eyes. Lately, she is mad at me for bumping her body yet she is here at my front—smiling to persuade me.

"Estelle," she said.

I nodded as response.

"When are we going to punta sa loob? Sorry for being atat but the sun is setting na kasi, " she said while glancing at the orange skies.

I sighed. "You want to go in, for real?"

"Yup,"—she looks at the iron gate—"there is something sa gate na yan that pulls me. I don't know ano but I feel na siya will be the one to complete us or maybe myself." She shrugs her shoulder after.

"You are willing to risk then?" I glance at her.

Natahimik siya. Huminga siya ng malalim saka tiningnan ako, mata sa mata. "Honestly, wait, ikaw lang ang te-tell-an ko ha, kinakabahan kasi ako." She scans the area. "Alam ko naman na delicate siya because from the looks of the gate I know there's something inside that is overly protected." She clears her throat. "What the problem is, is also the cure. If curiosity is my problem then that's the cure. If I'll be in grave danger, so what? That's my fate, accept it or not it'll happen eventually."

She is right. The only way to my curiosity problem is curiosity feeding. Should I risk myself for this curiosity? This place is weird but how much weirder could it be inside? What does Heartle mean by something pulling her?

"Loris, a minute. Can I?" I said.

Loris directly glance and approaches me. His eyebrows are raised. He hums as he make his way.

"Do you want to go in?"

He smile. "Depends. If I am your big boss then I suggest that we should go with the flow. We are far from home and alone. We just have to stick together and be with each other all the way through."

I nod my head. His face grim this time.

"As your friend, I must think of you first. I can't just say yes or no. I know that if we will let this curiosity eats us, we will be in grave danger. I can feel it. If I say no, I don't want to see disappointment in your faces because I know we want to go in and nourish our curiosity. What are spies are for?" he said before giving me a last glance and walk away.

What are spies are for? Of course, spies are for spying. A place like this is a spy's heaven.

End Of Chapter 2

I know this is a boring chapter. Please bear with the boring character, Estelle Clemence.

Other works:

KEEPING THE KEEPER

LOVING MY LOVER

TAKE A ONE-SHOT

Dedicated to heyitsmeerikamae & d9cksucker