Chapter 5: Did I fail you?

Oliver

Pumasok na kami sa mini five-star hotel, ang apartment unit namin. I am fudging anxious because this time, I need to apologize to my team. If only I have been honest, this won't happen. Kahit pa sabihin na lahat ng nagyayari ay may dahilan pero hindi ko matanggal-tanggal ang paka-guilty na namumuhay sa buong katawan ko.

Nasa living room na kami at kaharap ko ngayon si Stellar. Tahimik ang paligid at hindi mo makakaila na may sasabihin akong hindi talaga maganda. Tiningan ko muna ang mga kasama ko.

Si “Shoal” [Heartle] ay sobrang tahimik na hindi naman ito usual kasi pabebe y'un eh. Si “Stellar” [Estelle] naman ay halatang sobrang lalim ng iniisip. When I glance at “Admirer” [Loris], he is staring at me. I subconsciously swallow my saliva.

I close my eyes as I take a deep breath and then clear my throat. When I open my eyes nagkatinginan silang tatlo. I seated properly so that baka makaraos din ako sa pagkaguilty properly. I know it's inappropriate to joke in a place and ambience like this but trust me, I am just doing this to forget my nervousness. Fudge this!

"Ti ti la la so la ti do." I mumble while facing the ceiling because it's embarrassing to sing that fudging statement but I have to.

I open my eyes. I give them a gaze. Shoal and Admirer look at each other while Estelle raise her eyebrows and seated properly. Suddenly, nanliit ang mata ni Admirer. Hey, what's with that expression? It's very unusual.

"Only Estelle knew about it but by the looks of Loris, I know this is kind of familiar to him." They look at each other. "It is derived from do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti, do. Familiar to you, am I right?"

They nod in unison. Oh fudge! Why did I ask that question? It's clear that they know. It has been tackled around forth grade. My brain cells are running out already, that's for sure.

"Ti ti la la so la ti do. This is derived obviously from do re mi fa so la ti do. Ti, ti, la, la, so, la, ti, do is equivalent to the numbers 77665678, according to the series. Any resemblance that you remember?" I said while looking at Stellar.

Nanlaki ang mata ni Stellar that's why I smirk. "This is the code of the vault. The vault where the map was found during the latest mission. Do you know what's fishy here?"

I eye each one of them. Shoal looks confuse, Stellar looks waiting for my next statement and Admirer is looking at me as if I am a mystery. I take a moment of silence first before clearing my throat.

I gaze at Shoal. "Heartle Cepheus is consist of 7 letters per name." Heartle's eyes narrows at me. Me,"—I pointed myself—"Oliver Yacine is consist of 6 letters each word."

"Heartle is the double ti," Stellar whispered.

"La la corresponds to Oliver," Admirer mumbled.

I point out Admirer. "You, Loris Amaury. The first name is consist of 5 letters and the last name is consist of 6 letters."

"Double ti, double la, so and la," Heartle said while nodding her head back and forth.

"Estelle Clemence, you," I said as I point Stellar out. "First name is consist of 7 letters and the last name is consist of 8 letters."

I saw a shock in everyones eyes. I stand and I walk into the glass window. "Together we are the HOLE Squad that is equivalent to 77665678, the ti ti la la so la ti do code."

"Teka lang for a minute. It's strange pero it could be a coincidence, right?" Shoal said.

I turn at the back. I smirk and sit back on my seat. "It's not." Nanlaki ang mata nina Stellar at Shoal. "Am I right, Loris?"

Sabay namin binalingan ng tingin si Loris. It's visible that he is uneasy. I bet Estelle is making some assumptions about this already. Loris stand and walk around while his hands are at his pocket.

"Yes, it's not likely a coincidence. It's far from coincidence actually. Everything happens for a reason and the reason why are we here is still unknown but"—he sit back and stare at the ceiling—"for some reasons, I think we have something that they needed—"

"Precisely not because of our body and organs. It's most likely our skills," Stellar cut him off.

"Teka lang, are they going to hire us to be an assassin or as reapers?" Heartle said as she stand. "This is owned by the underground society right?" She gazes at each one of us. "I don't think so if that's the case  because I may not be informed about the code but when we arrived at the iron gate, something is pulling me inside. It's not curiosity and I am sure about it," Shoal said.

"I am not sure about this but when I heard Mrs. Rivera saying the ti, ti, la, la, so, la, ti, do"—he glance at me—"I felt some chills though I instantly shrugged it off."

"Mrs. Rivera said it?" Stellar asked.

Admirer nod continuously. Shoal looks confuse while eyeing Stellar.

"Then, this is not a coincidence after all. This is a trap. From the forest up to the underground passageway. Bea approach us and Mrs. Rivera came into the picture," Stellar said while having her game face.

Naningkit ang mata ko. "How did you—"

"How? Simple, I know you Oliver either physically, psychologically or emotionally," she said while looking straight into my pupils. "Among the members of the group, both of us are always with each other since you are the hacker and I am the agent in action." She glance at the glass window. "We always work with each other and I learn a bit about technology as the time passes." She stares back at me. "You can never hide anything from me, Oliver."

I system became cold. That kind of stare is like looking at me all the way through my soul. I take a deep breath as I glance at each one of them. "I'm sorry."

"No, we are sorry," Stellar corrected me.

"Because?" Shoal said while raising her eyebrows.

"It's because we didn't told you that the forest, the iron gate, the passageway are all made by optical illusions and manipulating devices," Stellar replied.

Naging tahimik ang living room. Shoal's eyes got bigger and Admirer's as well. Estelle approach me and sit beside me. She bow her head and stay silent. She close her eyes while her hands and on her knee—shaking like an earthquake.

"The air isn't fresh. There is no fauna. The leaves' texture is different from the original leaves. The iron gate has no stains nor rust as if it's brand new. The passageway has too many florescent lights. The automatic closing of the underground passageway," I mumble.

"To many signs yet we chose to shrugged it off," Stellar said.

Bigla nalang kaming nakarinig ng hikbi. It was Shoal. Agad na pinuntahan ni Admirer ito. This scenario is just like a knight in a armor and a damsel in distress cliches. Stellar naman ay napatingin sa gawi ko. She shakes her head. What's up with Stellar?

"What?" I said.

She shakes her head.

"Heartle, what happened?" Admirer said.

"Why are you like this, huh?"

"Like what?"

"Like this!" She cried. "I tried na intindihin kayo but you keep me away from everything!"

"We aren't. It's just that we don't have the time to tell you. Shhh," Loris replied by tapping her back.

"Hindi, you don't! Mayroon kayong time na sabihin sa akin. Do you know what it feels to be not trusted by your kaibigan!?" she said as she stands up and started pointing us.

"Shoal este Heart—"

"Shut up, Oliver! I feel so bad right now kanina pa! Kayong tatlo you know something! Eh ako? I don't! I don't! Why don't you try to trust me!?" she said to cut me off.

"We trust—"

"Hindi! You don't pinagkakatiwalaan me! Ugh!" she said cutting Stellar off.

"We do—"

"Oh, shut up! You know"—she said while scanning the place—"I should be out of here. Gosh!"

She instantly walk out and enter a room. The three of us just stare at the door she once open. What did just happened? I know I am at fault but Shoal is really a shoal.

"Fuck!" I shouted when someone punched me on my stomach. Stellar glared at me. What's really up with her!? Fudge! My tummy hurts like hell.

End Of Chapter 5

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Dedicated to -kuzit & Alienzeeee