All that was left is darkness, along with the horrifying screams from the room next door. Their familiar voices echoed in the whole place and we are sure that it was Iris and Akari.

Because we're the only occupants in this area and I am also damn sure that the culprit walked passed our door. We were so close to whatever they were experiencing but my mind is too preoccupied to even move an inch.

“Tulong! Andito si Maledictus Eris! Aaaaaah!”

I was only able to do so, when Val let go of my hand and faced me again. Still with no lights to even guide our souls. “Kuina, you need to keep yourself safe, okay? Hide in the closet or under your bed. Get yourself some weapons too.”

Napakurap kurap ako. Ilang saglit pa ay naglabas na ito ng flashlight na mukhang nakapa niya sa higaan niya at pinagtutulak ako patago sa ilalim ng higaan.

“Sandali lang, bakit ako magtatago ulit? K-kaya ko namang tumulong.”

He just patted me in the head before shoving me to the ground. “You can do that next time when you are ready. This situation right now is dangerous so just trust me, okay?” He bent one of his knees in order to level himself to me and gave me a knife and a spare flashlight. But I pulled the sleeves in his shirt instead.

“How about you?”

The limited light from our place didn't stop me from seing a weak smile on his face. “Someone's crying and asking for help. I can't just pretend I didn't hear that.”

With that, he left the room with all the compassion that this city didn't have.

And for the second time, all I can do is to hear every horrors that my eyes can't even see. I am hiding again, fully aware of the tragedy of being able to hear every plea but can't do anything but to save myself.

•••

I don't know if having Val, Dior, Sage and Morgan to aid the victims was good news but that's exactly what happened yesterday. Sad to say but the culprit managed to kill our club member which is si ate Iris. She was already critically wounded the moment they arrived, and her roomate Akari, who happens to be the president of Heart Club, also had a close call.

If it weren't for Val who’s room was the closest, Akari would've been the next victim. Val had to fight the Maledictus Eris on his own before the other three arrived. He has his fair share of cuts but he was so eager to capture the culprit in order to end this all.

But the Maledictus Eris managed to shoved him to the ground in order to flee, along with Morgan who arrived next. Then the culprit came across Sage and Dior on that corridor but it still managed to injure them and successfully disappeared like it always does.

Those who had a close encounter with it always say how tall and draining the culprit was. It seems like it is always absorbing and stealing the energy of the people around and its strength is also monstrous. And even though Sage initially said that the culprit might just be a human like us, these encounters and testimonies made me doubt it for a bit.

Because what if our enemy isn't really a human at all, but just a cursed sculpture who always came out at night? What if that sculpture was really possessed by a demon in order to murder everyone who opposed this school?

“Kuina—"

“Aaah!" Napatalon ako sa gulat dahil sa pagtapik na iyon ni Aces. Napalingon pa tuloy sa direksyon ko ang mga tao na nasa linya. Bagagya nalang akong yumuko dahil doon at pasimpleng binalingan ang kaibigan sa likod.

“Bakit ba kasi? Nagfa-flag ceremony tayo oh," giit ko at napakamot sa batok. Napailing lang siya at mas lumapit sa akin.

“I just want to say something about the absurdity of this entire murder cases,” tungon at patagong lumingon.

“Talaga ano ‘’yon?”

Nagpapatuloy lang ang seremonya habang sinusubukan naming mag usap ni Aces. Mabuti nalang at sa harapan ko nakapwesto si Luna, dahil kasi mas natangkad siya ay hindi kami nakikita ni Aces dito sa likod. Malaya niya tuloy na nasabi sa'kin kung bakit ang weird ng killing sequences ng culprit.

“Kasi naman, it's given na Spade Club ang punterya since tayo naman talaga ang kumakalaban sa katiwaliang ito. From Odette, Kendall and Iris. Pero kasi, bakit may nadadamay na taga Heart Club diba?” giit niya.

“Which is si Roxy pati na rin si Akari. And although Akari survived, but the fact that she was attacked and injured too should mean something deeper.”

Napatango ako dahil sa mga sinabi niya pero ilang sandali pa ay agad ring natigilan. “You have a point. Pero kasi pwede namang nadamay lang sila, kasi andoon din si Roxy sa loob ng Spade Club noong naganap ‘yung krimen at roomate naman ni Iris si Akari kaya nasa iisang lugar lang din sila ng maganap ‘yong pagpatay.”

"But why does it have to be Heart Club members tho? And both of them have positions? With Akari being the president and Roxy being the muse? You get what I'm saying? There should be something about this and we need to investigate this details too—”

“Spade Members at the back, are you still with us?"

Kapwa kami napa tayo ng maayos dahil sa boses na ‘yon mula sa speaker. Napatingin ulit sa direksyon namin ang ibang mga estudyante. Kita ko pang pinandilatan kami ng mata ni Sage na nasa pinaka harapan ng linya, kaya napa sorry nalang din kami ng matindi.

“Ayan na nga ba ang sinasabi ko, secretary na secretary ng Spade, na-spe-special mention pa ng Main Vice President sa stage,” pabulong na gatong ni Val na nasa harap ni Luna kaya natawa nalang ako.

Hindi na kasi ata umuubra sa'kin ang pagtataray niya sa public kaya ganito, pero mukhang sa'kin lang ‘yon di umeepekto kasi sinenyasan pa siya ni Aces ng middle finger. Maya maya ay bahagya lang din itong natawa at napailing iling.

“Minsan nga napapaisip ako kung pinagisipan ba talaga ni Sage na gawin akong in charge sa Spade, o nadala lang siya ng emosyon no'ng araw na ‘yon at wala siyang choice kasi ako nasa third higest position. Haha.”

Gusto ko pa sanang kontrahin ang pangdo-dogshow niya sa sarili at ipamukha na deserve niya ang posisyon niya, pero ang lahat ng ‘’yon ay naglaho sa ere dahil sa sumunod na sinabi ng speaker sa harap na si Paris. Ang vice president ng buong Schlemiel Academy.

“Because of the killing spree that is happening in this academy, the council decided to not hold a Noble Date until the culprit will be arrested. This is to ensure the safety of our beloved Noblemen.”

I was stunned. That's when it dawned on me all the plans, the routes, the preparation we had for the past days in order to kidnap a noble, and how quickly our efforts got wasted because of their decision. I was in the middle of processing our misery when I couldn't help but to also hear the sentiments from the people around.

“Safety ng mga nobles? How about us naman? Kami ‘yong nakakaranas ng patayan dito oh?”

“Noble family will always be the priority, isn't it? And we'll always stay as the minority, the sacrificial lambs and the collateral damages."

“Fuck this, what do you mean I won't be able to see my boyfriends until further notice?”

The violent reactions from the students escalated so quickly that when Morgan took over the mic, everyone went silent. That's how you'll know the efficiency of the Main Officer's Sergeant at Arms, by the way.

“I appreciate your sudden hushes. Now since we have a killer on the loose, the school decided to hire four detectives in order to investigate this murder scheme and capture the culprit as soon as possible.”

Mas lalong napaawang ang bibig ko.

“So you don't have to worry because they are here to protect us. Let us welcome Mr. Lorenzo, along with his team that consist of Mr. Devin, Mr. Icarus and Mr. Yohan. A round of applause, please.”

I don't know about the others but confusion really corrupted my mind because of what my eyes are currently seeing. Four men are being introduced on the stage and I am totally flabbergasted. What do you mean we'll have these guys who don't even look like professional detectives to solve this case?

Don't get me wrong, they don't look like fools either. They just felt so unreal because they seem to be the same age as our 4th years, and their facecards look more like they would start dancing and promote their boy group.

They were in formal clothing, with those coats, black suits and ties. The leader looks intimidating, the pale one with somewhat blue hair has glasses on, the other one looks like a starboy and the last one looks like he just got dragged here because they needed a fourth member.

But despite all of that, they look too good to be true. It looks like a freaking concept and I'm not liking this gut feeling.