LORELEI

THE SUN was already up by the time I opened my eyes. I looked at the clock display on my phone. Nine o'clock na pala ng umaga. Sinubukan kong bumangon pero tila mabigat ang katawan ko at nahirapan akong buhatin ang sarili ko.

I looked to my right and noticed that the bed was empty. Nakatupi na ang kumot at nakapatong sa unan. Jamie must have woken up early for a reason I did not want to find out.

Amoy na amoy ko mula sa aking kuwarto ang sinangag. Someone was obviously cooking our breakfast. Loki had no talent for preparing a meal so he's out of the equation. How about Jamie? Siya ang nagluto ng agahan namin noong nakitulog siya sa apartment unit. Loki probably allowed her to stay back then because he was trying to convert her into our side or something along those lines. I did not care.

Pinilit kong bumangon at lumabas ng kuwarto. My eyes felt heavy and the bags under them probably got darker. I wanted to sleep again, but we might go back to Pampanga before noon.

Jamie was seated at one end of the table. The moment my room door produced a creaking sound, she turned to my direction and greeted me a good morning. I did not reply. There was nothing good in the morning especially if her face's the first thing I saw.

Loki was also there, on the opposite end, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Gaya ko, napuyat din siya kahapon dahil sa imbestigasyon sa pagkamatay ng chairman.

Then there's another person who's busy at the kitchen. At first, I thought it was Jamie who's preparing our breakfast. Surprise! It's Luthor, wearing a pink apron while bracing the flames of the gas stove. He was flipping the omelette on the frying pan.

That caught me in a real surprise. Back in Clark High, I have always seen Luthor as authoritative. No one could order him to do a single thing. He never gets himself dirty. He always asks someone to do something for him. But this morning, I saw a different side of him. Aside from intimidating anyone by just standing and emitting his chilling aura, I did not know that cooking is one of his talents.

Hinila ko ang upuan at sinadyang ilayo ito sa puwesto nina Loki at Jamie. I may have rested my mind from all the shocking revelations last night, but sleep did not wash away their sins. I was still upset at them.

Ipinatong ni Luthor ang plato ng omelette sa mesa, kasunod ang platter ng fried rice. The smell was so good, my stomach grumbled.

"I was not aware that you know how to cook," I commented, staring at the steaming omelette. Akala ko noong una'y pinagpraktisan niya lang ang pagluluto nito. But based on the visual appeal of the food, mukhang sanay na siyang magluto.

"I cook my food at our house once in a while," Luthor replied, untying the pink apron around his waist. "Every now and then, I ask our housemaid to teach me basic cooking."

"Actually, nag-volunteer ako kung pwedeng—" Sasabat na sana si Jamie but my louder voice drowned hers.

"The food looks good and appetizing! Lalo tuloy akong nagutom. Hindi nga pala tayo nakakain kahapon."

"Let my brother take the first bite," Loki teased, finally opening his eyes. "Just to make sure that our food isn't poisoned."

Tumayo ako't kumuha ng mga plato't kubyertos. I only got one for me and one for Luthor.

Jamie noticed what I did, so she also stood and grabbed two plates, one for her and one for Loki.

In Loki's insistence, Luthor was first to taste the omelette. Sinabayan ko nang tikman ang niluto niya bilang pagbalewala sa pang-aasar ni Loki sa kanyang kuya. Omelette never tasted this good! Either gutom lang ako o masarap ang pagkakaluto ni Luthor dito.

Tahimik kaming kumain at inubos ang aming almusal. Hindi siguro dahil gutom na gutom kami, kundi dahil walang may gustong magbukas ng topic sa amin. Discussing the hot issue right now, in front of this god-sent food cooked by Luthor, would only spoil our meal. No one wanted to risk it.

Nang matapos na kami, tinulungan ko si Luthor na iligpit ang plato't baso niya at 'yong sa akin. Jamie did the same for her and Loki.

We then went to the couches and sat silently for a few minutes. Hanggang dito, wala pa ring gustong magsalita. Luthor was silently observing the cold war among the three members of the QED Club. The silence dragged on until the student council vice president had enough.

"Shall we address the elephant in the room?" he asked, piquing the attention of the other three, including me.

"Sure. Why not?" Loki answered, playing with a few strands of his fringe. "Silence bores me anyway. So what should we do about father?"

"Excuse me?" Luthor's eyebrows knitted. "How did our father factor into your dispute?"

"Oh, are we talking about the same elephant or not?" Loki asked, squinting his eyes. "I'm referring to his plan of having us transfered to another school just so we can no longer get ourselves involved in the Moriarty investigation. By 'ourselves,' you are excluded."

I was too preoccupied with a string of betrayals and the murder case that I almost forgot about Sir Odinaire's threat. The senior Mendez warned us that he's willing to talk to our parents to get us out of Clark High. My dad would no doubt agree and cooperate because he wanted me back in Manila. A problem after a problem. Great.

"You do know there's nothing we can do to change our father's mind," Luthor remarked, crossing his legs. "You are reaching for the stars if you think that he will reconsider his decision."

"You're right," Loki nodded, clicking his tongue. "There's nothing that we can do to change his mind. We. But if someone else asks him to reconsider, he might give in."

"Are you referring to that person?" Luthor asked, not dropping the name of whoever he was alluding to.

"Our trump card!" Loki exclaimed, his right hand making some gestures. "The only person who can counter the great Odinaire Mendez."

"You can try," his brother commented. "But you must hope that that person is going to side with you. If father has already won that person over, you lose."

"Don't worry, I'm the favorite child," Loki looked down before averting his gaze to Luthor. "No offense to you, by the way."

"None taken," Luthor replied.

And here they went again with the "that person" game. Parang silang dalawa lang ang nag-uusap sa kuwartong 'to. Jamie also probably felt out of place.

"So that's it!" Loki stood, smiling. "We have addressed the elephant in the room and we can start packing our stuff!"

"Not yet," Luthor countered, his voice became more serious. "Sit down."

"What else needs to be discussed?" Like an obedient dog, Loki returned to his seat. He was pretending that there was nothing else to talk about. Was he afraid of the issue?

"Your internal dispute in your own club," Luthor gave Jamie and me a sideward glance. "You may very well circumvent our father's decision and stay at Clark High to continue the Moriarty investigation. But you can't work effectively if you and your members have problems with one other."

Here it goes.

"Since when did you become an ambassador of peace and good will?" Loki scoffed at him. "The QED Club has been officially disbanded, thanks to father with some help from you. Your role as student council vice president and chairman of the committee on non-mandated organizations is no longer applicable. You have no jurisdiction over us."

"This isn't about jurisdiction," Luthor reasoned. "This is about how your cold treatment with one other can jeopardize what you are trying to achieve. While I am staunchly against getting yourselves involved with the Moriarty investigation, I cannot stand you bickering with each other when a far more important matter is staring at you."

"Bickering?" Jamie repeated. "May nangyari ba kahapon? And how did you know about the..."

"This hotel's chairman was murdered last night and we investigated the case," Loki explained, turning to the liar's direction. "Lorelei decided to play childish by refusing to cooperate with me while I remained committed to my detective work."

"Childish?" I hissed. "How dare you call me—"

"That was outright childish!" Loki raised his voice in the same level he did during the investigation. "Kahit saang dictionary mo tingnan, your attitude perfectly matched all definitions therein."

"Sorry for being childish, but the issue here is—"

"Enough."

The whole room was about to burst into another round of argument. It only took one word from Luthor to maintain the order and keep everything cool.

"You two have proven my point," he said, his eyes shifting their gaze from Loki to me. "You cannot lead a boat to one destination if you two are rowing in opposite directions."

"Just to be clear, you are not part of our conversation," Loki argued, pointing his finger at his brother. "If we have a problem with one another, we will sort it among ourselves, without any intervention from you."

"I understand that you do not want me to be part of the conversation," Luthor agreed, nodding. "But in the name of peace and everything else, settle your childish disputes so you three can all march forward. Together."

Luthor excused himself and left our hotel suite. Kagaya kahapon, iniwan niya kaming tatlo rito para ma-settle ang anumang issue ang namamagitan sa aming tatlo. Loki and Jamie stayed on their seats. I also stayed on my own. Since no one's walking out, it appeared that we three wanted to talk about our issue.

For the first few minutes of being left alone, no one broke the silence that ensued. All I could hear were exasperated sighs and the clock ticking.

But then someone spoke.

"I am sorry." Jamie was first to give in. Her eyes looked down and her head bowed in shame. "I am sorry sa paglilihim ko sa inyo. I am sorry kung may nasaktan man sa inyo."

It might be too late to say sorry now. The damage has been done. The crack can no longer be mended. My trust has been destroyed.

"Lorelei," her treacherous lips dared to call my name. "I told you before that my loyalty belongs to Loki. That's the truth. Walang halong kasinungalingan. You are my friend, Lorelei. I never wanted to lie to you. But I had to. To maintain my cover."

My eyes twitched when she mentioned the word "friend." "Funny. I can't find it in my heart to believe a single word that comes out of your mouth. I don't know if I can still trust you."

"Alam kong mahirap nang ibalik kung ano ang nasira. Alam kong mahirap nang pagtagpiin kung ano ang nagkapira-piraso na. All I'm asking is for you to give me one last chance to prove myself," Jamie pleaded, her eyes welling up with tears. "Prove that I am with you in this fight. Yes, I'm asking too much, but I don't want to lose a friend like you."

My hands were shaking uncontrollably. Gusto kong ipalupot ang naka-braid niyang buhok at sakalin siya para ipadama sa kanya kung gaano kasakit ang mapagsinungalingan. Words inflict as much pain as physical injury does.

I only gave her a nod in response. Was she expecting me to say, "Ah, okay! I forgive you so let's go back to the status quo"? Because I wouldn't utter a single word to that effect.

"And Loki..." She turned next to the detective who was quietly watching her plea. "I'm sorry if I tried to trick you. You saw through me, which wasn't surprising. All I want right now is justice for my brother. Only you can fill the void in my heart. If you ask me to leave Moriarty's organization, I will do that in a heartbeat. Just to prove that I am loyal to you."

"You are more useful if you remain inside that group steeped in blood," Loki replied. "Despite your attempted deception at me, which was totally unsuccessful, I find no reason to push you away. If it is really justice that you seek, I might be able to give you that. Winning you over to our side, after all, is my plan since the day I realized what trick you were trying to pull off."

"Thank you," Jamie buried her face into her hands, bursting into tears. "This time, no more tricks, no more lies. Only the truth."

Another moment of silence reigned inside the room. Jamie was sobbing at one corner while Loki remained seated silently.

Should I say anything to them? Dapat ko bang gayahin si Jamie na humingi rin ng sorry sa kanila? I can, if I wanted to. But my heart's still hurting that I found the words might get stuck in my throat.

They wronged me. They broke my trust. I don't think that I should be the one offering words of apologies.

"Lorelei." To my surprise, Loki called my name. Napatingin ako sa kanya. Nakatingin ang mga mata niya sa ilalim, sa sahig. I waited for him to speak again, but he went on silent mode. Napabuntong-hininga na lang ako.

"I can't believe myself that I would be saying these words," he spoke again in a gentler tone. "But I am sorry."

Napakurap ang mga mata ko. Tama ba ang narinig ko? He had the courage to say that word?

I took a deep breath, crossing my arms across my chest. "Are you apologizing because that's what humans must say when they do something wrong? O talagang bukal sa puso mo ang pagso-sorry na 'yan?"

I still remember the first time he uttered the word "sorry." He reasoned that someone says sorry whenever they wrong another person so they can commit another mistake again. If his logic was the same as before, his words would mean nothing.

"I am genuinely sorry, if that's what you are asking." Loki lifted his gaze, looking at me in the eye. "I kept some things from you, but not without a good reason. I trust you, believe me, I do."

My hands clasped tightly on my elbows as he said the word "trust." An easy word to spit. A difficult value to maintain.

"As I assessed the situation, I realized that it was a bad judgment on my part," he went on. "I tried to consider what you would feel if I tell you that Jamie is not who you think she is. I did not tell you what I know. Not because I'm afraid you might act suspiciously and botch my plan, but because I did not want to ruin whatever bond you two have already built."

I can't believe what just I heard. Loki tried to be considerate of my feelings?

"Just now, Jamie called you a friend," he said, briefly averting his gaze to our other companion in the room. "And I believe that you have also considered her a friend right until you found out about her secret. I suck at making friends, as I am sure you two are already aware. But I'm beginning to understand how fragile a so-called friendship is. Just one whisper of betrayal and everything shatters. Just a whiff of dishonesty and everything falls apart."

I find it hard to believe that Loki managed to say those things. Nakakain naman siya ng breakfast kanina kaya imposibleng epekto ito ng gutom. He sounded like a human. No, he sounded more human.

"Still I am at fault for not disclosing information to you," Loki admitted, staring down again. "But if you were in my situation, I believe you would also take the same course of action. Keep a secret even from the person you deeply trust. Protect that person from the harm that exposing one's secret can make."

Luthor's words back at the elevator lobby rang in my ears. Hypocrisy. And what Loki said was true. If I knew that there's a lot of risk involved, I would refrain myself from revealing the truth and face the wrath later.

The thing is, that was no longer hypothetical. I know something that Loki doesn't. Despite us being original partners, I still decided to not tell him. Why? The same reason he spoke of. It might ruin whatever relationship he has with his brother.

In short, Luthor's right. Loki and I were no different. Naglihim siya sa akin, naglihim din ako sa kanya. In hindsight, I do not have any right to be angry because I was also doing exactly what he did to me.

I am a hypocrite.

Muli na namang nabalot sa katahimikan ang kuwarto. Nakatingin sa akin si Jamie, nakaabang kung ano ang isasagot ko. Si Loki naman, sa ibang direksyon nakatuon ang atensyon.

"It might take some time to process," I replied, raising my gaze from the floor to Loki. "Sorry if I acted childish during our investigation of the chairman's murder. That was totally uncalled for."

For now, that's all I could say. I can't tell him that "Hey, actually, I also kept something from you." When the right time comes, I will. But not today. See how I was no different from him?

"I hope that we are on the same page now," Loki said. "When Alistair returns, there's a bunch of stuff that he needs to know. Such a shame he couldn't have come here. He might either be surprised or have that 'I knew it' expression all over his face."

I also hope that these revelations wouldn't send my childhood friend back to coma. He already suspected something about Jamie, so he might not be that surprised. But about Loki knowing everything? That might elicit a surprised look on his face.

Sana makabalik na siya.

"I will deal with my own father's threat of having us kicked out of Clark High," Loki stood, putting his hands inside his pockets. "In the meantime, we should probably discuss what's our next step. And since the subject of transparency has been brought up, maybe Jamie can share something, being an insider in Moriarty's organization."

This would test kung totoo nga ang sinabi niyang "no more tricks, no more lies."

"Well, I only have direct contact with Stein. He's always checking up on you," Jamie answered. "Mukhang concerned talaga siya sa safety mo. About the others in his inner circle, I did not have a chance to meet with any of them."

"In other words, you have nothing to offer to us?"

Jamie closed her eyes, trying to recall anything that would satisfy Loki's query. That took a minute or two. "Teka, baka makatulong ito. Remember when the Clark Clarion launched a mudslinging campaign against us?"

I remember that very well. The news writer Zoey wrote an article claiming that the QED Club created a number of cases and solved them, just so we would become famous in the campus. That chapter took a number of twists and turns. In the end, thanks to Luthor and the Executive Committee, we averted a crisis.

"Naitanong ni Stein sa akin noon kung kumusta ang QED Club matapos ang mapanirang article ng Clarion," dagdag ni Jamie, nakahawak sa kanyang baba. "He then shared something about the editor-in-chief."

"Augustus Moran," Loki muttered. He got the name right.

"Stein said that Gus' position in the Clarion helps in retaining the loyalty of some members in the group," Jamie explained. "May ilan kasing mga tauhan na nauutusan kahit labag sa loob nila dahil bina-blackmail sila. 'Yong iba, nag-e-enjoy sa ginagawa nila kaya kahit walang kapalit, ayos lang. Pero may ilan na kailangang i-sustain gamit ang pera."

"And that's important to us because...?"

"Moriarty's organization needs money to make some of its members move," Jamie answered. "At saan sa tingin n'yo nanggagaling ang pinambabayad nila?"

"Moriarty has clients, right?" Loki recalled. "They pay him a good amount to do the dirty job."

"Yeah, there's a fee, but that's not enough to sustain most of his agents. Kailangan niya ng funding."

Napahinto si Loki sa paglalakad sa palibot ng kuwarto. "And the funding, as you are trying to imply, comes from Augustus?"

Jamie nodded. "Through the Clarion. Ang kuwento sa akin ni Stein, may mga mata at tenga si Augustus sa bawat sulok ng campus. Kung may scandal ang isang estudyante o isang instructor, alam nila. Pwede nilang gamitin ang mga ito bilang pam-blackmail kapalit ng pera. I also heard that our student publication has an annual budget of more or less one million for its operations. Imagine how much percentage of that can help Moriarty's cause."

"So if we look closely into Augustus' activities and investigate how the Clarion spends their budget, we might be able to find some dirt on him." I can't help but join in the discussion.

"Augustus never gets his hands dirty," Loki said. "If we can prove that he was involved in extortion and that he misuses the funds of our student publication, then we will have leverage against him. He might be the thread that can help us get closer to the center of the web."

"Gano'n din ang naisip ko," pagtango ni Jamie. "At gaya ng alam na natin, Augustus is one of Moriarty's pillars. It might be worth taking a shot."

Loki rubbed his palms together. "Now we have something to work with!"

"But how are we going to investigate him?" tanong ko. "Our club was already disbanded. We no longer have any authority to investigate an official student organization in Clark High."

"It's simple," Loki turned to me, smirking. "We will join the student executive committee."

"You're going to accept Professor Morayta's offer?" I asked. Back at the hospital, my Math instructor delivered the news that our club was disbanded (by request of Odinaire Mendez, as it turned out). But he also offered us slots in the execom. At mukhang 'yon ang balak ng club president namin.

"If that's what it takes for us to be able to investigate, why not?" Loki answered. "We may be joining the execom, but we know deep in our hearts that we are still the proud QED Club."

I know. He did not have to remind us. Kahit na tanggalan kami ng clubroom o i-disband ang mismong club namin, I will always remain loyal to the QED Club. No one could take that away from me.

"Brace yourselves," Loki warned. "It's going to be the QED Club versus Clark Clarion Part Two."

q.e.d.

A/N: Hi there! Sorry if the updates are taking too long, but I promise that I'm going to finish PL before 2019.

In the meantime, while waiting for Chapter 42, you can read "WALTZ OF WYSIWYG," another ongoing story of mine that I intend to finish this August or September. 

I hope the two consecutive updates quenched your thirst. Thank you!