MORRIE

I LOOKED down the pit where the wailing voice of a man came from. There, Wilhelmina and I saw the seemingly helpless Aiden cradling Harriet's unconscious body.

"Tulong! Tulong!" the poor Adlerian cried, looking up on us. His applegreen sweater was covered in dirt, probably due to the fall. "Morrie! Mina!"

"He-Help them," the Watsonian muttered, her voice cracked and a hint of worry dawned on her face.

When our team parted ways somewhere in this mythical forest, Mina suggested in a few words that we go look for our teammates instead of getting out of this maze-like place. My plan was to reach the wooden cabins first then ask for help from our instructor and other school personnel.

Without any complain, I followed Mina's suggestion and went back to the intersection point where we separated ways. Fortunately, the hound was nowhere to be found, giving us a safe passage to where Harriet and Aiden might have gone. Impressions left by their shoes on the moist ground helped us find our way to them.

"Morrie! Morrie!" Aiden's voice was pleading as if something bad was about to happen. "Kailangan nating dalhin kaagad si Harriet sa cabin! Nakagat siya ng poisonous na ahas! Nawalan na siya ng malay! Kung hindi tayo kikilos agad, baka may mangyaring masama sa kanya!"

"Venomous," I corrected.

Though he was a few meters down the earth, I could see Aiden's alarmed face flashing a confused look. "What?"

"The snake is venomous, not poisonous," I explained. "Common mistake. If you bite the snake and you fall ill, it's poisonous. If the snake bites you and you fall ill, it's venomous."

"I appreciate the lesson on diction, pero mas kailangan ni Harriet ang tulong mo!" his voice was cracking as well. Don't get me wrong. I fully understand how grave the situation was. Someone's life was on the line.

But what could I do? I couldn't fly down there and lift them one by one. I don't have sticky fingers or skin that would allow me to climb down the rocks without falling and cracking my skull.

My eyes gazed at the unconscious Harriet who was turning paler as seconds went by. She may have called me and my fellow Moriartians names and she's probably one of the biggest threats in my House's grand scheme, but I couldn't afford to lose a rival. Well, a game is more engaging when there's a competent player around

Wilhelmina pulled my left sleeve, prompting me to turn to her. Thanks to her gadget running out of batteries, I wouldn't have to bother myself with decoding her messages. I hope she'd keep it that way. In this teambuilding, an efficient way of communication is a must.

"Vine," she uttered, pointing at the vines hanging on the tree branches. My eyes looked up. The long, slender stems swinging like ropes were a meter above my head.

No offense, but the Watsonian was too short to grab any of those. That left me as the only person in this forest capable of pulling the vines. I went closer to the tree, took a deep breath, jumped and tried to grab on a single vine.

When my feet landed on the moist ground, I had nothing in my hand. For twice and thrice, I sprang like a fool but the vines escaped my grasp. I hate doing this sort of thing. Thank goodness that Wilhelmina wasn't laughing at me. Or maybe she was, deep inside.

"Lift me," she said. My efforts were in vain, so she decided to take action.

"What?"

"Lift me," she repeated. I found her words as strange as listening to her voice. Only a few people in this world could order me to do something for them. Some would not even dare asking me.

Was she serious about her request? I'd rather jump ten or twenty times trying to grab those vines than to—

"Lift me, or Harriet dies." There was no change in her voice's intonation, but those five words were enough to make me give up my you-can't-order-me-around attitude.

I knelt on the ground and let Wilhelmina put her weight on my shoulders. She may look thin, but she was heavy. I grabbed on both of her legs to ensure she would not fall. Once in stable position, she sat upright. When my head tilted slightly upwards, Wilhelmina was already grabbing one vine after another. They dangled on my head and they smelled like the earth.

When she pulled enough vines already, I gently knelt and waited for her to get off my back. If Harriet was still conscious, she would mock me and laugh at how stupid I looked.

While I was massaging my shoulders, the Watsonian tied each end of the vine to one another, forming a rope about ten meters long. She handed it to me, and my face flashed a curious expression.

"Should I hang myself with this rope?" I asked.

"Throw it down. Pull them up," she instructed. At once, I followed what she said. My steady hands held the vines tightly as I waited for Aiden with Harriet to climb. When the Adlerian below grabbed the other end of the vine, I almost got sucked into the hole. Thankfully, Wilhelmina pulled me back before I completely fell.

If Harriet was conscious, she would mock at how a man like me couldn't pull them up.

Our first attempt failed. There must be another way. My eyes roamed around the bushes and trees. An idea popped into my mind. Holding one end of the makeshift rope, I tied it around a tree trunk. Physically I may be the weakest among the four of us, but my mind could make up for its shortcomings.

Wilhelmina and I looked down the hole once more. Aiden, with Harriet on his back, held on the rope tightly and climbed on the rocky wall. The unconscious Holmesian's weight must be slowing him down and he needed to be careful. If he wasn't, Harriet's head might get cracked upon hitting rockbottom.

After ten tedious minutes, Aiden managed to reach the surface. The Watsonian and I had to pull him up together. He was drenched in his own sweat, but he did not mind. He was more concerned about Harriet who was as white as snow. The two red dots on her legs were bleeding.

"Kailangan nating magmadali!" he exclaimed seconds after catching his breath. He would not let go of the young woman riding his back. "Alam n'yo ba kung saan ang palabas ng gubat na 'to?"

Wilhelmina nodded, pointing to the direction where we came from. "Five-minute walk. Let's go."

Without requesting for any assistance, Aiden continued carrying Harriet on his back and walked as fast as he could. The Watsonian led the way.

While we were looking for our two lost companions earlier, Wilhemina marked every tree that we passed by, carving an X on each of them. Thanks to that, we did not get lost along the way.

It only took a few more minutes before we saw the light ahead. The canopy of the trees blocked the sunlight from penetrating the dark, gloomy forest. Upon reaching the end, we saw a series of wooden cabins. In front, Professor Dred and our impatient classmates were waiting. Triumphant smiles on their faces greeted us as we got closer.

Fools. If only we did not encounter any misfortune along the way, we would have reached the finish line first. Enjoy your small victory at the moment.

"Team WHAM, you are the last team to arrive. You will receive only five points," Professor Dred announced before the pale Harriet got his attention. "A-Anong nangyari? Bakit walang malay si Miss Harrison?"

"Natuklaw ho siya ng ahas, sir! Dapat natin siyang injection-an ng antidote!" Aiden answered.

"A-Ahas?!" Horror dawned on our professor's face. "Sa pagkakaalam ko, walang ahas sa gubat na pinanggalingan n'yo. Pina-inspect muna namin ang area bago tayo pumunta rito. Saang banda n'yo nakita 'yon at bakit marumi na ang damit mo?"

"Long story, sir!" The Adlerian must be too tired to explain. "Mamaya na ho kami magkukwento! Meron ba kayong gamot na pangontra sa venom ng ahas? Kailangan nang magamot ni Harriet!"

"Bring her inside!" Professor Dred led the way to the biggest cabin. He pushed the barn door for Aiden and let us in. Harriet was brought to one of the rooms and laid her on the bed. She was as white as a corpse, but she was still breathing.

Members of the two other teams, whose smug faces turned worried, were left outside. Harriet's Holmesian friends tried to follow inside, but they were stopped by their own teammates.

Our school doctor Wendy went inside the room, bringing a medicine bottle and a syringe. She asked the rest of us to leave the room. We waited in the lobby of the cabin, with Aiden and Wilhelmina praying for Harriet's condition.

In deep thought, Professor Dred paced back and forth in front of us, biting his fingernails. "Paanong nagkaroon ng ahas diyan sa gubat? Matagal-tagal na rin mula nang may mabalitaan kaming may mapanganib na hayop diyan."

"Hound," Wilhelmina said, getting our instructor's attention. He must be surprised to hear how our teammate's voice sounded like.

"Hound?"

"We also saw a gigantic hound," I answered, giving context to what the Watsonian shared. "Its skin was glowing, similar in the Hound of the Baskervilles. We got chased by it and we were forced to part ways in the middle of the forest."

"Tapos, nakasalubong namin ni Harriet ang isang matandang lalaki," Aiden continued. He couldn't stop himself from fidgeting. "Namimitas daw siya ng kabute at matagal na siyang nakatira dito sa isla. May gamit siyang walking cane. Sa kanya kami nagtanong ng direksyon kung saan ang palabas ng gubat."

"Tapos?" Professor Dred got more curious of the Adlerian's narrative. Wilhelmina and I listened intently to the missing part of their tale, particularly on how they ended up in that hole.

"May itinuro siyang daan sa amin. Habang naglalakad kami at nagdi-discuss kung dapat naming pagkatiwalaan ang matanda, nahulog kami sa isang butas at doon namin nakita si besss. Paulit-ulit kong dinurog ang ulo niya gamit ang bato, pero huli na pala dahil natuklaw na si Harriet."

"You didn't notice the hole?" I asked. It would be ridiculous, at the same time tragic, if the observant Holmesian failed to see the hole.

Aiden shook his head. "It was hidden from plain sight. Hindi pa gano'n kalabo ang mga mata namin ni Harriet para hindi mapansin kung may butas sa aming harapan. Naisip namin na baka part ng test ang nakasalubong naming lolo at ang intensyon niya'y iligaw kami."

"But that's impossible!" Professor Dred exclaimed, shaking his head. "This island is a private property. Walang ibang taong nakatira dito. Wala kaming kinontratang matandang lalaki para lituhin kayo. At wala kaming pinakawalan na aso sa gubat para habulin kayong mga estudyante."

Surprised by the revelation, Aiden, Mina and I looked at one another. If that hound and old man weren't part of the test, then what was their purpose? Why did someone set a hound free to chase us? Why did the old man lead Harriet and Aiden to a path where there's a hidden hole?

"Trap," Wilhelmina said, her eyeglasses reflected the light outside the cabin. "The hound and old man are both traps."

"Noong hinahabol kami ng malaking aso, may narinig kaming nag-whistle kaya bigla siyang tumigil sa pagsunod sa amin," Aiden recalled. We also heard that whistle when we got away from the beast. "There must be someone in that forest who owns or commands the hound!"

"Or possibly the old man is its master." My right hand gently touched my chin. My mind was trying to connect the dots presented to us. I couldn't help but paint an alarming picture. "When you and Harriet were within his reach, he decided to appear and point you to the next trap."

"The hole. The snake. Meant to kill you two," Wilhelmina added.

That's the most plausible explanation at the moment. I don't think that the series of misfortunes that befell our two teammates were mere coincidences. Everything was meticulously planned.

"If you break your necks due to the fall, then it is mission accomplished for the old man," I deduced. To know the intentions of a person with criminal intent, one must get inside his head and think like him. If I were the one who laid the traps in the forest, this is how the whole scenario would play. "But if you survive the fall, the snake was there as a Plan B to kill you. Unfortunately for him, you two survived."

"Bakit naman may magtatangka sa buhay namin?" Aiden looked clueless. I had the same question in mind. If not a prank in bad taste, I couldn't see any reason for those traps. "At bakit kami?"

"Random target. Or intended target," Wilhelmina answered before turning to me. "Connected to soiree case?"

That's another puzzlepiece that might help us see the big picture. Out of the blue, the words of the arrogant special agent rang in me. Back in the tea shop, he warned us that we might become targets of that vigilante group.

"The four of us foiled the murder plot on the chancellor and arrested the assassin," I recounted, my eyes alternating their gaze at my two teammates. "Someone in the university killed that assassin while under our custody. Now, strange things have started happening since we set foot on this island. Do you know what that means?"

"That someone wants us dead?" Aiden finished, his jaw dropped. "And that someone is in this island?"

"Kung totoo ang sinasabi n'yo, kailangan kong alertuhan ang security personnel ng isla." Visibly perturbed, Professor Dred took out his phone and began talking to someone on the line.

We may or may not be wrong about the involvement of the vigilante group in our team's stroke of bad luck. But at the moment, that's the best explanation we could offer. If someone was interfering with the teambuilding activities and his intentions weren't good, we must tread lightly.

After five more minutes, the school doctor got out of Harriet's room and approached us. I could see no signs of distress on her face, which might mean good news.

"Her body's reacting positively to the antidote," Dr. Wendy said with a smile. "Don't worry. She's goint to be okay, but she needs to rest for a few hours."

Aiden heaved a long sigh of relief while Wilhelmina's face brightened. They may not belong in the same House, but their facial expressions told me that they cared for Harriet as if she's one of their kind.

Somehow I don't get it. I welcomed the good news and I felt relieved as well, but not in the same level as my two teammates.

"Should we postpone the activities today, sir?" Dr. Wendy asked Professor Dred after the latter got off the phone. "That Holmesian needs to recover first. Kung itutuloy n'yo ang activities, dehado ang team nila."

"We shall proceed, sir."

My two companions glared at me for my remark. It may sound insensitive and I might be putting our team at a great disadvantage, but we needed to proceed. After all, the success of a battle is not decided by numbers.

"Pwede nating ituloy ang susunod na activity kaso gaya ng sinabi ni doc, dehado ang inyong team," Professor Dred reiterated. "'Di ba mas mabuti kung hihintayin n'yo munang maka-recover si Miss Harrison?"

"I may not know Harriet personally, but I have an idea on how she thinks," I claimed. "She is the most competitive Holmesian I've ever met. If she were conscious, she would tell us to raise our banners and beat the other teams."

"Hindi ko rin siya gano'n kakilala pero sa tingin ko, ganyan din ang sasabihin niya," Aiden agreed while Wilhelmina remained silent.

"Kung 'yan ang desisyon ng team n'yo, we will go to the next activity." Professor Dred was hesitant at first, but since our team already reached a consensus, he had no choice but to respect it. "Habang abala kayo sa susunod na challenge, papabantayan ko muna si Miss Harrison dito."

Even without the H—which stands for Harriet and Holmes—WHAM would still be pronounced as "WAM." We could outwit the other teams, even without Harriet.

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