15 The Scarlet Lady (1/2)
”Poor little girl. What happened here?”
Those are the words I can hear behind closed eyes. I am weak. The drug has gotten to me too. I may have only taken a sip, but that was enough to weaken me. I know that it is worse for Mateo. He drank at least three shots of it. I do not have the strength to stand. I am lying on the floor all helpless as I observe who will see the deed done.
”I have told you once and I'll never say it again,” the man says angrily. ”Stop being obsessed with your plans”
I can hear a lady and a gentleman talking about this catastrophe. As I try to recognize the lady's voice, I remember the phone call we had earlier. I know that this lady next to me is the woman that called and threatened me into submission. I, however, cannot recognize the man's voice. It seems eerily familiar, but due to the heightened anger in his voice, I cannot recognize who he is.
”Shut it, pastor,” the lady says crossly. ”Anyway, the boy is certainly drugged, but the girl is pretending to be one. Haven't she learned from her other friend?”
”By God, I swear, if you do anything to harm these innocent men, I will – ”
”You'll what?” the lady demands instantly. ”Curse me in God's name so that He might smite your enemies because you asked it in Jesus' name? Don't fool yourself, David. You are no King David.”
David? Is the man Professor Diwa? I have no strength to stand. I tried opening my eyes and I can see a blurry vision field of a lady wearing scarlet red and a man wearing a full suit with glasses. So, it is him. I cannot process the vision clearly. It was too blurry. The man comes draws himself near my face and I can see him clearly. It is indeed Professor Diwa. My love. . . he has come to save me. He wants o help me and save me from this condition.
”Miss Aguinaldo, get up,” he says as he urges me to stand. ”Stop pretending. Run, and get away from here. Call help. Go!”
He takes my arm as he helps me to stand, but it is all too blurry for me. My legs are like noodles – soft and easy to be broken. As I take a step, I can feel the world around me move about like circles around a pattern. I cannot. I'm too weak. All I do is just stumble and fall to the ground once more. I catch myself near a table and try to stand, but I am too weak. It is helpless. I cannot run to ask for help.
”Sir, I do not understand. What's going on?” I say weakly to him.
”Just go, child,” he says as he urges me to stand. ”Run!”
I look into the scarlet lady but I cannot get a glimpse of her face. It is too unclear to me. I cannot stand. I cannot walk. I cannot do anything. Professor Diwa tries to guide me to run, but I stop him from doing so. There is nothing he can do. Whatever is happening right now, nothing will get better. It is a disaster and I can feel that this is my death. The lady can just shoot me if she desires my death. That way, she can kill the story and get what she had been asking.
”Oh, she's not running away!” the lady says crossly. ”David, you still truly cannot see how dangerous I am. I'm sure you now regret the decision you made five years ago.”
This captured Professor Diwa's attention. He stands to face the lady with a blank and serious face. Whoever this is, I cannot bear to see how this would end.
”I have no regrets,” Professor Diwa says blankly. ”Anyway, what will become of me? Am I to be shot just like how you do to achieve your goals?”
”Oh, trust me, you are far too valuable to be threatened into silence,” she says cunningly. ”I, however, do have a task for you. Maybe after what you have seen, you might want to see fewer deaths. Make them forget their investigation. Do it. After that, I'll tell you what you want.”
I can tell that this was too hard for the young professor to swallow. He slams his hands on the table out of anger. By now, everyone had left after seeing the intensity going on. Even the bartenders and the bouncers ran away out of fear. The bar is all but empty except for us.
”Damn you!” he exclaims in anger. ”Damn your cursed ambition and damn all those who follow you! Damn you for your avarice!”
”Damn me for all I care!” the lady exclaims. ”But, now, I shall have to take care of some business.”
The lady takes Mateo's backpack and she begins rummaging for something seemingly important. And then, I realized. . . Mateo has the notepad and the list of evidence we gathered! I feel so helpless. I want to stop her, but I could not even stand. I force myself to stand, but all I do is just stumble back to the ground. I was as if the world has fallen on me once more. In my mind, I pray the five decades of the rosary once more. I know that even in this situation, the Lord could not save me. It has all gone awry. She found the notepad. It's over.
”So, you think I bribed them all or forced them into submission,” she says with a sly smile. ”Well, you're not wrong about that. And, you also think I orchestrated the plan to kill Rex de la Rama. Ah, journalists will always stick their noses on where they should not be.”
Then, out of anger, it seems that she pulled a pocket lighter from her purse and burned the notepad in front of my face. We lost. There is nothing we could do. Mateo was right. We should have just waited. This is all my fault. If I have waited and listened to him, none of this would ever happen. It is over.
”I burn the notepad in front of your face and you do not even flinch,” she says suspiciously. ”Have you given up so quickly?”
”I may have already given up,” I say weakly. ”We have nothing. But even if we lose that notepad, that doesn't change that we know what happened. As we journalists always say, 'the truth will always prevail'. This is over for now, but we will rise. We will rise.”