by Abby Osuna
behind it and we could hear the locks they were securing.
“We should get out of here before that happens,” Anthony whispered.
I nodded. I glanced at the walls and saw that there wasn’t a sign of a window at all.
I looked at Anthony and from his expression, I could tell we were having the same thoughts.
Chewing on my lower lip as I was wracking my brain for a way for us to get out of here, I
suddenly remembered what he said a while ago. Did I hear him right? Did he really say he likes
me? Or maybe I just heard wrong. I can’t ask him either, since that would be way awkward.
We were both silent as we thought how to get out of there when suddenly there was a bang on
the door and it swung open.
“Hi guys! Didn’t expect to see you here!” Carl was beaming annoyingly.
If it was possible to roll one’s eyes in a more insulting manner, I’ve definitely done that to this guy.
“The temper, Drei. Keep it down,” he crossed over to where we were seated.
“What do you want?” Anthony demanded.
Just then I saw something slung on Carl’s belt that seemed to glitter in my eyes. A cutter. If only I could get him closer then I could make the cutter come off with a little brush. Only a hook was
keeping it in place.
“Nothing. Just wanted to check if Zed wasn’t lying when he said that you two were getting all
smoochy,” he narrowed his eyes at us.
I cleared my throat to ready myself with my unsettling plan. “Us? Smoochy? Why would we?”
In the corner of my eye, I saw Anthony’s head snap toward me. Don’t ask me now Anthony, just
stay put.
Carl blinked twice. “Did I hear you right, Drei?”
Swallowing the response that I first thought of, I smiled sweetly. “I said, we would never get
smoochy. We don’t have a reason to do so.”
And just like what I wanted him to do, he neared me and kneeled on one foot in front of me.
With a glint in his eyes, he looked directly into mine. “Real y.”
Keeping the sweet smile, I nodded.
“Wel , that’s pleasing to hear then,” he stirred, as if to get even nearer. I took the chance to
stretch my right leg and fold it vertically. All this time, my eyes never left his, just to keep with the façade. If only he’d get closer…
And he did. Yes!
“Hey!” Anthony protested on my side and I was praying he won’t shove Carl away. I darted him
a warning look and his eyes shot downward. From my field of vision, his eyes must’ve landed on
the cutter since they flashed understanding.
Carl’s head snapped toward Anthony and I took the chance to place a peck on his cheek and
use my knee to knock the cutter off his belt. It neatly landed on my other foot which was just by
Carl’s knee. It made a muffled sound but Carl was so distracted by what I did.
“Why, you real y do have a crush on me,” his eyes narrowed knowingly.
I smiled, though that was the last thing I wanted to do now. He inched closer. Whoa. This wasn’t
part of my plan. My leg covered the cutter which was now rested on my foot.
“Back off!” Anthony protested. Carl just scoffed at him. He kicked Carl’s knee forcibly, I almost
felt how painful it was. He swung his fist and…
“Carl!”
It was the first time I was relieved to hear Carley’s voice. She strode to where we were and
pulled Carl backwards by the collar. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”
“He kicked me!”
“So? You weren’t supposed to be here in the first place!”
“Stil ! He can’t just kick me like that!” he scurried toward Anthony but Carley caught his shirt.
“Enough!” she shoved him away, toward the door. I didn’t know how strong she was to push a
guy like that.
She shot us a look which meant behave. I looked away.
Then she locked the door as they disappeared behind it.
“You could’ve at least given me a warning.”
I blinked. “Huh?”
“I real y thought you liked him. I thought you liked jerks.”
Was he…?
“Where’s the cutter?”
Sudden change of topic, eh? He’s getting moody. “Here.”
With my foot, I pushed it toward his back where his hands were tied.
Guess I heard him right. Maybe he really did like me.
***
Chapter 27
How I ended up with Anthony standing in front of me so close that we could exchange faces
seemed a bit blurry in my mind. One minute we were on the floor, tied up like a bunch of zoo
animals for shipment, and then the next minute, we were fighting off Carl whom we tried to
strangle just to get past him (and we managed to knock him off that he passed out. Ha!) and
now we were pushed up against a wall hiding since we tried to turn on a corner when suddenly
a sound of movement emerged from the other side of the bend. What if the sound came from
Carley? From Zed? We’re dead!
“They’re fine. Relax, man,” an unfamiliar voice spoke.
“What if they aren’t?”
“What’s with the fuss, man?” Their voices seemed distant that I anticipated I wouldn’t be able to
hear the response.
“I just have a fee-----“
Then my hunch was right. They were out of earshot. I was about to step out from our hiding
place when suddenly Anthony’s hand was on my shoulder, holding me in place. He looked
down at me and as soon as I looked up back at him, I regret doing so. Our proximity was like
that in the movie scenes where the lead actors have their first kiss. Which was very unlikely to
happen in our situation right now.
My eyes widened at our awkward closeness, and I could tell that he too, noticed it. He turned
his face away, and then whispered, “Later.” If we had been in another situation, I would have
smiled my heart out in delight at the sound of his voice. Obviously, I can’t do that now. But his
voice still lingered in my ear that I could almost hear it echo. Later. How was it possible that one word could melt a girl’s heart?
Okay, so I’m fantasizing right now. And I have to stop.
I felt his grip on my shoulder. I forgot that he still rested his hand on it. Trying with all my might not to smile, my eyes looked up at him. I did not dare look up to him by raising my head.
I shot him a questioning look.
He furrowed his eyebrows as if in confusion. Then I got his question. Are you okay?
Why did he have to ask me this now? Even with the slightest nod, a part of my face would touch
his chin. Those parts would be: my nose then my lips.
For once, my mind started to work properly. I thought of a way to send the message without
getting all smoochy with him.
Since I didn’t want to nod, I raised my eyebrows instead. An affirmative raising.
With that, his eyes flashed understanding and I was able to save some of the shame I have left.
Whew. That was close. I almost smiled at the metaphor.
After a few more minutes of being at the awkward position, Anthony finally decided that the
coast was clear. He let me get out of the hiding place first, then he followed.
“Are you okay?” he whispered just by my ear. Was he doing it on purpose? He was real y
getting all sweet lately. But we don’t want to get caught, didn’t we? So we have to be as silent
as possible. And besides, he’s a nice guy and it’s just natural for the typical nice guy to look
after his companions. C
ompanions? What a traditional term. My brain is getting weird again. I
guess that’s his effect on me.
I nodded.
“Sure?”
I shot him a look that said of course.
He smiled an assuring warm one and took my hand in his. We started toward the hallway we
assumed the guys we heard earlier didn’t take. From time to time, we would glance sideways.
Since Anthony was leading me ahead, I obliged to watch out for out backs. We had our backs
toward each other as he led the way forward, and I was checking out unwanted personalities
that might be lurking at our trail. After all, we have to be cautious if we want to get out of here alive. After a few corners, Anthony suddenly gripped my hand tightly that it caused me to look
up at him and momentarily let go of my duty.
He had his eyes fixed at something in front of him. My heart nearly dropped to my gut. I followed
his gaze and my emotion shifted a hundred eighty degrees. I almost cried at the sight of it. It
was a door. The rays of sunshine outside came bursting at the ends of its frame. And I saw from
where I was standing that it wasn’t locked. At least from the inside.
Slowly, Anthony led us toward the door. Resuming my watching out duty, I held his hand tightly
as if letting up would somehow make the door disappear. He gave it a gentle comforting
squeeze.
When Anthony stopped, I assumed that we already reached the door. My mind started to race.
What if behind it was just another trap waiting for us? What if that was where Carley and Zed
were resting while they thought of something to do with us? What if...
Anthony let go of my hand and suddenly I felt scared. I gathered up all the courage I have left.
We’re almost there...freedom.
He pressed his ear against the door and listened intently. I watched his expression carefully. I
sighed in relief when his hand reached for the knob. He started turning the knob and his eyes
suddenly widened.
My heart skipped a beat at the sight of his expression.
“What?” I whispered.
“It’s---“
I gulped nervously.
“Open,” his wide eyes were saying that he was too shocked to take it in.
I sighed in relief. I gave his arm a spank.
“Ow!”
“You scared me!”
He smirked then put his finger on his lips. “Shh.”
Slowly, he turned the knob. Now it was getting a whole lot harder. What if danger was waiting
for us outside?
He was about to push open the door when I seized his arm.
“What?”
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea to---“
“We’l be okay.”
“Sure?”
He nodded. “Positive.”
Before I knew it, Anthony stuck his head behind the door. I closed my eyes to straighten myself
and I remembered to watch out for anyone behind us. We were still lucky that no one caught us
that we got this far.
Anthony’s hand suddenly found mine and he nudged me forward. Reluctantly, I peeped too. My
jaw almost dropped when I saw what was behind the door. It was a garden. And a few meters
away was a forest. Though normally, I wouldn’t be happy at the sight of a forest since I’ve never
been a fan of them. But now, I was so happy to see this one. This meant that we could escape
this place without our captors seeing us. If only we could sprint toward the woods, we would be
inches closer to freedom.
Without asking me what to do, Anthony was suddenly pulling me along him as he ran toward the
woods. I wanted to hit him so hard for taking me aback like that. He could at least ask or give
me a sign when to start running, didn’t he?
I was half-expecting Carley’s voice to surface somewhere as we were running, but luck was on
our side this time. Our captors were out of sight. Maybe they were eating or something. I
chuckled. Eat, while they had prisoners to look out for? That was amusing.
We were now panting as we rested at the middle of the woods. If I would go back to where we
had been from this point, I believe that I would get lost. I have never grown skills in directions.
Especially in a forest like this.
We were breathing so hard that we barely spoke for a few minutes. Then out of the blue,
Anthony started laughing.
Exasperated, I glared at him. “What’s so funny?”
“I forgot to tell you to run,” he was stil in his laughing fit.
I rolled my eyes at him. “Since when did you start bul ying others?”
He was chuckling, the fit starting to fade. “Just now. It’s fun to tease you.”
I could not believe what I was hearing. “You’re getting weird lately.”
“Not real y,” he shrugged. “Guess this part of me exists all this time. It’s just that, I don’t let use it that often. I have to put up an image.”
Put up an image? Was he serious? So his whole nice guy front was just a facade?
“I was kidding!” he started laughing again.
“You are so weird,” I turned my back on him.
I could still hear his laugh. He was weird. Maybe it was because of the adrenaline rush. I found
a spot under a nearby tree and sat on a root that protruded from the ground.
I scanned the surroundings. There was no sign of a trail on the ground, which meant that the
place wasn’t exactly used that often. What I didn’t like about forests was the big possibility of
seeing...
“Drei! Don’t move!”
I froze to the spot. Tell me how obedient I am.
“There’s a... a... snake behind you.”
My eyes widened at his words.
“WHERE?”
“Don’t move!”
I did not notice that I started whimpering. If there was one thing that I hate so much (aside from
the syndicate who killed my Dad) it was reptiles, especially snakes.
“Just wait.”
I heard something hard hitting the ground behind me. After a few more pounding, I heard
Anthony sigh.
“Done.”
I composed myself and turned around. There on the ground was the dreaded creature, dead. I
jumped away from the dead snake. Even in its lifeless form, it freaked me out. I couldn’t control
my tears.
I was staring at the ground and I had my back on Anthony. The leaves on the ground gave a
faint crunch at his footfalls.
“It’s okay,” he tapped my shoulder.
I nodded, suddenly feeling stupid for breaking down like this.
“I’m okay,” I lied.
“With a tear-stricken face, you tell me you’re okay?”
I chuckled. “It’s hard to believe, but I real y am.”
“Hmm.”
“Sorry for being such a cry-baby. I just hate them.”
“No problem.” He squeezed my shoulder. “I think we better get going.”
Wiping my eyes, I nodded.
With his hand on my shoulder, he led me deeper into the woods.
~
It was starting to get dark and the birds over head were starting to do sounds of all sort. The
ambiance reminded me of those horror movies where the killer starts to hunt its prey down once
the sun has set.
“Are you hungry?”
I shook my head.
“Sure?”
“Positive.”
He smiled at the familiar exchange. “But I am. Let’s see. A few more steps and we have a
shelter for the night.”
Not exactly getting what he meant, I asked, “Where?”
He gestured toward his left and I followed with my eyes. Because my eyes had a hard time
adjusting to the darkness, I missed the spot where he was referring to. Behind two or three trees
was a small shack. It looked old and unmaintained, based on the weeds surrounding it. But still,
it was a place for the night.
“I bet there’s a fireplace inside. Let’s gather up wood before we head in.”
Feeling elated at the roll of luck, I nodded with a smile.
“Something amusing, Drei?”
“Just happy that you won’t have to kil a few more snakes out here throughout the night.”
*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Chapter 28
“Go try it.”
“I won’t.”
“Just once.”
“No.”
“Why? It won’t hurt.”
“How sure are you it won’t hurt?”
“I just know.”
“You don’t. You’re just talking me into it.” I stared at Anthony. I tried to glare at him but to no avail. What came out was just a stare.
“It’s dead, Drei. It won’t hurt you anymore.” His look was so genuine that I wanted to concede to
his idea.
“Stil . A dead snake is no different.”
He stared at me, trying to convince me otherwise.
“Why is it a big deal anyway?”
Shrugging, he said, “Nothing. It just feels good to conquer your fears.”
I raised my eyebrows questioningly. “Why…” does it concern you? “…do we even have to do
that at all?” The moment the words came out, the answer came creeping from my
subconscious. What a lame question.
“Because,” he plucked a piece of grass from the ground, “that’s how things must be. Fears
aren’t there to hinder us from doing what we must do. They’re just fences that seem to scare us,
but once we get through, we realize that it wasn’t that scary at all.”
We were seated at the front of the house, standing by a dead snake. Judging by my
exasperation, we’ve been here for a lifetime. But by checking my watch, I just learned that my
subjective lifetime has only been five minutes. Why wouldn’t Anthony just drop it? I’m afraid of snakes. That’s it! And so far, I have no intention whatsoever to face my fear. But if I was a
spectator here and not the one directly involved, I feel that I would’ve actual y convinced the one involved to give in to his explanation a while ago. That was a bit of a speech, wasn’t it?