chapter 9

"Sino ka ba?" Gilhameer asked. 

"Huwag na kayong mag-sinungaling pa. Alam kong pinadala kayo rito para huliin ako." The stranger was stubborn.

"Hindi ko alam ang pinagsasabi mo." Gilhameer shook his head.

"Espiya ka ni Dionysius." He pointed. " Palagi kang nasa likod kong nag-eespiya sa akin."

"Ikaw nga 'yung palaging umi-espiya sa amin," Gilhameer said back.

"Dionysius?" Cainnick suddenly muttered right after he heard the name. 

"Teka. Hindi ko alam kong sino si Dionysius na 'yan. Look, isa lang po kaming kagaya mo rin na 'Lignodon' na nag-aaral  dito sa paaralan na ito. Wala po kaming masamang ginagawa. Kagaya mo rin kaming humahanap ng paraan para hindi malaman ng tao ang sekreto natin. 'Yun lang po ang intensyon namin. Ang mag-aral." Gilhameer explained.

"Ikaw si Adan." He still can't believe him. He slowly shook his head as he scowled.

"Huwag mong hintaying paaaminin ko kayo rito mismo sa gym na ito." He warned.

"Huwag!" Gilhameer yelled.

"Hindi ko kayo papayagang makuha ang gusto ninyo."

The boys looked at each other in horror.

"Ano? Gusto niyo kong huliin 'di ba?" He stretched his arms wide as he painted a smile on his face. He's waiting for them to come at him.

"Teka lang!" Cainnick yelled. "Naalala ko na. Ikuwinento sa akin ni Kuya Benjie. Siya pala 'yung lider ng sumakop doon sa baryo!" He faced Gilhameer. After he said that to his friend, he faced him again.

"Hindi po kami 'yung kalaban mo." Cainnick told him. 

The stranger got puzzled. 

"Ano?"

"Hindi kami ang kalaban mo."

"Anong ibig mong sabihin?" the stranger was puzzled.

"Sa totoo lang...hindi ko rin alam kung paano ko sasabihin 'to pero... kalaban din ng kuya ko si Dionysius." He told him. "Gumagawa din siya ng paraan kung paano mahahanap 'yung dalawang 'susi' bago pa siya ang makahanap."

"Hindi ako naniniwala." He slowly shook his head.

"Totoo 'yung sinasabi ko! Kasama niya 'yung dalawang taong mula sa tribo ng Ba-as."

"Hi-hindi totoo 'yang sinasabi mo." He was stuttering. He was unsure if what Cainnick was really telling the truth.

"Lignodon ka din 'di ba?" Cainnick asked. "Tignan mo ako sa mata upang malaman mo kung nagsisinungaling ako."

"Pero...paano siya?" He pointed Gilhameer.

"Sa tingin ko. Baka napagkamalan mo lang si Gilhameer na siya 'yong nageespiya sa iyo."

"Oh?" He's got shocked. But he didn't show it on his face. Something suddenly came out on his thoughts just after he heard  the "napagkamalan" word.

"Hindi!" He then widened his eyes in shock. He couldn't believe he got tricked. And so, he rubbed his face with his bare hands. He got disappointed of himself. Moreover, he felt guilty and embarrassed to the two whom he accused. 

"Nakalimutan kong Asong Buwan pala si Adan," he muttered.

"Sorry! Sorry!" He freaked out.

" Okay lang. Okay lang." The two told him.

Suddenly, a large white wolf suddenly appeared at the door way and it quickly attacked the stranger without a warning. Even the two got shocked when they saw an unusual dog-like creature pinned the boy down to the floor. The boy  went unconscious and his body was laying upside down. The quick wolf  immediately dragged the body towards the exit. The boys got amazed and terrified for it was too quick that it needed just a second to get the body out of the building.

Quick thinking, Cainnick and Gilhameer immediately followed it afterwards. 

                                                       ****

It's already five 'o clock in the afternoon. Grace Joy was still at the library reading a mermaid story. She spent all of her two hours enjoying herself in that place since after her audition for Glee Club. Moreover, she's got no class scheduled during those hours.

Meanwhile, she laid her eyes away from the book she was reading for they were already tired. She closed the book that she was handling and put it down the table. After that, she yawned. 

"Gusto kong matulog," she told to herself. 

She put her elbows on the table as she rubbed her face with her hands. She yawned again. And then she looked at the window next to her. She can see the other  building outside. The library she was in and that big building are separated by a garden. She was staring at it for a while until her eyes saw something on its roof. At first, she couldn't identify if that was a human or a dog climbing on it since the distance of the library to that building. All she can see was a silhouette. She narrowed her eyes as she tries to determine what was that. Then, she realized that it was neither a dog nor a human. She can see an unusual  dog-like creature at a roof. Moreover, she got terrified when she saw it shinning. She rubbed her eyes with her bare hands. She looked at it once more.

"Hindi ito maaari," she muttered. She slowly covered her mouth with her hands while still looking at it at the top of the roof . She can't believe what she was seeing. 

She looked to her left then to her right to check if someone besides her noticed it. Fortunately, there are few students that time and no one were occupying the tables next to the windows. 

And so, she turned around and grabbed her bag on the table. She took off and she didn't realized that she left a book behind. Immediately, she went straight to the exit.

                                                     ***

The white wolf put the stranger's body down for a while. Then, it transformed into its original shape as a human - a human whose name is Adan.  Adan looked down to the garden and he saw Cainnick and Gilhameer running towards the building he was at. And so, he approached the unconscious boy's body and he carried him on his back. He took a little glimpse at the two boys once more. He turned into a beast again. He's still carrying the boy on his back.  

Gilhameer and Cainnick stopped running just when they saw the naked man on the roof returned into an unusual beast again. Their eyes widened when they saw that the large dog disappeared along with the unconscious boy's body. Despite they couldn't see him, they could still feel its presence at that roof top.

"Kailangan nating magtransform!" Cainnick said. His was was focusing his eyes on the roof, searching for a trace to where he was at.

"Saan?" Gilhameer responded. He was scanning around to look for a space for them to shift shape.

"May mga tao pa sa corridor ng building. Baka makita tayo."

"Ay shit!" Cainnick muttered. 

Meanwhile, they can't feel his presence at that roof top anymore. They suddenly felt him around the garden somewhere but they couldn't trace where exactly he was. They were staying alert and attentive since at any time the shiny furred beast might attack them without any warning. With their eyes, they tried to scan the surroundings to see any movements. They felt tensed since his presence was getting stronger. 

Meanwhile, without any warning,he appeared behind them and he rammed Gilhameer by his hard head. Cainnick can't do a thing but to watch his friend thrown away and landed against the golden bush. Next, he bit Cainnick's shoulder. Cainnick couldn't protect himself since it was so sudden. He wasn't even aware that he will be attacked just after a second Gilhameer was rammed. And then the dog threw him to the direction where Gilhameer's body landed.

Everyone among the few students who were at the open corridors of that building never noticed that something's happening at the garden. They neither can see Gilhameer and Cainnick nor the damaged golden bush where Gilhameer landed at and the strawberries that were ruined because Cainnick's body crashed against them. And Cainnick's blood splattered around from his shoulder. They just see the same usual boring view of it like it was nothing happening in there.

Gilhameer , who regained his strength, immediately got up and went to Cainnick. Cainnick can barely stand due to the pain he'd gotten from the impact and the pain he was feeling on the shoulder.

"Cainnick!" He called. He knelt down next to Cainnick's body. He lifted Cainnick's head. 

"Okay ka lang?" He put his left hand on Cainnick's chest and he gently shook him.

Cainnick wasn't responding.

"Cain! Cain!" He yelled as he watched his friend closing his eyes.

"Gising! Gising! Cain!"

Without causing another harm, Adan turned his back on them. And then, he jumped into the air and disappeared. Later, it appeared above the roof of the UPA Building. He was walking through the thin air.

Later, the stranger who was resting on his back suddenly moved. He immediately opened his eyes just when he became conscious again. The wolf/ Adan suddenly felt that the body he was carrying suddenly gained weight. Unexpectedly, the boy turned into a large brown furred wolf. Without any warning, he scratched Adan's back. The dog whined in pain. And then, the both of them fell down to the wide ground. 

                                        ***

Ana was walking on the side of the ground. She was talking to her phone then...

"Hindi ako makapaniwalang sa December ka pa uuwi," She said.

"Ganun talaga anak." Her Dad responded. "Kailangan talagang kumayod eh."

She halted walking. And then she sighed in frustration.

"Na-iintindihan ko naman iyon Dad." She smiled. "Pero kasi  ang iksi kasi ng panahon na nandito ka. Umuwi ka nga noong March pero bigla ka nanamang pinabalik diyan noong April." She whinned.

"Sorry na ah!" Her Dad reacted which made Ana laugh faintly.

"Oh...Musta ka naman diyan? Baka mamaya may boyfriend ka na nang hindi namin namamalayan?" 

"Tay wala pa." She responded. 

"Talaga ba?" He wasn't convinced. " Baka nagkakabalikan kayo ng ex mo ah?" 

"Dad hindi ah! Ewan ko sa kaniya bahala siya diyan sa buhay niya."

"O siya siya..." He then changed the topic.

"Ano? Kinuha na ba 'yong aso?" He asked.

"Hindi ko po alam eh. Pero sabi naman ng may-ari kukunin niya ngayong hapon."

"Ahh... Ganun ba? Basta tignan mo 'yung ate mo. Baka mamaya hindi na niya ma-ibigay 'yung aso." 

Ana laughed. Then, his father continued talking.

Suddenly, she felt a very odd feeling coming from above. She slowly faced to the right , at the grassland. She got shocked when she suddenly saw two beasts fell down from the sky and they landed at the center. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. She had never seen such creatures but in her dreams. Her feet suddenly trembled in fear. But she just saw them for a blink of seconds since the white wolf made themselves invisible just when they landed on the ground.

"Hello? Hello Ana?" Her father was calling her attention. But Ana didn't respond.

"Hello? Andiyan ka pa ba? Ana?" 

She snapped out from being terrified and amazed.

"Andito pa po ako." She finally responded.

"Dad. Tawag ka na lang mamaya. May ginagawa pa ako eh. Sige po. Bye." She hung up the phone. 

"Hindi ito maaari," she muttered. "Nananaginip ba ako?"

Ana looked at the people moving around the plaza. She got puzzled. Why weren't they reacting? Dind't they saw two wolves that had fallen from nowhere at the middle before they disappeared. Can they see what she saw? Why are they acting like they don't see them? Her heart raced faster. She don't know what was happening at all. It was her fist time seeing huge dogs in her entire life. Dogs the size of a small car.

The wolves were circling at the center. They were growling at each other as they creased their snouts and glare at each other. They were in the middle of the plaza where there were a few students strolling around. Yet, no one even managed to notice nor can see them. 

Then, a sudden rain pour suddenly came down. The few students loitering around the wide grassland immediately ran away to the corners of the plaza to take shelter as soon as they felt the raindrops fell down on their skin. 

Ana took shelter in a shed. She looked around to see if she can spot any students occupying in the other sheds. She was alone in that corner of the plaza, even in the other sheds nearby had no occupants. Seemed like all the students preferred to take shelter inside the main building. 

After the brief scanning on her surrounding, she turned to look at the wide ground also known as the 'plaza'. She widened her eyes in horror. She can't believe what she's seeing. The wolves had reappeared. Not only that, they suddenly showed up just a few feet close to the shed she was at. They showed up like lightning.

"Aaah!" she screamed when she suddenly got frightened on their presence. That time, they did't disappear like camera flashes. They remained being shown by the naked eyes.

The wolves immediately looked at the girl who just screamed. Ana covered her mouth by her hands as she slowly took a few steps backward while looking at them. She was so terrified then. Her mind cleared out, turned blank due to the fear. She was trembling.