I’m completely blank. It feels like every puzzle piece I’ve worked for seems to not fall rightfully into its place.

‘𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘰’𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯?’

All his parting words made sense. He would not bother stepping into the picture and helping me to seek justice for his mother if, in the first place, he already killed his mom’s killer.

He’s in jail and now I’m alone here at the rooftop of the hotel I’m staying in. The ice-cold railings of the rooftop sent dreadful thoughts into my head.

‘𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭…𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐’𝘮 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥?’ I took a deep breath as the wind blew on my face, with the scent of fresh grass.

‘𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐?' That’s what I force myself to think. I’ve been tormented for weeks. Maybe this feeling of discouragement is normal. I need to pull myself together, I can’t continue like this. I have to choose between the light and darkness. I can’t be in the middle for too long.

I went to Starbucks and bought a grande matcha latte, just to get that sugar rush. A Matcha latte probably ain’t the best option for a sugar rush but I wanted to have something different anyway. The middle-aged barista lady with blonde dyed hair was extremely nice. She even left a short message on my cup though the message on the cup said something odd.

“𝗥𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲”

I put on a confused face and looked at the barista. The barista looked back and gave me a quick wide smile reaching her eyes. I just replied with a small smile out of panic.

I left the cafe feeling much better, ready to continue my work. Accusing Ranky felt wrong. So here I am, reinvestigating everything.

There was this dithering thought that I should not just investigate this in any place. A feeling inside me was suggesting I might have missed something in one of the places I have been in the last few weeks.

Manila…

Sofitel Grand Boulevard Hotel…

ThrillQuest Haven…

Building with four elevators…

Angono…

Marwood…

Old Farrado house…

The bar behind the art-house…

Pines City Executive Village…

Pampanga…

Bunsuran Falls…

‘𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦?’

My mind couldn’t decide so my heart did. It led me to the untouched home of the once greatest detective of his time. Pines City Executive Village. Something always pulls me back here. It’s like I’m attached to it… like I’m bound to it.

This time, I didn’t drive my car in. I parked it on the other side of the road, parallel to the entrance of the village. The road reflected the gloomy sky — it painted gray hues everywhere. Just as I was about to cross the road, I saw a flicker of yellow light from a car. I closed my eyes and readied for the impact. I waited and waited until there was none but silence.

When I opened my eyes, it was already nighttime. The car that was supposed to hit me was nowhere to be found. I wasn’t even in the same place when I closed my eyes earlier! I’m now at the entrance of the village, facing the road. The gloomy sky was no longer gloomy but a bawling dark sky. The streets were painted with orange hues of the street lights.

I tried to move but I couldn’t. I can’t even talk! Suddenly, my feet started to move on their own. Even though I’m not, my thoughts were vague and disoriented.

“𝗛-𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗶𝘁. 𝗛𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝗿, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺.” I uttered those words involuntarily! What’s happening?! Am I possessed? Is this the afterlife?

I walked through the rain, moving towards the other side of the road where a car was parked. Suddenly, I saw a flicker of white light from a distance, a car.

‘𝘋𝘪𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯?!’

I tried to avoid the car but it still collided with me. My sight doubled as my body was pulled by Earth’s gravity. I thought I’d hit the road’s floor but someone caught me.

I couldn’t keep my eyelids open but when I did. I saw almond orbs staring down at me. The person was wearing a mask and a hoodie — I can’t identify if it’s a female or a male. This person feels familiar!

My blood boiled with rage. I tried to reach the person’s face. “𝗦𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆. 𝗦𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗲. 𝗜 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗜 𝗱𝗼.”

The loud horn of a car awakened me. I opened my eyes. Again. I already opened my eyes earlier. Am I dreaming?

The surroundings were different again. I’m now on the road, not in front of the village’s entrance. The car that was supposed to hit me was now here. It wasn’t there a while ago! And the sky… it’s back to being gloomy again! It was already dark and raining earlier… why is it like this?

I turned to look at the driver and he was also different from the one that caught me a few seconds ago. The driver in front of me right now was not wearing any hoodie or a mask. His eyes were not almond brown eyes too.

“𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲?! 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲, 𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗼𝘁!”

I stepped back to my car mindlessly. The flash that I just had… it’s familiar. I had that before. I know I do. I just can’t pinpoint when.

Nighttime. Raining. Orange hues. He pulled the trigger. I love him.

That’s it! That’s the dream I had before I woke up after four days. For it to strike me again… is it not a dream? Is it a memory I’ve lost?

I recalled all of the flashes I’ve encountered since the day I stepped into Angono. All of it was either threatening me because I was meddling too much or trying to kill me. In some flashes, I was witnessing gruesome crimes.

The person that caught me a while ago said something about sadism. That person talked to me like I was not just hit by a car… or maybe it was because it was intended. That person hit me intentionally… but why?

“𝗗𝗶𝗱𝗻’𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗿𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀? 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂? 𝗜𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂?” A voice inside my head spoke.

“𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲. 𝗠𝗮𝘆𝗯𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂.”

The person that hit me… had brown almond eyes. I want to push away the thoughts I’m having right now but only two people come to mind — my girlfriend and my best friend.

Aliana Sidero has brown almond eyes. Viktor Rouge has brown almond eyes.

The person said something about sadism. Viktor said something about sadism before.

Only now did it hit me… Viktor Rouge. Viktor. Rouge. Rouge! Viktor has the same surname as Yuri Rouge. I know I’m making a hasty judgment but it’s too much to be a coincidence.

If it's Viktor who hit me then what was his reason? He may be a relative of Yuri Rouge, but why would Viktor target me? If I really knew something important about the cases, shouldn't I be protected rather than targeted? The cases were not just Leo's, they were Triad Detectives cases. Triad Detectives had Leo Vihollinen, Amethyst Cromwell, and Yuri Rouge as its head.

‘𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘝𝘪𝘬𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦? 𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?' Luis mentioned that there were other two members before him on the Triad Vendetta. Could Viktor be one of the other members? Why would he commit crimes if his relative was a great detective?

Nothing is making sense.

I crossed the road again towards the village entrance with my mind floating elsewhere. Entering Leo’s mansion, it was still the same. I roamed around again. The mysteries were like Leo’s mansion — it never fails to surprise me.

Standing in front of a dark oak door accented with gold, I wondered why I hadn’t seen this before. The door had designs that of a king.

‘𝘈 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘒𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘦.’ That sounds familiar. Like a poker card accented with gold.

I opened the door and I was greeted by a big room. Walking inside it feels heavy. I looked around and the pictures on the wall halted my steps.

Pictures of the younger me were hung on the wall. From childhood to adolescence. I didn’t know I was crying until I felt tears dripping down my cheeks.

“𝗠𝘆 𝗳𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿… 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗳 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘆𝗼𝘂? 𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗳𝗮𝗿?”

I became more determined to solve this mystery. I scattered the case files on the bed trying to find something that I may have missed. I reviewed each case starting with my uncle, Luis Farrado.

I accused Ranky of killing Luis Farrado because he has the same tattoo as the man on the footage of the old Farrado house burning.

Case 1:Reina Dizon

Case 2:Kevin Ferrer

Case 3: Amethyst Cromwell

Case 4: Yuri Rouge

Case 5: Luis Farrado

I’ve combed these cases inside and out but why is it that there’s still something missing? Even the recent killings in Marwood, I looked into them all. I tidied up the messy files and put them all on my desk.

With all the stress I’m going through, even the first folder not being the right side up was annoying me. It was case four’s folder. As I was going to flip it over, the light from my lampshade shone on the folder and I saw something that intrigued me.

“𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸?” I whispered to myself.

I took a closer look and it wasn’t an ordinary scratch mark — it was writing. I took a magnifying glass and carefully traced the marks with a pencil. It’s definitely not English but with the characters I’m seeing, I assumed it was Korean. I’m a little familiar with the characters since Aliana used to buy a lot of Korean instant ramyeon. I rewrote it on a piece of paper with a black pen.

‘답은 시작에 있어’

Thanks to technology, I was able to translate it by taking a picture through Google Translate.

“𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴,” it translates.

‘𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨? 𝘚𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘨𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘮 𝘱𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯?’

My head throbbed when I thought of that. I remember the time Grandpa and I miscommunicated. Speaking of Grandpa, I realized that he just suddenly stormed into my hotel room yesterday. It’s like he came with a purpose… but after Ranky’s siege, he looked like he was here but his mind wasn’t. I didn’t pay much attention though. I haven’t forgotten the picture of him with one of my father’s victims. Even if the same blood runs through our veins, he is not to be trusted. I went back to deciphering.

“𝗦𝗼 𝗮𝗺 𝗜 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗰𝗶𝗿𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴?”

‘𝘙𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦’, I remembered that short quote from my Starbucks cup from earlier. Now I’m just pissed that I realized that I may really be running in circles. That's why every problem I face branches out to another problem.

I need to go far beyond normal thinking — as if that’s not what I’ve been doing in the past few weeks. I’m thinking far ahead, I need to think farther…

I paused for a while and thought, maybe I’m thinking a little way off the cliff. Maybe I’m overthinking, maybe I’m overanalyzing, maybe I’m diving too deep