23:57

17th Incident: Doubt 疑い

Note: Hey! I wrote and finished this chapter in NaritaAirport! Haha!  I know this is getting redundant but thank you for all the people who kept on reading this series! I am currently receiving wonderful messages from you guys and also I got a fanfic too! It's the first time I got one for my ongoing project. I think knowing your perspective about 23:57 in your own writing really surprises me. I mean, you could have been doing something else or be in somewhere else but you chose to read this story and enter the world of 23:57. It means a lot! So, speaking of surprises, I have been surprised immensely this past week. Life has been pretty good. The only thing that I want though is complete sleep. Ha ha! Well, part of being happy is by becoming physically tired. Not complaining, but a nice sleep would be pretty nice. I tend to over eat whenever I'm still up at night. Ha ha! Also, I got a lot of positive feedback about Rio. I really wanted to add this character as soon as possible but I was trying to figure out the best scene to put him. Thanks for your wonderful feedback!

And now, let's proceed to Chapter 17...

"I have to go!" pagpaalam ko kay Rio-kun. Agad akong tumayo at kumuha ng isang dakot ng asin na nasa isang jar na nakapatong sa shelf. Hindi naako nakapagpaalam para manghingi dahil na rin sa nagmamadali ako.

Kailangan ko talagang makauwi agad.

"Saan ka pupunta?" tanong ni Rio sa akin. Excited ang tono ng boses niya.

"I need to go home."

"Wait! You can't go out of Red Cage—"

"I know! The people in surgical masks are currently at the door. But I still need to go if I have these salts." Agad kong sinabi sa kanya na wala na talagang makakapigil sa akin.

"No no no. It's not that. I just want you to pick a card before you get out of here."

Binalasa niya ang tarot card at inilatag ang mga iyon sa mesa.

"Pili ka ng isa!" nakangiti nitong sabi. Nakita ko ang mga mata niyang anticipated sa pagpili ko ng card.

What? Nakuha pa nitong manghula. But I can't just argue with this person, mas lalong tatagal ang usapan. Kaya pumili na ako ng isang card at ibinigay ko ito sa kanya.

"Death Card!" sambit ni Rio-kun na may nakatingin ang mga nanlalaking mga mata nito habang nakangiti. Kasabay nito ang pagwasiwas niya ng card sa mukha ko.

Kinabahan ako lalo kaya mas lalo akong nagmadali. Binuksan ko ang pinto at inihanda ko na ang sarili ko.

At gaya ng inaasahan, may mga naka surgical masks sa harap ng pinto.  Duguan at nakangiti sila sa akin. Papasugod na sila sa akin ng bigla ko silang sabuyan ng asin.

Nawala silang bigla.

Binilisan ko ang pagtakbo. Naramdaman kong medyo nangangalay ang paa ko pero hindi ko na pinansin iyon. Mas importanteng makauwi ako.