Chapter 15

“Yes.”

It was the only thing Denzo heard.

All white.

All light.

The only other thing is a figure beside him.

A figure he doesn’t know.

A figure he doesn’t recognize.

And yet, a figure he felt familiar with.

For each step a door appears on each side. Like a hallway in a building.

Still all white.

For each door he reached his hand to open it.

‘Yes.’ The surroundings bellowed once more.

And once again he turns the knob, and once again it is locked.

This went on for as long as he could remember. He doesn’t know when it started,

Nor can’t he wait for it to end.

He got tired. He started to run. He was skipping doors for he assumed it would be the same.

He did this again and again for long stretches of doors.

The longer he went the more he doubted.

What if he passed it? What if he didn’t?

What if the one unlocked was ways behind?

Would he have to check it?

Where?

So many doors, so many chances.

Was it wasted?

So many questions have been asked as he frantically opened any door that came in reach.

And it went on for long.

As his hope slowly drained from his heart.

From his eyes.

From his cheeks.

His feet grew tired and weary.

His hands reached slowly but surely.

He never knew it, but he had slowed once more.

Slow enough to check every door.

‘Yes’ once again he heard. But he was used to it by now.

He reached blindingly, routinely, not expecting, until…

‘No..’ He heard.

It wasn’t the surroundings that echoed.

It was the figure.

He turns his head to gaze at the figure.

Its face, He knows it now.

The blankness had been lifted, and beneath,

T’was the face of his mother.

He opened the door.

There was loud cheering coming from beyond as the white from the hallway grew brighter as he entered. The brightness stung his eyes so much he had to avert his gaze as he paced forward into the place behind the door. Little did he know, the room had no floor.

‘Shi--!!’

Denzo leapt up from where he slept, Shocked but confused. He staggers around trying to make sense of the space he was in as he felt a few bottles getting toppled by his feet. He rubs his eyes to restore his blurred vision as he finally gets a glimpse of the sunday morning sun, shining through the curtains of the living room window. It took his brain a few wandering seconds for it to register that he was awake before he could finally make sense of his surroundings. First of all, the T.V was on and the volume was loud enough to qualify for a movie theater, it was playing a rerun of a football match from weeks ago and the crowd was audibly breaking the speakers on the television. He quickly shuts it off as he realized he dozed off sometime past midnight, leaving it on for the whole duration of his sleep.

The couch that he slept on was dotted with crumbs from the pizza he had for dinner the night before along with bags of potato chips, as he suddenly remembered having a midnight snack afterwards. The floor was a mess of beer bottles and soda cans together with the crumbs of food that failed to stay atop of the couch as he spotted a couple of cockroaches scuttling away as he went around his little area of mess. The coffee table didn’t look much better either as the pizza boxes piled up like the mound of trash that it is along with the half empty soda can that, upon close inspection, has a line of ants going up to its mouth.

And then the worst thing happens.

He suddenly remembers that Uncle Thor was coming home.

Meanwhile at the Hospital the Robbies had been up all night as they clump together inside one of the wards near intensive care. Nica’s father was still recovering from the heart attack he suffered the night before and they opted to stay by his side despite the doctor's advice. They’ve been also bombarded with questions after the incident which kept them wide awake during the whole ordeal, as they had to relive the incident over and over again, so they could help the authorities in catching the source of these attacks. Nica felt her eyes stinging, sore and red from being up so late. Her eyelids were heavy but her mind was wide awake. She was in an in between state of wokeness and asleep. She grabs her phone for the nth number of time, it was already seven in the morning and she could smell the scent of coffee coming from some place. She looks at her mother who had already fallen into sleep beside her father, both snuggled together, their hands grasping the other snugly. She smiles at the sight of this and feels peace, at this moment she knows that things will be fine now, as she walks out to search for, and indulge herself, in a warm cup of coffee.

...

Fingers flip furiously at the stack of old vinyl records that were collecting dust inside the storage cabinet underneath the stairs. He was scrounging around the house to find an adapter socket for the vacuum as he had planned to use it and whilst finding it, he got sidetracked by Uncle Thor’s old vinyl player, which somehow still worked. He flipped through Beatles, Sinatra, Nicks, Fitzgerald, Floyd but none had piqued his interest. He almost gave up and went back to finding the adapter instead, and as fate conveniently willed it, right beside the adapter was the old record he was looking for.

‘Huh… ‘ He muttered as a smile grew on his lips as he unsleeved the vinyl from its cover and laid it flat on the turntable.

‘Finally, some good music for a change.’ He said as he looked at the purplish maroon cover of Dexy’s Midnight Runners.

He plugs the vacuum in as he goes around the living room with a spring in his step. Denzo vaguely remembers that he dreamed a dream that night but he couldn’t remember what the dream was as he topples the empty bottles of beer once again. He remembers the feeling of it being more of a nightmare than a dream but he felt confused as he seemed to be in high spirits today. But as of the moment none of those mattered as he only got a few hours before the old man rolled out on the front door expecting a neatly kept house. It took him an hour and a half to get everything sorted, with the occasional smoke break or two in between when he had to switch records but nonetheless he got the job done before 10 o’clock. He took a quick shower and figured he’d prepare a little breakfast for himself as a reward for a job well done. He took some eggs, a pack of sausages, onions, garlic, a stick of butter and some cheese as he fired up the stove to cook some tasty omelettes he saw on the internet the other night. While waiting he took Uncle Thor’s mug and made some hot coco with a generous pouring of milk and honey, too bad there were no marshmallows in the cupboard but for the moment it would do. He also was feeling lazy to cook some rice so to compensate he cracked another two or three eggs and scrambled them until they looked fluffy. He served them besides the omelette and seasoned it with a bit of salt and green onion for color. All that was left was to watch some anime from his phone while he dined on his breakfast of eggs and meats as “Too-Rye-Ay” played in the background.

He was in the middle of finishing his hot coco when a message popped up on his phone screen.

“Can you come by around 1pm? Something came up and I’m not being released yet.”

Denzo looks at this with a puzzled stare. ‘What’s happened now?’ He asked as he picked the phone up to call Uncle Thor.

...

“Last night the ASEANA Business park had been invaded by what the police are calling The Raids. As multiple areas within the Paranaque - Pasay area had been invaded and vandalized with racist slanders and signs, with most of the Korean and Chinese stores and restaurants being vandalized and broken into. As of 5am local time the Philippine government has announced the whole Metro Manila area to be put under a state of calamity as The Raids have also been affecting multiple areas inside the Capital, most notably “gated” residential areas around Quezon City, San Jose Del Monte, Meycauayan and Marilao. Other affected areas are San Juan, Makati, Taguig and some areas in Mandaluyong City. Mass destruction of private and public property have been tallied to reach around a quarter of a billion dollars in damages and is steadily growing as investigations continue. Also this just in, there have now been arrests of the main perpetrators of what the police are now calling a ‘mass terrorist plot’ and are now investigating the leads to get to the source of this attack. For all we know as of now authorities strictly advise:

Stay indoors at all costs.

For a more in depth news on this story we now have Selena Sandoval reporting live on scene:”

Nica was having her breakfast at the Hospital’s cafeteria when the news broke out. It was the first time she had any clue about what was going on. She thought that the incident at their home was the only one and was thankful that they had walked away with no casualties but now knowing that the incidents were widespread during that night gave her some discomfort. To think that others had suffered the same fate made her sick as it could easily be life threatening and gravely pained her to think that there might be a family out there who wasn’t as lucky as hers was during that night. She puts down her fork and slides her plate away while her appetite steadily vanishes from her system. For now the coffee will do, as she takes it close to her person, feeling its warmth as the scent coming from the froth slowly eases her mood. It is, ironically, a beautiful sunday morning outside. The skies are the bluest she’d ever seen them and the flowers near the window are as colorful as they have ever been. She felt sad as she couldn’t bring herself to enjoy them as it had been a tragic night for a lot of people, she thought if things would have been different this would’ve been perfect for her today, but as life goes, not everything goes your way and for some reason she felt like this was some sort of punishment for some sin she had done in the past which made her feel even lower that she already felt. And from where she sat, she gets an ominous view of the police squadron storming in through the hospital’s gates.

...

The phone rang atop the Uncle Thor’s bedside table as he watched the news about The Raids being televised on various news outlets. He had been recently moved back into his private ward after the influx of patients came in the night before. He speculates that he’d be isolated once again for questioning after the sad events that transpired. He answers the phone to hear his grandson on the line.

‘What now old man?’ He asked, annoyed.

‘I’m being checked in again, I think…’

‘What? Why? Are you sick? Did they find something?’ Denzo responds again with concern in his voice.

‘No I’m fine, it’s just the cops want to question me because of last night.’

‘Why? What do we have to do with the other break ins?’

‘Have you seen the news yet Denzo?’

Denzo paused, contemplating for a moment whether or not he should lie about this but sensed that there was no use in doing so and answered him appropriately.

‘N-no… I think?’

‘Ya think? Well if you actually bothered to watch it you’ll be asking yourself how lucky you were last night that no one bashed your head in while you were sleepin.’ Uncle Thor responds as Denzo rushed to the living room to check on the news as he witnessed the incoming reports concerning “The Raid” unfold in front of him.

‘Oh wow…’ Denzo replied.

‘Yeah so lock the door and get here before 1pm. Cuz the police would like a chat with us.’ Uncle Thor said. The both of them said their farewells and Denzo put down the call as he resumed his breakfast which he now brought to the living room so he could watch the news. It was a horrid sight as he watched stretchers upon stretchers of bodies being carted out of various houses. Some of them were from the attackers and there were an unlucky few from the homeowners. Either way Denzo felt a strange rush go through his veins as he felt somewhat entertained by this spectacle in the same way he would be entertained while watching a superhero movie. As the news went on, Denzo suddenly felt an urge to double check the locks and windows around the house as if a sudden paranoia crept in under his skin. He goes up to check his room and Uncle Thor’s to see if anything was broken and stolen into and upon visually confirming things, resorts to his Grandfather’s logic that he would be dead if someone had broken in. He hears his smartphone once again ringing downstairs as he rushes to answer it. It was Uncle Thor once more and this time his voice was urgent.

‘Are you ready?!’ He asked, his voice was now close to shouting as Denzo felt the pressure from the other end of the line.

‘Nope… I just finished breakfast.’ Denzo answered.

‘Oh goodness.’

‘Why?’

‘The Cops are here, kid, looks like we might have the interview a bit earlier.’

Denzo rolls his eyes upon hearing the statement as he goes back to watch T.V on the sofa. ‘Well I can’t get there any faster, so, yeah… I’ll be there…’

‘Goddammit Denzo just-’

The call abruptly cuts off after Denzo swipes off his phone. The old man almost threw his phone out the window from frustration but then again, the police intruded so suddenly that he himself was not ready.

‘So when is your grandchild going to arrive Mr. Elvin?’ Said the cop who stood beside his bed.

‘Give him an hour, he’ll be here’

‘Fine… let’s start the questioning then, former Staff Sergeant Elvin.’ The cop said with a grin as Thorasis let out a grim sigh.

...

It had been no more than an hour after the call when Denzo walked into the doors of the densely packed hospital where the old man was being held. He quickly makes a beeline towards his quarters only to find out that it was packed with the police surrounding his grandfather.

‘Denzo!’ Thorasis exclaims.

‘You must be the grandchild.’ Said the detective in charge as he approached the boy. ‘Inspector Sonny Pedrosa.’ The man said as he extended his hand towards the boy.

Denzo paid no attention and looked past the detective to check on his grandfather.

‘What’s with the ankle brace?’ He said.

‘Well looks like you’re allergic to bullshit.’ The detective remarked. ‘And at such a young age too…’

‘Anyways to cut it straight Denzo we’re putting your grandad here under hospital arrest for his own protection.’

Denzo squints his eyes. ‘Protection? From who?’

‘We have our leads...’ The detective replied sternly.

‘Hush hush huh? I can tell… you don’t have to run me in circles.’

‘Smart kid… well in any case we advise you to stay away from the Elvin residence for a while. I’m aware that you’ve also been quite a delinquent aren’t you?’

Denzo was taken aback by the Inspector's statement, feeling betrayed that Uncle Thor had told them about his situation as he felt an unwanted presence behind him akin to a cold chill one feels when they open the freezer.

‘Mrs Kalma…’ The detective gives her a polite nod as he sidesteps to give them room to discuss.

‘Thank you detective… Denzo we--’

‘No.’

‘I believe you have no choice kid…’ The Inspector interjects. ‘I don’t care what kind of bad blood you have with your parents. That house is off limits until we can clear this case, we don’t don't know if people are still after you or not and civilian safety is our primary concern here.’

‘Denzo, let’s come home… you can be safe there.’ His mother said.

Denzo looked perplexed for a moment as he exhaled a huge sigh as he looked at his mother in disdain.

‘Dude?’

‘It's Inspector Pedrosa...’

‘Wouldn’t that setup be a pain?’ The boy asked.

‘Why? Cuz it’s far from your school?’

‘Exactly. What if they were monitoring me or something? That leaves them with plenty of chances to attack me or worse I might lead them to “their” household.’ He argued as he pointed to his mother.

‘We could always put someone to be on guard undercover.’ The Inspector responds in kind.

‘Yeah but we’re kinda out of the way from the cluster of incidents aren’t we?’

‘Denzo just come home okay?!’ His mother frustratingly shouts as she butts into their conversation. ‘Stop trying to convince the Police to make things go YOUR way again. You don't know how many people are worried about you.’

‘I could care less about them…’

The Inspector felt a surge in his blood pressure as he suppressed his urge to slap some sense to the child but he knew all too well that such methods would only make things worse.

‘Tell you what kid I’ll cut you a deal. You can stay in the Elvin residence as much as you like, we’ll even give you security to keep you safe at night.’

‘Cool… that’s nice of you to listen--’

‘But, you’re gonna have to wear an ankle brace. A small one that you can conceal in your pants so we can track you anywhere and everywhere you go.’

‘Bullshit what for?!’

‘For your safety.’

‘Bullshit.’

‘Or you can stay at home and we won’t even monitor you and you’re free to go anywhere you please. How’s that sound?’

‘And what about their safety? What about school? What if they attack?’ Denzo raised his voice as he questioned the deal the Inspector was making.

‘Kid I’ve been doing law enforcement for 30 years and I can tell you in their eyes, whoever did this, you're just some kid who got in the way, a sideshow bob with zero importance.’ He said as he could see the boy’s ego shatter in front of him. ‘It’s your grandfather who was the target, even if you didn’t sneak out that night they’d still attack him. Whether or not you were there when it happened didn’t matter.’

Denzo’s eyes slowly filled with shock and confusion as the detective’s words kept stabbing him as he spoke. He turns his attention to Uncle Thor who looked guilty of reporting everything that happened to the police while he was gone. ‘You knew i sneaked out that night?’ The boy asked. ‘Why didn’t you stop me?’

‘You always had your way Denzo… How could I stop you?’

A long silence filled the room as the people inside were waiting for Denzo to reply, for them there was nothing more to say. Whether or not he resisted they would still make him live back with his parents even if they had to take him by force, as they readied themselves to spring forward to restrain him should he decide to run.

‘Fine… but i’ll go back alone, no escorts…’ The boy said flatly.

‘Denzo I…’ The Inspector gestures his mother to stop as he nods in agreement with the boy, but not without a parting gesture as he firmly gasps him by the shoulder.

-MAKE SURE YOU DO-

Inspector Pedrosa said sternly as he looked Denzo in the eye before letting him leave the room. Denzo on the other hand was shook as he punched the wall in anger. He promised his former self that he’ll never be intimidated again but in the end he had lost, he felt weak, he felt himself reverting back to his old self. The one he had buried. The one he thought he had killed but as he was now discovering, the old self really never left, it was just hiding. And now it whispers to him tugging on his heart and telling him to run, to run and cry like the coward that he is. An old insult that he tries to live down upon.

As he hears the adults speaking through the door. He can’t help but think that they’re plotting and scheming ways to betray him again. He felt fragile upon this thought, he can feel his knees weaken as once again he felt alone like he used to. He looked around as he felt the walls caving in on him, he wanted to walk but his feet stayed planted, he wanted to cry but his current self wouldn’t let him. It was a mess, and it was taking a tremendous amount of strength out of him to keep himself composed as he worried that the adults inside might come out and see him looking pathetically frozen as he struggles to move to save his pride.

‘Are you ok?’ A voice chimes in just in front of him. For some reason the tone and the nature of it lightened his mood. Like a huge weight magically disappeared out of thin air.

‘Are you… O-K? He heard her again. This time he realized it was from a girl, and for some odd reason, she sounded familiar.

He looks up.