The Second Victim (IV)

04:05 P.M. 

Katrina Fajardo's Residence. 

July 20th, the year 2018. Friday. 

Katrina didn't want to get up from her bed as she glanced at the clock on the bedside table. Her aunt was knocking on her door, but she wanted to be alone. It's her birthday tomorrow, and her friends were asking about her plans. But how can she celebrate her birthday when Carmela doesn't want to talk with her? 

She's been calling her for the past three weeks, but even with one call she made, Carmela always declined it. It's been almost a month since Margo Monteverde's death, and they don't have any updates for her case. Katrina doesn't have any idea if she was the prime suspect in Margo's case. That heated argument might be the cause if she were. 

She also cut off her connection with Tristan Dera, her suitor. She blocked his number right away the day she saw him kissing Margo at the Queen's Bar. 

Katrina glanced at the windowsill of her bedroom. She removed the comforter from the lower part of her body and swung her feet over the foot of the bed. She slipped on some furry slippers and swept the lace curtains aside.

She crossed her arms, thinking about the person who watched the front of her house. She exhaled, remembering the hoodie that covered his identity. Katrina's puzzled about what Mina said about that red-haired girl. She assumed it wasn't the same. They're different personas.

"You kissed Tristan again. I'll bloody hell kill you, Margo." 

Katrina gasped an air as the thought came to her mind again. The one she said to Margo that day at the Queen's Bar kept on hunting her for a month after she died. It felt like every day she spent alone in her bedroom. There was a ghost watching her closely. Prying eyes of Margo will frighten her forever. For the first time since Katrina became sober in her mind, she regretted every word she said on that scene at the bar. 

Everything in her career changes, even though Margo lost first. That was also the day she died. No one even talked about how sorrowful Katrina had been after weeks of those changes. She lost her projects, commercial shooting, and even the upcoming dramas.

She had been waiting for her manager to call her for the past weeks. But it felt like Katrina needed some time to breathe outside of that field. Katrina's contempt for her wouldn't be the reason for her to kill people. She tucked in her hands inside the jacket as she still observed the birds flying high in the sky. 

The loud vibration of her cell phone startled her. She held her chest quietly. She glanced over it and saw the name of Marcus on the caller ID. Katrina picked it up, putting it in her ear. 

"Where are you?" Marcus asked, as Katrina furrowed her eyebrows. The tone of Marcus's voice baffled her, and it felt like he had a bothersome day ahead. 

"Why are you asking me that?" Katrina retorted back, waiting for Marcus's reply.

"Just... tell me where you are, Katrina," Marcus remarked. 

"I'm at my house. Why? Is there something you have to say?" 

"No, nothing. Go back to what are you doing," Marcus halted the conversation abruptly. He hung up, leaving Katrina hanging. She put it down on her bed, glancing at the clock. It was now ten minutes past three in the afternoon. She glanced at the orange tinge of the sky that was now emerging from the middle of the afternoon sun. 

... 

Marcus was pacing back and forth in his office. His worried teammates huddled outside, talking about what happened. It was one hour after Xian's confrontation with that message. 

Marcus called Katrina, asking where she was. Xian might go to ASN Studios and cause a scandal once again. It was safe now if Katrina was in their house. A breath of relief escaped from his mouth. 

He leaned over the door and dialed Mina's number. It rang a few, but Mina answered it immediately. 

"Marcus, what's going on?" Mina asked over the other end of the line. 

"Mina, thank god you answered right away," Marcus gasped. He hurried towards the other end of the room. 

"Why? Why do you sound so bothered about something?" Mina queried.

"I need you to come over to Katrina's house, now," Marcus muttered and held his forehead. He glanced over his desk and he saw another copy of the results from the spy officer he commanded. He assumed that someone so close by was always listening to the conversations. Marcus sensed it was someone he knew or someone who was an acquaintance to them. 

"Why? What am I gonna do there? Is something wrong with Katrina?" Mina asked worriedly. He stood up from the bed, tucking in some jacket over his back. Mina wore off his bunny designed furry slippers. Mina placed it accordingly underneath the bedroom. 

He barged outside of his bedroom. Mina slipped on some sneakers on his feet and leaned the cell phone over his shoulder. 

"Just... please, go there, Mina. I will explain everything to you when everything's settled down. I promise," Marcus panted, taking a seat on the long couch. He waited for Mina to agree with him and he hung up abruptly.

Mina slammed the door behind him. He fumbled for the key to the padlock on the gate and ran over to his parked car at the front. He climbed in, started the car, stepped on the gas pedal. His car zoomed out of the village. 

Marcus stood up from his seat, leaned over his desk, picked up the paper, and stared at it for a long time. It labeled the accuracy rate of the fingerprint testing as ninety-nine percent. He tilted his head to one side as he thought about Katrina's whereabouts. How could her fingerprints be found at that crime scene? 

Marcus closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose. It was illegal to investigate like this. No matter how he tried to search for an answer, nothing came up. He was breaking the rules for the sake of protecting Katrina. 

He jumped at his place as he heard an alarm beeping over his cell phone. He picked it up and was so surprised to see that it was Katrina's birthday reminder. Marcus realized it will be Katrina's birthday tomorrow. But these worst-case scenarios were happening. He snoozed it off and put the papers back on his desk rashly. 

... 

Katrina was still staring out of the window when a car stopped right outside of her house. She stood upright. She saw someone climbing out of the car who Katrina doesn't recognize. 

Katrina furrowed her eyebrows over there. She heard the whistle of the winds as someone limping came out of the car and faced the house. Katrina widened her eyes as she saw Xian over the right side of the car. 

Katrina immediately swept the curtains closed. She felt her heartbeat got louder than usual. She panted, realizing that Xian might confront her with the scandal. 

Katrina doesn't have the audacity to go to Margo's funeral that day. She knew Carmela would push her away even if she did that. The loud ringtone of her cell phone startled Katrina as his aunt came knocking at the door. She answered the call first before opening her bedroom door.