Culprit in red
Jay-jay's POV
I want to punch. I want to punch the horoscope. I want to punch the face of Aries the horoscope. You're disgusting to me. I don't know if he's proud that his car that came from my DAD is here. Or he's embarrassed because we're all around him and his new car. And not just any car. It's expensive, and I see it used in telenovelas on TV. The kind that rich people drive. "Nice car." Kuya Angelo said sarcastically to him while holding the car's papers. The papers are complete. Registered and has a license plate attached. "W-what about Aries' old car?" Aunt Gema asked hesitantly . "I will still use itâ€"." "Don't. It's embarrassing with your new car." Kuya cut off Aries' answer. My brother just scratched his head, not having guessed his own fate today. Good thing. "Can't we return it?" Mama asked. "Where do we want to return it? To the buyer or to the seller? Either way, none of them will accept it." Kuya replied. I frowned when I saw my own reflection in the car's body because it was so shiny. It made me want to sing, like Lea Salonga. Who is that girl I see? "Maybe it's better if we talk about what to do with the car later. They'll be late for school." Aunt Gema said and Kuya agreed. "I will talk to you later." Kuya said threateningly to Aries before letting him approach his new car. Kuya noticed that I wasn't moving from where I was standing. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Take me." I begged. He pointed to my brother's new car. "This car is from your Dad. Don't you want to smell your Dad's money?" He was clearly annoyed. I got angry at him, which made him laugh. It wasn't funny. "I don't want that." "How are you going to get in?" "If you don't take me, I'll walk. I can also run, crawl, or roll. Any option is available." He immediately hit me with the back of the head so I quickly moved away from him and blocked my arms. "Take me." I growled. He looked at Aries from inside the car. He shook his head before walking into the house. I thought he wouldn't comply with my request but I immediately smiled when I heard what he said. "I'll just get the keys." I was clapping with joy and quickly blinked when I noticed Aries looking at me. He shook his head before starting the new car and driving away. I hope the tire is flat. It didn't take long for Kuya to come out and let me get in his car. I quickly fastened my seatbelt. While we were on the road, I kept looking at the cars in our vicinity. As well as Aries' car in my sight. A few motorists were looking at his car. It was obvious. "How long will you be angry with Aries?" Kuya asked when we stopped at a red light. "I don't know. It's been a year since I last got a boyfriend, but is it a year since Dad got a girlfriend?" He laughed a little. "Childish Jay-jay." "You can't blame me, Kuya." "I know, I know. You've been looking forward to seeing your Dad for a long time and then you ï¬nd out that he's talking to your brother." He was the ï¬rst to say what I was going to say. I just gave him a thumbs up and faked a smile. He shook his head before turning his attention back to the road. We were halfway through the trip when my cellphone rang. I immediately picked it up and saw Yuri's name. He was calling, which surprised me a little. I just answered the call. "Helloâ€"." ["Keifer! Help me! Someone is in my house!"] He shouted from the other line. I covered my mouth when I heard a gunshot. It wasn't just once and it was different tones that seemed to come from different distances. "Y-yuri! What's going on?" ["Jay? Is this Jay-jay? Oh fvck!"] He answered and hung up the call. "What is that Jay?" Kuya asked but I ignored him. I tried calling Yuri's number but no one answered which worried me. I did it a few more times but still no answer from him. "What's going on?" Kuya asked annoyed. "Let's go see Yuri, I have a bad feeling. Please" I begged fearfully. "Tell me what's going on." "He's asking for help... T-then... Then... There was a gunshot ." I explained hurriedly. "I'll take you ï¬rst, I'll go see him." I shook my head. "Now Kuya! Go ahead!" He cursed one after another before turning the steering wheel. I told him exactly what Yuri had said. There was someone else at his house. The house on the rooftop of the building was my ï¬rst thought. Kuya drove quickly towards it. I silently prayed for Yuri's safety and our safety because it looked like I was going to die early with the number of cars Kuya overtook. I just held on to my soul. I just closed my eyes and waited for the car to stop. We stopped at the parking lot of his building. I walked and ran towards the elevator. Kuya followed me and we quickly got on. I noticed the black bag Kuya was carrying as the elevator was going up. Since I got off ï¬rst, I didn't notice if he was carrying anything or if he was taking anything from the car. When we arrived at the floor of Yuri's house, I immediately noticed the broken things. There was also broken glass or maybe a burnt bonsai. I was running inside but a man in black met me. He stared at me all the way up and pointed the gun he was holding at me. I literally froze and couldn't move where I was standing. I could only close my eyes and wait for my death but someone pulled me and hugged me from the waist. He spun me around and went behind him. Things happened too fast. I just screamed at the series of gunshots. I covered my ears with both hands. What?! What a son of a bitch. "Escaped!" Kuya said annoyed after the shooting stopped. I straightened up and that's how surprised I was to see Kuya Angelo holding a gun. Not just any gun. I knew it had a lot of bullets and they looked like the guns in the SWAT movies I'd watched. "What's that? Where did that come rom?" I asked and remembered the black bag he was holding earlier. "We'll talk later. Go back to the car, I'll take care of this." He said and started walking. But I didn't agree. I immediately followed him and he cursed one after another. He was about to force me to go back but we heard a series of gunshots. I screamed but he immediately covered my mouth. I didn't realize he was pulling me to a corner. "Stay here. Don't come out until I'm gone." He ordered but didn't wait for me to answer. I just sat down like he said. I could still hear the gunshots. Not far away was the crashing of some things . Even if I wanted to stay, I couldn't. I felt like I had to go to Yuri. I felt like I had to ï¬nd him now before something bad happened. I came out of my hiding place with a thud. My ï¬rst thought was his room so I went there. I sometimes duck when I hear a gunshot. I hope he doesn't hit me. After running while dodging bullets, I reached his room but I didn't see anyone else there. I briefly looked inside the room when I noticed that it was clean and his belongings were gone. Were the people who had entered here thieves? Maybe they were robbing Yuri and then got caught that's why they were here now and shooting each other. They were thieves. That's why the person we met earlier was dressed in black . It looked like there were a lot of them and I didn't know if Yuri was with anyone in the house. I briefly thought about their butler in a kimono but it didn't seem like he was here. If he was here, Yuri wouldn't be shooting each other. He would have asked for help right away. I was momentarily stunned by my thoughts. Why does Yuri have a gun? And speaking of guns, I was stunned when I heard the cocking of a gun from behind me. "Hands up." The person behind me ordered and I obeyed. "Turn around." I didn't want to obey but I did it anyway. I slowly turned around with both hands raised. I was shaking while doing it. I was slightly stunned when I saw the person holding the gun pointed at me. It was a woman and her hair was colored. This must be the ginger red I see on the internet. I suddenly thought of the woman in the mall that Yuri had grabbed. I looked at her slightly but because of the mask she was wearing I couldn't see her properly. I could see her brown eyes and her nose was also pointed. "What is your name?" She asked and it was obvious she was struggling to speak English. "I said, what is your name?" She kept repeating. She brought the gun closer to my ace which scared me so much. I panicked and backed away slightly. "What! Name! Name!" I replied in a rush. "Name! Kokeyâ€"I mean, Jay-jay!" She looked at something in one of her hands. I thought it was her cellphone. She raised it and held it up to my face. She kept swiping her thumb. But when she couldn't ï¬nd what she was looking for, she lowered it along with the gun. "I'm sorry, I thought you're an eneâ€"." She didn't ï¬nish what she was saying when I kicked her hard in the stomach. She let go of my grip. He jumped and hit Yuri's bedroom door before falling. "What's the matter, sorry-sorry? You pointed a gun at me, you idiot!" I said annoyed and immediately kicked the gun away from him. He immediately stood up and looked at me angrily. "I guess you are an enemy." He said and immediately rushed at me. I dodged his punch but was followed by another punch. I was hit near the jaw. I looked like I was in pain and he fought back. He hadn't recovered from his kick to the stomach. I immediately grabbed his leg to pull him up and make him lose his balance. He fell down so I took the opportunity to run after him. I didn't have a ï¬ght, he looked like he knew karate. I was almost at the door when he grabbed my leg so I fell. I tried to get up again but he was already on top of me. He punched me in the face and was followed by two more. "Fight me, btch!" He shouted at me. "You're the btch! Listen!" I screamed and grabbed her hair. She screamed in pain. I quickly lowered her and slapped her one after another. She said ï¬ght me. I also managed to slap and punch her several times. If only she hadn't blocked my arms, her face would have been bleeding . I screamed when she punched me in the side and she quickly pulled me away. She managed to get on top of me again and punched me in the face one after another . Because her hair was long, I immediately grabbed it again. Our scene ended in a tug-of-war with punches and slaps . Until she spoke Japanese, but I couldn't understand her so I cursed at her in Tagalog. "You bastard! You're still pointing a gun!" I said in shock. I managed to push her away from me. I immediately stood up and she did the same . She ï¬xed her hair before raising both ï¬sts. I also ï¬xed my hair and raised both ï¬sts. It was like we were in a video game waiting for the player to press the controller. "Who the fvck are you?" He asked me. "Guess what, you idiot!" I replied, clearly not understanding. He also looked annoyed. He immediately attacked. I thought he was going to punch me but he kicked me. I immediately blocked my arm but it wasn't enough so I still fell. He immediately came towards me but I managed to kick him in the stomach. He threw himself. I quickly stood up and he did the same but this time he was holding the gun I kicked earlier. Amputee! Lose! Before he could point it at me, I immediately rushed at him and hugged him tightly before knocking him to the floor. Our ï¬ght ended in wrestling. Because of my exhaustion and shortness of breath, I didn't realize he was on top of me. He aimed the gun and was about to point it at me. But something hit him in the back of the head and he lost consciousness. He fell next to me and I quickly got up. I immediately looked at the person who did it and immediately hugged him when I recognized him. Yuri. "It's good that you're okay." He told me and hugged me too. "What's going on? Who are these people? What do they need from you? Did they steal your stuff?" I asked one after another after breaking away from him. He held my hand. I looked at his hand holding a gun. "No time to explain. Let's go." He said and was about to pull me away but I stopped him. I could smell gasoline and burning things from somewhere. It was obviously not far from where we were standing. "Do you smell it?" I asked and Yuri sniffed as well. "Smells like something is burniâ€"." We both froze as the smell got stronger. Besides that, there was smoke billowing from the ceiling and walls. "Shit! They're burning the house!" Yuri shouted, making us panic . We were about to run away when I remembered the woman. I immediately stopped Yuri. "How is she?" I asked in a panic. Yes, we kicked and trampled but I'm not a bad person to let her be left here and cooked in the ï¬re. Yuri couldn't think anymore. He immediately approached the woman and took care of her. He also picked up the gun and cellphone from the floor. I helped him carry the woman to him. We quickly ran out of his room. I suddenly remembered Kuya. Maybe he would be left here and what would happen to him. "Kuya! Kuya Angelo!" I called to him as I walked. I coughed several times because of the smell of smoke. I bent down and stopped several times but I couldn't stay long. That's how shocked I was to see the other side of the house engulfed in flames . Since it was made of wood and paper, the ï¬re spread faster . "Kuya Angelo!" I called again and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw him running towards us. I hugged him and he did the same to me. I watched him to see if he was hurt but it didn't seem like he was. He was still holding the gun he was carrying. "Let's leave!" We immediately walked away. We were close to the elevator but we heard a loud explosion. I just felt myself fall to the floor and Kuya's body on top of me. I heard another explosion and the house was completely engulfed in flames . Kuya immediately stood up and picked me up. I couldn't help but stare at the house before the ï¬re exit door closed . I knew that house was important to Yuri's family. I wanted to be angry with the people who rushed here. They had already robbed and burned the house down . I knew the ground floor was still far because we were coming from the rooftop. I could see how tired they were but they didn't care. It was just important that we could leave. "Damn it! When we get home, go on a diet, Jay!" Kuya said angrily. I didn't answer because it might just annoy him more and tire him out more. It took a long time before we reached the parking lot. We immediately got into Kuya's car. They were both panting heavily while inside the car. I could hear the noise of the ï¬re engine and ambulance outside the building. "Care to explain?" Kuya asked Yuri. Yuri briefly adjusted the woman's bed next to him. "Let's get out of here." Kuya immediately drove. I didn't know where we were going. I was still stunned by what had happened. We had just come from the shooting, I kicked and wrestled with a woman I didn't know and we almost caught ï¬re. Everything happened too fast. I looked at my bag when I heard my cellphone ring. It was a good thing I left my bag in the car. It turns out that it was gone earlier because of what I was doing. I saw Keifer's name on the screen. I hesitated whether to answer or not. But I knew he was worried so I answered anyway. ["Jay-jay!"] Ci-N's voice came to me. ["Where are you? Keifer is already rolling around in worry."] He said and laughed. "Ci? Can you give Keifer the phone?" I tried to sound normal but there was still a trace of tiredness in my voice. ["Ukie."] I heard him talking to Keifer and handing over the phone. "Tell Keifer to meet us. Maybe at Alvin's house." As Kuya's introspection made me look at him for a moment. ["Jay? Is that Angelo? Where are you?"] Keifer asked from the other line. "Yes, Yuri is also with us. We'll meet at Sir Alvin's house." He paused for a moment. He also mumbled something and I heard Felix answer him. ["I'm on my way now."] He answered and hung up. I told Kuya what he had answered. We were silent the entire trip until I gradually noticed what we were going through. Why did it feel like we were going to the forest?