From the kitchen, a sandwich hangs from Goldie's mouth as he hears the sound of things breaking. He slowly chews, trying to determine if what he had just heard is something to be worried about or not. “Fuck!”  Hearing Leonardo's distant cursing, he drops the sandwich on one of the kitchen counters, not even bothering to put it on a plate. Scurrying over to the living room, Goldie finally gets a good look at the scene before him. One person is on the floor, in a pool of blood, while the other is taking a pillow out of its clothed casing. Katcha’s head is directly facing Goldie, looking at him as if she were freshly caught tilapia on a hook.  “The phone!” Leonardo shouts to Goldie. Unfortunately, it does not register in his mind yet. He watches Leonardo tower over the young woman and wraps the pillowcase around her neck, putting just enough pressure to lessen the flow of the blood. Katcha groans, her hands reaching out t

Leonardo awakens to the feeling of a soft mattress under his back. From the sight of the ceiling alone, he knew that he wasn’t in the living room anymore. He can hear the humming of the room’s air conditioner, along with a few muffled shuffling from beyond this room’s doors. Knowing that he’s currently in the bedroom, he deduces that everything has calmed down. Even though he had awoken from a vicious fight, not a single part of his body is hurting or out of place. Raising the arm Katcha had stabbed, he took a closer look and could not find a single hint of scarring. It was clean and free from blood. The last thing he remembered was Goldie dragging him away. ‘Is it all because of him?’ The sound of something slowly creaking fills the room. Leonardo turns his attention to the door being opened by Darryl. “Hey, you’re awake,” The young man chimes in. Leonardo sits up from his bed and looks at Darryl, eye to eye. “What’s happening?”

  “Hey, boss…?” “Katcha, you’re late! Are you stuck in traffic?” “Sorry, I’m really preoccupied with my final requirements for this semester. I can’t make it tonight.” “What? You should’ve informed me earlier! Y’know that this is gonna deduct your paycheck, right?” “Y-yeah… I’m really sorry. I’ll make it up to you guys next time.” “Counting on it.” With a short beep, Katcha ends the call. A heavy sigh leaves her lips as she thinks of the possible damage that’ll reflect on this month’s payday. She looks up at Leonardo and Darryl who were quietly watching her from the couch. “Don’t be so dramatic. I can buy that whole salon if I wanted to,” Leonardo says in annoyance. “Feeling confident today, Ninong?” Darryl speaks up as he outstretches his hand towards Katcha, “ Now that’s settled with, give me back the phone. We've got business to discuss.” As she was about to hand it over, Katcha notices the conta

Katcha steps into a multi-purpose hall. There were around five people - all her upperclassmen - occupying the barren space, each of them tending to one part of the room with either decorations or cleaning. A girl with black shoulder-length hair is carrying a box full of decorations, picking them up one by one and putting them back again as if she were only checking their contents. Katcha walks closer to her to get her attention. “Hey, Charlotte!” The other girl looks up, her sleep-deprived eyes instantly light up upon seeing Katcha’s face. “Oh! Katcha!” she exclaims with glee.   “Is there something I can help you with?” Katcha glances at the box in Charlotte’s skinny arms. “You sure you don’t have any lectures or requirements that need to be done today?” “Yeah. I’m free for today.” “I’m so glad. My batch-mates are either asleep or still have shifts in the hospital,” Charlotte sighs in relief, “Some of them are probably too

Katcha stares at her senior being wheeled into an ambulance, her head is lulling to the side as her eyes slowly roll upwards to the back of her head. Her bloody hand held those of her parents. Her jaw shook as her mouth tries to form words, but could only come up with more blood streaming down her lips. People began to gather around the building, murmuring amongst themselves about Charlotte’s condition, and how something like this could happen. The shooter has been long apprehended and came out of the building with his head low, the police keeping a tight hold on him. In the crowd, Katcha notices a face spectating as well, and his eyes were set on the shooter. She meets his eyes and catches him slowly disappear into the sea of people. Her half hooded eyes soon widened upon recognizing her hand unconsciously touches her chest as she comes to realize the sinking feeling that is starting to surface within her. ‘How could they? We had an agreement “Darryl?!” She