THE MONSTER

"Try to relax, babe. Everything will be alright." Damian speaks as he stresses the accelerator.


I feel like I am dying already. How Rose and Sherry ended up in that monster's hand remains a puzzle to me, and how I will get them back safe and sound worries me so much. I don't even know where that monster is keeping them, and I don't know if she is hurting them or not. Knowing her, I don't even want to imagine their condition because I will go mad. Every second I get to face this monster makes me realize that, on top of everything that I knew about her all these years, I actually knew nothing! Why didn't I know this side of hers sooner, huh?

"I tried to hold back my dread back there, but, Damian, we both know this woman is a psychomaniac. A serial killer. What if she hurts my friends?" I fume.

"I assure you, we will rescue them before she does anything to them. Trust me." He assures us as we enter the Hilton hotel gate.


I hope we do liberate them soon, because any more mishaps would kill me. They are innocent in this, and they don't merit suffering at all. That monster better not do anything to them.

"We are here. Let's go. We need to make it in the office before we arouse any suspicions." Damian says, opening the door to his side, but I grab his hand first.


"Wait," I speak.

If we are meeting the detectives, then I will have to lay out everything that I know, including my suspicions that Damian doesn't know. I don't want him to be caught by surprise.

"What is it?" He asks, closing the door.

"There is something I haven't told you, but that's because it's nothing but mere suspicion," I say.

"Okay? Talk to me. What is it about?" He turns to me.

"It's about my mother's death. I have a feeling it's connected to all these, so I asked the detective to re-investigate it."

"Wait. I don't follow, Ellie. Your mom died in a car accident, right?" He asks.

"That's what it was made to look like, and it's what we made everyone believe. We kept the truth to ourselves, especially when the investigation hit a dead end. That's why we restricted her hospital room back then to avoid eliciting endless questions and superfluous pressure." I explain.

"What made you believe that it wasn't an accident?"

"She was murdered in the same way nanny Sonnia was murdered. I saw her, Damian. For seven good days, I looked and nuzzled at those baseball marks on my mother's face every single day. They are still so fresh in my mind. And when I saw nanny Sonnia, all the memories of my mother came flooding in. The broken bones too. I can't be mistaken, Damian." I explain with a bleeding heart.

"I still don't understand. Who would have the intent to kill a noblewoman like your mother in such a vicious way and cover their trucks? I didn't have a chance to meet her personally, but the nation spoke highly and respectfully of her. Her stories are still told. So who would?"

"Gracia, but like I said, those are just my speculations, but the hunch is so strong, and all these coincidences are no coincidences at all. This was all plotted. And in our last altercations, she is always slipping out my mother's name. You heard her the day I kicked her out of the castle." I state.

"Gracia was still in your lives back then?"

"It was at that precise moment when my mom was breathing her last that Gracia came into our lives. She budged into the hospital room and posed as my dad's and mom's friend. But something was odd from the moment she walked in. She wasn't there for Mom at all. She didn't even get close to her bed or ask how she was doing. She was there for Papa, and barely a year after we buried my mother, Gracia moved in as my father's new wife."

"According to my investigator, your mom and Gracia went to the same college but they weren't close at all, all because of one guy. Gracia loved him, but his heart beat for someone else—your mother. And the rivalry between Gracia and your mom became so intense that your mom had to change college. They never met again."

"Wait, so they were never friends?" I query.

"No."

"That means she lied in her intro to me, but why? And who was that guy that was causing a feud between them? And where does papa come in all these?" I ask again.

"That's what we are going to find out right now. Are you ready?"

"Sure."

"Are you sure you can handle anything? I am asking because I know how much you love and respect your parents, Ellie. What if you find out something that can compromise your opinions of them, especially your father?"

That's quite tough, but anticipated, because I know there is a root cause to all this. But then, I know my parents very well, or so I believe. I saw how much they adored each other. The reason behind my father's second marriage might still be misery, but I trust that neither he nor my mom did anything that can't be forgiven. They are humans, bound to make mistakes here and there like I have, so what I need to find out is that one grave mistake one of them committed that has cost them so much.

"My parents are both gone, Damian. There is no use in getting angry at them for the mistakes they committed. Come what may, I won't judge them, and neither will anything change my perception of them."

"Okay. Let's go then."

We walk out of the car and walk hand in hand inside the exquisite Hilton hotel, directly to our reserved table of six.

We say hi to the two detectives: the attorney and Drew, the police officer. After the short formalities, we all sink to our seats.

"I am sorry, gentlemen, but my wife and I have to be at the office at the soonest time possible, so we will make this quick. Detectives, what do you have for us?" Damian speaks.