The Police Station
"GOOD MORNING, ATTORNEY ROGER SANTOS."
A tall, young police officer sat beside him on the long bench in the police station lounge.
"SPO2 Lyndon P. Romulo, by the way. I'm a friend of Arthur's," the young officer introduced himself. "My condolences for everyone who was killed. Especially to my fellow officers... Art and his brother."
Roger Santos simply nodded in response.
"What you did was bold, but it was wrong, Attorney," he added. "I know," Roger replied shortly.
"I wish you had just stabbed her, or hit her over the head." The officer shook his head. "But you poisoned her! Of course, they'll think you planned to murder your wife. You can't exactly claim self-defense for that."
"Lock me up if you want."
"Do you want to see your brother-in-law, Roli Villaverde?"
"He's not my brother-in-law," Roger replied sternly, giving SPO2 Romulo a cold stare.
"But he's the one who can help you—"
"I am ready to be imprisoned... even for life..." Roger interrupted. That was why he went straight to the police station after killing Clarisse and burying her sister Ara. He was ready for the consequences. His life felt meaningless anyway.
SPO2 Romulo stood up. "Tsk. You're stubborn, Attorney."
Even as SPO2 Romulo's back was turned, Roger continued to watch him. Could he trust this Romulo? He looked like a prankster. He was a policeman, but he looked more like a model because of his features and height. He seemed happy-go-lucky... yet for some unknown reason, Roger felt a sense of ease with him.
"Wait!" he called out to SPO2 Romulo. The officer raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"How did you catch..."
The officer smirked. "Roli Villaverde?" Roger nodded.
"He surrendered..." he said.
Roger was shocked but didn't show it. "F-fine... I'll talk to him."
Romulo led him to a solitary cell in the station. He explained that he had separated Roli from the other inmates because he frequently became violent.
"He hasn't spoken a word since he told us he wanted to talk to you." Romulo pointed to a steel door with a small window. "I'll wait for you here; go ahead and talk to him."
He found Roli slumped on the floor, appearing to be asleep. "Roli..." Roger called out.
Roli lifted his head from the concrete. His face was grimy, yet his sympathetic features were still visible. His eyes looked gentle, as if he were incapable of hurting anyone... truly, outward appearances can be deceiving.
Who would have thought this handsome man, with a face as peaceful as an angel's, was a killer and a madman?
"Roger." Roli smiled upon recognizing him. He stood up and walked toward the door.
"What a waste... What a waste I didn't get to kill you," he said calmly. Roger's eyes flashed with rage. "You animal!"
Roli's face grew sad. "Roger... I love Ara."
"You really are a beast! You even messed with my daughter, you animal!" Roger growled through gritted teeth.
Roli shook his head and looked at him again. "Ara was happy with me... I gave her the attention you couldn't give her because you were too busy with work."
Roger was momentarily speechless. Had his daughter been so close to this man that she shared everything happening in their home?
"Do you want to know why I wanted to kill you?" Roli asked again. Roger remained silent.
Roli continued, "Maybe because Ara is lonely..." Roger just watched Roli's sorrowful face.
"She loved you so much..." he said. "She always told me how much she loved you... and how sad she was that you had no time for her."
"Did you really love my daughter?" Roger asked with a heavy heart. Roli smiled sadly. "Yes... I loved her more than... my wife."
Roger smiled bitterly. "But just like your wife and child, you let my daughter Ara die without a fight."
Roli didn't speak, which infuriated Roger. "What kind of person are you!" He couldn't stop his tears. He wanted to beat Roli; he wanted to lose control!
"Maybe I'm not human. To be honest, I should be called a demon. I'm crazy." Roli sat back down on the cell floor. He wiped his grimy face with his palms. "I love Ara... I love Laurie... I love them... But I could do nothing when Clarisse killed them."
"Why didn't you fight back against Nana?! You son of a b*tch!" Roli looked at him, confused. "Clarisse... she... she loved me..."
"You son of a b*tch!" Roger barked. SPO2 Romulo signaled from a distance for him to lower his voice.
Roger was surprised when Roli suddenly started crying. He was sobbing like a child. This was the first time Roger had seen him so helpless.
Roli looked at him with tearful eyes. "I have no family or even relatives... The Villaverde family took me in. My life became comfortable, and I finally had a family."
"A family of lunatics!" Roger hissed quietly.
"Do you know why I had no family?" Despite the tears, Roli smirked again. "I killed them too..."
Roger caught his breath at the revelation.
"My father caught my mother with another man. Their indecency was known throughout the village... my young mind back then was filled with hatred and malice." He bowed his head again. "I had younger siblings... I didn't want them involved. Our father always beat me, and he nearly killed me. My siblings were always crying. I was just a kid then, Roger... I felt sorry for myself but could do nothing. My father poured all his rage toward our mother onto me and my dad."
Roger didn't know what to say.
"I killed my mother and her lover... I killed them one night when I found them in my father's room. I killed them while they slept... and my siblings were next." He told the story casually, as if none of it mattered.
"You're insane..." Yes, Roli was a killer. But Roger couldn't fathom that he had been killing since he was a child! And the hardest part to accept was that he even killed his innocent younger siblings! "You're crazy, Roli!!!"
Roli shrugged. "It's better that way... the gossip in our village stopped. It's better for the people I love to die than to suffer. When my father arrived, the police arrested him. He was blamed for the crime. There was no investigation; they just took him despite his resistance. In the end, my father was shot when he tried to wrestle a gun from a policeman."
Roger couldn't stand talking to him any longer.
"And when I was alone, I ended up at the Villaverde mansion. They are the reason I am a different person now... a stronger person. For some unknown reason, my self-esteem rose whenever my hands were stained with blood again." He looked at Roger, his eyes blank. "I'm not mad at you for killing Clarisse. Maybe it was just her time to die..."
Roger just bowed his head. His head throbbed from everything Roli was saying.
"She had been through so much in life... Like me, her soul was wounded..." Roli added in a faint voice.
Roger shook his head. "I don't know what to say to you anymore, Roli."
Roli stood up and approached him again. "Bury Ara's body... that crazy Ara." He spoke seriously, with a hint of fear.
They locked eyes. What was the fear Roger saw in his eyes? "I buried her before I surrendered to the police."
"It's not just about burying her... That b*tch will never be at peace."
Roger didn't respond. To him, the 'dead' were not to be feared; it was the 'living' who had the power to hurt you. As long as you have faith in God, evil cannot defeat you.
If Ara was a devil... that was her problem. Despite the strange occurrences, he still didn't believe a malevolent ghost could hurt them. Everything that happened was a result of human weakness. Demons only play with people's minds, using people to hurt others. He had enough. He feared nothing now because he had nothing left.
But Roli was restless. He tried to reach Roger through the small window of the cell door.
Roger stepped back. He didn't want even the tip of Roli's dirty finger to touch him. Roli screamed. "She is one of the reasons we couldn't escape the past. Even now, that Ara is still a little demon. She was a demon while she lived... and she became even more of a demon when she died. Because of her, Clarisse completely lost her mind."
Roger scoffed. "Let's not talk about that woman anymore."
"Clarisse loved you!" Roli shouted. "But you were such a fool... You cheated on her with Maria Ocampo. There would have been no problem if you hadn't cheated. She wouldn't have killed Ara, and they would all still be alive today. Clarisse would be alive and you'd still be together... and Ara would still be alive and I'd be with her. But I guess this is fate... for all of them to die."
"I was a good husband to Clarisse. Yes, I was tempted to continue the affair with Maria, but it ended. That's no reason for her to kill our daughter just because—"
Roli cut him off. "Clarisse's mind worked differently..." Roger didn't answer.
Roli continued. "I was happy to see her life improving since she got married. I rarely saw her anxious or staring into space... I thought she had forgotten her sister. Then one day, I saw her looking at you with sharp eyes while your back was turned. I immediately knew you had done something wrong."
Roger wanted to leave, but a part of him wanted to hear the rest.
"A few days later, I saw her anxious again. There were times her mouth would move as if she were talking to someone... I got worried. After a few weeks, she called me and told me to come home to our province."
Roger felt his chest tighten.
Roli shook his head as he cried while telling the story. "My suspicions were right... my wife and child were dead. Clarisse had killed them..."
"And you did nothing!" Roger said bitterly.
Roli shrugged while weeping. "I thought it was just their time."
"You're out of your mind!"
"I was sad, Roger... I was sad because I loved my wife Laurie and our child. But I was sadder to find Clarisse crying, covered in blood. She was crying and told me her family was about to fall apart... she said you were cheating on her."
Roger looked away. That hit him hard.
"Ara was still young then... just about to become a teenager. Clarisse ordered me to watch over your daughter... and because I missed my own wife and child, I fell for Ara after a few years. Ara was beautiful, kind, and caring. It pained me whenever she was sad, so I always wanted to make her happy."
Roger smiled bitterly again.
"But Clarisse found out about our relationship. She was angry at me. What right did I have to be happy while she was suffering? She was right... I had no right."
Roger glared at the madman Roli with burning hatred. "So she killed our daughter!" he said, his voice full of rage.
"Roger, I won't ask for your forgiveness. I believe everything that happens in the world is destined."
Roger ignored the rest of what he said. He turned his back and returned to the bench he was sitting on earlier. He felt that if he didn't stop talking to Roli, he might go crazy too.
SPO2 Lyndon Romulo followed him, smirking.
"Attorney! Don't take it too hard... Don't worry, eventually, that Roli Villaverde will face the death penalty." He tapped Roger's shoulder.
"Romulo!" Another policeman approached them.
Romulo nodded to him. "Well? Tell Attorney Santos."
"Attorney," the new officer addressed him. "I am SPO2 Antonio Lorenzo of District 5."
Roger nodded.
"The bodies have been found. Madge, as well as the decomposing remains of Roli Villaverde's missing family. They were all in a closet... in a hidden room in Clarisse Villaverde-Santos's old house. There were also several bodies of men who looked like burglars."
Roger stood up abruptly. "J-Janice... the body of Janice Jane Ocampo? Have you found it?"
The two young officers frowned.
"Janice! Janice! Where is she?!" Roger practically shook the thin officer who had just arrived. "Where is Janice's body?!!!"
"Uh... there was no Janice." He shook his head.
"What?!"
"No one named Janice was there," SPO2 Romulo interjected while holding a folder, smiling.
SPO2 Lorenzo turned to him.
"The body you found in Morong, Rizal. The young girl whose body was dumped."
SPO4 Lorenzo nodded. "Ah, Renalyn Mercado?"
"Yes! The one killed at the Ocampos' house!" Romulo added. Roger's eyes widened.
Renalyn Mercado?
Renalyn... Renalyn... Renalyn... That name was familiar...
Where had he heard it? Roger blinked!
Right!
Renalyn Mercado was the friend of Ara and Janice. Renalyn Sandoval—he saw her on Ara's Friendster once when his daughter borrowed his laptop.
Renalyn Mercado was—Rene! "What happened to Rene... to Renalyn Mercado?" he asked immediately.
"Her face was split; she was unrecognizable. She was covered in blood when we found her. She was dead," SPO2 Lorenzo answered. "She's the one found in Morong. We only found out through the autopsy yesterday."
"Exactly! Everyone thought it was Janice Ocampo because Janice Ocampo is missing! And Renalyn was wearing Janice's clothes." Romulo nodded. "Maybe Clarisse mistook Renalyn for Janice. According to the investigation, the killing happened right at the Ocampo residence."
It felt like a horse had kicked Roger in the chest. "I-if that's the case... where is Janice?" Hope flared within him. Tears began to fall.
SPO2 Lyndon Romulo led him to a room behind the police quarters. Roger didn't know why the officer was smiling so broadly. When they reached the door of a room, the young officer whispered to him.
"Attorney... Don't cry anymore. Go make the beautiful young lady inside happy... she just arrived. I'll wait here."
Roger was stunned to see who was sitting in the chair inside the room.
"J-Janice?" His eyes were like a faucet with the continuous flow of tears.
Her innocent and beautiful face, slightly pale, was also filled with shock when she looked at him.
He approached her even though his knees felt weak from nervousness and emotion.
She smiled despite being in tears as well. "I heard Nana say that... A-Ara is my sister... that you are my real father. Is it true?"
"M-my child..." He reached for her and hugged her tightly.
"Papa..." the young girl cried and cried against his chest. "Mama is dead... Tita Madge is dead too... they're all gone..." she sobbed.
"Sshh..." he comforted her. "Everything will be okay... we're still here..." He helped her sit back down and sat in another chair facing her.
"No wonder I loved Ara so much..." she said sadly. "No wonder I look like her..."
"How did you manage to escape Nana?" he asked eventually.
She turned even paler. "N-Nana... she went to see me at the hospital." Roger's teeth clenched and his fists tightened.
"I already knew she had bad intentions for me..." Janice sobbed again. "I knew... I knew because Ara made her presence felt. I didn't know if it was just a nightmare... I was so scared..."
He stroked her tearful cheek to soothe the girl's spirit.
She continued her story. "But because of my fear of Ara, I knew something bad was going to happen. If I hadn't woken up then, Nana might have killed me. I escaped her... I was out of my mind; I couldn't even ask the nurses or other people at the hospital for help. I went through the fire exit. All I wanted was to see Mama. I walked and ran home that night. I went back to our house because I thought Mama and Tita Madge were there. I changed clothes and was ready to leave again... then suddenly, there was a knock."
Roger listened intently.
"I was scared... I thought it was Nana. It was late at night and there was no phone to call for help." She paused for a moment and sobbed again. "I was relieved when I found out it wasn't Nana who arrived. It was mine and Ara's best friend, Rene... She said she ran away from home because her parents wouldn't let her go to Ara's wake. She came to see me even if it was late because she felt guilty for not paying her respects at the wake. She was soaked from the rain, so I let her borrow my clothes... We were together in my room when the power suddenly went out." Janice's body began to shake.
Roger hugged the young girl. He could feel the strong and fast thumping of her heart driven by fear.
"I thought it was just a regular power outage, so I left... I left Rene in my room. I was going to get a candle from the kitchen." Janice suddenly wailed. "B-but when I came back... there was already someone else in the room!"
"What a monster..." he hissed as he stroked the back of the weeping Janice.
"When the lightning flashed, I saw Rene's bloody face... her face was split and she was unrecognizable from all the blood..." she gasped. "Then I recognized the woman standing in front of her—it was Nana!"
His teeth ground in hatred. He could see the events unfolding in his mind...
"In my fear, I hid in the closet behind my bedroom door." She pulled away for a moment and wiped her tearful face. "I saw her carry Rene to the bed and cover her. She was even saying sorry... That's when I heard her say she also killed Ara. She said she loved Ara so much... that she even treated me like a daughter. The only thing she couldn't accept was... that you cheated on her. That's how I found out you were my 'daddy'."
"Oh, Janice!"
"Then another man arrived... she killed him too! I didn't leave the closet until she left. She wrapped Rene in a blanket and took her away... She thought it was me... Rene died because of me..."
They hugged for a few more minutes before being interrupted by a throat-clearing from the doorway.
"Attorney," SPO2 Lyndon Romulo said. "By the way, it looks like you're going to be set free. Lorenzo texted me."