CHAPTER 4: Chase

- LIA -

After I cut the call with Althea, I put my attention back to my laptop and continued on searching more about that Dennise.

Almost all of the pictures in the internet that has my photo link to my social media accounts or to my friends'. There are some photos that I know weren't took here in the Philippines, but those photos have no link to go to.

I saw some pictures of me in front of the Eiffel Tower. There was also another one took at the Venice Grand Canal in Italy. There is also a photo of me inside a bar. But there was one photo that caught my attention.

It was Dennise and the man who kidnapped me, her ex-boyfriend. They are inside a fine dining restaurant. Both of them are smiling happily and the man was holding Dennise's hand.

If they are this happy before, I wonder what kind of thing happened to them for that man to be so angry at Dennise. Just one look at the photo and I can say that he is very in love with her, if not in love, then whipped. That kind of love is difficult to surpass, or change in the future.

I closed my eyes. Suddenly, the view of that man earlier went back to my mind. His eyes were bloodshot. He looked at me earlier like I was some kind of criminal who killed lots of people.

I'm sure that something bad happened that made him look at Dennise that way.

I grabbed my phone and checked if Yvette is online on her account. However, she has no activity status listed. I sent her a message.

Me: Hi, Yvette! I want to have a video call with you if you're available. Hindi ko kasi 'to madidiscuss through chat eh. Very important matter kasi. Thank you! (I can't discuss it through chat. It is a very important matter.)

I placed my phone back in the table and continue on searching more photos of Dennise. Like earlier, every photo of her does not have a link or account to go to. Every time I click the link of the photo, an "unavailable" or "removed" text pops up.

Scrolling in my laptop, I already reached the bottom of the page but I still haven't got any leads about her.

I let out a loud sighed. I didn't think that finding information about her will be this difficult.

Perhaps, that lady is really good at hiding. If the man earlier wasn't able to find her, I don't think I can do it. Besides, the old man with her in the photo Yvette sent to the group chat looks like someone who you will not choose to mess with. I'm sure that old man is protecting her.

My deep thoughts were interrupted when I heard that someone is calling me on my phone. I grabbed it and saw Yvette's name on the screen. I immediately clicked answer.

"Hi, Yvette!" I greeted her.

Yvette smiled at me. "Hi, Mahal! It's been a long time. I'm sorry, hindi ko agad nakita 'yung chat mo. I was busy decluttering my room." (I'm sorry, I wasn't able to see your chat.)

"It's okay. I just have a question," I said while putting my earphones and connecting it to my phone. "Nag-usap kami ni Althea kanina. She told me about the photo you sent to the GC when you were in Tarragona. (I talked to Althea earlier.)

Her mouth formed an "o" shape. "Oh, what photo is that though? Nakalimutan ko na kasi ang dami kong si-nend nun." (I forgot what it is since I sent a lot of photos.)

We both chuckled at what she said. Yvette really loves taking photos wherever she go.

"The photo of the lady who looks like me. Do you remember that?" I asked her.

"Of course!" she responded. "I can't forget that. I still get chills whenever I remember that woman."

My eyebrows furrowed. "Why do you get such chills?"

"It's just so weird that you two are look-alike. I almost approached, thinking she was you," she said while raising her eyebrows as if she was telling a horror story.

"Thank, God. I didn't approach her. She's such a bitch," she added that made me raise my eyebrows, too.

"How can you say that? Did she do something to you?"

I am very curious why Yvette told me that Dennise is a 'bitch'. My friend is not the type of person who will describe someone like that, unless they're a real bitch.

"Oh my goodness! Hindi mo alam kung gaano ka-basura ang ugali niya. I didn't even have a direct interaction with her but her actions towards other people say a lot about her real colors." (You don't know how trash her attitude is.)

She started telling me about what happened on that day.

"My family and I were just walking inside the mall when I saw this woman who looks like you," she started. "Actually, it was not me who first noticed her but my mom. My mom said 'oh, is that Lia?' And I looked on the woman she was pointing to, then I saw you!" she pointed her whole hand at me as if we were talking face to face.

"I took a picture, sent it to the group chat, and I was already walking towards you when this woman suddenly shouted 'Idiota!'. You can't imagine how shock I am when I heard that coming from you," Yvette moved her head sideways.

"I know what 'idiota' means, and from our years of friendship, I haven't heard you say that," she moves her pointing fingers sideways as if she was saying 'no'. "Not even a single time."

She continued moving her pointing fingers, this time, her head followed the movement of her hand. "So I said, nah-ah. This isn't Lia. And I backed off."

"I even saw her hit a child just because the child is running, and it bumped into her."

My eyes almost left their eyeballs when I heard that. She hit a child?

"You heard it right, girl! Not only that, when she left the store, she just 'woosh' like throw those paper bags to her bodyguards and get angry when they weren't able to catch it," her hands were doing certain actions.

She continued speaking. "I was like, girl? If you don't want your things fell on the floor, then hand it to your bodyguard properly!" she is clapping her hands loudly while saying those words.

My jaw is still dropped as I listened to her. "Oh, my god. I didn't expect to hear that." I was actually loss for words.

"The old man beside her is just as bitch as well!" She is still not finished telling the story.

Yvette made her eyes bigger. "He also treated their bodyguards like shit, and I mean, like a damn shit creature! Bagay silang dalawa. Parehong anak ni Satanas." (They really complement each other. Both are children of Satan.)

"Did you hear the name of the man?" I asked her.

Maybe, I can get leads if I know the name of the man. I'm sure that there will be information about him and Dennise somewhere. I just need to find it.

"I'm not sure, but is it Sandro? Mando?" she said. She started flicking her fingers repeatedly, which signals that she is thinking of something.

"Aha!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Alejandro! The man's named Alejandro!"

I wrote the name Alejandro under the name of Dennise in my notebook. "Do you know his full name?" This sound like a dumb question.

"I just listened to them from afar. I didn't hear anyone call him by his full name," she answered.

I nodded at her and wrote series of blanks in the page.

"Why did you ask about it, by the way? It's been a year since they vacation," she asked me. Knowing Yvette, she will not end this call without knowing why I am curious about that after a year.

"Something happened today and I think that those two people are the reason why," I told her.

Yvette moved closer to her phone and squinted her eyes. I started telling her about what happened to me. Every word I said, her mouth opens wider than before.

"That's insane! You don't even have an ex-boyfriend!" she exclaimed.

"Right? That's what I told him, but he didn't believe me! He said I was just making things up so I can run away from the bad thing I did, which I never did!"

Yvette sighed. "I will try to ask my Abuelo and Abuela and if they know something about the old man. But I don't think I can get information about, what was her name again? Dennise?"

I nodded. "Yes."

"The fact that my grandparents knew about you and didn't tell me a thing about a woman who looks like you, means that they don't know that Dennise exists. That woman must have been living a life away from media and other people to be hidden like that," she explained to me.

"Yeah, yeah. It will still help me a lot if I can get information about the old man. I can find something about him that can lead me to Dennise."

"Don't worry. I will inform you as soon as I got answers from my grandparents. I will also try to ask some of my friends' parents in Spain," she assured me.

I smiled at her. "Thank you, Yvette."

"No problem."

The call ended after some minutes of catching up with each other. I stretched my back and was about to lay down again when I heard a knock on the door.

I stood up and walked towards it while scratching my nape. I was about to open the door when a small voice behind told me to check the peephole.

My blood turned cold when I saw unfamiliar men outside my hotel room, one of them is the taxi driver who kidnapped me!

How did they find me that fast? Did they follow me? Did someone tell them that I am staying here?

Lots of questions together with my confusion and panicking almost take over my whole body.

"Calm down. Calm down. I need to calm down," I told myself repeatedly.

The knocks on the door became louder. I put myself back together and started getting my things. I put my gadgets, money, cards, clothes, and other essential items in one backpack. If I want to escape, bringing a lot of things will make me slower.

The knocks on the door became loud banging, and then I heard that they were hitting the door with something. I climbed on the window and used the emergency exit behind the hotel.

My steps were making a loud noise as my feet touched the metal stairs. From the stairs, I heard a loud bang from my hotel room. I almost jumped from one set of stair to another just so I can reach the ground faster.

When I saw that I am already near the ground, I jumped down to it.

I got up and was about to run when I heard a cold voice from my back.

"Escaping again, Dennise?"

I slowly looked back. There, I saw the man earlier, but now, he is with two other men. All of them are wearing suits like they just came from a business meeting.

"Seize her," the man said and the two other men ran towards me.

Desperate to escape, I knocked down the large trash bin beside me towards then and ran away. I can hear several footsteps following me. I didn't look back and just continue on running. I need to go to a place with a lot of people.

Thankfully, I reached the main road. It is already nearing dusk, and a lot of people are walking. I blended with the people and walked faster.

On the alley near me, several men on the same type of clothes appeared. I'm not dumb. I know that they are also looking for me. I know that I didn't do anything wrong, but I also know that they won't believe in me.

I crossed the street and ran towards the train station. I heard the personnel announcing that the train would leave soon, so I ran faster. I got my ticket in the machine and because I was in a hurry, I didn't even check if I had a change.

I ran towards the train. My bag was almost squeezed by the door because it is already closing. When I look back, I saw the men who are chasing me on the train platform - in the middle of them is Dennise's ex-boyfriend.

As the train started to ran, I stick out my tongue at him and made a 'loser' sign on my forehead.