70 A Mysterious Call

The boys' spirit jumped upon seeing Dr. Alvarado who appeared to be jovially smiling at them or to Jamie in particular. What puzzled them was his intention which they had no clue.

"Why does he seem friendly to me?" Jamie asked himself.

"There is something he wants from you," Tonton replied matter-of-factly.

"What could it be?" Kiko asked.

"Did anyone dream about this?" Bogart also asked.

Nobody answered.

Tonton: "I did not have any dreams or visions about us or Subangdaku in the last few nights."

Kiko: "It's the dead end, right?"

Jamie: "It feels like it."

Bogart: "Come on, guys. We can't give up now."

Silence again.

Tonton: "Can we really move forward from here?"

Bogart: "Of course, we can!"

Tonton: "But for what cause?"

Kiko: "We might not only put ourselves in danger but our family and loved ones, too."

Tonton: "Does Dr. Alvarado know about us?"

Jamie: "It is possible. Two encounters with him and by now, he could be investigating us."

Bogart: "Guys, what are you talking about? You are just assuming things."

Kiko: "But what if they are true? Then we are done."

Jamie: "Kiko is right. We now know that Dr. Alvarado is an evil man. He is dangerous and fighting against him may be a battle we cannot win."

Bogart: "But guys, we made it this far. We cannot go back now."

Kiko: "Bogart, you need to understand that this is not only about us."

Bogart: "I know! This is also about Subangdaku."

The three boys stopped arguing with Bogart. There came a ring in their hearts when their friend mentioned the district's name.

"Can we really be Subangdaku's heroes?" Tonton whispered.

Silence. The day was hot and so was their argument. They had bantering before but nothing was as serious as this. Did they just hurt each other's feelings by being openly honest?

"If you do not want to go on," Bogart said angrily, "then fine. I will do this myself. I must do something."

Quickly, Bogart turned around and left his friends. Instinctively, Tonton reached out and held Bogart's arm but the latter was so emotional that he forcefully flung his friend's hands. Tonton did not expect that so Bogart's action caught him off balance and he fell on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Kiko yelled. "You are hurting him."

"Sorry," Bogart said crying, his tears streaming down his face. "I did not mean to do that."

Once again, Bogart turned around and ran away from his friends. He felt bad that they had come to a point that they would be quarreling about Dr. Alvarado. He felt worse for unintentionally hurting Tonton.

"Shouldn't we follow him?" Tonton asked.

"Let him be," Jamie answered. "Let's cool down for a while. We can't think straight in this situation."

The two nodded.

"Let's get home for now," Jamie continued, "and think of the best thing to do."

Slowly, the three separated and went their separate ways. Meanwhile, Estella and Sonny saw everything what happened through their car's windows. They had just passed by the church when they saw the fat boy pushed aside his friend. The other two boys quickly moved forward but stopped uncertainly. After brief talks, the fat boy moved away and in few minutes, the other three boys also left separately.

"What happened to our boys?" Estella asked.

"It seems they got into some misunderstanding," Sonny answered.

"Just like any boys, right?"

The two chuckled. They had been too busy eversince they featured Loduvico's miracle on Friday's evening news. Besides on doing follow-ups on the escalating number of deaths in Subangdaku, they were also making an exclusive about the miracle healing. They witnessed firsthand the incident at the marketplace and it was believable. If it was just some magic trick, then it was done flawlessly.

All throughout Saturday, they swept Subangdaku to interview Loduvico's family and friends. They went back to the schools he attended and places he worked in, and talked with the people who knew him. It was an arduous task as there were not too many records about him. Featuring him was Estella's idea which was instantly approved by the television management.

They went back to the market area that Sunday morning and the atmosphere was more hair-tingling than ever. They saw how the large crowd gathered and bowed before Loduvico. They saw how the sky seemed to open up and lit upon the man. It was a moment that should be written in history. Sonny recorded everything and he could clearly imagine how the feature would run.

They also dropped by the local churches and randomly interviewed people. Indeed, the mass healing at the market stirred such controversy that pastors and clergymen sounded bitter about it. Loduvico was slowly snatching people away from them.

"I regret not recording Loduvico's first miracle healing," Sonny confessed. "We were there but did not mind it."

"It's fine," Estella said. "The management is not even interested about it until it blew up."

"Did you expect it will grow this big?"

"No. It was nothing special since too many so-called prophets and God's servants do faith healing. Loduvico's timing is just so perfect. It happened during an outbreak when people are so desperate for a cure."

"And while there is none, they will continue to cling into their faith in the unexplainable."

"Exactly. All eyes are in Loduvico right now."

"Loduvico is the man of the hour."

"And we should be careful about our feature. We should tell his story without being doubted or hated by our viewers."

Sonny nodded. They hurried to their office and immediately worked on their news feature all through afternoon. As expected, it was viewed by many people when aired that night. Once again, Estella dominated the ratings during the timeslot. Her superiors were quick to give her a call and congratulated her along with Sonny.

It must have been nine in the evening when she was finally able to rest. She massaged her temple as she slumped on a seat. She yawned, longing for her bed. It was a tough week and it would continue as long as the outbreak did not stop. Estella was about to stand up when the telephone beside her rang. She looked at it, uncertain who it was. The last of her bosses called ten minutes ago and she was not expecting any more calls. She was not really fond of answering unsolicited calls.

She looked at the door of their office. Sonny must have been waiting for her downstairs. He volunteered to fetch her home that night. She looked back at the telephone which was still ringing. She did not want to answer it but her guts told her to take it. Reluctantly, she answered it.

"Hello," Estella said. "Who is this please?"

"Is this Miss Estella Bermudez?" a shaky small voice from the other line said. "I have something to tell about the outbreak but you must not tell anyone about this."

"Is this some joke?"

"No, it is not. Just listen-"

"Tell me now or I will hang up."

"It is Dr. Alvarado. He caused the outbreak."

Immediately, the line went dead. Estella listened to the statics but indeed, the caller was gone. She put down the telephone and stared into space, shock and confused of what she had just heard.....