Julie looked at her brother.
Her hands were trembling.
She tried to steady them, but the shaking wouldn't obey her.
"Julie… do you really not remember what happened that day?" Gabriel asked carefully.
She stared at him but couldn't answer right away. Her gaze dropped to the floor, as if the answers were hidden somewhere between the tiles.
"All I remember is that I planned to go home early… There was no competition practice that day. I was still with my friends…" She swallowed.
I wasn't even sick.
"I wasn't feeling unwell," she repeated, looking at Chris—as if hoping he would deny everything.
"Exactly," Chris said quietly. "You didn't have a fever. When Dad brought you to the hospital, there were no symptoms at all."
So I was right.
They lied to me.
Her fists tightened. Her body trembled again.
"T–Then what happened to me?" she asked.
Chris hesitated.
Gabriel spoke instead.
"Uncle found you in a quiet alley near your school. A place almost no one passes. You were unconscious. He panicked. There were no bruises. No blood. Just… your lips were swollen. And your fingernails were bleeding. But you were breathing, so he rushed you to the hospital. I wasn't in the Philippines then, but Uncle told us everything."
An alley?
Near my school?
And then—
The memory shattered through her mind.
A girl running.
A man chasing her.
Dragged into a dark alley.
An argument.
Water forced into her mouth.
Small pills.
Something pressed beneath her nose.
Lavender.
Julie gasped.
The pain in her head returned—stronger this time, like a hammer striking her skull. She shut her eyes tightly.
"Julie! Julie!" her friends called.
"Chris, maybe we should stop," Jonathan said.
"Here—drink," Cielo urged, steadying a glass in her trembling hands. "Please, don't force yourself."
Her fingers shook so violently that Cielo had to support the glass.
I was that girl.
"But why…?"
"Brother…" Her voice was barely a whisper. "Before I got home that day… while I was walking… a man approached me."
She pressed her hand against her head.
"He called me… Crisha."
Silence swallowed the room.
"So the suspect knew Crisha… and mistook Julie for her?" Kenneth murmured.
"Julie, what else did he say?" Gabriel asked gently.
Her chest tightened. She gripped her skirt, biting her lip.
No one was rushing her.
But she knew she had to speak.
Even if it terrified her.
She turned to Cielo.
"C–Cielo… you won't force me to testify for Crisha, right?"
He looked startled, then softened.
"If you don't want to testify, no one will force you."
"Jason? Kenneth?" she asked.
They exchanged glances.
"No," Kenneth said firmly. "You still have a choice."
"You won't be angry?"
Jason gave a small laugh and ruffled her hair. "No."
Relief washed over her.
She inhaled deeply.
"I ignored him at first. I didn't know who Crisha was. I just wanted to go home."
He had smiled casually.
"Wait, Crisha. I didn't know you studied in a public school. I thought you were in a private one."
She remembered how his face was partially covered. A cap. Glasses. A mask.
He removed them.
She didn't recognize him.
He didn't look dangerous.
They were in the shortcut she often used when she was in a hurry.
He kept glancing around. He was holding an envelope.
"Take this, Crisha," he said. "I know you need it. I can't return the passbook my boss's daughter borrowed. But I'll give you money for now. You need treatment, right?"
Treatment?
She stared at the cash in her palm.
I'm not her.
"Please don't refuse," he continued nervously. "If my boss or his daughter finds out I withdrew money and gave it to you, they'll be furious. Don't report me to the police. My family needs me too."
That was when fear crept in.
He was involved in something illegal.
She was scared to tell him the truth.
But she had to.
"I—I'm going now," he said lightly, ruffling her hair.
She forced her voice out.
"A–Ah…"
He turned.
Her courage wavered.
Then his phone rang.
He stepped aside to answer.
She planned to return the money and tell him she wasn't Crisha.
But when he looked back at her—
his expression had changed.
Confusion.
Fear.
Realization.
He approached her again and grabbed her shoulders.
"Are you Crisha?"
His voice was no longer casual.
"No… I'm not Crisha. My name is Julie."
Shock crossed his face.
He quickly put his mask back on. Wore sunglasses. Adjusted his cap.
"I—I didn't mean to lie. I'll give the money back," she stammered, handing it to him.
He snatched it from her trembling hands.
"So Crisha is dead? Damn it…" he muttered.
She stepped backward slowly.
He called her.
She didn't stop walking.
She almost ran—
but he caught her arm.
"I won't report you!" she pleaded. "I promise I'll forget everything! Please don't hurt me!"
His grip tightened.
"I'm sorry," he said. "You need to forget what we talked about."
And then—
he dragged her into the alley.
She fought him.
She broke free once.
But he grabbed her again.
Something was pressed beneath her nose.
Lavender.
Her vision blurred.
When she regained partial awareness, she was still in the alley.
He was there.
With water.
And pills.
"I have to do this," he muttered.
She struggled. Her fingernails scraped against the ground. They bled.
She refused to drink.
He forced the pill into her mouth.
Forced water down her throat.
She choked.
Her throat burned.
Her lips stung.
The world spun.
Her eyelids grew heavy.
Through the haze, she heard another voice.
"Are you leaving her here?"
No answer.
"Let's go. I didn't know Crisha was already dead. Today's her first vigil."
The voice sounded… sad.
And then—
darkness.
Julie's breathing became uneven.
Her hands trembled violently.
Cold sweat soaked her skin.
"Julie." Cielo pulled her into his arms.
Tears streamed down her face.
"C–Cielo…"
The fear she had buried for a year crashed over her all at once.
"Julie needs rest," Dave said softly.
No one argued.
They let her cry.
It was as if she was only now feeling the terror she had locked away.
"It's okay," Cielo whispered, gently holding her face. "You're safe. You're okay."
She nodded weakly as the tears kept falling.
He wiped them away.
He kissed her cheek.
He didn't ask questions.
He didn't say anything unnecessary.
He simply held her.
"Shh… you're safe tonight."
She buried herself in his arms.
And the tears she shed now—
were for the girl who survived that alley a year ago.