*Season's P.O.V.*
It's like the adrenaline from earlier had finally wore me out and as I breathed a heavy sigh something dawned on me.
I killed someone.
I looked down to my feet where she laid lifeless after our combat and my blood ran cold. I don't know what's more bizarre, the fact that I managed to duel with a mythical creature without being nothing but bruised, or the fact that I had actually killed a person. Either way it scares me. I can't believe that I managed to do such a thing. And moreover, I can't seem to recognize where I am now.
Aside from not being a resident of this area, this is a foreign country to me too. And at the course of our fight, I didn't notice that the aswang had flown us to the forest. First of all, it works well for me that we are in a secluded area, hopefully, nobody had seen us or heard us so that nobody would know about the crime I made. Once again I sighed and my gaze fell over to the dead lady.
Human or not, I know I have to bury her, not just to conceal my wrongdoing but also to pay respect for her as a human being. After all, she does look human. So, I knelt beside her and carried her bridal style. Gosh! She's so thin and light. It's like she doesn't have any fats at all. I mean she's pretty skinny but I didn't know she'd be this malnourished. In a distance, I spotted a flat rock and I laid her down there.
"Hey, I'm sorry, I really am. But I'll let your body rest properly." I murmured as I felt the ground beneath me. When I found a soft spot to dig on I cursed, I don't have anything which I can use to dig. So I looked around and saw a fallen twig which is thick enough and started shoveling the ground. "This is going to take forever."
About 5 minutes since I started this digging endeavor, I heard footsteps and before I could react I saw a pair of leather boots in front of me. My eyes traveled up to trousered legs to a well-defined chest that's barely covered by a brown cape until it landed on a masculine face that can only be described as godly. His piercing blue eyes met with mine and I felt my mouth slightly opened in shock. He's so handsome! And he doesn't look Filipino at all.
"That would take you forever." He spoke and his voice is something to behold, just like the sight of him. But I probably look like a fool now so I looked away. I didn't speak. What am I to say? "I have an offer."
That made me look back to him and finally, I noticed him holding a worker's shovel that has a golden handle? Well I'm not sure because only the light from the moon illuminated the dark forest. "Use this. But make sure to lay the shovel in that rock where you placed the one you want to bury before the sun touches it and your secret will be safe with me."
My heart is erratically beating in my chest and cold sweat ran down my face as he extended the shovel to me. "Why should I trust you?" I finally found my voice which sounds so shaky.
"Because you can't trust any other right now." He curtly answered.
"How do you know I only understand English anyway?" I dumbly countered. There's something so odd about this handsome stranger, I can't seem to put my finger on it though.
He dropped down on a crouch in front of me and touched my chin with his free hand. "Your eyes are green and your hair is blazing red. You don't look Filipino." His touch burned goosebumps in my skin and I flinched.
"So do you..." I voiced out.
He chuckled. " You can't be sure. Are you going to take my offer or not? It's almost the break of dawn." Now he's getting impatient so I took hold of the shovel.
"Okay, deal." I said and he nodded. Surprisingly, the shovel is not at all heavy as I initially expected it to be. I hurriedly started digging using it and wow! It really is easy to use too. "This thing's cool!" I said but when I looked around, the handsome guy disappeared. This is creepy.
You know what? Facing an aswang is already creepy so I just sucked it up as I looked at the dead lady. I have to bury her before the sun rises and this shovel is helping me so much. After about an hour or so, I'm halfway through the pit when a thought came to my mind.
What if this lady has a home to get back to, which she can't now because of what I did? Guilt pulsated through my being that I just want to cry but I didn't. What's done is done. Somehow, I just need to convince myself that I did it for a good cause. This aswang could've victimized more innocent souls just like Shawn. I don't want more mothers, fathers, and others to weep because of the loss of an angel. With that in mind, I kept digging.
I removed my jacket when the heat becomes unbearable and I looked at the sky to see that the sun is starting to rise. Thankfully, the pit is ready so, once again, I carried the lady and laid her to the dirt. I sighed and poured the remaining salt and garlic mixture at her before I hurriedly covered her with earth. The handsome guy did say that I must lay the shovel in her place in the rock before the sun touches it. I kept looking at that direction and when I saw that the sun is only an inch away from the rock I leaped towards it despite not yet being done with my work and laid it there as he instructed.
"Well, that was close." I sighed and got back to work by hand.
I heard the same kind of footsteps from earlier and I just ignored him cause I gotta finish what I'm doing so I can go back to Sean's house, wherever that is from this point. I heard him sit on the rock before he spoke once again.
"You're such a beautiful soul." I momentarily halted, pondering if he's actually saying that to me after I just burried the corpse of the one I killed to somehow get away from my crime. "Being true to the deal and facing off against an aswang." Now I'm sure he's talking to me.
"How do you know?" I asked, satisfied with my handy work. It doesn't even look like the soil was touched. But I still grabbed some weeds and fallen logs to cover it as if it's natural.
"I saw." He looked up at me and I can't help but admire his features. Please! If he looked handsome under the moonlight earlier, he looks more handsome highlighted by the rising sun, his golden hair shining more prominently now. "Nobody ever dared to fight an aswang as boldly as you did."
"Why though? I was only bruised." I showed my bruised arm, probably from the impact of the fall, after I managed to make her drop us. The memory of the fight still very vivid in my mind.
"Because as you have seen she's inhumane. She have powers and she looks scary." He answered reasonably.
"However she does have a weakness so..." I trailed off. I mean I knew exactly what I'm doing but I didn't know I could actually do it that way, thought I'd be toast by now.
"You do have a point. And thank you for doing that." He smiled at me. Gosh, he's making me blush.
"What for?" I asked, deciding that a conversation with him won't hurt. "And why?"
"The man whose wake was being held was a friend of mine. He's an albularyo, one of the aswang's enemy. I know she had wanted to steal his body to be able to suck in the remaining power that he has for her to be stronger and to live longer. You stopped that, in fact, you stopped her entirely." My brows creased at his explanation.
"All this power related thing is making my head spin." Really, it's a lot to take in. Or maybe this is because of my lack of sleep.
"You look tired, come rest at my place for awhile before you go home. It's much closer." He offered once again, his charms doing things to me. Or maybe I'm just imagining things.
"Why should I come with you? I don't even know you." I stated as I shrugged my jacket on.
"My name is Kaloy. Happy? Now come with me." There he goes with being impatient again.
"I'm not Happy, I'm Season. Season Tarver." I said kind of sarcastically. His annoyed face broke down to an amused one and offered his hand. Charmed by him and that something he has which I can't quite comprehend, I took it.
We trekked down a narrow path in the woods full of vines and strange looking fruits, or whatever it is. And the hairs at the back of my neck stood as he pealed off a thick vine drapery and a bright light from the other end of the draped vines blinded me. We walked in and I shivered for some reason. It wasn't that cold in here it's just that there's something different in the atmosphere.
My rubber shoes scatched on a gravel pavement and the structure of the buildings here bewildered me. I feel like I'm in another dimension or perhaps, their technology here is so different from where I grew up in. Everything here looks circular. From igloo like colored houses to something like the bubble castle. It's just so... Amazing! Amazing as well as strange.
"Where are we?" I asked in pure awe as we kept walking. I never knew a city like this exists in the middle of the woods.
"Still in Capiz. In a place called Lumayan." He answered as we turned to a corner where a buble castle like structure stood and uniformed men guarded its gates which is made of... Gold? I can't be mistaken, it really is gold!
"I feel like I'm in a fairy tale land." I said. I mean really, I feel out of place here but at the same time, I'm enjoying the feeling of being here.
"If you really are in a fairy tale land, would you let me be your prince?" Kaloy asked as the guards opened the gates for us.
I laughed. Is he hitting on me? This godly like person, is hitting on me? But he laughed along with me so I guess it was just a joke. We are walking the steps that led to the massive door of the castle-like structure where I presume he lives in when a very beautiful woman who looks like she's on her forties came rushing out of the door. Her beauty as well as her elegant gown got me staring at her.
"Kaloy! Nandito ka na pala. Kay tagal mong lumisan, mabuti naman at nakauwi ka na." She greeted as she took him in a bear hug. Is she his mother? Cause if so, I would really not ask anymore where he got his godly features.
"Hindi naman iyon katagalan ina. May dala akong bisita." Kaloy answered when they let go of the hug. Her eyes then landed on my disheveled form and I felt the need to get on my knees at the intensity of her gaze.
"Tao." She said with venom. Uh-oh, this does not sound so good.
"Opo ina. Isa syang tao ngunit kakaiba sya. Napatay nya si Neneng, ang aswang na matagal nang nananakot sa mga taong ating binabantayan." Kaloy explained. I don't really understand what they're talking about but her eyes widened in shock.
"Syang tunay? Paano mo nagawa iyon? Sino ang tumulong sa iyo?" She fired at me and I looked at Kaloy for some translation help, perhaps and he nodded.
"She's asking you how exactly you did it and, who helped you." He generously translated for me.
"I... Don't really know too. And I pretty much did it by myself." I answered although I'm not sure how much she understands English.
"Salitang tao. Sige patuluyin mo yan dito. Ngunit pauwiin mo rin pagkatapos." She said dismissively and turned her back elegantly to us.
"Come on, she said you can stay for awhile." Kaloy smiled at me and I just nodded. "Not many of us knows how to speak English, but we do understand a little bit."
"I can tell. Your place is so beautiful you know. It seems magical." He chuckled at my statement. "It's true, it really is enchanting. I mean I've been to a lot of places before but the Philippines so far is one of the most interesting one."
"Indeed." He opened yet another elegantly carved door and revealed a very beautiful and spacious bedroom with a massive bed at the middle. And once again, my jaw dropped in awe. Is this place even real? "If you want to take a shower before you go to bed, the bathroom is the third door from the left."
"Thank you but I don't have anything to wear."
"Don't worry, clothes shall be provided. Once you're done, you can open the bottom shelf in there and yes, you'll have something to wear." He instructed curtly.
I walked to the said bathroom and was quite shocked when the door opened by itself. "Why is everything somehow automatic in here?" I asked but when I turned back to Kaloy, he's nowhere to be found. The hairs at the back of my neck rose again but I just shook my head and proceeded to the most unusual bathroom I've ever encountered. It's like a whole spring is brought indoor and everything is just so natural except for the golden shelves he's talking about.
"This would make a good tourist spot, if I do say so myself." I muttered as I got in the nice waters. I cleared all the remnants of the duel I had with the aswang and to my surprise, even my bruises healed. Gosh! Maybe I just imagined that. True to his words though, I found a set of clothes that mirrored my own at the bottom shelf and when I got back to the room, I felt really drowsy and so, I peacefully laid on the most comfortable bed I've ever laid on.
Sounds of people talking woke me up to the strangest thing ever. I found myself laying on the bed of my room at Sean's house. Gone was the elegant room I slept on earlier and all of the elegant yet strange things there, as well as the handsome guy Kaloy. Maybe just maybe it was all a dream. The sound of the door opening caught my attention and in came my brother who looks rather stressed.
"Season! You're finally awake, thank God!" He exclaimed as he rushed to the bedside to give me a hug. "I don't know if I'm worried or disappointed by you. You've been gone for three days! You owe me an explanation! I don't know what I could've done if the police didn't find you."
My brows creased at his statement. "I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what you're talking about." I honestly said. I was gone for three days? Three days seems to be a very long time. I'm convinced that I was gone only for a day and a half at the most.
"Gosh! I don't even know why you don't know but I'm telling you, I already have a lot of problems, don't add up to them!" He said frustrated yet the confussion I felt is still very evident in my face.
"She's awake!" I heard Eden say with relief in her voice as she and her mother came inside the room too. They both checked up on me, brought me some food and convinced me that I still need to rest.
"I really am well rested you guys, thank you but you don't need to worry about me." I said.
"Nonsense, Sean, Eden, go and tend to whatever you need to tend to, I'll take care of her." Mama assured and they both agreed. The atmosphere suddenly changed when it was only mama and I that were left in the room until she finally spoke again. "What really happened to you dear?"
I debated on wether or not I should tell her, but I don't have the heart to hide it to her because I know she can explain whatever just happened to me. So I did. I told her everything from the aswang to the very attractive guy to the strangely amazing place that I've been. A mixture of shock and disbelief as well worry crossed her face at the course of my narration and I knew there's something off about that experience.
"You really killed her?"
"I did."
"Wow... And a really handsome guy talked to you and brought you to a really strange place?"
"Yes."
"Tell me, does this guy have a philtrum?" That question made me halt as I recalled how Kaloy looked like exactly, from his blonde hair, blue eyes, high-bridged nose, and-
"No..." I answered in realization.
"Engkanto! Na engkanto ka." She exclaimed. "You were enchanted." Even her translation doesn't sound so good at all. I don't have to ask what an engkanto is because by the way she reacted, I could tell it's another mythical creature hsere. Evening I experienced with that guys was strange to say the least so I know, I had encountered yet another one of them.
I stared at nothing in particular when mama left for awhile to get some water when I heard his voice. "Hey beautiful soul." I frantically looked around me but there was no one but the big manggo tree in the yard where his voice came from.