Mermaid Blues: Beasts, Giants and Spirits

The Trap

The sun is already high up in the sky of Bontoc, Mountain Province. At the peak of a mountain north of Bontoc, there is an ancient place located there where it was forgotten and abandoned by the ancient Igorots. It is a place that once used to be the meeting place of spirits and humans.

That place is a vacant place where pine trees grow tall around it. It is a circular platform made of chiseled rocks and stones. Grasses grow tall in the circle. They grow from the crevices of rocks and from the dirt.

Gabriel, Agatha, and Gaddo are standing in the circle. The other hunters with them are standing by outside the circle. They are tasked to guard around the circle just in case some threats will come and surprise them.

Gabriel took a deep breath. He was amazed at what he beheld. He had never seen anything like it in his life. He was looking at an odd structure - a circular platform made of rocks. Five large rocks were towering on each of its corners. One stands toward the north. One stood toward the west. One stood to the east. One on the southwest and one on the southeastern side of the circle. Each has flat surfaces at the top.

"So...this is the last point where the collision takes place in Luzon," he said.

Gaddo walks to one of the rocks. He discovers some claw marks on it. He crouches down to see them up close. He examines them. Then, he turned his head to the other rock on his left. He could see some claw marks engraved there too.

"Waw!" Gabriel chuckled in amazement while looking around. Then, he began to wonder. "What is this place?"

"It is a Dap-ay. We call this place Dap-ay," Agatha replies. "This is the place where it was used by the old male folks to discuss issues involving their community in ancient times."

"Not only that. This place was also once a place where the anitos and humans met," Gaddo adds while still examining the claw marks.

"Yep," Agatha agreed.

"Woah. This is amazing," Gabriel chuckles. "This place of yours is full of culture."

"We do not need culture right now, Gabriel," Gaddo said.

"You really know about this stuff," Gabriel said to Agatha. "I wonder why?" He looked at her with his eyes filled with suspicion.

"I am an Igorot," Agatha responded. She looks at Gaddo in the distance. "Of course, I know stuff like this."

Gabriel smirked. He gently shook his head. Gaddo stands up. He looked at his two colleagues in the distance.

Then, the phone in his pocket rings. He grabbed it and pulled it out of his pants. He looked at the screen. It's Senator Santiago who's calling. He pressed the respond button and he put the phone to his ear.

"Yes, Boss?"

"Where are you?" the mysterious senator asks.

"We are out of Baguio, Sir."

"How dare you! I told you to keep on murdering. Why can't I still see another wave of global collisions on the news?"

"We can still work this through, Mr. Senator. However, it will be harder since there is an association that keeps on mingling with our plans. Plus, the guardians are already getting in our way, so it will take longer to fulfill the plan."

"Those who stand in your way must be eliminated at all costs. I told you that. I don't care who they are, whether they are the government, the Marksmen, or some chosen ones."

"Yes, but--"

"Since theese women are now standing in our way, they are not aware that they are making themselves clearer targets. Do something with them before it's too late. Those guardian, if we let them live in this world, they are dangerous. Not only to my kind but to all the dominions of Earth."

Gaddo nodded. "I understand, sir."

"I am getting impatient, my dear. I heard your father passed away while still suffering the agony of his sin," Mr. Santiago said. "If you don't want any further deaths in your family, you must hurry. My condolences, by the way."

"I know, Mr. Senator," Gaddo replied. The words that the senator just said offended him. However, he brushed his feelings aside.

"I repeat. I am getting impatient," the senator said before he cut off.

Gaddo tightens his grip on his phone as he slowly puts it down. "God damn it!" he yelled due to his frustration.

***Blue Water***

Seline is in the white-themed room. She is sitting on the couch. Beside her is Kianu. She is holding Kianu's tattooed wrist in her left hand while her right hand is above the tattoo. A bubble is enveloping the entire wrist of Kianu.

Grace and Ana are standing behind Seline. They are looking below to watch Seline's magic at work. They are watching the bubble encasing Kianu's wrist slowly fade, the lizard tattoo like a dissolving spot of ink in an alcohol solvent. They begin to get impressed as they look at her magic seeming to remove the cursed tattoo on the wrist of Kianu.

But then, Seline is surprised when she notices that the tattoo is appearing back on his skin. Even Kianu was shocked. At the moment, he thought he was going to be happy that the tattoo was gone forever, but seeing it coming back made him feel disgusted with himself. Ana and Grace looked at each other in surprise. They feel dismayed even further.

Seline sighed due to her hopelessness. "Why does it not work?" she whispered. Then, she looks at Kianu with an expression of bad news painted on her face. "I am sorry. I thought I could help you remove the mark, but not even I can remove it."

"Ana tried her power, I tried my power and then you tried your power... but that tattoo is as tough as hell," Grace said in frustration.

"We shall not give up yet, guys," Seline said. "There must still be something that we can do to save them."

"I wish we know," Ana replied with sadness painted on her face. She went over to the chair next to the couch and she sit down. She sighed as she began to think deeply.

"I don't get it..." Seline told Grace. "I thought I could heal anyone."

"Don't be too hard on yourself," Kianu told. "You can still figure it out."

"We hope so, Kuya Kianu," Grace said. She walked over to the chair next to Ana. She sits down and she also begins to think.

"Kuya Kianu. You are from another reality of the world, right?" Seline suddenly asked.

Then, Kianu begins to reminisce about the gruesome moments he and his friends have suffered. He remembers the time when his friends got devoured one by one. One of them committed suicide. And the fact that they have to survive in the harsh conditions of the environment. Because of that, his head began to ache. He closes his eyes and begins to massage his temples.

Seline starts to regret what she asked when she sees his reaction to her question. She looks at Ana and Grace with her eyes, telling them for help. Seline immediately rubbed his back in the hope that he would be comforted. Grace got up from her seat and approached Kianu.

"Kuya, are you okay?" she asks.

"Do you want us to call Sir Gordon outside?" Ana asked.

"No...No...I am okay..." he replied. He looked at Grace. His tears are flowing from his eyes. "I remember...I remember," he gasps. "I remember... I... I...I ...I thought... I would come back here by the year nineteen-ninety-nine then..."

"It's okay. Don't talk anymore. I am so sorry," Seline said.

"My friends..." he continues. "I woke up in this era thirty years later...I guess the times over there and here are different. My friends...whom I can no longer recognize because my memories are jumbled up...I remember one of them fell off the cliff. I forgot why, but I was so sad. I cried for days."

Ana looks at Seline in horror. Seline also looks at her in horror. Grace covered her mouth in sympathy as she also felt the chills to her spine.

"I remember the place where we were. There are trees and plants that give off light at night. Then, I remember one of us screaming and being attacked by a monster..."

"Oh, God," Ana mutters. The lizard tattoo on Kianu's wrist begins to shine like coal as Ana begins to hear the cries of the people in the memories of Kianu in her mind.

"That place... is not a place to be in. That place is hell," Kianu concludes. Then, he wiped his tears with his hands. "But then, I remembered that place...its name was Biringan. I went there all alone without them. It was then I was welcomed by humans like us."

The tattoo on his wrist stopped shining. Ana's mind got disconnected from Kianu's memories. However, the brief noises, the screams of desperation and the horror her magic reveals in her mind can't be deleted that easily. It will leave a scar in her heart for eternity. Her tears fall as she reflects on the pain.

"I am sorry I brought it out," Seline humbly said.

"It's fine. It is not your fault," he said. Then, he remembers the conversation he had with the ephirmise. He remembered correctly what the spirit had told him. About how wrong he thought about the reality he was in. He remembers exactly what he said.

My knowledge of that reality is limited. I can only tell you that the place you thought was the spirit world is not the spirit world. You and your friends are thrown into the abyss of the world...a place called hell.

::::::::::::::::

On the road along Atok, which spans from Bontoc, Mountain Province to La Trinidad, Benguet. Japeth's Fortuner car stopped by the side of the road. Japeth and Wendel got out of the car. When he went out, Japeth looked around as he happily sniffed the scent of fresh cold air coming from the pine trees around the road. He turned to face the direction heading to Mountain Province.

"I don't trust this friend of yours," Japeth said when he sensed that Wendel was coming over to him.

"He's a friend that I haven't seen in two years. He came from our province too. But then, when his mother and father got separated, he decided to transfer here to his mother's original place so that he could accompany her in her gardening," Wendel said. "We were helping each other back then. And now, it is time for us to reunite again by helping him with his problem."

"What exactly is this 'help' he's talking about?" he asked. He and Wendel begin to cross the road to get to the other side.

"I don't know," he replied. "But I trust him. He called me on my phone saying that he needed my help. I can sense the desperation in his voice. Don't come to any conclusions, Brother Japeth."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, sure! My friend won't betray me," Wendel persuades further.

"Make sure that this is not some kind of trap, because I don't wanna fracture my bones again," he said.

"We'll be back safe, officer," Wendel said with confidence.

And so, they headed towards the muddy stone stairs to go up the hill which leads them to a village at the mountain top. The stairs will allow them to pass by the garden terraces that look like giant staircases on the face of the mountain planted with cabbages and then a few pine trees, and then to the hidden village at the peak of the hill.

::::::::::::::::

They have finally arrived at their destination. After thirty minutes of hiking up the hill, Japeth and Wendel have arrived at the small village where his friend lives. The fog on that mountain top is getting thicker. The temperature is colder than down there on the road. Luckily, they can combat the temperature with their jackets and mufflers.

The village is small. The houses are very far from each other - their distances range from a few meters to a kilometer. The village is only the residence of thirty families. Pinetrees are abundant in their yards. The fresh breeze from the pine trees is sweeping throughout the area. All the homes are humble, no mansions or large houses are erected.

They had passed by two houses already. Japeth estimates that they have walked more than a mile. They are walking by the narrow stony path.

Finally, they made it to Wendel's friend's place. The house is just a small hut made of galvanized iron from the rooftop down to its walls. Japeth sees that there is rust all over the place due to high humidity.

"Is this the place?" Japeth asked as he tried to catch his breath. His feet were sore from walking for almost a mile. He feels tired from walking without a break.

"Yeah," Wendel replied. He is also tired. "Congratulations. We made it."

"Damn, how could these people manage to walk from here down to the road?" Japeth complained.

Then, Wendel walks over to the door and he begins to knock. At the same time, he begins to call for his friend living in that house.

"Apo! Are you there?" he yells. "Dodong! Hello! Are you there? Dodong!"

Japeth is at the distance behind Wendel. He is standing there silently as he patiently waits for the guy to open his door. He crossed his arms.

"Dodong! Knock knock!" Japeth continues to call. "Dodong. Open the door."

Then, finally, Dodong opened the door.

"Wendel!" he happily greets.

"How are you?" Wendel hugged him. Dodong hugs him back.

"I am fine," Dodong replied. "Come in! Come in! Don't be shy."

Wendel looks behind to see Japeth. "By the way, I brought a friend with me. I hope it won't bother you," Wendel told Dodong. "This is Japeth."

Japeth approached Wendel and Dodong. "Hi! I hope you won't mind me being here," he said to Dodong.

"It's fine," Dodong gladly replied. "Nice to meet you. Let's get inside," he invited.

And so, Wendel and Japeth enter the door. Dodong went in last as he closed the door.

:::::::::::

Head Agent Asunta de la Rochaz, Grace's mother, is looking at the ruins of a mansion in Camp 1, Tuba, Benguet. She is standing next to the smoking fragments of once a mansion. She is quite devastated as she looks at the ruined building.

Her team is scanning around the area looking for some survivors. The police just got there ten minutes ago. While in their search, they can't find any single human being who survived or died in the explosion. The ruin is empty.

Regional Director Donald Dulnuan approached her. "Any news about the victims?" he asked.

Asunta shook her head with dismay. "No, Sir. We found no one."

"So, they left the house and then bombed it?" he theorized.

"I guess so. However, I am wondering...why they left the house and bombed it?"

"I suppose there are some things that they want to eradicate from the flames. Maybe shreds of illegal evidence or drugs of some kind. And based on the exclusivity of this house away from civilization and blended perfectly among the woods. Let's assume this house might be a criminal setting of some sort."

"We interviewed the people nearby who saw the explosion awhile ago," she said.

"A house made of rocks. It's such a nice idea to camouflage it from the eyes of anyone. Do they know who owns the house?" he asks.

"No. As you said, a few people are aware that there is a mansion erected here. Those who know this house exists claim people of different faces do come and go to this mansion, so it is hard to determine who owns the place. Most of those who knew were either farmers or the nearest neighbors a kilometer away. They also said that the people who were here were so hostile to them. Bodyguards always surround the yard twenty-four/seven, twenty-four hours a day. No one is allowed to enter."

Mr. Dulnuan sighed. "Alright, we'll try to search for the owner in our database." Then, he asks. "And the bomb?"

"The bomb squad hasn't given us any exact details about the explosion yet but we will wait for their further findings."

"Good. Good..." he nodded. "I suppose I have to check for the community CCTV along Kennon Road. Maybe we can get something from those cameras. It's unfortunate, we can't get any CCTVs in the middle of the forest."

"One more thing," Asunta said before she'd forget. "A farmer's kid told me that there is a group of people who came here before the explosion. Maybe we could find them in those cameras as well."

"Details?"

"He said that there were about ten men who had come here. And then, all of them are wearing black clothes. He claimed he saw them destroying the gate locks so that they could enter behind those walls. He mentioned suitcases and guns too."

"Okay..." he nods. "Keep up the good work. Report to me later."

"Yes, Sir!" she replied.

Then, she watches the Police Super Intendent walks away. She turned to see the ruins again and she sighed nervously. She walks away and heads to the exploded area to help her colleagues search for some evidence.

::::::::::::::::::

In the small dining area inside the house of Dodong, Japeth and Wendel are sitting at a small rectangular table the size only for a single person. Dodong is serving them hot Barako coffee to fend them off from the cold.

"Barako coffee is best during cold weather," Dodong said. He sits down on a monoblock chair.

"I couldn't agree more," Japeth replied.

"It is good that you still remember the way heading here. I thought you got lost along the way," Dodong teases.

"Good memory," Wendel replied. "It never fades."

Dodong nods.

"So, what is the problem, my friend?" Wendel asked.

"There is no problem," he replied.

"We just came here for nothing then," Japeth said.

"I just want to meet my friend again. You know, to reconnect with him," he said. "It's been a long time since we ever talked."

"He's wasting your time. Let's get out of here," Japeth whispered into Wendel's ear.

"Relax! He's not gonna eat you," Wendel protested. Then, he looks at Dodong and asks, "How is your mother?"

"She's lying in the hospital bed right now," he replied.

Wendel was sad for him. "What! Why? What's her condition?"

"She's suffering from breast cancer. My nephew is with her right now," he informs him.

"Oh my God. I hope it won't be that bad," Wendel comments.

"The doctor says she needs to be diagnosed as early as possible. However, I don't have the money for her diagnosis yet."

" Does her diagnosis involve undergoing chemotherapy?" Japeth asked.

Dodong nodded. "I am trying to work day and night just to earn money for her treatment. A day in the garden and night at a gasoline station."

"Since when did this happen?" Wendel asks.

"About a year now," he replied.

"I really hope that God will save your mother from evil hands," Japeth said.

"Thank you," he responded. "Enough about me. How about you?" he asked Wendel.

"Well..." then he looked at Japeth. "I am still alive. Thank God," he jokingly said.

"How's your work? I thought you were in the province doing a government job?" he asks with wonder.

"I lost my job a long time ago. I am currently working in a vulcanizing shop back in Kalinga. I just took a vacation. I decided to come to Baguio to look for another job," he answered.

Then, Dodong suddenly saw movements coming from outside through the window behind Japeth and Wendel. Dodong said something that made his guests wonder.

"I am so sorry, Wendel," he said with a sincere tone in his voice.

"Why are you apologizing?" he asks.

Japeth squints his eyes as he begins to suspect.

"I am so sorry..." he repeats. He sheds his tears since he can't contain the emotion of sadness he feels. His cup fell down from his hand.

Japeth widens his eyes as his suspicion grows larger. He can sense that there is a betrayal and lie that is going on. He immediately stood up.

"Let's get out of here," he said. "Now!"

Dodong got off his chair and lowered himself off the floor. Then, a bullet from the outside penetrated through the thin wall. It almost shot Japeth's head. Then, other bullets enter through every corner of the house. Immediately, Japeth and Wendel ducked. They sheltered under the small table.

"What did you do!" Wendel shouts at Dodong with anger. Dodong didn't respond. He is lying on the floor facing down while he fears for his life. Wendel looks around to find an exit. The wall at the backside of the house got the attention of his eyes. It is only located ten feet away from the table they are at. He could see through its holes that it was the direction nearest to the forest. A perfect place to hide. Then he looked up at the roof. It can be leaped easily when he turns into a wolf. Immediately, he puts off his jacket and shirt and his muffler. His pants too, leaving only his underwear.

"What are you doing?" Japeth said.

"To get out of here!" he replied. "Ride on my back!"

"What?" he yelled with surprise.

"Quick!" he yelled desperately. He starts to mutate.

::::::::::::

Outside the house...

The hunters are continuously shooting at the house. Gaddo is standing in the distance. He is in the front yard. He is behind the hunters who are facing the door. He enjoys watching the house slowly torn down by holes and dents. He is also looking at the door, waiting for them to come out.

Meanwhile, a wolf broke through the roof located at the back of the house. The hunters didn't expect that they would escape from the roof. Wendel looked down and he could see tall trees ahead. However, he was greeted that those trees that were growing on a one-hundred-fifty-meter steep cliff leading down to a garden below.

Japeth who is riding on his back, widens his eyes in horror. "Wendel, no!" he refuses when he feels Wendel is gonna jump onto the cliff. The bullets are now heading in their direction. Immediately, Wendel took a leap. "AAAAHHHH!" Japeth screamed in fear. He grabbed Wendel's fur tightly so that he wouldn't fall. While they are on air, Japeth feels like his soul is leaving his body.

Wendel successfully landed deep on the cliff. He and Japeth are now midway to the flower garden below.

On the other hand...

Inside the small house. Dodong is still lying on the floor fearing for his life. He is crying in fear as he feels dishonored because he betrayed a friend. The bullets are no longer coming through. However, he is still on the floor.

Mark appeared from nowhere. He looked down and he found Dodong below. He could see him scared and crying.

"Are you okay?" he asked while he helped Dodong to stand up.

"What exactly are you?" Dodong asked.

Mark didn't respond. Instead, he said, "I must have to get you out of here." Then, he made themselves disappear into thin air.

Mark took Dodong out of the wrecked house. He teleported him outside right next to Gaddo.

"Here is your payment," Gaddo immediately threw a bag full of cash at Dodong. Dodong caught it in his hands.

"Are you going to kill him?" he asked worriedly.

"Yes, of course," he answered. "Do you have a problem with that?" he asked as he stared at Dodong's frightened eyes. "If you do. I might take the money back and say 'bye-bye' to your mother."

Dodong holds his head down and shakes his head. "No. Not a problem at all."

Gaddo raises his lower lip and he nods. He looks at the hunters who are in the distance trying to shoot the pack leader and the wolf.