Mermaid Blues: Beasts, Giants and Spirits

The Case of Cynthia Camilo

Four o'clock in the evening...

Cynthia, Ana's mother, is in the kitchen cooking dinner. She is sobbing as she stirs a pot of Bicol Express. She keeps wiping her tears off with her finger.

Kate went into the kitchen. She found her mother crying, worried about her missing daughter. Kate got concerned. She sighed in frustration as she got worried about her mother. She approaches her.

"Mama. Let me do the cooking," she said. "Please rest," she took her away from the stove and took her to a stool next to the table.

Cynthia is crying, she can't contain the emotions she hides anymore. She bursts out, not holding back. She whines louder.

"It's okay. It's okay. The police will find her," Khate comforts her. She hugs her mother. Her tears began to flow.

"Where is she?" her mother cried. "Oh God, what happened to her?"

"She's fine, Mama. I am sure she is. Please don't cry anymore," Kate said as she began to sob.

"Oh, my girl! Where did she go? I am afraid something has happened to her," she said. "My daughter! Where did she go?"

"Don't cry..."

"Oh, my daughter! My daughter!"

Kate rubs her mother's back to comfort her. Kate is also shedding tears. In wonder and frustration, she is worried about Ana. She didn't tell her or her mother where she was going before she disappeared. Kate is a little upset because of it. Wherever she is right now, she makes her family worried and upset.

Then, they heard a loud sound. BAM! The sound seemed to come from the front door. They got startled as they felt frightened, since the sound sounded like someone forcedly opened the door. Then, from the living room, they could hear loud footsteps. They can also hear the voices of men yelling. They got alarmed and panicked when they saw a person covering his face with a mask come into the kitchen. He is holding a rifle in his hand. Then, another person came after him.

"AHHHH!!" Kate screamed.

The men immediately went over to them. They pushed Kate away, dropping her on the floor. More men are coming in. They are all wearing clothes masks like what terrorists use. Only their eyes are uncovered. The two of them grasped Cynthia's clothes. He pulls her up.

"What do you want? Let go! What are you doing!" she yells in fear.

The men pull her while she resists. "Let go! Let go of me! Who are you!" she insists to be taken away. "HELP! Help!"

Kate stands up. She immediately approached one of those men who was dragging her mother. She grabs his shoulders and she tries to pull him and let her mother go from his grip. "Let go of her! Let go!" she yells as she tries hard to pull. One of the men came behind her. He slammed the butt of his rifle to her head. She immediately falls down. She lost consciousness.

"Kate! Kate, no!" her mother worriedly cried. Kate doesn't listen. "Kate!" she yells as she is forcibly pulled away from her. "No...no! HELP!"

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

They successfully took her outside. She keeps squirming, wanting to get outside. However, the strength of the hands holding both her hands is too strong to resist. She squirms her arms, yet, nothing happens.

Then, two men from the Association of the Cordilleran Marksmen came in from the gate. They are approaching the patio where she is being held at.

"HEY!" one of them called the attention of the men in masks. He is about to point his gun and shoot, but one of the men in masks shoots him first.

The partner of the fallen agent attempts to shoot one of them but the bullet landed on no one. The masked men together point their guns at him and they fire. Mrs. Camilo looks away and closes her eyes to avoid seeing the man approaching while being filled with bullets in his body. She screams when she hears the gunshots. She is so frightened. She doesn't understand why she is being kidn*pped. She doesn't even know who those guys are. She is puzzled and filled with questions in her mind.

"Go! Go!" the leader of the men shouted as he advanced to the gate. The men followed him with Cynthia in their grasp.

***Blue Water***

One by one, stretchers containing the injured agents are passing through the hallway of the hospital. The nurses and doctors are helping to push the stretchers toward the emergency room. There are ten injured and five are in critical condition.

Seth was pushing one of the injured agents. The name of the agent is Mel, a woman. She took a bullet to her shoulder and to her leg. She is breathing heavily as she loses blood.

"Hang in there, agent," Seth said.

"I am sorry, sir," she apologized. "I never thought they would come into the house with an army."

"It's okay. You did your job," Seth replied.

The agent continues to take deep breaths. Seth has arrived at the emergency room's door. They stopped and they let the doctors pull Mel's stretcher. Mel had gotten inside the room. The two leaders watched the doors close before their eyes.

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

In an unknown forest far away from Abra...

Kendrick is sitting on a tree root sticking out of the ground. He leans his back against the tree trunk. The branches and leaves above him give him a shed.

Benjie is lying on a rectangular bed made of hardened water. The bed was created by Grace to prevent him from getting dirt on his back. Kendrick is keeping an eye on him. Seline stands beside Benjie. Her hands covered with bubbles are stretched out above him. She is positioned on the opposite side of Kendrick.

A bubble is engulfing Benjie. Seline enveloped him with it to heal her from any injury. Also, to eradicate the effect of the drug on his system.

On the other hand...

Grace is looking after Ana. She puts Ana on a hard bed of crystallized water as she did to Benjie. Ana and Benjie are separated by a bonfire. And so, Kendrick and Seline are at the other side of the fire while Grace is at the side opposite to theirs.

Ana opened her eyes. She took a deep breath. She gasped as she rose up to sit down. She woke up alarmed and frightened.

"Woah. It's okay. It's us," Grace said. "It's okay. It's me, Grace."

Kendrick stands up when he heard Ana's breath of fear. Seline turned her head over her left shoulder to glance at her. She must not take her hands off Benjie since her spell will wear off if she does. And so, she just glanced at the back to confirm if Ana was awake.

"Look! There is Ken and Seline," Grace pointed at them.

Ana looks at Seline and Kendrick. She couldn't believe it. She might be dreaming right now. "I am dreaming, right?"

"No. No. We came to save you," Grace said.

"What? Really!" she still couldn't believe if it was real or not.

"Hi, Ana! I am sorry I can't hug you right now, but I am happy you are fine," Seline said with glee.

"No way!" Ana still didn't want to believe it.

Kendrick came over to her. "Hi. How are you?" he smiled. His charming dimple is reappearing.

"Kendrick? Why are you here?"

"We came to save your butts from the hunters," Kendrick answered.

"And Kuya Benjie?" she asked. "You...you saved him too, right?"

"He's over there, drugged. Seline is healing him," Grace answered. "You have erased his tattoo as well."

"I don't know what happened but I thankfully managed to erase it," she said.

"We are glad you are safe," Kendrick told her.

Ana smiled. She nods as she looks him in the eyes. Then, she begins to remember what she heard before she completely lost consciousness. She heard Gabriel Umali mentioning k********g her mother instead.

She gasped. "My mother!" she told them. "My mother. How is she?" she asked with fear and worry in her eyes.

"She's fine. She is waiting for you to come home," Grace said.

"Did you know that she came to the barangay hall to file a missing case?" Kendrick informed as he chuckled. "She is so worried about you."

"Gabriel said that he was going to kidnap her," she said.

"I am sure the association is keeping an eye on her," Grace comforted.

Ana nodded. "You are right. The association is keeping an eye on her," she agreed. Somehow, the weight of worrying on her chest is lessened. She gets up. Grace and Ken held her hands to assist her. "We need to get home. I think I am gone for too long."

"Yeah," Grace said. "However, we must need Kuya Benjie to heal up first."

Kendrick, Ana, and Grace walked past the burning twigs to get to Benjie and Seline.

"Is he gonna be alright?" Ana asked Seline right when they got there.

"He's alright," she answered. "However, it is hard to heal a person poisoned or drugged, so it will take time."

"If that's the case..." Kendrick sits down on top of the roots sticking out of the ground. "We should take our time. Also, the view of the sunset from here is great," he suggested.

And so, Grace sat down on the huge root below her. "I agree," she said. "You must take another rest before going back to Baguio," she advised Ana.

Ana agrees. She bit her lips and nodded. "Where are we anyway...?"

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

Seth opens the door of the interrogation room. He walked inside. He slams the door angrily. Bang! The door hits the hinge. The sound made the people nearby startle. Everyone paused their activities and they turned their heads to the door.

Inside, Seth sees a man sitting on the chair next to the table. His hands are cuffed, chained to the railing at the center of the table. The man is clearly coming from an ethnic tribe in Mindanao based on his necklace and his hat. The guy was one of the men who broke into Camilo's house. He is one of the few who got caught by the agents. His foot had a bullet pierced through it. He looks like he is in his between twenty to thirty years old.

Seth scowls at him as he walks over to him. He was getting angry that he might be going to lose his cool. He is now standing next to the Maranao man.

The person was surprised. He didn't expect the old man's hand to swing into his face. The slap was so hard it immediately turned his cheek red. After he slaps the convict, Seth grabs the man's neck and pulls him up. Seth's fangs are starting to sharpen and his irises turn bright brown.

"Where is Cynthia Camilo?" he asked. Then, he shakes him. "Where are you taking her? Speak!"

The guy replies. However, he was speaking in Maranao. "What are you?" he asked. He is starting to lose his breath. The convict is frightened as he looks at the old man mutating slowly. Seth didn't understand what he said. He is further pissed since he thinks the guy is joking and mocking him.

"Stop bluffing and speak in a language we both understand, you prick!" he yells. He released his neck from his grip. He drops him on the chair. The guy from the Maranao tribe coughs as he catches his breath.

"Cynthia Camilo. Where is she?" Seth asked again.

"I am one of the men of the renowned man Kasim. How dare you touch me!" the guy continued to speak in Maranao.

Seth slaps him again. This time, it was his other cheek that took the blow. "Shut up. Speak English!" Then, he grabs the chest area of the guy's shirt and moves his head close to his face. "Where is Cynthia Camilo?" he asked once more. The Maranao man grabs Seth's hand in an attempt to pull it off his shirt.

Then, Seth noticed a figure at the back of his hand. He takes off his hand from his black shirt and grabs the guy's left hand where he spotted the figure. He pulled it close to him, he examined it. He is looking at an insignia tattooed on the convict's skin. The tattoo looks very familiar. He squints harder as he tries to remember where in the world he has seen such a figure.

The insignia is a triangle inside a circle with the Arabic word 'خلاص' at the center, which translates to 'salvation' in English.

"Oh, no..." he muttered when he finally remembered the insignia. "Oh, no...!" he widened his eyes. He gets terrified of realizing who the guy is sitting before him. "You are a terrorist, aren't you?"

The convict is just looking at him, horrified by Seth's beast face. He breathes heavily. But then, Seth forced his mutation to stop and returned himself to a normal human. Then, he turned away and walked towards the door. He left the terrified foreigner inside the room alone.

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

At the hospital...

Cieolo is waiting for Wendel to come out of the room where he's admitted in. He'd been rubbing his shaved beard for thirteen minutes while leaning his body against the wall of glass. He is in the hallway outside Wendel's room. Finally, Wendel opens the room from the inside. He gets out. Instead of wearing a hospital gown, he is now wearing a sleeveless jacket with no shirt underneath. He is wearing a pair of fitted jeans to cover both his legs. Tonight is the night Wendel is being released. He has fully recovered, so he has no reason to stay there any longer.

Nurse Mary approached. "Hi!" She greeted them with a bright smile.

"Nurse Mary!" Cielo happily yelled her name. "It is good to see you," he greeted.

"Aren't you supposed to be lying in the hospital bed right now?" she wondered. "You just recovered. You haven't even took a rest for at least twenty-four hours."

"Nah!" he insited. "We are short staffed right now. Besides, I can guarantee you, I am as strong as I ever been". He flexed his arm to brag.

"I still would recommend you to rest," Nurse Mary protested.

"It's been three years. How are you?" he joked.

"We had just seen each other yesterday, you stupid. Three years, my ass."

"Wendel, have you met this girl?" Cielo asked.

"Yeah. She's the one who took care of me while I am still lying in bed," he said. He looks at her with his eyes flirting.

Mary bit her lips to hide her romantic excited smile. She holds down her head to further hide her emotion from Cielo. Cielo smirked when he noticed her reaction. He turned his head to see Wendel standing beside him. He is staring at her with interest, smiling at her like there is no tomorrow. Cielo creased his face and nodded while hiding the butterflies in his stomach. He clears his throat to interrupt the staring contest between the two.

"Thank you for taking care of him. As you can see, he has been prone to death, so I appreciate the help that you are giving not only to him but to the association," he told Nurse Mary.

"Thank you," Nurse Mary replied. "But still, I want you to take some rest. You are amost dying when we brought you here. God knows what they did to you and why you sudenly got better all of a sudden."

Before she could even let the pack leader talk, she walked past him.

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

"This insignia is a symbol used by the terrorists called the KASIM arising in Mindanao," Gordon explains. "Each member is known to have a tattoo like this. That circle with a triangle in the middle is printed on their banners. The Arabic text written in the middle of the triangle is pronounced Khalas which is salvation in English."

Gordon is explaining the tattoo Seth discovered on the man from Maranao's back of his hand. He also discovered the same tattoos on the other two captives. They are projecting the image of the insignia on the monitor screen of Gordon's computer. They have one image of the tattoo on one hand, while on the other side is a drawing of the insignia they got from the internet, similar to the tattoo. They compared the two images. There is no denying that the insignias on both pictures are the same.

"All three of the captives have that same tattoo on them. Is it possible that they are already recruiting someone here in the Cordillera Region?"

"It is not possible. The group was recently formed. They can't recruit people from other regions of the Philippines that easily. Especially while President Delgado is still the president," Gordon said. "I think these people just came into Baguio from their homeland for a mission. They aren't joking when they don't speak English to you. They just don't understand the language or they are not familiar with it. Based on the looks of the guys who you have intimidated, they don't know Lignodons exist."

"Why kidnap Cynthia then? She's not connected to any crime in her whole life," Seth wonders.

"Maybe because of Ana?" Gordon suggested.

"Yeah. But like you said, they don't know anything about Lignodons. How much more do they know about mermaids walking on land?"

"Maybe they know but they have never seen one," Gordon deducted. "I am afraid Gabriel Ramirez is involved with this."

Seth sighed in frustration. "Well, it's time to find out," he said. "Can you get me a translator? Maybe from one of our recruits from Mindanao?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure, Sir," Gordon agreed.

Seth walks out of the office.