Tale of Arcillana

Chapter 4

Cam's Point of View:

Since I don't want to get bored while we are traveling, I picked up my phone and gone online. The notifications in different social media sites that I have begun to make some noise.

Messages kept on popping from my messenger. I opened first our group chat with a group name, SASSY GIRLS. Hanna, Agatha, Maxyne, and I are the only members.

Woah, these three witches woke up early. They are all active. That's new!

Agatha: Owemjiiii babe @Cam today is the day you're leaving right? Careful!

Agatha: They should be careful of you!

Agatha sent with a laughing emoji.

Maxyne: Hey babe @Cam In case there's a lot of HOT bachelors there, you should bring home for us at least one.

Maxyne sent the next message with a winking emoji.

Agatha: Jiiiii... are you breaking up with Mike, Maxyyyy?

Maxyne: Just gonna taste other dish babe

I can feel that Maxyne right now is laughing out loud.

Agatha: What kind of dish do you want to taste? Drop the recipe!

Maxyne: Uhm, anything as long as it tastes good *insert winked emoji*

I couldn't help myself but chuckle after reading their messages. Typical Agatha and Maxyne. Their minds are mischievous at times.

Maxyne's just like that but she hasn't done that "thing" yet. She is just playing around.

Hanna: Hey, stop it you too. Gosh, your minds are green!

And here comes the conservative, St. Hanna.

Maxyne: Chill babe @Hanna and have some fun! You should try to taste dishes from now on.

I reacted HAHA emoticon on Maxyne's message. Whenever the conversation gets a little out of place, Hanna is the one who reminds everybody.

Hanna is an open-minded kind of person. Well, all of us are but still according to her, it isn't good to see or good to know for a lady who acts improperly and has this really wild and so green mind. Maybe I can say she can be the 21st Century Maria Clara with a lil attitude.

Cam: We are now traveling babes. I'm kinda out of the mood because I woke up four. Yeah, freakin' four.

I send the message that I composed.

Cam: Dad said it's gonna be a long tiring journey. He also mentioned that the estimated time of our arrival is five or six in the evening.

I added. I can see three dots in motion. Someone is typing from the three girls.

Maxyne: I wonder, where in the Philippines is Arcillana located? Why it has to take almost a day trip to reach the location? It's kinda intriguing, you know.

Agatha: Can't you use a chopper instead babe?

Hanna: Oh yes babe @Cam why didn't you suggest that? @Agatha babies!!! lend our friend one of your airplanes

I laughed when I read Hanna's message.

My family glanced at my direction except for Dark who's busy manipulating his phone.

They are probably wondering.

“It's Hanna. She said something funny." I said and shrugged my shoulders.

They get back with their businesses so I get back on my phone also.

Agatha's family owns an airline. Her father and her brother are both pilots. While her mom, she's in charge of their businesses. They are freakin' rich!

Agatha: Do you happen to bump somewhere babe? Like hello, where do you think the airplane will land there?

Agatha replied to Hanna's message.

Hanna: Oh right! I haven't thought of that babe

Agatha: By the way, where's @Maxyne? She suddenly disappeared?

Agatha asked. She added another message which consists of an emoticon that looks like thinking. I checked the seen heads and Maxyne's not keeping the track of our conversation.

Right, where did she go?

I smiled while composing my message. Let me just play a lil bit.

Cam: Maybe looking for a new dish to taste

Hanna: Woah! At this hour??

Agatha and I both sent a laughing emoji.

Maxyne: Hey you're too much!

And there she goes!

Maxyne: I am strolling in IG. And babes @Cam check Christian's comment on your post! Like oh my gosh!

Upon reading Maxyne's message, I immediately log in to my i********: account to check his comment.

My photos reach more than five thousand likes. It also has more than a hundred comments and most of them are commented on by my schoolmates.

I am not an influencer or a public figure but I have a lot of followers. Aside from being famous inside the campus, maybe also be perks of being a sister to a famous artist.

@iamchristianstanley hot as always @thearabellamontidalgo

I tapped the heart button to like Christian's comment and dropped a winking emoticon.

He is Christian Stanley, my brother's best friend. He is also an artist. He's tall and has a muscular body. He has naturally long lashes, a pointed nose, and perfectly carved lips. In short, he is good-looking. Christian is my ex-crush. That feeling faded when I heard the news that he's in a relationship with my brother's ex-girlfriend. I was turned off, big time!

Christian received a lot of bashers that time but the girl received twice or thrice the number of Christian's bashers. And I am one of those! I could still remember that I created an anonymous account just to bash her. I hate her, bigtime. After that scene, the lady's project drops from the movie up to endorsements. She and Christian also broke up. My brother didn't get mad at his best friend and no friendship was ruined because my brother didn't love his ex. Their relationship is only for their movies because their love team is well known and they keep on receiving big projects.

I checked other comments on my post most especially the comments of three witches.

@hannamaureensantiago That's our girl, rawr!

@monticilloagatha Shems! It's so hot in the Philippines! Burn baby, burrrrn!

@maximaaaxxxx ready to serve the new dish babe!

I liked my friends' comments and dropped my replies. While reading other comments I constantly receiving notifications.

I tapped the latest notif I have received and read the comment.

@iamvansalvaez Pretty huh? Making yourself pretty for who?

I glanced at my brother and gave him an annoying look. He sat beside Dark on the left side of the van while I am on the right side beside Light. The twins are in the middle of us.

"I am not making myself pretty bro. Pretty? Like duh, I was born gorgeous! Right mommy?" I stated and asked mom for confirmation.

"Truth baby. Genes remember?" Mom replied while chuckling. She just used my words against her against me this time.

My brother gave us a soft laugh. Geez. He is getting into my nerves.

"Mom, dad... I have a suggestion. What if we create an application that can track one's data." We glanced at my lil brother when he asked that question out of nowhere.

"You mean, face recognition? There are existing applications like that." My mother replied.

"No mom, I mean somewhat with a wider range," Dark replied. Among us, he has the brain when it comes to technologies. Maybe he is the one who inherited our parents' talents and skills when it comes to that thing. "Like their occupation, their past maybe they are bad guys." He added.

"And how will you know that they are bad guys huh?" I asked Dark.

"He hacked several police stations nearby last night and he even wandered into an unknown website. And one more thing Dark —"

"Whaaaat?"

"Oh my Gosh baby!"

"What?!"

"No way!"

The four of us reacted simultaneously. This is indeed shocking! At his age, he knows how to hack? That's ridiculous!

Light shuts her mouth when Dark gives her a warning look. She pursed her lips to refrain herself from saying more.

I think something is going on between the twins. They are having secrets! I am sure of that, I know my siblings well.

The van was filled with speeches of mom and dad. Dark is too young for that kind of thing and I don't know where did he learn to hack. I know for sure that my parents didn't teach him that and they wouldn't!

After that sermon, our trip became silent. I think we are already out of Metro Manila. I can still see lots of establishments along the road but there's no more traffic. Traffic makes your trip super delay. It's been how many hours yet we are still traveling. This is indeed a long trip.

I rested my head on the window of the car and closes my eyes. I will take a nap first.

"Wake the twins and your sister first Vonn. It's already lunchtime. We need to eat here first."

"Got it, Mom. Can't wait to see my sister's reaction."

I gently rubbed my eyes with the back part of my index fingers. I think we stopped somewhere.

"Great. You're awake. Get up. We have to eat our lunch first." My brother said and wake the twins up.

The twins aren't hard to wake. Two taps on their shoulders make them up already.

Light rubbed her eyes while Dark shrugs his head.

The two went out of the van so did I. I scanned the whole place where we stopped by and I am not liking it.

Mommy leads us to a food stall where several people are eating their lunch.

No way!

"What's with your face Sis?" My brother asked while laughing. He is teasing me!

I didn't bother to reply to him. I call mom's attention instead.

"Mom?"

"I know what you are thinking right now baby but we have to eat first. There is no restaurant in this town and this is the only option we have." Mom explained.

My brother tapped my shoulder and walked following my mother and others. I have no choice but to eat. I don't want to starve myself. We brought snacks but it is not enough for my tummy.

I marched towards the stall and pull a vacant chair beside Mom's. She is now checking the menu for our orders. We occupied three tables since we are ten in total. We used two vans and we bring four drivers. This is a long trip so it is better to have extra drivers because driving is also exhausting.

So this is what they called, carinderia. This is my first time eating in this kind of setting because we usually eat in an expensive restaurant.

I can feel the stares of people around us. It makes me feel uncomfortable!

"Don't mind them, Sis. Just eat." My brother said. Maybe he noticed what I feel.

Just like what he said, I didn't mind those eyes. I just eat peacefully when the food has been served. There is adobo, chop suey, pinakbet, sinigang na Bangus, and ampalaya with egg. The food is not bad though. It tastes good.

After eating our lunch we stayed there for a couple of minutes for a rest before we resume our trip.

I wanted to take a nap again but I couldn't because there were a lot of humps on the road.

I don't know where we are at right now. I can see only a few houses and I think we are no longer on a national road.

I put on my earphones and play a piece of music instead.

Whenever the atmosphere becomes like this, music is one of my companions.

I closed my eyes, feel the beat and get along with the lyrics.

~ Do you love the rain? Does it makes you dance,

~ When you're drunk with your friends at a party?

~ What's your favorite song? Does it make you smile?

~ Do you think of me?

~ When you close your eyes, tell me, what are you dreamin'?

~ Everything I wanna know it all ...

It's already four in the afternoon and we are still traveling. This is indeed a long trip. No wonder why our grandparents can't manage to travel anymore. It's kinda tiring and I am pretty sure they will experience twice of exhaustion we are feeling right now.

~ I'd spend ten thousand hours and ten thousand more

~ Oh if that's what it takes to learn that sweetheart of yours

~ And I might never get there but I'm gonna try

~ If it's ten thousand hours or the rest of my life .... I'm gonna love you (ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh)

The van began to cross the way which shows no houses and more on trees, a forest perhaps. Creepy!

"Are we lost?" I asked curiously. My heart beats fast and I am feeling edgy right now. It's giving me goosebumps. Are we some kind of, in a movie? Is this a wrong turn? Geez!

"No baby. This is the way, we are not lost." Mom answered. That's a relief!

It took a couple of minutes to travel inside the forest before the van stops. Mom and dad went out of the van. My brother did the same so did I. I left the twins inside, sleeping.

"ID Sir," the man asked. He is taller than daddy and is more masculine. He looks like an officer based on his appearance and gestures.

Dad showed his ID and my eyebrows automatically curved after seeing the man's reaction. He seems shocked and a Lil bit scared.

Huh? What's with the reaction?

I tilted my head to see what kind of place we are at right now. My eyes wandered the place. It's a pier! I can see from where I am standing a big yacht with a printed name on it, MONTIDALGO.

Woah!

I will assume that it is owned by dad or my grandparents mayhap. But that was impossible. As far as I know, my parents are just sending them allowances.

There are no other vessels I can see. And have only a few lights. It is not enough to light up the whole place. It looks like an abandoned pier.

"Wake your siblings up." Daddy said. We lead ourselves back to the van and wake them up.

I tapped Dark and Light's shoulder. They are indeed not hard to wake.

"Are we here?" Dark asked.

“No, not yet. We still need to ride a yacht." I replied. I saw how Light's eyes shine.

“Big brother, up.." Light requested while pouting her lips.

My brother is not hard to please. He immediately conforms to Light's request and carries her.

"Where is Arcillana mom? Why can't I see any island?" I asked when I see nothing from afar. Usually, you'll see it even just a small bulge.

“We still have an hour to travel baby. You will see the island after forty-five minutes." Mom replied.

We positioned ourselves near the front part of the yacht near the railings. Me, Light, Dark, and my brother Vonn.

My hair was blown by the wind when the yacht starts to move. The air is refreshing. I like the feeling of being touched by the cool breeze.

“How many times have you been in Arcillana bro?" I asked my brother. Among the four of us, he is the only one who went to the island.

“Twice sis. The first one, when I was a child, and the second time was before I entered the showbiz industry. I went there to inform grandpa and grandma personally and to get their blessings as well." He replied. I nodded after hearing his statement.

“How would you describe the island?"

“I don't know. I mean, I couldn't find an exact word to describe it. Don't worry sis I know you will like it there. The first time I saw it, I fell in love and if given a chance, I would love to settle down there someday." He said meaningfully. He isn't playing around this time like he always does.

"WOAH WHAT WAS THAT?!!"

That was my reaction when I felt a sudden vibration.

"I felt it too! I felt it too!" Light exclaimed while jumping. I can see the amazement in her eyes.

"Look!" I followed the direction where Dark pointed his index fingers.

NO WAAAAAY!!!!

I couldn't believe what I am seeing right now! Am I dreaming?!! It's getting dark because it's already six in the evening but the place was illuminated by the lights coming from the buildings in the middle of the island. I can see the structures of the buildings. Wow! Just wow. There's a lot of islands in the Philippines that have buildings and other establishments but this one is different! I think that what I am seeing right now is not just an island but a productive and profitable city for foreigners.

And one more thing, the fact that this island is concealed then there must be something in it.

"What exactly is this place?" I uttered to myself.