Blue Hour

Chapter 44

I reached the bottom of the mountain, scanning every part of the path hoping that I would meet her on the way. Still, there were no signs of Lena. I picked up the phone in my pocket, and tried to call the people on the farm, but there was no coverage in this area.

I need to continue going up now. The rain was getting stronger as I moved forward along the path. Stones and broken branches were protruding on the way, and it was making it harder to climb.  I carefully walked on the way while checking every corner because there might be wild animals like snakes. 

“Lena!” I called, but there was still no response. I kept on shouting as I moved forward but it was the same. My eyes sting already because of the heavy rain. The droplets kept on falling stronger, together with the strong winds. The thunderstorm continued to mow over the lands. 

I almost fell on the ground after I accidentally slipped on the broken branches. Luckily, I was able to reach a rock but in return, it scraped my skin. The pain was stinging, as blood slowly came out of the wound. I know what I did was reckless, searching alone, but I have to do it for my people who work under me. 

After a few minutes of twists and turns, I reached the place where Lena showed me the other day. 

“Lena, are you here? This is Ray!” I called but no response.

I moved to the spot where the huge rock was located but there was really no response. I picked up the phone again from my pocket, still no coverage. This is bad, what if Lena already was not here in the first place? Maybe she already moved down before it rained, and we did not meet each other on the way. There was a certain spot there where little water fell and I stayed there thinking of what to do. Being soaked in rain water for almost an hour already, I kept on shivering. I guess I have no choice but to go down from here. 

After resting for a couple of minutes, I started to go down making sure that I followed the right path again. Descending was harder than going up the mountainside. It would be bad if I accidentally slipped again. I tried to stay calm. I shouted again, making sure that Lena might hear me in case she was around. There was really no response. I hope she is already at the farm or somewhere safe. 

“Oh, man!” The flashlight that I was carrying went out already. My body was beginning to ache with the nonstop walking, and to add to the bad weather, everything is already getting out of hand. I tried to stay calm going down the mountain, but it’s really hard. I am already running out of breath and the fatigue was hitting me hard. 

“Crap!” I shouted. Without any lights guiding me on the way, I stepped on the wet branches and slipped. What was worse was there were a bunch of sharp rocks in front of me. I can’t do anything now, I just closed my eyes and braced myself for the impact. 

Minutes passed, but I did not feel any impact. What happened? I slowly opened my eyes, someone caught my hand and was pulling me up. 

“Ray, I can’t hold it anymore!” The man said, and was in pain already lifting my weight and preventing me from falling down. 

“Sun! What are you doing here?” I asked. 

“I’ll answer you later. We need to get up or you will fall down.” He said, while gathering his strength. 

I slowly shifted my body and swung towards him. There was a loud thud heard all over the place. When I opened my eyes, I was above him. We just looked at each other, and for some reason both of us smiled. 

“How did this happen? I thought I told you to stay in the room.” I said. 

“You must have forgotten that wherever you are, I will appear there. I just kept my distance, watching you from afar so that I wouldn't make you worry too. It was painful to watch you going alone, looking for Lena. I tried to call you but I held back.” Sun said. 

“Oh, I remember. You told me that before, but how?” I said, and pointed at my hand. 

“I don’t know either, but I really wanted to save you and luckily I was able to hold your hand.”

“Don’t tell me you got some sort of physical body?” I said, and looked at him curiously. Then all of a sudden, shyness ran over my body when I remembered I was still on top of him. This time, I could feel his body, but it was cold. 

“Sorry!” I said and hurriedly stood up. I extended my hand to help him stand up. How did this happen? Sun reached out for my hand and slowly stood up from the ground. His hand was chilly but in a comfortable way. Again, his presence was very calming, as if it was washing away my fatigue. We were already both soaked in water and mud. I looked around to check the path again so that we could go down. 

“Are you okay Ray?” Sun said and moved closer to me. I almost fell down on the ground on what he did next. He placed his hand on my face, and slowly wiped the dirt. His chilly touch sent shivers to my body, and later on was replaced by heat. My heart was banging loudly because of his actions.

“Oh, yeah. Thank you so much Sun.” I said, calming myself down. 

“That’s good, but are you sure? Is there any part of your body that hurts?” He asked. 

“Y-yes.” I answered. 

“The rain won’t stop soon. It will be bad if you continue getting soaked in the rainwater. I think I know a place where we can stay.” Sun said.