Darkness - Birth

i. Darkness

Darkness was all that Cristy Vallegrande saw when she drove by San Fernando Exit along North Luzon Expressway. She switched both the headlights & the radio on to accompany her in her journey. Frank Sinatra singing "Summer Wind" immediately filled what seemed like a silent void she was driving in. She turned the volume up hoping her auditory company could keep her from dozing off. "Just one last stretch," she whispered to herself.

She noticed no other vehicles were on either side of the expressway. She also noticed the seemingly palpable thickness of the dark & how weakly her light was cutting through it. She felt like cruising into outer space where all that was existing was her & Sinatra on the final chorus. 

She stepped on the gas from 100 kilometers to 160 in almost a glimpse or two, not caring about traffic cameras along the way. "What the heck," she said to herself fully giving in to the coming relief of coming home after another busy news week. 

She was the news bureau head at DZ Metropolitan, Manila's most popular a.m. radio station. She had earned a reputation for being hardworking, always burning the midnight oil & chasing after controversial beats & personalities. Her peers at other radio stations both admired & feared her. If there was one thing her co-workers liked about her, it's how she treated her weekends as sacred, spending them in her hometown Angeles City & entrusting all job-related tasks to her "weekend staff.""

That song is entitled 'Summer Wind,'" said the woman DJ in almost a whisper. "Our next song is Sinatra's rendition of "Moon River."" Cristy couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "I hope you are enjoying our Sinatra Special tonight in commemoration of the legendary crooner's death." A live recording of the song followed but Sinatra's flawless singing made it sound like studio version.

Cristy just kept driving fast until she spotted the reflective green signage saying "Exit 45 Angeles." She steadily sped down for the exit & into the only lighted booth with a security guard standing in front of it. She turned off the radio as the signal got jammed but Sinatra's voice was still echoing in her ears. The cashier's face lit up upon seeing her, not feigning the pleasant feeling of being in somebody else's company other than the guard.

"Is it brownout?" Cristy asked as she opened her car window, extending her arm with her ticket & cash. The lazy breeze outside felt scalding to her hand.

"Yes, ma'am, for almost an hour now," the cashier happily replied as she punched on her register.

Cristy took her receipt & drove ahead. Soon enough, the emptiness of the road caught her attention once more. No pedestrians or vehicles were in sight & everything was covered in darkness. It must be the brownout, she thought to herself. Angeles City hadn't seen a brownout that long since the '90s, "the decade Sinatra died."

She finally reached her house after 30 minutes. Like many of her peers who experienced the brownout days of the 90s & those who could afford, an emergency light system had been installed at her home. It wasn't much but at least it would not be pitch black during circumstances such as that night. 

She parked her car in her garage & went up to her bathroom on the second floor. After a satisfying cold shower, she wore a white sleeveless from Metro Department Store & white underwear from Zara. She went to her room & opened the sliding window hoping to let some air in. But all that was coming in from outside was the moonlight & nothing else. She could feel beads of sweat forming on her forehead but before a drop could trickle down on her face, she took her sleeveless shirt off. To her amusement, she let the moon illuminate her naked chest.

She went to bed & grabbed her phone. No internet, not even mobile data. Like clockwork she checked Twitter & found a Tweet by Carl Lanzalucho from 3 hours ago saying "Excited for company teambuilding on Wed in Cebu!"

She was with Carl the Wednesday before. The two of them went all the way back. They had been good friends since meeting as classmates in second year high school at Angeles University Foundation. Carl was working in Manila too & the two of them, along with other friends, managed to keep up with each other at least once a week. Last Wednesday they had pizza together on Visayas Avenue. Carl bought a house in Clark & like Cristy, he traveled back home every weekend. Because of this, the two of them had the chance to do things together like dining out, biking or exercising in Pampanga apart from their weekly get-togethers with other friends in Manila.

To be continued...