Bayani Unmasked: A HENERAL LUNA & GOYO: Ang Batang Heneral One-shot collection

32. Restless || #GoyoAngstStories

They said that his soul was finally at peace; the very reason that the only thing that everyone who've hiked Tirad Pass as tourists had felt was the futility of the action. But, what if, his soul remained wandering? Just waiting for the right person to help him moved on and finally rest in peace?

* * *

The entirety of this trip was actually her friend's idea. Her best friend told her that if she wanted to be away from the city life and the stress of being the heiress to their family business for a few days, then she better come with her on her small hometown in Ilocos Sur, just on the other side of the tourist destination of Mountain Province. And she was somehow glad that she came with her for the tranquility and peace; but for her last trip today, she didn't expect that she'll wake up early to take a walk outside. After all, the past two days had been stressful with all the treking and added history.

It was indeed different. The province life somehow hit her quite hard. Dagupan was already a bustling city in comparison to this. But her childhood mirrored a province as peaceful as this, before she finished College and was brought to the reality of their family business's hub at Manila. Or perhaps, she'd been walking around a bit than intended in a place that she was unfamiliar, making her realize that there was an aching peacefulness in the air. After all, she'd succeeded in asking her father not to assign bodyguards for her. If she did, she'll not enjoy these things at all.

She took a moment to take in her surroundings, and sure enough, she was already hiking up the mountain once again. The same spot she did a few days ago. A beautiful but lonely one. The air it carried from the upslope has a cold sensual tranquility, as if holding a history far darker than the tall weeds sprouting from the ground.

No one was around. The lack of people made the silence even more apparent against where she stood now. And everything was peaceful and a little bit wistful.

She sighed heavily, just on time for a flash of white to catch her gaze. She blinked once and turned to look on at the trail up ahead her once again. What really got her attention, however, was the man standing right ahead of her. He was wearing a khaki uniform that almost blended too well with the weeds, but it was his rumpled dark hair that really made him stand out and the gold medals he has.

Weird, she thought. Nandito ba siya all this time?

She was still staring at him when he turned. His eyes widened the moment that their eyes met one another, and it took everything in her not to look away from him. She froze in place at the intensity of his stare. After all, it was the first time she'd seen someone's eyes to bright as gold as that of his.

"Ikaw," he said, his voice deep and commanding. "Nakaikita mo ako?"

"Uhm, oo?"

His mere presence was intimading but there was a gentleness on how few his words were. He looked relieved as he spoked again, "Ah, m-mabuti. Sa wakas..."

Or perhaps, something made her stay than to run away screaming when she finally noticed the blood on his cheek and neck. It was a horrible wound that in a red hue, she could actually swore that she could see his teeth and the inside of his mouth. But instead of screaming, she reached out to him in an attempt to hold him. "T-Teka... na paano ka? 'Di lang 'yan basta-bastang—"

But when she did, she could only blanch. Her hand went right through his arm as if he were an apparition. She saw her fingers stick out of his sleeve, and she pulled her hand back as quickly as she could. Only now that she scrambled to get away from the man—or whatever the hell he was.

"T-Teka lang! 'Wag kang tumakbo, 'di pa ako tapos!" the man—thing—yelled at her.

She was already running back to where she came from, down the startup of the trek, but in a flash of almost inhuman speed, he was standing in front of her again, arms outstretched. She was shaking in fear, wondering how he had done that.