Thea woke up and bumped into a piece of mind-boggling news. She and Jassy were found lying on the floor, both unconscious. She wrinkled her brow, trying to recall the scene of what happened before and why they had turned unconscious. But not a single speck came to mind.
"Thanks to God, you're okay. I wonder what happened after I left you. You're both unconscious, but Jassy's pulse is so low, barely breathing, that we have to send her to the hospital." York narrated as he prepared a soup for her.
She didn't feel anything that would suggest being ill. She feels perfectly fine, but she feels odd for not remembering anything.
"If you're not feeling well, we don't need to go camping." York is worried.
Even at the back of her mind, she doesn't want to go camping, yet she can't use her being falsely ill as an excuse; she despises lies. "I'm perfectly okay, and If you really want, we can go anytime."
*****
York is driving Nerie's yellow Jeep Wrangler; it is an off-road truck, their ride to the camping site. Thea tucks herself into the open-air back part of the truck, with Nerie's friends, who are jabbering about any topic that comes to their mind. Nerie, of course, is in the front seat with York, and four of her friends are in the back with Thea. Two of them are girls and two boys, and they are paired. She didn't know their names, and she didn't bother to know. She's only here to support York, and for whatever reason why she needs to; she hardly knows it yet. But she hopefully believes that the recent intimacy and closeness they have with each other is for real.
On the other hand, York is worried about Thea in the back. If it only depended on his will, he would be delighted to have Thea in the front seat or maybe have somebody drive the car, and he could stay with Thea at the back, get cozy with each other in the rushing open air. But Nerie insisted York drive her car, as she can't afford the long off-road trail drive, and she said none of their boy's companion either could drive expertly on rough roads and wade through mud holes. York is driving while his eyes are busy glancing back and forth on the road and peeking in the rear-view mirror, where he can spot Thea silently curled up at the back, not being comfortable nor joining the group's conversation.
Reaching the camping site was another four-mile trek from where they parked the car. They reached the camping site almost at daybreak. The boys immediately assembled the tents without losing any more time, while most of the girls prepared charcoal for the grilling.
Thea, not having any idea what she should do, was just standing on the corner observing everybody and waiting for their call, in case they needed her assistance. And they did: " Hey, can you help us grab some water for washing? "Asked the girl. Like Nerie, her hair is straight and rebounded, but her hair color is ash grey and a bit longer than Nerie's.
"Sure!" Even though she hesitates because she doesn't have any idea where to get the water from. Thea complies, thinking, 'For sure, it's not far from here.'
She's about to go to York to tell him what she needs to do or gather information from him on where to go. But Nerie blocked her way towards York. "Aren't you supposed to get water? It's that way," pointing in the direction opposite York. And since York looked busy, she moved her way out without bothering him.
For almost half an hour's walk, she finally found a spring, with a little fall from its source under the huge Balete Tree. The spring's inner part is shady since its spreading leaves and falling roots cover it. She takes off her shoes and dips the water container not far from the bank, soaking her feet at the same time.
Walking back to the camp, she halts when she realizes that she couldn't remember which way she should go. Most of the bushes, the leaves, the foliage look exactly alike to each other. She looks around from the ground up, mindful of the sky's changing color, partly visible since covered with tall trees. It is turning into greyish-orange. Her heart starts to beat faster, ignited by her jitters. She doubts that she can make it back in time. Then she continued her walk for almost an hour, as the place was getting shadier.
Her lips start shaking, and liquid forming from her eyes starts clouding her view, making it more blurry. Despite what's happened, she never stops, and to all intents and purposes, she's now running, trying to fight the heebie-jeebies. She stops running, almost out of breath; it doesn't help anyway. The worst, she seems to have gotten farther away from the campsite, and she starts feeling hopeless.
The tears from her eyes now dropping fast, together with the few drizzles that are starting to annoy her more. Digging in the darkness, she's trying to find a tree with thick leaves to shelter her from the hastened sprinkles. She curls, restraining herself from fidgeting. Hungry, scared, and hopeless in the midst of almost pitch-black wildwood. Also, because of her partly drenched clothing, the flurry of air lowered her temperature to almost freezing. She closed her eyes in despair to unconsciousness.
*****
The campsite darkened faster as the skies grew overcast, particularly as it was about to rain. York and the boys had finished installing their tents; there are just five tents since two pairs are couples and are using the same tent together. As soon as York finishes lighting the bonfire, he strides towards the supposed to be Thea's tent to invite her for dinner, as the gang is ready to munch up the freshly grilled pork belly strips and bream fish paired with hanging rice and a dipping sauce, a mixture of calamondin lime extract, onion, tomato, and fish sauce.
Thinking that Thea is just inside the tent, probably asleep or sorting out things or maybe dressing up. York calls for her from outside.
"Thea, the food is ready; come, let's go together." York's voice sounds calm behind the excitement.
"You go first; I'll follow later." A subdued female voice, hardly heard, replied.
"Are you fine?" York displayed a confused reaction.
"Yes, jus-just go." The voice replied, sounding fuzzier and huffy.
Worried, he stalled, and he still moved away, giving Thea space for now; 'perhaps she's just busy', he thought.
Inside the tent, Nerie breathes out in relief as soon as she hears York's footsteps moving away, then continues rummaging through Thea's belongings. She gets her phone and goes over it." Ugh, nothing exciting, nothing, even in her inbox, except for a text from an unknown number. She doesn't even have an FB account. Ugh, what a boring girl. Does York like her?" Checking back inside Thea's bag, suddenly, an eerie, radiating light illuminates Nerie's face, making her mouth ajar and eyes wide-open.
*****
York hadn't eaten much when he noticed Thea wasn't around. "Excuse me." He strode back to Thea's tent, leaving the others speechless.
Halfway there, he found the tent half-open. In double time, he ran to search the inside, and it was empty, with all of her things scattered. His voice is unrestrained as he calls out for her. "Thea... Thea... Thea, where are you?!"
The group came after him as soon as they heard the blasting, panicky voice of York.
"What happened?" Asked one of the boys.
"I couldn't find Thea." York continued to roam around the tent, searching.
Nerie and the grey-haired girl, obviously hiding something, keep on giving a glimpse of each other.
"I think I saw her getting inside the woods with a water container a few moments after we arrived." Says the girl with curly hair.
York's brow furrowed, getting more confused. "Impossible, she just..." He stopped after realizing something. "Shit. She's not her." Not losing a minute, he grabbed his flashlight and went deep inside the woods.
"Thea! Thea!" He's almost tired from yelling for her and roaming continuously, searching for Thea. When he suddenly detects something moving, it is quick and repellent that he can barely cast an eye. He sprints a little bit faster to catch sight of it. Maybe it's her. He pondered.
As fast as he can move, he follows it until he can see that it's a girl, presented by its silhouette with long hair floating in the air as she runs. Yet suddenly, it disappeared.
He stopped, about to give up, but the air was cold and misty, and at the back of his subconscious, he could see Thea, scared, tired, hungry, and probably running for her life. He stopped thinking when his presentiment gave him goosebumps.
He had no choice, and he couldn't just be a simple human in this situation. He decided to use his power just at this moment. He really needed to find and perhaps save Thea.
With full concentration, a bluish-green, flame-like light covered his entire body slowly and enchantingly. From the ground up to his head. As the flame faded. Exposed was a totally different semblance from the York known.