Chapter 1: Them of the Six

"NONG Fayeee!"

I automatically sat on my bed from lying when I heard Era's loud voice, screaming. I glared at my door and hold my pillow tight.

"N'Fa-"

The moment she opened the door is also the moment my pillow hit her face. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

"I'll let this pass for now. You've hit me too much already with your pillow since yesterday!" she attempted to threaten me with her widened eyes and her finger pointing at me. I just hissed at her and lied down on my bed again, covering myself with comforter.

"Hey! I'm still talking to you! Just in case you forgot, I am 22 minutes older to you! But anywaaay," I felt a movement on the side of my bed as she sat beside me.

"Ouch!" I shrieked and sat again. I glared at her and rubbed my arm which she slapped.

"What is it again, Era? You got one heavy hand, are you aware of that?"

"Yes, I am. But, nevermind! Listeeen! I have a date todaaaay!" she informed me while holding both of my shoulders and shaking me.

I took her hands off me with brows furrowed and stood up to grab her out of my room. When we finally reached the door, I cupped her face with both of my hands.

Her face looked confused, so I smiled at her. "Congrats and wish you luck." I let her face go as I slammed the door right in front of her face after I entered my room again.

I WAS watching a movie in our living room when our main door opened. I stood up to greet him when I saw it was dad. I approached him and gave him a kiss on his cheeks. He headed to the sofa, put his textured brown leather briefcase down, then took off his coat. I went to the kitchen and get a glass of water.

He looked so exhausted coming from a business trip in London. I handed him the water and sat on the sofa right next to him. "Dad, why didn't you tell us that you're going home? We should've prepared you something."

He put the glass on the table after drinking. "I actually wanted to suprise you and your sister, but something came up. Anyway, where is she?" he asked and roamed his eyes around.

"Speaking of that nuisance, Dad. She's not bothering me for a couple of days already. It's weird."

Dad let out a small laugh. "Aren't you supposed to be happy that she went silent?"

"No. Era's not Era if she's not messing with me," I insisted with my forehead creased. He nodded as if he agrees with what I said.

"Have you tried talking to her?"

"I did, but she's avoiding me."

"Something must've happened. Since when did she became like this?" he asked with worry.

I looked down on the carpet and thought about it. Hmm. When is it again?

"I have a date todaaaay!"

My eyes widened when I remember that day. I turned to dad who obviously waits to whatever I was supposed to say.

"A week ago when she went out for a date."

His eyes narrowed which made me frown. "Now's not the time to talk about her love life, Dad."

He shrugged his shoulders and opened his briefcase to get something.

My brows met. "Paper? What's on that, Dad?" Is it his last will and testament? Will his wealth be given to me?

"A friend suggested me of a place where I can chill for a while and have a peace of mind. I can't do that for now, though. I'm not happy with this week's financial report. Company's revenue isn't growing, but decreasing. I have to fix it, or we'll lose our investors."

My mouth gaped open. So that's the reason why he seemed so tired.

"Anyway, that's my thing. While your thing is to know what happened to your sister."

I nodded for agreement. "Right. But I don't know what to do anymore, Dad!" I complained.

He smiled and handed me the paper. "Take this. Help your sister freshen up her mind."

I accepted it and unfolded. It was a map which made my left brow raise. "A traditional map, dad? Seriously? There's Google map, like hello?"

"I said you'll freshen up. Travelling like you're going to hunt some treasure is a lot of fun! You'll enjoy the nature. Also, that would be a great time for you and your sister to bond."

I got his point, but still! "Gosh, Dad. Can't you just gi-"

His phone rang, so he excused himself for a while. He went outside to take the call.

I rolled my eyes. I'm not even a fan of mother nature! Well, Era is. But I'm not! And I will never be! I'd rather face my phone or ipad the whole day, browsing through the internet.

My gaze turned to the door when dad entered again. But my brows instantly met when I saw him wearing his coat again with his favorite briefcase. I looked at the sofa beside me and saw that the coat and briefcase were now gone. I don't remember him bringing his things when he went outside. And gosh! He just answered a call!

"Dad?"

He looked at me gave me a smile before approaching me to plant a kiss on my forehead.

"It's late night, why are you still awake?"

I didn't answer and remained staring af him.

"What's with the stare?" he asked and laughed.

He shuffled my hair. "You should sleep already. I still have to rest, I'm really tired."

I just stared at him until he reached his room. I massaged my temples. I felt like having a headache. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? But no, I am sure about what I saw. Just... what the hell was that?

"ERA! Open the door!"

I was knocking on her door non-stop, but she won't open it. Not even shout, telling me she's still alive! I screamed out of frustration and went downstairs while scratching my head to find our house keys.

If I ever found out that she's mourning over something nonsense, aaargh! I don't know what I could do to her!

I pushed away the curtain aggressively over the doorway of the kitchen while stomping my feet and approached our fridge. I raised my brow seeing the note dad left, saying that he has to leave again for a business trip in New York.

I suddenly remembered what happened yesterday evening. That's hell weird. I shook my head lightly and held the door of the fridge.

Why am I standing in front of this fridge again?

Argh! I annoyingly opened it to get a bottled water and drank it. I put it back after I emptied the bottle and head straight to the living room.

I was about to sit down when I remembered I was about to do something. "Gosh! What am I finding again?" I shuffled my hair out of frustration. Ah, the room keys! Ano ba 'yan!

I roamed my eyes around the living room. When did I put it again? And... when the hell did I last used it?

I pouted while my arms were crossed. I leaned my back over the sofa while trying to remember when did I last used it.

It took me few minutes to remember how I used it when I accidentally locked my bathroom's door from the inside. As far as I can remember, I placed it...

"Gosh." I closed my eyes tightly and started to breathe in and out to calm myself.

"Aaargh!" I face-palmed when I finally remembered why am I standing in front of that fridge!

I frustratingly went back there to get the keys over it. I quickly went upstairs and went to Era's room. When I get there, I didn't waste any time and put the blue-colored key in the keyhole. When I turned it, I suddenly felt like all my bloods raised up to my head. I feel like I want to be a criminal so suddenly...

"Bullshit."

I withdrew the key and twisted the doorknob, pushing the door so hard.

"Gosh, Era! I am screaming non-stop outside your room! I also knocked loudly multiple times! Yet you didn't even bother to stand up and open the door for me or scream, so I would know you're still breathing then I will discover that this damn door isn't even locked?! What are yo-" My voice lowered until I stopped when I saw her sitting over her bed and staring over nowhere. Her eyes were dull. It didn't make her less pretty, though. For sure she's still doing her routines. Even in her state now. I just heaved a sigh and rolled my eyes.

"It's my fault not to check first if your door is locked or not, anyway," I said and went near her.

"Hey," I tried to get her attention, but she acted like she didn't hear me. Or maybe she really did not.

I glared at her even if she's not looking at me. "Fine! I don't care about what the hell is happening to you, but you have to join me in this shit that Dad wants me to do." I looked at her closet before going near and opened it. I just picked what I saw were longsleeves and high-waisted jeans. My style, but not hers. I don't care, I bet she won't wear these, anyway.

I threw her the clothes I got. She flinched a bit which almost made me laugh. "Go to shower now! You stink like ew! I'll give you half an hour, bilisan mo!" I commanded and left her room to fix myself.

An hour already passed and Era isn't still going down. I'm getting bored here in the living room!

I was about to pick her up when I saw her walking down he stairs. Wow, I gave her longsleeves and jeans, but now she's wearing a black tube and a faded shorts paired with her favorite sneakers. I rolled my eyes when she put her sunglasses on. Even in her down times, she's still a fashionista, eh?

"Mainit."

I blinked my eyes when I heard her voice. What's hot? Me? Or the weather? Ah, the reason why she's wearing those revealing clothes. Like I care? That's her body, not mine.

"Hey! The taxi driver is waiting!" I turned around and saw her already sitting in the back seat. I rolled my eyes and followed her.

Time went fast and our trip went peacefully. We're now here at Mount Maiking start point.

I studied the map dad gave me. Starting here at the registration, we need to reach Station 11. They have what they call Habal Habal drivers which just look like a normal motorcycle. You can only ride the Habal Habal until reaching the Station 11. When we get there, we are required to walk or ride a bicycle we own to reach the Peak 2. There are two trails in Peak 2 and we have to head straight the left one. When we reach the end of the trail, I think that's where the event is held. I just have no idea what that event is. Treasure, maybe? Like in the movies. They may be having a treasure hunting activity for the hikers. 'That would be a lot of fun,' I thought while trying to imagine the exciting activity we'll be doing at the end of the trail. There will be a lot of people who went hiking to keep stress out of our minds for a while, and the set up would be refreshening, simple, but that would make it beautiful. I immediately stopped realizing what I am thinking. I shouldn't be thinking about good things like how I shouldn't speak it.

I put the map back inside my fanny pack and roamed my eyes around the registration area. Just a normal registration booth. A bit weird, though. I'm expecting a lot of people here who also wanted to hike. Or maybe they're already on their way to the mountain? Are we late? But anyway, at least we were able to register without any hassle.

We were currently riding the Habal Habal. We've seen small houses along the way. We also passed by the university buildings of UP Les Bisla. There are kids playing, sidewalk vendors selling snacks, souvenirs and hiking materials. Tall trees were all over here so I must agree that the view here is kind of relaxing. Honestly, I'm not really into things like this, but when I saw how Era's mood brighten up seeing all of these? It doesn't matter to me anymore. It's just nice to see her lively again, talking to the driver along the way.

What matters the most is bring back my twin's lost soul.

I laughed secretly and shrugged my thoughts away. We spent two hours in the habal habal until we reached Station 11 which is also known as the Agila Campsite. According to what I've heard about Era and the driver's conversation, it also takes two hours in order to reach Peak 2. And also, we will go by walk.

We were already walking our way up to the Peak 2. Era is beside me, doing something on my phone. She hasn't brought anything because she's lazy to do so, according to her. Lol, if I know, she was just driven by her thoughts which I wonder what. I don't understand her sometimes. She never failed to make her outfits as fashionable as possible, and her phone is too important for her because she always tend to watch some series, Thai series to be specific. Yet she left her phone today.

"We should've brought our mountain bike." Era pouted and handed my phone back.

I accepted it to check if there's any messages. And, I was right! Two new messages from Win, asking if we already reached the destination we're heading to like what I told him last night. It was sent an hour ago and she handed my phone just now. Gosh!

I rolled my eyes. "You don't even have your phone with you, and you're expecting for a bike," I said and replied to Win. I wasn't worried that he'll get angry for late replies. He was the most understanding person I know. Also, he knows I am on a trip.

"Hey, ladies! How are you both doing today?"

We both turned our heads to my right when a guy appeared, smiling widely to us. Judging by his looks, having those brown eyes, fair skin and brown hair, he looks like a foreigner also because of his accent. I bet a thousand pesos, this guy is an American!

Anyway, this guy is too feeling close. Or maybe he would try hitting on one of us?I just ignored him because he's a stranger. I'm not interested to him.

"Sawasdee kha! I'm Era!" Era greeted back and went closer to the guy.

I shook my head lightly and get my airpods to put it on my ears. I turned on the music on my phone, having it on its full volume and put my phone back inside my bag. I lead the way and walked fast because I can see they were talking.

I stopped from walking when someone took my airpod off my right ear. I glared at her.

"Are we near?" Era asked, not minding my glares.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed my airpod back. "We're on Peak 2."

I pointed the left trail in front of us. "We'll choose that way to reach the final destination," I explained.

I turned my gaze to the guy who tailed us. "Hey, what about you? Where are you planning to go?"

He pointed himself, so I raised my left brow. He quickly gave me a wide smile. Gosh, what's wrong with this guy? If I were him, my lips could've hurt badly. Thank God, I am Ela.

"We're heading on the same way! Everyone goes here for this, anyway," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. I just rolled my eyes and turned my gaze back in the front. I put my airpod back.

Right. And he won't tail us if we're not heading in the same place. Lol, Ela. Lol.

It isn't too far when I saw something like a wall. My forehead creased and run into it. I stopped in front of it and studied it with my eyes. Vines? Thick vines are blocking our way.

I looked at my sister when she grabbed my airpod once again. She has this confused look all over her face. "Shia. This is it? Dead end? A literal final destination, eh?" she asked, can't believe what she's seeing now.

We both turned our head to the American guy when he kicked the vines hard. It just created a small hole until the vines made its way on its own.

I blinked my eyes.

"Ehh?" I heard Era.

I stared at the guy seeing him like what he did is normal. I then turned my gaze to the widely opened space in front of us. I was about to look again at the guy when I felt like my eyes saw someone. My eyes went wide and turned my head slowly back in front of us.

I was right. And I ain't seeing only one person here. There were three.

In the end of this trail, we didn't find a treasure. Instead, here in the end of this, six people met.

💜