Dark glasses over his eyes, a hand in his pocket and the other fixing his scarf. His backpack was set on his broad shoulder and a hat graced his dark hair. Gabe was more than ready for the trip ahead. After all, he had been preparing for it for nearly a month. Although it shouldn't have taken a month's worth of preparation, the idea of going to the province for an indefinite time unnerved him. He was a purebred city guy. Both of his parents grew up in the capital city, although his mother's roots could be traced all the way back to the Province of Bicol. But still, most of his relatives now live in the national capital region and he doubted that he still had living relatives in southeast Luzon.

Well, that was what he thought until a letter came in last month. It was, apparently, from the granddaughter of a friend of his great-great-grandmother. A bit far fetched and too long a line, if he was to be asked. But apparently, this woman, of unknown origin (Well, obviously from the province) possessed some kind of contract, binding the firstborn male to the woman's family. And to Gabe's luck, he was the firstborn male. He wasn't even sure how they were able to get a hold of their postal address. Heck, do they even have posts in the mountains? Not that he was judging them for their provincial life. (He was totally judging them) But according to his grandfather, he had to go and fulfill the contract, whatever it was. And he can't really disobey his grandfather since whatever Lolo says is basically law and they are obliged to abide by his words.

So that's exactly why a man of his caliber is waiting in the airport for the domestic flight. He probably looked more like a foreigner on an Asian tour rather than a city guy visiting the province.

Gabe crossed his arms over his chest, wondering how those weird people even figured out that there was the firstborn male in his family since according to his mother, the family's firstborn had always been a girl. That had been the case for nearly a millennia. They knew this because they kept a family tree that dated back in the pre-colonial era. Which terrified and perplexed him, to be honest.

Soon, he finally boarded the plane and bade his dear city farewell. Gazing morosely at its tall buildings and busy streets. He may have hated all those but he knew he was going to miss them. And to be honest, he never really stepped on anything but the capital region and the mere idea of being carted off to a poor poverty-stricken region made him anxious. Which was basically the reason why he was three weeks late from the intended date of arrival.

Oh well. It's not like they could complain. After all, they were the ones who demanded him to be there with only an old thin tree bark as a basis. And besides, they didn't say whether how long he would be staying there. He most certainly had to come prepared.

Gabe heaved a sigh and let his eyes droop, feeling sleep steal him away. But it wasn't for long since apparently, it only took 45 minutes to reach his destination on a plane. He couldn't be more disappointed.

Or so he thought.

For someone who had been requested by a member of an old society with a high and glorious title, he had been expecting for someone to greet him at the small airport with his name printed beautifully on a banner. Perhaps waving zealously to catch his attention, and then he would smile politely and come to the person whilst the person would show him to his designated car: a sleek black limousine.

But those things only happened in movies and cheesy novels he found his sister reading. In real life, what waited for him outside where a line of sketchy taxi drivers, hoping that he was naive enough to fall for their cons. Well, it was unfortunate for them since he was a graduate of philosophy and majored in Realism. He even graduated magna *** laude, which became a source of pride in his family. However, no matter how intelligent he may be, he was still a tad socially awkward which made him at a disadvantage in the corporate world, rendering him jobless.

He waited for someone to show up, but none came. So Gabriel Zamora was looking gloomy as he sat on the sidewalk, a pink straw between his lips as he sipped his can of soda.

"Magta-taxi ka sir? 400 lang pa-Naga. 350 na lang sa'yo." One of the drivers offered in Tagalog, but Gabe simply shut his offer down with a menacing glare. He hated people begging for his attention, especially those trying to get a hold of the smallest amount he had. It wasn't that he was stingy but he simply didn't like the annoying and persistent nature of those people.

But how long could he turn down these taxi offers when he wasn't even sure that someone would come for him. Should he just go and wait at the foot of the mountain and hope that one of the people the letter mentioned would happen upon him and take him to their village? That was probably asking too much.

So in the end, he got into a taxi and asked the driver to take him to the foot of the mountain. The driver asked which route to take, and that was when Gabe ruefully realized that he was very much unprepared for this journey.

"The closest to the waterfalls." was his reply, remembering the waterfalls the mountain people boasted about on the internet.

Soon enough, he was dropped off by the driver at the foot of the mountain. The fresh cool air, slamming into his being as he stepped out of the car. His bag in tow. Gabe tugged at his scarf, attempting to shield himself from the surprisingly cold air. It was nearly nightfall too.

The man looked around, taking in his surroundings. The trees were tall and green. Healthy. There were a few nipa houses scattered in random distances. It looked like it sprang out of a historical film. And as the sun sets, the horizon was peppered with the colors of yellow, orange, pink, indigo and red. He was stunned with awe as he gazed upon it. It was as if he sat aloft a high seat where he could gaze at the world below. What more if he was high up the mountain?

He took out his mobile phone and captured the scenery into his camera roll.

But as soon as it was etched into the memory of his phone, he realized that he was at a dead end. Remembering the letter that was sent to them a month ago, Gabe took the paper from his bag and read the contents.

-///-

*Sa mga inapo ni Haliya:*

Ayon sa tala na iniwan ng aking lola, ang angkan ni Haliya ay hindi kaylanman magkakaroon ng panganay na lalaki para maprotektohan ang lipi mula sa mga alagad ng Gagamban. Ngunit kung magkaroon ng panganay na lalaki ang angkan, kaylangan syang bumalik sa lipi upang ito'y bantayan. At nang malaman namin na mayroong panganay na lalaki ang panganay na apo ng inapo ni Haliya, hinihiling namin na bumalik siya sa lipi at tuparin ang nakasaad sa nakatala. Isang linggo mula ngayon, isa sa amin ang maghihintay sa kanya sa paanan ng bukid. Sana'y maniwala kayo dahil hindi lang kami ang kabilang sa lipi.

Ang inyong angkan ay kasama rin.

-///-

It was the most ridiculous letter he has ever laid eyes on, but his grandfather was fast to believe it and had immediately sent for him. So here he was, sitting morosely on the foot of the mountain, waiting for this unknown and sketchy person to take him to the esteemed village.

"Are you lost?" He heard a feminine voice ask from behind him. Sure enough, a girl, probably around 18 years old was standing behind him. Carrying a bilao filled with root crops.

"Yeah, kinda." He answered. Suspicion washing over him as he realized that the woman spoke in English with so much ease as if it was her mother tongue. She looked like a native, though. Dressed in a bright skirt that fell a few inches past her knees and a red chequered long sleeves on top of a plain white shirt. Her neck was adorned with colorful beads and her dark wavy hair was brushed up in a messy bun and her fringes framed her onyx eyes.

"If you're going to the village, you can come with me. I'm on my way home." She answered, this time in a language he had grown familiar with: Tagalog. But for some reason, he was unnerved by her. Gabe looked at her with curiosity written on his eyes. The woman merely smiled at him and beckoned for him to follow her.

Really, he had no other choice since he was three weeks late and he was sure no one in their right minds would wait that long for someone to arrive. He was sure that if it was up to him to wait for someone, he would give up if the person was late for more than two hours. To hell with that person, anyway.

He picked up his backpack and nodded at her.

"Why not?"

It was already 7PM and the crickets were chirping away in their merriment. Not that Gabe cared but the plethora of sounds that assaulted his senses was starting to unsettle him. Why can't his ancestors live in a remote town in the lowlands instead of a mountain? It would have been easier, especially for someone like him who was a stranger to the place and would most probably get lost in the rain forest of a mountain. He heaved a sigh and took out his phone. Ignoring the silence that shrouded him and the girl that walked ahead of him.

He didn't even receive a text message from his family for the whole day. And it looked like he was losing phone service. At least he brought his charger and an he still had 92% battery life. Should he not use his phone as much as he expected, it would probably last for 5 days. Not that he was counting the number of days he was willing to stay, but that seemed enough a time to be around the lipi.

"You don't seem like you've been here before. Are you on some kind of excursion?" The woman suddenly asked, turning her attention to him.

Gabe shook his head and hesitantly told his outrageous story, wondering if she would receive it with an understanding smile or a raucous laughter. She seemed like someone who was educated enough to know that these kind of things shouldn't be taken seriously. But she did say she was on her way home, so perhaps she was a member of the lipi the letter mentioned.

But the woman merely nodded at him, as if understanding his whole situation.

"Yeah, I've heard a rumor about that. The story was that Haliya was the goddess of the moon, so I'm thinking that you're probably her descendant to a mortal man." She said. He was starting to ignore the language she used since she kept lapsing from English, Tagalog and her native tongue. But the curious thing was, he understood every word she said.

"And her descendants would always have a boy as a first born, but the baby will always die in her womb as a sacrifice to appease the serpent who tried to eat her. So all of her living first born descendants are women..." She trailed off.

"Except me." Gabe supplied weakly, feeling disheartened at the thought of becoming a sacrificial lamb to a random serpent who tried to devour the goddess of the moon. So much for being an ace philosophy student.

"Yup, except you."

"So what would happen if the first born male lives?" He should at least know what he should be doing since it seemed like a big deal to his grandparents.

"Simple. All of the children born to Haliya and the mortal dies," She answered without even a hint of worry in her tone. Gabe stared at the woman's back in shock.

"Oh, and the tribe won't be able to fight off the evil one's followers since most of the priestess are born to Haliya's lineage. Everything relating to her will be undone." she added, as if it was an afterthought.

Gabe's jaws slackened as he found himself starting to believe this outrageous story. He couldn't possibly be a descendant of a moon goddess. He probably wasn't and this woman was merely teasing him. And if their belief is thought to be real, he wouldn't still accept it since this idea of believing in gods and goddesses is merely a man-made concept to answer the unanswerable questions they had back then.

As they continued to walk the steep mountain path, the woman suddenly stopped.

"I can't go any further, but just keep going straight and you'll soon find yourself in the middle of a cluster of baheys. Look for their chieftain." She said as she gave him the instructions and gave her flashlight to him. Gabe was hesitant to take her flashlight but the woman was adamant and said that she knew the mountain like the back of her hand.

Following her instructions, he made his way deeper into the mountain with the woman's flashlight illuminating his way. Then it dawned to him that he wasn't able to ask her name.

'Wow Gabe, acting all chummy with a woman when you don't even know her name.' He thought cynically.

Soon enough, he found himself in the heart of the tiny village. Small nipa houses were built adjacent to each other and there were also small huts up in the trees. He could also feel eyes on his back as if he was being watched as he walked to one of the huts.

"Excuse me, could anyone point to me the house of the chieftain?" He asked loudly, not wanting to go inside the poor excuse of a house. But in the process, he was able to rouse the whole village and the chieftain, a short man with dark skin and kinky hair, stepped out of one of the houses.

He looked like he had been sleeping and Gabe felt guilty for waking them up, but couldn't help but wonder how in the world he ended up with an ethnic lineage. He jogged toward the man and introduced himself, recounting the details of how he arrived in the tribe. Sure enough, the chief told him to enter his hut and stay the night. Informing him that before the break of dawn, the priestess would come for him to help him settle in the tribe.

As soon as he hit the hardwood floor that served as a bed, the man immediately fell into a deep dream-filled sleep.

The darkness felt heavy and suffocating. His chest felt heavy and constricted as if the flow of breathable air was too limited for regular breathing. Little by little, he felt himself drop deeper into the dark abyss. He could almost feel the pressure crush his body. Yet he clung to a strand of hope that he would be taken away from this dreadful oblivion. And lo, a voice came calling out to him, telling him it was time.

*Confusion and curiosity rammed into his thoughts as he stirred into consciousness. A familiar yet still quite an unfamiliar voice guided him, telling him that he needed to prepare for the busy day ahead.

Suddenly, he was sucked into a different scenario, where the abrupt brightness nearly blinded him. People dressed in their native clothing gathered around him. Everyone looked curiously like they were out of his Philippine History books. Short, dark skinned, small nosed and kinky haired men and women marvelled at the sight of him.

A child stood before him and took his hand. The young boy guided him into one of the huts and once they reached a nook, Gabe stood face to face with himself and could only stare at his reflection. Despite being dressed in the native tartan-like cloth, he still stood out among the men of the tribe.

He was a mestizo with fair skin and hair dyed auburn. His eyes were also a striking shade of greenish-brown. All signs of being a native of the mountain was gone and buried in the past by his predecessors. He may have come from the line of the moon goddess and an Agta, but it didn't necessarily mean he would look anywhere like them.

The boy who guided him, smiled and told him that he looked beautiful. But before he could even reply to the boy's remark, his surroundings warped into a different room and the child was replaced by a girl who was perhaps around the age of 15. She held a wailing babe in her arms and tears were flowing down her cheeks. Gabe knelt beside her and tried to comfort her. He kissed the baby's forehead and fortunately, that was enough to quell the baby's cries. The girl attempted to smile at him, but ended up sobbing on the bamboo floor.

He was suddenly sucked into a different scenario and now it was dark. The stars lit up the sky and the full moon shone brilliantly over them. An old woman was dancing by a huge tree whilst striking a small drum. The people were chanting in a language he didn't know. A bolo knife was laid beside him.

The chants grew louder and the woman's drum beats were faster.

His heartbeat raced with every beat of the drum.

Sweat started to form on his temples.

Then, as if out of nowhere, his heart was suddenly plucked out of his chest. His entrails scattering on the bamboo floor*.

Blood dripping into a basin beneath him. It felt painfully surreal as he was again plunged into darkness.

Gabe stirred into consciousness. He was soaked in his own sweat. He could feel the small quakes on his arms and legs. He was trembling. Was going here really a good idea? Are the people turning him into a sacrifice to appease the evil that plagued them? As these streams of thoughts entered his mind, he didn't notice the old woman who was kneeling beside him. When he turned his attention to her, the woman gave him a toothless smile.

Gabe jumped up and ran out, screaming as if his life depended on it.

And maybe it did.

He didn't want to play the hero in this story. And even though he was the protagonist, he absolutely refused to take responsibility and simply accept his so-called fate of protecting these indigenous people from something that only eight year old children believed. Actually, make that eight year old children from the barrios believed. And those descriptions didn't fit him. He was born and bred in the big city, far from the mountains and its dwellers. He lived and breathed industrialization and modernization. Not myths and fantasies.

Gabe wiped the sweat off of his forehead and sighed. How in the world did his life get so complicated?

"Are you going to help us or not?" Grumbled one of the men who was up on a coconut tree. Actually, Gabe didn't exactly know how he got there, but he supposed it was the prowess of a mountain dweller who was used to these usual stuff. Gathering coconuts, palm leaves and harvesting crops and meat. Some of the women had to come down the mountain to sell off the stuff they harvest at a small kiosk at the foot of Isarog.

To be honest, he wanted to tag along and take in the provincial city. He had been staying in the damned province for nearly a month now but he hasen't set foot in the heart of the city yet. He was sure there were malls and clubs and libraries. He needed to go to a library. At this point, any library would do. He just wanted an intellectual to reason to him and affirm that his situation is quite the absurdity of the century.

"I would like to help you, but as you can see, I am incapable of doing anything that fits as helping." He said and glared at Isko. Some of the people in Isarog were nice to him, but there were still certain people who looked down on him and to Gabe, it seemed as if they hated him. He would like to have a friendly relationship with them, but some people were just plain difficult. Like Isko, for an example. He would keep asking Gabe to do things that he was sure he won't be able to do and once Gabe admits he can't the man would say,

"Useless foreigner." in a spiteful tone and glare at him condescendingly. Gabe hated the feeling of being the receiver of such spite, but he didn't know how to deal with it properly nor could he figure out why he was being hated.

"I'm sorry for being born, okay? I get it. I'm the source of all misfortune that you guys are into and I'm honestly trying my best to help." Gabe would respond, frustrated, and would promptly pick up anything he could see that might be considered as helping.

The worst part of living among them was the death threats and schemes that were whispered in the dead of the night. It was very troubling. Schemes of ending his life, with the logic that if the first born male dies, all worries and misfortune would die along with him. And just like any other man, Gabe feared death. He didn't want to die. He was only 21, after all. He still wanted to get a job, a girlfriend, get married, get a nice house and a car, a large balcony, have kids and even see his grandchildren. He wanted to live long enough to tell the tale of Haliya to his grandkids. Especially about how he got dragged back to Bicol just to appease a non-existent life force that was sucking the luck out of people.

He wanted all of that.

Everything that life could possibly offer.

"Yeah, you do that." Isko added sarcastically and dropped a coconut carelessly. "I forgot to say watch out, so watch out." And he would probably prefer it if the fruit would fall straight on Gabriel's head.

But with people planning his demise, he couldn't be too careful. Couldn't be too trustful. Everyone thinks that killing him would be the answer to their problems. After all, he was the root of all their problems. They have lived happily with no care for the age old myths haunting them for centuries. But now, it has come to this. All because of a caesarean delivery at the Philippine General Hospital on that fateful summer night. It couldn't even be more perfect because of the beautiful full moon that shone in that star studded sky.

"God, I'm leaving this wretched place, I swear. I don't even care if you get eaten by monsters anymore! I hate this!" Gabe said and stormed back to the tiny village. He entered the hut he was living in and hurriedly grabbed all his clothes and chucking them into his backpack. That's right. He didn't care. Why should he, anyway? He was the one who willingly came here to help them and this is how they repay his kindness and compassion? With death threats and actual ploys?

This is insane.

"I'm going home! To hell with all of this shit!" He said and tossed in his extra shoes and the odd native clothing the kids gave him.

They were all ungrateful ingrates who only cared for themselves, anyway. He thought angrily as he tried to fit all of his belongings inside his bag. He still had some shirts that were hanged outside to dry. But he could leave those here. Those were just some cheap stuff he got from a thrift store anyway.

"You do know they're just scared, right?"

Gabe jumped out of surprise when a voice startled him from his thoughts.

"Tesa!" He blurted out and went silent for a while. Although Gabe continued packing.

"They're just scared and they're only doing what they think would help ease the situation." Tesa continued and sat in front him. She took out some of his clothes and neatly folded them before placing them back in the bag.

"But it's stupid."

"It might be, but that's the only way they know. Not unless we find something out." She said," but for the meantime, endure it and try not to fall for their traps and get killed in the process." Tesa has been always logical and nice. She was the daughter of their current priestess. She was pretty cute too, even with her kinky hair and dark skin. She also often goes down to the city to work. Gabe even believes that she was the only one who has a normal job among the tribesmen.

She's pretty smart too, since it seemed like she was the only one who graduated high school.

"I want to go home, Tesa. I really do, but I also want to help you guys, you know? It's not like I want to abandon you and just let those monsters rip your belief apart. I'm culturally and faith agnostic, but I don't want to deprive you or belittle your own set of beliefs."

"You're being overly dramatic, Gabe."

"Maybe I'm just getting tired of the scenery?"

Tesa sighed and shot the man a glare.

"Fine, I'll ask the chief if you could come with me on Monday."

To think that all it took was that offer to calm the man down was already horrifying. He has been like a child throwing tantrums just to leave the house. And once the chieftain agreed, Gabe was very pleased.

"FINALLY!" he said and hugged Tesa when she brought him the news.

Right now, Gabe couldn't be happier. And the only thought that ran in his mind was that he could finally spend some of his money for something province-like to bring home. Like a souvenir. Although he wasn't sure when he could finally go home. Maybe it would take him some more months or even years. But he would definitely go home. Even if it kills him.

Although he really would prefer it if he wouldn't get killed.

So then came Monday. It seemed like it would have been a perfect day. Especially since Gabe would finally be able to go the places he looked up on the internet before he left Manila. He would surely want to stay in a hotel even for just a day or two. Then maybe go clubbing. His thoughts were all positive and full of excitement. He even dreamt it. The things he would do, the places he would see. Everything.

Except when he was on finally on the good part of the dream, he was roused by a hard kick in the stomach. At 2 in the morning.

It would have all been good if he was given a cup of hot chocolate or maybe a freshly brewed coffee. But Tesa made him run on mere stream water. Gabe had to admit that the water tasted different from that of the water he drinks in the city. This one tasted sweeter, if that was possible. Plus, it really felt like it was placed in the refrigerator overnight. Tesa merely told him that 'of course, it's fresh and cool. It's from Isarog, duh.' As if not knowing that certain information was moronic.

Although he really would like it better if it had caffeine in it. He was someone who lived on three cups of coffee as a minimum and living up here felt like a rehabilitation for caffeine addicts to him.

So now, here he was walking down the steep slopes of the mountain, trying his hardest not to step on anything dangerous, like a snake, for an example.

"Why do I feel like we've passed through here already?" Gabe said as he flashed his torchlight around the tall trees that towered over them.

He felt Tesa grab his hand and squeezed it tightly.

"It's because we have." She muttered under her breath through gritted teeth.

Gabe felt fear climb up his spine and squeeze his heart, sending a shiver down his back. He could feel something bad about the way she responded to him. It was as if Tesa was scared. But what could she possibly be scared of?

In the few weeks he stayed with the tribe, he had only been with Tesa for about six days. Every Saturday and Sunday. And in those six days, he found out that she was the type of person who would never show her weaknesses to anyone, not even to the little kids. She was smart, nice, but very stern and firm. Kind of scary, to be honest.

"What is it?" Gabe whispered to the woman, fear eating up his own shadow as he tried to walk beside Tesa. But she didn't even answer and it only made his fear worsen. In the myths that he heard his grandfather shared, there was a certain mystical being that confused travellers and once those travellers are lost, those beings would prey upon them, devouring every last bit of their humanity.

A tikbalang! He thought. "I think we should start turning over our clothes.." Gabe suggested, but just as the words escaped his lips, a dull laughter resonated in the forest. This made him cling closer to Tesa.

It sounded almost forced and, well, dead.

"That would be pointless. We're being stalked. God, why didn't I even notice it?" Tesa said and glared at the distance. Gabe wasn't too sure with what's going on, though. Who was stalking them? Could it be one of the tribesmen planning to kill him again?

But they wouldn't be able to replicate a whole 500 meters of the mountain just to do that. Something different was at work here. He knew it. But couldn't bring himself to believe it.

"Ah, the descendant of Haliya. You're truly beautiful as the rumours say."