Second Glimmer: Maze
.~*~.+.~*~.
Their eyes locked. He stared at her, and she stared at him. Was it really him?
He seemed to know her, too, but he made no sign of speaking first. She was about to speak when his image started fading.
No voice came out from her mouth. His image had totally faded, and she could not do anything but utter soundless words.
He disappeared.
... completely.
.~*~.+.~*~.
I rubbed my temples.
There was it again.
That dream.
I had been having that dream since I was fourteen. Four years later, I was still dreaming about it.
It was vague, although I could remember each scene vividly.
The only thing I could not remember was his face.
I got out of bed and made an entry about that dream in my laptop. I kept records of my dreams ever since.
After typing an entry, an e-mail notification popped on my screen. I was surprised to see an e-mail from an anonymous sender.
Was it a bug? I could not trace the IP address. I frowned. Was it possible?
I contemplated whether to open the e-mail or not, but curiosity was killing me, so...
She disappeared before he could talk to her. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to hold her in his arms and tell her how much he missed her. He had been searching... searching the world just to find her. And now that he did, he would never let her go.
But she disappeared. For an unknown reason, she disappeared.
And now he was searching for her again.
I blinked. What was that about?
.~*~.+.~*~.
It was Saturday, and I decided to hike in the mountain near my home and obtain my sense of momentum to finish the novel I was working on. The scenery would be perfect—no noise, no people, just me. And nature.
The mountain air welcomed me with its chilly embrace. After securing a nice spot, I pulled out my sketchbook instead of my laptop.
I browsed the pages of my sketchbook and frowned.
The guy in my dreams.
I had been sketching him for years now, and until now, I had yet to sketch his face. His face on my drawings had been blank because I could not picture it in my mind. Weird. And many times, I had wondered who he was.
I was about to start sketching when tiny liquid started pouring from the sky.
Oh, no.
Before I could put away my sketches, the rain poured.
And ruined my sketches.
I bit my lip. I could not even draw his face, and now the rain ruined the blank space where his face should be. I sighed and ran for the nearest tree.
I was drenched before I could reach it, and the rain was getting heavier by the minute. Despite my clear eyesight, I could not properly see where I was heading to. I bumped into a tree.
Or so I thought.
"Ouch."
Somebody grunted. I fell on my bottom and dropped my things. Before I could process what was going on, somebody grabbed my hand and pulled me up. And the next thing I knew, I was running.
.~*~.+.~*~.
Is he human?
I blinked. He did, too.
I stared at him, and he stared at me.
I folded my arms. He did not move.
I glared at me. He glared back.
I raised an eyebrow. He just stood there, expressionless.
"Why are you here?" I asked.
"Huh?"
We glared at each other before I realized I made a mistake.
Should I have asked who he was instead?
I inhaled and shook my head.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Why do I have to answer that?"
My eyes narrowed. How rude. Before I could speak again, he threw me a towel.
"Dry yourself."
He opened the door of the nipa hut and went outside.
"Wait! It still raining and—"
"The rain," he paused, "will shelter me."
He closed the door, leaving me speechless. What was that all about? Who was that guy?
I scanned the place. There was nothing inside except for my bag which contains my laptop and my ruined sketchbooks.
I felt weird and dizzy, so I sat on the floor. I wondered how come it rained when it was perfectly sunny a while ago.
I felt hot and cold at the same time. I could not explain what was going on, and before I knew it, I drifted into a slumber.
.~*~.+.~*~.
I ran.
I stopped to catch my breath, and then I ran again.
I did not know where I was headed, but I kept on running. Everywhere was but a dark abyss, but my feet seemed to know where they were heading to.
A maze. I was in a maze. I could assess that much because I hit a wall from time to time.
I ran until I bumped into someone. A living person. And before I could fall on the ground, I felt a strong arm encircling my waist.
I raised my head and saw a person wearing mask.
"Who are you?" I asked, trying to break free.
The person did not answer.
"Remove your mask."
Silence.
"I need to know who you are," I said firmly, still trying to break free.
"You don't need to see my face to know me."
I blinked. It was a male voice. He suddenly loosened his grip on my waist. Just then, a blinding light appeared. I could see each page of my sketchbook surrounding me. The papers were flying around me, and when I took a closer look, I realized that they were all my sketches of the faceless person. I was about to touch a paper when they all burst into flames.
My Arts...
They were all gone.
I sat on the ground in disbelief... until I saw water everywhere.
Water.
My tears.
.~*~.+.~*~.
My eyes flew open as I felt something on my face. I immediately sat up and stared at him.
"What were you doing?" I snapped. When did he return?
"Why are you crying in your sleep?"
"I wasn't."
He held out a finger. "Do you mean to say that the water in your face is rain?" he asked, smirking.
"Of course not," I snapped again. "How can the rain get in here?"
He smirked again. "Exactly. Now what do you call this if not a teardrop?"
I frowned. Did I really cry in my sleep? Impossible. I did not cry. I never did. I have never cried before. And if I would have cried in this lifetime, I'd make sure nobody would see a single teardrop from my eyes.
Now a stranger saw it. He saw a tear—my tear.
I shifted uncomfortably and did not reply.
I inhaled and exhaled. I could not understand why I could not place my thoughts in order. I did not even know what to feel. Should I be scared because I was alone in an empty nipa hut with a stranger?
But I did not feel any hint of fear within me. And at the same time, I felt uncomfortable. It was like I fell into some sort of imbalance.
I had always been in control of my emotions—not that I had plenty of those to begin with. Weird as it might be, I was a writer, but I was never emotional.
Now in front of this stranger, I seemed to have fallen into the maze of unknown.
I continued glaring at him. He just glared back.
How come I could feel my blood raging? It seemed ready to burst... like I wanted to burn him in red, hot flames.
"You hate me, don't you?" he suddenly asked.
I blinked. "Why should I? I don't even know you."
"I could see it in your eyes."
I was about to retort when I realized he was right. I hated him. But why?
Wait. Hate was a strong word. I knew it was not hate.
But what was it?
I moved away from him. "Who are you, really?"
Before I could reply, my eyes got heavier. And everything went blank.
.~*~.+.~*~.
I yelped when somebody slapped my face. My eyes flew open, and I found myself staring right into Luntian's irritated face.
"Where am I?" I muttered, scanning the place before I realized I was in Aling Gabriela's nipa hut.
"Why am I here?"
"It was raining heavily a while ago when you came here," Aling Gabriela answered. "You had a high fever."
High fever? Wait, that was not what happened. But...
"I was in the mountain near my home," I said. "It rained. I met a guy, and we ran to take shelter in an empty hut. I fell asleep, and when I woke up, he was there. I fell asleep again, and when I woke up, I was here."
"You indeed had a high fever," Aling Gabriela said.
"I was perfectly fine," I insisted.
"The rain made you sick," she said.
Before she headed to the door, something caught my eye.
"Aling Gabriela," I called. "You're lying, aren't you?"
"What made you think so?"
I pointed at the petal.
She looked at it and then at me before speaking. "I thought I had already removed all traces of petals from your hair and clothes. A petal still made its way for your eyes to see."
I nodded. The only place where sakura blossoms grew in our town was in the mountain where I was earlier.
"He brought you here," Aling Gabriela said.
"He?" I asked, confused.
"A guy in black."
I immediately stood up. "Where is he?"
"He already left."
Now why do I feel like it's some sort of de ja vu?
"Stars," Aling Gabriela said, smiling, "are but funny creatures."
"Huh?"
She smiled at me. "Time changes, but never does the pattern."
I barely heard her. "I must find him."
"He will find you."
"Excuse me?"
"The world is but a maze," she replied, "Within it is a void that will be filled with light when it is time for the maze to change its course again."
I did not know how to respond.
I did not have a single clue on what she meant by that.
Until the next day, I went to class and saw a familiar face.
"Deneb Celeste," he said. My jaw dropped. Was it my imagination or was he really looking directly at me. "... is my name."
.~*~.+.~*~.