3 Chapter Three: Through

Days had passed by, and it was finally time for Epey to say goodbye to her province to go to Manila. While her father was loading the tricycle with Epey's stuff, Dorina took a moment to talk with her cousin.

"Epiang, promise me that when you see Paulo Avelino there, you'll call me right away and ask him to talk to me no matter what." Dorina said tearfully as if her life depended on her conversation with Epey about Paulo Avelino.

"Tss, you are really crazy. As if I could see him at school."

"Yeah. But, just call me."

"Fine."

"But, seriously, be careful while you're there. Also, refrain yourself from having a boyfriend, especially if he isn't hot. If you do, then I would be left with no other choice but to disown you as my cousin."

"Oh, seriously?"

"Of course, I just want you to always be in good and handsome hands. Anyway, be careful there, Piang. Especially that I'm not there to fight with you."

"Wow. Of course I will be careful and probably go home with a super handsome boyfriend soon." Epey just replied jokingly.  She didn't want Dorina and her to cry now. Ever since they were kids, the two of the had been inseparable. Dorina was not only Epey's cousin, she was also her best friend and backbone. That was why this parting was sort of emotional for them.  But nonetheless, Epey had to go. She needed to be strong for her dreams, especially that her dreams were also her loved ones' dreams.

A few moments later, Epey finally rode the tricycle. Billy was the one driving it now. After some time, they finally arrived at the port.

While they're at the outside of the port, Billy first spoke to his daughter.

"Are you sure you've brought everything that you need for the application?"  

"Pretty sure, pa. I have them all." Epey answered. Then she noticed the sadness in her father's eyes. "Pa, don't be sad. I'm not staying in Manila forever. Besides, I can always visit you if I have some free time and money."

"I know that, dear. I'm sorry. Your mother and I just love you so much that we will be missing you once you're already there"

"You are so emotional, pa. Why won't you just give me a hug?" And they hugged.

"Okay that's enough. You better get in there now or you might miss the ship. I'll just be waiting here until your ship leaves." Billy was holding back his tear.

"Thank you, pa. I don't know what would have happened to me if it wasn't for you and mom. Wherever I am today, it is because of you, so thank you very much. I promise, I will do better in college."

"Do not be like that. No matter what you do, your mother and I are already proud of you. Besides, you don't have to reciprocate any of what we have given you because your mother and I share that responsibility to take care of you and love you. I also know that one day, you will fulfill your dreams. So, good luck, Pey."

"Dad, you're making me cry again. I'm afraid the people here might say that you are hurting me. I don't want you to be sent to the DSWD, considering my height." They just laughed and hugged again.

A few minutes later, Epey boarded the ship and was now on her way to her new life in Manila. It took Epey two days before she arrived in there. She admitted she was nervous but she needed to be strong. In fact, as soon as she got there, she was almost run over by a car because she didn't know how to get around the place. But of course, she was Epey and she would not let this bring her down.

She actually  had google maps to go to Sacrosanct University, but that's all the information that she had at the moment to go there. Even though she could just take a taxi to get there, she knew that she had no enough money to spare for that. So she tried to roam around the place for the time being until she found a karenderya where she could have her lunch first.

I would just take a taxi later to go straight to Sacrosanct, she thought.

While eating, she noticed that there was a pig that was walking inside the place.

"Hey, Enseng, whose pig is this?!" The saleswoman shouted. She had already shooed the pig away and was about to kick it but Epey stopped her.

"Ma'am, please, don't do that. It's not the pig's fault that she's here. Besides, look at her, she looks really fashoinable. She even have this cute ribbon on her. Isn't she adorable?"

The saleswoman glared at her but Epey just ignored her. So as not to upset the saleswoman, she then picked the pig up and went outside. Maybe the owner was just around the area. Good thing the pig wasn't that heavy that's why Epet was able to carry it. She was already out of the karenderya and when she came out, a really nice and strange car pulled up at her side. Epey stared at it for awhile. Only now had she seen such a vehicle in her entire life. Few seconds later, a man in a black suit came out and approached her.

"Thank you very much for taking good care of Helena." The man said formally. Epey was surprised and wanted to laugh because the pig also got this royalty-ish kind of name.

"Is she yours, sir?" Epey asked.

"No, ma'am. It belongs to my employer. Thank you again for finding and taking care of her. For a second, we thought we've already lost her." The man simply replied.

Epey then handed the pig while the man bowed to her as a thank you gesture. After some time, the man returned to the car. Epey stayed there for a while while watching the car start moving. She was a little surprised when it slowly stopped in front of her. Its window at the backseat opened, revealing a very beautiful woman in her 70s sitting inside and was now smiling at Epey.

"Thank you so much for taking care of Helena." The woman said gently. Epey, on the other hand, was stunned by her presence. It was as if she was suddenly relieved to see this woman.

"I-it's nothing. It is our mission as people to take care of all the living things in this planet." Epey answered, and she meant it.

"Well, yes. Thank you once again." The woman smiled at her one last time before she left. Epey stood there for a few seconds. But when she realized that her belongings were still inside the karenderya, she immediately went back inside. When she did, her belongings were still there, but when she double checked them,  she got so shocked that her money was no longer in her bag.

"Holy crap. Ma'am, did you see anyone come at my table? I think my money just got stolen." Epey said. She seemed to be on the verge of crying.

"I don't know, hija. Can't you see that I'm busy with what I'm doing? That might have been stolen. You shouldn't have left your things anywhere. People today can't be trusted anymore"

"What?!" Epey wanted to go hysterical but she thought that things wouldn't be solved by simply just crying. Fortunately, she had already paid for her food. But even so, she was still sad because that's supposed to be her two months worth of allowance that her parents had worked hard for to save. Left with nothing else to do, she just sat there outside the karenderya with her old suitcase by her side. She couldn't just give up but she couldn't just tell her parents what happened, either, because she didn't want them to worry. She really thought hard to solve her problem. Until she spotted a pawnshop on the other side of the road. She stood up as soon as an idea entered her mind. Although she hesitated at first, she just couldn't stay there forever and do nothing.

"Ma, pa, I'm sorry, but I'll bring this necklace back again." She didn't hesitate anymore and walked to the pawnshop to pawn the necklace that was given by her dad. Only now did she find out that it was actually a combination of white gold and jade. In fact, she got quite a lot of money, although, that pawnshop's teller was wise enough to givd her that much. Despite the situation, Epey just decided to tolerate the amount given because she didn't want to fail on her first day in Manila.

A few hours later, her parents called to ask how she was. They talked for a while until Epey finally needed to end it because her battery was already lmost running low. When she realized that it was getting late already and she still hadn't get to where she was going, she finelly decided to ride a taxi. At first it was fine, but it seemed like the driver had been turning the taxi around for a while until they landed in a secluded place.

"Wait, sir, I don't think this is the right way to SU." She said. But the driver didn't answer, making Epey nervous. "Sir, please don't joke like this. It's not funny anymore. I need to get to SU as soon as possible because I will be having an interview there tomorrow." She was very nervous when suddenly the taxi went to a dark corner and the driver swiftly faced her. It seemed to Epey that the driver was planning to do something bad to her. Epey could no longer control herself and kicked the man in the face. And despite her resisting acts, she still was having a hard time breaking free from the driver's strength. Fortunately, Epey managed to finally get out of that situation. She ran as far as she could to get away because the driver even tried to chase her. Epey went into the woods and even though she stumbled a few times over, she still continued to run. She ran for a few more minutes until she noticed a light that's coming from the end of the forest. It was like there was a hidden palace or something there. But that was the least of her concern. What mattered was that she had already found something, or perhaps someone, that could possibly help her. She hurried to the origin of the light but with an unexpected moment while she was running, it seemed like she went through something and suddenly the light disappeared for a moment. It's like passing through what felt like a huge bubble. But that did not cause her to stop or even process what had just happened. She kept running until she was finally facing a very high and lofty wall. She had no idea where she was right now but what she was sure of was that she had finally found a place that could be housing someone who could possibly save her. For now, it's just the tall fence that seemed to be indicating that there's some sort of a palace inside that she was seeing. She walked again to follow the direction of the fence.

This wall definitely has an entrance somehow, she thought.

The truth was that she was out of breath but she definitely wanted to survive. Surprisingly for her, there was a mysterious man running so fast and was approaching in her direction. He was also looking behind him so he didn't seem to notice Epey. Hence, when they were already really close to each other, they unexpectedly collided, which caused them to fall to the ground. A few seconds later three men immediately approached them and quickly picked up the man who just collided against Epey. One of them helped Epey to her feet.

"Let me go!" The man shouted. He was struggling to break free. However, his energy was drained when one of the three men injected him with some chemical. Meanwhile, Epey, who was naive about what was happening, did not immediately notice that someone had also injected something in her neck which also caused her to fall asleep.