Lost Track

Brielle's P. O. V.

I'm currently driving my truck home.

And I've been driving since forever.

I notice that I keep coming back on the same road that I already passed, like I'm only making a circle rotation.

"Pinaglalaruan yata ako? (Am I being played?)" I said to myself.

In our country, there is a myth about those creatures called "tikbalang".

Tikbalangs are half-human, half-horse creatures.

They said that when you get lost on your way and keep coming back to the same place where you came from, well, they say it's their doing.

Old people believe that this creature has powers to get you into their world, but if you are able to get even a strand of their hair, they're going to be your servant forever.

Well, that's what I hear from old people.🙄

Oh wait, before I forget, there's also a belief that if you strip your clothes and put them on again "inside out," you'll be back in our world immediately.

But I don't believe in such things. 😒

I still believe those are made-up stories to scare the kids.

For me, there is no such thing as the supernatural.

People in our reality are more scary than those made-up creatures.

Anyway, before I forget, I am Gabrielle Rose Villablanca, 25 years old and single, and I'm living with my half sister here in the small city of Tacloban, Philippines.

My sister happens to be half Spanish because once my mom had a relationship with a Spanish man, my sister's father," who happens to be the one who brought us to Spain.

But then, one unforgettable afternoon when I was in my first year of high school, I got home and everybody was dead except my sister, who had been locked in the closet.

And then, long story short, our grandparents and my mom's parents brought us back here in the Philippines after the incidents were all over the news.

Okay, so back on the road.

I keep on driving, believing I am only missing the right track simply because the road is so dark and I can't see a damn thing except for the broken road signs.

I keep looking down the long road when something hard hits my car.

"P*tang! ina anu yon? (fuck! What was that?)" I mumble.

I drive faster because I don't feel good in this one.

And then suddenly, I just felt so cold. And little by little, ash is pouring my way.

"Teka bakit my mga abu dito my sunog ba? (Wait, why is there a lot of ash? Is there a fire?)" I ask out of nowhere.

But then, later on, I realized it was not ash but snow.

Goosebumps get through me when I realize what's happening.

The Philippines doesn't snow!

I stopped my car and quickly got out of it to see if it was really happening.

This is crazy!

No one would believe me!

"I gotta take a picture; no one is going to believe this!" I shouted excitedly while I was readying my phone to take a picture.

''I-popost ko to!. Ay teka magla-live ako exciting' to!

(I am going to post this! Oh, wait, I make a live stream; this is so exciting!) I said to myself excitedly.

I was in that state when I heard something.

It was too late when I turned my head in its direction.

" Shit. "

A car is moving too fast near me, and I am frozen in my position, not knowing what to do.

So, I just closed my eyes and waited for it to happen.

But seconds had passed and there's nothing so i decided to open my eyes.

My hazel eyes got wide for what they witnessed.

The car stumbled over my head, and it kept rolling and rolling when it hit the road.

"Oh, my god, no!" I shouted out at the top of my lungs when I saw a person being thrown out of the car.

Adrenaline packed my whole being when I stupidly ran and jumped, thinking I'd be able to catch the person.

Oh, sh*t, I'm able to catch the person who would have thought I could jump that fast.

But when I was about to hold the person, it suddenly disappeared right in front of me.

And I fell down the road and stumbled at the side of the road.

I hit my right arm so bad, but what bothers me more is what just happened right now.

I was still shocked when I heard someone grunt.

I look around me and see something moving near my truck.

Though I was struggling to get up, I tried my best to get near my truck and see what it was.

When I saw what it was, my knees went weak.

The sight is so devastating that the woman has bathed in her own blood.

She looked in my direction, and I just witnessed the most captivating ocean eyes that I had ever seen.

Shit, I need to focus!

"Oh my god"

"Please, stay with me!"

I've got to call 911."

I said this in panic and searched for my phone in my pocket.

"Shit, it's gone, I said hopelessly.

But then I saw something glowing in the middle of the road.

It's my phone. I ran to get it.

I picked up my phone and dialed someone for help.

I was about to get near the woman again while my phone was in my ear.

When a really weird, powerful energy pulled back away from her.

And I was like flying backwards, like being sucked into a big vacuum of energy.

And it stopped. I fall down really hard on the ground. My eyes couldn't believe what I just saw.

The place where my car and the woman are slowly being swallowed by a portal-like circle in the middle of nowhere

I ran by it at all speeds just to get in it, but I was too far from it.

"NO!!!" I shouted.

No, I cried.

"Anong nangyayari. (What is happening?)" I am so confused.

''Panaginip lang ito hindi ito totoo. (This is just a dream. This isn't true.) I convince myself.

Then I heard a horn coming my way.

A deja vu, I thought then, convinced that I was just dreaming.

I face the vehicle, but it stops right in front of me.

Are you out of your mind? "Shouts the guy, the driver.

''Shit, totoo nga.'' (Shit, it's really true), "I said before I passed out.