CONTENT WARNING

This chapter contains mature sexual themes and profanity that may not be suitable for a very young audience.

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Danilo slept at Miguel's place. He'd come knocking at five in the morning, almost begging his friend to let him stay.

Miguel had been generous enough to let him in, not even asking what happened, though Danilo suspected his friend already knew.

"So, you decided not to go to work today?" Miguel set a cup of hot coffee in front of Danilo. They sat in Miguel's dining area, a small space not separated from the kitchen in a dingy apartment.

"I texted my boss. I told him I wasn't feeling well. But I'm not getting paid for this like you were," he said, pressing two fingers over the bridge of his nose to stifle a headache. "And I really am not feeling well."

"You should sleep more. Lack of sleep can kill you, you know?" Miguel said.

"I didn't know that. I always thought I'd sleep more when I'm dead."

"That's a fucking lie they tell people on the graveyard shift."

Danilo sipped his coffee, drinking in the scent of good morning. He was grateful for his friend but also jealous. He'd give anything to have a better job than being a custodian in the park. Anything to leave his family and have his own place, even a crap apartment like this.

"Well, I'll be leaving for work soon. You can stay and sleep here if you want," Miguel offered.

"Thanks. This is only temporary. Just until my mother's head cools off." Danilo wondered if that would ever happen. Lately, his mother had always been angry, always looking at him like the bad sheep that he was.

"Let's hope that's soon enough." Miguel prepared for work, wearing his white office uniform. Before leaving, he'd told Danilo not to eat all the food in the fridge.

But Danilo was hungry, and he'd done just that--finished every cooked meal prepared in the fridge, which wasn't much, just some cooked half-eaten fish and a cup of rice. He knew Miguel wouldn't mind.

He'd taken a four-hour sleep after that and woke up at noon to find a can of food in the cupboards, and he'd finished that too, leaving nothing to eat in the house.

He sat on the dining table, staring at his emptied plate, his eyes tracing the crumbs on its face. "What are you doing with your life, Danilo?" he asked himself.

Regret and pity crawled over his back. For the first time, the hate was directed inward, knowing that this was all his fault. He'd put himself in a situation where he couldn't return--not to the boy his family knew him to be.

He'd used his father's death as an excuse for his actions for the last seven years. He'd started drinking and smoking the month after his father died and enjoyed the vices. He even tried using marijuana, but as a high school graduate, he couldn't afford it.

In recent years, his drinking had become more often until he'd done it every night. He's had rare days when he was sober. He was a drunk.

His smoking had increased too, consuming a pack a day, especially when he started working as a custodian. Getting a salary that was only enough to cover his smoking and drinking, he relied on his family to take care of everything else--his food and his clothes. And he'd never shared on the bills, not once.

"Fuck you, Danilo," he whispered to himself. He looked up from his plate and stared at the ceiling, his eyes catching the dark yellow circle stains from a recent rain leak. "What now?"

He didn't know what to do with his life anymore. He couldn't go on like this. Something needed to change. And his best option was Dulnuan's gold. Hidden, she'd said. But where?

They hadn't talked about the gold again. He hadn't had a chance to ask about it. They spoke about her life--the darkness she had gone through and her curse for loving their tribe's chieftain.

Danilo pitied her when she revealed everything and realized that someone's life could still be worse than his. It was why he felt guilt and regret--the reason he grew more desperate to get out of his situation.

When Danilo listened to Dulnuan's story, a part of him wanted to rescue her. If only he'd been there during her time. He'd have done something, though her elders would have cut off his head and cursed him, too. But he wouldn't just stand and watch as an innocent girl fell to her death because she fought for her love. It was an injustice. They were savages, he thought.

He closed his eyes, imagining Dulnuan's heart-shaped face. Her thin almond eyes stared at him from the darkness of his closed lids. "Dulnuan," he whispered and thought of how she touched herself--how her hands moved from her neck, tracing her collar, down to her chest where she exposed the beautiful skin of her mound.

He took a deep breath as the image of her sweet, bowed lips smiled at him. "I think I like you," he said. But like was such a light word for what he felt. He was physically attracted to her for sure, but something deeper grew in his chest. He wanted her.

"Dulnuan," he repeated her name.

His hand traveled from his side to the already hardened length between his legs. He took a deep breath, imagining the curve of her smile. Unzipping his pants while his eyes were still closed, he took himself in his hand.

But something felt wrong. This felt wrong.

Dulnuan was a sweet woman, undeserving of his foul thoughts. He opened his eyes and let go of his still-hard length, tucking it back into his boxers.

This never happened to him before. Almost every time in the past, when he was crushing on someone, he'd jerk off to them all the time, even going to their social media and doing it with their best sexiest photos, finding the slightest exposure of their thighs or the cleaves between their tits.

But with Dulnuan, he had a sense of respect for her, preferring not to create a false idea of what it could be when they finally made love. But would it ever happen? He wished it would.

His hardened manhood wished it would.

"Fuck!" He took a deep breath, trying to calm his arousal. He zipped up his pants and waited for the heat of his body to dissipate.

There wasn't much to do in his friend's apartment but watch television for distraction or play mobile games on his phone, so that's what he did for the afternoon. For five hours, he'd completed a whole season of Chef Chico on Netflix and played... he couldn't remember how many times... Mobile Legends.

Before the clock hit 5:00 p.m., he left a note on Miguel's fridge, saying he'd try to go home for the night, and then he exited the apartment. But he wouldn't go home. He'd go to Burnham Park to wait for the witching hour so he could see Dulnuan again.

By 6:00 p.m., the boat stalls had already closed, so he sat and waited on a bench until dark. If it were an ordinary night, he'd be bored for the slow passing hours. He'd want a beer to drink the time away. But he wanted to be sober when he met her this time, so he was accompanied by a bottle of water instead.

The silence of midnight passed, and shadows grew deeper. Something moved at the side of his eyes.

"Danilo?" Dulnuan's voice came.

He stood from the bench and turned, seeing Dulnuan in her Igorot attire of red and black striped shawl and tapis. "Hey, come sit down," he gestured at the bench.

She approached him, and they sat side by side, facing the manmade lake. "How are you?" she asked.

"I'm great now that you're here." He took her in. After his realization of the day, his chest swelled at her presence. He was happy when he was with her.

Dulnuan smiled. "That is very good."

"How are you?" he casually asked.

"I am also great now that I am here with you again." She turned to him on the bench so they faced each other.

Danilo nodded. "So, about what you were going to tell me last night."

"Yes, I will tell you what I know now," she said.

He pressed his lips together, waiting.

Dulnuan took a deep breath and studied his face before she spoke. Her eyes glittered with the emotions she conveyed. "When the mangkukulam cursed me, she told me I could only be saved by someone from the other side."

"The other side?" he asked. "You mean if a ghost helped you?"

"At first, I thought the same. I thought that only a passing spirit could help me. Every time I see one, I would beg them to save me. But passing spirits are absent. They could see and hear me but ignore me," she explained, her eyes kept to his face, watching how he would react.

"So, how could they help you then?"

"I think I am not supposed to be saved by a ghost."

Danilo tilted his head to the side. He didn't understand it. If not a ghost, who or what could help her from the other side?

"I have been thinking about my prison, and I believe it is alive. It knows when I am in the land of the living. It is the one that calls to me when the witching hour ends. It keeps calling until I return. It allows me to pass to this realm only for an hour, but it's not enough to find and claim back my body."

"Your body?" he said, trying to understand.

"My body is in my coffin hanging on a cliff in Sagada."

"That's five hours away from here."

"Yes," Dulnuan nodded. "If I can get to it, I can live again."

"That's wonderful," Danilo said, hope filling his heart. "But your prison won't allow you."

She nodded again. "But I think my prison does not have eyes. It is satisfied with any person inside it."

"Wait, are you saying all you need is someone to stay there while you get your body back?" His eyes widened with understanding.

"Yes."

"And you think that's me?"

She paused before speaking, but she eventually said, "Yes."

Danilo swallowed. "Do I have to die?"

She shook her head. "No. I have tried taking a bird with me to my prison before. You do not have to die to pass through the veil. You only need to know when and where to pass."

"Huh," he said. "And I can come back after?"

"Yes," she said.

Danilo stared at her. In front of him was the beautiful and heart-shaped face he'd imagined a while ago. Something about Dulnuan made him want to say yes to every request she asked, though she hadn't posed it yet.

If he would help her, he could be with her. He could finally kiss her, touch her, and fuck her. He was so sure she wanted it, too. The way she looked at him was longing.

"I know this is too much to ask," she started. "I will not force you. You are a good man, Danilo, and I have enjoyed our time together. I will not hate you if you decline, and I will still want to be friends after."

"Friends?" he repeated. "Is that what you want us to be?"

Dulnuan blinked. Her lips parted, and her cheeks flushed. "I think you know what I want," she whispered.

"I do," he said, glancing at her parted lips and leaning closer so they were nose to nose. He still couldn't feel anything and was desperate for her touch. "And I want us to be together."

Her smile curved her eyes. "I want us to be together, too."

"I really want to kiss you, Dulnuan," he said. Breath taken away, he swallowed.

"I want to kiss you, too," she said.

"Fuck!" he cursed, fisting his hands.

Dulnuan leaned back, crossing her brows. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"This is just so hard like I can't control myself. And the only thing that's keeping me from fucking you right now is the fact that I literally can't touch you," he explained with a hint of anger at their situation.

"I know," she said, biting her lower lip.

Danilo swallowed again. "Fuck, you're beautiful."

She smiled. "I am very flattered."

He nodded at her. He'd do anything to help her, knowing she'd do the same for him. "Alright," he said. "But I want to ask you something first."

"Go on."

"Do you know where your gold is?" he asked.

"Yes, I know where it is hidden," she said.

"If I help you, we'll find it after?"

"Yes, Danilo. You can have all the gold," she answered.

All the gold. What would Danilo do with all that? Leave his forsaken life for one. "Alright." He nodded. "Alright. I'll do it. How do I get to the other side?"

Dulnuan's eyes shimmered with happiness. "There is a spot at that part of the lake where the veil is thinnest on a full moon. I can guide you."

"On a full moon?" he asked, looking at where she pointed at the end of the pathway that followed the lake.

"The next full moon is in two days," she said.

"Two days." He grinned. "That's soon enough." He'd be out of his miserable life soon and be with Dulnuan then. "This is good."

"It is," she confirmed. "I am delighted you are willing to help me."

"Of course." He turned back to her, wanting to tell her he loved her. Maybe he did. He was captivated by this woman from another time--infatuated by the idea of being with her.

Dulnuan's figure seemed to glitter with the yellowing lamp light like the gold she promised. This was all he wished for--to be with her and have the gold.

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☠ Fun Fact:

Baguio City Night Market is one of the biggest thrift markets in the Philippines, offering plenty of great deals and bargains for second-hand apparel, bags, shoes, and many more. It consumes and closes half of Harrison Road from 9 pm to 12 am. It is also one of the well-known tourist attractions of the city. 

Baguio City Night Market

https://baguio.ph/things-to-do/rain-or-shine/night-market-ukay-ukay-in-baguio/