Finding Mayumi

Chapter 2

The young man woke up hearing loud chants. He was blinded by the light when he tried opening his eyes, and it took him seconds to adapt.

He saw rock formations, a sign he’s somewhere inside a cave, but the thing he found so strange was, the place was so bright. There were countless candles in every corner of the cage. Melted candles were everywhere, making the place look shiny.

The chanting continuous and the cave was filled with smoke and aromas of familiar and unfamiliar herbs and spices. The scent and smoke were mixing in the air, playing inside his nose, hurting his nostrils. His throat was dried, making him think of drinking water.

He badly needs water.

He moved and the loud eerie chants stopped; he noticed a moving shadow and in just a blink of an eye, a strange old man appeared.

“You’re finally awake!” The old man uttered, the young man was so shocked and froze for a moment. He was so near, just an inch away from his face, looking straight into his eyes like he saw another human in a long time already.

He has long thin white hair, and his beard was too long. His wrinkles show how years had passed for him, his eyes seemed not normal, one is brown and the other one was all white.

He was wearing a long gown like-robe that never been washed and changed for a very long time. Because he was too near to his face, he could smell his breath, he could explain the smell. It doesn’t stink because it smells like jasmine.

Just like how fast he popped out, the faster he vanished. The young man tried searching to where he went but he couldn’t move his body, he couldn’t even lift a single finger-like he drained all his energy, pinning him to that flat rock where someone lay him there for how long? He doesn’t know.

After a few minutes, the strange old man returned, holding a wooden bowl in one hand. He walked near him, placed the bowl on the near rock like a human carved table, and the old man sat down on a wooden chair the young man didn’t know existed in that place.

“Drink this, it might help you gain your strength.” The old man said. He scooped the content of the wooden bowl and made him drink the concoction.

That one scoop tastes nothing but gave him a small amount of energy to sit down. The old man guided him and assisted him to sip the entire black soup-like liquid in the wooden bowl without telling him what was it was made of.

He tasted something sweet then it became bitter with a kick of spiciness as it goes down in his throat. He wanted to spit it out, but the old man held his chin and raised his head upward, which forced him to swallow the liquid inside his mouth.

“Don’t waste a single drop.” He told him.

The young man coughed, trying to spit what he drank but none coming out.

The old man gave him a creepy smile as he watched him struggling with his every cough.

“How do you feel?” The old man asked even he can already see him continuedly coughing.

He wanted to tell he liked to vomit and spit out what he drank, but to his surprise, he immediately felt better after drinking the liquid the stranger gave him.

“What happened?” He asked instead of answering in disbelief in what just happened.

The old man took that question as his answer. He stood and about to leave but the young man he saved grabbed his arm and while he tries to remember how he ended up in that place and after recalling; he freaked out and held the old man's arm tighter.

His eyes traveled, and he saw a smoking large pot, slices of meat on the old wooden table which he found suspicious.

He remembered he was with Mayumi. His eyes landed to him and he loudly asked, “Where is she!!?” Referring to the woman corpse he patiently carried from downland to the hills to find help.

“Who?” the man replied, acting like he doesn’t have a clue on what the young man was asking.

“The girl I was with. Mayumi! Where is she?” He answered and suddenly felt an aching on the side of his head after screaming.

“Don’t force yourself. She’s somewhere safe,” the old man informed and pulled his arm away from his grip.

He wanted to ask, what does he mean by safe? Mayumi’s already dead, she’s dead! No place is safer for her than his side.

He could feel he was about to lose consciousness again. His eyes tried closing by themselves, but he fought it to open again. He knew the old man was the Babaylan the folks believed just a living tale.

“I need your help, Babaylan. Help her, I will pay as much gold as you need.” He begged on his knees.

The young man saw a grin slowly formed on the old man’s face. He knew the shaman in front of him for being wise. He doesn’t help without something nice in exchange for payment.

“How much you can pay?” the old clever man asked.

The young man smiled after hearing his question. It only showed he will help as long as the price is right that’s why he didn’t waste more time.

They both bargained and the old man doesn’t have a choice but to agree. He searched for the books he needed and read all the pages that contained the instructions of what the young man wished him to do.

It took him days to prepare because they worked on preserving Mayumi’s body first before doing the ritual because her corpse was producing a smell attracting insects such as flies.

For two days and three nights they both didn’t sleep, gathering all the things they need and on the at night, the Babaylan told him they needed one more thing.

“What is it? Where can I get it?” the young man impatiently asked.

“It’s already here.” He answered and looked at him straight in the eyes. He walked closer to him and held his hand. The young man frown and pulled his hand away after he saw him took a dagger that was placed on the table.

“What are you doing?” he nervously inquired while looking at the dagger the shaman was holding.

“A life for life, do you think there’s no price? We need half of yours to offer if you still want to see her alive.” The old man said.

The young man was hesitant because he already gave him all the golds and jewelries he asked him to pay by stealing his father’s wealth. He asked more in exchange because he made more wishes for the girl and he gave it to him.

“I already prepared everything, you agreed. Don’t tell me you’re changing your mind? Don’t waste the time. The more time we let her body sit like that here, the fewer chances we can get to reincarnate her.”

After hearing those words, his heart suddenly aches. He felt anxious, trying to decide as fast as he could. His tears fell thinking he could lose another chance to do something for her to change her life if he didn’t agree.

The shaman explained half of his life will be taken and most of the luck he has.

“What’s the use of entire life if she won’t be around when she’s the one I need in my life? What’s the use of so much luck if the one I love will take all the bad lucks?” He told himself.

He gave his answer.

The old man smiled and took his left hand. He fearlessly cut his palm until it bleeds. He put the blood inside a vessel, along with the mixture of ingredients for the few days he gathered. The black liquid slowly turned brown, then cloudy. The young man suddenly felt weak. He almost lost his balance.

After taking enough blood the shaman needed, he wrapped the young man’s hand with a cloth after putting fresh leaves of herbs to stop the bleeding.

He moved next to the corpse and pulled strands of her hair. He put it inside the vessel and mixed it while chanting.

He started singing the words written in the book he was holding repeatedly without stopping or exhaling air. The song echoed inside the cave, making the sleeping bats wake up and flew around. The strong wind blows, something he didn’t know where it came from and how it entered the close cave where they were.

The wind getting stronger and the liquid inside the vessel turned from cloudy to white and became clearer like water. The strong blowing of wind stopped as he stopped mixing the potion.

He gasped for air as he finished. He covered the vial and asked the young man to follow. They went to the woods, where there were giant idols carved into the rocks. Entered a small mouth of a cave where a loud splash of running water was clearly being heard.

He lights up a torch and enters the narrow passage. He followed but couldn’t stop himself to ask.

“Where are we going?” he felt nervous but made himself ready for anything about to occur.

“I can feel your stiffness. I will not attack or kill you here, young man. Relax, the spirits can feel your doubts. We are here to ask them for help, believe in them and have trust in your heart that they can help you for them to help us.” The old man mumbled as they pass through the narrow passage of the cave.

He tried his best to calm down and in his mind, he repeatedly uttered that he believes and gets the help they need for Mayumi.

They reached the end and there was a river, its water was so clear exposing the colorful rocks at the bottom.

He ordered him to bathe in the water, to remove all the stains of the present. The young man didn’t ask why and what for, he just followed.

The water was warm, fishes approached him and started biting his skin, giving tickles. He tried to shoo them, but the old man said don’t and let the fishes help him.

After cleaning, he gave him a white robe to wrap around his body and made him wear a wooden slipper which he doesn’t know where he took from. He didn’t let him touch anything, didn’t let him bring the clothes he was wearing.

He burned it.

They came back to where they left Mayumi; he told him to sit next to the corpse. He handed him the vial and ordered him to drink its content but before so; he gave him a few words first.

He could hear all he was saying, but he couldn’t concentrate on it. His eyes were glued on the vial and to the woman lying next to him.

“Are you ready to sacrifice everything?”

He nodded, and without hesitation, he emptied the vial. He tasted nothing, but after drinking the last drop of it, he started feeling an unexplainable pain inside his chest. His heart started pounding, too painful that he couldn’t bear, couldn’t hold back.

Till he screamed so loud in so much agony.