At the Old Church Ruins
Fifteen Years prior…
"Teo!" a soft voice called out fading like a fading echo
"Teo!" a louder voice called out
The young boy struggled to open his eyes as they were too heavy as if dirt have accumulated on his lids. When he finally had them wide open, the boy looked around him and found himself sprawled on a muddy ground with pieces of broken marbles surrounding him. As he gathered his consciousness further, he began to notice his shirt, trousers, toes and arms were splattered with mud like he crawled himself out of it. He looked far into a familiar surrounding not far from where he sat, the old church ruins
"Why were you coiled up in the mud?" Isko enquired while squatting on a piece of marble
"Where is Lito?" Tinyo austerely enquired
Upon hearing his name, Teo began to tremble as he remembered what had transpired the night before. He was shaking when he pointed out with his finger the old church ruins as he claimed;
"The burned man," he paused in terror, "It took him!"
Tinyo stepped in to the muddy ground leading to the ruins. Behind him came Isko with Teo by his arms still trembling. From time to time, Isko and Teo exchanged looks of anticipation at each other as they walked further into the corridors while Tinyo silently walked before them.
"Lito?!" the head sacristan called out in the empty ruins.
The only response he got was his own voice echoing. It took them several turns into the old church's broken corridors until they reached the burned altar where its pillars were still intact.
There they found him lying on a broken marble flooring. Tinyo stepped in further to convince himself of what they were seeing. Isko, from behind gripped Teo's arm tightly as soon as he too realized what was in front of them; while it took sometime before Teo understood what had happened
"Lito!" Tinyo screamed as soon as he reached the central altar where the boy was lying
There he was, the young boy lying on a cold bricked flooring, in front of a broken altar, with both his hands spread across. His body was covered with mud and dry leaves; hid head is swollen from a wound with his blood staining the marble flooring. His lifeless eyes were wide open piercing through the holed ceiling of the old church