"Wa-what hap-pened?", Caryn asked, while holding her head. She was awakened by the sudden stop and seems to have hit her head on the dashboard of Jake's 2009 Honda Civic.
"Is everyone ok?" Jake asked, looking at Caryn and Andres. "I stopped because Jamie was...", and as he was about to point at the black dog he saw at the middle of the street, it was gone.
"Where are we anyway?" Caryn asked, while looking at her watch. "It's already 9pm and we're still here? Did you make a stopover at some point? Bukal is just 20 minutes away from Andres' house."
"No, I've been continuously driving eversince!" Jake replied, feeling frustrated.
"Oh no! Someone's been playing with us!" Caryn said, seemingly annoyed. "Have you heard about how elementals might be playing with people so they don't reach their destination?"
"So we have to turn our clothes inside out?" Jake laughed. "You must be joking!"
"After everything that happened, you sure you want to question me?" Caryn replied. "Ok fine, you either turn your clothes inside out, or drive in reverse until we reach Bukal. Your choice, which one is easier for you. I personally will go for the safer choice".
"Listen to her, Jake", Andres chimed in. "You need to do this now".
Jake and Caryn were shocked to hear Andres speak, as they looked at him in awe.
"What the..." Jake exclaimed.
"We need to get to Bukal soon. Save your questions for later", Andres added, as Jake started taking off his clothes and turning them inside out before driving again.
Caryn couldn't help herself and proceeded to ask Andres, "How are you talking now? We thought you were catatonic?"
Andres simply smiled at Caryn and gestured a quiet sign.
Within 10 minutes, they arrived at Bukal. There were a handful of houses that lit the dark town. Jake was about to pull over when Caryn instructed him to keep driving, so he drove until the paved road ended. "Ok, it's time to walk", Caryn instructed, "Jake, please bring the box. And whatever you do, don't point at anything and keep your eyes on the path."
Caryn turned on her flashlight and led the way, while Jake held on to help Andres walk through the uneven and rocky road.
They were walking for 15 minutes when Caryn signalled them to stop. "Wait here", Caryn said, as she disappeared in the darkness. They heard a click, and suddendly, there was light.
There stood a 2x2 meter enclosed white tent with 1 bulb on each side. Inside the tent, there were 3 sleeping bags, jugs of water, some food, clothes, supplies, and was brightly lit as well. On one corner, there was a small table that had a camping stove, some utensils, and a crate.
"Come in, make yourselves comfortable", Caryn instructed, while boiling some water on the stove. "I prepared all this ahead of time. We have supplies to last us for a week", she added, while handing some biscuits to Jake and Andres.
They all sat in silence while eating and waiting for the water to boil. Jake couldn't wait to drink some coffee when Caryn took out some roots from the crate and dropped it in the boiling water. "What's that?" He asked.
"Here, look" Caryn said, pulling Jake towards the stove. Jake saw the roots moving.
"Yuck!!! Are those worms?" Jake yelled in disgust.
Andres laughed as Caryn explained, "No, they're not! Those are roots from Mount Banahaw. They move when you put them in water. It only shows that, even when you take them out of the soil, they're still alive."
Caryn took one dry root from the crate and showed it to Jake. "Now, put some saliva on it", she instructed. Jake hesitantly did so and saw the lifeless root twist and turn like a squiggly worm on Caryn's hand.
"Wow! Magic!" Jake exclaimed.
"Not magic, that's just the way it's supposed to be", Caryn replied while shaking her head. "Tsk! Tsk! You truly have a lot to learn, bunso."