At the Mini Stop Hotel, 7:30 a.m., 14th day of January.
Derrick barely had any sleep at all. Anyone who could is literally not normal.
Not until a week ago, his life had been pretty normal so far. And like any person who has a life, he goes to work to pay for his rent and to feed himself. He likes to watch newtube on his phone whenever he has the time.
But since he hasn't finished school, just a high school graduate, he couldn't get a stable job. Or at least a job that pays high enough that he wouldn't have to worry about what to eat for lunch while having breakfast.
He was living from paycheck to paycheck. But he wasn't complaining nor was he really discontent about his situation. He was healthy and was doing well. He had time to go for a run around the plaza square every morning. He does strength training before he goes to bed. He was healthy.
Though he didn't have that much going on in his life. No girlfriend. No house, no car, no properties of his own. But he was happy.
He was grateful every day.
But everything changed on the sixth of January. He almost died. He got entangled with some troublesome people.
It was 8:00 p.m., and he was on his way home from his whole day of working at the RM Megamall as a bagger.
"Hmm… Should I eat out? Cooking is troublesome and I'm rather tired today." He said to himself. Derrick does some monologue sessions whenever he is trying to decide over something. A habit he had since he was a kid.
And that night, he decided to have some beef mami at Grandma Maying's place. It was located just a few walks away from the apartment he was renting at that time. It was affordable and filling. He often goes there whenever he has some spare cash.
But that might be the worst decision he ever made in his life so far.
He sat on one of the eight stools lined up in front of Grandma Maying's movable mami shop. There were three other customers at that time. He took the one furthest left.
"With half an egg and lots of toasted garlic, please." He ordered. And while waiting for his mami, an awfully handsome young man took the vacant seat beside him. He was tall and had a skinny muscular build. Blonde hair and green eyes. He had the type of face that could swoon just any woman.
"Put all the toppings you have available, grandma. And ah! Put extra scallions too. And make it spicy. Thank you!" Not to mention that his voice was so nice to listen to and had a hint of playfulness with the way he pronounces his words. He had an accent.
"Here you go," Grandma Maying said as she placed the bowl of beef mami in front of them.
Derrick didn't waste any time and started to slurp aggressively. In his opinion, nothing's more delicious than a hearty bowl of beef mami.
Though it would have been nice to have the same amount of toppings to the pretty guy beside him who, for some reason, kept stealing glances at him.
'Do I have dirt on my face?' He started to get self-conscious. The stares were getting under his skin and it was making him really uncomfortable.
Then finally, Derrick had enough, and so he told the guy. "Have anything to say?"
Their eyes met, and the man jerked his head to the other direction, almost automatically. "Er, well—"
"Well?"
"You see, uh…" The man had a guilty expression passed across his face for a second but Derrick didn't notice.
'Man, you've got a pretty face and all and I would have fallen for you if I were a woman but sadly I'm not. I'm not into men either so please get this over with and let me enjoy my mami already.' Derrick grumbled inside his head. He didn't have the guts to say those words out loud. He has always been a good talker inside his head but his mouth never wanted to cooperate.
"You see, uh. Are you free tonight?" The man said, a little fidgety. "I mean, I don't mean to sound creepy but I—I just wanna ask if you're up for a job tonight. It's nothing illegal, I swear. Just some deliveries. You will be paid as soon as you finish the job."
'This man's suspicious.' Derrick thought.
"No, thank you." He told him.
"Man, look. Think about it. I'm not scamming you if that's what you're thinking. My name's Casper by the way. I came all the way from Straestin to work here and today's my first day. But today must not be my luckiest day too, huh…" Casper was speaking non stop.
And then Derrick had a thought. 'I'm a week behind my rent.' But still, he couldn't just trust a complete stranger.
"Where do you work? And how much is the pay?"
"Now we're talking! I work at the RBC Express and I deliver stuff. We are paid with the number of deliveries we completed in a day but the rate is not fixed. You get to earn more with the fragile and the big ones. But if you lose the product or fail to deliver it on time, some penalties will be deducted to your wage. I mean, I spoke of some unnecessary stuff again. I'm sorry but then there's that." Casper said before he brought the whole egg into his mouth.
"And why would RBC be recruiting me?" Derrick asked, getting more suspicious by the second. "They've got lots of workers already."
"Uh, well, haha. I think there's a misunderstanding." Casper said with his mouth still full of noodles. He swallowed it quickly before saying, "What I really mean is I wanted to ask for your favor tonight. And I will pay you half of my wage today. Don't wanna leave a bad record on my first day, you see."
"And that would be?"
Casper put down his now empty bowl and took something from his bag. It is a shoe box-sized package. Then he pointed to the sticker at the side, specifically to the written address. "D'you know where this place is, buddy?"
Then Derrick choked on his mami. "Are you stupid?! Return that thing, pronto. There's no such place."
"Ha! C'mon, man. You can't even lie for shits. After asking so many people around, I think I understand the situation now. Figures Mangubat is pretty superstitious too, huh. Look, my country's the same. But listen to me, buddy, in the end, they're just superstitions. Nothing more."