Swoosh!
Sapak!
A sudden, yet another resounding slap, echoed mercilessly far across the heavy atmosphere. Jax was quick to respond this time now that his thoughts drifted back to reality. He diverted his gaze back in front of him, only to see Mr. Berto in ablaze.
''Why are you spacing out, lil' brat? Did I hit you too hard?'' Mr. Berto then spoke with a growing sense of anger, his eyes ablaze, threatening to cause harm in his wake. But when he finally saw something sightly, a smile suddenly appeared, ''That look in your eyes, I love it. That's right, fear me.''
Jax was taken aback. His eyes still laced with the hint of fear and confusion. Not of the person before him, but of the unfamiliar eerie whisper he had just heard, but now was gone.
He looked then at Mr. Berto, more focused this time. Only then did he realize, too, that within the split seconds he had been distracted, he had incurred the wrath of this person. Almost immediately, he shook all distracting thoughts to the far corner of his mind and forced out a bitter smile.
And with a head bowed down, he replied in a respectful manner, trying to appease the anger of the unreasonable accuser. ''Yes, Mr. Berto. I'm deeply sorry for what I've done.''
He realized then that any further explanation would only be considered meager and meaningless by the absurd judgment of the other party. He endured it, and humbled himself, driven by the need to continue working. Yes, even if he had to bow his head down like a dog.
''Hmph! Trash! If I find you standing idly here again, you won't end up receiving just a single strike from my magical cane.'' Mr. Berto warned for the last time before he walked away — with his cane supporting him — to see the other workers.
When the supervisor left, Eliseo couldn't help but let out a jeering laughter, "Puahahaha, what kind of pussy are you?"
Jax found himself glaring coldly at the other party. His eyes narrowed with sharp edges, carrying an unusual fierceness that never seemed to die down. Without realizing it, he was on the verge of losing his cool.
''What are you looking at, kid? Tired of living, eh?'' Displeased of what daring manner the little kid paid him, Eliseo immediately restrained himself from laughing. He lifted his hand up to grab Jax's collar, threatening to strike him to remove the unsightly.
BOOM!
A sudden, loud and terrifying explosion echoed somewhere in the far distance. The distant rumble shattered the monotonous hum of work on the hacienda.
Eliseo, who was about to hit Jax, suddenly paused too. Both their eyes widened momentarily as they shifted their gazes in the direction of the sudden disturbance.
What happened? The same question sparked in their minds. The thoughts of the compelling unknown urged them to hurry over and see the probable surprise or adversity.
Eliseo loosened his grip, distracted at the beckon of constant urges. And when his thoughts began to stir, someone who carried greater boldness hurried his way in the direction of the sudden explosion.
''I saw something huge that fell from the sky. That must be a huge meteor!'' He blurted out, his tone laced with the mixture of excitement and trepidation.
As soon as all the other workers heard it, they too also ran in the same direction. They abandoned their tools messily in the fields and rushed to see the anticipated big fortune. That included Mr. Berto. He also hurried his way in that same direction for he'd also taken a glimpse of that thing before it landed on the ground and caused such a loud stir.
''Tch! You're lucky, brat.'' Eliseo snorted coldly, shoving the young man roughly and sending him down to the ground nearly tumbling. Then he completely ignored him as he also moved along with the crowd in hope of seeing rays of escaping the confines of hard labor.
As everyone slowly faded away into the dense forest, and the noises slowly died down, only a certain young man remained rooted in the same spot.
Sitting on the ground with both his hands supporting the upper body, Jax watched them go, his eyes narrowing as he wondered what could have caused such a disturbance. A part of him yearned to join the others, to investigate the curious event, but the ever-present awareness of Eliseo's warning and Mr. Berto's unreasonable anger kept him rooted to the spot.
But more than that, he knew exactly what was in their minds. That they just rushed away to avoid working as they would just use that explosion as a good excuse.
But he didn't care. Resigned, he paid them no heed and turned his attention to the huge tree stump nearby. He grabbed his hoe and walked to get closer. Then, gathering up his resolve, he plunged his hoe to the ground beside, forcibly trying to pull that big thing out with just his hoe and sheer willpower. Working alone should be a good thing as well now that things had become a lot quieter.
Their job was to cultivate that piece of land and turn it into farmland for rice plantation. Sweeping his gaze around the land full of trees, Jax suddenly felt his back straining him with burning pain, his shoulders hunched down slightly at the mere thought of working alone.
He needed to cut all these trees down and root them out? Now that he thought about it, working alone was a lot more troublesome. A bitter smile couldn't help appearing on his lips.
Still, Jax carried on, driven by the need to save some money in provision for his plan of proposing to his girlfriend sooner or later. He felt indebted too to his childhood best friend, whose father owned the entire hacienda.
When Jax was looking for a job to earn money from, his best friend came to him with a warm smile and widely-opened arms. He offered him to work with his father's people for a daily wage of one thousand.
He was so kind that he almost thought that he was a Saint.
Jax continued working. But as he worked, his mind replayed the strange incident that had occurred a moment ago – the sudden voice he heard, the cold and eerie voice that struck him senseless. A shiver suddenly ran down his spine, and he unconsciously reached up to clutch his chest, trying to stop his heart from pounding hard.
BOOM!!!
Yet again, another thunderous explosion echoed aloud. This time, it was in the opposite direction, to where the village was located, and to where his home was. And the explosion was stronger, causing strong vibrates even from afar.
''What the hell... Is there a war going on right now?'' Jax gasped, mistakenly thinking that someone was causing the bombardment. A sense of growing worries filled his eyes, and a constant throbbing of his heart kept urging him to hurry over, ''I should head back right away and see if my honey, my love, so sweet, is safe!''
With that growing intensely in his mind, Jax, just like the others, abandoned his hoe being plunged into the earth. He was quick at his feet, propelled forward by a sense of increasing apprehension.
But then, a sudden movement in the distance caught Jax's eye, and he squinted against the glare of the dazzling sun. There, in the far corner of the field, a strange object seemed to be falling from the sky, its trajectory hurtling directly towards him. Jax braced himself, his heart pounding hard in his chest, as the object drew closer - only to be struck a moment later right into his head. The impact sent him tumbling to the ground.
''Your fear...''
As darkness threatened to overtake him, the unfamiliar eerie voice from before seemed to echo again in the deepest part of his consciousness. He felt the embrace of the sweet cold, as if welcoming him to a never-ending slumber.
Then, with the same eerie voice, holding the same malevolent promise, someone spoke again:
''It shall be mine.''