Anakdatu - Chapter 17：Christmas Season! And the great van of Ice Cream and Evil. And a Confession.

Oh my, the cold seasons here in the Philippines, it’s already the ber-months! Here in the Philippines, what makes us different from other cultures, we celebrate the Christmas season for 4 months, starting September until it reaches Christmas, hence the endings of the months in those season, September, October, November and December a.k.a. ber-months. (YAY!) And yes, simply, it means Christmas.

So now, it is already November, a month more and it will be Christmas and it is Christmas break and maybe I can go home to Manila, at least celebrate with parents and such. And indeed it has been 5 months since school started and now, of we go, let us start our amazing day.

I woke up under the sheets because really, I tell you, it is very cold in here with a whopping 18 degrees Celsius of a temperature. I stood up, did my usual routine and once again, off I went back to the University but first, of course, the gentleman in me, I went off first to Elise’s house to fetch her up.

After a few minutes, I got to their house and gave a gentle knock on the door.

She opened the door with laziness and I can see deep shadows beneath her eyelids, like she didn’t slept “Oh my, Good morning Beauty Queen,” I started with a very energetic and happy tone so that I can atleast influence her with magical positivity and optimism. “You didn’t have a good night, didn’t you?” as I offered my assistance in bringing her stuffs.

“Thesis.” She told me and with that one word, that does not need any further explanations. Thesis breaks a human soul even it’s very will to live, but only the greatest of the students survives that. #RealLifeProblems.

“Oh yeah,” I speculated, but I still forced a cheerful tone “Come on, no worries, I’ll help you with that, but now we are going to be late.”

We made our way into the campus through the long winding roads of Batangas City.

I watched Elise as she glanced up the sky. It really is indeed a good morning today, cold wind, warm sun, that makes a very good mix as it hits your body, the perfect warm cold feeling.

“You know, this past months, I don’t know but,” Elise smiled “these months are really good, like I didn’t got into weird encounters with stalkers nor bad things happened since I met you, well, you guys actually. Maybe a Christmas gift from the heavens for me and us too.”

“Uh Elise,” As I become more precautious with my surroundings “Let’s not say that because we may make a jinx and made things worse.”

She laughed heartily “Oh come on, don’t tell me you believe in those mumbo jumbo.”

“Of course I do Miss Mumbo Jumbo.”

She hit my arm in a friendly manner and smiled.

After some minutes, we got to the campus and saw John waiting for us in the gate as he waved towards us.

John waved and yelled as we approached “Hey doofuses! I mean lovebirds, I mean guys! Hurry up! We’re going to be very late for the first class!”

Elise and I both punched him in the arm and then we headed in the campus.

The campus is very different at this point, hell better and let me describe it to you:

The campus right now, I tell you, is a winter wonderland at these times but minus the snow because it never snows in the Philippines for we are just a tropical country (Whyy, atleast God should have positioned us higher a bit, somewhere parallel to Korea.) so indeed it is sad. So back again, the school right now was decorated by Christmas lights in the windows, in the hallways and everything. There are Santa Claus door markers in every room doors, Christmas muzak that lively plays in the overhead speakers and also, the security guards wears a red and white costume, a Santa Claus costume to show the spirit of Christmas (Yay!). On the center area of the campus was a very huge Christmas tree with obviously fake gift boxes from below. On the side of the Christmas tree is a life size stature of the Nativity Scene but of course, with Christmas lights playing overhead the stable.

“It’s beautiful.” Elise said with awe as we stopped and oversaw this wonderland of a school.

“This simply means that even the darkest caves even have lights at the end.” I remarked.

John “You don’t mean that it’s a metaphorical symbolization of a school?”

I nodded “Come on now!” as we ran towards our rooms.

We’ve got to our rooms, did the usual things, listened to our teachers with reverence (or maybe not), passed notes to each other when bored, and we slept. And finally, the whole day was finished and the classes are dismissed.

We three went out the school after a day of full paper works, theses, group activities that never made any sense and very hypertensive teachers. We settled down in our favorite wooden bench near the street food stand. Oh, after the everyday we used to stay here in this bench, we already knew who this street vendor guy is. His name is Steve. He looked in his mid 20s with a plain black tee, khaki cargo shorts, flip flops, tousled black hair and a reversed baseball cap, he’s awesome/

“Hey Steve, sup?” I asked as we sat at the bench.

“Oh, nothing much,” He grinned as he mixes his fishballs in a frying pan “You’re going to buy today?”

“Oh, I think we’ll pass, you know, stay healthy, street foods everyday, I guess, you know.” John said.

Steve looked dejected “Oh well, yeah, you’ve got to stay healthy, life’s short so stay in school.”

We nodded.

After some moments a very colorful ice cream van passed through playing a very catchy tune that will make you gag or make you buy their ice cream, parked in front of the Campus gates.

“Hey guys,” I pointed to the van, “For a change?”

“Oh certainly, come on! Sorry Steve!” Elise agreed.

We ran towards the ice cream van (What a bunch of children) and fell in line with the other kids. Yes, it’s the cold weather and we are going to buy some cold food to warm ourselves up, we are Filipinos, we live in a lot of oxymorons.

As we are approaching the counter wherein you order ice cream in the van, I tensed. I saw the vendor, well, vendors. There are three of them, first, the one on the counter, this guy is similar to the Kagebunshin janitors on the orientation of classes except these guys don’t look burly like them. The one in the counter wears his colorful themed uniform to match their van, with an apron and a hat that seems to be a sailor hat, but this guy wears a dark tinted sunglasses and he has these weird scars in his face and also in his arms because his sleeves are rolled up and also the same in the other two men who is assisting this guy. They seem to be more ancient that the janitor guys because their scars look like a lot more than crack marks of a statue than scars itself.

“Guys,” I told John and Elise “I think this is not a good idea.”

Elise scrunched her eyebrows “Hey Ramil, you suggested this, what’s wrong? Are you out of a sudden allergic to ice cream?”

“It’s just I think it is unsafe, Elise-”

Out of a sudden, when the kid who is in the front in line of us just got his order which meant it’s our turn, and while Elise is facing me, the counter guy snatched Elise by her back and brought her in the stall and the van closed its stall, started its engine and started making their escape with my damsel.

***

“John!” I barked orders at him, “Evacuate all the nearby children and people somewhere safe, I’m going to do something crazy.”

John’s eyes shone with admiration and nodded to my order and ran to do what is told.

“Goddamit,” I pulled my umbrella once again, got two pens from my pocket too, pressed the sniper button of the umbrella and within moments of its whirling mechanism, I’ve got a sniper in my hand and I prepared my aim to the van that is moving away.

I heard Elise screaming which made me crumble and they are somewhat 10 yards away from me now. I inhaled… exhaled… inhaled… and finally exhaled and aimed for where the driver usually positioned in a van. And then I pulled the trigger and the van swerved to the right where it made dozens of garbage bags messed up (sorry sanitation department!).

I ran as quickly as I could and turned my sniper into an umbrella again so that I can run with ease and readied my pens for some paralyzing.

I got to the van and I opened the door and as soon as I opened the door, I threw one pen to one of the man inside straight to his heart and clutched to it but got paralyzed and died in a matter of seconds but the other one, he held Elise hostage with a futuristic gun pointing on her head.

“Datu Puti,” he said, “I’m quite impressed, you are the current Datu Puti?” He bellowed with laughter. “Your accuracy is very good, I thought you are Dailisan. Anyways, I need to take this girl so please, don’t interfere.”

He knows about us? He knows about the Anakdatu even Dailisan, our sniper. This is nuts, this is messed up. I talked to Eve in my subconsciousness because as she is connected through my brain.

‘Eve,’ I said subconsciously ‘Please send the footage of that speech of that stupid guy to The Hut especially Macabulos, thanks. ASAP please.’

“Ramil, help” Elise is crying. And it is starting to rain.

I got mad, and once again, released the hell out of me again, I think I have some kind of battle rage whenever I get mad. With a very fast motion, I embedded the pen in his gun hand.

The gun the guy is holding suddenly fell and he started shrieking and then he died and turned into dust, like the guy I hit awhile ago, even the guy whom I shot with a sniper moments ago and suddenly, we are in an empty van.

Elise tackled me with a very tight hug and with that tackle, we fell in the wet pavement, of course I, butt first but yeah, we are fine.

“Ramil,” she sobbed “Who- what are those guys? What do they want?”

“Elise, hey” I held her face (at these moment, Eve keeps telling me to kiss her, stupid technology stupider than Siri.) and wiped her tears, “Everything is going to be okay, okay?”

“I’m scared.”

I gave her my handkerchief, “Hear my vow Emanuelle Elise Vertucio, I will do everything to protect you with all my life, I will be with you through all, uh-” I saw she blushed and I think I am too ” I mean like just protect you from bad guys and stuffs oh nevermind, at least you are okay. I told you it’s not a good idea to buy ice cream.”

She then laughed half heartedly “You’re so stupid, but thank you, you saved my life. By the way, did you really shot the driver awhile ago? And you attacked them using pens? Who are you? And they called you Datu Puti? And what is a Dailisan?”

I knew that question will be asked “Elise, I’m sorry I couldn’t tell.”

“I thought we were best friends Ramil?” She asked me.

“If I told you, you will hate me more than ever.”

“I don’t care. I hate you ever since so I don’t care” She concluded.

I sighed “Promise me you will never tell anyone okay? Even John.”. And I knew from that moment, we were bound.

“I promise doofus.”

“Told you,” she said while looking into my eyes “I don’t care.”