The desert blew winds of sand all day long, and the bright, burning sun casted light within the abandoned tower in the middle of it all. It glared through my lids as my clothes stuck to my skin.
Who knew what time it was already when you were in the desert? Certainly not me. Still, I rolled over the bed, shutting my eyes tightly in hopes to block out the sun. My sweat trickled head buried deep into the covers as I tried to lull myself back to sleep.
That's weird. Wasn't I in the middle of doing something? If I remember correctly, it was my research papers. But that can't be right. Why would I need to do that?
As I finally dozed back to sleep. A shadow casted upon my sleeping figure, blessing me with a cool breeze to my face.
"Jayus, it's time to wake up."
"Jayus, wake up!" Hera shook my shoulders, waking me up in the most aggressive way he knew how to.
My bleary eyes snapped open, unceremoniously. In front of me, I could hear Hera laugh at my state as a hand came to brush itself on my face. "You must've been tired, you drooled in your sleep!"
I ignored him, stretching out a yawn. "Are we there yet?"
Hera nodded in confirmation as the train finally rolled to a stop, it's engine steaming out white smoke as everyone in the train got up to gather their stuff.
"We are now," Hera got up too, and we both headed out the train. As soon as we stepped out the cart, so many people came rushing between rides that it was almost impossible to set foot out the station.
I barely managed to squeeze myself out the crowd. And when I did, I breathed out a sigh of relief. It was not surprise the stations would be busy, specially during a semester break when everyone was going home to visit.
I'm just glad I'm not stuck between those bustling people anymore.
"Thank god," I sighed, "Good thing we're still in one piece, right?" I laugh, turning to Hera, expecting he'd laugh at our situation too, only to be met with air as I turn around. "Hera?"
I look around, confused. Did we get separated on the way out?"
"Do you have a girlfriend?" I hear a question being squeaked out as a group of girls surround Hera who had been held back in the moment of our desperate escape. They all gathered around him like fish to bait as he offered them nothing but an awkward smile.
Of course this has to happen. This poor guy can't take a break at all. I stood by as I watched Hera be more and more swarmed by people who took a liking to him, making sure I wasn't dragged into it either. Hera must be used to this by now. He'll likely know how to get out of this.
As I stood by a bench, watching Hera entertain those people, our eyes happened to find each other amidst the crowd. I don't know what came over me but the next thing I knew I was already pushing through the crowd and dragging Hera away from everything.
In my state of impulsiveness, I could barely hear Hera's laughter echoing through the station as we both sprinted out the gates. It wasn't until I had come back with a right mind did I realize we were standing out of the train station and looking out at the coastlines.
Hera still continued to laugh until he could barely stand, the rush from running all the way out and the lack of catching his breath made a flush across his face as he held on to his lnees to keep himself up.
"Why are you laughing?" I asked, completely dumb-founded as I tried hailing for a cab. Hera shook his head, his breath finally slowing down.
"Just that," He took in a sharp breath, his mouth gaped to say something. Then he shut his mouth before shaking his head. "It's nothing. Never mind,"
The ride to the old church was quiet with Hera's occasionally pointing at the sceneries with excitement. I nodded in acknowledgement, looking out his window to see what he thought were so exciting. And when I find out it was either a malformed cloud, a bird perched on poles, and absolutely nothing out of the ordinary, I'd stare at him as if he was crazy.
And in turn, he'd laugh at my face before I sat back on my seat.
"Alright, we're here." The cab driver announced as he pulled on the side of the ride. I look out the cab, trees lined to a forest as we were basically stranded on a coastline with no where else to go. Confused, I turned to the cab driver, "Where are we exactly?"
The cab driver didn't turn as he stared back at me through the rearview mirror.
"If your sightseeing the old church, you gotta walk through these trees here. Go up the slope, stay on the trail path, and you'll find it." The cab driver pointed out the window. I followed his finger pushed myself against Hera's side. Indeed, there was a faint trail path in the forest.
I look at the driver who only shrug his shoulders at me, then I turned to Hera to see if I wasn't losing my mind. Was this cab driver serious? Are there really no way to that old church? The look of complete shock and disbelief must have been evident on my face yet Hera only smiled and threw his palms up in the air before making his way out the cab.
That only made me feel more delirious as I got up to follow him out.
As we watched the driver pull off the road and out of sight, I could already feel a sense of dread and regret piling in my stomach.
"We are so going to get murdered," I said, my face grim with dread. "I can already see the headline. Two idiots gets scammed by cab driver, ends up dead on a ditch. All because they believed the old church was through these bushes and mud."
"You forgot the part where they conveniently mention how good looking I am," Hera said as he began following the trail path.
"Not if the murderer decides to rip off your face to wear it. Then I'd say my headlines seem perfectly in line," I followed him, cautiously.
The forest wasn't as deep as I had assumed it to be as I followed Hera closely from behind. But like the driver had mentioned, the ground indeed go up to a slope that made it slightly difficult to move. As we gradually got up, the trail path also began to fade with time.
"Hey," I call out from behind Hera. My voice must have been clear with concern as he stopped in his tracks to check on me. "Are you sure we're following the right track? I can barely see the trail path anymore."
I expected Hera to pull that stupid look on his face once more. The one he always used to smile away his problems and proudly state that he had no idea at all. But what met me at that moment was neither his mischievous smile, nor the childish ignorance he would always feign.
Instead, he caught me by surprise as he grabbed hold of my hand and continued to lead the way out the forest. "Yeah, we're heading the right way."
He said with such certainty that it almsot made me believe he'd been here dozens of times before. But that was the strange part because I was so sure Hera had never been here before. Not once in his entire life.