Mt. Enigma

Chapter 1

All the lights inside the house were turned off and only the television turned on served as light in the living room where the friends were present. 

The rustling sound of junk food bags and crisp chewing of chips is what brings relief to the quiet night. They were both focused on the television that was showing only beautiful sights.

"I'm losing interest in road trips, you know? We can't find any good places anymore," Zaliyah sneered as she sat on the couch and leaned on her boyfriend Nivo's chest. He also looked down at her face and stared at her chewing mouth. He didn't speak and just grabbed the chips she was holding and then threw a piece into his mouth.

"Yeah," agreed Yvaine who didn't feel like peeling a piece of ring chips into small portions before eating them. "We have almost been to all the beautiful places in the country. Even all the historic mountains or volcanoes in the Philippines, are not new to me," she said in a low tone and flicked the plastic of the chips.

"Then let's go back to Mt. Cristobal. Why not, right?" Bax said mischievously and leaned against the back of the couch as if he was about to lie down and snuggle up behind Yvaine. Yvaine looked at him with a frown. "On the very day of Friday the thirteenth," he added and looked straight into the woman's eyes. "Then we'll just make horror content." Everyone looked at him. 

Nivo and Zaliyah looked at each other for a moment because the day he was referring to was five days from now. And another thing, Mt. Cristobal says is the well-known 'the devil's mountain.' In other words, it is dangerous to visit on Friday the thirteenth.

"The question is..." Colthen interjected and simply pointed at Bax with his index finger even though he was holding a bear. "Are you brave enough?" his doubtful question. 

He was just sitting on the opposite couch they were sitting on with only a round table in between and next to Vynx who was quietly flipping through a book even though it was dark. Only a cellphone was used as a flashlight to see its contents.

"Lol," Bax whined and glared at him while throwing the chips that were taken from Yvaine's palm. "I'm not a rat—"

"I mean..." Colthen quickly grabbed the chips with his left arm. "Except for Friday the thirteenth, that day is still holy week," he added and dusted his own sleeve. "They say it's more dangerous."

Yvaine laughed softly and looked at Colthen. "Do you believe that?" she asked raising her eyebrows to him.

The man stared at Yvaine's face for a moment. "N...no—I-I mean..." He shook his head for a moment before continuing. "Yes, by the way. Nah! It's wrong!" He slapped his forehead and he closed his eyes again. "It's not," he answered in confusion, causing some of them to laugh.

"What exactly?" Nivo asked irritatedly and patted the girlfriend's cheek.

Colthen sighed—not knowing how to explain. "It's like this..." he scratched his head trying to think of the words to say. "Because you guys know." He adjusted his seat first and everyone remained waiting. He placed his two elbows on his knees as if ready to tell a story. "Because when we say we believe, then we will be embarrassed," he reasoned and some of them nodded. "But when we say we don't believe and it turns out to be true then we are doomed—"

"The answer should be yes or no, just go with or," Bax laughed and threw the chip he picked up from Yvaine palm into his mouth. Zaliyah giggled while Nivo, who was leaning on her, shook her head laughing.

"But do you believe it?" Yvaine asked again.

"Or," Colthen answered.

"What?" It seems his answer was not clear to Yvaine.

"Bax once said, if I'm not sure if the answer is yes or no, I'll go with or. So my answer is or!" he clarified to Yvaine and drank some wine then stood up. "I'll go to CR," he patted Vynx on the shoulder, who had been lighting the book he was flipping through with his cellphone. When Vynx nodded, Colthen immediately left.

That's why everyone noticed Vynx. Of them all, he is the quietest member of their group—opposite to the behavior of his twin sister Vyze. Apart from the conflict of attitudes, they are also not compatible. They disagree on many things, but when it comes to the road trip, they are still united.

"What are you doing, Dude?" Nivo asked Vynx. It was obvious that he heard something but he didn't look up. "Are you memorizing the historical mountains in the Philippines?" Nivo added and at that moment he looked at his friend.

It seems that it is lost in himself as his companions look at him. So before he spoke, Zaliyah took the lead. "We've all been there, haven't we?"

He folded the book and sighed. "Nope," he answered and then scratched his forehead—a mannerism. "We've only been to major rank mountains. But there are more than three thousand mountains in the Philippines and most of them we haven't been to yet." He was right but Zaliyah was only referring to the famous mountains.

"I know, but I'm not interested in others anymore," she said indifferently. "Look..." she said, shrugging her shoulders. "We tried to visit the others, the ones that are not so popular and look what happened? We were not even satisfied because all the views are almost the same. There are wishing falls, a view deck that you can also see the mountain below, if not mountains, rice paddies, or whatever kind of field," she clarified and took a deep breath. "Guys, we need unique places in our vlog not common. We will have fewer viewers if we don't have explosives," she almost whispered in her last sentence. 

Because of what Zaliyah said, everyone become silence. They meditated one by one and Yvaine, who was sitting on near her anus, even sniffed. She felt Nivo squeeze his hand to strengthen his will. She got up and faced him then stared at him to convey her sadness. "We need to find ways," she said.

"Sure." He removed her hair that blocked her face. "Let's go to BDO," he said foolishly and tried to make his reaction look serious. Zaliyah glared at her boyfriend, even though she wanted to laugh.

"That's old joke okay?" she said as she nuzzled him and pinched it on the side. Nivo stuttered but the laughter prevailed.

"What if..." She turned to Yvaine who suddenly spoke. "What are we going to do..." she stared at her for a moment before turning to the others. "At... man-made attractions—"

"No!" Bax quickly reprimanded her and flicked her elbow so that the young woman giggled and moved a little. "Are you crazy? That's why we're so frustrated now because we're not discovering unique places anymore and then we're going to bite those man-made attractions?" Bax annoyed by this and Yvaine even looked at him.

"Required to flick my elbow?" Yvaine interrupted and rubbed her elbow. Bax grinned and held up two fingers.

"I think there is someone," Nivo said because of their silence and they looked at the door at the same time until it opened.

"I'm here!" Vyze spoke loudly as the light turned on. "You don't like the light, do you? Tss!" She blinked for a moment then placed the things next to the door before closing it. She walked towards them with a rampaging steps. Everyone was speechless because of the clothes she was wearing. The shortness of the red shorts and the blouse almost outside the soul. She has a shoulder bag on her left shoulder and a blazer is hanging on her arm. "I have good news guys," she announced artfully and leaned onto the back of the couch behind Zaliyah and Nivo. Her lips almost blooded of lipstick but it fits because of her beautiful and long hair with a little curl. When she turned her gaze to her twins Vynx, they also looked at Vynx to find out his reaction.

"It's burning again," Bax commented simply and then whistled.

"Hello, Brother!" Vyze greeted him teasingly and waved flirtatiously as she rested her elbow on the back of the couch. "My boy version."

"Don't talk to me," Vynx said sternly as if he was just holding back. He looked away and firmly clenched his fist.

"Sure, do I care about you?" Vyze agreed without a trace of fear and even smiled. Vynx didn't speak to help himself calm down. "But I do have good news, don't I?" She blinked after speaking. But Zaliyah's face shows interest in what she said last.

"Wow, good news! What is that?" Suddenly, Colthen appeared from CR. His gaze even wandered all over Vyze. "You're sexy every day, but I think you're overdoing it now?" he commented.

Vyze's eyes rolled at him. "I have a blazer, I just took it off because it was hot!" she reasoned in defense and showed the blazer hanging on her arm.

Zaliyah was so impatient that she couldn't stop her own closeness to Vyze. "Hey! What's the good news?"

"Wait," she said and quickly rummaged through the bag. "I saw it among Grandpa's things while my Mom was fixing it earlier, so I stole it," she said and grinned. 

It brought out the old orange book. Her brow furrowed with curiosity and she took the book from Vyze hand. "The history of Mt. Enigma can be read in that book and its total parts can be seen on the map," Vyze explained.

"Mt. Enigma?" Yvaine asked curiously and peeked as he opened the book. Those with them immediately approached him to take a peek except for Vynx who was just watching them but could also see the interest in his reaction.

"Mt. Enigma, the hidden mountain, the secret mountain, the forgotten mountain...I don't know what to call it, all I can say is that it is not in the list of historical mountains in the Philippines," she answered enthusiastically. .

"The cursed mountain, that's the exact words to call," Vynx suddenly said that the said mountain was not new to his ears.