The Man from Manila - Episode 1 - Unexpected Help

Chapter 1

Episode 1 - Unexpected Help

It was a quiet evening, it was raining a bit and the streets are wet.  A woman was running in an ally disturbed, nervous and afraid. Four men with knives and gun were chasing her.  Sinister smile was upon the men’s face as they cornered the girl in the alley.  “Don’t worry, this will be fun.” One said while holding the knife as he approaches the girl.  “You will enjoy this more than you think!” said the other one as he licked his lips in anticipation. “Better not delay the inevitable, if you resist, things will just go bad. Hehehehehe……” said the biggest among the four.

A mysterious figure is watching from a far, observing what will happen.  The figure felt the need to help the girl, but is hesitant; hesitant to be seen by other, afraid to be harmed. In the shadows, a mere peek at the figure can be seen, glowing like a cat’s eye in the dark.  Something is different with this fellow, he seems not to be afraid of helping but more of being exposed, it’s like he is hiding something.  It seems he doesn’t want to expose himself….. But why?

“No………please….HHEEEEELPPPPPPPPP!” the girl cried.  One of the men grabbed her and kept his mouth shut “Shhhhh…… don’t shout, don’t cry.  See this (while licking at the blade of a knife), stay still or I’ll cut your throat off.” Noise from the side of the wall was made by the hidden figure, quite anxious on how to help.  “Damn cat! Shuu…… get away from here.”

The girl was helpless and four men raped her one at a time while the mysterious figure was trembling as he could not do anything, tears were falling and were crunching his fist in anger.   How can he help without exposing himself? How will he save the girl?

The girl fainted in her distress, almost lifeless one of the men said “What shall we do with her man?” “Nothing we want from her now, might as well kill her so we’ll have no loose ends”  The mysterious figure already torn with guilt heard what the rapist will do, In a desperate attempt he jumped on one of the men.  Grabbing him and lifting him with one hand and stared at the others after removing his cloak.  The men were horrified on what they saw, the glow of its eyes, and the shape of its head. “What are you man?” “Your worst nightmare!” the figure said while its eyes glow in the dark like a cat. He threw the man on the wall, and punched the nearby ally to the wall almost made the wall crumble and the man fractured and wounded.

“Now you’re dead, you piece of shit!” another tries to stab the figure dodging it easily and returning the knife as a blow, fatal the rapist drops on the ground. “You’re a monster! No, you’re a devil!” as the only rapist shouted horribly. “Me? You people were the one who up this upon yourselves. You who have done this with an innocent soul?  An act of crime on your own kind.”  As the mysterious figure stared at the rapist, he started to run in fear and was hit by a fast truck as he crossed the street. “An eye for an eye” the mysterious figure said.

It was then he turned to the girl that was raped, she was with blood and barely with pulse. He picked her up gently and with a blinked of an eye…. Vanished in the shadows and teleported in some kind of space craft, only a blink in the sky was seen as it disappeared.

It was almost a week since the incident; he took care of the girl secretly. Landed in a remote countryside and disguised the ship as a simple “Bahay Kubo” (House made of dried grass and bamboo). Dressed himself like an old man, peasant like; hid as much as possible his appearance as he revived the girl that was raped. When she awoke, she was in shocked, tubes were inserted her directly to the nerves revitalizing her strength. She was clean and was in a place where she does not know.  It was then when the mysterious fellow entered the room “Who are you? Where am I? Why am I here?” the girl said. “Do not worry, you are safe. Something happened but it’s alright now.  You are with a friend, I meant no harm.” Tears, dropped from her eyes.  She stoops down and cried “I know I should thank you for everything but why do I think you should have left me to die?” “There, there now, you should rest whatever happened had passed; what you should be grateful for is that you’re well and alive.” He answered.”Why do you care?” the girl sobs, “You don’t know anything about me, you have no idea what I went through? Maybe I was supposed to die, maybe that was the way I should die!” the girl said as she cried. “Clearly, it is not yet your time to die because you are here and safe.” Injects the sedative “You should rest more, we will talk later when you are ready.”

ONE MONTH LATER…..

The girl when back to the house from the nearby market for some food, smiles and said to the mysterious figure “You are going to like what I will prepare today, Sinigang!” “You know I don’t eat much, fruits will be fine!” said the fellow.  “It’s been almost a month now since I was here; you never eat what I prepare.  I know, I shouldn’t ask but I would really appreciate if you would join me even once.” “Well now, since you’ve been here it’s just now you took the effort in communicating, It’s a good sign.  Ok then, let’s eat.”

While she was preparing food, she suddenly fainted.  The mysterious fellow catches her as she falls.  “Are you ok?” he laid her down gently to the nearby bed.  “You don’t seem to be sick, what else are you feeling?” the girl suddenly vomited.  “What’s wrong with me?” she asked.  “I hope my hunch is incorrect but we need to run some test to confirm.”

“Can you stand or sit at least? I will prepare the food you cooked.” He said. “Let’s eat!”  the girl smiled and with effort tried to relax and join him in the table. “This is nice; it’s been a while since I had this kind of cooking around here.  I hope you get to accept and treat everything that had happened as a challenge from your forefathers. I sense that you will take part on something significant, I sense that you will contribute something great to society” he said.  The girl smiled and ate.

To be continued…

Copyright njvelasquez 2012

All characters mentioned are all original concepts for this Mini-Series.