Chapter 13

Stephanie opened her eyes and widened when she saw herself walking through the carpeted floors. She took in her surroundings and noted the spacious hallway decorated in a vintage motif. She thought she was at Titan's place because even the red carpets had gold-printed vintage themes on the sides.

"Sir Titan?" she uttered as she continued walking through the end until she reached the big, white door. "Sir Titan, where are you?" she asked again louder than before. Yet, she didn't hear any word from Titan in response.

Despite her inhibitions, she gulped as she reached her hand to the doorknob. As soon as she turned it to open and see what was on the other side, she was suddenly sucked in.

She screamed as she turned upside down and dropped to her knees with her hands placed on the hard, dark surface. She appeared to be floating in a pitch-black void.

Grunting, she pulled herself up and watched above and saw nothing but endless darkness, an abyss.

"What's this place?" she whispered to herself, feeling her chest throbbing so loud and fast enough to choke her. She gulped and pressed her hand on her chest as she stood. "Sir Titan?" she called over and over again. But then again, there was no answer.

After she called Titan's name for the last time, she flinched when she heard a loud voice from an old man who she had never known or met before. "The land… the land… the land!"

"Who are you?" she asked while her face was up, looking around, hoping she could find a clue about where she was. "I don't know who you are. Tell me, who are you?"

But there was still no clear response.

Instead, the old man's voice continued, "The land, the land, the land!" Along with the other members of the choir who were all yelling and playing unappealing percussion instruments, he was screaming loudly and frantically. It was mayhem. Pure and simple.

They sounded like desperate screams and cries, which made Stephanie feel more anxious and worried about her safety. Where the hell was she?

"Who the hell are you? I don't know you, old man! Why did you bring me here?" she sputtered while taking a few steps. When she looked down, Stephanie saw no flooring, seemingly floating in the abyss.

Despite her demands, the old man seemed to ignore her inquiries and continued screaming the same words over and over again.

"What about the land? Whose land? I don't know what you're talking about, old man!" she screamed while she was covering her ears from the loud noise. Again, there was no reply.

She kept on moving on, marching endlessly into the darkness until she felt hopeless because she had no idea where she was. She screamed for rescue and shouted Titan's name in the vain hope that he would hear her.

When she started to cry, the old guy started to open a magical door that didn't look like a door at all, but rather an enormous, seemingly invisible frame that unfolded in front of her.

Even though she didn't want to get in, somebody, perhaps the old man's ghost, pushed her from the back, forcing her to enter the opened "door."

When Stephanie entered, all she could see was another unending void. She laughed softly and mocked at the absurdity of her predicament. But suddenly, she caught sight of a massive screen that resembled those found in movie theaters.

She remained in front of it while she observed the various frames of footage being played on the reels. A little while later, they switched to a quicker speed, which let the series of images play like a movie with moving things on the screen.

Stephanie heard the antique projector making subtle noises reminiscent of earlier times as they continued reeling each frame at such a rapid pace.

"What's this?" she asked in an attempt to understand what was going on. Yet, the old man didn't respond and continued reeling the images instead.

She gave up and watched the display as the old gentleman continued to play a sequence of pictures that began with an old tree in the middle of big rice farmland.

Stephanie guessed that it was following the farmers' completion of the rice field harvest. Other than the nearby tree, there were no other trees nor tall grasses around.

She became aware that the tree wasn't just another one as she proceeded to observe what the elderly man was attempting to show her. And she grew accustomed to the location where it stood.

She began to feel the heat as she continued to stare at the screen, as though it was radiating the heat of the midday sun.

Stephanie raised her arm in curiosity and made an attempt to touch the screen. When she realized her hand could fit through it and felt the heat from the sun all around her hand, she squirmed. She pulled her hand back and clenched it.

She mustered the confidence to enter the screen as she sighed and closed her eyes. And when she did, she discovered that she was in the center of the rice field, standing in front of the tree.

She didn't know what it was at first, but as she got closer to it, she discovered that it was the location where her grandfather took his life some four decades earlier. She trembled and her jaw fell.

Her grandfather gave her a series of pictures that highlighted the minute features of the branches and leaves just as her legs were ready to tremble from the shock of the revelation. It appeared as though somebody was filming the tree from the roots up.

On her arms, she felt the branches and leaves. Her arms were lifted to protect herself from being assaulted as she winced. Small twigs and leaves flicked on her skin, causing her to scream in agony.

When it was done, she found herself standing in front of the same tree again. This time, she was panting. Her eyebrows knitted, wondering about a lot of things.

"Why are you showing me this, grandpa?" she whispered while she was slowly tearing up. She gulped and pulled her face up to see the bright sun smiling at her, beaming its powerful heat that pinched her skin.

"What about the land?" she whispered with a strained voice after screaming so much earlier. "What are you trying to say here?" she asked, hoping that she could the old man's voice. But she heard nothing and as she closed her eyes, she was suddenly seeing the chaos in his head.

She continued to watch the events play out, reeling along with the frantic sounds of the orchestra's desperate pleas as she flicked her head from left to right. She started to grasp the broader picture of what was going on at that point.

She broke down in tears when she realized she had been seeing a movie of her grandfather's last minutes before he hanged himself from the same tree where she stood.

She started crying again as she realized that she was thinking about the same feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness that had recently consumed her. She shared the same remorse as her grandfather in wanting to end his life and wishing she was never coming back.

She sobbed uncontrollably, her body trembling with terror and sorrow at what she had nearly done to herself and her life. Her tears, which never stopped streaming, drenched her face as she pursed her lips.

"Why did you do it, grandpa? You don't know how much you've destroyed my mother's life after what you've done," she stuttered and sighed, sniffing.

She raised her head to look at the blue heavens and the sun-blocking, fluffy white clouds as she began to calm down. She breathed again, but this time she smiled a little.

She stood up and moved toward the tree, pushing her hands against the hard bark and rubbing her palms together. She couldn't help but believe that those were the identical branches where he could have hanged himself when she looked up to view the tree's strong branches.

"You don't want me to continue wishing to die, do you?" she whispered, trying to ask the old man, though she knew she wouldn't hear a single reply.

She exhaled and closed her eyes, attempting to extend her lips wide in a smile. But the grief her grandfather caused her to experience prevented her from doing it.

As she looked around, she saw no one, not even the ancestral house she knew was close by where the tree was standing.

"Grandpa, it will be difficult to hold on like this forever," she cried as she continued, "But it appears to me that you don't want me to make the same mistake that you did forty years ago. But what should I do now? When everything I did was in vain, what else could I do to survive? Now you can see where I am. Homeless. I don't have someone to rely on—"

Something interrupted her before she could finish her sentence, but she was unsure of what it was or why. She swung her head downward in an effort to recall any occurrences she might have missed.

She waited for a voice to respond, but she never heard it. Instead, she felt a warm hug. Although she knew she had never met her grandfather, who had passed away years before she was born, she felt the solace she needed for herself.

Stephanie was perplexed and confused by his presence despite it. The more time she spent in her grandfather's ghostly embrace, the harder it became for her to hold back. As quietly as she could, she sobbed a torrent while covering her mouth with her hands and her eyes closed.

She was surprised to see a different scene as she opened her eyes even though she was in tears. No darkness, abyss, or the previously visible blue heavens were there. This time, the entire ceiling was covered with tiled roofing.

Before realizing that she was awake and in the outside world, she blinked a few times. And the last thing she remembered was a dream. A lucid dream.

Then, she heard the rhythmic sounds of the machines that continued to monitor her vital signs as she turned her head to see that her arms were covered in cables. Beep. Beep. Beep.

It was the first time she had fully remembered the incidents she had been trying to recall as she stood next to the tree.

When the three men were going to attack Stephanie and Christine that night, Stephanie remembered seeing Titan transform into a cat and lunge forward at them.

The tightness in her chest caused her to get out of bed as she began to worry for him. Then, she felt the sharp pain in her back just as she was ready to leap off the bed. She winced. "Ouch," she uttered in a hushed tone.

However, when she cocked her head downward, she was startled to see Titan dozing next to her. Why in the world was he there? She pondered.

She made an effort to keep from waking him, but she soon became aware of his attire. It resembled the clothes he had on the day she was shot.

Stephanie remembered the scene from that day when he screamed and threw the folders off his desk. She assumed he was upset at her because of it and wondered why he was there, still wearing the cat collar she had given him.

She raised her arm to Titan's face, brushed the strands of his dark hair that hid his face, and for whatever reason, pressed and licked her lips.

Stephanie appreciated this rare occasion when Titan was so close that she could touch his face and gaze at his magnificence without being disturbed or making a fool of herself, as opposed to the view she had relished back then.

Then, she smiled. "I'm glad you're fine," she whispered when she heard him snoring. As silently as she could, she pushed herself back, pressing her back against the soft sheets and closing her eyes to sleep.

Shortly after she drifted to sleep, Titan opened his eyes and lifted his head to take a quick look at Stephanie. He winced as he glanced up and noticed that it was dawn.

He stretched out his arm and frantically looked at his wristwatch, fearing he could be late for work.

7:00 AM

He exhaled in relief when he saw the time. Although he slept in such an uncomfortable manner, at least he had time to get ready for work. When he could have just left Stephanie there and gone to sleep in his cozy house, why was he there in the first place?

He fixed Stephanie with his look and followed every contour of her face with his eyes before getting up from the bed.

He couldn't help but draw his face closer to Stephanie's face. He rubbed his cheek on her cheek and smelled her aroma the same way he did before with his eyes closed, despite the worry that was written all over his face.

Just as he was going to draw away from her and open his eyes, he flinched as he noticed Stephanie staring at him. "Sir Titan? What are you doing?" Stephanie stammered, still in awe over what she had seen.

She found it difficult to reconcile the fact that the man she was staring at, who also happened to be one of the nation's most powerful men, and the man who was gently caressing her like a cat—her cat—were the same.

It didn't take him long to stand up and look away, unable to gather his thoughts to respond to her. Titan, as clever and smart as he was in the business world, was unable to rationalize what he had just done.