*CHAPTER 4* “Bahay 2”

The first morning in Bahay 2 smelled like ginger and old wood.

Ari woke up on the floor.

Blanket over her.

Mug next to her.

Still warm.

It was 6am.

Davao was loud already.

Tricycles.

Vendors.

Rain on the roof.

She sat up.

The room was different from Cebu.

Bigger.

Two windows.

Both with lights on from the buildings across.

The pot was in the middle.

Cold now.

White with blue flowers.

`ALWAYS MORE PIE` was not on it.

This one just had scratches.

Like 50 years of spoons.

Mara was in the kitchen corner.

Washing the 7 mugs.

There were more than 7 now.

She had bought 5 yesterday.

“From the market,” she said when she saw Ari awake.

“Morning. Tea?”

Ari nodded.

Lian was already up.

On her phone.

“City Hall posted it,” she said.

“Posted what,” Ari asked.

“City Ordinance 47-B. Davao version.”

Lian turned the screen.

`NO UNREGISTERED OVERNIGHT GATHERINGS. 10PM-5AM. FINE: 10,000 PESOS.`

“Double,” Kuya Miko said from the doorway.

He had come in with bread.

Still in his jeepney driver jacket.

“Double the fine. Half the mercy.”

He set the bread down.

Pandecoco.

Still warm.

Nurse Joy came out of the bathroom.

Scrubs off.

Regular shirt.

Eyes red.

“Night shift tonight,” she said. “Hospital’s 3 blocks away.”

Tatay Berto was in the corner.

Carving something with a small knife.

Wood shavings on the floor.

No one talked about last night.

The bus.

The knock.

The van.

They didn’t have to.

Mara poured tea.

Into 6 mugs.

Hers was chipped.

“I opened this place 3 months ago,” she said.

“After I found Notebook 3.”

She looked at Ari.

“Same as you. Ukay. 50 pesos.”

Ari blinked.

“You too,”

“Me too,” Mara said.

“I thought I was crazy. Then people started coming.”

Lian took a piece of bread.

“How many,” she asked.

“On a good night? 20,” Mara said.

“On a bad night? 2.”

She smiled. “Last night was a good night.”

She meant them.

At 9am, someone knocked.

Soft.

Three times.

Everyone froze.

Mara looked at Lian.

Lian nodded.

Mara opened the door.

A girl.

School uniform.

Wet.

Holding a notebook.

Black.

`4` on the cover.

“Is this it,” the girl asked.

“Yeah,” Mara said.

“Can I come in,” the girl asked.

“Always,” Mara said.

Rule 2.

The girl came in.

Sat on the floor.

Didn’t talk.

Just held the notebook.

“Name,” Lian asked gently.

The girl shook her head.

Ari understood.

They gave her tea.

She drank it.

Burned her tongue.

Didn’t cry.

At 10am, two more came.

A man and a woman.

Couple.

Lost their jobs.

“Someone told us about the light,” the man said.

By 12pm, there were 11 people.

By 3pm, 18.

Word was spreading.

Not fast.

Like water.

At 6pm, Mara stood up.

“Okay. Rules.”

Everyone looked at her.

“Rule 1: Keep the light on.”

She pointed at the window.

It was on.

“Rule 2: If they’re here, they’re home.”

She looked at the new girl with Notebook 4.

“Rule 3: Say you’re tired.”

She yawned.

Everyone laughed.

“Rule 4: Empty is okay. Stay anyway.”

She showed the pot.

Half full.

“Rule 5: A name is optional. You aren’t.”

She looked at the new girl again.

“Rule 6: The city will find you. Let it.”

She pointed out the window.

“Rule 7: The city will notice. Don’t fight it. Outrun it.”

Silence.

Then the door opened again.

No knock.

Two barangay tanod.

And a woman in a blazer.

City Hall ID.

“Inspection,” the woman said.

She had a clipboard.

The room went quiet.

18 people.

Tea.

A pot.

A sign on the door.

The woman looked at the sign.

`Door’s open. We’re tired sometimes. Come in anyway.`

She frowned.

“This is a residential unit,” she said.

“Yes,” Mara said.

“You have 18 people here.”

“Yes.”

“At 6pm. Before curfew.”

“Yes.”

“So you’re not breaking the law yet.”

“No.”

The woman wrote something.

“We’ll be back at 10:05pm.”

She looked at everyone.

“If anyone is still here, we fine you.”

She left.

The tanod followed.

The door stayed open.

For 10 minutes, no one spoke.

Then Tatay Berto stood up.

He went to the window.

Looked out.

“Still light,” he said.

Lian closed her eyes.

Ari watched her.

“What do we do,” Nurse Joy asked.

Lian opened her eyes.

“We do what we did on the bus.”

She picked up Notebook 3.

It was warm.

She opened it.

Blank.

Then:

`They’re testing you. -R`

`Don’t close. Don’t run. -R`

`Move. -R`

“Move where,” Ari asked out loud.

The ink kept writing.

`Second room. -R`

`Behind the cabinet. -R`

`I left something. -R`

Mara stood up.

“Second room,” she said.

Everyone followed.

It was a small room.

Mattress on the floor.

One window.

A cabinet.

Behind the cabinet was a gap.

In the wall.

About the size of a shoebox.

Inside:

Another pot.

Small.

And a note.

`For when they come. -R`

`Year 12.`

Mara picked it up.

It was light.

Empty.

“Now what,” Kuya Miko asked.

Lian looked at Notebook 3 again.

`9:50pm. Everyone in the second room.`

`9:55pm. Turn off the main light.`

`10:00pm. Leave the door open.`

`10:01pm. Light the small pot.`

`They’ll check the big room. It’ll be empty.`

`They’ll leave. -R`

“That’s it,” Joy said.

“That’s it,” Lian said.

They waited.

9:50pm.

18 people squeezed into the second room.

Knees to chest.

Breathing quiet.

9:55pm.

Mara turned off the main light.

The room went dark.

Except the light from the window.

From the city.

10:00pm.

Footsteps.

In the big room.

Voices.

“Hello?”

“Anyone here?”

Flashlights.

Silence.

10:01pm.

Lian struck a match.

Lit the small pot.

It was a spirit lamp.

Tiny flame.

Blue.

The flame made shadows on the wall.

18 shadows.

Holding still.

Footsteps came to the second room door.

Stopped.

Opened.

Flashlight in their faces.

The woman from City Hall.

She looked at them.

At the small flame.

At the pot.

“Gathering,” she said.

“Tea,” Mara said.

“After 10pm.”

“Tea is not a gathering,” Mara said. “It’s survival.”

The woman stared.

Wrote something on the clipboard.

Closed it.

“We’ll be back,” she said.

She left.

10:10pm.

They heard the door close.

Downstairs.

No one moved for 5 minutes.

Then Lian blew out the flame.

Turned the main light back on.

Everyone exhaled.

The new girl with Notebook 4 was crying.

Quiet.

Ari sat next to her.

Handed her tea.

Still hot.

“How did you know,” Mara asked Lian.

Lian tapped Notebook 3.

“It told me.”

“Who’s R,” Mara asked.

Lian looked at Ari.

“Someone from the first house,” Lian said.

Ari didn’t say anything.

But she felt it.

Little Ren.

Writing to them.

From 400km away.

At 11pm, people started leaving.

One by one.

Thanking Mara.

Thanking the tea.

By 12am, it was just the 5 of them.

Plus the new girl.

She fell asleep in the corner.

Notebook 4 under her head.

Mara sat with them.

“I’m scared,” she said.

“We all are,” Lian said.

“What if they come back with police,” Mara asked.

“Then we move again,” Lian said.

“But where,” Mara asked.

Lian opened Notebook 3.

New writing.

`Davao has 4 other lights. -R`

`Find them. -R`

`You’re not alone. -R`

`Map is in the box. -R`

“What box,” Mara asked.

Lian looked around.

Under the bed.

A box.

Wood.

Small.

Inside:

A map of Davao.

With 4 dots.

And addresses.

And a note.

`Bahay 3: Talomo. Nurse.`

`Bahay 4: Bajada. Student.`

`Bahay 5: Buhangin. Driver.`

`Bahay 6: Toril. Lola.`

“Four other houses,” Kuya Miko said.

“Four other lights,” Joy said.

“We’re not the only ones,” Tatay Berto said.

First time he smiled.

Ari touched the map.

Her finger landed on Talomo.

Closest.

Lian nodded.

“Tomorrow,” she said.

“We go to Talomo.”

At 2am, they finally slept.

All in the second room.

On the floor.

Door open.

Light on in the window.

At 3am, Ari woke up.

Notebook 3 was on her chest.

Hot.

She opened it.

`You did good. -R`

`I’m proud of you. -R`

`Chapter 4 is almost done. -R`

`P.S. The tea in the small pot? It never goes out. -R`

Ari looked at the small pot.

The blue flame was still there.

Tiny.

Steady.

Even though no one was watching it.

She touched it.

Warm.

Not burning.

Outside, a tricycle passed.

Then another.

Then nothing.

The city was awake.

Somewhere.

Ari closed the book.

Lay back down.

In the corner, the new girl mumbled in her sleep.

“Upo ka.”

Ari smiled.

---

*Morning. 7am.*

They packed.

Backpacks.

Notebook 3.

Notebook 4.

The small pot.

The map.

Mara locked the door.

Left the light on.

“Someone will need it,” she said.

They walked to the terminal.

Jeepney to Talomo.

On the way, Lian read from Notebook 3.

`Rule 8: Don’t sit where you can’t run.`

`Rule 9: If one door closes, open two.`

`Rule 10: The light travels faster than fear.`

Ari memorized them.

Talomo was 30 minutes away.

A small house.

Blue paint.

Light on.

A nurse opened the door.

Older.

50s.

“Been waiting,” she said.

“How,” Lian asked.

“The book,” the nurse said. “Notebook 7.”

She held it up.

`7` on the cover.

Inside: 9 people.

A pot.

Tea.

The nurse looked at them.

“You’re from Bahay 2,” she said.

“How do you know,” Ari asked.

“Because the tea tastes the same,” the nurse said.

They drank.

Talked.

Shared rules.

At 3pm, City Hall trucks passed by.

Slow.

Checking.

No one panicked.

They just moved to the second room.

Waited.

The trucks left.

That night, Bahay 3 had 22 people.

And the small pot from Bahay 2?

It was on the table in Bahay 3 now.

Blue flame still on.

---

*Later. 11pm. San Jose del Monte.*

Little Ren sat at the window.

Notebook 1 open.

He was writing.

`Chapter 4. Davao.`

`They found Bahay 3.`

`The light is splitting.`

`Good.`

He stopped.

Looked out.

His city was quiet.

But somewhere else,

another city was awake.

He picked up his pen again.

`P.S. Ari. If you’re reading this:`

`You’re not carrying the light.`

`You are the light.`

`Keep going.`

He closed the book.

---

*Back in Davao. 11:05pm.*

Ari opened Notebook 3.

New words.

Her eyes filled up.

She didn’t answer.

She just held the book to her chest.

Outside, it was raining.

Inside, 22 people were drinking tea.

The door was open.

The light was on.

And in the middle of the table,

the small pot.

Blue flame.

Never going out.

*End of Chapter 4:*

The Winter is in every city.

But so are we.

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