Gray

“Caw! Caw!”

A crow sounded from afar on a quiet afternoon. Some people heard it, some people did not. Those people who heard the crow stopped what they were doing and looked up, not to find the crow but out of habit to look for where the noise came from.

“Caw! Caw!”

It sounded again, and this time, more people heard it.

As if rebuking a curse, people began whispering to themselves, fear in their eyes, while they resumed their chores.

“No... Go away.”

“Bring it with you.”

“Take it with you and go away.”

“Go away... Go away...”

Those were the kind of whispers.

“Argh! Who will it be this time!?” Grumbled an unruly man, dropping a sack of potatoes against the wall.

“Hush, you! Don’t say that!” Reprimanded a fat woman, who works in the kitchen, in a low voice.

“What’s the deal? Whether you say it or not, it’s gonna happen in a few days.”

“Be careful. This is a warning. Don’t ever talk about it again, or something will happen.”

“Tsk. It always happens, like it or not! This place is cursed-!”

“HUSH!” The woman raised her voice. She said, “I’m talking about you. You get it?”

The man turned quiet. His face told the woman that he understood and that he thought he had made a huge mistake.

“Here, take this.” The woman handed the man the payment for the potatoes. She added, “Now go and pray. I hope you will be saved.”

“Y-yeah.” The man pocketed the money and went away in his wagon.

The woman sighed as she looked at the man’s back before going back inside through the back door, dragging the sack of potatoes with her.

*

“We’ve arrived!” Yelled the carter. “This is the Pasejo town.” He informed the people at the back of the wagon.

Pushing the curtains away, a woman jumped out of the wagon, followed by a man and a 12-year-old boy. “So this is Pasejo town.” The woman mumbled to herself.

“Thank you for bringing us here. Please take this.” The man handed the carter some money.

Counting the coins, the carter said, “Oh, this is a lot more. Take some back.”

The man shook his head and smiled. He told the carter that they traveled for days, and the carter deserved it.

“Well, then, thank you.” The carter was about to go when he suddenly remembered something. He turned his head and called them. “Hey! So uhm... What are you gonna do in this town?”

“We’re looking for someone. We were told we can find that person here.” The man replied.

The carter was quiet for a moment. He was looking at them one by one, and then he said, “This town is strange. Don’t stay longer than you need.”

Intrigued, the woman came closer and asked, “What’s strange?”

“I’ve heard stories circulating about this town from my travels. When I told my grandmother about it, I got scolded because we’re not supposed to say anything about ‘it’ or something will happen to us.”

“Are you... Gonna tell us something?”

The young Carter was quiet again. He was thinking about what things are safe to say.

“... That...”

“If you can’t say it, maybe you can write it?” The boy who had been silent shared an idea.

The carter was surprised. “I think you’re right. Nobody said it can’t be written.” The carter went down, grabbed a stick, and started writing. Meanwhile, the trio watched. They read each word the carter wrote. And the more they read, the more they felt a chill in their whole body from their feet to their heads as if a presence of something was there to let them know that that something knew of them stepping foot into the town.

“This...” The woman trailed off. She was unsettled.

“I feel like I shouldn’t know about this in the first place.” Said the man. He regretted reading what the carter wrote. “Now I have to watch what I say. Ugh...”

“Ignorance is bliss.” The boy mumbled.

Rubbing the back of his head, the carter smiled sheepishly. “I’m sorry. I should’ve thought about this well. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just... I only want you all to make it back safely.”

“It’s fine. I’m glad you shared this with us. But it does seem unreal, like this is just all made up to scare people off.” The man said.

“But, I wonder. Why do people still live here?” The woman asked the carter.

“Well... It isn’t easy to find a new place. And then some marry people from other towns and bring them here to live. So...” The carter trailed off. “It’s all I know. Anyway, please be safe. I’m off.”

The carter bid the trio farewell.

The moment they stepped through the entryway, they chanced upon a parade of mourners, all wearing white.

“Way to go for our first visit in Pasejo town.” Mumbled the boy as he watched the parade until they were gone in the corner.

Feeling a chill, the man shook his shoulders and said, “What luck. This is just creepy.”

*

Setting the food on the table, the waitress said, “Please enjoy,” and walked to another table to take orders.

“I’m famished. Let’s dig in first before we start looking for that guy.” The woman suggested.

It didn’t take long before they finished their meal.

“I’m going for a smoke.” The man said as he took a cig out of his pocket and stood up. He asked the waitress from before where he could smoke, and the waitress pointed him to the back.

“Aya, how are we going to find him?” The boy asked the woman.

“I dunno... In fact, we aren’t even sure if he’s in this town. What we got was just a lead that he’s here. For all we know, he could’ve gone somewhere now, or he wasn’t here in the first place.” Aya sighed and rubbed her face. It was visible that she was tired.

*

Opening the back door, the man, with a cig hanging in his mouth, stopped. Not far from him were two people, one fat woman and one man who was crying. He didn’t want to disturb what seemed to be a private moment, so he decided to make his way back slowly, but something from the man’s words made him stop.

“This is all my fault *hic* I should’ve shut my trap. I did pray, and I’m saved, but not my daughter. *hic*” The man cried.

The man by the door slowly leaned his back against the wall and left the door open ajar. He listened to their conversation quietly.

The fat woman tried to console the crying man. “This is nobody’s fault. What happened was an accident.”

“No, it’s not. The crow gave a warning. I should’ve known better. *hic*”

“Hush! I already told you. Don’t say anything about it.” The woman frowned.

“Well, I don’t care anymore. I’ve no one else. Maybe next time it’s my turn.” The man said bitterly.

“Please... They’re just the messenger. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Oh, yeah. Just the messenger of an incoming death. If that’s true, then why are people avoiding this topic like a curse? Hearing them crow means someone’s going to die, but it seems people are more afraid of dying because they speak about them.”

The woman turned silent at the man’s anger.

“So, if they’re just the messenger, it shouldn’t matter if people speak about them. Don’t you think so? To me, it looks like those fucking messengers visit every year to let us know they will take a pair, but it’s not definite who will be chosen.”

“Please... I know you’re upset, but please... Stop saying those things. You will regret it just like-” the woman stopped, remembering what happened to the man’s daughter.

“Just like before? Yeah. I did regret it, but now, I don’t care anymore. They always take a pair, so I hope it’ll be me next time. So, I’m going to talk about it as much as I can until they take me too.”

The man hiding by the door couldn’t understand what really happened, but he had a gist of the situation in town.

‘It looks like what the carter told us was true,’ he thought to himself.

*

“Jin.” Aya wasn’t expecting the man, Jin, to be back with an unlit cigarette in his mouth. “You look disturbed.”

Sitting down, Jin took his cigarette and put it back in his pocket. “This town is indeed creepy.” He said.

“Why, did something happen at the back?” Asked Aya.

The boy looked at Jin while sipping his lychee juice.

Jin blinked. He stared at Aya briefly before taking a piece of paper and a pen from his small bag. He wrote what he heard from the back, along with his own understanding. Once done, he gave it to Aya to read.

Aya took the paper and began to read.

The boy leaned closer to Aya to read as well.

After a while, the boy pulled back with his eyes wide open, forgetting his lychee juice.

Aya was also stunned. “I know the carter told us about this, but witnessing it somehow just sent another chill down my spine. This is unbelievable.”

“I know,” Jin whispered. “That’s why we need to find the Marshall and get out of here as soon as possible.”

“But we don’t know if he’s even here in this town.” Aya sighed. “We’ve been looking for him for months. The leads we had were either false information or he had already left. Ugh...” Aya dropped her head on the table in frustration.

Sipping his lychee juice, the boy spoke. “I have a feeling we will find Marshall Pierce if we stay in Pasejo town.”

Aya turned her head to face the boy; her eyebrows were furrowed. “How can you say that?” She’s asked doubtfully.

“I never had this hunch until now.”

“We should trust him. Bani’s hunch is 90% accurate.” Said Jin.

“Yeah. You’re right.” Aya agreed. She straightened her back and said, “I’m going to pay for our meals, then let’s head out and find some place to stay.”

Aya called for the bill and paid. “By the way, we're looking for a place to stay. Do you know where we can find one?” She asked the waitress.

“There are some good bed and breakfasts on 3rd street. It’s close here,” replied the waitress, and gave directions on how to get to 3rd street.

Aya thanked the waitress, and she and her companions made their way out to head to 3rd street.

*

“I call dibs on the bed.” Declared Aya as she put her bag on the bed. “Bani, you will sleep with me.”

“What about me?” Jin pointed at himself. “The bed is big enough for us.”

Aya raised a brow. She said, “There’s a sofa bed,” and went into the bathroom to refresh herself.

Bani took off his bag and put it in the shelf at the foot of the bed, then he grabbed Aya’s bag and put it beside his bag. Straightening up, he noticed Jin handing his bag out. Bani quietly took it and put it on the shelf as well.

“Agh, I’m so beat.” Jin groaned as he dropped on the sofa and took out his cigarette to light.

“Do it outside, Jin.”

Rolling his eyes, Jin stood up and went to the terrace. He closed the terrace door and sat on the stool. He lit up his cig as he looked at the shops and the people outside.

Jin watched different types of people doing their own business. He can hear some shouts from a fruit stand below, attracting more customers, the clacking of the horses’ shoes, and the wheels of carriages and wagons.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a familiar gray hair in the crowd, walking down the street. He leaned on the terrace to get a closer look.

‘That's the badge...’

“That’s the badge!”

Jin yelled as he scrambled to his feet and rushed back inside.

Bani fell asleep on the bed, and Aya was drying her hair when the terrace door burst open.

“Hey! Watch it! I don’t wanna pay for any damages!” Aya yelled.

“He’s here!” Jin exclaimed as he ran for the door.

“Who’s here?” Asked Aya, her eyes following the disappearing Jin.

“The Marshall is here!” Jin’s voice echoed in the hallway.

Because of the commotion, Bani woke up. Sitting up and rubbing his eyes, he sleepily asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Jin said the Marshall is here. He probably saw him outside.”

Bani blinked; his sleepiness disappeared in an instant.

In mutual understanding, the two of them also rushed after Jin.