A piece of the past...

Tessa had gotten worse. Her cough had become more uncontrollable. Soon after, she was spitting blood. The doctors could only do so much with their financial status.

It meant more hotel visits for Dannie. She didn't know how much the men paid her mother, but she assumed, that with everything that they had done to her—with everything that she had experienced—it would have been enough to cover her sister's hospital bill.

"This is going to be the last visit," was the frequent words she'd hear from her mother. But the last one would always be followed by another.

The more her visits, the more her mother's Bingo and Mahjong friends came by.

She was already shaking with anger as her mother dragged her back to the hotel in a new dress. Tessa was lying in the hospital alone with no medicine to take. She'd have to endure this one again, she thought.

Her mother left her outside the door. The let her in.

Dannie sat on the bed, her heart beginning to hammer. Just like last week and the week before that. The man started to undress. A new feeling unraveled inside her. It started in her gut and slowly climbed higher to her throat. Before she knew it, Dannie was running for the door and the man shouted after her.

She ran as far as her feet would take her until she could not take it anymore.

She puked on the carpeted floor as the tears streamed down her face. In her head, she was crying for Tessa's forgiveness.

She couldn't take it anymore.

Dannie started running again.

PRESENT DAY

Okay, so I said I was CARnapped, right?

Yes, I was!

After all the mileage, after all the love and care and after all the repainting and overhauling, they decided to CARNAP me? At this stage of my vehicular life?!

Come on, right?

Who would want to bargain for me?!

Well, it turned out there were a few people would wanted me back and I only learned about it hours after my mysterious disappearance.

How did it happen?

Simple.

I was waiting for Jordan and Georgie to finish off their shift at the Red Cross HQ. I was having a nice talk with Dee, the ambulance friend of mine, when suddenly the couple ran out with two more crew members for a run. They had an emergency call.

So I said goodbye to Dee, telling her to keep the couple safe, most preferably Jordan since I was sure Georgie could take care of herself.

And I was left alone. Again. Naturally.

I was doing some mental yoga in my mind so I would not think about Dannie baby and her problems. I was also stressed and a stressed car was not good for itself or its passengers. I had to keep my engines cool and relaxed and calm.

Until I had to panic and shout at the top of my gas tank.

See, I saw a very familiar figure walk toward me. I was used to seeing him, but not at the HQ. At first I thought he was there to visit Georgie since they sort of, well, had a history though they were now good friends.

But no. He was walking toward me. And—take note—he was alone.

Jam, where's Nomad? I asked after his motorbike.

Of course, the human did not hear me. He just looked at me with weary in his eyes, his steps hesitant.

He looked around a few times and when he was sure there was no one around, he closed the distance between us. And took out a set of keys.

They looked familiar.

Do you have copies of my keys?! Of course, I had to shout the question. There were only three copies of existence as far as I know: Jackie's, Dannie's and Georgie's.

And as far as I could see by the look of the orange cat keychain, Jam was holding Jackie's copies.

My engines started to hammer against my metallic hood.

Hey, Jam, what are you doing?

He inserted on key to work on my door and quickly climbed inside me. And then he took the other key and started my ignition.

Woah! Hey, stop right there, buddy! Where do you think you're taking me?!

But he was not hearing me. He drove me out of the HQ parking lot!

CARNAP! CARNAP! I'm being CARNAPPED!

Jam's phone started ringing and he answered it.

"I got the car," he said with a nervous sigh. He nodded his head. "Yeah, I know the place. I think we've been there once a few months ago. Yeah. Sure. Does Troy know I'll be taking it there?"

Who are you talking to? Is it Dean? I could hear Dean's voice from the other line!

Jam listened as Dean talked and said, "Sure. No problem. Everything for the groom and bride. But you think the boys will like this?" He listened some more and nodded. "Okay. Gotcha. No one will see Toto's shadow until the wedding is over."

WHAT?! WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY YOU FREAKING...FREAKING...STUPID...UGH! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY?!

He threw his phone to the passenger seat and drove me out of Lacson Street.

Jam, I promise you...you will regret this.

I can't believe I was on your ship one year ago. I was ready to die for you to be with Georgie and now this?! And now you're conspiring with the groom and his friends? Why? What did I do wrong?

He did not answer me. Instead, he said, "Hmm...now I see why the boys love you, Toto. You're actually in a very good shape. And you're quite comfortable."

You get your ass off my seat, you sucker! I hate you—all of you! Wait 'til the boys know about this. YOU JUST FREAKING WAIT!

*****

Dannie couldn't understand the feeling of relief she felt when she saw Troy and the couple coming her way. The couple seemed happy and contented with their activity at other resort. Troy, though, looked tired with all his gears hanging around him. His hands were full and Dannie immediately went to help carry the tripod.

"You're just in time for the sunset," she told Fretzel.

The girl jumped with excitement and pulled her fiancé away to change clothes.

"I think the white will look better!" Troy called after them with a smile.

"How was the shoot?"

"Fun. That lady is crazy. She almost fell off the water trying to make a parody of the Titanic at the end of the boat. Good thing one of them has sense."

Dannie chuckled. "Have you eaten?"

Troy leaned away from her and looked her up and down.

"What?"

"Please don't take care of me too much. I might cling on to you for dear life once you leave." He laughed when she made a motion of slapping his arm. "Let's go to the top," suggested. "I need to set these up before the couple arrives."

"I've already been there," she said but walked with him to the other islet anyway. "The view is fantastic."

"Watch out for later," Troy said with excitement.

Dannie realized what he meant when the sun started to set. The color of the sky mirrored on the still waters, creating a fusion of colors that made it difficult for her to distinguish which was which if not for the faint horizon in the distance.

The couple was fun to work with, wearing their own personalities in the shoot. They were both dressed in white, their expressions free of any worries, their happiness evident in the way they stared and laughed at each other.

Troy was not having a hard time at all. Dannie could actually see that he was having fun with the couple as well despite the lack of hand to help them. It was a very carefree photo shoot, one without all the drama of formality and staged acting. Troy suggested some angles and poses the couple could use, but most of the time, Dannie thought he was riding with the couple's mood, taking as many candid shots as he could. He liked capturing motions as well and Fretzel enjoyed it, energetic that she was.

When they finally wrapped up the shoot, Troy turned to Dannie and said, "Ready to go home?"

The couple tried to make them stay just in time for dinner, but it seemed that Troy was in a hurry and Dannie wondered why.

"I just have to take care of something back in Bacolod," he replied when she asked.

They said goodbye to Fretzel and Oozie and went back home to Bacolod.

Dannie wasn't sure she was ready to go home yet. She was not sure why either. Maybe because they were too short with time unlike in Siquijor. She barely had time to talk with Troy and enjoy the place.

She mentally reminded herself that they were there for his job, not a vacation. They had already had Siquijor and they just spoiled the opportunity there. She was sorry to go back home but she did not share the feeling with Troy. He'd only either make fun of her or get sentimental again which would start another stressful conversation though she had a feeling he was trying to give her more space.

His phone kept ringing while they were driving but he did not answer any of the calls.

"It's Jordan," Dannie said when she could no longer take the noise and peered at his phone sitting on his dashboard.

"Don't mind it."

"I'll answer it because it's getting too noisy." She grabbed the phone and took it to her ear.

"Why haven't you been answering our calls?" Jordan asked before Dannie could even say hello. "By the way, Jam's on his way. I hope you don't mind."

Dannie's brows formed a line. "Jordan, this is Dannie. Troy can't talk right now. He's driving."

She saw Troy gulp nervously but he kept his eyes on the road.

"Oh. Well, tell him—don't worry about it. It can wait. I'll call later," Jordan said and then hung up.

"That's odd," Dannie commented, setting Troy's phone back on the dashboard.

"What's odd?"

"He said something about Jam being on his way and—" Dannie stopped when she heard Troy cuss under his breath. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just...it's just about our clan. You know, the game?" His eyes did not leave the road as he spoke. She saw his jaw tighten. He gulped one more time.

"You're lying. Or maybe you're hiding something. What is it?"

"Nothing. It's about the wedding."

"And?"

"Nothing," he said with a dry chuckle. "Don't think too much about it. It's just between us guys."

"I don't believe you, Troy."

"Well, don't ask if you know I'll only be lying to you. I have an honor to keep among my friends."

"We are friends."

His blinked a few times and raised his shoulders. "Well, we're really not friends if you know what I mean. We have a complicated friendship. Just don't ask more questions and let me drive."

"I better call—never mind. Jackie's calling already," she said as her phone started ringing too. Deep inside she knew that whatever Troy was hiding had something to do with her friends. "Jackie, what's up? We're on our way home."

"Toto's gone! He's gone!"

Dannie straightened in her seat and she saw Troy did the same, flicking his eyes toward her for a second before focusing back on the road. "Toto's gone?" she asked, her eyes on Troy. His did another gulp at the mention of Toto.

"They took him!"

"They?" Again, another gulp. Dannie's lips pursed.

"The guys. I don't know who really did it, but George and Jordan just found out Toto's gone earlier and no one is saying anything! We know it's them!"

"Who are they?" Her eyes never left Troy and she saw him swallow big this time.

"The guys. Dean. Jordan. Troy. I don't know who else. Maybe Lee and Miguel are in on it as well."

"Why the hell would they take Toto?"

"Well, he's going to be the—"

"Bridal car," Dannie finished. "I'll try to ask Troy if he knows something," she said with all intention of making Troy understand what she intended to do.

"You better because I am about to crack an opening to hell right through where I am standing on right now," Jackie uttered with a shaking voice.

Dannie hung up before she found out what George was up to at the moment.

She let the silence and the tension settle until Troy was obvious uncomfortable behind the wheel. And when she thought it was time, she cleared her throat and opened her mouth to speak.

"I really didn't have any idea at first, okay?" Troy blurted out before a word escaped her mouth.

She raised her eyebrows. "You guys stole Toto." There was no need end that statement with a question mark.

"Correction, Danica: I did not take any part in the planning whatsoever. I just got a call from Dean earlier that they had taken Toto and that they are taking him to somewhere."

"Who took him? Jam? Jordan just said so a while ago."

"Yes."

"I can't believe that guy took part in this." She took a breath to calm herself. It was not time to put a lot of pressure on Troy since he was driving and it was already getting dark. "Where did he take Toto?" Troy was about to open his mouth but she stopped him by saying, "And I know you're about to lie that you don't know, but I know that you do so better tell me the truth now, Brady."

He closed his mouth and shook his head. "I'll tell you when we get back."

"Now, Troy."

"The farm. Our farm."

"Out of town?! He went that far?" she cried in disbelief.

"Well, the groom is quite desperate to NOT have Toto as the bridal car."

"Toto is our car. He's been with us for a long time, of course we want him to be the bridal car! He was the one who chased after Jackie when that sick bastard, Brian, took her! And he's been the one George takes with her whenever she had been having troubles! Toto knows a lot of George's hiding place than Jackie and I do! And Toto has been taking me to church for the years we've had him. We drive him everywhere we go, whatever occasion in our lives. You can't just take him away from us!"

Troy drove Tata to the side of the street and stopped. "Okay, calm down," he said in a low voice. "I'm sorry, okay? We understand that you boys are attached to the car but the groom—"

"Here's something I want to tell you right now, Troy. As far as I know, the bride will cancel the damn wedding if you don't bring Toto back right now."

Shock registered on Troy's face.

"What?" Dannie shot at him.

"You just cursed."

For a moment she was startled. "What? Of course I would! Bring Toto back now."

"Jam's already on his way to the farm, Danica," Troy said.

Dannie thought for a while, gauging the situation. "We can't go straight home because there will be a very angry bride when we get there."

"I agree."

"So you have to drive us to your family's farm so I can take Toto back to Bacolod."

Troy looked at his watch. "That's another four-hour drive, Danica. It will be night time by the time we get back."

"I don't care. I'm calling the bride right and let her know that I'm going to rescue our car before she does something to the groom. And you tell your friend he better stay where he is until Toto's back."

Troy started to drive again, his shoulder dropping in defeat as Dannie made the call.

*****

Jam left me to a familiar place.

BASTARD! I'll kill you! I'll run over you again and again until my tires burn out! I promise you that!

Naturally, he didn't hear me and continued to walk to Nomad already parked a few meters away. So they had really planned this one. Great.

Does Brady know? Huh? Does he? Because I'll forever curse him to his doom if he does! I cried after Jam as he sped off with Nomad who rumbled for forgiveness for his owner and then they were gone, leaving me alone in the cold night of Troy's family's farm.

It was too dark and I was getting scared. Not of monsters, but of my own thoughts. Being in a place that offered little distractions tend to give me a very emotional and sentimental feeling. I didn't like it one bit.

Someone better come and rescue me before I drowned myself in self-pity!

That night, I was so angry I didn't realize that the day after that would be something of a revelation not only for me but my rescuer. It might have been a very horrible day, but what followed was something promising.