Seven Of Us

Back in 2011, five of my colleagues and I went to Vigan, Ilocos Sur for a 2-day tour. Our bus arrived around 7 in the evening, and we checked in at an old Hotel (Grandpa's Inn) where all of us stayed in the same room. We rest for a bit, unpacked our things, freshen up and then headed out looking for a place to have dinner. While we're walking, I began having this feeling that we have a company. I sense another presence among us. My mind keeps giving me a hint or most likely implying that there are seven of us in the group instead of six. I choose to ignore it thinking it was just my imagination running wild.

We found a restaurant (Café Leona) and decided to eat on the patio. We already have enough chairs for ourselves when one of my friends (Farrah) requested for another one. I thought she needed it to put her stuff on while she eats. The waiter brought her a chair, but she hasn't put anything. I then decided to put her bag on the chair when she quickly stop me and said ''don't! It's for...'' then halted and didn't even finish what she was trying to say. She stared at everyone with this wondering expression on her face and said ''never mind''. Shortly after we eat, we took a stroll and went back at the inn around 10 in the evening.

We all washed up and went to bed. It was almost 11 in the evening when we heard one of our friends' (Ceasar) phone received a message along with the message tone ''may nagmamahal'' (someone who loves). I guess he's awfully tired, he didn't even bother to read it. Some of us awakened from our sleep when we heard it again. I looked at my watch and found that it's already 2 in the morning. It made me wonder who could have been sending him these messages at that hour. He still didn't bother to pick it up, but then after a few minutes, we heard the same tone again. That time, I saw him stand up, grabbed his phone, read the message and then went outside. I followed and saw him having a smoke, I light up a cigarette myself.

I began asking him from whom the message was. He answered that it's from his daughter but the strangest thing is, there are no other messages except the one he got around 11 pm. I told him not to kid around as it isn't funny. I looked at him and notice that he's serious. We've talked for a bit and both of soon realized that the last two message tones we heard appear to be coming from the walls, and it was much louder than the one coming from his phone. Now here's the thing, the walls are thick so there's no way it could have come from the other rooms. And that particular tone is a recorded voice of his daughter, which makes it very unlikely that someone else could have had the same. We put it aside for the meantime and headed back to our room.

The following day, we had our breakfast then proceed to a nearby church bell tower to take a few photos. On our way out, we saw an ice cream cart and each of us got one for ourselves. My friend being so generous told us that it will be his treat and decided to pay the bill. When the ice cream guy asked him how many people will he be paying for, he replied ''seven''. I reminded him that there are only six of us. The others made a remark that they too felt the same thing right after we checked in at the hotel. We started staring at each other in disbelief.

During the tour, I've also seen a ghost of a headless priest in one of the museums that we visited. I wouldn't be surprised since it used to be the house of Father Jose Burgos. He died on a garrote after being accused of treason by the Spanish authorities back in 1872. When I told the guide about it, he said it wasn't the first time since there are other people who also witnessed the same thing on that same spot a few number of times.

FYI, Vigan is one of the few remaining 16th-century towns in the Philippines. It has many Spanish period haciendas and mansions. They are intact and well-preserved that UNESCO deemed it a World Heritage Site.