Chapter 5

Death will always follow life.

Tears and regret will always follow death

Soil is the only one who can hear those

But nothingness will always follow everything

"Do you regret it?" the little girl asked me, "nope, I don’t regret anything," I said to myself as I breathed heavily.

I put down the spear that I’m holding and begin to walk away.

As I walk through the shallow water, I begin to reminisce about the moments that led me here.

My tears start to fall like a broken faucet when I beg my parents to tell me everything, but my parents still stand their ground, and rather than telling me what I’m supposed to know, they just told me to go back to my room and warm myself.

"Warm me? How about those people who got involved in our problem? How about Dale and his father? Should I shrug my shoulder on them and do nothing?" I hysterically ask my parents.

"You don’t know nothing!" father said while pointing at me.

"Then tell us!!"

Everyone looks in the direction where the voice came from. Allysson and my two younger brothers, Henry and Helix, came toward us and placed themselves between me and my parents.

"Tell us, dad, what scares you so much that you would rather sacrifice another life than risk your own?" Allysson asks in a sarcastic tone.

Silence embraced us, not even a sound of breath. A faint smile is all I could do, a smile that says that I gave up waiting for my parents.

"Make us understand our situation; don’t feed us safe words. We know that what you are trying to protect is our family, but you are not the only one in our family," Allysson explains.

"I have nothing to tell you," my father said in a proud tone.

"Then I guess this is the end. We tried to understand, we tried everything to tell ourselves that everything is all right and normal" Allysson said while trying to stop her tears.

"You don’t know what we have been through. We can’t ask you because you always avoid the topic. Mom," Henry says while looking at my mom, "Dad, you know what hurts us the most? When we don’t even know if we are normal because no one said anything," Henry continues.

After saying his piece, we started to walk away from them. I immediately took a bath after we came into our room. I let myself drown in the bathtub, hoping the water would take away everything from me. While taking a bath, my brother Henry speaks to me through the door.

"Hey! I know you can hear me, so listen. I heard them talking while you were gone. They said something about you being in the prophecy. I’m just letting you know. "

After hearing that, I submerged myself in the bathtub.

A prophecy? Then everything that happens to me is already predetermined by others. Does it mean that whatever happened to Red and Dale was because it was already woven into their fate? Does it justify my parents' actions?

"It’s your judgment that matters."

I immediately looked up when I heard a familiar voice. The little girl is sitting on the edge of the bathtub while her hand is playing with the water on it.

"Hide like a coward or fight your destiny. It’s a matter of your choice. "

"Then tell me, where am I supposed to start?"

The little girl looked me in the eye like I already knew the answer to my question.

"I don’t get it," I said to her with a bewildered look on my face.

"Life is a matter of choice. It’s up to you whether you open or close that opportunity that knocks on your door. "

After saying those sentences, she left me again with a riddle but this time I already know the answer.

As leaves fell from the tree, the time flew by in the blink of an eye. For others, it's a long time, but for me, it's not.

I don't have much time as them. I don't have the luxury to aside my problem and let it solve itself because I have to choose and think about what are fewer consequences I have.

But here I am, still contemplating, "what a life," I said to myself as I sighed.

"Do you have time?" Eli said as she came into our room.

We stop what we do and look at her. We wait for her to continue with what she wants to say, but before she does that, she locks the door first.

"Well, first, I want to apologize for what your parents do. I know that's important to all of you, and I'm not saying you shouldn't harbor any ill feelings toward them because I get you."

She came towards us and placed herself between Ally and me, "you know, it's also hard for us not to be part of your life. We didn't see even your pictures, but I understand all of it because they want all of you to be safe," Eli said as the tears fell to her cheeks.

"Does it have a connection with Anne being prophecy?" Helix asked.

But before she answers, she gulps and sighs. "Yes, because if they know that you are alive, they will kill you, and that's why we decided to cut ties and be away from all of you."

After hearing those, my heart becomes light toward my parent as I now understand their reasons. But, my decision to unravel the secrets behind all those actions becomes hazier after hearing the word 'kill.'

Why the hell do they need to kill me? If I am the prophecy, shouldn’t they be worshipping me? No matter how I look at it, I can't comprehend it.

"So, what am I supposed to do?" I asked her.

"I won't blame you. No matter what you choose, don't ever regret your decision. Do what you want. To make your heart and mind calm," Eli said as she held my hand.

"Why are you telling this to us?" Ally asked

She smiled at her and said, "because you have the right to know it. And I don't want to see your sad faces anymore. Maybe I am weak when it comes to my grandchild."

She wiped her tears and hugged us tightly. After a second, she faced me and said, "I know what you want to do, and I will support you."

Eli stands at the center of our room and recites a spell.

Leaf and bean

sprig and shoot

with my stewardship

please take root

I wish you health

with all I plant

grow and thrive

when you hear my chant

Tall vines and flowers suddenly spring into our room and take us except Eli. She bid farewell to us after the vines and flowers took us outside the room.

No one said anything as we traversed our path to somewhere I already knew where. The vines and flowers let us go when we arrived at where I last met the girl named Chelle.

A shallow lake with oak in the middle. With nothing more to see except this enormous tree and its reflection in the lake.

"Oh! There you are," we look around to see where the voice comes from.

And I wasn't shocked to see Chelle. She molded a human-like out of the water and was ready to attack us. But before it happened, I raised my hand.

"I will open the gate. Don't need to drop any blood." I said to her as I walked toward the tree.

I don't why she wants to open this gate, but I guess I will have just to question her later.

I stand at the front of the tree and look at it. I took a deep breath before I sliced my palm and placed it on the tree. A minute passed by, but nothing happened.

"That's it?" Henry asked

"They are coming!" Chelle shouts at us and gets ready to attack.

I looked around to see what is Chelle talking about, but all I could see was the lake vibrating. I ran immediately to the shore, but before I could even reach it, Henry tumbled me into the water.

"What the fu--" I didn't finish my sentence when I saw Henry in his wolf form and an unidentified entity in his mouth.

I immediately stand up and look around us. I don't know how I should describe this. Maybe anything you could imagine from a bird having a human body, a lizard with a snake body, anything you could think is what I'm seeing right now.

"Don't stand there like a fool," Chelle said while ripping and slicing those entities.

Ally and Helix also change their form and starts to attack those things. As for me, since I could not change my form, I tried to control them as much as I could. And let them kill themselves.

But because I don't have much training using this akiham I have. Blood burst from my nose, and I also vomit some blood.

I try to hold on to my strength and consciousness. I don't want to be a damsel in distress anymore.

"I have to see the end of this tragedy," I said to myself.

My siblings and Chelle tried to kill as much as they could. And you can already see on their face that they are already exhausted. I can't blame them because we outnumbered them.

Here and now

I revoke the elemental force of Adam's ale

the fluid of infinite shapes and forms

flowing source of adaptability, emotion, and life

I seek the pure spring within

that I might drink deep of

change, relationship, nourishment, and grace

I call you forth to wash away

all that needlessly binds

Ocean and river

Ripple and rainwater

I call thee hence

Chelle shouts at the top of her lungs. The water on the lake float and becomes an ice spear and rain to our enemy.

After she recite her spell, she knelt when her strength left her, and unfortunately, there was still more enemy coming out from the tree. We tried to run to where she is when one of the enemies was about to attack her but a sound of echo stop us from doing it so.

And before we know it, Chelle's head is chopped off from her body.

"What the fuck is that!" Ally shouts

Another sound of echo surrounds us and we are all terrified of what will happen. I close my eyes and try to concentrate to locate that thing. I give all my strength to enter his mind and control it.

If I don't make it work, it will be the end of us. Where the heck you are? Come on, come out!

 "Henry! at your 12:00" I shout after gathering all my strength.

Henry ran as fast as he can but he miss it. I pick the ice spear that Chelle's mold and try one more time to control that fucking thing.

I vomit so much blood and I am losing consciousness. But I still try to hold on because I am the only one who could do it.

"You are fucking troublesome!" I said to the thing who killed Chelle when I successfully stop his movements.

I spit blood on the human-bat-like and thrust the ice spear to his neck. I thrust, again and again, the spear to his neck as a result of falling his head to the ground.

"Anne! stop it already," Arson said as she tap my shoulder.

The unidentified entities stop coming out when Arson places a spell on the tree. Arson burns the dead bodies lying on the ground including Chelle's body while my siblings turn back their human forms and start to walk away.

"Do you regret it?" the little girl asked me, "nope, I don’t regret anything," I said to myself as I breathed heavily.

I put down the spear that I’m holding and begin to walk away.