Flora covered her face with her hands and cried without a care, not minding that she was still inside the dining room in front of Pablo. She felt as if her whole world had come down on her. She could not care less if the master himself entered the dining room and found her on the floor. She heard Pablo still shouting at her and even tried to pull her up to her feet by pulling her arm, but she ignored him. She did not know when Pablo finally left the dining room, she only realized that he was gone after what seemed an hour that she cried.Flora felt the dryness in her throat and her eyes felt swollen from crying. She finally got the strength to stand up, using the food cart to support herself. Then, not knowing what else to do, she pushed the cart towards the kitchen. She was still sobbing as she entered the kitchen and her face was still wet with her tears.When Flora raised her head, she realized that Rosa was looking at her. Rosa’s forehead was furrowed and her

Flora and Nadi was walking towards the staircase when she heard voices of servants who were coming up from the opposite wing. She realized that she was bound to be discovered with Nadi if she continued to walk towards the staircase. She knew that she needed to act fast before the servants get to where she and Nadi were. Then, she saw the storage room and decided to hide there. Immediately, she and Nadi ran to the storage room and she let Nadi sit behind the laundry baskets.The voices got louder as the servants went closer to the storage room. Flora opened the door a little and she saw that the servants were carrying dirty laundry. Flora panicked as she realized that the servants were going to the storage room and leave the laundry there. Without thinking she did something that she would otherwise not do.After a while, the door to the storage room opened wide. The servants stopped talking abruptly when they saw Flora inside.“Oh!” said one of the se

Flora felt the water on her face and realized that she had been crying. She wiped the tears of her cheeks with her hands and steadied herself by leaning on the bannister. She was still trembling and found it hard to forget what she had just witnessed. She saw the master glide across the floor towards her and Nadi and in her very eyes, she saw him transform into the hideous reptilian creature that she only thought existed in stories told her when she was a child. However, it was his final transformation when his face turned into that pallid face with burning eyes that made her tremble. Seeing those eyes only confirmed what she had tried to deny. The stories about the ember ghost were true and she had seen him in her very eyes. She felt dizzy and her breathing was uneven as she held on to Nadi while leaning onto the bannister. Nadi had buried her face into her mother’s body, too afraid to look after seeing the horrific images to which Dante had appeared. She hugged

Flora woke up from the sound of flapping wings and realized that they were birds that were nesting inside the cave. She immediately looked beside her and found that Nadi was holding her arm and was still asleep. The fire she had built a few hours ago had not fully extinguished and there were still live embers as well as small tongues of fire rising from the remaining firewood. Flora gently removed Nadi’s arm and looked out of the cave. It was morning and she knew that she needed to get food for Nadi and herself. She decided that she should go to the vegetable patch and pick some of the vegetables and then go fetch some water for them to drink. She intended to get as much food as she could and stay inside the cave with Nadi as much as she could.Knowing that she could not leave her daughter alone in the cave, not after what they had experienced the previous night, she gently tapped Nadi’s arm to wake her up.“Wake up, Nadi,” said Flo

The three women in white continued to beckon at Flora, calling her name repeatedly. Flora found their gaze irresistible and if not for Nadi’s presence, would have ran out of the cave and into the rain. Nadi remained a constant reminder to Flora that she must stay and protect her daughter. The three sisters continued to call at Flora repeatedly, beckoning at first and luring her away. Then, their voices became thinner and shriller as they mocked Flora by calling her name. Their voices seemed to force their way into Flora’s head, making it almost unbearable.“No!” screamed Flora at the three women in white. “You shall not have us! I know who you are! I’ve seen what you did at the mansion and you cannot lure us away from this cave!” Flora shouted at the top of her lungs, her voice echoing from within the cave and letting it be heard even with the sound of the rain.Her shouts were met with giggles as the three sisters