There she was. Sat on a bench alone under an oak tree. There were three or four students loitered in Freedom park, most of the students must have gone home. A lot of oak trees were planted in this park that gave comforting shade to the students. Birds chirped transferring from one tree to another. Some of the trees were planted for almost a hundred years now. Orange clouds now appeared in the sky and the grayness of the area was illuminated faintly with the lamp posts. Maria was busy with her phone as she waits for Lance and his friends. I was looking at her from afar, wondering how to approach her. I have calculated numerous complicated problems in school but this one was the hardest to calculate. I could not easily anticipate how Maria would respond to my approach. Maybe a simple ‘Hi’ would do? Or asking ‘How was your day?’ I was embarrassed by the thought that she would instantly reject me right before I spoke a second sentence. I asked Carla for assistance to acc

This was my second encounter with her. Maria was much more pretty with her natural beauty. I hesitated to talk first, I became conscious all of a sudden, and her presence overwhelmed me. My conscious mind stopped functioning, as it surrendered itself and relied fully on what my eyes had conceived. Just watching her as she ran her finger at the back of her ear, and her eyes wide staring directly and I felt like melting. My tongue rolled as I tried to say hi. But I held it and did not utter anything before I embarrassed myself. She stood near me and the shadow of the tree made us almost unseen by people from afar, from her parents.“I am glad you came. I can’t think straight too of what happened this afternoon.” Her voice was soft and friendly. It made me sighed and gave me the will to respond to her. Fear that crept in me suddenly vanished, what remained was my heart pounding fast.“Yeah. Me too. I just want to understand what happened.” I

This could be a trap, Maria might have reported me asking about the two teachers’ deaths. They might use their magic on me and kill me too, defenseless and stupid. I must be cautious and trust no one other than my friends, Carla and Bert. He may be a warlock, sanctioned to kill me, from discovering Maria’s powers and the Coven. On the other hand, he said about the Keepers, he might know that my father was member of a secret organization. From this, I must tread carefully.“If you are a member of the Keepers, what is your proof?” I asked cautiously. He sighed and with a hint of approval in his expression. “That is good. You must not trust strangers, witches are cunning and deceptive. Here,” He said while he took out his Moonstar pendant beneath his uniform. We have the same pendant and it must not be fake. The intricacy of its design was difficult to imitate. The moonstone was real as it gleams varia

Collins fetched me at school and we drove towards a place outside the city. With us was Edward, who sat on the front seat. The place called Busay, a local ancient language that meant a ‘river’, was located on the outskirts of the City of Cebu. The place started on a foot of a large mountain and into its depths. The car’s engine challenged the steepness of the asphalt road as it wounds itself along a two-way narrow road. A few residential houses situated the place as was heaved with trees beyond the pavement.I felt the pressure rose on my ears and slight fog caressed our car as moisture grew from the car’s windows. The night sky blanketed the place and faintly lit the road with street lights. The moon and the stars beautifully stagnated themselves through black theatric space.It astonished me as I peeked through my window. My mind was troubled about the Keeper’s move tomorrow. I tried to ask Edward about the details but he insisted that s

The soft breeze grew colder each minute and my heart was continuously beating hard as I perched on top of a two-story building across the basketball court parking lot. A vast portion of the school’s campus could be seen from my vantage point. Cold sweat streamed my forehead. I waited ten minutes before 7 pm, the longest ten minutes of my life. Last night, my father gave me a piece of quick advice when the worst comes, to kill is the best option. He said these words, “You have to protect yourself, son. These witches are very deceptive and could kill you instantly without you knowing. Even though you have the Moonstone pendant, they could not use magic directly on you, but they will use any object with their magic and hurt you. Just keep your distance, run if needed, when an opportunity presents itself, stab him in the gut using your dagger. The witch will die instantly.” Words did not soothe my feeling, it worsened the idea of me killing a witch. When the day comes if