CHAPTER XXIII

ISANG linggo na rin simula nang maging independent siya. It was Saturday kaya naglaba muna siya ng mga damit bago umuwi sa mansion. Well, she promised to spend her weekend at their house and she doesn't want her father to find reasons that could brought her back to the mansion.

Nagsasampay na siyang mga damit at pantalon nang mapansin niyang may papel sa bulsa ng pantalon niya. Agad niya itong kinapa at nangunot noo nang mabasa ang halos napupunit nang papel dahil sa tubig.

Page 475 and page 520

Ah! It was the paper the Professor gave her. Halos nakalimutan na niya ang tungkol do'n. Ni hindi niya maalala kung saan niya huling nilagay ang libro. Basta sigurado siyang hindi niya iyon dinala rito sa bago niyang tirahan.

Bago mag-tanghali ay bumiyahe siya papuntang mansion ng mga Felices. She drive her car rather than commuting because she plans on bringing her other stuffs when she gets back. May mga naiwan pa siyang damit at mga sapatos sa dati niyang silid at gusto na iyong dalhin.

Nang makarating sa mansion ay agad siyang sinalubong ng kapatid na halatang kanina pa inaasahan ang pagdating niya. Karga nito si baby Euki.

"Baby Euki! Na-miss mo ba si tita Ara?" nakangiti niyang sabi nang makalapit.

The little girl's reply was giggle that made her smile.

"Well, your brother misses you, too. And really hopes that you come home permanently," Mason said that made her sigh.

"Kuya. 'Di ba napag-usapan na natin 'to?"

"I know, I know. Nagbibiro lang ang kapatid mo," sabi nito 'saka ngumiti. "So how was your week so far?"

"Okay naman, Kuya. I really felt so mature. Kanina lang bago ako umalis naglaba na ako. I did all the chores, and I cook a very nice meal for myself."

"That's good to hear. Pero siguro hindi ka naman masyadong nagpapagabi, ano?"

"Hindi," mabilis niyang sagot.

There is no way in hell that she would tell him that she went on a bar last Monday.

"Halika na sa loob. Nagluto si Lola ng paborito mong ulam,"

"Ginataang kalabasa with Alimango?" she said excitedly.

"At prinitong sinaing na galunggong,"

Pakiramdam niya ay bigla siyang nagutom. Na para bang hindi sapat ang agahan na kinain niya kanina.

Pumasok siya sa loob kasabay ang kapatid at pamangkin. Naabutan niya ang kaniyang Lola na naglalagay ng plato sa lamesa. Mabilis na lumapad ang ngiti ng matanda nang makita siya.

"Apo, 'buti at dumating ka na. Susunduin ka na sana ni Mason kanina," nakangiti nitong sabi.

"Uuwi naman po ako. Inuna ko lang po kasi ang labahan sa bahay," sabi niya nang makalapit sabay na nagmano.

"Mabuti na rin na magsarili ka na, Apo, para matuto ka sa mga gawaing bahay. Mas magiging independent ka kung mag-isa ka lang,"

"Kaya nga po," she agreed grinning at her borther who obviously does not share same sentiments with their grandmother.

Tanghali at sabay-sabay silang kumain ng kumpleto. Ara was animatedly sharing her first week of experience being alone as her mother, auntie, and grandmother were sharing tips for her when in comes to household hacks.

She's even delighted that her father, somehow, is joining the conversation without any disapproval of her living away from the family. He even volunteered on giving her vegetables and fruits from the farm.

It was siesta time when Mason asked her to take care of Euki because he was needed at the farm.

Pinahiga niya sa kama ni si Euki at pinalibutan ito ng unan para hindi mahulog sa sahig. Hindi nagtagal ay nakatulog ang bata kaya agad niyang kinuha ang libro sa ilalim ng kama niya. Kanina pa niya ito gustong-gustong buksan at basahin.

Page 475 and page 520

She remembered. Agad niyang binuksan ang libro at hinanap ang pahina. Agad siyang napakunot-noo dahil nawawala ang pahina 475 at 476. The book's page is back to back kaya ang sunod ng 474 ay 477 na. She doesn't understand much dahil hindi niya maintindihan ang lenggwahe. Nakalimutan niyang dalhin ang special glass na binigay sa kaniya ni Professor Evangelista

She keeps on flipping the page until she finds an English language.

Page 489 of 621.

Demon lives among us even before mankind was born.

She skim through the other pages to look for other English words when an italic word caught her attention.

Incubus.

Her heart skipped a beat. There are other readable words besides incubus. Agad niyang kinuha ang laptop sa bag para mag search sa google. She has a strong feeling that the word she found could at least answer some of her questions about her dreams.

Maraming lumabas nang i-search niya ang salita. May rock band, may mga movie, libro, at kung ano-anung kuwento tungkol sa Incubus.

She keeps on browsing until she saw a website. She immediately opened it and was directed to a site—very dark site. It was as if she was browsing a satanic website. She scrolled down a little more when she finally found a worthy article.

The Incubus who lies upon sleeping women.

[Posted on August 14, 2003 by Aurelia Harrington]

"A lady in Connecticut got pregnant and claims she hasn't had sexual intercourse for the past six months because her boyfriend is three-thousand miles away from her because of work. One of the villagers said that Caren (not her real name) is the most kind and sweetest person she knew so it's a question that the lady was unfaithful to her boyfriend.

Caren seek help from medical experts but they couldn't explain her situation. Meanwhile, her religious grand-mother sought help from paranormal experts and they believed that she was a victim of an Incubus. A demon who victimized women through sexual intercourse in their dream.

Days after she gave birth to a baby girl, Caren died in her sleep with no clothes on confirming the paranormal experts hunch."

Ara clicked another article from the same site.

The victim they choose

[Posted on September 9, 2003 by Aurelia Harrington]

"Have you ever heard of a real life story of a healthy young woman died in her sleep? How about a woman who conceived a child without sexual intercourse? And a young woman who keeps dreaming of having sexual intercourse to a man she never met in person?

This scenarious who they claimed has a scientific explanation could be caused by something unexplainable. Something people tried to overlook because they are afraid...or just plain ignorant.

An Incubus. A demon. Are they harmless? Not if they are killing innocent women.

What kind of women do they victimized?

Normally, a demon uses people's weaknesses to manipulate them to do evil deeds. But an Incubus is different. They delicately choose their victim who is demure, kind-hearted, and God-fearing. It was never known as to why they choose their victim who is close to God, for other demons cannot touch those people who has faith in Him.

But what do they do to their victim?

They enter inside woman's dream to trigger or awaken their sexual needs. Everytime an Incubus do that, they are taking part of the woman's soul to collect and slowly kill them. But there are other different circumstances like impregnating a woman to produce an offspring.

Are you one of them?

[Posted on January 14, 2004 by Aurelia Harrington]

How would you know if you really became a victim of a demon Incubus? There are lots to consider. But there are basic checklist that you could see if you've become on of those victim. Because if you are...then you have to start protecting yourself.

☐ Are you having a weird dream? A sex dream perhaps?

☐ An unexplainable rushes or marks in your private area as if you had just engaged in sex.

☐ Are you always tired everytime you wake up from the sex dream?

☐ Others start noticing your sudden change of behavior.

How to Protect Yourself?

[Posted on August 20, 2004 by Aurelia Harrington]

Usually, an Incubus come when you have a strong and usually repressed, sexual desire. You may deny these feelings consciously, but if your subconscious has a longing, you may find yourself being seduced by them.

You can protect yourself from Incubus attacks by having a Psychic shield around you. Psychic shield is usually a Sigil. A Sigil could be drawn under the victim's bed or make it as a tattoo.

Ara wasn't surprised that she perfected the checklist dahil lahat nang 'yon ay tugmang-tugna sa nangyayari sa kaniya. Pero tama nga ba ang sa article? Na kaya attracted sa kaniya ang Incubus dahil mayro'n siyang tinatago na pangangailangan?

She took her phone and captured the Sigil. Muli niyang isinara ang libro at ibinalik sa ilalim ng kama niya.

***

Ara realized that somehow she has a connection to the demon Incubus who keeps visiting her from her dream. And if he doesn't visit her tonight, then she will go to him just like last time.

Base from other sites that she's read, in order for a person to enter in a different dimension through dream, she have to make her body and mind in condition. Also, if a person will keep herself away from sunlight all through out the day until 6 PM, she is vulnerable to any supernatural entities.

It was exactly 1:13 A.M when she opened her eyes. She was lying the same bed her dream has always brought her. The same room where that demon incubus has been constantly claiming her.

She was alone. Wala ang lalaki sa loob. Ginala niya ang tingin sa buong silid and she saw a parchment and feather quill at the boudoir dresser.

She drew the sigil then she fold it in her hand.

Mahigpit ang hawak niya sa papel nang lumabas siyang silid. It was as if her life depends on it.

***

"Welcome back, Chief," said Keira who has been waiting for his return.

"How many days was I gone?" he asked.

"Eight days on Earth, and almost a year underground," she answered.

Time underground is different from the time on earth. It was gloomily too slow that a day there could take forever.

"Are there any news, Keira?" he asked.

"There has been a lot of killings. But don't worry, everyone knows you're underground so those winged-men did not bother looking for us," she said.

"Good. Because I won't handle petty fights right now." He wore his black coat and changed from his human form.

"How about your plans to have an heir? Isn't that your priority?"

He stopped. For a second he thought of her. No. She has always been inside his thoughts. Isn't that why he came back early as planned because he wanted to see her?

"It could be postponed. There are things bigger than this. And I'm quite surprised you're not having a premonition about this," he said then smirked.

"W-well..." the demon seer was taken-aback. "My premonition can't be forced...you know that." She said to defend herself. To question her of when to see is like questioning her ability as a seer.

"Or you might be losing your touch, Keira," he said to piss her more but he knew better. The demon seer cannot be easily tamed.

"Oh, I might. Especially now that I didn't see this coming," she said with an evil grin on her plum rosy lips.

"What do you mean?"

"T-Thorn..."

They both turn their heads to look at the owner of the voice.

*****************

A.N: Hi guys. Pasensya na kung lagi kayong naghihintay ng update. Nabusy lang kasi. Tapos minsan, kahit may oras naman para magsulat, parang nawawalan ako ng gana. Basta pasensya na.

About this update, pasensya na rin kung maraming typo, kulang na words, or wrong grammar. I have no proper excuse but my laptop is always lagging. Lol.

Remind ko lang ulit na imbento lang lahat ng nakasulat dito ha. Hahaha wag niyo masyado dibdibin.

Thank you sa hindi pag give-up sa story ko.

X.o.x.o
Ate thy.

Ps: Stay safe and dry!