Chapter 6: Moonstone Gem

I woke up the next day with major incoherence in my thoughts. As if I was dreaming last night, too much dubious information to digest. Witches? Witch hunters? The Keepers and the Coven? I did not know what to believe. I was an ordinary kid that gets bullied at school and my life was not special beyond mundane.

I rubbed my eyes, yawn and glanced outside my window. Sun rays invaded the room, illuminated through my window. I suddenly remembered the case that my dad had given me. It was held by my study table, just sat there inviting me. I hauled myself from my bed and opened the case. I confirmed with my own eyes about my dad’s gift. The case still held the Moonstone pendant and the dagger.

It gave me shivers in my blood, maybe it was excitement or the horrors that these witches were capable of, I am not sure. I feigned to be normal just like any other day but I held the pendant in my hands and the moonstone glared against the sunlight. It was beautiful. It seemed to shift its color from dark to light blue depending on the refractions made by the sun's rays.

I took a bath, had my breakfast and wore my Moonstone Pendant to school. I was dubious about the pendant’s power but I thought wearing it would not give me harm. I slipped the necklace under my uniform.

It was an ordinary day and the routine started, walking towards school, weaving through people along the path walk and crossing through streets evading moving cars. The road was just heaved with people waiting for the bus uncomfortably enduring the morning scorch that the sun provides.

I smiled at the thought of seeing her again - Maria Cruz.

I was still sitting at the back of the room, it was our Engineering Materials class and Maria sitting as usual in front. It was my fourth subject of the day. My friend, Carla, distracted me as I was listening to our teacher’s lecture about the Atomic and Crystal structures of materials. She rarely listened attentively to the lectures of teachers thus she resorted to spend her boredome with distracting small talks that she forced to engaged with me. She sometimes annoyed, but sometimes I opted to respond to her well. 

“Hey, what’s up?” She whispered slightly smacking my arm. She veered to her left, facing me and her head leaning close to my ear. Her face plastered with disregard about our teacher and the lessons. Oftentimes, teachers dared not to ask Carla for her to participate in class or it might lead to excruciating, sometimes embarassing in the part of the teacher, intellectual exchange. Carla liked to debate and she was always prepared.

“Just nothing. Same old routine, I guess.” I responded almost without emotion.

“Sir Williams always bore me to death.” She complained. Almost all teachers bore her. She thought of listening to lectures was a slow process of learning. She climbed her way through her years in college by self-study and research. She sometimes challenged the teacher’s capabilities on their respective subjects. She was the kind of student that teachers loved the least. She asked intelligent questions and sometimes her arguments were advance, way beyond the current subject matter.

“You are always bored, Carla. It still bugs me that you still pass.” She rarely listens to any class but still managed to pass with above-average grades.

“Well, not if I talk to you.” She said with flirtatious intent.

I chuckled and chose not to answer. She always hovered me whenever she’s bored and distracted me always with what I am doing. She was a happy-go-lucky gal and many confident boys had a crush on her because of her nonchalant confidence in everything she does.

“How about we get some burgers after classes, my treat. Burger Joint just announced a limited buy-one-take-one offer until the end of the month. What do you say?” She smiled teasingly.

“I think I am going to pass with your offer. But you can try Bert.” I suggested.

“Bert’s no fun without you.” She pondered.

“I have a thing with my dad tonight.” I wanted to go with her, she was fun to be with, but I made a promise to my dad. I want to keep my promise just for my mum. And the thing about witches gave me interest.

“That’s unfortunate. Well, I understand Luke. You better spend time with your father.” Her lips pouted. I have told her about my dad earlier that day, and it made her sad knowing that our free time together after school will be lessened for I will be spending time with my dad instead.

“Yeah, thanks for the offer by the way.”

“You better be telling the truth or not some made-up reasons just to evade me. Else, I will kick your ass, literally.” She grumbled.

“Yeah, maybe some other time. How about this weekend?” I assured her.

She smirked but she knew that there was a high probability that it would not happen.

She was persistent since the day I met her. I did not know if she liked me but from the way I assessed and her smile towards me, gave me the expression that she was. But I did not want to take advantage of her feelings, my eyes and heart were fixed for Maria.

Many boys were jealous of me because Carla and I were close. Carla had a way to make herself mysterious around boys. It made her admirable and with the added above-average beauty. Moreover, her cuteness that went along with her behavior would make the asiring boys drool for her. For some vague reason, Carla enjoyed our company rather than with the popular and cool students in school.

She had many suitors but all the time, she intimidated them with hardcore intelligence that average students had a hard time keeping up. Carla used this technique just to fend off suitors. In my perspective, I thought that she liked me and Bert as her company because we could keep up with her intelligence, and all the time I negated her flings, probably imposed to her as a challenge.

Carla ceased talking to me, she rolled her eyes and slumped her shoulders. She was disappointed, swallowing her transient chagrin.

I shifted my gaze to Maria sitting in front, listening to the teacher’s babble about different components and types of materials. Maria was always attentive at school but seemed to struggle with most of her grades. Her friends might distract her with her study.

Mr. Williams wrote so many things on the board. He liked to write as a sort of keeping his momentum in his lectures and the best way to remember what you have taught to your students. Mr. Williams was a predictable teacher, his type of examinations, the way he picked students to answer his questions, and even the pace he had with his lectures.

Suddenly, the room burst into laughter as the chalk bizarrely exploded into the eyes of Mr. Williams as he was writing on the blackboard. It was an amusing scene the way Mr. Williams reacted to the incident.

The moment it happened, I sensed something different. I hardly could not understand that feeling but I saw seemingly fleeting translucent hues appeared alternately in my vision. It was beyond interpretation and science. It was like faint smoke consisted of fine lines of different colors that seemed to float in the air, dancing around overhead. I surveyed my classmates but they did not seem to notice.

It boils my blood like there was something that needed to be done. It tensed my body and perspiration started to seep out my forehead. Moreover, a tingling feeling felt in my nape and spine. Goosebumps crept all over my body. I identified hunger to be one of the various feelings but it was not the need to feed but something more dubious. The immensity of the feeling was new and indescribable. It was overwhelming at that moment. I did not understand why or what, seemed someone or something has urged me to do something about my apparent hallucination. I veered to Carla but she was amused with Mr. Williams rubbing her eyes trying to get the chalk out and the same with other students.

I poked Carla and asked, “Did you notice something?”

She gave me a look of uncertainty for that question. She shook her head and quickly shifted her view to the struggling teacher in front.

The fine hues danced around the room seemed to gradually vanished and my feeling has gradually normalized. The internal boiling seemed to have disappeared and my hallucinations subsided. I panted instantly, relieved with the strange feeling as it escaped my body. Everything was normal, and all of my classmates were oblivious of the things I saw. Mr. Williams managed to take the chalk out from his eyes as he fluttered them and continued with his lecture.

All of my classmates were amused with the incident but except me. It was suddenly back to normal and perturbed with what happened. I suddenly remembered my neckalce and the pendant that lay beneath my uniform. 'Is this the power of the necklace? Would this mean that somebody in this room used witchcraft?'