“Are you sure you’re not gonna come?” Amanda asked for the nth time. The group decided to go shopping and I don’t feel like going. I wanted to be alone. She sighed when she hadn’t heard a word from me. I heard the door closed. I closed my eyes and covered myself with a thick blanket. I don’t feel like doing anything. I just want to lay in my bed all day. I rolled over the edge of my bed and stayed idle for a minute. My head was heavy and my eyes were burning. My breath was hotter than usual. “Gugu, is there something you want to tell me?” I gave her my begging eyes. “I invoke my right against self-incrimination. I refuse to answer.” She brought her hand near her mouth and moved it along as if she was zipping her lips. I grabbed my towel and stopped in front of the bathroom door. I looked at my waist and hugged the towel I was holding. “Serra, are you alright?” Gugu floated in my direction. “Yes, I’m fine.” I closed the door before she could even reach me. I leaned against the
“We’re here,” Xyrus declared. The car stopped in front of a white two storey mansion. I lowered the car’s window. I saw a man standing in the garden facing the house while watering the bushes. On the second floor, a little girl and a boy were running at the terrace, and a woman peeking at the window. On the front porch, sat an old man on a racking chair. “I’ve never thought you have such a big family.” My lips stretched a smile. He’s lucky to have a beautiful family. To beget something I don’t have. “Serra...” he called in a disturbing tone and diverted my eyes to him. “Grandma lives only with a maid,” he clarified. I gulped and slowly shoot back my eyes to the house. The man in the garden has a hole on his forehead. His blood trickled down his face. The little girl and boy were standing side by side looking in our direction. I couldn’t identify them because of their burnt faces. The woman in the window wasn’t there anymore. The head of the old man on the racking chair was missin
SERRA “Grip!” A girl was running in our direction. She immediately linked her arm with his and leaned her head on his side. Seeing them together crumpled my heart and squeezed it into bits. The girl looked at me and smirked cockily. She got paper-white skin and reddish and delicate lips. She looked like a bright and lively sunflower on her yellow dress. They looked good together. “Let’s go!” She tugged the guy named Grip and turned around. My lips contorted. An axe was dug deep in her back. Her blood trickled down her dress turning the sunflower into a crimson red rose. She turned around and widened a smile at me showing her perfect white teeth. Blood oozed down her chin. Her eyes turned charcoal black and her teeth elongated into razor-sharp fangs. A demon like her was powerful enough to suppress the darkness within her. She even fooled a reaper. Her claws stretched around his neck without him knowing. “Grip!” I promptly threw a yin-yang coin and it hit her claws. The glowing yin
“Why isn’t he healing?” I looked at Grip while his wound is being sutured. My wound was sutured first before his. We were in a place for reapers specifically the infirmary. I could feel that I’ve been here before I just don’t remember when. “He’ll heal if you will,” she answered without leaving his eyes on Grip. Her name was Sham. She got wavy long hair, an oval face, fair skin, sparkling round eyes, turned-up nose, and heart-shaped lips. Her cloak was embroidered with silver. I discovered that the rank of the reapers was determined by the color of their cloak’s embroidery and it indicates the years of them being a reaper. Grip got the highest rank and he was the first-ever reaper and he was followed by Sham. I furrowed my brows at her. “What do you mean?” “The marking was complete. It’s a secret every reaper should keep. Marking someone makes a reaper vulnerable. We heal faster if directly hit but if our salvation was hit we will suffer twice the pain. We will be wounded just lik
“Grip?” I looked around and found myself lying on my bed in our room. I sat in the corner of my bed. I glanced at the digital clock and it was passed four in the afternoon. I napped the rest of the day. The bed next to me was empty and it has been empty for days. Amanda was busy these past few days and the rest of the girls too. Gugu didn’t showing up either. I don’t know what she was up to these days. “What happened?!” I was brought back to bed due to shock when Grip appeared in front of me. I tapped my chest to steady my heartbeat. I glared at him. “Are you going to kill me?” He was standing at the end of my bed while looking down at me. He slowly traveled his sight down my body before locking my eyes with his. He bit his lower lip smiling and put his fingers on his lips as if he was thinking something. “What?” I gave him my bored look. “I love the view,” he huskily whispered lip-biting. I raised a brow at him but he just smirked. He parted my legs and positioned between them
The car stopped. Mr. Garzon glanced at us and nodded once. It was our cue to go out. Beatrice went out first confidently and the girls followed. I sat next to the open door waiting until they emptied the car. A hand sticking out from the open door for me to hold. I grabbed the hand and get off the limo easily. My ears were applauded with confusing comments and the camera’s clicks as soon as I got out. I distantly put my hand in front of my face as flashes verge to blind my orbs. “She’s the shampoo rookie model right?” “The moment I saw her pictures, Sierra flashed in my mind first.” “She looked exactly like her!” “I can’t believe this!” “Miss look here please!” “Look a little bit to the side.” I tried following all their instructions and I felt like a lost deer in the city. I couldn’t fulfill all the paparazzi’s demands. They were all many to count. “Don’t mind them and just do your thing.” He let go of my hand and put on his arm instead. I glanced at him and our eyes met. Hi
“I’m Serra, not Sierra,” I corrected and looked at his hand on my wrist. He immediately let go of my hand but his eyes continued to caress my face. It was making me feel conscious. The hall was eaten by silence. “I’m sure that you’re not Sierra. If your face doesn’t age your body should. You wore your debutant gown as perfect as twenty-eight years ago,” the old lady said. The look on her was a bit the same. Only this time, there was amusement. “Where did you get that gown, child?” She reached my hand and held it right while looking at me dearly. “Did your mother happen to gift it to you? If she did, are you with her? Where is she?” he asked with words made of nothing but syllables of excitement. “Does your mother’s name happen to be Sierra?” This time they were made of pure longing. I shook my head. “I’m sorry I don’t know what you’re talking about, ma’am, governor.” I looked at the old lady first then the governor. “This gown was given to me by Amanda and I was born unfortunate. I
Jann Gregson went out of the venue so I followed him. He was heading somewhere in the mansion’s garden. I looked here and there to make sure that no one saw me. I wasn’t sure if I’m even allowed here. The guards might chase me out of the place once I get caught. I paused when he entered a hedge maze. I lifted my sight brushing it over a giant wall made of evergreen herbs. The labyrinth’s wall was about three meters tall, as tall as a single storey building or twice my height. I stepped back and forth in hesitation whether to enter the maze or not. I swallowed a mouthful lump stuck in my throat and entered the place. The alley was about a meter wide. Here and there has no difference, all green. I saw him turned right at the second intersection. I tailgated Jann so that I won’t get lost. I pursed my lips when I realized that he was walking the maze like a living on purpose. He’s a ghost he should have just passed through the vertical hedges if he’s really up to somewhere. He was like