During the journey, Alice found herself increasingly disturbed by the vision she had seen earlier—one that involved Leonora and Corazon. The ominous details haunted her thoughts, making it hard to focus. She glanced at Isabela, who was sitting in the front seat of the car, disguised as a pregnant woman, her face a mask of concentration. The tension in the vehicle was palpable, especially with the looming threat of being caught by the Japanese soldiers at the checkpoints. Lito was driving cautiously, aware of the delicate nature of their mission.Alice leaned forward slightly and spoke in a low voice, careful not to alert Lito, who might become confused by what she was about to say.“Isabela, please do me a favor,” Alice whispered.Isabela turned her head slightly to meet Alice’s gaze, her brow furrowed with concern. “Of course, what is it?” she asked quietly.“I need your help looking after Leonora,” Alice said, her voice barely audible. She refrained from calling her “Nana,” as she us
It was already dark when Alice and Pedro reached the house, the familiar structure looming ahead in the night. The quiet seemed unnerving after their long, tense journey. Pedro pushed open the door and called out, “Anyone home?”Silence greeted them. The house was empty. No Ramon nor Apolonia and definitely no Isagani showed up when they arrived.“I don’t think they’re here,” Alice said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. She looked around, the dimly lit interior of the house giving off an eerie, deserted feeling.Pedro sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well, let's find something to eat first. I’m famished.” He headed towards the kitchen with Alice trailing behind.Pedro began searching through the kitchen, instinctively moving towards the hidden supply box under the table in the corner. His hands moved quickly and efficiently, much like someone who had done this many times before. Alice watched him, admiring his calm and capable demeanor. His movements reminded her of John
Pedro awoke just before dawn, feeling the chill in the air. Alice lay snuggled in his arms, her warmth a stark contrast to the cold that seeped through the cracks of the old wooden walls. He wasn’t ready to move just yet, still tired from the days of hiding and constant travel. But they couldn't afford to linger. They needed to reach the captain’s house in the mountains if they were to have any chance of finding his father and securing help.For a moment, he simply watched Alice as she slept, her face peaceful and relaxed in slumber. Despite the exhaustion etched into her features, her beauty still stunned him. He had never seen anyone like her—she was not just beautiful in the ordinary sense, but something more, almost otherworldly. His fingers gently traced the outline of her face, brushing against her soft skin. He wondered, not for the first time, if he could somehow stay by her side forever, even though the world around them seemed determined to tear them apart.Leaning down, Ped
Before noon, Alice and Pedro finally reached the captain’s house, exhaustion hanging over them like a heavy fog. They hurriedly knocked on the door, their fists rapping against the wood urgently, but there was no answer.“It seems that there’s no one inside,” Alice said, disappointment etched on her beautiful face as she glanced at Pedro.“I’ll check,” Pedro responded, determined. He quickly walked around the house, peering through windows and searching the backyard. But it was clear—there wasn’t a soul in sight. Returning to the front porch, he found Alice still waiting, her expression now clouded with concern. He slumped onto the floor beside her.“I wonder where they are,” he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper, suddenly feeling the weight of the long journey on his shoulders.Pedro and Alice sat together on the wooden floor, a sense of hopelessness creeping into their hearts. The silence of the surroundings felt oppressive, but suddenly, out of the corner of Pedro’s eye, he
Upon entering the guerrilla camp, Alice and Pedro felt the weight of their exhaustion. The camp bustled with activity, but there was an air of somber determination. In the Captain’s tent, they found Juan, the newly appointed captain, standing over a hand-drawn map spread across the table in front of him. His eyes traced the lines of the map, but his mind seemed elsewhere.“Our condolences. I heard what happened to the Captain,” Alice said softly, her voice tinged with sorrow.Juan nodded grimly, not allowing himself to dwell on the loss of his brother. As the new captain, he needed to be strong, to lead. Mourning could wait until after they won this fight. “Thank you,” he muttered, his voice low but resolute.“What happened to the others?” Juan’s tone shifted, more focused now, as he looked between Alice and Pedro. His expression was solemn, the lines of responsibility weighing heavily on his face. They had been planning to rescue their townspeople from the Japanese, but when they arri
Second Lieutenant Ichiro Minamoto signaled his men to move forward with calculated stealth. He led a platoon of the Imperial Japanese Army, tasked with a crucial mission—scout the mountains in Quezon and Laguna to find and eliminate the guerrilla camps. Tonight, his instincts told him, they were going to succeed.Earlier that afternoon, one of his men had come running to their makeshift hideout with alarming news: three of their comrades had been captured by the guerrillas. The soldier had tracked the captors, observing from a distance as the guerrillas brought the captured soldiers deep into the mountains. The discovery of the enemy’s position was an opportunity Ichiro could not afford to miss. He rallied his squad leaders, knowing they were some of the best in stealth and night attacks."I trust them," Ichiro thought, glancing at the silent figures moving in the darkness beside him. He was confident tonight would bring victory, and the thought of it sent a thrill through his veins.
Suddenly, Roberto called out from the darkness. "Captain Terry!" His voice was sharp, cutting through the stillness of the night as figures began to emerge from the surrounding trees.Captain Terry, a hardened guerrilla leader known for his ruthlessness, stepped forward, flanked by his men. They had come running at the sound of the explosions, ready to assist. Terry’s sharp eyes immediately took in the situation—the defeated Japanese soldiers, the bodies strewn about, and the few captives still alive. His jaw clenched with grim satisfaction.“We heard the explosions and came as fast as we could,” Terry said, his voice low but firm as he approached Roberto. The firelight flickered across his face, casting deep shadows. He glanced toward Captain Juan, nodding in acknowledgment before his eyes settled on the Japanese captives.Captain Juan returned the nod. “We managed to capture their leader, Ichiro Minamoto, but he’s been tight-lipped so far.”Terry’s expression darkened as he strode t
"It’s because of love."Pedro whispered the words to himself as he stood by the stream, the sound of rushing water the only thing masking the weight of his thoughts. The blood from the Japanese officer he had killed still stained his clothes and hands, but it wasn’t the red smear that troubled him—it was the choice he had made.He had convinced himself that killing the officer had been necessary. If he hadn’t, their friends could have been captured, tortured, maybe even killed, and that would have destroyed Alice. His mind swirled with the memory of the officer’s face, his lifeless body crumpling to the ground. Pedro dipped himself into the cold stream, letting the frigid water numb his body, hoping it might numb his conscience as well.His hands scrubbed at the blood, rinsing it from his clothes, but it felt like it would never fully wash away. The water’s icy bite reminded him that, despite his feelings, the world would keep moving. He needed to keep moving too. He couldn’t afford t
Alice knew that to face Corazon, she needed to understand her enemy completely, even if that meant delving into the shadows of Corazon’s past. And so, as her friends remained close, Alice channeled her energy toward the spirit realm again—not just to search for Johnson and Leonora, but to uncover Corazon’s beginnings, the seed of darkness that had once blossomed within her.A Glimpse into Corazon’s PastIn the heart of a small village nestled between ancient trees and winding rivers, Corazon grew up as a child unlike any other. Long before she became a black witch, she was simply a girl with dark, curious eyes and a mind that wandered where others dared not go. While the other children played and laughed in the sunlit meadows, Corazon’s gaze lingered on the shadows that seemed to shift and breathe along the forest’s edge. She noticed what others ignored—the spaces between light and dark where strange things lurked, unseen yet undeniably real.One evening, as she watched a faint shadow
Alice lay awake, her mind thrumming with the image of Johnson’s ghostly form flickering before her and his haunting warning. She’s coming. The words echoed in her mind, making her feel more vulnerable and hunted than ever. Corazon was not just a shadow from her past—she was coming, and she was hungry for vengeance. But Alice wasn’t the same person Corazon had once overpowered. She had grown stronger, mastering gifts that went beyond anything she’d ever imagined.With each night, her powers sharpened further. She could feel the pulse of life in the plants outside her window, the murmur of the animals in the woods nearby, even the whispers of energy in the air. She was beginning to see that everything around her was connected, woven into an intricate web that she could touch, manipulate, and reshape. The world had become her ally, a vast and powerful force that flowed through her veins as naturally as her own blood.But as her power grew, so did her dread. The closer she got to Corazon,
In a matter of weeks, Alice had nearly perfected her skill in astral projection, slipping into the spirit realm with ease. But her triumph felt hollow; despite her dedication, she still couldn’t find any trace of Johnson or Leonora. She had poured months into honing her abilities, pushing herself beyond her limits night after night, ignoring Leonora’s advice to train gradually. The toll on her body was unmistakable, yet she persisted, consumed by the need to master her skills.One evening, Alice opened her eyes slowly, her surroundings a blur as she struggled to focus. The room was dimly lit, and as her vision cleared, she saw Pedro seated beside her bed, his face drawn with worry.“How are you feeling?” he asked softly, his gaze flickering with concern.Alice managed a weak smile, though it took almost all the energy she could muster. “I feel… drained, like everything’s been sapped out of me.” Her voice was barely a whisper, and her limbs felt heavy, as though her strength had seeped
As Alice and Pedro stood under the whispering trees and flickering lantern light, the elements pulsed around her, each with its own rhythm, calling her to push deeper. She had trained so hard, seeking a breakthrough. Tonight, she felt closer to something—some truth lying just out of reach, a glimmer of hope. Johnson, Leonora… they had to be there, somewhere just beyond the veil of her consciousness.Pedro’s eyes followed her, worry mingled with a quiet awe. “What do you need me to do?” he asked, ready for anything.Alice looked up at him, grateful for his steady presence. “Just stay here. I… I think I need to try something new.” She bit her lip, remembering what Leonora had told her once, about the power of sending one’s spirit out beyond the body. It was a risky skill, one Leonora had called astral projection, but Alice knew she had to try. If she couldn’t find her loved ones physically, maybe she could rea
Alice felt as though time had abandoned its flow, suspended in an endless haze. Since her haunting vision of Johnson and Leonora in Corazon’s mansion, silence fell over her mind's eye, as if Corazon had locked them away, hiding their presence in the shadows. That brief, final glimpse had stirred her desperation to a fever pitch, sparking a fire within her that pushed her powers to new heights.Now, her mental telepathy had reached an extraordinary peak. No longer confined to human thoughts, her mind wandered through the murmurs of animals, the whispers of trees, even the silent language of earth, wind, fire, and water. She felt each element as if it were an old friend. The animals, plants, and elements communicated with her in a language as clear as her own thoughts, weaving nature into her emotional tapestry.Yet with every new surge of strength, a faint ache gnawed at her heart—a reminder of the ones she couldn’t reach. Her bond with Johnson, her best friend and love
Alice’s pulse quickened as the dark, chilling presence crept over her, a feeling she’d come to recognize all too well. It wrapped around her like a shroud, suffocating and persistent, pressing into her mind until her senses screamed with dread. She reached out instinctively, stretching her mind toward Leonora and Johnson, but their presence was faint, as if something blocked her from connecting to them fully. The sense of wrongness was so profound that it stole her breath.In the nights that followed, the visions began again, as vivid and invasive as they’d been in the past. Alice saw Corazon's mansion, its lavish halls draped in silk and gold, filled with the muted sounds of revelry and dark promises. Flickering images came to her—Leonora, now eighteen years old, isolated in an opulent room, her pretty face pale yet steady, as though prepared for what was to come. But beneath that calm façade, a steely determination glimmered, tempered by a fea
As soon as Alice and the others stepped outside, she felt a sudden lightness, like a weight lifting from her shoulders. The dark presence that had lingered around them for days seemed to vanish, dissipating like fog in the morning sun. She reached out with her powers, searching the vast, invisible web that connected her to Leonora and Johnson, but there was nothing. It was as if the darkness had never existed.“She’s gone,” Alice muttered in disbelief, her voice a mixture of relief and frustration. She dropped to her knees, feeling a wave of helplessness. “I can’t find them, any of them—Leonora, Johnson, Corazon... It’s like they’ve disappeared.”Pedro knelt beside her, his hand resting gently on her shoulder. “We’ll find them, Alice,” he assured her, his tone soft yet firm. “You’re not alone in this.”Alice nodded, though her heart felt heavy. She allowed Pedro to help her
Alice’s vision blurred as the winds around her finally began to calm, her anguished shout echoing into the stillness. Her grief and fury had summoned a storm within her, the very elements responding to her pain, swirling around her with a force she could barely contain. Pedro, Fernando, and Odette gripped her shoulders tightly, trying to steady her. The stormy air crackled with an unearthly energy, as if the world itself were on the brink of something vast and impossible.But even as the winds died down, Alice’s heart was consumed by a single, desperate thought: I just want to know if Nana -----will be safe.The wish burned within her, fueled by an unyielding need to see a future where Leonora lived free from Corazon’s evil grasp. She felt the wish so strongly that it seemed to become a part of her, as real as the ground beneath her feet, as deep as the bond she shared with her companions."Do you feel that?" Alice asked, her voice barel
Alice’s frustration grew with every passing day, the sting of her last encounter with Corazon lingering in her mind. She had come so close to breaking Corazon’s hold over Johnson, only for the sorceress to escape, shrouding herself and Johnson within an impenetrable barrier. Desperate for answers, Alice sought out the one person she thought might understand magic’s intricate workings: Her Nana Leonora, the young girl with a natural gift for healing and an innate sense of the unseen.Leonora sat cross-legged on the floor of her her bed, her large eyes fixed on Alice with quiet understanding as she listened to her tale. Though young, Leonora had wisdom beyond her years, an intuition that Alice admired. When Alice finished describing Corazon’s spell and her failed attempt to break it, Leonora’s expression grew thoughtful.“It sounds like Corazon’s magic isn’t just dark but deeply rooted,” Leonora said softly. “Her spell is made to bind, to hold. Breaking it will take more