Corazon, the woman in black, hurriedly entered her house, her heart racing. She felt she had seen the ghost of Leonida staring at her."She's already dead; it can't be her," she muttered, pacing back and forth in her living room. "It's impossible." She shook her head slowly from left to right, trying to dispel the haunting vision that lingered in her mind.Entering the secret room in her house, she locked the door behind her. Her gaze fell on the grotesque statue of a devil-like creature at the far side of the room. She had created an altar for that statue and worshiped it every day.Lighting the black candle in front of the altar, she knelt before the statue. "My Lord, please tell me it is not her nor her ghost," she implored. "The witch is dead; I saw her body being buried." She stared quietly into the eyes of the statue, searching for some sign of reassurance.After a few minutes, she stood up and pulled out a basin filled with water from under the altar. She lit another black cand
It will be dark soon. Leonora had already woken up after a few hours of rest, feeling recharged and full of energy.“Hey, Leonora, I’m your mama’s best friend from when we were young. I will bring you to my home.”“I know you; I saw your pictures with my mama. Please call me Orang; that’s what everyone in this house calls me,” Leonora replied to Isabela.“Oh, okay! I’ll call you Orang from now on,” Isabela smiled at the child.“I also know your parents because my mama always brought me with her whenever we visited your house while you were gone,” Leonora smiled back.“Then there will be no introductions needed when we get home.” Isabela felt happy knowing that her best friend often visited her parents, easing their worries.“My mama always tells your parents that you will be coming back, but your brother can’t go home anymore. Your mama cried a lot when my mama told her that,” Leonora said, her eyes sad.Alice noticed that Leonora sounded mature, feeling like she was more grown-up than
Isabela stopped running, her chest heaving as she reached the gate of her home. Her legs trembled with exhaustion, but her urgency kept her upright. She knocked furiously, her knuckles raw from the frantic pounding.Within seconds, the door creaked open, revealing Diego, her father, his face a mixture of hope and fear. His eyes widened when he saw her.“Isabela!” he exclaimed, pulling her inside with a rough, desperate grip. His hands trembled as he held her, as though afraid she would disappear if he let go. But then his gaze shifted beyond her, and he froze.“Leonora?” He blinked, confusion etched into his face, as he realized Isabela was not alone. Leonora, the young girl clinging to her hand, looked up, her tear-streaked face pale with shock.Diego immediately shut the door behind them, locking it hastily before turning back to his daughter. He enveloped Isabela in a fierce embrace. "Thank God you're home!" he whispered, his voice cracking as tears brimmed in his eyes."Father!" Is
As dawn's first light barely kissed the horizon, Corazon’s lips curled into a grim smile. She had planned this moment meticulously. Today, she would find Leonora. Today, her vengeance would finally feel whole, for simply watching Leonida suffer wasn’t enough."Soon, Leonida, you'll know what true suffering is. Your happiness is a thorn in my side, but I will tear that thorn away by ripping your heart out piece by piece." Corazon’s thoughts hissed in her mind like the venomous curses she had whispered over the years. Her footsteps quickened along the dirt path leading to Isabela’s house, where she knew Leonora was likely hidden. "Just you wait, Leonida. I’ve hated you ever since Alejandro set his eyes on you at that cursed feast."The memory made her blood boil. She still remembered that day with bitter clarity—Alejandro, the boy she had grown up with, the one she thought would be hers forever, gazing at Leonida as if she were some divine being. "Vixen," Corazon spat the word into the
Corazon stood still in the shadow of the trees, her eyes fixed on the house. It had been days since Leonida had died, but Corazon could still feel her presence lingering in the air. It was as though the very ground Leonida had walked on clung to her spirit, refusing to release her from this world. Corazon's lips curled into a sinister smile."Dead," she muttered to herself. "They’re both dead and yet they still haunt me." She squeezed her eyes shut, but it only made Leonida’s face sharper in her mind. "But if I can still feel her, then Alejandro... he must be near. Their love was always so insufferably pure." Her voice dripped with venom. "But I will bring him back to me, even if it’s only his spirit. And you, Leonida, will suffer in the shadows of eternity."She suppressed a hysterical laugh that threatened to break free, pressing her hand against her mouth. No, not now. Not yet. First, she had to take care of Leonora, the precious daughter. She watched from her hiding spot as the fa
The warm rays of the morning sun filtered through the curtains, casting a soft glow over the dining room. Juanita hummed as she placed the last of the breakfast plates on the table. The smell of fresh bread and scrambled eggs filled the air, mixing with the scent of brewing coffee.“Isabela, aren’t you awake yet?” Juanita called out from the dining room, wiping her hands on her apron.The faint sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway, and Juanita smiled to herself as she heard her daughter's light steps. A few moments later, Isabela entered the room, her face bright with the energy of youth.“Good morning, Mother and Father!” Isabela greeted them cheerfully.Not far behind her, Leonora shyly peeked into the room. She had always been a quiet child, more reserved than Leonida, but there was a sweetness to her presence that Juanita and Diego had come to adore.“Good morning, Grandpa and Grandma,” Leonora said softly, her voice barely above a whisper.Juanita and Diego beamed at the so
In the stillness of the night, while everyone else slept soundly, Tino quietly slipped out of the house. His heart raced, his mind overtaken by a single thought: I have to see her. I have to go to her. He muttered this like a mantra, his feet following the path to Corazon’s home as if drawn by an invisible force. Her image, beautiful and intoxicating, had completely consumed him. His breath came faster with every step he took.His mind echoed with her voice. The soft, sultry whispers that had seduced him, not just his body but his soul. He could see her—those smoldering eyes, the curves of her figure draped in shadowy mystery, the smile that promised forbidden delights. Tino had never felt such desire, such hunger, and now, nothing else mattered. His duties to the household, his uncle, and even his own dignity had vanished like mist. All he wanted was to be in her arms.As he approached her door, it was as though the entire world faded away. The crickets, the night breeze, the trees—a
Inside her dimly lit house, Corazon paced back and forth, her patience wearing thin. “What’s taking him so long?” she growled, her anger evident in her fiery gaze. “He should be here by now.” Tino was supposed to bring Leonora to her, and the delay gnawed at her, threatening to unravel her carefully laid plans.Frustrated, she stormed into the room where her altar stood—a chaotic display of candles, herbs, and dark trinkets. Corazon approached the altar, her fingers brushing over the items with reverence and desperation. “If he doesn’t come soon, I’ll summon him myself,” she muttered. She closed her eyes and began to chant, weaving words of power and darkness, hoping to draw Tino to her despite the distance.After finishing her incantation, she stood by the window, watching the night unfold, believing her powerful spell would call him to her, even if he were asleep. “Come to me, Tino,” she whispered, her heart racing with anticipation.Meanwhile, in Isabela’s house, a hushed conversat
Things would have been different if Alice had never time-traveled to the past.She knew that. Felt it in her bones.If she hadn’t gone back, Leonora would be on the brink of death by now—frail, isolated in the Philippines, her healing powers still locked away by Corazon’s curse.She would have never met her son. Never found the closure she deserved after years of torment.And Pedro… Pedro would have died alone in his apartment in California, the walls silent, no goodbye to his father, no final hugs from his siblings. Just emptiness.Alice thought about it often, late at night, when the world outside was quiet and her mind wouldn't let her rest.She had saved them. In a way. But the past was still unraveling in places she couldn’t reach.The only problem was, back in that stitched-together past she left behind, Leonora’s son still hadn’t returned. No letters. No word. Just silence, stretching for years like a wound that refused to heal.And Alice, she realized, knew almost nothing about
When they arrived in California in the early 1960s, they didn’t just cross an ocean, they crossed into an entirely new version of themselves. The paperwork was processed slowly, over weeks, and interviews and translations and signatures that Ramon didn’t understand but trusted Simon to guide.On one particular form, Ramon was asked his family name again. The immigration officer, tired and thick-accented himself, looked up and said, “Do you want to keep the old spelling? We can Anglicize it.”Ramon blinked. “Anglicize?”“Make it easier for Americans to pronounce,” the officer said, already halfway through typing.Simon looked at his father. “We can change it, if you want.”Ramon glanced at Marisa, at his sons, at Leonora who nodded once. A future was waiting, and it needed a name.“Taylor,” Ramon said. “We’ll be the Taylor family now.”The officer nodded and finished typing.And just like that, it was done.Pedro, legally became Peter Taylor.The name felt strange at first, like a suit
In the days after the wedding, after the time slip and the letter from Tomas, Alice finally began to breathe again.For the first time in years, the world felt like it was shifting under her feet, not because she was time-traveling but because she was finally grounded.And somehow, as all the loose ends of their wild, overlapping journeys began to settle, her mind and heart came full circle, back to Johnson.They had known each other since childhood. They were both stubborn, fiercely competitive, and raised on discipline and quick reflexes.They trained martial arts side by side, trained under the same instructors, and earned their belts on the same mats. As teenagers, they sparred in tournaments and sometimes walked home with matching bruises and matching trophies.They had always been close, even before magic and time travel turned Alice’s world into something only he could understand. Johnson has loved her since their childhood when everyone else thought Alice was weird and anti-s
The sound of laughter faded like a dream.For a moment, everything was light... Leonora’s arms wrapped around her, Pedro’s promise still echoing in the night air, the scent of sampaguita filling her lungs. The glow of lanterns, the feel of bare earth beneath her heels, it was all there.And then, in the blink of an eye, it was gone.The lanterns became Edison bulbs. The laughter turned to modern chatter. The floral scent gave way to the sharp tang of city air and grilled skewers.Alice opened her eyes and blinked.She was back in Pasadena.Back in 2024.And... she was sitting on the same chair, beneath the same string of lights at Fernando and Odette’s wedding reception. Only seconds had passed for the people around her.Her champagne glass still sat on the table, full. Her plate of untouched food was still warm.The music continued playing, and no one seemed to have noticed her absence.No one except Johnson.He had turned just in time to see her blink strangely, her eyes suddenly gl
The church bells were still echoing faintly through the trees as guests made their way from the small church in Tipas to the reception at Ramon's house. The modest home had been transformed into a wedding wonderland: the entire front yard covered with strings of capiz lanterns, white curtains billowing gently in the afternoon breeze, and long tables lined with woven banig runners, fresh flowers, and candleholders fashioned from hollowed coconut shells.Children dashed under the tables, roosters crowed from behind the bamboo fence, and neighbors arrived bearing food wrapped in banana leaves, bowls of ice, and stories to share.A bamboo arch wrapped with palm fronds and sampaguita marked the entrance. The smell of roasting pork, fresh lumpia, and sweet coconut drifted in the air like a call to gather.Alice stood off to the side for a moment, taking it all in. Time travel had never felt quite this… alive.“I forgot how vivid it all was,” she whispered to herself, hands clasped tightly i
Days passed quietly in Johnson and Alice’s lives but not in the household of the Sanchez family.Odette sat on the wooden bench just outside her parents’ house, twisting the edge of her skirt with trembling fingers. Fernando stood beside her, tall, tense, eyes darting between her and the half-opened door where angry voices spilled out.“I still can’t believe this,” her mother was saying, for what felt like the hundredth time. “You’re pregnant? And he’s a foreigner?”Odette winced.“He’s not just some foreigner, Mom,” she said loudly, trying to stay composed. “I love him.”“You barely know him,” her father thundered from inside. “And you expect us to just smile and clap while you get married to someone who can’t even tell where he came from?”Odette squeezed Fernando’s hand. “Just let me talk to them.”After a few more minutes of raised voices and family tension, her parents finally came outside—her mother pursing her lips tightly, her father eyeing Fernando like he was the cause of ev
2024In the stillness of the night, Alice twisted under her sheets, a faint crease of worry etched between her brows. Her breath was uneven, caught somewhere between sleep and panic. The dream had returned—but this time, it was more vivid than ever.She was not in her room anymore. She was standing in a dimly lit alley that reeked of urine and old sweat. The air was heavy. Thick. The kind that clung to your skin and didn’t let go.And there was Leonora.Beautiful. Broken.She stood near the edge of the alley, barefoot, bruised, and trembling in a thin, torn dress. Her hair, once jet black and glossy, was now matted and dulled by grime and blood. Her eyes—those eyes Alice knew so well—were hollow. But they flickered, faintly, with something deep underneath: rage, shame, fear, and a sliver of hope that refused to die.Then Alice saw her.Corazon.Still alive.Still poisonous.She stood a few meters away, counting thick wads of pesos with one hand and holding a small ledger with the othe
Simon stood on the steps of the barracks, gripping the edge of the railing like it might steady his nerves. The sun was just breaking over the Clark Airfield compound, casting long shadows across the jeep parked near the mess hall. Nathan, wiping grease from his hands after an early inspection run, looked up with a furrowed brow.“You okay?” he asked. “You look like you just got drafted again.”Simon scratched the back of his head. “I need a favor.”Nathan narrowed his eyes. “Let me guess. It involves a girl.”Simon laughed nervously. “Yeah. Leonora.”“Figured. What is it?”“I want to go to Tipas. Not just to visit,” Simon said, standing straighter. “I want to meet her family. Do it the right way. Ask for their blessing.”Nathan raised his eyebrows. “So you’re going full ‘suitor from the provinces’ now?”Simon grinned. “Apparently there’s a whole tradition—harana, pamanhikan, everything. I’ve been reading, practicing my Tagalog... failing at it.”Nathan crossed his arms, smirking. “Yo
The early morning haze still lingered over the rice paddies when Pedro found Leonora barefoot in the field behind Ramon’s house, her hands cupped around a wounded kingfisher. Dew glistened on the leaves, catching the pale gold light of sunrise. Pedro watched as she whispered something under her breath. A soft glow flickered from her palms, and within seconds, the kingfisher’s wing straightened with a crack that sounded more like relief than pain.It chirped once, flapped its wings, and took off into the sky.“You could’ve told me you were leaving before dawn,” Pedro called out.Leonora glanced back with a faint smile. “You were still asleep. And you snore like a bull carabao.”Pedro scoffed, approaching with a lazy grin. “You’ve been hanging around Ramon too long. You’re starting to sound like family.”Leonora shrugged, brushing dirt from her skirt. “Maybe I am.”Their bond had shifted over the last few months—not romantic, not quite friendship either. Something rooted deeper. He was