NIGHTS OF HALLOW

”Noo!!!” Perdita screamed at the top of her lungs just in time for the smoke to vanish carrying her brother and the witches in it.

”No, no, no, my brother. Marco! They took Marco!” Perdita continued to scream attempting to run into the diminishing smoke when Sthena caught her and drew her back into his arms.

”No, let me go! M...my brother.” Perdita’s voice broke as tears welled in her eyes that didn’t take long before they trailed down her cheeks like a running fountain.

”Shssh,” Sthena continued to hold her still while rubbing back to soothe her broken state. ”We will get him back. Trust me.”

”We don’t even know where they took him,” Perdita said in-between her sobs. Her tears still ran down her face and was absorbed by Sthena’s clothes.

”We will get him,” Sthena assured in a firm voice. It still baffled him how these witches were able to execute their plans without failure. With him unable to do anything to stop things from taking this drastic turn. How could this happen under his watch?

Sthena closed his eyes as he tried to hold back the anger in him. From the witches tricking him with the fake Daemon to him being unable to unlock the door, and now they finally took Marco with them. These people really wish for death.

Sthena continued to hold Perdita in his arms as they stayed in that position until she calmed down a little. Her eyes, nose, and face were already red and swollen from all the crying she had done.

Sthena took her by her hand and quietly led to the couch and sat her down. He allowed her to regain her composure before questioning her ”What really happened when you came in?” He wanted to know everything and know how to go about looking for Serena and the rest.

Perdita sniffled and took a deep breath while Sthena offered her his handkerchief to wipe her face with.

After cleaning her tears, she began to narrate what happened, ”W—when I came in through the door, I saw Serena near Marco’s bed whispering words under her breath. I demanded to know what they were doing to Marco, and that was when Serena turned and told me that they were there to take us back to where we rightfully belonged.

”Before that, she said something about, Till the broken age and time. When the Hallows of the Nights invades the earth.”

”What does that mean?” Sthena asked with a frown.

Perdita shook her head negatively and answered, ”I don’t know what it means, but I once had a dream about this same thing. I mean the words she said.”

”Dream?” Sthena’s brows furrowed more deeply than before. ”Why haven’t you told me about it since the day you had it? Or most importantly, when did you have the dream?”

”I had the dream the day I found out y—you are the King. I didn’t mean to hide it from you.”

”I understand.” Sthena nodded. ”What was the dream about?”

Perdita became thoughtful as she tried to recollect what the dream was all about since it had been a long she dreamt about it.

She adjusted her sitting position before narrating her dream, ”In the dream, I saw a little girl and a little boy, both with green eyes in a graveyard.”

Perdita paused and sniffled again while Sthena allowed her to speak at her own pace knowing she was trying to get a hold of herself. She continued to speak, ”The children were in a graveyard and they were also standing near a new dug-out grave. I can’t remember all the details, but I remember them saying something and fog started to appear around them. The fog stopped immediately they stopped speaking and the next thing I saw was the boy entering the coffin inside the grave alive before it was close by the little girl.”

”The girl followed suit and that was after she said those words, till the broken age and time. When the Hallows of the Nights invades the earth, and I woke up.”

Sthena exhaled and stayed quiet for some minutes as he processed and thought about the dream Perdita had while trying to find the connection it had with Serena and the male witches.

”Serena also mentioned finding out what we are,” Perdita added.

”What did she say she found out?” Sthena asked.

Perdita shook her head, ”She didn’t tell me. She refused to tell me saying that I will follow them before she will tell me what she found out.”

That’s more like her. Sthena thought. Witches would never engage in something they know would not benefit them. Sthena thought.

Exhaling deeply, Perdita continued, ”When I refused to follow her, she threatened to take us by force. That if me and Marco didn’t follow them to where we rightfully belong, we all would perish. That even Marco and I will die together with them.”

”When I heard and saw how they commanded a portal to open saying that it would take them wherever they wanted it to, that was when I ran to the door hoping to get your attention and maybe you could open the door. It was then I saw myself outside again and when we came back inside, t—they were already gone.” A tear slipped down Perdita’s cheeks which Sthena wiped with his thumb. He gently caressed her cheeks before dropping his hand to his side.

Sthena clenched his hands when he heard what Perdita said as the reality of what could have happened if Perdita had not mistakenly come out from that door. The witches could have been successful in taking both of them, especially Perdita, far away from the castle to wherever they planned to go which would surely be hard to find out.

The thought made him wonder why they left Perdita behind without waiting for her to come back and only took Marco with them. Hastily leaving like that meant that they didn’t have enough time left to stay in the castle before all the illusions they created were broken.

Fuck! Sthena cursed under his breath, something he had been constantly saying since the day started. If only he hadn’t gone out of the room and stalled them, perhaps they wouldn’t have succeeded in taking Marco

”What do you think will happen and do you know what she might have found out?” Perdita quizzed, eager to find out everything and also find a way to rescue Marco. Her heart was still in turmoil about how she wasn’t able to save her only family. Her only brother. Was she going to lose him too? The thought made her shiver in dread.

Sthena thought about this too. But before concluding, he had to make sure he analyzed every possibility of his doubt about what Perdita and Marco are was true.

First, it started with Serena looking for two green-eyed siblings which Perdita and Marco did not qualify for as Marco had black eyes. But then, there could be a possibility that something could be wrong somewhere. Like how they were able to maintain their green and black eyes even after turning into vampires. There could be a possibility that Marco once had green eyes. Well, that was under probability and doubt.

Secondly, Serena claimed to know what Perdita and Marco are, meaning that she was right about what she found out for her to insist on taking Perdita and Marco with them.

Could it be that what Serena found out was what he thought Perdita and Marco are? Sthena internally questioned himself as he tried to draw a conclusion from the events that have happened for the past few days. But at the same time, he didn’t want to say anything about it to Perdita lest in the future his analysis turned out to be false.

”You know, something happened some time ago,” Perdita said, gaining the attention of Sthena again. He waited for her to speak and when she didn’t immediately talk as if she was contemplating if she should tell him or not, he probed, ”What happened, Perdita? You have to trust me, Perdita. That is the only way we can get through this.”

Meanwhile, Perdita was hesitant to tell Sthena what was on her mind for fear of being labeled as something she wasn’t. But she had no other choice but to spill everything out.

She looked down at her hands that nervously fumbled with her dress before saying, ”It is about me. I—I magically made fire with my fingers one day in my room.” She finally revealed and heard Sthena exclaim in shock.

”You what?!”

Perdita shook her and hurried to explain before Sthena got the wrong idea and called her a witch, ”I didn’t know...I mean, I don’t know how it happened. I—I was just near the fireplace arranging the woods when suddenly fire emitted from my fingertip and ignited the wood inside the fireplace.”

Sthena exhaled and smiled a little. He took Perdita’s fumbling hands and gently patted them. ”You don’t have to be afraid, Perdita. Your revelation finally revealed what Serena said she found out.”

Perdita stilled, her palms turned cold in dread of what it might be. She warily asked Sthena, ”What d—did you confirm?”

Without holding back, Sthena said, ”That you and your brother Marco are witches. And not just any witches, but the green-eyed siblings she is looking for.”