C10 10

"Are you not afraid that you only have Marina with you?" asked Deive while they while he was nursng her coffee and she was having her milk tea in verandah after dinner. The air was cold. The moon was full with a few cloud disturbing the night sky. What a lovely night.

“What should I be afraid of? I already told you that no robber would come here.”

He shrugged. "Because this place is old and people think that there are elementals and ghosts living here.”

"You believe it?" Callea grinned then her eyes widened. "Have you seen one?”

Deive became restless eyes and didn’t not know where to look. He seemed to calm himself later on and focused his ttention to the round moon. “Silly. There is no such thing.”

She slightly leaned to him. "What if there are really ghosts?"

For a long moment he stared at her. As if he was trying his best to hide his fears. She wanted to see how far his courage would go. Finally, he smiled and caressed her cheek. "Don't be afraid because I will protect you. You are always welcome to embrace me when you are scared.”

She sat properly and moved her body away from him. He thought she was afraid of ghosts. He had no idea that she was the ghost. She drank her tea once more. "So it means it is okay if we just live here?"

He cleared his throat. "We can discuss it once when we are married."

It would be a tug of war. He had no intention of living in the mansion because he thinks it is haunted. And she won’t leave Villa Celesta to mingle with the rest of the world. What a life!

"Next time just the drink tea, ha? Cut down the coffee. That's not good for you," Callea suggested

"Why?" Deive wondered as his cup was suspended in mid-air.

She gave him a meaningful smile. He became a bunch of nerves because he drank too much coffee.

For two hours she enjoyed his company - telling stories, asking silly questions, while looking at the night sky. He could easily charm anybody and she was not immune. He was more than just a pretty face because he had brains to match. In a few hours of talking to him, she didn’t feel awkward at all. Maybe because they had chosen safe topics. Nothing invasive. She hasn’t had a conversation like this with anybody for a long, long time.

He glanced at the clock. She noticed Deive was upset when the clock struck ten. "It's late. Maybe you should call it a night.

"Okay," Callea agreed and stood up. He held her hand. He tucked it in his hand. As if he didn’t want to let go. As if he was fearing that someone might snatch her away from him.

His eyes were alert in each step as they walked towards their rooms. Maybe he was waiting for the monsters to appear. He was paranoid much. Because in the haunted house, ghosts appear as the night deepens.

He was startled when she patted his arm. "This is my room." When she opened the door, she tried to get a glimpse of what’s inside. She entered the room with just a small opening and blocked his view. "It's okay. You can leave me here. This is my house after all.

"I just want to make sure that you are safe ..." He paused when she raise her eyebrow. He smiled like a little boy then scratched his head. "Goodnight!" he said and kissed her firmly on the lips.

She gasped in surprise. It's not just a smack on her lips like what he gave her this morning. His kiss lingered for a while. She felt like floating and flying in a few moment. She nearly swooned. Gradually her eyes closed when he suddenly put a space between them.

Her breath hitched as she filled her lungs with air. She was just stupid. He shyly caressed the side of her lips. "I don't really want to kiss you goodnight, Callea. But I can't help it. You are so damn beautiful. Get inside now. Thanks for the lovely evening.”

She didn’t answer and just closed the door. She felt heady. He kissed her again. She was a beauty in his eyes again.

She buried her fingers in her air. Then she shook her head. Again Deive turned her world down. Her heart was beating erratically. She wet lips with her tongue. That lingering kiss really nailed her.

She wants ... She wants some more.

"No!" It cannot be! " She turned to Luna who was sleeping soundly in her bad beside his bed. Picking up the innocent cats, she cooed at her gently "Luna! He kissed me. He said I am beautiful! What should I do?

Luna meowed as if crying when she shook it, asking for her answer. Like it was begging her to stop her from shaking because it was starting to become dizzy. But nothing could beat the mess Deive brought into her world.

He kissed her twice now. Okay. Not an X-rated kiss but those were kisses just the same. She hated him. She hated his kisses because she wanted some more.

She hated that kiss because it was driving her crazy. He was driving her crazy.

She didn’t know how to face tomorrow when he was evoking new emotions inside her. Feelings that made her feel so scared because it might ruin her.

"HOW's the groom-to-be? Are you ready to cry to stop the wedding? Or do you want to my help to escape?"

Deive gave his friend, Sydney, a tired lookwhen he had the video conference friends on his laptop. Fortunately, he brought his laptop and an internet connection is available also in the area.

"Me? Runaway from Callea? " He clucked his tongue and smiled as if to he was daydreaming. "No, dude! She's an angel. You should have tasted her bulalo. She’s a great cook. This woman is a keeper.”

His brief relationships with other women made him feel restless before. Though he was not the fuck and run type, he was not the type to settle to a woman. There was something missing. Now he knew. He wanted the feel of being home. Silly as it may sound, he me her think of permanence. Being married to him was not like a noose around his neck anymore.

His other friends groaned. His friends were not big on relationships either. They avoided it like Black Plague. They said having a serious girlfriend was more tiring than running a business. They won’t understand that he was smitten by his future bride. Lucian caressed his own chin. He looked like as if her declaration was an impending disaster. "You got it bad, dude! Now you speak like that about a woman. A nymph? An angel? "

"I don't really mind marrying someone like her. She's gorgeous. She’s caring as well. And she has a sweet voice ... " He felt the loss of blood to the face when he thought the voice. The ghost has the same as voice as Callea. Never mind the voice. "Dude, I need to go to Church tomorrow morning. If only I could leave the house now to look for one. So I will pray before going to bed instead. "

"Ha? Are you in drugs? "asked by Averill. "You are suddenly looking for chuch and pray. Whoa! Maybe Callea is indeed an angel.”

"Did Callea grew up in a nunnery? She sounded too nice. Are you sure you want to marry her? Maybe be a nun. " Sidney raised his hands and looked heavenward. “Next thing we know, you want to be a priest.”

"No!” Deive disagreed. “Callea and I will be husband and wife soon. And besides, I’ve never been rejected by a woman before. "

Sidney beats his own chest. "That’s my idol! Even poles wearing skirt won’t say no to you, dude.”

His friends laughed but he remained serious. He liked Callea so badly. She was unlike any other girls who loved to chase men. She had that air of innocence around her that charmed him. He never cared about any woman that way beore. Only with Callea.

"It is midnight. I need to sleep. Goodnight, guys," Deive said and stretched his arms.

"Morning," Lucian murmured. "The night had just started for us. The rural air is making you boring.”

“Callea might spank lover boy if he didn’t sleep on time,” Averill cooed.

He just grinned at their bullying. "Callea and I will out on a date tomorrow. She would give me a tour around her house.” Maybe his friends just envy him before they don’t have someone so sweet like Callea in their lives. His time datinng different girl every week was over. Maybe the heavens sent her to fix his life.

The night air was lulling him to sleep. He was starting to feel drowsy when he heard the cry of a woman. He was supposed to ignore it but he kept on hearing the woman’s cry as if her heart was breaking. It echoed around as if walls of the house were crying too. The sound was distressing.

He rose and left the room. What if Callea was the one who was crying? What if she was hurt or that ghost was bothering her? She might need him to comfort her.

His heart was beating erratically as he ran out of the hallway. The cries were coming from Callea’s room. He could feel chills on every inch of his skin as he trudged barefoot on the cold floor.

When he reached the door of Callea’s room, it was suddenly quiet. The crying stopped. He knocked still. "Callea! Callea, are you okay? "he asked.

He didn't hear an answer. He pressed his ear on the door. He didn't hear any sobs. Not even a squeak or a breathe. It was eerily quiet inside the room. It looked like she was already in a deep sleep. Moment passed and he didn’t hear a thing. Perhaps it was just his imagination.

His body became colder when he thought about the bleeding white lady and the evil cat he saw the night before. It must be her. He quickly ran back into his own bedroom and lock the door. He prayed so hard for the first time in his life. The house was really haunted.

He needed to protect Callea in any way.

"GOOD morning!" Callea greeted Luna when she woke up the next morning. The cat yawned and stretched as she rubbed its head. "Did you sleep well? So do I, Luna. I love our lullaby.”

Luna slept on her bed and didn’t want to leave her side. Because of Deive’s kiss, she had a hard tie sleeping. She was not able to play the piano late at night. She did not want to scare Deive. So she played her favorite sound effects to set the mood - the sound of crying white lady. A few moments later, she was fast asleep. The computer was set the computer to shut down after once the music file stopped playing. So, it was okay if she woke up late because she had a good night’s sleep. She only hoped that it didn’t interrupt Deive’s slumber.

She was surprised the moment she stepped out of the room. There was something coarse on the floor. Marina was very particular with cleanliness in the house. Her house might look haunted but Marina couldn’t stand cobwebs and dusts. That was why she was used to walking on a smooth and polished wooden floor since she loved walking barefoot most of the time.

When she looked down, she saw iodized salt scattered on the floor. Moreover, there’s a bunch of garlic next to her door. She picked up the garlic. “How did it end up here? What’s going on?”

Marina was preparing a late breakfast for her when she went to the lanai. Her face wrinkled when she saw the garlic. "Oh! You got the garlic. I’ve been looking for it. What scene did you come up with and you got garlic with you? Good thing I just got enough garlic to use for fried rice.”

"I didn't use that. I just saw that outside my room a while ago. I have no idea how it ended up there."

"Who would put that outside your room? Are you an aswang?" (Aswang is a cannibalistic human that changes its into a monster and loves eating innards of humans and animals)

“Deive did it!" He placed the garlic and salt outsideher bedroom. But why? Did he hear the crying effects last night? May he thought it was a ghost or an aswang? “Where is he anyway?”

"He said he would go to church." Mariana her pointed the serving spoon at her. "Tell me the truth. What you did you do lose fto make Señorito Deive offer salt and garlic to your room?"