“YOU DID WHAT?!!!!!” Scorpio screamed into his ear.
Luna had accompanied Blitz back to Sierra Falls, but not at the inn, but at her temple where thankfully, there’s an old-fashioned phone which is still intact, after she brought him back to town for treatment and now, helped him to make a call to Carla, but unfortunately, Scorpio picked it up and at first, had freaked out, then had insisted Blitz to answer the phone, only to give him an earful.
“YOU THRASHED THE HONDA ON YOUR FIRST EVER RIDE? WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU???” He screamed some more.
“Uh, Scor… Listen. I did not thrash the car. The Demise kid thrashed it…”
“I DON’T CARE WHO OR WHAT DID IT! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU, BLITZ!!! YOU GET BACK HERE RIGHT NOW!!!” He then launched into a torrent of Italian swear words, with Blitz covering the phone meekly with his hand. Luna on the other hand, is cleaning the dirt off his clothes and trying to ignore the muffled screaming from the phone.
It was a while before Scorpio calmed down and finally said with a grunt, “Oh fine. By the way, Gemini wants to speak with you.”
“Blitz, you have got to get back by 6 p.m.” Gemini sounded slightly irritated.
“Why?”
“The school dance is tonight, and I need you to be there.”
“What???” Blitz nearly dropped the phone. “Gem, I never said yes.”
“Apparently, those girls had been spreading rumours that I will be bringing you to the dance, and everyone confronted me about it. If you don’t show up, everyone will say that I’m nothing but a show-off.”
Blitz sighed. Guess he can’t blame Gemini for being irritated. “Sure, but am I allowed to bring a guest?”
“Sure. I’ll make sure to give you the invitation when you get back.”
Blitz put down the phone and sighed. Luna had finished cleaning the dirt off his clothes and handed it back to him, neatly folded and dirt free.
“What’s wrong? You seemed…irritated.” Luna licked her lips nervously.
“Gemini’s school is holding a dance and apparently some of the girls had spread rumours that I’ll be coming. If I don’t show up, Gemini will suffer being called a show-off.”
“That’s how they are.” Luna shrugged. “Then you had better get back.”
“Wait. Would you want to go with me?”
Luna seemed surprised, but her eyes did not give anything away. “Excuse me?”
“Would you go… to the dance with me?” He blurted.
Luna didn’t reply, but turned away, twisting her hair. He invited her to a dance… A dance where those teens torment her. An invitation…out of the blue.
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t give me an answer yet. Think about it.” Blitz got up, putting his clothes back on. “I’ll be at the inn before 5.30 p.m. The dance starts after 6, so you don’t have to come early.”
He then left, leaving her pondering deep with her thoughts.
*****************
Not long after he had left, a raven flew down and stared at her with its blood red eyes. Ignoring it, she occupied herself by cleaning the temple path by sweeping up bits of leaves, aware that it’s watching her every move.
Not long after she had finished sweeping up, Sigan appeared with his cloak bellowing behind him.
“You’re going, aren’t you?” He asked. “Or…are you not?”
“You shouldn’t have even bother to ask.” Luna held the broom like a naginata.
“Fool.” Sigan said softly. “He’s still recovering from that last time and here you are, like a maid, cleaning and taking care of things.”
“I’m tired of listening to you.” Luna sighed, spinning the broom. “Get lost or I’ll sweep you out myself.”
“Why don’t you just freeze me?” He taunted. “That should be good enough for- Argh!”
Luna had swung the broom at him, followed with a straight knife strike and a side swing. They caught him after another.
“You- This isn’t over, you ice witch!” He shouted, materializing into his raven form and took off in a flurry of wings.
****************
“Blitz, it’s already half past five. Let’s go.”
“Gem, give me a few more minutes.”
“Sorry, no can do. We’re going to be late at this rate.”
Gemini is wearing a peach coloured knee-length frock with shimmering sleeves with laces in shades of aquamarine and her hair ribbon is also the same colour matching the lace. For the finishing touches, she carried a pink shoulder bag and wore a pair of bright orange sandals, each decorated with a sunflower on the strap.
Blitz on the other hand, is tugging on his blazer. It was a birthday present from his parents before their deaths. It’s a faded soft brown white in colour, like white ash wood. Underneath he had wore a white T-shirt, matching pants and brown loafers. He never liked wearing formal much but today he had made an effort to dress up for his cousin’s sake.
“Aren’t you two ready yet?” Virgo is heaving a 5 kilograms bag of flour in his arms with ease. “You’re both going to be late...”
“Yes, we’re ready.” Gemini said, fiddling with her ribbon. “Come on, Blitz.”
They stepped out of the inn where Carla is waiting with her van. She is going to town to pick up supplies for the inn and had volunteered to take Blitz and Gemini to the dance.
“Gem, cara, I want you back by 11 p.m. Okay, no excuses.” Carla warned as they neared the school when Sacred Heart is slowly coming into sight. “I don’t want you to stay around too late. Many of the kids here are not a very good influence for you. You hear me?”
“Yes, Mom.” Gemini sighed.
“Blitz, take care of Gem for me. And…” She turned to him as they pulled up in front of the gates. “I hear what happened to the car from Scorpio. I’ll sent it down to the repair shop tomorrow. In the meantime, you can use Virgo’s Suzuki.”
“Thanks, Aunt Carla.” Blitz said, looking apologetic. “I’m really sorry though. I really didn’t mean for the car to get bashed up.”
“Yes, well…” She muttered as they got out of the car. “As long as there’s no second time...”
The dance was in full swing when they arrived. Loud buzz and chatters hung around the atmosphere. Loud music is thumping loudly out of the speakers with a DJ spinning his heart out with his state of the art sound system. Boys looking dashing in smart dinner dresses with their hair gelled thoroughly and nicely styled. Girls looking glamorous in sweeping dresses or frocks, with striking accessories such as necklaces, bracelets and jeweled hairbands. As far as he could see, their outfits are all formal, not too flashy nor immodest, but of course, this is a Catholic school. What did he expect?
“Gemini, you made it!”
Some of the girls that they had met at the tea shop came running towards them, their eyes already fixed on him. People around them are all staring at him, gesturing and murmuring, mainly the girls. The boys on the other hand, are looking very jealous, but with a tint of curiosity.
“Well, I…did brought him…” Gemini said in a slightly strangled voice. “As a guest.”
“Can we show him around, Gemini?” One of the girls asked.
“It’s not necessary.…” Blitz began.
“You must, Blitz. You’re new here. You had never stepped into our school before. ”
“Really, it’s not necessary at all.” Blitz said firmly. “And I have to keep an eye on Gem. Sorry about that, girls.”
“I think you should’ve gone with them…” Gem said softly as they made their way to the buffet table, leaving the girls looking rejected. “It would’ve made your life easier.”
“Gem, I don’t do things that I don’t want to do.” Blitz sighed, helping himself to some punch. “And those girls aren’t even your friends. They just want to use me to show off to the others. ”
They said no more after that, but helped themselves to the buffet table, which is technically what Asians call a potluck, which means everyone bring a container of food that makes up a buffet. There are sandwiches with a wide variety of flavours, arranged in a flower like pattern on plates. There’s also fried noodles, fried rice, cooked in the typical Asian style, although there are some pasta, steaks, croissants, pastries, nuggets, deviled eggs and sausages. On the desert table, there’s light cupcakes, sponge cakes, all kinds of cakes that you can think of. There’s also a large bowl of punch and large jugs of juices on the drinks table. As they ate, they talked about how things are here in Malaysia and things back in Washington DC. It’s the safe kind of comfortable chat just between these two cousins, no more no less.
“What are you doing here?!”
They both broke out of their talk and turned to the direction of the voice. Two guys who had been ushers at the entrance were blocking the way to the entrance. Blitz could catch a glimpse of blue hair in the light. He made his way to the front and there she was. She looked like an angel who had fallen from the skies of heaven, dressed in a traditional silk Japanese kimono. She looked emotionless even as the ushers were gazing at her with dislike.
“You came.” Blitz exclaimed happily.
Luna shifted one foot to the other uneasily. “You…didn’t want me to come?”
“No, no, I’m just really happy that you came.” Blitz said.
“You know this witch?” One of the usher asked in disbelief.
“Stop calling her that!” Blitz said. “She’s my friend.”
“Do you know what you’re saying?” One of the ushers said as Blitz reached over to pull her in.
“Yeah, I’m well aware of it and I don’t need you people to remind me.” Blitz said over his shoulder/
**************
“Where’s your cousin, Gemini?”
Gemini turned to the girl who had asked her. “I don’t know. I don’t keep track of him.”
“Oh, but you should…” The girl said. “Because he might get lost in our campus.”
Gemini was about to reply when she hear a deafening silence. The DJ seemed to have stopped spinning his music and the crowd seemed to be murmuring instead of chatting. All eyes were focused on the entrance where Blitz is leading Luna towards her.
“Who invited that witch?” One of the girls gasped in outrage.
“Why she’s with him?” Another queried.
Luna lowered her head and whispered softly. “I shouldn’t have come here…”
“Don’t worry.” Blitz said. “If anyone call you a witch, I’ll tell them to back off.”
Gemini was staring at him with utter disbelief as he made his way towards her. “Hey Gem, I hope you don’t mind that I invited her along.”
Gemini didn’t answer at first, but is staring at him with that disbelief look on her face.
It was one of the girls who answered for her. “Why is she here?”
“I invited her.” Blitz said, trying to keep his cool.
“She’s a freak, you know that?”
“Hey, cut that out.” Blitz said as Luna turned to leave. “Stop calling her a witch.” He turned to Gemini. “Gem, I hope you don’t mind that I invited her.”
“I don’t.” Gemini said stiffly. “But I had absolutely no idea that you and her are such close friends.”
“Thank you so much for the wine.” Luna said softly, bowing to her.
“It’s no big deal.” Gemini said, gaining back her posture. “But this is the first time I seen you out and about.”
“You haven’t eaten anything much again…” Blitz said, feeling her hands, which are twiggy like sticks.
“I don’t eat much.” She said in that soft tone of hers.
“Well, you got to eat something at least.” He led her to the buffet table, where there’s still plenty of food left. “What would you like? There’s pasta, rice, noodles…”
Luna picked one of the bread rolls and just cramming it into her mouth, letting the taste of freshly baked butter, wheat flour and yeast roll in her tongue.
“You seemed to really like bread, huh?” Blitz asked as she took another one devour it in mere seconds.
“I like meals that could be prepared within fifteen minutes.” Luna said, blushing slightly.
Many people were still in shock that the witch actually came down to the dance but gradually, they started chatting, going back to the normal atmosphere, though now people are throwing curious looks at their newest arrival. It was a relief when the announcement over the speakers is telling everyone to find a partner and dance. Everyone scrambled to find a partner to dance with, although many girls were trying to get Blitz to dance with them.
“Hey, um, do you want to dance?” Blitz asked.
Luna looked at her feet. “Dance?”
“Yeah, you know, for fun…”
“But…” She hesitated, but seeing Blitz’s look of eagerness, she gave a shrug and let herself being led by him. As the song blared out of the speakers, Blitz showed her how to synchronize with the music, dancing to the beat. Although she finds it uncomfortable, she seemed to gradually come to have fun, eventually loosening herself and having fun with him, though she’s till keeping some of her guards up. It made Blitz happy to see that she’s enjoying herself, even if it’s just a little.
At that moment, the event was thrown into pitch darkness, causing panic to arise. Even the electric stopped working, causing the music to be abruptly shut off. Blitz thought he could feel Luna stiffening beside him but when he try to reach for her, the lights suddenly came back on, just like magic.
But she’s no longer standing beside him.
“What on earth-” A student gasped.
“What’s going on?” Another one asked, looking terrified. Eventually a babble broke out among the others. Gemini, looking worried, went over to where he stood.
“Luna?” Blitz stared at the spot where she originally was, hoping she might appear, but try and hope as he might, she did not appear. People don’t just disappear, right?
Something caught his attention. As Gemini reached him, he spotted a piece of paper folded neatly into half, tucked underneath the bread plate where Luna was standing, eating bread when she first arrived. Feeling hollow in his stomach, he pulled the paper free from the plate and read the single long sentence written in elegant script.
I’M TAKING HER BACK…
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