Luines - Book 1

Chapter 01: Ten-Twenty Six

26th of October wasn't an easy day for Hal Cruz. She had left tons of glue on her paper mache mask of a three headed dog and sprinted out as fast as her short legs could. Drops of tears swiped her cheeks as she dodged cars, and jumped fences on the street. This could not be real! Her dad promised to be back home to help her finish her Cerberus costume for Halloween.

She caught her breath as she reached her finish line; Quiapo Church was bathed in red and blue lights that early morning, while Plaza Miranda was packed by onlookers. She dove right into the crowd, and pushed her way through. Her heart was pounding as she approached the yellow tape and human barricades. She pinched her nose, as the smell of death, sea water and gunpowder filled the air. People around her were speaking of a gunshot, a dead body and lots of blood. She remembered the words of her father, "Even if I'm not here, don't let anything or anyone push you down. Be brave, my child."

She bit her lips and dried her tears, as she repeated her dad's words. A voice broke her mantric words to herself.

"Hal!" Out from the shadows, a young police officer ran towards her, and escorted her into the crime scene. Hal studied the deep circles around his eyes, the healing scratches at his sharp cheeks. Marks of dried blood crawled from the curls of his lips as he let out a sigh.

"Drake, what exactly happened? Is he..."

Officer Drake Corvin growled, "Humans. A human robbed a fae...We just dropped your mom over. She got inside before anything happened but your dad..." He held her small hand, and squeezed it tightly, "I'm sorry, bunso. He's..."

The rest of Officer Drake's words came in a quick blurb that didn't stick well. He mentioned that the thief got the fae's wand and zapped him. The projectile shot to his heart, and the rest flew through her mind.

Hal bit her lip as she searched the dark skies for answers. If a vampire like Drake Corvin wasn't fast enough to save her dad, who could? It was a fae's wand that struck him; those were deadlier than the guns humans bore. Her eyes drifted towards the only celestial body dotting the skies, the red moon, as if it mourned with her. She closed her eyes and repeated the words of her father, Be brave, Haliya. In the midst of her troubled mind, a blast of a loud drum shook her ears. Was the moon speaking to her? She shrugged that thought and followed Officer Drake Corvin towards the church.

As they stood cloaked in the darkness near the walls of the church, Officer Drake whispered, "It's not safe, Hal. The thief was looking for someone, a Luine."

"So, are they really real? I thought they were folktales within the Realm Folk."

"That robbery was a bullish stunt." He directed his eyes at the church. "Anyone inside could be a Luine suspect."

"But, is mom still there?" She was about to run towards the giant doors, but Officer Drake pulled her back.

"She's safe. Zee took her back home. Your best friend has some useful skills."

Hal smirked, "Yeah, he knows his way around places!" There were a few moments of silence, then the drumming banged at her ears again. She glared at the moon and its redness seemed to be dripping towards her, as her surroundings faded into the darkness.

The reverberations became clearer until the words hit her, "Are you one of us, a Luine?"

She awoke to the thumps of her heart from her recurring nightmares. Droplets of cold sweat feathered down her cheeks then to her lips. Hal Cruz shot up. She took out a red candle from her desk, and lit it. She fell back. The bed hugged her and she dug her head on her pillow. Lately, Hal has been lighting more candles than catching some sleep. She wasn't really afraid of the dark, but the candles were protection in a sort of way - to the dreams that haunt her.

A long sigh escaped her lips. What did the moon say?

She tried to recall it but it was as soggy as cereal on too much milk. It must mean something. The trails of smoke circled around her then vanished through the windows. She turned to the candle; the tiny ember danced on the wick and gave its final bow. She bit her lip, forcing herself not to cry. "'Nyeta. Why did you have to die?"

She couldn't help getting choked up every time a candle died. It was inevitable. The candles always reminded her of her dad. When she was little, they were her dad's thing when she had nightmares as bad as these. He'd tuck her to bed, light one, and lull her to sleep. She remembered his goodnight kisses and the world was afloat afterwards, like there was no inch of trouble in her. Dad had a weird power of relaxing people's mind, but he was long gone. If it wasn't for her mom's stern warnings to accept it as fate, she would have hunted down his killer. Hal may be a psychic telepath, but she wasn't accustomed to her powers then.

She had been having nightmares every night but come the 26th of October, she witnessed that moment vividly as if they were the present, hearing those same words: "Are you one of us, a Luine?"

Hal thought the Luines were a folk tale of seven powerful beings, born from the universe, with the strongest abilities to change the world but the world just kept getting weirder. A few decades back, people wouldn't have thought of dwarves or fairies walking amongst them. Can you imagine walking a three headed dog every morning? It's shitloads of pain when a cat crosses the path. In this time and age, that was normal. Mom stressed that they had to be kind to them, the Realm Folks as they called them collectively, because their world was destroyed in the 2100 War, and they sought refuge on Earth. If it wasn't for them, the human world would be as barren as Pluto.

However, for a Luine to be remotely existent was nearly impossible, even if Mom said that the Luines helped at the 2100 War. Those were just rumors without any historical facts, just like the folk tales she heard as a child.

Time for breakfast. Time to let herself back into the world.

"In headlines, The New World Peace Treaty is now in session after the disappearance of..."

She rolled her eyes. Her mom forgot to turn off the television and just left. She scavenged for leftovers on the table and fell back to the couch. She shut the noise box off, and placed her head between her knees. She couldn't eat while her nightmare was fresh in her head. She wanted to get out of the house and had enough of the early mourning, even if it's the 26th of October, her dad's death day.

"Anak ng Tala naman! Zee, where are you?!" She screamed on the top of her voice.

In a gust of wind, Zee materialized. His amethyst eyes sparked in the blast of sunlight, and his inky black hair settled as the breeze dissipated. He was dependable as always, and she smiled in pride.

"You don't have to scream. I can Windport us anytime, and we'll be on time." Zee gleamed so tight that it could have reached his ears. She hated it when he did that; It mostly worked on her mom, but Hal despised that begging look. She frowned in response.

"Pucha naman, bal, Quit it! The Luine thing is haunting me again. So, please, let's just go."

Zee sighed and gazed at the ceiling; he shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets, "I really wish I could help you. You know how my dad's lore is a pain for me...So, where to? The beach? A movie?"

"Gago! We can't do a movie! You're a walking reflector, bal!!"

Zee nodded, "Yeah. Got that from my dad's side of the family. Mom is as normal as you. She even got your I-don't-care-if-the-sun-burns-me skin. So, where to?"

"To The Vampire."

"Off to see Drake Corvin then."

Hal stood and clamped her hand on his shoulder, "So, what's taking you so long?" She knuckled Zee, "Let's go if you don't want my fists for breakfast."

"Hold on tight."