The Adventure of the Dancing Angel of Lights (Completed)

Part 1 - The Whirlpool

Maya woke up in alarm as she felt the floating cottage they were on shake and twirl rapidly. What could be happening? They were out in the sea but not that far out that they could still see the stores along the beach with their glaring lights on. It is not even that late yet for they were supposed to get back on shore at 7pm and she just dozed off for a bit having eaten too much. It was not raining and the weather was fine. Everything looked just fine!

Except for this weird whirlpool that came out of nowhere and gripped their cottage in a twirl. Every member of her family, her husband, her three daughters, her in-laws, her mother, her sister and nephews, her two brothers and their family and grandchildren, all 40 of them, and even their beloved pets were on that huge floating cottage they rented for a night out this evening of All Souls' Day.

Suddenly she heard a loud cracking noise and saw the bamboo slats of the cottage where her three daughters where lying down break apart and the children were swallowed whole by the turbulent water down a hole the whirlpool created in the floor of the sea, leaving the seabed barren and dry and their cottage totally wrecked.

Her husband crawled desperately towards the hole which was quickly closing up like there was never before. They all scrambled off towards the dry seabed and tried to grasp through any potholes they could find, digging desperately through the dripping sand to look for a way to find the missing teenagers, to grab their hands if they pass by a hole big enough for a body of a full-grown woman to pass through, but to no avail.

Maya could hear now the voices of other people coming to their aid, asking in confusion what happened for this weird event had never happened before and something which no one could ever imagine to happen in real life. She could not be having a nightmare, could she? She pinched herself hard and the pain that shot through her was enough for her to cry out loud in desperation.

"No! No! No! This could not be happening!"

Then subconsciously folding within herself and falling in a trance, she prayed fervently: "Oh, God of Heaven and Earth, Father, help me!"

She felt herself float above the sky, an invisible pull of energy taking her up. She could hear the amazed gasps and murmurs of people down below but with a mysterious light shrouding her entire body they could not tell who or what could that be floating object above them although it somehow shaped like a woman. In this sudden turn of events, even her own husband and mother could have not turned around to look for her if she was still among the crowd or the one floating above them.

She somehow instinctively knew she needed to execute some moves as a dance offering to the Almighty Being she had asked for help. She twisted and twirled on the air, stretching her arms in and out of her body in all directions as she saw dots of lights swirl around her. She could feel their power gathering within her until she could feel herself humming and brimming of untold energy.

Even this high up in the heavens she could hear the amazement in the voices of the people gathered down below who watched unabashedly the show. Even her niece, who happened to be a famous vlogger, could not stop herself from going live which took her popularity to greater heights as people around the world clicked on the live streaming link in just a few seconds the entire show started.

Maya felt she was running out of time and had executed the moves of gathering light energy so fast as she could pull them from the generous and vast resources of heaven and earth. When she felt she had enough, she once again beseeched the God of Heaven and Earth to lead her directly to where her daughters are.

In just a blink of an eye the apparition the people saw on the sky was gone. They could not believe what just happened to the sea which is finally coming back in gradually but enough to send all of them scampering back to shore. Even the pets got scared enough to run for their own lives and took shelter by the nearest store at the beach.

Only then that the entire family began to take count and look for their remaining love ones. Maya's husband almost fainted to find his wife not among the relatives milling around him. This night's events are fast becoming a hot topic all over social media, a very great scoop for Halloween Night and an unbelievable spectacle that focused on their family.

Maya's husband, DM, held his mouth shut amidst the bombardment of questions he got from all the people around wanting the firsthand version of the story. Their family members began to gather around him protectively and slowly led him away from the crowd towards their rented vans. He was just quick enough to pick up their beloved Spitz before he was pushed into one of the vans.

He asked his brother-in-law to tell everyone on the other vans to go ahead and assemble in their house, and to ask questions later. The five people inside the van, looked at him with tearful eyes. Maya's mother was incessantly crying onto her shirt that the cloth that had almost gone dry after getting drenched in the whirlpool was once again getting wet by all the tears she was wiping them with.

Everyone didn't have much on them but everything was intact even their phones and pets. Only the four members of their family went missing mysteriously.

The people at the beach was hesitant to make them leave. After all what happened to them was a great mystery to the people around. Thankfully, no one knew other than them and the driver/owner of the floating cottage of what really happened. The owner didn't even have the heart to let them pay for the wrecked cottage knowing nothing can compensate for the lives of the three lively teenagers the family lost in just a blink of an eye and a weird swirl of seawater.

They traversed the long road back home in silence except for the unstoppable crying and murmuring of Maya's mother. DM tried to pacify the old woman, saying as calmly as he could despite the own turmoil in his heart.

"Mom, I think it was Maya, the dancing apparition, I mean," he whispered.

"What?" The old woman gasped in surprise, looking at him like he had gone out of his mind.

Everyone turned to look at them, but, DM, did not repeat what he said but instead told them he will tell them all later. The rest of the ride was carried in silence. All of them walked inside the house in a serious manner and everyone just squished themselves unto chairs and every space available in the modest bungalow, with some either standing or sitting on the floor. The drivers of the van were sent away hastily after the rent was paid to keep the story within the family members remaining.

DM had just enough time to close the door and perch himself on the highest rung of the first flight of stairs to the attic before he was bombarded by questions of concern from almost every adult in the group huddled inside the house.

Raising a hand was enough to silence everyone. Even the young children who did not understand what was happening and whimpering were shushed to silence by their mothers or fathers whose hold never left them since what happened for fear of such a thing happening to their own.

DM smiled bitterly at them before he began to speak. "Anyone might be saying I am too calm after all that happened to my family tonight. But I hope you will trust and believe that although it was horrendous, at first, to witness our daughters go down that gaping hole in such a gigantic whirlpool, the night ended with hope and a miracle?"