Mirren Academy of Spells

Chapter 1: The Abandoned

Chapter 1: The Abandoned

I stared at the unpaved road ahead. The car Ms. Meredith had rented wasn't doing a good job of bringing us to the outskirts of this sleepy town dahil panay ang patay ng makina nito.

"Malayo pa ba, Ms. Meredith?"

I didn't know why we were here...or maybe I did, and I just couldn't accept the fact that instead of enjoying the long weekend like everyone else, I was in an unknown town in an unknown island.

Mula madaling araw nasa biyahe na kami. We took the bus for five freaking hours to this unheard-of pier where we took a small boat for another hour or so to this sleepy island.

Sleepy wasn't an understatement. It was seven in the morning nang dumating kami sa isla at naghanap ng pwedeng kainan dahil hindi pa kami kumakain mula noong umalis kami sa Clarence, but the only open restaurant was a small eatery near the pier.

Naghanap kami ng sasakyan na pwedeng rentahan pero wala raw nagpaparenta sa isla, kaya nakiusap kami sa may-ari ng restaurant rentahan ang sasakyan niya.

At least there's one good thing about the island—madaling pakiusapan ang mga tao rito. They let us rent the car until noon and they gave us the keys without even signing an official document. Kung sa Clarence ito, you weren't getting your car back.

But it was an island, and wala nang daan palabas dito other than the pier, so I understood how they could easily vest their trust to complete strangers like us.

But we weren't completely strangers. Kaya ako nandito kasama ang secretary ni lola na si Ms. Meredith ay dahil may malaking lupang nakapangalan sa 'kin sa lugar na ito.

But in this kind of place? I doubted kung may ibang kamag-anak si lola na nakapunta na rito. Why would she have a piece of land here? It was too far from the city of Clarence.

Halos mauntog ang ulo ko sa bintana ng sasakyan dahil sa lubak na daan. Beyond the streets of the pier, wala nang makikitang maaayos na daan sa isla. Maging ang mga bahay ay unti-unting nauubos habang lumalayo kami sa pier.

"It's creepy," tukoy ko sa matataas na puno sa gilid ng daan. "What are we even visiting here?"

Ngumiti si Ms. Meredith. She had honestly always been like this. Pangiti-ngiti lang, like everything for her was an adventure. Sinandal ko ang noo ko sa upuan at bumuntonghininga.

Makaraan ng halos isang oras na biyahe, nakarating kami sa lupang tinutukoy sa mga documents ni lola. It was smack dab in the center of the woods, a wide clearing where a huge cabin resided.

Napakurap ako at medyo natulala. Yes, I never expected to see something like this—dalawang palapag na cabin, may garahe at shed sa gilid, may maluwang na bonfire pit sa harapan at mukhang may nakatira sa loob.

"You sure this is the property?"

Tumatawa lang siya nang lumabas sa sasakyan, like she knew about this all along. Sumunod ako sa kanya at naglakad-takbo nang makitang nasa harapan na siya ng bahay at may kausap.

Kumunot ang noo ko. Ms. Meredith could be gullible and could afford to give her trust to anyone but me. I was the more cynical and cautious, the one who checked the facts first before completely immersing myself into something.

"Ms. Odeth, sila ang caretaker dito."

Tiningnan ko ang matandang mag-asawa. They had gray hair, wrinkled faces with smiles, and slightly curved backs from their ages. "Good morning po," bati ko. They didn't look like people who would cause anyone harm.

"Ikaw na pala 'yan."

"Nanggaling na po ba ako rito?" tanong ko.

Ngumiti ang matandang babae. "Hindi mo naaalala pero nanggaling ka na rito."