And She Died Again ¦✔

~16~Her Return

Her return was like a plague...

  All was well... at least for now. Time kept running faster and faster and it seem as if a tricky deity had delighted itself with viciously spinning the seconds and minutes at a much faster pace. Not even the covered up investigation of Alicia Pepperman was able to cause an abeyance in time. Some people moved on, others too felt life was a little too worthless without her in it  

  The endlessly stretched sky dimmed and brightened in quick succession and before Ana Perla knew it, it had already been a year since she met the lowly ghost of Alicia Pepperman. 

  Beforehand she'd gone through a lot of doubts as she continually mopped around thinking she had a mistake when she helped her come back to life, but now that she thought of how soothing Alicia's- or should she say Maya's presence was, she knew she had made a right decision.

  She adroitly descended the articulate stairs, trailing her bright red nails on the smooth handrail of the balustrade which lightly floated in place. She was happy. She was content. She had a friend. She had family.

She smiled as she walked to the alcove Alicia had her classes in. After the reincarnation; Alicia had come to her estate looking bartered and quite horrific. Her skin were splotched with dark blotches of fatal wounds and what seemed questioningly like deep cuts. She would have had her thrown out the minute she saw her if not for the protests and cries she made as Andre tried to drag her out for barging into the private space of the Del Rosarios.

Ana Perla had stopped Andre from kicking her out because she felt a tug in her heart that she somehow knew the unrecognizably bartered girl. "You said you're Alicia?" She'd asked the girl, completely befuddled that the reincarnation had gone through successfully. It was very rare in many cases.

  The girl replied in the affirmative and Ana Perla cried till she felt there was no drop of moisture in her system. She quickly instructed Andre to let go of her goddaughter and also see to it that Magdalene prepared a room for her. Andre gasped thinking she was just as crazy as the girl he was struggling to throw out. Without much of a resistance, he adamantly adhered to Ana Perla's instructions and helped the girl settle in. Ana Perla trapped Alicia in her embrace once Andre was out of sight. "I was so worried about Ali," she'd said.

"When are you never worried about me," Alicia said amidst tears. "Ana,"

"Si,"

"I go by Maya now–Maya Fox,"

And that had been pretty much everything. Gone was the frightened and boneless ghost Ana Perla had met almost a year ago and in her place was a much fiercer version.

  "Ana, you don't know how happy I am to see you," Alicia said as soon as Ana Perla appeared near the doorpost. She crossed her arms, scowling at her homeschool teacher. She was exhausted and the math tutor kept yapping on about some Xs and Ys she had no interest in. She had much better things to do which needed her uttermost concern. 

 "Good afternoon Senorita Patterson," Ana Perla greeted, ignoring Alicia's spurious interest in her arrival. "I'll like to see you when you are done with my ward," My ward! It felt so good to say that out loud.

  Libby Patterson was a snarky little woman with sharp brown eyes and thick bushy lashes. Her cheekbones were high enough to touch the soles of her feet and the clear rimmed glasses she usually wore gave her an exuding air of confidence. She was totally rocking the whole 'maths tutor' look. She gazed at Ana Perla wearily, for once she looked defeated and tired. "We are already done for today Miss Del Rosario," she said sounding relieved, "Please Maya, don't forget to hand in your assignment next time we meet," She reasoned with Maya for what seemed like the umpteenth time.