randomwatt
Part 1
By:Deiji
We were forbidden to go near the huge balete tree behind our school. My grandma said something not human lives there.
But me, 17, stubborn. I always took that shortcut going home because it was faster.
One night, it was raining. I had no umbrella. I ran towards the balete tree to take shelter.
It was dark. Silent. Then suddenly, lights appeared inside the tree. Like fireflies, but gold.
And in the middle of the light, there was a boy.
Tall. White hair but he looked my age. Wearing a white barong, but old. His eyes were amber, like a cat's eyes at night.
"Who gave you permission to enter my territory?" he said. His voice was cold, but not scary.
"Your territory? This tree belongs to the barangay. It's public property," I answered back.
He smiled. "Public property? I've lived here for 300 years, you've only been alive for 17 years."
My blood ran cold.
"What... what are you?"
"I am Silas. The Keeper."
He stepped closer. With every step, grass grew under his feet.
"You shouldn't be here, Luna. The smell of your blood... you woke them up again."
"Blood? What blood?"
He looked at my hand. I had a small cut because I tripped on a rock earlier.
He held it. His hand was warm, like electricity.
When he touched it, my wound healed. Gone.
"You have Babaylan blood, don't you? That's why they're hunting you."
"Babaylan? My grandma is a healer, yes."
"You call them healers now. But your blood, it's the blood of the strongest Babaylan in Cebu. That's why they want you."
"Who are they?"
Before he could answer, something screamed outside the balete. Not human. Like an animal.
Silas pulled me inside the tree itself. Inside the tree, it was like a palace. Stairs made of roots.
"Hide here. Don't come out no matter what you hear," he whispered. "The hunt has started again."
And outside, I saw in the shadows of the tree, red eyes staring at us. Many of them.