At noon the same day, Cecilia finished with her fish selling early. Upon arriving home, she was greeted by her astonished grandfather, "How do you do it, Cee? It takes you only half a day to do what will take a whole day for others to accomplish."
Cecilia smugly grinned as she hugged her pops. "Your grandchild is a cut above the rest," she explained, her left eyebrow bobbing up and down. "Plus, I am drop-dead gorgeous," she exclaimed, while batting her eyelashes repeatedly.
The old man chuckled, "Let's go have lunch, but first..." Ernesto tied Cecilia's hair into a ponytail. "Always tie your hair, so more people can see how beautiful you are! Common child, let's eat." Cecilia smiled at her grandfather and followed him inside their humble home.
Around the same time, in the Twilight, Chris exited his quarters dressed in all black. He marched to the conference room, where his party was waiting for him. "All preparations are complete, Captain," Murillo reported.
"Let's get this over with," Chris said casually. He picked up the intercom and called the bridge. Once he heard Chief Bustamante's voice, he gave his instructions: "Chief officer, you have the bridge. Continue with passenger boarding procedures. We will set sail the moment we arrive."
"Aye! Captain," The Bustamante replied from the other line. Chris motioned to the other to follow his lead, and one by one they disappeared into black mists.
They reappeared seconds later on a clearing between the two mountains. "This is where the flow of energy between the two mountains clashes; it is the perfect spot."
"We will contain the spirit here. Once she arrives, we will surround her," Chris directed his two officers. "Murillo, you will come from that direction. Martinez, that direction is your position. We will converge upon the child's position. I will try to contain her within our triangle, and the two of you will act as a conduit to increase my range."
He then addressed Kaori, "Mrs. Espino, just concentrate on finishing the ritual, and we will do our best to restrain the spirit."
The four assumed their positions, waiting for their target. Hours passed by, waiting in their concealed locations, but the possessed child did not appear. It was almost dark when Chris got out of hiding. "Did we get the area wrong?" he asked himself.
Cecilia arrived at the Ocampo Pagoda at exactly seven in the evening, the agreed-upon time. She looked at the old structure, its faded paint, numerous water stains, electrical wiring, and cables that littered the front like cobwebs.
She was about to enter the covered walkway and stairs when she heard someone call out to her, "Young lady, over here!"
She turned towards the voice and saw the old man behind a stall alongside the other street vendors. She approached the stall and noticed that all of his wares were amulets, talismans, and good luck charms. "Hello, sir, how many stalls do you have? Anyway, that's not important, you said that you have something for me?"
"Ah, yes," The old man quickly replied, "Let me see here." He scanned the amulets and talismans he was selling until he found what he was looking for. The old man picked up an amulet that was shaped like the open eyes of a falcon. "This, my child, is called the 'Eye of Horus'"
"You're giving me an eye to close my third eye?" Cecilia exclaimed as she meticulously examined the dangling amulet.
"So you don't want it?" The old man asked, a frown forming on his lips
"I didn't say that." Cecilia deftly snatched the amulet from the old man's hands
"Most amulets emit a protective energy that surrounds their wearer, but this particular amulet emits energy that goes inward and neutralizes the spiritual energy emitted by your soul," He explained to Cecilia, who is turning the amulet in her hands. "That spiritual energy is the reason one can see the supernatural realm. But you, you emit an abnormally large amount of energy. This explains why your ability to perceive the supernatural world eclipses and is far beyond others."
"What? How could you know that? " She asked skeptically
"Not important," the old man waves off Cecilia's queries. "A word of caution, though, child." The man's voice turned ominous, "I can only make one of these, and I can never make another."
"Okay, sir, understood. I'll make sure I won't lose it," she replied
"That is not what I meant by that. Replacing the amulet is easy; it's the energy that can never be reproduced." She turned to the old man, curious about what he said. "If you give that away, the amulet's energy will bond with its new owner, and you will never be able to use that same kind of energy ever again. You will have to live with your abilities and learn not to fear those poor souls…for the rest of your days."
"If this works, why would I give it away?" Cecilia replied, "How much do I…" She turned to the old man, but he was gone again. "…owe you?" she thought to herself, as she looked left and right for the old man.
"Hmmm, they say UST is haunted…I'll test it there." She wore the amulet and made her way to the University. She was only walking for a couple of minutes when she saw a familiar face. "Emily?" The last time she laid eyes on the child was a haunting moment, one that followed her unsettling possession by the ghost of her ancestor.
She ran after the child when she caught up, and she knelt in front of the child while holding her by the shoulders, "Emily? You're Emily, right? What are you doing here? Did the ghost let you go?"
But the child did not reply; despite Emily's tiny frame, she was able to shove Cecilia at least a few feet away, startling curious onlookers. Cecilia reeled from being shoved. "What is going on?" she wondered, and then she remembered she was wearing the amulet. She hastily took it off, and the moment she did, she beheld the hidden horror of the possessed child.
Emily was hunched, her head filled with unkept, long, bristly hairs, her spine almost protruding from her back, her arms thin, long, and her hands dragging along the ground as she walked. Her skin was grayish with black patches all over. What scared Cecilia was the apparition that was floating right beside Emily, tethered to the child's body.
Cecilia stumbled back at the grotesque and twisted features of the possessed child, her hands flying to her mouth in shock and pity. Her eyes widened with fear that loomed heavily in the air. With trembling hands, she fished her phone out of her pocket, without breaking her line of sight to the girl she called Chris. He did not answer, so she tried again and again. She sent a text message to Chris and tried to call again.
At that moment, Chris was diligently on guard, waiting for their target. At the end of his patience, he took out his phone and dropped Cecilia's call. He then noticed the text message, which read "Emily is here in Manila!"
He quickly dialed her number, and she quickly answered, "Hello?" Her voice trembled in the other line.
"How do you know she is in Manila?" he asked without beating around the bush.
"I'm looking at her right now!" she answered. Chris could practically feel how her voice trembled.
"Don't move, give me a few seconds," Chris ended the call. He went out of his hiding place and called out the other three, "We're in the wrong place! Emily is in Manila!" he shouted
"Manila? Why is my daughter in Manila? What is she doing there?" Kaori frantically asked, worried that something may already have happened to her child.