from him?"
"Anyway," Gilda butted in.
"You heard right, my dear boy, Xavier. The Andalusian Hunters are also looking
for the new greatest healer after Rebecca Blood. But they are out
to get her at all cost. They thirst for the healer's blood. They
are going in for the kill. According to oral tradition, in the
beginning, the Andalusian Hunters received the mission from the Blessed
Virgin Mary to hunt down Muslims in any way they can. They were
given the authority to kill them if needed. And it seemed they saw
the need all throughout these years. Later on, they extended their
hunt to healers, witches and non-Christian believers. During the
Inquisition, it was said that the Catholic Church, which they
vehemently deny up to this day, supported this secret society to
hunt down witches. These people are brutal. They feed healers
to—not just one, but many wild beasts…hyenas—tearing their bodies
apart and dissolving their powers to these lower forms of
creatures. And making it hard to transfer the healer's gift to
another person."
There was anger on Gilda's face which
she couldn't mask and a faraway look in her eyes as if she was
seeing something sinister from the past.
"What is it Gilda?" Helen asked. As if
contaminated by a virus, the tale had also greatly terrified
Helen.
"It's just that I had witnessed one of
their hunts. I was but a young girl. It was my biological mother in
that particular lifetime. People were already gossiping about us
being witches. But of course, it was only me in that family with
the gift. But my mother sacrificed herself instead. She had offered
herself to the hyenas. And I saw—never even thought it was possible
for someone to have such loving eyes despite a torn limb—but it was
the way she looked at me even at her fatal death," Gilda recounted.
"The myth about the hyenas is true. They've always been associated
with witchcraft and their body parts are often used as ingredients
to alternative medicine. These are the healers' blood the beasts
carry within them, whose power had been wasted because of some
apparition which could have never took place in the first
place."
Everyone jumped in surprise as the door
burst open and came in Hugh, who was looking amusedly at all of
them.
"What did I miss?" Hugh blurted
out.
Chapter 13
The Witch Hunt
It had been long since the Blood family
became complete, gathering together in their study the way the
siblings came together that day. Jonah noted.
If mother hadn’t died, we
wouldn’t have been together again…there was indeed something better
that came out of her death . Jonah mused.
She was lying on propped-up throw pillows with her legs dangling on
the arm of the antique divan rattan sofa.
"Let us wait for Bricius. There’s no
changing him—he is late as usual," Jane said. She took the tall
seat where Rebecca usually sat even when their father was still
alive.
"So, can you still feel her in that
chair?" Jervais remarked her blue eyes twinkling with amusement.
Her long, blond bangs which almost covered her face unsuccessfully
hid a naughty smirk. She shivered dramatically before joining Jonah
in the divan. She cleared all the throw pillows before lifting
Jonah’s head into her lap. At twenty-two, Jervais was the close
buddy Jonah ever had. Aside from Jane, Jonah had always liked
Jervais among her other siblings.
"You are talking about your mother,
Jervais!" Jane chided.
"And your mother, too!" Jerone
interrupted, her pale blue eyes momentarily leaving the daily. She
awkwardly tucked her newly-dyed ginger hair behind her ears before
she proceeded reading the paper.
Jemmah laughed out loud in the
background. She was standing right by the window, puffing a
cigarette. Jonah joined in a snickering laughter which earned her a
loving, soft tug on her hair by Jervais.
"What?" Jonah complained playfully.
"You started it," she teased the older sibling to which Jervais
only frowned.
"Jemmah, you are making a mess," Jane
scolded, referring to her
"Anyway," Gilda butted in.
"You heard right, my dear boy, Xavier. The Andalusian Hunters are also looking
for the new greatest healer after Rebecca Blood. But they are out
to get her at all cost. They thirst for the healer's blood. They
are going in for the kill. According to oral tradition, in the
beginning, the Andalusian Hunters received the mission from the Blessed
Virgin Mary to hunt down Muslims in any way they can. They were
given the authority to kill them if needed. And it seemed they saw
the need all throughout these years. Later on, they extended their
hunt to healers, witches and non-Christian believers. During the
Inquisition, it was said that the Catholic Church, which they
vehemently deny up to this day, supported this secret society to
hunt down witches. These people are brutal. They feed healers
to—not just one, but many wild beasts…hyenas—tearing their bodies
apart and dissolving their powers to these lower forms of
creatures. And making it hard to transfer the healer's gift to
another person."
There was anger on Gilda's face which
she couldn't mask and a faraway look in her eyes as if she was
seeing something sinister from the past.
"What is it Gilda?" Helen asked. As if
contaminated by a virus, the tale had also greatly terrified
Helen.
"It's just that I had witnessed one of
their hunts. I was but a young girl. It was my biological mother in
that particular lifetime. People were already gossiping about us
being witches. But of course, it was only me in that family with
the gift. But my mother sacrificed herself instead. She had offered
herself to the hyenas. And I saw—never even thought it was possible
for someone to have such loving eyes despite a torn limb—but it was
the way she looked at me even at her fatal death," Gilda recounted.
"The myth about the hyenas is true. They've always been associated
with witchcraft and their body parts are often used as ingredients
to alternative medicine. These are the healers' blood the beasts
carry within them, whose power had been wasted because of some
apparition which could have never took place in the first
place."
Everyone jumped in surprise as the door
burst open and came in Hugh, who was looking amusedly at all of
them.
"What did I miss?" Hugh blurted
out.
Chapter 13
The Witch Hunt
It had been long since the Blood family
became complete, gathering together in their study the way the
siblings came together that day. Jonah noted.
If mother hadn’t died, we
wouldn’t have been together again…there was indeed something better
that came out of her death . Jonah mused.
She was lying on propped-up throw pillows with her legs dangling on
the arm of the antique divan rattan sofa.
"Let us wait for Bricius. There’s no
changing him—he is late as usual," Jane said. She took the tall
seat where Rebecca usually sat even when their father was still
alive.
"So, can you still feel her in that
chair?" Jervais remarked her blue eyes twinkling with amusement.
Her long, blond bangs which almost covered her face unsuccessfully
hid a naughty smirk. She shivered dramatically before joining Jonah
in the divan. She cleared all the throw pillows before lifting
Jonah’s head into her lap. At twenty-two, Jervais was the close
buddy Jonah ever had. Aside from Jane, Jonah had always liked
Jervais among her other siblings.
"You are talking about your mother,
Jervais!" Jane chided.
"And your mother, too!" Jerone
interrupted, her pale blue eyes momentarily leaving the daily. She
awkwardly tucked her newly-dyed ginger hair behind her ears before
she proceeded reading the paper.
Jemmah laughed out loud in the
background. She was standing right by the window, puffing a
cigarette. Jonah joined in a snickering laughter which earned her a
loving, soft tug on her hair by Jervais.
"What?" Jonah complained playfully.
"You started it," she teased the older sibling to which Jervais
only frowned.
"Jemmah, you are making a mess," Jane
scolded, referring to her
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