A Serpent's Revenge: Bakunawa's Bloodline

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

[MAYA]

Maya takes the day off. With an angry Diana out, she fears that the girl and her friends would be plotting something against her. She figures that it would be best if she stayed indoors for a while. Her detention starts tomorrow, but she thinks that it would be alright if she starts early.

She's trying to keep herself busy by cleaning her room before proceeding with the whole dormitory. While cleaning, she finds snake skins under the carpet. She doesn't know if that skin belongs to Ingko or another snake. It does not matter, as she needs to get rid of it before others begin to suspect that she's still keeping Ingko.

After moving the furniture and lifting the carpet, she's surprised to see a trap door at the bottom.

Was this always there? She wonder.

Seeing how a piece of the snake's skin is trapped underneath, she decides to try and open the hatch.

It's locked. Of course it would be.

But the lock is the least of her concerns. When Maya tries to peek at the cracks, she can see something glimmering.

Is that water? Come to think of it, there's something strange about the lock. She traces her fingers on the pattern and learns that those words are written in baybayin, the old Filipino alphabet.

Thank goodness that the academy taught them Bayabayin, even though it has been a long lost alphabet in the modern world.

ᜋᜌᜇᜒ

"Mayari," She starts to read the words.

Isn't that my mother? She thought.

She feels an overwhelming urge to open the hatch, as if something is calling to her from below. Even though Maya has a tendency to be easily duped, she would never risk her safety by examining something she knew nothing about.

If the Philippine folklore told her something, it was that she always needed to trust her guts. And right now, it is telling her to finish tidying up.

She never met her mother, so even when her mother's name is written on an ominous looking door, she won't be compelled to open it.

The Mayari dorm isn't huge, so it was easier for her to finish up quickly. She feels tired and yet feels accomplished.

A howl in the distance catches her attention. She rushes to the back of her dorm, only to find her white wolf friend standing and waiting for her.

"Lobo!" Maya rushes to the white wolf with an uncontrollable grin on her face. Her stress evaporates as she buries her face in its fur. "What are you doing here? You know that you should not be near the dorms. Some of the students might flip if they see you." There are some demigods who get along well with animals because of their predecessors while others simply panic at the mere sight of wolves. After what happened with Ingko this morning, she doesn't want a repeat of the incident.

She notices how Lobo seems to be prancing on her feet. Maya has been with Lobo long enough that she can tell what the wolf is trying to tell her.

Her brows furrow. "I see. Thanks for scaring Diana and the others away. I guess since they can't find me, they decided to come to my dorm." She lets out a breath, feeling her stress catching up to her.

Lobo taps its nose on Maya's forehead before showing her its back. Maya smiles knowing what it means. She hops on Lobo's back and secures herself before patting its side to let it know she's ready. The wolf runs slowly at first but speeds up once they're in the woods.

To be in the woods once more is the epitome of freedom for Maya. She hates the academy, but she can't leave, because it would put her life in danger.

Yet, unbeknownst to her, danger has been quietly seeping into the academy.

[SIGREN]

Sigren did not expect that the preparation would take long. He had to use a lot of energy to call the aswangs and malignos that would help him get into the academy. They can be very stubborn, but as soon as he threatens them or gives them a good beating, they are nothing but mute dogs who obey him. Thankfully, he only has to fight the most stubborn ones because most of them agree with his plan.

Sigren is in the middle of humming when he suddenly thinks about his demigod friend in the academy. If they attack tonight, she will be undoubtedly be hurt in the process. He needs to give a special instructions to the aswangs later to avoid a specific girl...

'Sire,' Sabath slitters up and nestles on his shoulder. 'Aman has returned and he brought back the key.'

"Good." He says. With his hand resting on his knuckles, he soon looks at the little rat snake that moves to the other side of him. He puts out his hand and lets Aman ride on it. Then he brings the snake close to his face. "You're late. Where have you been? You were supposed to be here early morning." Sigren holds out his other hand as Aman coughs up the key that Sigren asked the snake to bring.

'Apologies, prince. I was preoccupied.'

Sigren's gaze starts to wander around the rat snake's scales, and she sees bits of dried blood near its lips. "What happened to you?"

'Not to me, prince, but to the woman you covet.'

"Maya?" Sigren doesn't pay attention to how Aman describes Maya. Instead, he focuses on more important issues that involve a close friend of his. "What happened to her?" Even though he is worried, he still plasters on a calm expression.

'I bit a certain girl that seems to be harassing your friend.' Aman says. 'It's my fault. I got careless, and one of the students saw me. If it weren't for lady Maya, I would have been killed by others.'

Sigren scratches Aman's chin. "I am glad that you are safe, Aman." Upon hearing Aman's story, Sigren can't help but feel a little more dedicated to his revenge. Now, he feels more assured that these people can't be left alone. They need to perish. "About this girl that's harassing Maya, what's her name?"

'I am not sure, but I hear the lady calling her Diana.' Aman answered.

"What does she look like?"

'A tall girl with brown hair. She does not seem to be fully native as she is the only one with blue eyes.'

Good, Sigren thought before looking at Sabath, who is still perched on his shoulder.

"Sabath, you heard the name and the description, right? It seems like we just got our first target." He grins sadistically when Sabath bows and begins to slither off to tell the others about their first target. "Don't kill her with your poison, Sabath. I want the constrictors to do the job and make her suffer first before killing her." He already knows what he will do if he sees Diana. Since she harassed his dear friend, it would only be fair for him to do the same to her, right?
Sigren laughs to himself as a gruesome image of how he is going to kill the girl forms in his head before he continues to hum to himself.

~*~*~*~*~*~END OF CHAPTER~*~*~*~*~*~