Chapter 24

CALLEA is in a deep slumber. It was a beautiful day. She enjoyed chatting with Deive and she liked the progress of the story that she is writing. She wrote the flashback of Althea and her ex-boyfriend when he was not an asshole yet.

I don't want to tackle love stories before. It took her days and even months just to create the cheese scenes. It became easier because of Deive. He made her feel giddy with the way he cared for her and he tried to protect her from bats. And he even shopped clothes for her. It was not to her liking but she appreciated it.

Instead of horror background songs and sound effects, she had chosen an old record of kundiman or love songs sung by her cousin. Even Luna loved the kundiman and slept right away.

But Deive didn't leave her. He was in her dreams. She was imprisoned by a monster. He was calling out her name. He was in his armor while riding a steed and wielding a sword. He came to save her. Her eyes flew open when she heard a huge crash.

Callea's eyes widened in darkness. With the help of the little light, she saw the books and dresses on the hanger rack topple because Marina hadn't put it inside her closet yet. Even her skeleton friends, Napoleon and Marie Antoinette nearly shattered.

"What happened here?" I asked as I get up from the bed. I gave Luna and accusing look while it screeched as if she was at fault.

Then she heard a moan. From the rubble of skeleton, books, and dresses, there was Deive who was trying to recover.

"Deive," she called him in a soft voice. What is he doing in my room?

She saw his eyes turn into slits as he looked at her. "Evil spirit, what have you done to Callea?" He took out something from his pocket then threw it to her direction. "Leave this world. Go with the light. Leave us in peace"

Salt? He was throwing salt at her and he called her evil spirit. "Deive, what the heck are you…"

Then Callea remembered what she looked like. She was wearing Althea's costume. Her long black hair was laid down. She didn't comb it and as if ten banshees tried to pull her hair. She was wearing a white nightgown full of the blood stain. Synthetic blood was painted on her face and body.

I swiped my hair away from my face. "Deive, wait. It is me, Callea.""

He put the cross in her direction. "You can't fool me. Leave Callea's body." He closed his eyes and then murmured something as if on a prayer.

I opened the switch of the fluorescent lamp. Light flooded the room. Deive opened his eyes and widened when she didn't disappear like an ordinary ghost or monster when bathed with light.

She put her hands on her hips. "I told you I am Callea. Do you believe me now?"

Deive blinked several times. "Callea? Why do you look like a bloody white lady?" He looked around the room. The shock and disgust in his eyes became worse. He tried to get off the rubble of skeletons and different props he was in. He dusted off his shoulder. "Why is your room out of a horror production?" He pushed away from the webs on the side of her closet. "How could you sleep in a place like this? How could you stand living in this house?"

"This is my world, Deive. This is who I really am," she answered and spread her arms to emphasize her statement. "This is what I really look like. Or I want to be."

He shook his head. "No! Don't even go there. How did you become…" He stopped and saw the paintings and sketches that lined up her wall. He snatched one and looked at it intently. "Are you a member of the cult?

"No!"

"Why put these in your room? These are horrible!"

"Those are my artworks, you idiot!" she snarled.

"Artworks?" he asked and confusion took over his features. "Why do you create scary and creepy stuff like this? Are you deliberately trying to turn me off? Don't you like me? Or this is some silly test to check if I deserve to be your groom?"

"No!" It was frustrating the hell out of Callea. He thought she was just playing with him. "What part of "this is me" you didn't get?"

"You don't need these anymore, Callea. You won't scare me. I am here to protect you from the ghosts of this house."

"Y-You want to protect me?"

"Yes. When I realized that there are ghosts here, I thought about your welfare right away. I went to your room looking like a quack doctor or a shaman to make sure you are okay. I prayed at the church this morning. I kneeled for a couple of hours, begging for protection. And I am the type who doesn't pray. Good thing I didn't get an exorcist or I would look like a fool. Maybe you are laughing at me right now. I got scared of the sounds I heard. I believe in white lady and evil ugly cat."

Luna screeched again as if insulted by Deive's statement. The cat tried to attack Deive so she picked up the cat right away. "Stay here, Luna." She noticed some gashes on his arm. It looked like he had another match with Luna. "A-Are you hurt?"

She didn't expect that he would go through lengths just to protect her. She didn't think that he would seriously take everything he saw and heard. Her only fault was that she let it go too far. He was ashamed and hurt because of her. He didn't deserve it.

"I have no intention to hurt you or deceive you," Callea protested in a low voice.

He threw away the sketches on the floor. "Save your breath! As if I will still believe you." His face was red with anger. "This is quite a show. You made me look stupid. To think that I even cared for you. Callea, I won't force someone who doesn't want to marry me. If you don't want me, you should have told me right away. It would save us both time, effort and emotion." He untied the string of garlic on his waist. "Don't worry. I will vacate your haunted house soon."

His footsteps were heavy as he made his way to the door. She went after him.

"Deive, wait! You can't just leave…" It was in the middle of the night and he was still swimming in emotions. It would be dangerous for him to drive.

"How am I supposed to stay here? You are insane!" He pointed a finger at Luna. "Your cat is insane." He spread his arms and lifted it up. "This whole house is insane. I have to leave while there's still sanity left in me."

Then he stormed out of the room. She flinched when he closed the door with a bang. I felt weak and let go of Luna. It saddened her that things would end up like this with Deive. She was starting to like him. She didn't want him to leave with a misunderstanding. He must be thinking that she was an awful person.

I slumped on the floor and Her room was a mess. Her life was a mess. All because of her real identity. Because she didn't come clean with Deive in the first place. He was right. She wasted his time.

"This is all my fault, Luna. This is all my fault."