The Cane Made from A Death Tree

Joed wakes up very early in the morning on the fifth day of June. He takes a bath and brushes his teeth, and then, he returns to his room. He prepares his black pants, white polo, and socks. It is the first day of the school. Joed is returning to school after a year of stopping due to financial difficulties.

After wearing his school uniform, he eats his breakfast together with his parents and his sister. After breakfast, his mother gives him his allowance, then, he leaves the house. On his way to the school, he keeps on thinking about his encounter with the possession demon and the old man who helped him. He still cannot believe of what happened and how he turned invisible.

Meanwhile, the five creatures have appeared again in the celestial that landed beneath a place in Paco. The leader calls Morgan and asks him. “What happened to the caliginous gateway, Morgan?”

Morgan bows and explains. “I am sorry my lord. The gateway is already closed. It seems that the gateway was closed by a human.”

The leader of the creatures thinks deeply. “Hmmm…” Then he mutters. “Can it be? The Blue Soul Blood?” The leader stands up and speaks. “Morgan, I want you to open another gateway once you regain your power. I want you to look after it. If the last caliginous gateway was closed by a human, then that means the Blue Soul Blood are still active up to this time.”

Morgan bows again and replies. “Yes, my lord. I will find out who this human is.” The leader adds “And kill him.” as he grinned. Morgan replies. “Yes my lord.” He steps back and transforms himself into a black dog. He is the dog that Joed encountered the night before his birthday and met the old man.

Joed arrives at the school very early because the school, Paco Citizen Academy Foundation or PCAF, is just blocks away from his house. The students are told to stay in their designated classrooms before the flag ceremony. Joed is having mixed feelings. He is happy because after a year of stopping, he finally returns to study; he is sad because his batch mates had already graduated last school year; and, he feels alone because he will be with different batch of classmates.

After about 30 minutes of waiting, his classmates are beginning to arrive. He knows some of them very well, like Mateo, who has been his neighbor since they were children; and Anthony, the son of his mother’s friend. He knew the others only by their names.

When the bell rings, the students are told to form their line in the quadrangle according their year level. When everyone is ready, they sing the Philippine National Anthem: Lupang Hinirang, followed by the recitation of Panatang Makabayan. And finally, the singing of the PCAF School Hymn.

During the flag ceremony, Joed was quiet because he was still adjusting with his new classmates. After the flag ceremony, the students are told to go back to their respective classrooms and to wait for their class advisers.

Inside their classroom, Joed’s classmates are mingling with each other because perhaps they have missed each other and they have a lot of things to share with. The group of the basketball varsities has also reunited. Most of the basketball varsities of the fourth year class are the nuisance of the school. Among them are Tiyow, a tall white thin boy with the eyes like an owl; Orly, a tall dark thin boy with curly hair, who was a transferee from the another school; Keelye, a tall guy with round face who occasionally, thinks that he is very invincible, and he is one of the headache of the teachers; Anthony, whom Joed knew for a long time; and Manny, a dark and tall with medium sized body, also a returnee of the school year because he intentionally dropped out last year so he could play basketball again for PCAF, but he is the best player of them. Most of the time, they thought they can get even with their teachers because they believed that they were like angles.

But not all of the basketball varsities are like them. One of them is a humble guy. His name is Lui. A tall brown boy and has a rounded face. He is also a transferee from another school.

The first person that the basketball varsities have noticed is Joed. Orly does his first crackerjack. He calls Joed. “Hey John Edward!” Joed turns to Orly and a paper ball has hit Joed’s face. The varsities laugh. “Wahahaha…”

Joed did not mind what happened. He stayed on his seat and just keeps quiet. Then their class adviser arrives and speaks. “Okay, please stand up.” He calls Annie, a little short girl with dark complexion and has straight hair, to lead the prayer. She stands in front and begins the prayer. The students have different religion because the school is a non-sectarian.

After the prayer, their adviser speaks. “Okay, good morning class!” The students reply. “Good morning sir!” The adviser responds. “Please take your seat.” The students sit down and their adviser distributes information forms to be filled up by them. The adviser sits on his chair and looks at Joed. He has been Joed’s teacher since he was in grade 4. He seems happy for him back to school after a year of absence.

While the students are filling up the information sheet, the adviser announces. “So, one thing you need to remember is that I don’t like tardy students. So, please don’t be late. There are other classmates of yours who are not here yet. Does anyone know if when will Joy and her brother Andoy be coming to school?”

Andoy is also a batch mate of Joed who also stopped last school year. Minnie, a tall girl with straight hair and also the first honor of the class, answers. “Sir, next week, Joy will be coming.” Then she continues filling up the paper. The adviser replies. “Okay. Thank you, Minnie.”

The adviser continues his speech. So, Ken will be arriving next week too. His father gave me a letter last summer that they would be going to Singapore.”

The students seem like they do not care of what their adviser is saying. They continue writing. Joed starts conversation with Annie and Tiffany. Annie is the second honor of the class, and Tiffany, a girl with straight long hair, is the third honor. She is wearing contact lenses with color because her eyesight is blurred.

Joed easily gets along with the two girls. Then after that, he gets along with his other classmates too, like Melboy, a tall boy who used to be fat, and a very funny person; Santiago, a pure Chinese guy but knows Tagalog language fluently because of his long time stay in the Philippines, and the oldest of them; Yuta, an average tall guy who is a very good table tennis player; and Mateo, a tall guy with medium sized body, who is the closest friend of Joed when they were in elementary. He cannot believe that some of his classmates are cool to be with. But the others have their own agenda.

Joed suddenly feels that he needs to urinate, so he asks permission from his adviser. “Sir Fajardo, may I go out?” Mr. Fajardo answers yes through eye expression.

Joed goes to the male comfort room and urinates. Then he washes his hand and manages his hair. When he looks at the mirror, he gets startled because he sees the old man behind him.

Joed faces the old man and speaks. “What the…? What are you doing here? If anyone sees you here…” The old man replies. “Your help is needed again.”

Joed shows an angry facial expression, then he speaks in dismay. “No. It’s very unfair. You only appear then if I needed answer you disappear.” He continues “You never answered my questions. You left me hanging with those questions in my mind. It’s a TORTURE.”

The old man raises his right eyebrow and replies. “Okay. I’ll meet you later after school, then, we shall talk.”

After the old man said those words, Joed hears footsteps from outside the comfort room. He panics because he does not want anyone to see the old man, he tries to close the door but he is too late. A student from third year has entered. Afraid that the third year student would see the old man, Joed turns to the old man. But no surprise, the old man is gone. Joed thinks. “Hmp! I knew it would happen again.”

After school, Joed hurry goes, but he suddenly realizes something. “Where are we going to meet? Ahhh… that old man is making me crazy.”

He continues to walk towards home. It is 12 noon. The classes are only half day. On his way home, the old man suddenly comes out from nowhere. Joed is not surprised. He speaks. “I knew you would do that.” The old man smiles and replies. “Let us find a place to sit.”

Joed and the old man go to the 7-11 Store. Many customers and the crew cannot help but look at the old man because he is wearing old clothes and has a cane like he is an old Chinese kung fu master. But Joed and the old man do not mind those people.

The old man starts to talk. “A long time ago, this place became the battle ground between good and evil. Many humans were being slaughtered by the creatures from the demon world. They can easily pass through the human world because the Eye of Hell was open.”

Joed cannot believe of what he just heard as he speaks. “Eye of Hell?” The old man continues. “Yes. The Eye of Hell is actually beneath this place.”

As Joed heard that, he is astonished. The old man continues again. “Then, from the human side, a power had awakened. They became the Blue Soul Blood. They had the power to resist the power of the demon creatures. They fought and eventually, the Blue Soul Blood won against the demons. However, the damage that it caused was unbearable. Together, all the Blue Soul Blood closed the Eye of Hell. The remaining demons on earth were captured. But the leader of the Blue Soul Blood refused to eliminate the demons, so instead they sent them in exile to outer space. But many years later, it was prophesized that those demons who were exiled would be returning and the Eye of Hell would be opened once again.”

Joed cannot believe of what the old man said. He asks. “So you mean to say, that time is now? And don’t tell me that I am a descendant of a Blue Soul Blood?” The old man answers. “No. You are not a descendant of them. You are a Novel Blue Soul Blood. It is your destiny to have that power.”

Joed is surprised. He replies. “Novel Blue Soul Blood? Does it mean that I am a New Blue Soul Blood?” The old man confirms. “Yes, you are. But you are not the only one. There are others. And their powers are different. Your powers are affected by the reopening of the Eye of Hell.”

Joed remembers something about his power. He asks. “How did I turn invisible? Is that my power?” The old man replies “Yes, that is for now, your power. It will evolve eventually. In order to use your power, you must concentrate and believe. Any doubt in your mind will return you to normal. Think of it and believe.”

Joed nodded his head, then, he asks another question. “What is your name by the way? Haha… you must be thinking that I forgot about that.” The old man smiles as he replies. “I have come by many names.”

Joed raises his left eyebrow as he speaks. “Okay, so I will call you Tatang then. Hahaha…” The old man laughs. “Hahaha…” Then he replies. “Fair enough.”

Joed continues questioning Tatang. “How come you know so much? Do you have any idea about these demon creatures that you are talking about? How am I going to defeat them?” Tatang thinks deeply for a while. Then he speaks. “Yes, I know them. Their leader is Macreo. He was very powerful before. But with the closing of the Eye of Hell, his powers were also diminished, including his subjects’ powers. That is why the Blue Soul Blood defeated them.”

Tatang looks at Joed’s eyes and continues. “But now that they have returned, I fear that he iss becoming powerful again. He can feed on negative energies coming from the people with less faith in God. Defeating them is very difficult by you alone. You must find the other Novel Blue Soul Blood. Together, you can defeat them. The more you are the better chance of defeating them.”

Joed is listening very carefully. He does not know what to do with the information that he just acquired.

After a long discussion, Joed feels that his tummy is rumbling. He has not taken his lunch yet. He speaks joke to Tatang. “Oh, I’m starving. Tatang, can you treat me please. I’m really really hungry.”

Tatang brings out 100 peso bill and gives it to Joed. Joed feels ashamed as he speaks. “I was only joking.” But he grabs it and speaks. “But since you are insisting, I’ll take it anyway. Hahaha…”

Tatang just smiles while Joed rushes to get hotdog sandwich and four seasons juice drink. Then he goes to the counter to pay. He was greeted by the lady in the counter. Joed looks at the name tag of the lady. Her name is Sandra. But she looks haggard, maybe because of overworked. After paying, he returns to the table where he left Tatang. But as usual, Tatang is no longer there. Joed just takes a seat and enjoy his hotdog sandwich.

After eating, he stands up and walks out of the store. Just a few steps, he feels that there are people staring at him. He continues walking, trying to ignore those people. But other people just block his way. He looks at the people. He feels afraid and shocked. The people have sharp red eyes just like the last time he encountered the man who was possessed by the possession demon. He knows that these people are possessed or being controlled.

One of them points at him and speaks. “He is not affected. He must have strong faith. Get him.”

Afraid, Joed runs away, avoiding other people. He is chased by those who are being controlled. When he gets to the street going to Anthony’s house, he gets cornered by those people. One of them speaks as he raises his handed bottle. “There is no more left to run.”

The people are starting to get near him. Suddenly, Joed remembers what Tatang said about how to activate his power. He concentrates and focuses. He mutters. “Concentrate… focus… focus…” Then, before the people can get further near him, he turns invisible. The people are shocked.

While in his invisible state, Joed finds an idle space, then, he runs through to escape. In his mind, he is thinking. “There must be a caliginous gateway open somewhere. I must find it and close it. But where should I look?”

Before he could get further from the people, a woman speaks. “Find him! He must be the Blue Soul Blood that we are looking for.” Joed is shocked for what he has heard. He thinks. “She knows! She must be possessed by a possession demon.”

Joed stops and turns to look at the woman. It is the lady in 7-11 Store, Sandra. He thinks. “The lady in the counter. It may mean something. The caliginous gateway may be near the 7-11 store.”

He rushes to the store and notices that the store now has no people. He enters the store as he thinks. “There are CCTV cameras, I must remain invisible.” But he does not know how long he will stay invisible. So, he searches the place but he cannot find anything unusual.

Frustrated, he stops at the middle of the store. Then he notices a red light inside the storage room. The room is left open. He goes inside and follows the light. On one of the boxes, he sees the caliginous gateway. Joed is excited as he speaks. “I knew it!”

Unfortunately, his invisibility state has begun to fade. He mutters. “Oh no!” He looks around and notices that there are no cameras inside the room. He quickly runs to the caliginous gateway to grab it. But from one of the boxes above the caliginous gateway, Morgan appears in the form of a dog and jumps on to him.

“Ahhhh…” Joed’s sudden reaction when the dog hits him. He falls on the ground but he was quick to hold its throat. The dog is very strong. Its fang is getting near Joed’s face even though he is holding its throat. The saliva of the dog drops in Joed’s face. “Yuckkkk!” Joed said when it hits his face.

Suddenly, from the door of the storage room, a soft drink’s can is thrown to the head of the dog. The dog feels the strong impact and it rolls away from Joed as the hand of Joed slips, and let go of the throat of the dog. The dog feels a severe pain. Then the dog changes to its original form, Morgan.

Joed is amazed and at the same time feels the danger. A voice from the door tells Joed. “Hurry boy! Get the caliginous gateway.” Joed quickly turns to where the voice came from and it is from Tatang. Joed answers. “Okay!”

But before Joed can make another move, Morgan stands and blocks Joed’s way. Then Morgan speaks. “So, you are the Blue Soul Blood. My name is Morgan, one of the demon creatures who were exiled by your ancestors.”

Joed replies, still kidding even in the face of danger. “Ah correction, I am a Novel Blue Soul Blood, and they were not my ancestors.” Morgan grins and turns his look to Tatang. “So, you’ve brought a chaperon. How convenient!”

Joed replies again like he is replying to a normal person only. “Nah, he is not my chaperon, but you look more like a circus performer.”

Morgan gets angry. He raises his hand towards Joed. From Morgan’s palm, a light came out and hits Joed. Joed was pushed to the file of boxes.

Tatang tries to help but it was too late. The people who are being controlled by the possession demon hold his hands and restrain him. Sandra, who is being possessed by the possession demon, comes in and speaks. “You should be looking after yourself old man. Nyahahahaha…”

Morgan walks near Tatang and speaks. “Say goodbye to your cruel life old man.” Then he commands Sandra to kill Tatang.

But before Sandra can make her move, Joed laughs and speaks. “Hahaha… Why don’t you say goodbye to your selves?”

Morgan looks back to where Joed fell but he is no longer there. He looks around but he does not see him. Then the caliginous gateway turns to bright light as Joed reveals himself from being invisible.

Morgan is shocked. He did not expect the moves of Joed. He rushes to Joed as he speaks. “No! How could you…” But it is too late. The caliginous gateway is closed and the light coming from it engulfs Sandra. The possession demon comes out from her body and becomes corporeal.

The people turn unconscious when they are released from being controlled. Then Tatang rushes to another can of soft drink and hits the stone on the forehead of the possession demon. The possession demon disappears like a smoke in the air.

Morgan feels huge anger because of what he just witnessed. Using his palm, he hits Joed on the chest. Joed is pushed back but Joed manages to maintain his balance. He remains on his feet feeling the pain.

Tatang quickly throws his cane to Joed. Joed sees and catches it. Then, Tatang tells Joed. “Use it boy.”

Morgan tries to attack Joed again, but Joed anticipated Morgans move. He uses the cane to hit Morgan’s hand. Joed is surprised when the cane hits Morgan. Morgan feels severe pain and the portion of his hand that was hit just burned.

Morgan shouted in pain as he speaks. “Nooooo… What is this?” Joed did not make a second thought, he hits Morgan’s face with the cane. The face of Morgan burns too as he shouted. “Ahhhhh….”

Joed tries to hit Morgan again but Morgan quickly steps back and jumps on the file of boxes. In his pain, Morgan tells Joed and Tatang. “This isn’t over yet. I will have my revenge.” Then Morgan turns to a crow and flies out through an open window of the storage room.

Joed feels at ease when Morgan retreated. He goes to Tatang. “Wow! What kind of cane is this? Why did Morgan burn when he was hit?” Joed asks Tatang as he returns the cane. Tatang takes the cane and answers. “This cane is made from an extinct tree, the Death Tree.”

Tatang continues his explanation. “During the time of the Blue Soul Blood, the Death Tree repelled demons like Morgan. Any demon that touched the Death Tree would be completely devoured by it. And when the demon was put inside, it would burn and turned into ashes. The Blue Soul Blood made use of the Death Tree to create weapons. Unfortunately, all other weapons were destroyed. This cane is the last of it.”

Joed is amazed as he is listening.

The people are beginning to gain their consciousness. Tatang commands Joed to leave. “Boy, you must get out now before they discover you here.” Joed agrees and turns invisible again. He quickly leaves the store.

Morgan returns to their base and he is nearly dying. He speaks to their leader Macreo. “My lord, it is true. The Blue Soul Blood are reborn. They call themselves Novel Blue Soul Blood. I think they also have a weapon from a Death Tree." Macreo thinks deeply. After a minute he speaks. “Morgan, return to your capsule and rest.”

A human size capsule has appeared and opens. Morgan gets inside it and closes the door. Then he hibernates.