The Moonlight Daughters

Tricks and Illusions

"Just, who the hell are you?" Gilhameer asked.

"Don't lie to me. I know you are sent here to spy on that boy," the stranger said.

"I have no idea," Gilhameer shook his head.

"You are Dionysus's spy," he pointed. " You even know I am here to investigate him."

"You are the one who is spying on us," Gilhameer said back.

"Dionysius?" Cainnick suddenly muttered right after he heard the name.

"Look. I don't know who that Dionysus guy is but I am telling you, we are just a Lignodon like you who are trying to live as normal students do. We are not doing any bad. Our only intention is to study here," Gilhameer explained.

"You are Adan," he still can't believe him. He slowly shook his head as he scowled.

"Don't wait to force you to tell the truth in this gym," he warned.

"Don't!" Gilhameer yelled.

"I won't let you do what you want."

The boys looked at each other in horror. Especially Gilhameer who was accused of being someone he doesn't even know.

"Okay then. Do you want to attack? Attack me now," the accuser stretched his arms wide as he painted a smile on his face. He's waiting for them to come at him.

"Wait," Cainnick yelled. "I think I know what was happening. Kuya Benjie mentioned a person named Dionysus before. He is the leader of the tribe who rebelled." He faced Gilhameer while he told him that. After he said that to his friend, he faced the stranger again.

"We--I mean, he is not your enemy here, dude," Cainnick told him.

The stranger got puzzled.

"What, you are defending him? He is not your friend."

"Gilhameer is not the enemy. I do not know what is happening but I have known him since high school."

"He is not the real Gilhameer," the stranger was puzzled.

"You know, I don't know if you're gonna believe me, but, my big brother is also the enemy of Dionysus," he said. "He's trying his best to stop them from his plans."

"I don't believe this," the man slowly shook his head.

"It's true."

"You are not the true Cainnick Romero, aren't you?" he was stuttering. He was unsure if what Cainnick was really telling the truth.

"You are a Lignodon too, right?" Cainnick asked. "Look me into the eyes and tell me whether I am lying or not."

"But we are not sure he is him," he pointed Gilhameer.

"I think you just misidentified Gilhameer."

"Oh?" He's got shocked. But he didn't show it on his face. Something suddenly came out on his thoughts.

"Oh, no no no!" he then widened his eyes in shock. He couldn't believe he got tricked. And so, he rubbed his face with his bare hands. He got disappointed of himself. Moreover, he felt guilty and embarrassed to the two whom he accused.

"That moon dog bastard," he muttered.

"Sorry! Sorry!" he freaked out.

" That's okay," the two friends told him.

Suddenly, a large white wolf suddenly appeared at the doorway and it quickly attacked the stranger without a warning. Even the two got shocked when they saw an unusual dog-like creature pinned the boy down to the floor. The boy went unconscious and his body was laying upside down. The quick wolf immediately dragged the body towards the exit. The boys got amazed and terrified for it was too quick that it needed just a second to get the body out of the building.

Quick thinking, Cainnick, and Gilhameer immediately followed it afterward.

****

It's already five 'o clock in the afternoon. Grace Joy was still at the library reading a mermaid story. She spent all of her two hours enjoying herself in that place since after her audition for Glee Club. Moreover, she's got no class scheduled during those hours.

Meanwhile, she laid her eyes away from the book she was reading for they were already tired. She closed the book that she was handling and put it down the table. After that, she yawned.

"I want to sleep," she told to herself.

She put her elbows on the table as she rubbed her face with her hands. She yawned again. And then she looked at the window next to her. She can see the other building outside. The library she was in and that big building are separated by a garden. She was staring at it for a while until her eyes saw something on its roof. At first, she couldn't identify if that was a human or a dog climbing on it since the distance of the library to that building. All she can see was a silhouette. She narrowed her eyes as she tries to determine what was that. Then, she realized that it was neither a dog nor a human. She can see an unusual dog-like creature on a roof. Moreover, she got terrified when she saw it shinning. She rubbed her eyes with her bare hands. She looked at it once more.

"What the heck," she muttered. She slowly covered her mouth with her hands while still looking at it at the top of the roof. She can't believe what she was seeing.

She looked to her left then to her right to check if someone besides her noticed it. Fortunately, there are few students at that time and no one was occupying the tables next to the windows.

And so, she turned around and grabbed her bag on the table. She took off and she didn't realize that she left a book behind. Immediately, she went straight to the exit.

***

The white wolf put the stranger's body down for a while. Then, it transformed into its original shape as a human - a human whose name is Adan. Adan looked down at the garden and he saw Cainnick and Gilhameer running towards the building he was at. And so, he approached the unconscious boy's body and he carried him on his back. He took a little glimpse at the two boys once more. He turned into a beast again. He's still carrying the boy on his back.

Gilhameer and Cainnick stopped running just when they saw the naked man on the roof returned to an unusual beast again. Their eyes widened when they saw that the large dog disappeared along with the unconscious boy's body. Despite they couldn't see him, they could still feel its presence at that rooftop.

"We need to transform!" Cainnick said. His was focusing his eyes on the roof, searching for a trace to where he was at.

"Where to?" Gilhameer responded. He was scanning around to look for space for them to shift shape.

"There are people in those corridors. They'll see us."

"Ay s**t!" Cainnick muttered.

Meanwhile, they can't feel his presence at that rooftop anymore. They suddenly felt him around the garden somewhere but they couldn't trace where exactly he was. They were staying alert and attentive since at any time the shiny furred beast might attack them without any warning. With their eyes, they tried to scan the surroundings to see any movements. They felt tensed since his presence was getting stronger.

Meanwhile, without any warning, he appeared behind them and he rammed Gilhameer by his hard head. Cainnick can't do a thing but watch his friend thrown away and landed against the golden bush. Next, he bit Cainnick's shoulder. Cainnick couldn't protect himself since it was so sudden. He wasn't even aware that he will be attacked just after a second Gilhameer was rammed. And then the dog threw him in the direction where Gilhameer's body landed.

Everyone among the few students who were in the open corridors of that building never noticed that something's happening in the garden. They neither can see Gilhameer and Cainnick nor the damaged golden bush where Gilhameer landed and the strawberries that were ruined because Cainnick's body crashed against them. And Cainnick's blood splattered around from his shoulder. They just see the same usual boring view of it like it was nothing happening in there.

Gilhameer, who regained his strength, immediately got up and went to Cainnick. Cainnick can barely stand due to the pain he'd gotten from the impact and the pain he was feeling on the shoulder.

"Cainnick!" He called. He knelt down next to Cainnick's body. He lifted Cainnick's head.

"Are you okay?" He put his left hand on Cainnick's chest and he gently shook him.

Cainnick wasn't responding.

"Cain! Cain!" He yelled as he watched his friend closing his eyes.

"Wake up, wake up! Cain!"

Without causing another harm, Adan turned his back on them. And then, he jumped into the air and disappeared. Later, it appeared above the roof of the UPA Building. He was walking through the thin air.

Later, the stranger who was resting on his back suddenly moved. He immediately opened his eyes just when he became conscious again. The wolf/ Adan suddenly felt that the body he was carrying suddenly gained weight. Unexpectedly, the boy turned into a large brown furred wolf. Without any warning, he scratched Adan's back. The dog whined in pain. And then, the both of them fell down to the wide ground.

***

Ana was walking on the side of the ground. She was talking to her phone then...

"I can't believe you are not going home this December," she said.

"Your Dad really needs to earn money, my child," her Dad responded.

She halted walking. And then she sighed in frustration.

"I understand that," she smiled. "But every time you come home in the Philippines, your time here is short. You came here in March but you returned there in April," she whined.

"Sorry na ah!" her Dad reacted which made Ana laugh faintly.

"How are you there? I am wondering if you already have a boyfriend there that I am not aware of?"

"Dad, no," she responded.

"Is that so?" He wasn't convinced. "Maybe you are not telling me that you and your stupid ex were together again?"

"Dad, no! I don't care about him, and his family."

"Thank God." He then changed the topic.

"Did the owner of the dog retrieved him?" He asked.

"The owner said that he'll come and get his dog this afternoon."

"Ahh... that's great. Just keep an eye on your big sister. She might not be able to give that dog to him."

Ana laughed. Then, his father continued talking.

Suddenly, she felt a very odd feeling coming from above. She slowly faced to the right , at the grassland. She got shocked when she suddenly saw two beasts fell down from the sky and they landed at the center. Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened. She had never seen such creatures but in her dreams. Her feet suddenly trembled in fear. But she just saw them for a blink of seconds since the white wolf made themselves invisible just when they landed on the ground.

"Hello? Hello Ana?" Her father was calling her attention. But Ana didn't respond.

"Hello? Are you still there? Ana?"

She snapped out from being terrified and amazed.

"Yes, I am still here." She finally responded.

"Dad. Let's talk later. I realized I have something to do. Bye, love you." She hung up the phone.

"This can't be," she muttered. "Am I dreaming?"

Ana looked at the people moving around the plaza. She got puzzled. Why weren't they reacting? Didn't they saw two wolves that had fallen from nowhere in the middle before they disappeared? Can they see what she saw? Why are they acting like they don't see them? Her heart raced faster. She won't know what was happening at all. It was her first time seeing huge dogs in her entire life. Dogs the size of a small car.

The wolves were circling at the center. They were growling at each other as they creased their snouts and glare at each other. They were in the middle of the plaza where there were a few students strolling around. Yet, no one even managed to notice nor can see them.

Then, a sudden rain pour suddenly came down. The few students loitering around the wide grassland immediately ran away to the corners of the plaza to take shelter as soon as they felt the raindrops fell down on their skin.

Ana took shelter in a shed. She looked around to see if she can spot any students occupying in the other sheds. She was alone in that corner of the plaza, even in the other sheds nearby had no occupants. Seemed like all the students preferred to take shelter inside the main building.

After the brief scanning of her surrounding, she turned to look at the wide ground also known as the 'plaza'. She widened her eyes in horror. She can't believe what she's seeing. The wolves had reappeared. Not only that, they suddenly showed up just a few feet close to the shed she was at. They showed up like lightning.

"Aaah!" she screamed when she suddenly got frightened by their presence. That time, they didn't disappear like camera flashes. They remained being shown to the naked eyes.

The wolves immediately looked at the girl who just screamed. Ana covered her mouth by her hands as she slowly took a few steps backward while looking at them. She was so terrified then. Her mind cleared out, turned blank due to the fear. She was trembling.