Ada: The Witch Huntress

Chapter 9: Inevitable Goodbye

What?

Ada’s eyes and mouth gaped wide in shock as she heard the puzzling words coming from her grandmother. She wanted to question her as to why she’s feeding her with a glowing pendant. She could be poisoning her at this point. She wanted to know what exactly is happening. Is this related to Reynan’s incident from this morning? However, the gravity of this situation has left her speechless.

“This is no time for such dilly-dallying, brat! Quickly!” Ni’mula yelled at her. That's the first time she had seen extreme fear in her grandmother’s eyes, for those eyes only gleamed with pride and authority. “Dios mío, Ada! Can’t you just trust me? J-just this once,” Ni’mula stammered. She saw her grandmother’s eyes now glistened with tears. She’s now desperate enough to beg her, something that she wouldn’t normally do. So, she snatched that piece of stone from Ni’mula’s hands and gobbled it up in one go like a piece of a bitter medicine tablet.

Suddenly, their back door jolted open, and a swoop of a violent wind came hurtling toward them once again, sweeping everything on its way, and even both of them were instantly thrown on the ground. She could barely see anything anymore. She didn’t know if it’s the stone now in effect or it’s just the wind to blame. She’s thankful enough that they didn’t get swept far away by that tremendous wind which is way more potent than its first surge. She can still feel the massive wind hovering somewhere as if telling them it wasn’t finished with them yet.

“Grandma!” Ada called Ni’mula through the heap of dust scattering around their garden. She felt Ni’mula quickly crawling towards her. She was relieved that they got a hold of each other just in time. Ni’mula enfolded her arms around her as if shielding her from more that’s about to come. Suddenly, the wind came back, and it began to spin around them, picking up flowerpots, vines, branches, soil, dust, and everything it can carry.

The spinning went on for several seconds, that they held onto each other firmly as they close their eyes shut, afraid that they’d also be sucked into that sinister tornado. They almost got carried away when the spinning suddenly came to a stop, and everything that was swallowed within it was hurled down to the ground at the same time. Everything that came crashing down broke into thousand pieces and they were both hit by the scattered pieces that pierced their skin all over.

Finally, it’s over.

When everything was still, Ada yelped as she felt an intense stabbing pain in her chest. It seemed that the stone she just swallowed up a while ago is in real effect now, and she felt that it’s slowly tearing down her insides. She clutched her tightening chest and confusingly looked at Ni’mula, who’s now weeping as she gazed at her.

“Grandma…” she mumbled, “it hurts…” she managed to say while still holding on to her grandma with her free arm as she started to gasp for air. She could literally feel her life slowly coming out of her body as if an invisible force is sucking out her soul. She screamed in agony as she felt the stone working its way to her heart. This pain is nothing compared to what Reynan did to her this morning. She wanted to shut her eyes and just die quickly, but the excruciating pain kept arousing and weakening her senses at the same time.

Her gasps grew deeper while her sight grew hazy, and she felt everything around her is spinning once again. She didn’t even manage to see or hear the approaching footsteps of an unfamiliar man.

Ni’mula suddenly let go of her that she instantly slumped on the ground because of her incapacity to hold her weight anymore. “I’m sorry for holding back so much from you. I just wanted to protect you,” Ni’mula said in a hurry before she started to walk away from her.

She tried to lift her right arm to reach out for Ni’mula, but she only managed to lift a finger. She tried keeping her eyes on her old woman’s figure, but she disappeared through the thick cloud of dust that was left by the monstrous wind.

“You are not going to lay a finger on my grandchild!” Ada clearly heard her grandma yelled at someone before she heard her distant screams.

“Grandmother…” she mumbled through her gasps, afraid for her vulnerable grandmother’s life. Then, her eyes froze open when she heard a repeated slicing sound and the grunts that followed after each pierces.

Her wheezing and the spinning in her head stopped. However, she couldn’t feel her entire body anymore. She couldn’t move a single muscle. She couldn’t even blink her eyes.

No! Please. Grandma! Please, don’t hurt her! She pleaded so hard in her thoughts.

Then, she saw visible specks of ashes blocking up her line of sight. It was coming from the ground. However, what she had seen in her peripheral vision shocked her. It was coming from her. She’s starting to dissipate!

Then, she heard a loud thud, and that is when she saw Ni’mula’s b****y body dropped a few meters across from her. She wanted to wail and run to her. Maybe she could still save her. However, she’s already lifeless herself. Her grandmother must have thought that poisoning her would be the best option so she wouldn’t die brutally like her.

Then, a figure of a man clutching a butcher knife drizzling with crimson fluid appeared behind her grandmother’s almost lifeless body. The man probed his eyes on her before he let out a sinister smile.

"I’m going to find you, Ga’lleada…” The man warned her before he raised his knife in the air with his left hand before he stabs it down repeatedly on Ni’mula’s already cold body while filling out the whole place with his ominous laughter.

And that was the last image in her head before her consciousness slowly drifted off from this world.