Chapter 48

Callea was suddenly afraid. It was a nightmare looming. The counselor's son was notorious for being boisterous and creating ruckus in town. Now he got his sights on Marina.

"Come. Let's go to them."

"Señorita, I will call for my father first. It is not a good idea to go there with just the two of us. There's around ten of them. We have to tell this to the authorities."

Callea shook her head. She couldn't waste time. "No. I will go to Marina now."

The young man was not able to stop her. She ran to the direction of the field. She had a bad feeling about this. Her mind drifted back to the time when people were repulsed by Marina and they shunned her.

From afar, she saw the acacia tree beside the nipa hut in the middle of the field. She could hear the sinister laugh of the group of young men. Her fear was ten-folds now.

"Go! Climb that tree if you want to get your cat who is a fugly as you," taunted by the tallest teen in the group and he was seconded by the chorus of his friends.

As she walked near them, she could make out Marina who was trying to climb the tree in her hunchback state. She couldn't make progress because of her deformity. While Luna was meowling in distress. It was tied at the upper trunk of the tree and it was begging to be released.

The teenage boys were around fifteen to sixteen years old. But they were tall and they had more meat in their bodies. They were wearing a uniform of a private school in town. They laughed once more when Marina fell on the ground and had a hard time getting up.

"This woman is worthless, Wilson. Whatever she does, she can't climb the tree. Boring!" said the one with long hair.

"Then let's make it exciting," said the one with the bald head then picked up a rock and threw it to Marina. The rest of the followed and threw stones at Marina as well. Her friend crossed her arms in front of her to protect her face. "Please! Stop it! Don't hurt me," she begged but fell on deaf ears. They kept on throwing stones are her while they hurled insults.

"Stop it!" Callea yelled at them.

The teens looked at her direction and their eyes widened when they saw her. "Oh, man! The Princess of Darkness is here."

"Don't tell me that you are scared of her," sneered Winston, the leader of the group. He hit the back of the head of his nearest friend. "There's nothing she can do about it. She's just beautiful. She's not even scary." Then he started throwing rocks at Marina again. The young lad thought it was okay to hurt people. What do they teach kids in school nowadays?

Callea gritted her teeth. "I told you to stop it! You are hurting Marina."

Then she ran to them. She didn't care if the road was rough. She needed to save her friends. It was so frustrating. In her stories, it was easy to defeat those bad guys. Why couldn't she do it to save her friend? Why won't her body split in half or grow her fangs so she could scare these rude and heartless teens?

There was nothing she could do to stop the group of young men. There was nothing she could do to save her friends. Luna's cries and Marina's pleas were ringing in her ears, piercing her heart.

"No!" Callea shouted and stood in front of Marina to shield her from the rain of rocks. The rocks kept on coming and she felt it hit her back. The teens only when they saw that her body was blocking Marina. She gave them a sharp stare. "You will not really stop, do you?"

"Stay away from here, Miss. Don't ruin our fun." Winston picked up a much bigger rock that was as big as his fist. "If you won't leave, you will be hit by this. She didn't move from where she was standing. Winston lifted the rock. "Don't be a hero. Do you want to ruin your beauty with this? Go away." He pursed his lips when she didn't move. "One…. two…"

"Señorita, you shouldn't have followed me here. Just leave so they won't hurt you. I am used to being hurt," Marina pleaded in a pained voice. "I'm… I'm okay."

She wanted to cry for her friend. Marina was used to being hurt and shunned by the very same people that she thought must love her. "No. I won't leave you. I vowed that I won't let anyone hurt you anymore."

Winston threw the rock without qualms. Callea was quick to hug Marina and she felt the rock hit the back of her head. She closed her eyes as the pain hit her hard. She cried but she didn't budge and hugged Marina tighter. She could stand this as long as Marina won't hurt anymore.

"Winston, the barangay tanods are here!" said one of his minions. (Barangay tanods are peacekeepers in the community under the jurisdiction of barangay captains. Towns in the Philippines are divided into barangays)

She heard the rocks fell in the ground and the footfalls of the delinquent teens running away from them. They were only brave when facing the weak like animals and women.

"Callea," she heard Deive call out her name. He was back. He crouched in front of her and touched her face. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"L-Look out for Marina and Luna," she said then looked up to the tree. Luna was still tied up there. She wanted to make sure that her friends are safe first. The tanods who came to the rescue climbed the tree. Deive assisted her so she could stand up. The rest of the rescuers helped Marina and checked her for injuries.

"Please bring her to the clinic or hospital to make sure she's okay," Callea pleaded. "And Luna… make sure she's okay." She didn't know what else they suffered from the hands of those nasty kids.

"How about you?" asked Deive.

She felt the pain and was starting to feel woozy. She touched the back of her head. She felt something hot and wet. When she looked at her palm, there was blood it in. Then she felt it trickling on her nape. Everything was starting to turn dark and she tumbled when Deive caught her body. He held her wrist when she noticed the blood.

"Callea, you are wounded."

"I…I want to sleep."

"Don't close your eyes, Callea. Don't," Deive said in anguish. "Who did this to you? I will make sure that they will pay for it."