6 •CHAPTER 6: DREAM•

10th of July 1812

I woke up in tears and my face was full of sweat. My hands are cold and I can't imagine the fear I feel.

A dream terrified me. I thought it was true that the knife was stabbed in my chest at the same time pouring beautiful red roses on my dying body.

Every thorn pierced me which made my skin bleed. It may be a beautiful sight to watch, but it is full of unexplainable terrifiying feelings.

******

I am returning my life to normal. I attend classes again and pursue the requirements I have to pursue these past weeks I have not been able to attend.

The summative test for each subject is also near so I really need to study. Fortunately, my friends are helping me. My tasks are a bit quicker.

"That's it for today, remember to review our topic about Western history okay? Even the history and humors about magic and witchcrafts if not, you are the one I will curse" Ms. Monfero, our history class teacher, jokes before leaving our class.

I will go to the library and the three of us will part ways because they still have different activities to go to.

"You sure, can you do it alone Eve? We can accompany you until we get to the library and then we will go straight to our clubs." Sandra still offers.

"Nope, I'm fine so I can go there alone. I also really need to review, I missed a few days and weeks in classes. Maybe I'll go home late." I finished packing up my belongings and said goodbye to them.

I made my way down to Building 4 on the left to get closer to Building 5-A where Athena's Library is. It was quite a long walk and I met busy students as well.

When I reached the building, I went up to the 4th floor using the escalator. It's a modern building so you don't have to go upstairs unless you pass by the emergency stairs.

The higher the floors I reach, the more noticeable it becomes muffled. The faculty rooms of the teachers from the 2nd flr are also here except for the 4th flr to the 7th floor.

I went straight to the right hallway and tracked down the library. There are very few numbers of students here so it is an ideal place for studying. Instead of the library just below our building, lots of people are going there, others are just there to hang out and chitchat.

I went to the librarian's desk to ask for a card catalog for the books I would need. The school still prefers card catalogs than OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog). We are not allowed to use our phones inside the school premises unless emergency or urgent matters. We can only use it in our dorms.

However we can bring laptops or gadgets in the library to study, but some students just won't follow and some are caught so their phones are confiscated.

The librarian, looks like in her mid 20's has a brown skin, pretty and tall. She looks rude geez.

"Miss, may I get a card catalog of western history including history of witchcrafts and magic?" She looked at me and handed me the card catalog.

"List your name here in the log book, with the time and date, also your year, section and cellphone number." When I listed the necessary details, I stamped my library ID.

"Be careful on the shelves where those are placed, because the books there are heavy, those might fall on you" I just nodded to her and looked for the books I needed.

Fortunately there is a cart nearby and I can put what I need there. When I got everything, I went to the most quiet corner to study. I looked at the time and I conclude that I spent almost an hour looking for my books. It's already 5:00 pm.

The curfew is still at ten o'clock and the library will close at eight o'clock so I still have time to study. The hours passed quietly and I think, it was just me and the librarian left because the other students I had been with earlier had left. Maybe because they want to rest early back to their respective dorms and it's almost dark outside.

I am reading about the history of witchcraft now.

Witches are everywhere. In fairytales, fantasy and satire, they appear time and again as a versatile synonym for evil and transgression. But, in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, men and women of both high and low status believed in witches 'ubiquity in a far more disturbing way. Lord chief justice Anderson noted in 1602: "The land is full of witches… they abound in all places" - not as a symbol or figure of fun, but as a deadly threat to life, livelihood and divine order. The large-scale persecution, prosecution and execution of witches in these centuries was an extraordinary phenomenon.

It is also an episode of European history that has spawned many myths and much inaccuracy. Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code is one of the purveyors of such erroneous hype, stating: "The church burned at the stake an astounding 5 million women", which would be astounding if true. The actual numbers are far lower, but still striking: between 1482 and 1782, around 100,000 people across Europe were accused of witchcraft, and some 40–50,000 were executed.

Neither were witches (with the exception of some targeted by the Spanish Inquisition) generally persecuted by the church. Although belief in witches was orthodox doctrine, following Exodus 22.18, the 16th and 17th-century witch trials were the result of witchcraft becoming a crime under law, and witches were prosecuted by the state. In England, witchcraft became a crime in 1542, a statute renewed in 1562 and 1604. As such, most witches across Europe received the usual penalty for murder - hanging (though in Scotland and under the Spanish Inquisition witches were burned).

I was focused on what I was reading when I heard a loud thud, like something fell on the floor.

I looked at the source of that sound but that part was too dark and I think the light was also broken. I just ignored it because it might just be a book placed in the wrong shelf.

I focus my eyes at what I was reading.

Cave populus confidis

I've seen this phrase before, confused and nervous I flip the book in other pages.

Cave populus confidis

I closed the book because I feel uneasy. I hope this is just exhaustion from studying. Curious, I search for the phrase online.

"Beware of people you trust?" As I read it, every page of the book suddenly moved fast.

Cave te... habeat fiduciam populo. Tradet autem te unum... atque.. in reliquis confodere te occidere eos si avertaris..." I can't understand latin which is the language written in this book.

After I read it I saw a memory I do not know whom.

She was laying down on the grass near the apple tree, with a stab on her chest and roses with thorns on different parts of her body, she was bathed in her blood but her beauty still appeared.

Not so far, there is a person standing ... no, there are people standing. They are hidden in the dark part of the tree. They are looking at her and she is looking at them, she can't see their faces from her distance.

I cry with pain because it seems like there are memories that keeps on entering my mind.

"Stop !!!" I shouted, because of the unbearable pain.

I woke up. I have stains of tears on my face. I looked out the window near me. It was dark outside.

Just a dream.

"It's already 7:30 miss, the library is about to close, might as well pack your things and go back to your dorm. You also look sick" Faye, the librarian, told me.

I fixed my things and stamped my library card to borrow books I had not finished reading. I made my way to the dormitory. The road is clear because there are lights along the way.

Many students still do not return to the dorm or go home so some students are still making their way to their dorm or going home.

I could feel the trembling of my hands and arms. What kind of dream is that? Are those written in the diary happening to me again? She wrote long ago.

I'll just think about these stuffs when I get home.

*****

Witchcraft? Black magic? What is the cause of these unexplained events? Even in my sleep I am not in peace. I was still restless from time to time and I was afraid I would fall asleep again and I might not wake up.

What does that dream mean? Is it a curse? Who should I trust in these times I am confused and carried away by the fear I feel.

Wishing for peace,

Nirvana Hermosa

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