CHAPTER 6 - The Girl of Gifted Sight

April 13, 2007. 5:56PM.

House of Light Theatre.

Ayala Avenue, Makati City.

The House of Light Catholic Charismatic Community was full of life after several of its members went back to Manila right after Holy Week's over. Everyone's dancing to the beat of lively worship songs. Father Eli already went down the stage a few hours ago after the Mass was celebrated, with him as a guest priest presider.

It's very apparent how the people here loved having Fr. Eli around as he got series of seemingly endless greetings from every corner of this large hall. It took him a while before arriving in front of the seats of Nick and Tintin. They were quietly seated at the back.

Nick was a tall handsome man dressed immaculately in white buttoned shirt tucked in his blue denim jeans, his sleeves neatly folded over his forearm. Beside him was a little girl in light blue dress accented with a Prussian blue satin sash wrapped around her waist. On her legs was a pair of knee-high white socks while her feet wore a pair of white Mary Jane flat shoes. One look and people can tell that they wore their Sunday's best today. They made such a lovely pair.

"Oh Hello there… You made it! You could have been seated in front, Nick. I was waiting for you guys," Fr. Eli greeted them with a full smile.

"That would be really embarrassing, Father. We arrived late for the session. I must say the place looks nice and very much alive. I like it."

Nick replied with the same enthusiasm while he's holding the hand of Christine. Mira didn't seem to be with them.

"It's good to hear that you like what you see. You didn't bring Mira along?"

"No, Father. She was very obstinate about staying at home playing video games and reading her books," Nick sighed as he recalled how hard it was to make Mira come along with them.

"That's too bad. But no worries, there will always be a next time. I'd like to be introduced to this little lady here."

Fr. Eli made a smooth segue from the topic of Mira's absence to the introduction of Christine. The awkwardness was easily washed away by his skillful lead of conversation.

"I'm Father Eliseo Luwalhati. You can call me Father Eli. What's yours, little lady?"

The young priest asked her as he kneeled on one knee to match the young girl's height.

Christine suddenly felt the urge to hide behind her father's leg in embarrassment. This 'Father Eli' looks like a kind person but she couldn't help but feel afraid to act comfortable around him. A hint of rosy colors painted her smooth white cheeks as she pursed her lips, trying to muster the courage to at least be polite enough to say her name.

"Uhmm… Father Eli, hi! I-I'm Christine Dimaguiba. I'm four years old," she finally spoke as she raised four little fingers in front of the young priest.

"You look really nervous. Uhmm, I might need your cooperation. Can you do that for me?" Fr. Eli asked her while acting all melancholic and troubled.

"Uhhh … I … I'll try my best, Father Eli," although with a little bit of hesitation, Christine agreed.

"I want you to do a facial exercise with me. It'll be helpful for our faces. Think of it like stretching exercises and all you have to do is follow my lead, okay Christine?" He explained in an encouraging way.

Christine tilted her head in wonder. She's not so sure what this 'Father Eli' is up to but since she said she'll be helping, she agreed. Even Nick on the side had no idea what crazy ideas this priest is up to. He's acting like a Kindergarten teacher. Fr. Eli paid no heed to them and kept smiling.

"Okay, Father," Christine politely replied after a long pause.

Fr. Eli first took a bottle of alcohol gel from his pocket and gave Christine a portion. He explained to her that this was to ensure that the hands she'll use for the exercise were clean. This act made both Christine and Nick think the priest must probably be serious after all. But after a few minutes of doing the exercise, they were starting to believe this priest is actually making fun of Christine.

However, despite how silly the routine, she started to feel her facial muscles relax a little. Although she made a mistake at the fish face portion of the exercise, she didn't fret but started laughing instead. If she looked silly, then the priest in front of her looked even sillier to her.

Minutes passed, Christine's laughter started to become more natural. Her face was no longer showing signs of stiffness and awkwardness. She even started playing comfortable with the young priests face to her father's discontentment and jealousy.

"I can't even make Christine do that to me even after 4 years and now you do it for 4 minutes? Am I the father here or are you?"

Nick bitterly complained in his mind.

This priest was taking away his daughter!

After that short session, Fr. Eli made a quick run towards the storage room before coming back with a Sakura staff on his right hand. He skillfully played with the staff like a baton. It twirled around his hand and fingers before tossing it to the other hand doing the same thing. Christine's eyes were glistening as they follow the movement of the staff on Fr. Eli's dexterous hands.

After one last toss of the staff from behind then catching it as fell in a circular motion in front, the young priest made a bow while politely handing over the staff to an applauding Christine.

"Father, is it for me?" she asked in a voice trembling with excitement.

She really liked to play with this staff as awesome as Fr. Eli did it. Without realizing it, she's starting to feel more comfortable with this young-looking gentleman priest. She's in complete admiration of him that she found it easier to talk to him now than when they first met.

Seeing such a scene, Ligaya was having mixed feelings. She stepped closer to them in a slow and unsuspecting manner while at the two's faces.

"Seriously, does this priest even need my help?" she pursed lips and sighed.

"He sure has way with people and he is not even aware of his effect on them."

As Ligaya curled her lips into a helpless smile, she turned her eyes on the child's father standing with a upset look on his face as if he's about to drag a certain 'somebody' and throw him into the depths of the Pasig River (1). It was then that she knew she had to stop this priest into becoming the kid's newly acknowledged father real soon.

"Okay. Okay. Time to break these two up."

Ligaya shook her head as she briskly walked beside the two. She smiled sweetly at this innocent young girl who seemed to be beguiled into being spirited away by some Engkanto (2). This priest sure got killer charms!

"Did they setup the air condition's temperature to be on such a low temperature like this? Am I still in the Philippines?"

Everybody felt the chill permeating their sun-kissed skin. They turned their heads to where the cold was coming from. Oh, they finally got the gist of the cause of this phenomenon. That dense Fr. Eli struck again. What a troublemaker.

"Finally got to meet you, little miss. I'm Ate Ligaya. I'm Fr. Eli's friend. I hope we can be friends too."

Ligaya bent over and reached her hand to Christine in order to shake her hand. She felt a huge audible sigh from Nick on the side. Well, it wasn't really surprising. There were news about cases of pedophile priests around and he's probably wary of Fr. Eli being one of them.

Even if he wasn't actually a pedophile, she'd rather believe that it's even more alarming that there are too many female victims who fell to this priest's charms. Adding this poor innocent girl in that list going beyond overkill, she shivered in fear of what could transpire should that really happen. What's worse is the fact that this idiot of a priest isn't even aware of it. He's going to get murdered someday without knowing what killed him.

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6:05PM.

Backstage of the House of Light's Theatre.

"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit…"

"As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be, world without end."

"Amen."

As they closed their prayers with a sign of the cross, the entire liturgical ministry finished praying the Angelus (3) before they start with the second session. This is the place where they gather people who are about to make a confession or one-on-one talk with some of the organization's ministers. Today was the day they were informed of the Dimaguiba family's arrival so they knew they had to evacuate the area to let them have a good talk with the ministers.

"Welcome, Mr. Dimaguiba. I'm Timoteo Malimban, head of the ministry. I was already informed by Fr. Eli about the case on your daughter. Please be reassured that she's in good hands."

Tim gave Nick a firm handshake for starters. It is important for the ministry to be of good relationship with their member's family because of the perilous nature of their duties. Being part of the deliverance ministry, he has been in charge of making sure that the young generation of gifted children can grow safe as they explore how to properly use their natural spiritual abilities.

Not all children taught by their ministry will become part of the deliverance team who are directly involved in cases of exorcism but each of them carry the same potential to eventually become part of it. As they say, many are called but a few are chosen. Whether Christine is a chosen one, like them, they will never know. Who knew what God has in store for her?

"Will my daughter become exposed to anything dangerous, Mr. Malimban? I just lost my wife and I don't think I can afford to lose another family," Nick asked.

"I understand how difficult it was to lose a family, Sir. But it's all the more reason for you to let your daughter engage with gifted people like her. For us who gained the wisdom and the knowledge to use these gifts, it is supernatural grace…"

Tim shifted his eyes to the little girl with the gift of spiritual eyes staring off at a distance. After a short pause he continued:

"But for those who unknowingly or deliberately misuse them, it shall become their cross – their curse – to which they must suffer needlessly when wrongly invoked."

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6:16PM.

Arcane Gardens.

The Arcane Gardens is a special garden designed by the community members on the 5th floor of this commercial building. It can be found at the east exit of the lobby connecting the theatre and the elevators leading to the car parks, the upper floors and the reception area downstairs that is directly facing the exit.

Ligaya led the girl to the moonlit patio. In the middle of this 80 square meter open air space was a neat rattan table with glass top surrounded by modern designed rattan chairs, each with soft lime green cushions on them. There was also a huge umbrella that covers the center table. Though it was a windy evening, the umbrella refused to sway with the palm trees surrounding the area.

Despite the night, bright Capiz shell lanterns sprawling over a huge acacia tree became their light. To the four-year old girl, the sight was magical. Christine couldn't help but smile at the woman holding her hand. Her initial nervousness seemed to be dissolved by some powerful magic. They finally reached their seat.

For Ligaya, she felt a tinge of loneliness to see that behind these spiritual eyes, which isolated her from the rest, is nothing but a normal child who finds delight in the simple beauty of these artificial lights. She clenched her fists, steeling her resolve. One magical moment cannot change the reality of the situation her family was in. She took a deep breath, her eyes fixed on these gifted eyes.

"Tintin, I wish that you treat me like your Ate whom you can rely on. I can see an imminent danger threatening to take away your sister. Tell me what you saw on that day."

Christine gasped. She never told anybody yet about what she saw the day she fell down the stairs. She could sense that this woman in front of her seems to ask exactly about what she saw on that day that made her scream at her sister. There was fear in her heart but the firm grip of the hand that reached her little cold hands gave her reassurance. She could tell that this lady might just know how to help her.

"Ate, I didn't really mean to shout at Ate Mira. I just want to stop her. She kept inviting strangers into our home whenever she uses the board."

She spoke frantically, explaining that she never meant to be disrespectful to someone older than herself. Ligaya smiled and squeezed her hand as a sign of reassurance as if saying she believe in her. Afterwards, she took a picture inside her side pocket and placed it in front of Christine. It was a 4R-sized picture of an old Ouija Board.

"Does it look like this?"

"Yes, it looks exactly like this," she replied.

"What does she need from these strangers?"

Ligaya pressed on with her questions but she was always attentive to the child's emotional state. It's hard for a child of her age to see things she doesn't even understand much. It must have scared her so she kept holding her hand.

"She was trying to look for Mommy. She even introduced me to one who looks like her, saying she found her and we can finally be together."

Christine was trying to stop herself from trembling by pulling the hems of her light blue ruffled skirt. Her eyes were starting to become wet with tears.

"But that's not Mommy, I kept telling Ate Mira but she wouldn't listen.

"So I ran out of the door calling for Yaya Lucing (4), I heard Ate chase after me. When I was halfway down the stairs, I turned to see Ate Mira standing upstairs. Then I also saw that scary woman…

"That woman who looks like Mommy… she…

"S-she was crawling backward chasing after me so I lost my breath from running and fell down."

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(1) Pasig River – a locally famous historical river (technically a tidal estuary) that bisects Metro Manila into the north and south halves while connecting Manila Bay to Laguna Bay. It was known to be Manila's lifeline and center of economic activity during early Philippine history. The natives of Metro Manila and its adjacent provinces, known as the Tagalog, derived their ethnic name from the term 'Taga-Ilog' which literally means 'people who live near the river' – and that river happens to be Pasig River.

(2) Engkanto – any environmental spirit from the Philippine folklore that is said to have the ability to shapeshift into a human (e.g. elves, fairies, sirens, etc.)

(3) Angelus – a devotional prayer commemorating the incarnation of Jesus usually prayed at 6AM, 12PM and 6PM daily.

(4) Yaya – Filipino term for a maid or nanny