REBIRTH

CHAPTER THREE

MOALBOAL, CEBU

PHILIPPINES

YEAR 1998

"Adi...wake up! Wake up child!" Liena frantically shook Adrianna's shoulders.

Adrianna frowned. Her eyes still closed. She tried so hard to open her eyes but her lids are so heavy. As if they are laden with stones!

Adi? Isn't that her childhood nickname? But she hasn't been called Adi since she left home.

Before she can try opening her eyes again, she fell into the abyss of darkness.

-----------------------------------------

When Adrianna next opened her eyes, the first thing that greeted her is the rusty corrugated tin roof.

She closed her eyes again. She thinks she is still dreaming or becoming demented.

But she unknowingly fell asleep.

-----------------------------------------

"Adi..."

A soft voice whispered in her ear. A soft crying voice that directly cut through her heart.

She opened her eyes groggily. Then she stilled.

Ma?!

She looked at her mother in a daze. Not believing what she is seeing. She is waiting for the apparition to disappear.

But, her mother did not disintegrate?!

"Ma?" She croaked.

Adrianna flinched. She held her throat in horror.

Her voice sounds like an old witch cackle!

But Liena did not notice Adi's horror. She was busy kissing Adi's cheeks as she was laughing and crying at the same time!

"Adi, thank God you are awake! You had a fever on and off for three days already! Your father and I were scared thinking you caught the Dengue Fever. If your fever has not completely subsided last night, we wouldn't know what to do!"

Dengue Fever? Adi frowned.

Did she go back to when she was sixteen years old?!

While her mother was weeping and telling her all that has happened when she was ill, she is also busy gathering her thoughts.

When she was sixteen years old, Dengue was widespread throughout the tropics. Dengue is a viral infection transmitted to humans through the bite of infected mosquitoes. And severe dengue is the leading cause of serious illness and deaths in the country.

Looking at her mother with her big red nose and puffy panda eyes, instead of laughing and making a joke out of her mother's funny face, a sudden warmth burst out from the depths of her heart. Making her choke with all the overwhelming emotions she felt.

Her mother really treats her the best!

"Ma..." She called with a low voice thick with emotion.

Liena was scared to jump!

"Is my baby ill? Still not feeling well? What do I do? I will get the medicine." Liena asked successively. Her voice wobbly, going up and down as if she is about to cry.

Liena frantically touched Adrianna's forehead, her neck, her arms. Checking for her temperature.

When Liena was about to stand and really get the medicine, Adrianna held her mother's arm.

"Ma, I'm okay." She manage to pull out a small smile.

She was about to say something else when she heard her father call her mom.

"Liena! Liena! I've got the coconut here! Where did you hide the pitcher!"

Hearing her father's booming voice, Adrianna bit her lips so hard to stop herself from crying.

The one she owes the most in her past life was her father!

The father who doesn't understand her hurtful behavior against them but still supports her silently in the background.

"I'm coming!" Liena glanced over her shoulder and shouted back.

Then she looked at Adrianna.

"Adi, your papa woke up at dawn today just to go to the mountains and get coconuts for you. We were told coconut juice is a good treatment for Dengue Fever. I will get you a glass of coconut juice, okay?"

Liena hurriedly stood and ran out from Adrianna's room without waiting for her response.

Seeing her mother's nervous and anxious state, she felt distressed. She feels like a huge bolder is sitting on her chest. Making it hard for her to breathe.

In her past life, how could she hate her good mother just because of a music box?

Adrianna stared at the roof blankly.

She died. And she died horribly.

Thinking about her death, Adrianna feels a deep resentment in her heart. She doesn't understand her assailant's discussions but she will never forget those voices.

The voices who put her to her death.

She just doesn't understand how she could have offended someone from a foreign country.

She spent less than half a day in Romania. And she spent most of those time traveling from Bucharest to Sinaia. The rest of the time, she spent it at the hotel.

Or has the assailant been following her? But she changed her flight from Germany to Romania at the last second. And most importantly, she doesn't feel like someone is stalking her. Her senses in that aspect is not completely useless.

Thinking about her assailants, she frowned.

They are...different. They are unlike any human she has ever encountered.

She covered her eyes with her arm and decided to park this subject first. It's better to deal with things as they come.

Taking a deep breath, Adrianna bit her lips as she decided what to do next.

So she went back to when she was sixteen. This is her chance to redeem herself and make up for all the hurtful things she did to her parents.

Thinking about this, Adrianna pulled herself together and got up. But when she stood, her world was spinning and her knees went limp.

She immediately sat down first. Seeing a glass of water on the small table beside the bed, she took a drink and surveyed her room.

She has a King sized bed with two standard jalousie windows on either side of it. Then a small table is beside her bed with a lampshade.

At the foot of her bed, she has two identical closets standing side by side. One for her clothes and another for her footwear.

On her left side is her bookshelf which is 5 feet tall and as wide as her two windows combined. There is a long table half as wide and two chairs tucked in under it.

On her right is the door.

She has a ceiling fan and a stand fan.

And that's it.

Her room maybe spacious with more or less 300 square feet, which is thrice as big as her parent's room. But she doesn't want any clutters or hanging furniture.

She frowned as she looked around her room. She doesn't understand why her room has a huge space but her parents room has barely enough space to move.

Her parents really spoiled...

Adrianna's musings is interrupted when her ears picked up the sound of her name mentioned by someone.

As if her ears are like radio and her head like an antenna, she tilted her head at the side for better reception. When she caught some of her father's incomprehensible words, her curiosity was piqued.

"...can't... out..."

She closed her eyes and listened closely with full concentration.

"They will not find out!" Her mother's adamant voice.

"If they take Adi's blood, can we afford it?!" Her father's exasperated voice.

"But...."

"No, buts! Adi will be fine! We are not taking any chances on Adi's safety, and that's that! Don't speak about this anymore." Came her father's resolute voice.

"Andrei..." Her mother's struggling protest.

"Liena, give Adi her juice."

Hearing her father's last sentence, Adrianna jerked in surprise and swiftly dived into the bed and covered herself with the blankets. Her heart pounding.

After awhile, she heard a knock on her door.

"Come in, Ma."

Liena came in with a tall glass of coconut juice with some shredded coconut meat floating on top.

"Adi, your papa took some effort to obtain this. You must finish everything. He plucked six coconuts and all of it is for you. He also got some sweet plantain. Your favorite."

Adrianna smiled as she pulled herself up and sat.

Liena handed the glass to Adrianna as she also sat on the bed beside her. Then she lovingly stroked Adrianna's hair.

"Adi, do you feel any discomfort anywhere in your body?" Liena asked worriedly as she watched Adrianna drinking the juice.

"I'm good, ma."

Liena looked at Adrianna with a skeptical face.

"I will give you biogesic later. Are you well enough to eat?"

"I will make pork stew for you." Liena hurriedly added. She is thinking, if she cook Adrianna's favorite, she might be tempted to eat.

She has been ill for only three days. But she is all bones already! How can she lost so much? Thinking about it, Liena is so distraught.

"You can make anything, ma. No need to do anything special." Adrianna smiled. Her mother hasn't changed. She always use food to coax her.

Liena smiled as she kissed the top of Adrianna's head. She took the now empty glass and stood.

"Take a rest first. I will call you when food is ready."

When Liena is about to turn and leave, Adrianna softly called her.

"Ma, what day is it today?"

"Its September 25." Liena answered.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, ma. I will be joining you over at the table. I don't know what language are we using today?"

Liena smiled.

"Your papa did not say anything."

"By default, it should be Romanian." Liena giggled.

Adrianna smiled.

She doesn't know why her parents insists for her to be proficient in Romanian, English, Russian, German, Latin, Italian and French.

As far as she can remember, she grew up learning a lot of languages. Steffie even thought she would grow up to be an Interpreter!

But among all the languages, Romanian is her and her father's favorite.

Adrianna stilled.

She remembered the music box again. According to her father, it was made in Romania.

Adrianna bit her lips.

The music box is her only obsession.

She is like Gollum, from Lord of the Rings. If Gollum refers his ring as "my precious" then the music box is her "precious".

When Liena was about to leave, Adrianna called out to her again.

"Ma, I dreamt of someone."

Liena stilled and glanced at Adrianna over her shoulder. But she did not speak. Just waited for Adrianna to continue.

Adrianna swallowed hard. She bent her head and focused her gaze on her sweaty hands.

"That person said I should get the music box from you ahead of time." With her heart pounding wildly on her chest, Adrianna lied.

SHATTER!

Adrianna looked up at her mother's pale face and shaking hands. Her mother held her chest as she was swaying back and forth.

"Ma!"