Erica's Letter: He is an Enemy

To: Felicia dela Cuesta

This guy really works hard in killing me, mom. He even thought as far as making up a story of how we met just so 'Carie' wouldn't get suspicious.

He said that we met when we were young. Apparently, his family came to Wickler to visit his relatives. Because it had been a long time since they last saw each other, the adults got too into their conversations and forgot the children. So the children played hide and seek. He wanted to win so much that he hid very far. That's how he got to the cottage, but it was already evening and no one found him. Then he forgot how to go back. He cried loudly and I came into the picture. He said that I helped him go out of the woods. We didn't talk because I just held his hand and led him out. When we were almost out, you called me and that's how he got my name. Then we separated ways.

He's even using you, mom.

Today, we're going to that place. He's there in the kitchen, preparing our food.

"Carie, where do I put the food?" he asked loudly so I could hear him.

I stood up and went to the kitchen. I took out some food boxes and handed them to him. I looked at the food he cooked. He prepared some hardboiled eggs, some omelettes, and some scrambled eggs. Yes, all are eggs. But mom, you can't say anything about that because eggs are the only thing I have left here.

"Do you have a bag?"

"Just use your bag," I said.

"I have important things here. I cannot put all these food in the same place. They might spill," he explained.

"Then just be careful so nothing will spill."

"Are you saying that I'll be carrying these the whole time?"

"Of course. Do you want me to touch your bag and be tempted to go through the important things there? You know, I just can't leave my curiosity hanging."

"Fine. But where are we going?"

"Something special. So change your clothes so that you'll look presentable."

I went inside the room and changed my black dress to another black dress. When I came out, he had changed, too. He's wearing all black as well.

I circled him while looking him from head to toe. I shook my head.

"What?" he asked.

I crossed my arms. "You don't have any fashion sense, do you?"

He looked at my outfit. "You're one to talk."

"Hey, my dress is very beautiful. Look at the details." I turned around. "See?"

He looked at me dead in the eye while I posed like a princess. His silence was more annoying. It would've been better if he commented something bad. That way, I could retort.

I cleared my throat to make up for the awkward silence. "Let's get going now."

We walked and talked. But I did more of the talking - maybe even all of it actually. You know that I love talking, mom. But I'm even talking more than I used to. I saw the information he has on me, and I made him believe that whoever was tailing Erica made a mistake and instead tailed Carie. So I'm making the contrast clear. Carie will be very talkative and Erica will be reserved.

"Why did you stop?" he asked when he saw me freeze.

I looked at my right shoulder. It's wet. I shifted my eyes to the sky. It's raining. I immediately looked for a place to hide, but there was nowhere.

"It's raining. We need to hide," I told him.

"Let's just continue. We can change when we arrive."

"No. Don't you get it? It's raining."

"Yes, I can see that. We won't die." His expression was unchanging.

I decided that talking to him was useless. So I just looked around me and saw a big tree. I ran to it and crouched down. I covered my ears with my hands.

"Carie, let's move on." He had followed me.

"No. I need to hide first."

"Since you can't continue because of your current state, just tell me where we are headed to," he said. "I will go first and wait for you there."

"You know, Erica told me a scary story once."

He crouched down beside me. "Erica? A story? What is it?"

I looked at him. I should be hiding from this person. He only cared about Erica, about killing me. Carie wasn't his target so how could he be so indifferent?

"When the thunder claps, that means they have arrived. And they will kill all of u- Aaaahhh!"

I couldn't continue because there was a loud thunder. I remembered the story you told me, mom. You said that the first witch disappeared when the thunder clapped. And that's what happened to all the others, too. That's what happened to you as well. Why, mom? And who are they? Why are they taking us? Divine beings? Why do we have enemies on all sides? Humans try to kill us; the divine tries to take us away; and nature cowers from us.

"It's okay, Carie. Calm down," Tristan said softly.

He pulled me into his embrace and gently caressed my back. He hummed a song and that helped me calm down until there was another thunder.

"Aaahhh!" I screamed while sobbing.

He hugged me tighter and his voice got louder. As the thundering went on, so did his humming. The louder it got, the louder his voice was, too.

We stayed there for a few hours until the rain stopped. We were wet. I pulled out from the hug.

"Are you okay now?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

"A while ago, you talked about a scary story that Erica told you. Can you tell me more about that?"

I looked at him. He's still the same. I actually held a little bit of hope. But I don't know how he could be this cold-blooded.

I stood up. "Let's go."

He pestered me about the story. He must have really wanted to get information as much as he could. He only stopped when I told him when I would tell him once we get to our destination.

They only try to get to know us when they need the information to kill us.

From: Erica dela Cuesta