Chapter 6

Midnight... That time at which one day ends and a new one begins. The time in which something bad or good is seen as having a greater likelihood of occurring. Midnight... The most significant hour of the day, especially for the supernaturals.

The time was exactly midnight when Mama Silver woke up with a start, gasping for breath. Her bedroom had become stifling hot and suffocating despite the air-conditioner blaring cool air into the room.

She tried getting out of bed but fell back right after, as her legs were weak and couldn't support her weight.

'What is this?... What is happening?' She worriedly thought to herself as she reached for the bedside lamp and switched it on.

As the light brightened the room, everything returned to normal just like that. It was as if she was not nearly choking to death some seconds ago. She took a deep breath in and released it out easily, thanking God for the gift of life and the grace for good health.

Then she firmly placed her feet on the floor, expecting to fall right back when she stood, but nothing of such happened. She walked the length and breadth of her room on steady feet, all traces of the rubbery feelings that she felt some seconds ago on her limbs were gone.

She looked around her room, checking if there was anything suspicious lurking around the corners. There was nothing. The room was the same as it was when she went to bed the previous night. nothing was out of place. Except...

It smelt different. Nose scrunched a couple of times, she walked every part of the room again, sniffing every corner, trying to be sure she was not wrong about the smell.

'Yes, it smelt different all right.' She confirmed to herself. It was subtle but she could still perceive it.

She needed to get a glass of water as her throat was patched. The perfume-like smell was familiar and she tried to figure out what kind it was as she walked down to the kitchen.

The smell was stronger as she moved towards the kitchen. Since her mind was telling her it was a familiar scent then why couldn't she figure it out? Mama Silver wondered with frustration.

''There's the smell again..." She murmured to herself as she entered the kitchen. After she's had her fill of water, she sat down by the kitchen table and tried to clear her head off the remnant of sleep that was still clouding her brain.

Then it suddenly came to her... "Jasmine!..." She loudly said to the empty room. "Rose loves and wears jasmine!" She whispered to herself in realization.

"This is an omen! Rose what have you done this time!?" Mama Silver murmured to herself in alarm. wondering what her granddaughter might be up to at that very moment.

"God I pray my baby is okay!? Please God let her be okay. I know she can be such a handful sometimes... But she's just pained... She's hurt in her heart, hence her behavior. Please let her be okay..."

Mama Silver continuously prayed silently in her heart as she rushed back to her bedroom to get her phone.

~(*_*)~

Lincoln Salvador suddenly woke with the first chimed sound made by the grandfather clock in the living room downstairs. He opened his eyes to a painful, pressure-like discomfort at the center of his chest.

Fully awake and alarmed. He turned on his right side, his not fully functional left hand clutched at his chest while his right hand groped around on his nightstand for his drugs, panickly knocking the lamp and everything else on it over to the floor in the process.

The pressure was too uncomfortable for him to bear. He quickly felt down his bedstand, located the emergency bell that was attached to it, and long-pressed it without letting go.

Within minutes his daughter-in-law, nurse, and two granddaughters came rushing into his room.

His daughter in law who was the first to enter his room switched on the light and worriedly rushed to his bedside when she saw the mess of the shattered lamp and everything else on the floor.

But as soon as the light came on, the heavy and painful pressure on his chest disappeared, leaving him feeling like he just had a bad dream.

"Darkness will always flee in the presence of the light... What kind of omen is this, God!?" He worriedly wondered aloud to himself.

"Dad is everything alright? Are you okay?... What do you mean by omen?" His daughter-in-law asked rapidly. She was worried by the look on her father inlaw's face.

He appeared to have aged more than he was the previous night. He looked tired with worried lines etched into his face.

"Just help me up, I'm fine," Lincoln said instead, ignoring her questions and the questioning look on her face.

"Are you sure?... You look pale and..."

"Lydia stop fussing! Just help me up!" He replied curtly to her. "...and why are you lots standing there like zombies!? Come help her... And bring my wheelchair closer. Must I asked everything before you all know what to do!?"

He spoke annoyingly towards his male nurse and two granddaughters. After he was helped into his wheelchair, the nurse checked his vitals to confirm he was alright before he was dismissed, leaving the family alone with each other.

"Where is Leo?" He asked gruffly as soon as the nurse had stepped out of his room.

"I'll go check his room" Ava his youngest granddaughter offered but was stopped even before she attempted to leave the room.

"Don't bother checking. You ought to know he would be here if he was home or is that too hard for you to figure out Ava?"

"Grandpa I only wanted to make sure he..." Ava attempted to say something but was cut off abruptly

"Save your breath! No unnecessary explanation is needed... And will somebody please get me my phone!?" He bellowed, and they all scampered around, looking for his phone among the jumbled mess littering the floor.