Before the sun disappeared and the dark completely covered the skies, every tribesman entered and locked their houses. Each family stayed together and prayed to the Highest G.o.d that the Devil"s child will spare their lives and livestock"s. The streets were completely empty, not even dogs were left to roam around and no one dared to open neither their door nor even made a glimpse at their windows. No one wanted to see the Devil"s child, not even its shadows that brought bad luck. Anyway, that child was said to have been born with a damaged face and so who would want to look at its face?The palace was no exemption to Devil"s child cursed and so just like every family in the Manggan Island, everyone who lived in the palace—the princess, the servants, Guntas and other officers—were forbidden to roam around their chambers at that particular night. The servants were dismissed early and the royal bloods retreated to their chambers at sun set.
Xhemin who was not used to that kind of set up was having hard time falling asleep. When she did, she had woken up several times. The last time she woke, things became quite odd and so she tried to get up only to realize that her whole room was dark. Did she turn off the lamps? Probably she did as she was the only one in her room yet she doesn"t remember doing so.
The little Miss decided to get up entirely from her bed but as she moved to the edge, she felt another person"s presence in the room. She was not alone.
"Handmaid Si?" She called but no one answered. "Is that you?"
Xhemin was answered with silence but she could still sense the other person that had joined her in her chambers. Right then, she knew it wasn"t her handmaid because if it was handmaid Si, there was no reason for her not to answer her call.
"I know I"m not alone here," Xhemin spoke calmly. She knew that terrible things happened when the red moon appears but she didn"t expect that she can be a victim to those terrible things. Her instinct immediately told her to raise her guard up and see if her visitor was a friend or a foe. She stepped out of the bed completely and stood still as she had made her eyes get accustomed to the darkness. She searched for where her unwelcomed visitor was and in just a minute she found where it was hiding. Without wasting time, Xhemin went for the second window from her bed and attempted to open it.
"Don"t," A voice warned. The person was outside, leaning at the window that Xhemin was about to open. Xhemin had managed to know where the person was and she planned to get head on with whoever it was if it chose to become hostile.
"Who are you?" Xhemin asked from the inside. Their voices were low, as if both were trying to avoid getting someone else attention.
"Someone you don"t know," The person replied and Xhemin thought she heard a woman"s voice.
"Yet you know me," Xhemin concluded since the other girl sounded as if she knew the little Miss completely.
"Yes," Her unwelcomed visitor replied.
"Why and how did you know me?" She bombarded her with questions.
There was another silence after that as if the question was something her visitor cannot answer without giving it a thought.
"Answer me!" The little Miss demanded.
The other girl held a deep sighed that Xhemin heard fully before she answered her question "You have everything that I want" She paused as she swallowed a lump in her throat "That"s why I know you,"
"What do you mean?" Xhemin frowned at her answer. She was completely clueless as to what the other party was talking about.
She heard her visitor chuckle and it sounded as sarcasm in Xhemin"s ears "That"s the least of the question I was expecting from you,"
The girl"s attention got Xhemin more curious, her mind wandered far and low trying to fathom her visitor"s words. Still clueless she managed to ask another question "Then what kind of question should I be asking you?"
"Questions like…." The girl from the outside"s aura became serious as well as her tone of voice "Where the Acamilla Apparaus is, probably?"
Xhemin"s eyes grew big immediately when she heard the plant from her mouth. Her knees suddenly shook and her hands trembled. She pushed the window open but the girl from the outside block it completely.
"Don"t push it," Her visitor warned her again.
"How do you know about the Acamilla Apparaus? Where is it? Who are you? Where are you—"
"I can only answer one question from you," The girl cut Xhemin"s unending queries.
"Fine, where can I get an Acamilla Apparaus?" She chose the question that meant a lot for her.
"In the Devil"s lure," She replied tonelessly as if the place meant nothing.
"Are you—hey!" Xhemin prepared another question yet she had felt that her visitor was leaving already, "Hey!" Xhemin pushed the window open yet no one welcomed her but the darkness that surrounded everything and the strong wind from the outside that sent every curtain from her chambers flying with it. She searched for the person she just recently conversed with but she left without any trace.
"Princess!" Handmaid Si came in with a lamp unexpectedly and she panicked when she saw Xhemin"s window opened. She placed the lamp she had in the floor in haste and ran for window to closed it immediately as if something was about to attack them from the outside.
"Handmaid Si," Xhemin only managed to p.r.o.nounced her handmaid"s name as she was still lost as to what had just transpired. "Someone… someone was…"
"Hush princess…" The handmaid comforted her as she thought she was afraid of something "A lot of things happen during the red moon. It"s my fault anyway I should have never left you alone,"
"It"s okay. I"m fine," Xhemin replied with a timid smile. She climbed back to her bed and thought about the girl who spoke from the outside.
Who was she?
And how was she able to roam around during a red moon?