Philippines (Chesa)

A grand study hall echoes pleas for mercy.

"Please, she's your daughter you can't do this!"

"Silence! She is no daughter of mine, and as such since you refuse to lay with me, that illegitimate child will, "

"Okay, okay I will do as you wish, please just leave her be"

Their voices turned to whispers and then silence, behind her bedroom door.

"Chesa," Her mother whines struggling to open the door.

"Unlock the door, darling" soft hiccups.

"I'm sorry, my sweet child that I birthed you into this world to suf-" kneeling down against the door.

"No, Mama you did not" Chesa's head thumps against the wood which creates a barrier between them.

"You did not," she mumbles softly.

Her mother lingers, before retreating.

"Chesa," A stern voice rings clear, halting her from returning to bed.

"Servant Guard Venancio you should not be here," she hears the clacking of metal against the wood above her.

"Never mind that, are you alright?"

"Uh- ye- yes I am alright"

"That's good,"

"Sleep well" he concludes.

Chesa waits upon the noise of his armor fading out, before finalizing her decision.

She takes the prepared rope of blankets, her backpack filled with coins, clothes and tosses them outside her window.

Her room was on the highest floor of the palace and occurrences such as the one prior were not uncommon, which aided in her decision. She climbs out the large window with her makeshift rope. She flees in the middle of the night to an open field before her.

Chesa thinks about how her life had been become a mess after rumors of the Crown Prince not being her biological father. Rumors that she had soon come to realize were true.

She liked that her father was not the Crown Prince because through all the years of her living in the palace he had not shown her any form of love or caring. She felt it odd that a servant guard had chosen to love her despite the confusion.

After much wandering around she finds a willow tree and decided to rest underneath it though battled to fall asleep due to the villagers banging on pots and pans. This reminded her of a story her friend from New England, Eliza had told her about.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Chesa had not been one to go out and play with the village children around the Palace. She felt comfortable with her own company but one day a young maiden visited her then father at the palace.

She had told her about the legend of Bakunawa and how this moon eating dragon came to be. In order to ward off this serpent one must make a loud noise to disturb it or play soft music to put it to rest. Her eyes became heavy and she fell asleep to the sound of Baroque music playing.

The next morning, Chesa is woken up the bustling of a nearby village with various markets and hollering about. She made her way down the lane in hopes of finding transportation, her destination, New England.

She asked a few sellers if they knew of anyone going to the main city.

"Dear, I overheard you looking for someone to take you to the main city," an elderly woman said while holding onto her shoulder.

"Yes ma'am, I'm looking to travel to New England," Chesa replied with a curt smile.

"That's excellent, my grandson has deliveries directly to New England," she commented and went on to explaining her grandson's business around the village.

"Oh here he is," pointing to him.

South Africa (Mandisa )

In a small village, on the outskirts of South Africa, young girl celebrates her twenty second birthday. "We welcome all who have come to Mandisa's coming of age ceremony!" An elderly woman announced in a foreign language.

All the female guests in the large hall wore colourful traditional attire and had white dotted markings on their faces. African drumming music filled the air and carried a rich atmosphere. The ceremony was held every year in the small village as a way to connect with the ancestors and for fill their duties as a traditional healer or Sangoma. During the initiation, the gifted one or possessed one dances and summons their ancestors. The village was only meant for females and all men lived on the other side of the mountains. As soon as a woman birthed a male he was transferred to the male clan. As such all ancestors, were female.

In a dream, a male demon named Gherro had visited Mandisa claiming to be a top ranking King of legions. He explained how they make contact with humans by using information they receive while watching from the other side or spiritual realm that cannot be seen by the human eye. Mandisa suggests a relationship of him teaching her dark magic.

"Then it is settled my dear," he bowed and suggested they run away before they are found out.

"She will first have a drink blood to begin the initiation into the Nkomo clan," the elderly woman continued though quietly whispered to the woman next to her.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know, great elder, she was meant to be here an hour ago," she replied in a hushed tone.

"You're her mother, how can you not know of her whereabouts?!" She hissed.

In an open field near the village Mandisa runs barefoot in a traditional white dress. The grass blades still damp from the dew of the morning, she heaves and struggles to catch her breath. The sound of coins in her pocket clanking against each other sang a tune that carried across the field as she ran.

A white pick-up truck filled with cows drove by though promptly stopped and waved to her. In the car, he explained how he needed someone to run a butchery he owned in New England. "If you would like I wouldn't mind paying for the plane ticket as well-" he offered and though she quickly interjected saying there was no need for him to go that far.

Mandisa asked the man to drop her off at a bed and breakfast apartment on the way. They would meet again the next morning, after she secretly exchanged the gold coins she had for money.

"Things are happening way too fast," she told Gherro and he explained to her what had happened for things to go on that way.

"I compelled that man while you were running-" he started off.

"Wait so how did you know that he needed someone for the butchery," she asked, speaking to herself in a coffee shop as she was the only one who could hear him.

"I already explained to you that there are demons and spirits everywhere and all you have to do is speak to the right ones-" he continued though cut off once more.

"So why am I running all the way to New England then, wouldn't it be easy to just live in Cape Town or something"

"Would you, stop interrupting me?!" He squealed and continued to say that he has a plan waiting for him in New England.

She discovered a car on the market after the flight and stayed there while looking for a place to live, on the drive Gherro informed her of a vacant room available in an old English mansion.

Unknown (Kacey)

Their home had been set on fire, red and orange embers flickered against the darken night sky. The wailing of a baby echoed through the forest.

"There's nothing we can save we have to leave immediately," a man's voice carried out amidst his coughing.

They ran with their backs faced away from the small cottage that crackled like a campfire.

The family spent the night sleeping in the woods and woke up to the sound of twigs snapping. They then find themselves facing a large English mansion. An old man had offered them a place to stay in his home.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" The woman asked and the old man simple gave her a curt nod of his head.

A few months passed

"I organized a picture day for us," the woman said then continued to say that it had been difficult to find a photographer to drive out all the way out there.

"Wouldn't you like to be in the picture with us, Mr Troy?" the woman asked.

"No my dear it should be your family portrait," he replied before heading inside the mansion.

"Wouldn't it be better to take a picture with the spectacular mansion-"

"No please let's take it here," the man said referencing the large garden area.

"Alright, Newman family, smile!"

After their pictures were taken, a few years had passed since the family of three left the English mansion.

In their new home, a little girl whose yellow frill dress was covered in mud runs around in the backyard. Her mother chases her with a brown wooden brush and laughter that filled the air.

The little girl pauses and turns around to find a figure of her mother is now a shadow, dangling arms at its sides and piercing blue eyes. She began to cry and her real mother heard her cry from inside the house, rushing over to her.