The Bad Girl Was Me All Along 💔

The sun peeks out, my alarm sings Meghan Trainor’s “Me Too”, and I open my eyes before it finishes the first verse. Precision is beauty. I am beauty.

Every morning is the same. Only today I wake up anxious to hear whether I have ranked 1 on our finals.

I whisper to the ceiling, ‘Thank you for another blessed day where my skin remains clear and my haters unmoisturized.’

I do the usual routine. Mask off, six-step skincare, check. Hair brushed, check. Ritual robes on, check.

Before morning ritual, I sneak out to the side garden where my secret friend waits.

‘Good morning, little one,’ I whisper.

The catfox creature is already sitting by the bush.

‘You really never miss a day, do you?’ I smile, kneeling to pour milk into a little dish (not the bowl of misfortune, I learned my lesson).

‘You know,’ I tell it softly as it drinks, ‘I’ve always suspected that you might not be a cat. You don’t blink enough. Your eyes look so sharp and attentive. You appear and disappear in perfect timing. Also, your tail looks like a duster.’

I reach out to pat it. It flicks an ear at me. Ok, Diva.

‘Do you have a name? I can’t keep calling you “cutie” forever.’

The creature finishes its milk and just stares at me. That counts as an answer, right?

‘“Cutie” it is then.’ I nod to myself.

Cutie snorts and gets up.

‘If you are a spirit, please don’t haunt me later. I’m fragile,’ I whisper as I watch it disappear, seconds before my grandmother emerges from the main building.

So smart…

Grandma walks with me to the ritual hall and asks about my school progress. Awwww :3

I fill her in as the hall filled up with more family members.

*****

The University feels different today. Aurelian hasn’t been at the gates waiting for me. Not at the class. Not at the cafeteria.

Freedom!

The air smells fresh, the sky looks bluer, my bracelets aren’t breaking, the talismans on my bag flutter happily. No bad luck.

‘Melodette! The rankings are posted!’ Myla exclaims.

Even if Myla is quick to turn her head when a handsome boy passes by, she’s still one of the class tops. She’s actually very smart.

I follow her to the board and my eyes directly scan the top 5.

FRESHMEN FINALS SCORES

Aurelian Verdani - 100

Melodette Verexa - 99

Meow Park - 97

Myla de la Cruz - 96

Some rando - 96

Sigh… See? He didn’t even need me…

‘Yey! I am on the top!’ Myla cheers. As if she doesn’t get within the top ranking all the time. In fact I have to watch it with my friends as they’re both just as smart as me. If not more.

‘Sorry you aren’t number 1 this time.’ A wild Meow suddenly appears between us.

‘Yeah.’ Myla pouts. ‘Your performance is better!’

Myla’s head was smacked lightly by Sir Corbin, who also just appears suddenly behind us. ‘It wasn’t about performance. Though a good performance will indeed encourage people to pay attention. It’s about getting your point across in a way that would make people engage in your business.’

Huh? Should I have just modelled for him then?

Sir Corbin nods to me. ‘Good job on your finals miss Verexa. You weren’t any less than mister Verdani. It’s just, the panel of judges felt more inclined to do business with him, just 1% a bit more than yours.’

‘Thank you.’

I sure hope I am not less than. What would have my poor helper boy risked all his life for? Actually, haven’t seen him much around the house since… OOOPPS…

‘Have any of you seen mister Verdani by the way?’ Sir Corbin looks between us three. We all shake our heads.

‘He isn’t here, hasn’t called in sick and no one can reach his family.’

‘Oh…’ My mother might know.

‘We’ll let you know when we hear anything sir.’ Meow responds.

‘Off the record, I preferred your one.’ Sir Corbin tells me as he walks off.

Myla throws me a suspicious look from sir Corbin’s side.

Girl! If you don’t settle down!

*****

By the third day of Aurelian’s absence, everyone starts whispering.

‘Did you hear about Aurelian’s family?’

‘The jewelry house Verdanis?’

‘Apparently something weird happened to their mines…’

Mines? I frown. They don’t mine. Aurelian once said his family only deals with refining and “enchanting” gemstones found by contracted miners. Not digging the earth themselves.

‘I don’t like this.’ I tell Meow and Myla. Meow offers me a hug and Myla stands up to gather more details.

The rumors grow darker each time Myla comes back to report. Strange lights near their estate. Accidents during refinement. Workers fainting from unseen pressure.

*****

The trip home is silent. The whole time, Euffie looks like she wants to say something but doesn’t.

‘You look constipated, just say it!’ I spit.

Euffie remains tightlipped.

Upon arriving, my mother’s voice calls me to the family prayer room. That’s never a good sign.

‘Melodette,’ she says gravely, ‘the Verdanis family has requested our aid.’

‘Aid?’ I said. ‘Like… bless their jewelry for the next season’s launch?’

My grandmother shakes her head. ‘Something has been released.’

As she say that, even in a tightly enclosed room, the candle flames waver.

Huhu bad juju.

‘We need to plan.’ Auntie says.

‘There is no time to plan. Call everyone over. The negative energy is already spreading through their bloodline.’ Mother say as she looks at me. ‘The boy, Aurelian, was the first to be consumed.’

I suddenly feel very sick.

Consumed.

I think back to his desperate eyes, his restlessness, the way he wouldn’t stop seeking me out. That wasn’t just infatuation. He was asking for help.

And I had laughed at him and treated him awfully the whole time. The one person he calls his true friend...

I cry.

Somebody hugs me from the back but I don’t know who. I just cry.

*****

By sunset, our house feels like a festival ground turned battlefield.

Relatives from the countryside arrive in batches. Aunts, uncles, cousins, all carrying bundles of herbs, sealed urns, and charms. Each arrival makes me breath with unease.

New incense burns in every corridor, not the usual one I use for the whole place. This ruins my vibe. As I go door to door trying to put back my own incense of choice, I overhear some family.

‘Did you see the photographs?’

‘It’s worse than we thought.’

‘The spirit nested inside their gemstones.’

Before I can feed them their cheap excuse of an incense that they brought with, Grandmother walks in with her cane.

Yeah granny whack em with that cane.

‘Make no mistake,’ she says to us all. ‘This is not an exorcism. This is reclamation. That thing fed on their greed. And now, it’s starving for more.’