Bewitched: THE END.

[jhennylicious]

Ang kulit ni maks at damien, nagkikiringkiran eh *wataterm*
haha umagang umaga ang dalwang to!
Haha ano kayang feeling maging maks BWAHAHA!
anong nangyari sa last scene?

[grounded_gal]

Yung magboyfriend nga nagkakaselosan pa si Damien pa kaya di ba Mae?
Kaso... wala siyang K kay Maks. Well, there's the scores of what if's. Hulaan mo Mae... HAHAHA. Did they really do it?

Awww. Nakaka-B. I. talaga CC. At dahil mabait ako, hindi ako kasama dun sa B. I.

Wahaha, talagang inexclude mo ang sarili mo ah. hehe

Hala, they did it na nga. Oh well. hehe
Kakatakot naman ang dream ni Damien.
Naaksidente sila? Ang galing naman ni Alberich. Alam niyang may mangyayaring di maganda. Tsk tsk. Sana naman okay sila.

[yurilovetamahome]

naaksidente ba sila sa huling scene

[BlackLily]

jhahahahha. lalong gumaganda! sana hindi totoo yung sumpa! waaaa ayokong may mangyaring masama kay Maksima.

[vague_yelhsa]

Twenty Six. Accident

He sat upright and winced as his head throbbed. He fell back down on the bed. “Maksima! Maksima!” His eyes grew wide as images of the accident played in his mind. He was so afraid, not for himself but for her.

“Damien!” His mom was crying that alarmed him more than ever.

What happened? The dread was seeping like poison into his body and soul.

“Where’s Maks? Please!” He peeled out the tubes attached to his arms. His mom kept pinning him down to no avail. Nurses were on the trail. He was hysterical now.

He saw his newly acclaimed aunts. They were looking at him, they weren’t crying but God, their eyes were unreadable. He could have accepted them lashing at him, blaming him. But no. It was as if they’d already accepted what was to come.

They were witches! For Pete’s sake why couldn’t they something? He wanted to shout and hurt people. He wanted to cry savagely. Was this what the dream was all about?

Was Maksima going to die?

“No! Please... help her! help her!” He groaned. His mom was wailing. The nurses were frantic to get him at ease. He was staring at them, begging with his eyes. They shook their heads in what seemed like... surrender.

“Mom... why can’t... I... help her?” He spoke softly as he cursed under his breath. Whatever they injected in him was surely working. He dozed off in a dreamless sleep.

***

“A life taken is a life paid.”

He could hear it clearly though he had no idea where that strange voice was coming. He opened his one good eye slowly. The pain was gone. Had it been years since he had this kind of sleep?

His eyes widened when images of Maksima brought him to reality. He tried to stand up without swaying. There was no one about in the room. He looked down and saw that he was wearing a hospital gown.

From a distance he listened to a cat’s relentless purring. He drew up and strode toward the door. The corridor was deserted as well. It was about two thirty in the wee hours of midnight.

“Maks...” He was bracing against the wall as he followed the sound. He came to an abrupt halt to see through the panel glass. His heart clenched at seeing the woman he loved with apparatus and tubes all over her.

“She needed blood. But there was no one here who matched hers.”

He turned around at the sound of the soft spoken voice. He couldn’t remember her, of course, he didn’t know a many number of nurses here. She was wearing a mask that covered half of her face. But her hair... it was all black and shiny. She was white as well as the rest of her. Well, he could say that she almost looked pale.

And she even looked familiar. A shudder ran down his spine. The hair on his nape stood on ends. He turned to face Maksima again. He wanted to touch her. His eyes got misty. Was this the curse?

“Damn! Damn!” His fists turned into a ball by his side. He was a damned wizard. Why couldn’t he do something? It was useless. He was infantile!

“But she’ll live it through...” He gritted his teeth, becoming angrier at himself.

The nurse shook her head in denial. He couldn’t take it.

“She’s as good as dead.” She whispered. “It is only a matter of time before she gives up the fight.” Her expression was passive as she stared at the almost lifeless form of Maksima.

“Isn’t there something I can do?” He whispered painfully.

“A life taken is a life paid.”

The words were just above whisper but it didn’t escape Damien’s earshot. He whipped about, perturbed at the reckoning words. Was he imagining things now? He shivered just as he gazed stupidly at the spotless floor where the nurse had been standing earlier.

Noooo. You’re not going to get her from me.

[vague_yelhsa]

Twenty Seven. Life


She was running and running through the meadows. Masyado siyang masaya habang pinaglalaruan ang saranggola. Alam niyang may humahabol sa kanya pero hindi niya maalala kung sino. O kung ano man ang mukha nito.

Biglang dumilim. Umihip ng malakas ang hangin. At nawala ang taong iyon. She shivered. She hugged herself, wishing she knew where she was or how she’d gotten there.

A cat purred from a distance.

“Maksima...”

Napalingon siya upang makita ang isang babae. Maputi ito na may mahaba at itim na itim na buhok. Sino ito?

“Maksima... sumama ka na sakin...” Mayroon itong misteryosong ngiti at inilahad ang kamay sa kanya. Hesitantly, she reached out only to draw back again. Naalala niya ang sinabi ng tyang niya noon na huwag sumama sa mga hindi kakilala. She frowned. She couldn’t even recall her aunt’s face.

I love you Maks...

Narinig niya na ang boses na ‘yon. Saan nga ba? Mahal nga ba siya nito? Pero nasan ito? Bakit wala ito? Bakit naguguluhan siya? She tasted fear at that instant. Nawawala siya. She didn’t know where to go, where specifically was home.

Tears started trekking down her cheeks.

“Maksima... halika na...” Inilahad ng babae ang isang kamay at napatingin siya doon. She smiled at her as if reassuring her of her own future. Gusto niyang sumama but there was something holding her back. Ang tanong ay, ano iyon?

Listen to me! You told me that I was a coward, but no! You are Maks! You are! Fight for me damn you!

Napalingon siya at natigilan. A slow smile spread on her face. That man was surely insane. How could he plead and curse at her at the same time? Hindi ba dapat nagmamakaawa itong ‘wag siyang umalis? He should be remorseful and not angry at her. She shook her head in amusement. When everything was bizarre one thing was clear though.

Gusto pa niya itong makilala.


Damien’s thoughts

He would give a dozen bags of blood only for Maks if required. Even if it caused his life. The apparatus ticked slowly. The curved lines were getting into a straight one. He felt his heart hammering inside his chest.

“Listen to me! You told me that I was a coward, but no! You are Maks! You are! Fight for me damn you!”

He was crying now. She wasn’t going to die. He couldn’t accept it. He had given his blood that matched hers but sadly it was no use. The doctor was pumping her chest now. The machine was ticking loudly as if death was signaling them to cease the struggle.

“No! No!” The nurses were swarming around the bed.

His mom took his arm and stopped him from taking Maksima’s body into his arms. Angry tears were streaming down his eyes. The three sisters were only looking at the still form with shadowed faces.

“Are you just going to stand there?! Are you just going to let her die?” He shouted at them. He knew that it was wrong to blame them. It was his fault. All of it. He shouldn’t have touched her. She should have been alive. He should have let her with Rouke. It would only kill his heart, and Maksima would still be laughing... loving.

The doctor shook his head. He was crying as he ran to the bed.

“Maks! This is only one of your sick jokes!” He shook her hard never minding if his tears were falling down on her pale, still face. “I thought you love me... you would never leave me...” He was shaking with so much pain as he hugged her tight. Everybody’s faces were solemn. He could care less if everybody looked down at his desperate and pitiful state.

“Damien... please... please...” His mom’s hand pried him away from Maks but he couldn’t be deterred. He kissed her face frantically. “She’s not dead mom. She’s just sleeping.” Tears were choking him. He was going mad. Perhaps, he even thought he saw a glimpsed a black cat under the bed. He couldn’t be so sure he was so immersed in his misery.

He took out the omen Maks gave him. He enclosed it on her palm.

“I love you. I love you. I love you.” He kept whispering.

His mom led him away from her. He was numb already from all the pain. He closed his eyes not wanting to see them putting the white cloth over her face. It signified the end of everything that was good for him.

A nurse screamed from out of the room startled the crowd inside. Everybody save him got out. He saw Aunt Lena crooked her finger. There was something in her eyes that made him stepped forward to the throng of people outside the room.

He frowned as he squeezed into the nurses. He couldn’t stop staring at the lifeless body of the black cat that was Alberich.

He was dead.

“Damien?”

A soft, familiar voice swamped his senses. Was it his imagination? People murmured. Others gasped. The doctor was flabbergasted at the sight before him. Damien ever so slowly turned around to face her.

His mom fainted dead away. He wanted to do the same but he didn’t even close his eyes or blink for he might wake up from this dream. She smiled up at him like an angel. She slowly walked toward him. Her steps were light and numbered. She raised her hand and touched the side of his face.

He cradled her hand with his own and closed his eyes.

“Damien...” She was weeping silently. “A life paid is a life taken.” She whispered softly as she looked down at her best friend. He touched the nick on his eyebrow just as he realized one thing. Now he knew what Alberich’s role in this whole sordid affair. He and Alberich were the same. How did it happen? He didn’t know. Only that he was forever thankful for him.

He took her roughly in his arms. She cried on his shoulders as the agony of losing her one friend crushed her.

[vague_yelhsa]

Epilogue. Love


Inabot niya ang diary na iyon sa Mommy ni Damien. Napangiti siya habang bumababa ito ng hagdan. They would have a new life and a new home. Siguro nga masyado pa silang bata pero sa mga napagdaanan na nila. They both matured beyond their age.

“Alam mo bang kahawig mo ang mama mo?” Ngumiti ito.

Hindi nila alam kung pano nawala ang sumpa. Dahil kay Alberich? All along he had been her guardian given to her by her adoptive aunts. Alam na kaya ng mga ito una pa man na si Alberich ang magliligtas sa kanya? At magpuputol ng sumpa sa pamilya nila Damien? O dahil sa dugo ni Damien na nananalaytay sa kanya?

She didn’t know. The three spinters still kept mum about it.

Umiling siya. Kinuha nito ang diary at binuklat buklat iyon. Sa gitna niyon ay may nakadikit na lumang larawan. She frowned. Why didn’t she notice it before? Katakataka naman iyon.

“Hey! Time to go Maks!” Tumigil ito ng makita ang larawan. His expression was one of astonishment. Tumingin siya dito sa nagtatanong na mga mata.

“She’s... she’s... she’s the nurse at the hospital!” He whispered brokenly as apprehension took him full force.

“What do you mean?” His mom asked.

Parang naguluhang tumingin din siya sa larawan. Biglang parang may alaalang simingit sa isipan niya. Ang babae sa meadow... ang may mahabang at itim na itim na buho na katulad ng sa kanya. At maputi din.

She gasped. “She’s my mom.”

“Yes. Could it be?” They all both looked at the smiling woman with Damien’s mother at the picture.

“My best friend, your mom has wished you all the happiness.” She smiled and hugged them both. Napangiti siya at umusal ng maikling panalangin. Habang yakap sila ng mama ni Damien ay pinagsalikop nila pareho ang kamay. Maybe her own mother tested their love. But Alberich was another matter. They would never forget him though. But then...

It only meant that witches had a chance at forever.

THE END

To all:

Umaapaw na THANK YOU ulit. Hmm. At long last this has come to an end. Pero nalulungkot ako, a bit. Well, thank you sa recommendation, sa comments, sa kwentuhan. You all know who you are! You all really make me happy! A big hug for all of you. You'll get tired of hearing how grateful I am to all my readers. IN GENERAL NA TALAGA YAN HA?

[regiereg]

Salamat kay Alberich. Kung wala siya, walang magbubuwis ng buhay.

[Lonely Procrastinator]

Wow. Super happy ending. Omg. (: Congrats Damien & Maks.

[Sachiko]

Yay! Happy ending! thank you Alberich!

[ella.ella.ella]

Alberich, Thank you. Congrats Maks and Damien.

[yanyan7192]

ash! tapos na siya! Happy ending pa.. Love it! Sorry late na ako nagcomment.. Nawalan kasi kami ng internet tapos finals pa. Haaaay! LOVE LOVE LOVE ko `to

[sweetmit08]

wow!!! ganda. happy ending. congrats ms. author!! 

[yurilovetamahome]

wow tinappos mo na talaga ashley!! yay for you!! happy ending talaga! awwww hindi mo talaga kami binigo and i'm happy for that isa kang magiting na pusa alberich! makapag-alaga pala ng pusang itim, taga ligtas ng mga nasusumpa congrats maks and damien, atsaka sa author!

[aeinlovewithyou]

Kung makasigaw ka naman Damien, kahit ako nurse matataranta ko sa ginawa mo. HAHAHAHAHA! Aw. I have this great liking for cats pa naman. Sayang si Alberich. Meow. Hmp. Sana namatay nalang si Maksima. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Ang sama e noh? HAHA. Hayy nako. Ano kayang next story ni Ash? Hm. Sana may season 2. :] Wiih. Yung buhay magasawa nila. HAHAHA.