Hey Chin, you there? Just taking a chance here but if you can hear me, it’s Max… I’m hoping you can perceive me, so we can continue our plan to make Diwana and the city guy, Eron, all mine.Chin’s eyes opened wide upon hearing the dead squirrel’s statements in her head. I know that voice, I’m sure of it. But can it be that he has gotten strong enough to reach me here in the city?Slowly, the now conscious witch sat up to check on her surroundings. Hmmm, this does not look like my bedroom or my mansion’s medical center. I might be at the downtown hospital. But for how many days have I been here?Chin, can you hear me?Yes, I can! you don’t need to scream at me, MAX! I’m awake now!GOOD! I knew somehow that would work! What happened to you the past few days? It’s almost a week since you last connected with me, woman!”ALMOST A WEEK?! WHO COULD BE POWERFUL ENOUGH TO DO THAT TO ME?!How the hell should I know? All I know is you suddenly stopped talking to me back at the village’s mountain

“Did you hear that, J?” asked one of the old-timers from inside the De Narra’s roomy but rustic cottage bedrooms. “Sounds like we caught sumpthin’ big and angry.”“Yer right, Ernesto. Might even be a grizzly!”“Yee-haw. If it is, I want its pelt for my Meemaw.”“Hey, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s arm ourselves to the teeth then take a look at them critters before we start a plannin’.”Each man, put on their favorite fur jacket and then loaded his fave ‘wife’ to bring with him out into the dark woods.After about ten minutes of walking, they manage to find their ’catch’, complete with a small upset audience who were trying their best to free their companion from the retirees’ trap.“Hey! What in tarnation are you critters up to?”“This your trap, man?!”“What the hell are you hoping to catch? A fucking hellhound?”“You planning to kill someone, or what?!”The ten or so mini-crowd of strangers all spoke up in unison as soon as the three older men walked up to their trap, and i

“Whoa, I never thought Serg had such a big house! I could not believe a constable’s salary could pay for a massive property like this.”“That’s because he has a relative who died and left him an old home in the city. He and I decided to sell that instead of fixing it up and using the money we got from the sale to buy a bigger abode up here in the mountains,” blatantly lied Serg’s wife. “And because of the distance and the past pandemic that killed half the village’s population, there were many cheap mansions for sale around these parts. So, we took advantage of that, especially since I was pregnant with my twin boys then.”“Do you mind if we can look up some houses around here that I could probably consider purchasing one of them once I would have my own kids too?”“We’re probably going to get married at the end of the year, and since my lovie hubby wants children ASAP, we’re considering of selling our city condo for a bigger but more affordable property.” Raquel girlishly piped up.

“Damn it, I overslept! No thanks to that doctor for not waking me up ‘coz that Chin’s blasted spell made me so dizzy, I had to nap again. Plus, the traffic going out of the city was horrible today. It was already nighttime when I got back to Pat, and she’d already closed the office and gone home. No biggie, I can take a short detour to my Diwana and enjoy the view for a while before I head home to my camp in the lumberyard tonight!”Meanwhile, Eron had said his farewell to his new trusted friends, the Schneiders, and was suddenly aware of a familiar stink when he entered the gated area of the Oro Vista Alpha.“Damn it, he’s at it again. Good thing, it looks like everyone at home is already asleep including Diwana, so he won’t be stalking her again. But then again, if I wasn’t too tired because of my very full day today, from helping Orlando and his sisters move here this morning, to the walk with the village head leader this afternoon, to the special Dinner invite and talk with Jack a

“Hi girl, this is quite an early phone call that you're making. Must be really important for you to call me at this hour.” “Well, I just wanted to make sure you haven’t already gone to sell food to Jack’s employees. This is important, Diwana.” “If it’s you, I’m sure that it is Leena. So, go ahead and tell me…” “Is the Oro Vista Luna still for sale? We have a couple who’s interested because they plan to be married soon, but they find their condo unit to be too small to raise a family properly.” “So far, I know they have several interested buyers but none have given us a deposit yet. Therefore, it is still on the market but I’m not sure for how long.” ‘Do you mind if you confirm if it’s still up for sale? They are so eager to see it this morning. I’m sure they’ll be heartbroken if we view it and they are told it’s sold already.” “Alright sister. I’ll do that immediately after I end this call. Like you said, it’s a good thing you caught me before I’ve already gone to the sawmill.”