Cris didn’t say anything and only received the hug his mother gave him while Lilith was sad about leaving home.
“I’ll miss home.” Lilith said.
“You won’t miss me?” Their mum pouted her mouth and sulked like a baby.
“Of course, I’ll miss you, mum.” Lilith responded.
The siblings entered the car as the driver started the engine. They waved to their mum from the backseats as they drove out of their mansion. The drive to Hartwood was a five-hour drive and they left Sergsdale at around 11 in the morning, but Lilith kept making stops along the way for one thing or the other, so they didn’t arrive at Hartwood until around 6 in the evening. When they arrived at old Granny Lulu’s place, she was already outside, waiting to welcome them.
“Granny Lulu!” Lilith ran into her grandmother’s embrace and hugged her as tightly as she could.
“Oh, my wonderful Lilith. I’m so happy to see you. My, you sure have grown a lot bigger”
“Of course.” Lilith gave her another tight hug. Granny Lulu had not seen them since they were 7 and 4 years old. Now, they were 10 and 7 years old. After a moment that seemed to stretch on forever, Granny Lulu finally let go of Lilith and turned to face Cris, her arms stretched out wide.
“Hi, Granny Lulu.” Cris greeted her as he gave her just a light hug.
“Handsome Cris. It’s been ages. Come, come, come on in.”
They all went in and settled down to granny Lulu’s special delicacy—crisp, fried chicken and some coconut rice. Granny Lulu noticed the frown on Cris’ face.
“I know that face.”
“What face, Granny Lulu?” He asked.
“That face you make when your parents force you to do something against your will. Your mother used to make that face when your grandpa and I made her study against her will. She always wanted to do sports and was pretty good at it.”
“Why didn’t you allow her to follow her passion then, but rather made her study engineering?” Cris asked.
“Let’s just say we could see her future. Her passion would not be enough to sustain her and give her the life she was destined to have.”
“And when you told her to quit sports and focus on becoming an engineer, she just did it?”
Granny Lulu scoffed.
“Of course not; she protested, fought, and even fled the house at one point. She believed she owed it to herself to follow her heart. And a part of me was impressed because that’s what we taught her.”
“So, why did you want her to go against what you taught her?” Lilith asked.
“Sweetheart, you see, matters of the heart can be tricky. There are two ways to look at it; one way is that what you thought was your passion your love can turn out to be a big disappointment when you realize it was just an infatuation and nothing more and now you no longer like or want to keep doing it anymore. Another way is that even if it does turn out to be your real passion, it doesn’t mean you’ll succeed at it or that it will turn out exactly like you imagined, otherwise there won’t be such things as heartbreaks. But what you can count on if you find yourself in either of the two situations is that if you had abandoned everything else and damned all consequences to pursuing it, it can ruin your life.”
“Really?” Cris asked.
“Yes, really. And don’t think that I do not know why you’re asking all these questions. Your mother told me everything.”
“She did?” Cris became embarrassed all of a sudden.
“Yes, she did. And don’t worry, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. The only thing I’m going to tell you is that it is the duty of the parent to do what’s best for their children, even if it doesn’t feel like it to the child. Your mother was like you when she was your age, but now that she’s a mother herself, she now understands that what I did was for her sake, and someday you will also realize that what your parents are trying to make you do now is for your own good. And who says you can’t do both?”
She chuckled and fondly pulled his cheeks.
“Cheer up, boy. It’s going to be fine; I promise. Now, enough talk for one night.”
“How about the inner sanctum?” Lilith asked.
“Mum said it was better for Lilith to be here because you would teach her about her powers.” Cris added.
Granny Lulu was a bit shocked.
“Lilith’s powers are still sprouting so they’ll be easy to control.”
She was interrupted by Lilith.
“What’s the Inner Sanctum, Granny Lulu?”
“I see your mother has mentioned that to you as well. The Inner Sanctum is a group of protectors tasked with protecting Hartwood, and Bannacis as a whole, from demonic forces and powers that might pose a threat to our existence by getting rid of them. There used to be 7 of us, but now we’re 5.”
Lilith had a fearful expression on her face and her grandmother noticed it.
“Oh, come now, Lilith, you know I would always protect you. Having demon powers doesn’t make you a demon, and as soon as I teach you all about controlling your powers, you can help us fight and defeat demons; you will be an asset and not a threat.”
Lilith calmed down and smiled as soon as she heard that.
“But you have to be careful, children. Hartwood is a good place only if you step on the right grounds. There are many things out there in the maze and that is why you must not go out at night until you go back to Sergsdale. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Granny Lulu.” Lilith and Cris chorused.
“Now, those belongings aren’t going to unpack themselves, are they?”
Lilith and Cris bade their grandmother a good night and carried their bags upstairs to their room and arranged their things before they went to bed. The following morning, they were woken by their grandmother.
“Rise and shine kids.”
“Good morning, Granny Lulu.” They both greeted.
“Good morning sweeties, I hope you both sleep well?”
Lilith nodded while Cris just tossed on the bed, trying to fall back asleep, but Granny Lulu yanked the covers away from him.
“I need you to get up from the bed, go take your baths and get ready. I need you guys downstairs in 15 minutes. We have fun places to visit and things to see, so hurry up and be down in 15 minutes.”
‘’Yes, Granny Lulu.” They chorused again.
They both got ready and went down to meet their grandmother who had prepared the table and set their breakfast. After having breakfast, they proceeded to leave the villa and went out into the town.
“I made a little preparation for your fun time, I hope you like it.”
Before they arrived, Granny Lulu had made reservations in fun places for her grandkids. Although none of those places could be compared to Sergsdale, Cris didn’t want his grandma to feel bad so he had to pretend he was having fun the whole time. They were out for hours and didn’t return home until late in the evening.
“Did you enjoy your day, kids?” Granny Lulu asked.
“Yes, granny. I did. I loved the Ferris Wheel and the Mario Tunnel.” Lilith responded joyfully.
“Cris?” Granny Lulu wanted to hear his response.
“Well, I did, but—"
“It’s not like Sergsdale, right? Yes, I know.”
Lilith was shocked.
“What? Are you kidding me? How can you compare this to back home where all we do is read and we’re never allowed to have fun at home much less go out?”
“That was during school term. We’re on break now which means we could be having as much fun as we want back home.”
Cris turned to face his grandmother.
“Sorry, Granny Lulu. It’s just that we looked forward to spending our break at home but mum and dad wouldn’t allow us.”
“I understand. But just know that they want nothing but the best for you. Stay here, I need to go somewhere; I’ll be back in 30 minutes.”
She started walking but paused and sounded a warning without looking back.
