Jasmine stirred in the middle of the night. Something felt wrong. She felt as though her space had been invaded but when she woke up, there was no one in her room. She was certain she had felt the presence of someone. Was it Dairon? Having witnessed his speed before, she was certain that he could run out of her room within the time she took to open her eyes.
That stalker! She would give him an earful of scolding if she caught him spying on her. She slid out of bed and held her nightgown so it wouldn't trip her as she walked down the hallways to find his room.
She felt it again, a strong presence. The door to Dairon's room opened when she was a few steps away from it, and a woman walked out. Her hair was silvery-white with a faint hint of blue, her skin smooth like a pearl and almost as white as snow. She was wearing a pale pink two-piece dress that showed off her breathtaking body.
Why would a woman this beautiful come out of Dairon's room in the middle of the night? Something didn't seem right. When the woman looked up, Jasmine was startled. "Goddess Alaya?"
The woman placed her forefinger on her lips as she gently closed the door to Dairon's room. Her face was scrunched in a frown of confusion. "Catalyah?"
"Catalyah?" Jasmine repeated the name with a frown. It was not the first time she was hearing it.
"Oh, you're Jasmine. Forgive my confusion." Alaya apologized when she saw the young woman clearly. Her voice was soothing and her words sounded like music.
"You finally found him. He has been trying to contact you." She knew it was none of her business but she couldn't help mentioning it.
"I know." Alaya said, making Jasmine frown and change her mind about her. She knew that her son had been looking for her but did nothing about it for all these years? What kind of mother was she? But if she didn't care about Dairon, why did she sneak in here in the middle of the night?
"Don't tell him I dropped by." She requested. "For obvious reasons."
"You are spying on him. In that case, he needs to know." Jasmine didn't want to be an accomplice to a stalker, not even if the stalker was after her own son.
Alaya smiled. "I'm done here and the last thing I need is trouble. You will not remember our encounter. Follow me." Unbeknownst to Jasmine, Alaya was more dangerous than her son. Unlike him who could only compel her using his eyes, the former easily did so with her voice.
She followed the goddess to the shores and watched the latter disappear into the water, then she felt lost. It was as though something was missing in her mind. What in the world was she doing at the beach? Why did she come out so late at night?
"Right. I came to see the beautiful moon and to speak to Dahlia." She thought aloud, recalling the last time she had followed Dairon who had come here to speak to his mother.
Could she send a message to her mother if she tried? She had missed her so much.
"Mother?" She tried to call out. "Father?" Once again, her parents didn't hear her but Dahlia did.
"Dahlia, I miss you so much." Her heart broke. "Have you been alright? I…" She rubbed her hands against her arms. "I'll find a way to come back soon."
"Jasmine?" She heard a voice when she turned. It was Dahlia!
"Dahlia?" She was pleasantly surprised.
"Jasmine, is it really you? But where are you?" Dahlia sounded confused.
"I'm… on an island. Dahlia?" She could no longer feel her sister's presence, so her eyes drooped. On the bright side, she was certain that Dahlia heard her this time.
"Papa, papa!" Dahlia joyously rushed to her father in the morning.
"What happened, my dear? Did you have a good dream?" Harry hugged his excited daughter who was yet to get ready for school. "Why haven't you dressed up yet? We should get going soon."
"It's Jasmine. She's alive!" She announced happily.
"What? How do you know that?" Harry was caught in between joy and surprise.
"She told me herself. I heard her voice." Dahlia explained.
"Oh." Harry's hope dimmed down. It turned out, Dahlia had dreamt about her sister again. She had been doing so more often and most of the time, it would be a nightmare that made no sense.
Dahlia understood why her father didn't look happy about it. "Papa, it was not a dream. I was wide awake when it happened. We even conversed a little."
Hearing this, Harry was concerned. "What happened?" He pulled his younger daughter to sit before he listened to her tale.
"I had just woken up and was about to take a shower when I heard it. She called you and mama and then spoke to me." She explained.
"What did she say?" He was curious to know, which made him wonder why he was starting to believe that it was not a dream.
"She said that she misses all of us. Her life has turned into such a mess and she promised to find a way back soon. Papa, she sounded so sad."
Harry embraced his daughter tightly. "She will be alright, Dahlia. She is sad because she misses us." He comforted her so she would not be worried about her sister, even though he was about to die of worry himself. If Jasmine was alive, where was she? It was more believable to think that Dahlia was imagining it, but that didn't sound right either.
"We should tell mama!" Dahlia rushed to the telephone stand to call her mother, who was still waiting for news of Jasmine on Cannon Island.