Carlota was smiling from ear to ear as she spotted the iron gates of her family estate. She was finally home for the first time in six years. A life in the UK was fun, albeit filled with hardships, especially for an average working class Filipina, but all that she could think of now was giving her mother a big hug and introduce her husband, whom she had met in Ireland. Conor drove the SUV, while Carly—a nickname she chose for herself upon arriving in the UK years ago—sat on the passenger seat guiding her husband through the uneven, rocky path of the family estate, leading to an elegant Spanish-era mansion in a large open field.
“You never told me you were rich, love” Conor said in his Irish accent, in awe of the beautiful mansion in front of them.
The walls were newly painted white, the windows were still the old kind, the ones that open outwards and made of wood—neatly varnished mahogany wood. The ground floor was made of stone, too keep its foundation strong and in front of the house was a fountain of intricate design, dolphins, cherubs, and pots circled the base, squirting water into its small pool as water cascaded from its three tiers, sculpted to look like budding flowers.
“I’m not rich” she replied, years of living abroad washing away the Filipino accent, replacing it with a light British one. “My mom’s the rich one”
“But you said this mansion belong to your family since forever” he chuckled
“It belong to my dad” she clarified. “When he died it went to my mom, who also earned his other possessions, mainly two more houses, one in Manila, and the other in Cebu”
“Three houses… that’s more than a normal average joe can buy in Ireland, love” he said with a laugh.
Carlota pointed to a spot in front of the mansion steps where an older woman, with grey hair, hunched over a cane waited for them, surrounded by her staff of gardeners, maids, and their two drivers. “There’s mama” she said with a big warm smile on her face. “She’s still as beautiful as ever, even with the grey hair”
“Now I know where you got your looks from” Conor agreed.
Margaret Vasquez stood in the centre of a small welcoming crowd. She was shorter than most of the staff mainly due to her hunch back, from years of battling osteoporosis, but she was still beautiful with her long silky white hair, her thin lips and almost non-existent wrinkles ruining her face. Her bright hazel eyes glimmered and her complexion was fairer than the women who stood around her.
Carlota opened the passenger door and stepped out, her long green dress billowed against the summer wind, the familiar rustling of the nearby trees brought memories to her. Warm, inviting memories, such as the day she met her adopted brother, who she noted wasn’t her mother. She thought for a second where he could’ve gone to, but remembered he was in the city, studying at one of the country’s best universities.
“Mama” Carlota excitedly rushed to her mother with open arms. Margaret, even with her aching back and frail old limbs, opened her arms as wide as she could to take her daughter into her arms. The mother and daughter hugged each other, “It’s been so long” Carlota whispered.
“It has” Margaret rubbed her hand on her daughter’s back, feeling the fabric of her dress. Margaret was the one who pulled away first, she looked at her daughter’s face with a smile of pure happiness, then the sound of a car door closing caught her attention. She looked past her daughter and saw a strapping young, and handsome man exiting the SUV. “Is that Conor? He’s so big” she looked in amazement as the red-hair, bearded man walked on over, wearing flannel over a plain white shirt and short.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, mum” he greeted as he bent down to hug her. For a moment, Margaret didn’t know what to do, but she immediately wrapped her arms around him the moment she realised this was her son-in-law, the man her daughter deeply loves and cherish, someone who she now, too, will love and cherish.
“You’re much taller than I thought” Margaret began, looking into his face. Such a handsome face he had, she thought. “The only times I did saw you were in video, and video doesn’t do your handsomeness justice”
“Thank you, mum” he said with a chuckle.
“Mama, let’s talk inside, it’s too hot out here” Carlota interrupted. “Have you called Manong Ernie to put up the AC’s?”
“Yes, I did” her mother replied. “He had installed them last month. Had to cut holes in the walls and put extra glass windows in the bedrooms to keep the cold in”
The three walked passed the staff, Carlota and Conor said hello to everyone and the staff returned their greetings with smiles and nods, a few even gave Conor a handshake.
As the front door closed, the staff returned to their stations, the drivers returned to the separate garage to do maintenance on the cars, the maids returned to their daily routine of cooking and cleaning, and the gardeners returned to the garden at the side of the house were a multitude of different, brightly coloured flowers grew. As the crowd thinned, three maids were left on the stone steps of the front door. Mercy, Annie, and Julieta, who were snickering and already making gossip about their employer’s daughter and her husband.
“He’s a foreigner” said Mercy with a grin that could reach the moon. “He must be big down there”
“He’s big everywhere” Annie replied thinking about how Conor’s muscles stretched the hems of his flannel and as his hard abs etched against the white shirt underneath it. “Madam Carlota is so lucky. He must be an animal in bed!”
“I’m going to find a way to get to see him naked” whispered Julieta, the most notorious of the three in making gossip. She had a reputation at the nearby barangay as a nosey and impolite woman who had a foul mouth to anyone she didn’t like. “I might even get to take him for a ride!” she said with pride.
The two other maids looked at their companion with raised eyebrows. Julieta shrugged, “What? I was just joking about that” she turned away from the two, “But I will find a way to at least get to see him naked” she repeated as she walked away.
— o – o – o —
Unbeknownst to the staff or to Margaret, Carlota, and Conor, there was one other individual present to the small homecoming welcome. She stood behind the trees near the garage. She was dressed in dirty clothes, ragged and torn, her hair was an unkempt messy of frills and grease, her skin was wrinkly and her mouth was missing a few teeth. She was good friends with Carlota when they were younger, she reminisced those innocent childhood days, but fate wasn’t fair, Carlota was given all she had wanted, the house, the luxurious toys, the delicious food, the comfy bed, and now, a man who can fill her every desire, all the while she got a shack in the woods, had to scavenge for anything to eat, sleep on a poorly constructed wooden bed and waking up every so hours to douse the fire she lit before sleeping so as to not let her house catch on fire.
But there was something she had that Carlota didn’t. Magic. Passed down to her by her own mother, she was thought the ways of witchcraft, both white and black. She could cure anyone who came to her, but at the same time she could curse anyone to fall into the most horrendous illnesses and never get better. She had wanted to show Carlota her magic, her witchery, but when Carlota’s father found out about her mother’s witchcraft, he had sent Carlota away, to the city where she would live until she left for a different country.
It was her who casted the spell that made Carlota’s father fall from the stairs and suffer every night from nightmares. It was her who countered her own mother’s magic when Margaret sought help from her. She was the one who stabbed the paper doll of him in the heart, causing him to have a heart attack and die. It was her fault why Carlota had to live through a large portion of her life without a father, and although she felt guilty for her actions, seeing Carlota happy in the arms of such a handsome, muscular man, it made her blood boil. It was just another joke of fate on her, forcing her to see her friend, whom had forgotten about her live a happy life while she suffered in a shack in the woods.
She swore on that very spot she would get her revenge on her friend… if she could still call Carlota that. She swore that she would or else her name wouldn’t be…
— o – o – o —
“Mama, how is Danica?” Carlota asked her mother as they sat down on the couch in the living room. “I know dad forced me to move to Manila to stay with Uncle Ramon, but I never got to say goodbye to her, it’s been so long, haven’t seen her in almost twenty-four years, mama”
“Inday, make us some juice” Margaret shouted towards the kitchen. “You two must be thirsty, I’ll also get Inday to get us some biscuits and…”
“Mama, you’re doing it again” Carlota cut in. “Whenever I ask about my best friend you avoid answering my questions”
Margaret exhaled a long breath. “Carlota, I don’t know where Danica is” she began. Her eyes getting a bit teary. “When your father died, I said some nasty words to her mother and they left town the next day, I don’t know where they went but I do know that it’s not near here, in San Antiqua, because no one’s even spoke of a witch since Rosas left”
“Mama, I know Aling Rosas did her best to cure papa, but if it was his time then there was nothing we could have done” Carlota spoke, her voice was calm but there were faint peaks of frailty that Conor could catch. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to bury papa with you and Francis, I can’t even imagine the pain you guys had to go through without me”
“It’s okay iha” Margaret shed a tear for her husband, “I know that your dad is watching over us in heaven with the Lord”
“Mama, speaking of Francis, how is he?”
“Oh your brother’s doing great in school” the smile returned to Margaret’s face, the trace of sadness fully erased from her features. “He’s going to graduate next semester and he says that he has a chance to graduate as Summa Cum Laude”
“Really?” Carlota was genuinely surprised, Francis wasn’t the studious type, he was always getting in trouble when he was younger, but recently, he’s been keeping his studies up, passing above the average requirements from his subjects, and she couldn’t be more proud of him. “Is he coming home this weekend?”
“I don’t need to come home this weekend, ate” said a voice from atop the stairs. Carlota looked up to see her adopted brother walking down the flight of stairs. “I asked my professors if I could pass my projects earlier than the rest so that I could go home for the whole week”
“Francis!” shouted Carlota with glee and surprise, she quickly ran to her younger brother and enveloped him in her arms in a tight hug. “I’ve missed you so much!”
“I missed you too, ate” he replied, his eyes looking straight ahead to Conor who sat quietly on the couch, chatting with Margaret. “Wow sis, your husband’s more handsome in person” he joked.
Carlota chuckled. “How are you, Francis? How is Adam? Are you two still together?”
Francis smiled and shook his head. “We broke up two months ago”
“What happened?” Carlota asked. “You two were perfect for each other”
“Turns out he doesn’t like it when his boyfriend’s smarter than him” Francis chuckled. “I’m over him, sis, you don’t need to worry about me”
“It’s his loss” Carlota rubbed her brother’s back as they both returned towards the couches. “Mama, did you know Adam broke up with Francis?”
“Ah, just a clarification, sis” interrupted her brother, “I broke up with that arse”
“I did” Margaret said with a nod. “I just didn’t tell you because Francis asked me not to”
“Aw, honey” Carlota pulled her brother towards her. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here to smack that little bit— Uh, I mean, arsehole in the face”
“Thanks, ate” he said with a smile. “But I can take care of a wimp like him”
“I haven’t introduced myself yet, have I?” spoke Francis, he pulled away from his sister’s arms and held out one to Conor. “I’m Francis, your wife’s gay adopted brother”
“Nice to meet ya, Francis” Conor took his hand and gave it a firm shook
“Firm grip and right weight added with every shake” murmured Francis to his sister. “You’ve got a keeper, sis”
The conversations continued well into the night, before anyone knew it, it was already seven in the evening, the sun had set and the moon had risen from the horizon, the starts brilliantly shone across the night sky, Conor peered out and could see them clearly, twinkling like gems against a black background.
“Love, I’m just going to step outside for a bit” Conor told his wife and steppe out into the dark outside. He took a big breath of air and felt reinvigorated by how clean it was in the provinces. He took the steps and stood just a feet from the fountain, watching the soft glow of the lights dancing with the rippling of the water. The scene was such a different take from the life in the city, always buzzing and late, it was as if he was always being chased in the city, here in the small provincial town of her wife, life was at such a calmer state, if it weren’t for work, he’d definitely stay here.
The wind picked up, blowing cold air into his face, a sudden jolt of unexplainable lust ran over his entire body, his cock slightly stiffened in his pants, throbbing for some action, hungry for some sweet, Filipina pussy. Just as he thought about his wife, a different image popped into his mind. A darker skinned woman with curly hair, naked and leaning against the trunk of a large tree in the middle of the forest, her fingers slid down her sweaty, glinting body. Conor’s mind transported him into a fantasy with a different woman, he knew that this was technically cheating on her but his mind wouldn’t let the image of the other woman go, instead, his mind whipped up the image of him, his long, thick cock, hard as a rock, out of his pants and leaking precum. Conor shook his head, he wasn’t about to come back inside and have a noticeable bulge in his pants, especially since Carly’s mom and brother were in the living room. They’d totally see his dick’s outline on his pants!
Conor looked around and found it was too hard to tell if there were anyone in the dark that could see what he was doing. Spotting the faint shadow of the garage, Conor headed towards it with the intent of releasing his pent up sex drive there. All the way to the garage he took double takes and looked behind and around him to see if there was anyone following him or had spotted him out there.
Reaching the garage, Conor hoped that Man Kading had left the side door unlocked. He reached for the knob and turned it, there was a click and the door swung inwards. Conor breathed a sigh of relief, then another thought had entered his mind, why was he doing this? He could just as easily stay outside a few more minutes and let his cock calm down but something was ushering him to enter the garage and jack his meat until he releases all that collected cum. Conor entered the garage, making sure to only use the light of his phone to see in the darkness inside.
— o – o – o —
Julieta and Mercy had stepped out to have a smoke when they had noticed the tall figure by the fountain. Mercy had inched behind one of the small shrubs in the garden to see who the shadow belonged to, only to find Conor standing in front of the fountain, a clearly visible bulge in his pants. Mercy almost yelped in surprise when a hand covered her mouth a moment later. “It’s me Mercy, don’t scream” whispered Julieta. “I can’t believe what I’m seeing” she added in amazement. She released her friend’s mouth and moved beside Mercy.
“Oh my god, bestie, aren’t we lucky or what?” she asked, nudging her friend in the elbow.
“Miss Carlota is the lucky one, Julieta” answered Mercy. “She’s the one taking that dick every night”
“That was a rhetorical question, Mercy” replied Julieta. “I wonder how big he is”
“What’s a rhetorical question?” asked Mercy, “Don’t use big words on me, Julieta, I didn’t graduate high school, remember?”
“Oh just shut up, Mercy” Julieta rolled her eyes at her friend and returned her focus on the Irish hunk. “Look he’s walking away, he’s heading towards the garage”
“What’s he going to do there?” Mercy asked.
“He’s probably going to jack off in the garage, there’s a bathroom there” replied Julieta already walking out of the shrubs, “Come on, let’s follow him”
“What if we get caught?”
“It’s too dark for anyone who isn’t used to this darkness to see more than a few feet away, he won’t see us, just keep quiet”
“But I… I don’t want to get caught, Julieta”
“Puta, Mercy, don’t you want to see a big dick instead of what June has? I know I want to see one, Ricardo’s wouldn’t even compare to his!” Ricardo was Julieta’s boyfriend, he was only a college student but he had skills in the bedroom that Julieta wanted, but the size of his dick was just an average five inches, something that short would never fully satisfy a bitch like her. June, on the other hand was Mercy’s husband, he wasn’t as good as Ricardo was in sex, he was a better lover, but, just the same as with Ricardo, he was only five and half inches.
“This is our chance to get to see a foreigner’s dick in real life” Julieta pulled Mercy out of the shrubs.
“Okay, okay, Julieta!” Mercy pulled her arm away from Julieta’s tight grip. “I’ll come and join you, just please promise me we won’t get caught”
“I promise we won’t” said Julieta doing a cross over head chest and a girl scout’s salute. “Cross my heart and hope to die”
“There you go again with you silly— ahh!
Julieta had pulled Mercy once again, this time towards the garage, trying as hard as they can not to make any loud noises. She had seen Conor enter the side door and knew the layout of the garage, the restroom would be at the back and thankfully, there was a small window they could peek in from the outside without Conor noticing.
— o – o – o —
This wasn’t what she expected, Danica watched as the two maids made their way towards the garage following Carlota’s husband. She had casted a wind of lust towards him, forcing his mind to conjure an image of a woman to excite him to the point that he needed release. The image of the woman was supposed to be her, but something else had sneaked its way into the daydream and at the moment she wasn’t sure if this entity was one of the engkanto’s that lived in the forest. If it was, then she might be able to summon the entity into the mortal realm in order to help her achieve her goal of revenge, but if the entity was something else entirely, such as a restless spirit brought to Conor by her magic, then there was nothing she could do to stop the malevolent being from doing whatever it pleases to him. Either way, it was a win-win situation for her.
Danica crept over nearer the garage from the other direction, steering clear from the two maids who were already tiptoeing towards the back. A faint light could be seen from one of the windows and the sound of running water and moaning emanated from within the restroom. Danica used her long wooden staff—broken off from an old Nara tree and blessed by three engkantado’s of the forest—she drew a circle in the air. A tiny spark of light emerged from the tip of the staff. It quickly vanished the moment it appeared, but that was all that she needed to do, the spark had told her all she needed to know about the entity. She shook her head, this is not going to end well, she thought, with the most wicked of smiles.