Lily and Philip were seated at their table in the restaurant, eating. 'La'frite' restaurant the Eros love den of couples, was full on days like this. Sited by the beach, the atmosphere lively and filled with so much fun. In plain words, the place was very remarkable. Despite the lively atmosphere and all, Lily's heart wasn't there, it was back at home with her nemesis!
"I am not a masochist." She muttered.
"What was that baby?" Philip asked.
"Just thinking out loud." Lily sighed softly, she felt drained with her inner struggle. The struggle to stop the feeling. She had managed to leave the house with Philip but… Magnus at her home, what would he be doing at the moment? Wanting to erase the inappropriate feelings, the accepted her fate and opted to know Philip more and more. Perhaps going out with him would help erase memories of Magnus.
But still … thoughts about what he would be doing in her home refaced. She couldn't help but wonder why he had looked at Philip in that way. He really looked mad back there.
"Sweetheart, how are you enjoying this atmosphere?"
"Very well, I must say. I love the beach view most."
"Isn't it obvious?" Philip turned to watch the beach. "Can we go over there to get our fill of the view?
"Absolutely, I've been meaning to say that." Philip smiled at her response, Lily was familiar with the look. It meant a tease was on it's way. The young lady just relaxed waiting for his response.
"And why didn't you say so?" Lily couldn't believe that the awaited tease was just that. She replied him with a tease of her own.
"Just because."
"Hmm I see." They chuckled and stood up to go down the beach, taking their drinks along.
*************
There were few couples there. The beach had an air of romance. But Lily wished it was Magnus with her to dwell in the atmosphere. About the 'nemesis thing', the young lady didn't know of what to think about anymore. The prophesy could be wrong, she thought. How would it feel to be in the arms of Magnus, he had a dark look, dominating and it all weakened Lily. At her height, she seldom saw men who made her feel small, to be protected. Magnus made her feel so.
"Lily, I really admire you." Philip broke into her thoughts. "I so love our time together, can we always spend our days like this please?"
Lily smiled at Philip, nodding. She turned back to watching the sea waves. Her thoughts were pre-occupied again. This was one hell of a date. She regretted ever agreeing to the damned date. Never happening again, she thought.
"Lily?" Philip voice was by her ear. When had he gotten so close? She turned to him. "You seem far away. It seems you really love this beach a lot, I will make sure we always come here, okay?"
Not having anything to say to his words, the young lady nodded, her smile still in place. Philip didn't need to know her thoughts. So, it's what it is. Her gesture seemed to please Philip and he wrapped his arms around her. They stayed that way for sometime. With Lily's head in place under his chin, the man with the preoccupied lady, listened to the sounds of the waves.
Lily closed her eyes, truth be told she appreciated the atmosphere but would have loved it more if it were Magnus with her. Philip kissed the top of her head, he planted soft kisses on her cheeks and turned her to face him.
"I love you Lily, ever since I first saw you."
"Thank you Philip." That was the only reply Lily could come up with. She didn't love him and decided it was the perfect answer. No need of false hope. Her intentions wasn't lost on Philip, he understood.
"You don't love me, it's fine but we can still be friends, right?" He looked so young and sad at the moment, but Lily refused to feel guilty. Hence turned a blind eye on his expression.
"So, who does it for you?" Philip's voice was barely audible.
"Actually, no one for now." Lily wasn't looking at him when she said that. "Recently came out from a relationship."
Philip nodded, pecking her once more.
"How about you? Any ex?"
"Yeah … It was a toxic relationship. She was pretty obsessed." Lily smiled, despite the fact her heart didn't flow with the man, she could see his appeal and wasn't surprised that ladies were obsessed with him.
"I can imagine." And she really could.
"This place is so heavenly." Philip breathed. "When do you want us to do this again?"
"Oh … anytime Philip." Lily said but, deep down, she had decided this was the first and last time going on any annoying date with him. She would tell him on their way home. Lily stayed calm, immersed on the serenity of the surroundings for the rest of their time at the beach.
When it was time to head back home, Philip took care of the bills and Lily sipped a bottle of her favorite drink he brought back with him from paying for their food and drinks. The couple got into Philip's car and he drove them home.
As Philip drove, Lily played some songs and sang along. Though Magnus wasn't there, she still felt happy as the day had been exciting. Soon her excitement made her feel sleepy. Hence she decided to take a nap.
************
Lily woke up and everything didn't feel right. It was all hazy. The young lady knew she definitely wasn't in the car. Where was she? What about Philip? She closed her eyes and reopened them, gradually, her vision became clearer. That was when she realised it was a clinic. What? It didn't make any sense at all. Just then a nurse or whatever she was, passed by. Lily ceasing the opportunity, stopped her.
"Please nurse, how and why am I here?" The nurse quickly checked her temperature. Either the nurse ignored her or didn't hear the question. Lily, having no other options, held her hand. Only then … did the woman reply her.
"You were involved in an accident. But didn't sustain injuries. You are so lucky ma'am." The nurse was all smiles. However, the smile skyrocketed Lily's panic. The word 'lucky' stabbed her in the guts. Did it mean Philip got unlucky? Where was he?
"What about the man with me when we had the …" Lily couldn't complete the word, a dreaded word. It wasn't strange to the nurse, she always saw to various patients.
"Oh … about him? He wasn't lucky like you." Lily's heart skipped a beat. The nurse was still talking. "He sustained some injuries and lost a lot of blood. But he's lucky to have you." The woman was still smiling. Lily breathless, managed to ask:
"And why is that?" Lily stared unblinkingly the smiling woman.
"You helped him with some blood. Your blood groups are the same hence, you donated to him."
"Oh really?" Lily loved helping others. She was glad to be the reason for Philip's survival.
"Where is he now?"
"In the male's ward. But you both will be discharged soon."
"Thanks nurse. Lily looked around again. This hospital wasn't familiar.
"What hospital is this?"
"It's a private hospital owned by Mrs Maggie." Maggie was her mother's assistant, it was nice to hear that while she worked for the government, she also had her private clinic.
"It's a big place." Lily was full of admiration.
"Thanks ma'am, Mrs Maggi never disappoints."
"How about my phone? I need to make a call."
"Were you with a phone? We didn't see any." The nurse looked at Lily, puzzled.
Lily sighed, it was obvious that her phone was no more. She hoped her mum wasn't worried, and resolved to call Eucharia with someone else's phone.
***********
Eucharia opened her eyes slowly which felt so heavy. She could hear clangings in her head. The woman winced when she tried to look around. All was hazy and slowly, her vision cleared, it was her sitting room. Her movement must have alerted someone, because she heard:
"She's back Sarah." It was brother Magnus' voice and he sounded very pleased. Eucharia felt as if she had been gone for years. Why do I feel this strange? She thought.
"Welcome back dear, I'm glad it's so soon." Sarah said, touching her head and checking if anything was out of place. Eucharia's throat felt sore and she coughed. A cup of water was placed before her. The revived woman drank from the cup and handed it back to Sarah. Magnus stood at alert, watching out for any more weird incidents.
"What can you remember Eucharia?" Sarah asked, looking at her intently. The other woman stared at her perhaps wandering the reason for the question. Or she was still restless. When the revived woman didn't give any answer, Sarah tried again.
"What did Theophilus pass to you? What have you been mandated to do?"
These words triggered Eucharia's memory and suddenly, her eyes shone with understanding. She breathed in deeply and her eyes darted around fervently, obviously looking for something if not someone. Magnus and Sarah gazed at each other and tried to calm her down.
"We are here Eucharia, you are free. It's okay." Magnus held her, his voice had a calming effect on her. She closed her eyes, when she opened them, tears spilled.
"The prophesy! It's happening … it's … Where is Lily?"
"She went out on a date with Philip." Magnus knew it would take a moment for Eucharia to get back her bearing.
"Call her immediately!" Eucharia sounded very scared. Magnus apprehensively dialed Lily's number as Sarah looked on. Eucharia placed her hands on her face, weeping. The dialed number was already disconnected. With Magnus expression, they knew the outcome. There was no other way to contact her.
"What the hell is happening?" Magnus was already fed up with the suspense and all. They should spill it out already. The two women shared a look and refocused on him. A weird feeling tugged at Magnus' chest, this wasn't good at all. It took a lot to faze him but this time, he was shaken to the core. Was Lily safe??
"Its Adrain, he has won the world over. Lily and Jane will be 24 in the next two days. I made sure not to tell them about it, to avoid situations like this. I felt it was safer that way. No one knows their actual birthday, only me and Olivia. But you both are already aware that some sort of forces took over me, so they used me as a vessel to know the whole truth." Eucharia wept. "I failed on my mandate."
Magnus and Sarah were at a loss on how to sympathise with her hence, Magnus soothed her back, trying to calm her.
"Who is Adrain? Moreover, Lily is in trouble, we have to help her out."
"Before I start with anything, let me first get the prophesy. I have kept it all these years."
Eucharia got up from the sofa she had slept in, to get the paper from the box in her room. After some seconds, she came back to the sitting room with a voluminous old book. The other two people looked on, not missing anything.
Eucharia opened the middle page of the book and took out an old paper. Magnus looked at the paper. The words written in something that wasn't ink made no sense to him.
"I will explain it all now." Magnus and Sarah nodded, urging her on.
"The end has begun; A flower a score and four, from sun set, paves way for the beast through the pil. Gasum and wit evades it."
They read it over and over as Eucharia explained.
"Maybe I got my mum's deciphering abilities. So, this is what I came up with. My mum told me that Theophilus honoured the letters 'H' and 'N'. The letters symbolised the date and month of his birthday. 'August (8th) and (14th)'."
"Hence, he always omitted the letters in any word and never repeated a letter in a word. For emphasis, words having a double letter, Theophilus used only one of the letters."
"Furthermore, back to the prophesy, if you simplify it, this is what you get: A flower meaning Lily my daughter, from sunset which means: from the West, that's here in San Diego. Paves way for the beast, this means: making the evil man more powerful, making him evolve."
"Through the pil: The pil is a person, so is Gasum. These two are nemesis to each other. Either 'H' or 'N' is missing in each name. For pil, add 'H' and 'I' and this gives Philip. In Gasum's case add 'N' and it gives Magnus. This is after rearranging the letters."
"So you are saying that I can stop the beast." Magnus said flatly, this was unbelievable. Eucharia nodded. "So then Philip … is he the beast?"
"Yes, he is and Lily is with him, she alone can make him achieve that."
This isn't good at all, Magnus thought. So, he asked again.
"But Eucharia, you made mention of Adrain. Who then is he?"
Taking a deep breath, Eucharia said:
"Adrain and Philip are one and the same person. Philip is Adrain's christened name."