Right after the sun disappeared below the horizon, the bead stopped glowing. The black blotches found on Bella’s shoulder expanded a little, slowly forming into baybayin scripts.
Bella was lying down in her bed when the color of her eyes changed from a faint red to a deep crimson, almost like blood, that was identical to the bead’s color.
In the blink of an eye, the bead on the side table was gone.
It was after sundown when Alicia knew something wasn’t right. She was standing in front of her mother’s grave admiring the orange vibe the sun was casting across the sky when her expression changed dramatically after a sour gust of wind brushed on her skin.
“Are you fine? Are you not feeling well?” asked Bella’s mother after seeing her daughter’s devoid facial expression.
Macy’s brows furrowed when she saw the purplish-wavy baybayin script on Bella’s shoulder. “Oh my God! Honey!” she gasped. Macy delicately tapped Bella’s cheek, who was not responding. “Bella?”
Bella’s gaze fixed into thin air. “Bella?” Macy tapped a little intensely, which made Bella snap back to herself. Bella faced her mom, wondering what had just happened.
“Are you fine?” questioned her mom.
Bella didn’t utter a word. She stared at her arm where her mom was holding and saw the purplish-wavy baybayin script.
“How did you get this?” Her mom’s voice sounded too worried.
Bella’s brows lowered and were drawn together. Her face looked confused, thinking as hard as she could to remember how she got those spots. No matter how hard Bella tries to recall, she has no idea where and how she got them.
Bella faced her mother. “I’m fine. I’m not hurt.” She displayed a smile on her lips with the assurance that she was okay and not in pain.
“Are you sure?” Macy wanted to double-check.
“Uhmhum,” Bella hummed as a yes.
Macy decided to ignore it in the meantime, reasoning that Bella might have had them when she was found in the wild earlier since there were plenty of insects in the area as well. The two of them then walked to the dining table as Macy escorted Bella to her seat and ate their supper together.
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“It’s time to pluck these babies out.” Two gatherers carefully plucked the cloudberries one by one in the wild.
“These will sell well since cloudberries help to boost immunity. In our current situation, we desperately need some of these to help us strengthen our immunity.” As he filled his bucket with cloudberries, one of the gatherers shared his thoughts.
When it is in season, cloudberries are in high demand and are being sold nearly everywhere.
Cloudberries are not easy to buy and are relatively expensive as they have to be gathered in the wild. Nevertheless, people loved them and grabbed them as soon as they were sold in the market and a few shops since the berries are only available during the short season.
A lot of people consume them. Some make them into fruit shakes, some into a pie, freeze them, or use them as jams.
Little did they know that the cloudberries contaminated by the red bead might be used to reveal and identify those under the influence of the curse and provide a slight boost of strength to those who may otherwise succumb to the curse at any time.
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“Bella?” called Mira, who went over to their house the next day.
Anastasia dropped her daughter, Mira, off at Bella’s house to grab some cloudberries sold on the marketplace together with Bella’s mother.
The marketplace is closer to Bella’s residence. Mira and Bella will be left alone in their respective homes every time their mothers leave to run for some errands. For that reason, their mothers decided to let them be together and look for one another while they were not around.
Bella hurriedly ran off down the stairs to embrace Mira. Mirabella barked, wanting a hug as well.
Mirabella licked Bella’s face as she received the hug.
“There’s food in the fridge. Help yourselves if you get hungry,” told Bella’s mother.
Mira and Bella exchanged friendly nods and smiles.
“Will you two be alright?” asked Mira’s mother. “Cloudberries are currently available for purchase in the market. We’ll have to go grab some,” she added.
Mira smiled and nodded, assuring her mom not to get worried as she would take care of everything while they were not around. “I’ll take care of Bella. Always.” Mira faced Bella and looked into her eyes.
Everybody burst out laughing when Mirabella barked at them, telling them that she would defend them, too.
As soon as their mothers left the house and locked the door with the keys, the three of them dashed to Bella’s room.
“Bloody hell! Look at those lines!” gasped Macy after seeing a very long line at every store that offers cloudberries and cloudberry-flavored products.
Anastasia looked around with her mouth agape, and her eyes widened with wonder. “It’ll take forever,” she replied, her voice tinged with despair and her features revealing signs of having a low spirit.
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“It’s getting close to sundown. It would be best if you stay for dinner,” says Macy as soon as they reach the house with a large number of paper bags in their hands.
Anastasia nodded, looking burned out. “Oh my gosh, I’m so exhausted! The line was a living horror,” she muttered as she slumped to the couch.
“I know, right! Good thing we were still able to purchase all of these,” Macy exaggerated.
“Good thing you were pregnant!” teased Anastasia.
“Oh, am I?” replied Macy as she playfully rubbed her belly, filled with a bunch of delicacies. She was consuming everything they purchased at the marketplace while waiting in line due to her very little patience with waiting.
Both of them burst out laughing at the same time.
“Too bad we haven’t gotten to try one of the slurps,” Anastasia continued.
Mira walked silently down the stairs, rubbing the corners of her eyes as she went her way to her mother. Mirabella was right behind her, trailing after her.
“Oh, my little princess is awake.” Mira’s mother kissed and cuddled her daughter on the cheek.
“I’m sorry mom took a little longer to get here. The line this time was different from before,” Anastasia explained in hushed tones.
“It’s possible that people are anxious. You know, the situation in our case today. Boosting our immune system is something that we desperately need. So, probably when the news broke out regarding how cloudberries can help cure individuals in our case today, people took the chances, regardless of whether it was a hoax or not.” Bella’s mom lowered her voice in her last sentence. “After all, we won’t be losing anything since cloudberries are really known for boosting the immune system,” she continued as she began to unload what was inside the paper bags.
“Yeah, just time,” Anastasia blurted.
Mira looked at her mother, puzzled as to what she was talking about.
“We won’t be losing anything, but time for standing and waiting in line for hours just to grab one,” Macy explained for Mira. She folded her arms across her chest and rested her back against the countertop.
Anastasia and Macy burst out laughing.
“It’s okay. I had fun with Bella,” Mira stated.
“Is Bella asleep?” asked Macy while setting up the table with cloudberry pies, loaves of bread, pudding, jam, fruits, and other delicacies flavored with cloudberries.
Mirabella’s gaze was drawn to each and every dish that Macy placed on the table. Her tongue was sticking out from her mouth, and saliva was dripping from it.
“Uhm,” Mira answered affirmatively. “I didn’t even bother to wake her up. She seems so tired. Probably because we’ve been playing for several hours.” Mira gave a soft chuckle. Mirabella yawned to agree with what Mira said.
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“Honey, go wake Bella up. It’s almost time for dinner,” said Anastasia while she and Macy were putting the finishing touches on the dinner table for supper.
Mira heard her mom and went upstairs to Bella’s room to wake her up. A few seconds later, Mira and Bella both went downstairs.
“Wow!” exclaimed Bella as soon as she saw their table, which was piled high with cloudberries and delicacies infused with cloudberry flavors. “A cloudberry cake!” she added, rushing towards the cake. “Woaaah~ C-o-o-k-i-e-s!” Her eyes twinkled.
Macy stopped Bella from grabbing a piece of cloudberry cookie from the table. “Have you washed your hands?” she intervened.
Bella let out a guilty chuckle and shook her head, then hurriedly went to the sink to wash her hands. A few moments later, Bella’s ruby eyes began to radiate.
It was sundown.
Mira was preoccupied with assisting in setting up the table, and when she was done, she followed Bella to the sink to wash her hands as well.
“Have you taken a look at the table? It’s bursting at the seams with cloudberries!” giggled Mira as she nearly approached Bella.
Mira noticed Bella standing still, leaving her hands dripping wet from the gushing water. “Bella?” Mira asked.
When Mira tapped her shoulder, calling her name, Bella jerked her head back and flinched.
“Huh?” Bella was looking confused.
“I said, have you seen the table? You silly.” Mira giggled.
“Y…yeah?” Bella mumbled as she finished washing her hands, her mind still wandering.
“Cloudberry cake effect, huh?” Mira joked.
Bella forces a faint chuckle.
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The five of them, including Mirabella, sat down to eat dinner together.
“Would you like dessert?” asked Mira to Bella.
Bella nodded, her lips and eyes aglow with a smile.
“What would you like?” Mira asked, her gaze wandering over every dessert on the table.
“There’s a cloudberry flavored ice cream in the freezer,” Anastasia said, cutting Bella off in her tracks before she could respond.
“Oooh!!! Ice creeeeam~” Both Mira and Bella’s eyes twinkled with excitement as they dashed to the freezer in a flurry.
“Yey! Yey! Yeyyy!” Bella leaped out of her excitement.
“Hurryyy,” she cheerfully demanded as Mira scooped the ice cream into her cup. The moment Mira faced her, she pleaded in a melodic tone of voice. “Please!” Blinking her eyes twice.
When Mira finished filling Bella’s cup, she asked, “Won’t you wait for me?” when she saw Bella, who was about to place the spoon full of cloudberry ice cream inside her mouth.
Bella’s lips were pursed together as she laid her spoon back to the cup, patiently waiting for Mira to finish filling hers.
“Finally!” Bella scooped her spoon into her ice cream cup and dug in. “Waaaah!” The texture of the ice cream softly melts in her mouth as she consumes it.
“Who wouldn’t enjoy these flavors?” Macy shared her thoughts as she nibbled on the cloudberry-flavored pie.
“After all, it only comes around once a year,” Anastasia said when she was biting into a cloudberry pudding, she was eating.
Bella continued to nibble on the cake, cookie, pie, and other cloudberry dishes found on the table while Mira kept wiping Bella’s smudged face with her hands as if Bella was like a toddler.
Mira was amused by Bella’s ability to indulge all of it.
A few moments later, Bella comes running into the sink, clearly feeling unwell. She hurriedly opened the faucet and started throwing up. They followed Bella to check if she was okay and saw her fainting after throwing up.
It appears that there was blood in her vomit as it slowly poured into the sink under running water, but no one noticed since they were all shocked when Bella collapsed in front of them.