Eric Brooks found himself kneeling down beside an unearthed grave, his face devoid of all emotions, a faint crease forming in between his eyebrows as a form of concentration. His dark obsidian eyes analyzed the decaying corpse inside the tomb. In his mind, he wondered: after all this time, how come the body was beginning to decay until now?

The body of the Celtic witch, Hayek, looked like it had been buried barely this month when in actuality, it had been 494 years. Eric Brooks knew something was off, but it wasn't his job to figure out what and try to fix it. His duty on this earth lay on killing vampires and stopping them from slaughtering the face of the earth. Though, if he's not willing to intervene in what's happening, then no one will. Nobody had the knowledge nor the training that he did, Eric Brooks' world is supernatural, and he has seen countless things.

Luckily for him, he had an apprentice.

"So we're hunting zombies now?" Elias Magnuson jokes, eyeing the corpse as Eric examines it, before his eyes drift to the gravestone and notice the name.

Hayek.

"Zombies don't exist," Eric replied in a flat tone, giving his apprentice a look that clearly told him this was serious. "Tell me, Elias, do you know who Hayek was?"

Elias Magnuson was a walking library, he racked his brain trying to grasp some information according to the topic. "I know she used to be a Celtic witch, extremely powerful. She burned down her whole tribe, including its inhabitants."

"That's the Irish version." Eric yanked the rusty necklace chain from her neck and stood up, Elias eyed the necklace. "Hayek was a protector. At least that's how the Celtic version depicts it: her people loved her, they thought of her as a gift from the gods."

Elias frowns. "So, if she didn't burn down her own tribe, then what happened? Why two versions of the same story?"

"There are always two versions of a single truth. The point of view of the people involved always changes, there are always details that one omits but another says." Eric continued, Elias listened carefully. "The Irish King was a jealous monarch, he hated the fact that Hayek had more love and power than he. He sent his men to burn his tribe, when Hayek returned it was too late. She lost her temper and burned all the soldiers, turning her very home to ashes. Her revenge spread, she wasn't going to stop until she killed the king, that's when another Witch intervened. A Walker, The Witch of Life."

"Her counterpart," Elias said, Eric nodded.

"She created a prison using her own life force." Elias raised his bushy eyebrows in surprise. "She imprisoned Hayek there. Preventing her from causing any more chaos."

Elias glanced down at the corpse and was quick to realize what had happened, Eric handed him the necklace chain. "The gem trapping her soul is missing. Someone stole it and most likely set her free."

"Wait, you're going after her?" Elias arched an eyebrow, Eric looked at him and smirked.

"You are."

He turned around and marched his way out of the cemetery, Elias followed him closely. "Blade, I've never done this before. I don't think it's smart-"

"You're ready. I wouldn't be sending you on this mission if I didn't think you were." Eric told him calmly. "I'll lend you a few books about her history. We'll visit an old friend of mine, a sorcerer. He'll help you build a better prison for her."

Elias ran a hand down his long hair. "Blade, this-"

"Pack your things. There's no time to waste." Eric continued to instruct him. "Your flight to New York is in two hours."

That was the last thing he told Elias before speeding away from the cemetery, leaving Elias all on his own. "Great. I don't get to kill vampires, but I get to kill witches. Just great."

RAMSEY BIANCHI

It's been six months since Dr. Connor brought back from the dead a powerful Celtic Witch who took the physique of his dead son and almost turned New Yorkers into lizards. It's also been six months since my powers had increased drastically, before Hayek, I used to only feel people's emotions as dense as air particles. Now, I can sense people's energy, feel their life force. I've developed a deeper connection to life, I feel its core in the palm of my hand, and perhaps I was being delusional, but then something unusual happened. Two weeks after Hayek had awakened a power in me, I came across a dead cat in the park where I would normally finish my runs. I approached the cat and thought of giving it a proper burial. When I reached down for the dead animal, I felt this inexplicable energy flowing through me from my chest, followed by specs of light. That light flew from me into the body of the cat. I watched it sink into the cat's abdomen for half a minute before the cat twitched and came back to life.

And that was just the second week.

A month later, Peter and I were fooling around the city in his Spider-Man costume. For some reason, Peter thought it would be fun to drop me while we were swinging and then catch me as if nothing happened. What none of us expected was for me to start levitating five seconds into the fall, and that's how I discovered that not only could I bring the dead back to life, I could also fly.

In the fourth month, something nightmarish happened to me in the solitude of my room. I've just woken up from a bad dream, it involved the death of my mother and father, it was filled with gore, screams, the smell of gasoline, tears, and fear. I woke up gasping, drenched in sweat, except I hadn't really woken up. Not only that, but I remember being so confused and scared, I looked down at my hands, and they were translucent, I was translucent. My body lay in bed, covered in a thin sheen of sweat and a crease between my eyebrows, I was asleep and awake at the same time. I could move around, I remember feeling like a ghost and the next thing that happened scared the crap out of me, I had teleported to a cemetery. Not just any cemetery. I remember looking down and seeing my parent's gravestones. I don't remember how long I stayed there, but when I fully woke up, I was back in the safety of my room, and this time I wasn't translucent. After thorough research, I discovered a new ability, astral projection.

The abilities started to unravel slowly before my eyes. I was never one to be afraid unless it's my family who's in danger, but after all these abilities started to awaken, I grew afraid. These powers went beyond my knowledge and Peter's, no amount of science could ever explain to me how to deal with them, and that's how I encountered a book filled with magic history.

Instead of looking for colleges and applying, I was studying magic, I was learning about my powers and how to master them. Though, several questions remain, and one of them was: why would Hayek awaken these powers?

"Are you ready?" The voice of Gwen Stacey pulled me out of my head, I turned to her, eyes squinting due to the sun's rays.

I was graduating, this is my last time seeing my classmates and teachers, Hayek could wait.

I inhale sharply, brushing my hair off my shoulder and fixing my graduation cap. "I am." I shared a smile with my best friend, bumping my shoulder against hers playfully. The ceremony had already started, I looked over my shoulder, hazel eyes scanning the faces of my male classmates trying to find Peter's adorable face. "No es cierto..."

"What?" Gwen frowned, noticing my distress, she followed my line of vision and realized that I was looking for Peter. "Oh my god," she looked at me as I dialed his number, "your boyfriend sure does know how to pick his timing."

I placed the phone against my ear and gave Gwen a look, I was so on her side. "And I told him not to be late."

"Hey, I'm sorry, I'm running a bit late." He apologized, I was having a hard time hearing him clearly due to the background noise. "I got stuck in some traffic."

I clenched my jaw, trying hard not to sound as angry as I felt. "Your timing is terrible. It started already."

"I know, I'm sorry." He lamented, I sigh tiredly, glancing at Gwen who mirrors my disappointed look. "Ask him where he is."

I nodded. "Where are you?"

"Uh," Peter struggled to find an answer, I frowned at the noise, it sounded really windy. "1st and Broadway, 2nd and Broadway, 3rd and Broadway." I closed my eyes, realizing what caused his tardiness. "Five minutes. Ten tops."

And that's when I heard them, the sirens. "Por Dios, Peter. You picked the worst time to be Spider-Man, we're graduating, and they are starting to call us, and you're not here. I even reminded you not to be late."

"No, no Spider-Man. Just traffic. I told you." He lied.

She arched an eyebrow, glaring at the back of the head of the girl sitting in front of her. "Really? Then why am I hearing sirens?"

"No sirens." He lied again.

I decided to give him an ultimatum. "Listen to me closely, if you don't make it here before they call your name, I'm breaking up with you."

With that being said, I hung up the call, Gwen looked at me with a smirk. "He better make it on time."

"Well, that's entirely up to him."

The graduation ceremony came to an end in a blink of an eye, it was an emotional yet satisfying experience. This was the beginning of a new chapter, the start of a quest in search of one's life purpose, and I found myself tangled in a web of pure excitement. I couldn't wait for the surprises life has in store for me, I couldn't wait to travel around the globe and visit the place I grew up in, Honduras. But most importantly, I couldn't wait to share all those magnificent experiences with Peter and make new memories with him.

I smiled and let out a loud laugh, Connor snatched my graduation cap and put it on, and then ruffled my hair as he gave me a side hug. "Congratulations, you little Speedy Gonzales! Welcome to the big leagues."

"Don't! Stop messing with my hair!" I groaned, pushing my cousin away from me, I curled my hand into a fist and hit him on the shoulder, earning a loud groan from him. "Serves you well."

I gave him one last glare before going back to my phone. I noticed Spider-Man was trending on Twitter, so I checked it out. People were talking about his incredible save at catching a bus full of people. I kept on scrolling and came across a video of him stopping the bus from tumbling over.

"Ha, traffic jam, my butt," I mumbled, rolling my eyes before locking my phone.

Aunt Ivana brushed a hair off her face and took a couple of steps back, putting her phone up, she motioned us to get closer, so she could take a picture. "Alright, quit acting, kids, you two. Now get together, I want to take a picture."

Connor and I chuckled before embracing each other for the picture. "Ethan." I glanced at my cousin who was ogling at a girl around his age, I snorted. "Ethan!" My aunt called again.

"Hey, Casanova!" Connor whistled loudly getting his attention, Ethan turned to us looking clueless.

"What? What?"

"I want to take a picture of you three." Aunt Ivana told him, but Ethan was still sending flirtatious looks at the girl. She shot her eldest son with a helpless look. "Connor, do something."

Connor took a step in his direction, pulling me along with him and almost causing me to lose my balance, but Connor's strong arms kept me from falling. He pulled Ethan towards us by the collar of his shirt, the boy let out a choking sound, Connor encircled his arm around his neck and smiled at his mom. "Say cheese!"

Ethan threw out a peace sign, Connor wore a huge smile as he pulled us closer to him by the necks, and I stuck out my tongue. "Perfect." Aunt Ivana smiled at her phone screen. "My babies look good."

"Yeah?" Connor said, letting them go and jogging towards his mom to take a look at the photo. "I look good. I do. You're good with a camera, have I...."

I remained standing on the same spot and just looked at my family. In my mind I pictured my mom and dad standing beside Aunt Ivana. I never once stopped missing them, I looked around and all my classmates were greeted by their parents, and I could only imagine myself being greeted by my parents. The reality made me nostalgic, but regardless of my truth, I felt joy. At least, I still had a family, I had two annoying cousins that could very well be my brothers, and a caring, loving aunt. I observed them from my spot and smiled. I burned the image in my head so whenever I felt sad about not having my parents with me, I would remember this moment.

And just as I thought my life couldn't get any better, I felt two strong arms encircling around my torso, and a head nuzzling between my shoulder blade and neck. "We're still dating, right?"

"Hello, traffic jam." I joked.

I turned in his arms, coming face to face with those adorable brown eyes. "Hey, speaking of which, that was a low blow." Peter tried to look serious but his adorable, tight smile wasn't helping him. "You can't- You can't threaten me like that. You can't use our relationship as an ultimatum."

"Yes, I can," I smirk. Peter looked at me adoringly, he leaned closer, trying to kiss me, but I pulled back. "You need to manage your time better, amor." I lowered my voice a little. "I know being Spider-Man isn't easy, but you require managing yourself better. You can't keep showing up late to important things, it might bring you trouble."

Peter nodded, I rested my hands on his chest, my eyes showed him how serious and worried I was of him. "Yeah, I know, I know."

"Knowing isn't the same as doing, skater boy," I smirked, I stood on my tiptoes and pecked his lips. "Will I see you in dim sum? Tonight?"

"Dim Sum?"

I hummed. "Gwen invited us. We're having a family dinner, and you're obviously family."

"Obviously." He repeated.

I chuckled, looking at him with big, innocent eyes. "So?"

Peter nodded, tilting his head forward, trying to kiss me, but I leaned back, wanting an answer. "Dim sum. Okay. Yeah, sure." I smiled and kissed him, I felt his soft lips melt around mine, I could feel his energy in my veins, his warmth against my skin. I felt him like I've never felt him before.

And I can't help but feel scared.

Why?

🅷🅾🅻🅰

Did I get tickets for
NWH? Nope, the site
crashed. Marvel fans
literally said: go hard or
Go home. XD

I'm almost finishing writing
this book, all I'm missing are
two chapters and oh man, it's
going to suck 😆 Also, I might
do double updating to celebrate
CHRISTMAS and Spider-Man month.

WOHOOO🎄🕸

Stay safe mis amores 🤍