CHAPTER 7
The Truth in the Pine Needles
The drive back to the city started smoothly – our vans hummed along the mountain roads as we shared stories from our trip, laughing about how scared we'd been the night before. Gian and Alliyah sat in the back of our van, heads leaned together as he showed her sketches he'd made during our stay. Up front, Andre held my hand as he drove, occasionally squeezing it when we hit a bump in the road.
"Can you believe we actually thought there were mountain spirits?" Jeffrey laughed from the other van, speaking through our walkie-talkie. "Aling Marta probably just made that up to keep people away from her land!"
"Hey, don't say that!" Charmine chimed in. "The drums sounded real enough to me!"
We were about twenty minutes from the main highway when Kiko suddenly appeared on the road ahead, waving his arms frantically to get us to stop. Andre slammed on the brakes, and we all jumped forward in our seats.
"What's going on?" I asked, as Kiko ran up to our window, his face pale with worry.
"It's Aling Marta," he gasped, leaning against the door. "She's… she's not who you think she is. You need to come back with me – now."
Confused and concerned, we turned the vans around and followed Kiko back up the mountain. When we reached his cabin, we found Aling Marta sitting in a chair on the porch, looking weaker than before. But something was different – the pine needles in her hair had fallen away, and her woven dress looked more like regular fabric now.
"I'm sorry I lied to you all," she said softly as we gathered around her. "My name isn't really Aling Marta – I'm Maria, and I'm not as old as I made myself look. The mountain spirits… they're real, but we don't protect this land from them. We protect everyone else from what we are."
We stared at her in shock as she pulled a small wooden box from beneath her chair. Inside were old photographs – pictures of people who looked exactly like Kiko and Maria, standing in the same spot on the porch, wearing the same clothes. The dates on the photos went back over a hundred years.
"We're guardians, yes," Kiko explained, taking the box from his mother. "But not of the land. We're cursed – every full moon, we transform into the shadow figures you saw that night. The drums aren't a warning – they're part of the ritual we perform to keep ourselves under control. The totems are to keep people away so we don't hurt anyone."
Benjamin stepped forward, his eyes wide. "So when you said some people never left… did you – ?"
"No," Maria said quickly, shaking her head. "We've never hurt anyone. Those who stayed disappeared because they chose to stay – to help us break the curse. It can only be lifted when seven friends come together willingly, speak their truths, and show that love and trust can overcome any darkness."
She looked at each of us in turn – at Gian and Alliyah, Jeffrey and Charmine, Lisha and Benjamin, then at Andre and me.
"You seven are exactly what we've been waiting for," she continued. "The night you performed the Ritual of the Pine, you didn't just show the guardians you meant no harm – you began the process of breaking our curse. But there's one more thing you need to do."
She stood up slowly, and as she did, her appearance shifted – the wrinkles faded, and she looked like a woman in her thirties. Kiko also changed, his face becoming younger and more relaxed.
"The curse is tied to an old pine tree at the heart of the mountain," Maria said. "We need to plant a new tree there together – one grown from seeds of friendship and love. Only then will the shadow form be gone forever."
As we made our way to the heart of the mountain, we passed the same spot where we'd found the totem by the river. But now, the totems were glowing with a warm golden light – not threatening, but welcoming.
When we reached the old pine tree, we saw that its trunk was carved with symbols that matched the ones on the totems. Gian pulled out his sketchbook and realized the symbols were exactly like the ones he'd been drawing instinctively for years – even before we planned this trip.
"I think we were meant to come here," Alliyah said, taking his hand. "All of us."
One by one, we placed small seeds we'd been given into the soil around the old tree – each seed representing the love and friendship we'd found and strengthened on this trip. As we covered them with earth, the old tree began to glow, and the symbols on its trunk started to fade.
In that moment, we all felt a wave of warmth wash over us – and we saw the shadow figures one last time, but now they were smiling, bowing to us before dissolving into golden light that settled over the mountain.
As we made our way back to the vans – this time for real – Maria and Kiko stood at the edge of the woods, looking like any other mother and son now.
"Thank you," Kiko called out. "The mountain will always be your home – come back anytime."
We drove away as the sun set behind the mountains, painting the sky in shades of orange and purple. None of us spoke for a while, processing everything we'd just learned.
Finally, Andre broke the silence. "So… mountain spirits are real, but they're actually our friends who were cursed. And we just saved them."
"Looks like it," I said, leaning my head on his shoulder.
"And I thought my biggest worry was asking Alliyah out," Gian laughed from the back seat.
As we reached the highway, we all made a promise – we'd come back every year to check on the new tree, and to visit our new friends. Because even with all the twists and turns, this trip had given us more than just memories – it had shown us that the strongest bonds are forged in the most unexpected places.