Tanggal and a ghost town

There were several people on the hill talking to each other and the uproar was not pleasant for him, who commanded the whole situation. Young! The temerity of that age always brought setbacks. Only it was important to keep up appearances.

Rew Mountain was much more than it looked for in a small country town. And it wasn't just because of the fantasy stories that attracted tourists to the region. It was so much more.

After almost three centuries of foundation, these lands continued to witness the battle between witches and aswangs.

Haru grunted loudly contemplating the dark sky and moonlight washed over his body. It was during the night that they transformed themselves into creatures with their eyes completely silver, their skin smooth and whitish and with claws instead of nails, and their mouths with huge sharp teeth and a huge tongue.

Some even called them a mix of wizards and vampires. Haru did not deny that truth after two hundred years of travelling through those woods, lost in its green hills, and hunting for food.

Those were delicate times. The youngest of their heirs needed to follow the guidelines of the community and fellowship with wizards was not well regarded. In the 16th century, they had been one of the most feared creatures known. In the past, they lived in places such as cemeteries and woods, as the powers they had were greatly reduced during daylight. Older residents could describe them as wild creatures that lived in the jungle and around a city. They adapted and lived very easily in urban and rural environments inhabited by humans, although it was necessary to keep the fierce and monstrous nature under control.

Usually, Haru preferred to assume the animal form and roam the woods under the appearance of a huge black dog and all that would have to wait.

It was more than time to summon the youngest of their community to be initiated into the unknown and supernatural world to which they belonged and unknown to humans. There was also a setback for the wizarding community that lived there.

Indifferent, Haru cast a look of disdain beyond the trees. Manananggalas. They were women, and always able to cut off the upper part of the trunk and create huge bat wings to fly into the night in search of their victims. The lower part of the severed trunk remained upright and the more vulnerable of the two halves. Sprinkling salt, spreading crushed garlic, or ash on top of the erect trunk was always fatal. The upper part of the trunk, then, would not be able to come together again and would perish at sunrise

Where the hell is Elaine?

It wouldn't be long before the day came up again beyond the mountains, illuminating the entire hill with the first rays of sunlight. Elaine again defied his orders. Children! Haru shook his head with some regret as he avoided thinking about it too much.

There were so many legends that there were about them among humans. A mananangal was usually a normal human being and in its gut was the cub that should be passed on to the next generation when it was too weak to continue. He was able to devour someone's entrails while he was still alive. So the hunger for human flesh was voracious.

Once again Haru grunted at the inevitable. That young prey who had been captured beyond the hills ... That girl would never be one of them. And it was much worse than the parents had let their daughter get involved with descendants of wizards.

"You should have then brought the child to live with us before it became a problem for your people," a female voice echoed away.

Elaine flew across the dark, silent sky in search of her favourite food: ferns. It didn't matter to him that they were still in the womb. She was also very fond of devouring organs and the entrails of humans. His tongue was hollow, thin, and sharp as a needle to suck fetuses and entrails from the woman.

The very weak Ik-Ik-is reached Haru's ears bringing the expression of annoyance on his stern face. And the weaker the sound, the closer it was. It was the perfect mistake to confuse humans.

-I have no obligation to stay here watching your lower limb, Elaine! - Haru complained about growing irritation.

The crystalline sound of a child soprano came out with a laugh when the creature joined the lower half to reconnect, once rooted to the ground like a tree, with the sound of the wings that began to recede in the body in recomposition.

-And who would dare to move? You are Haru, the feared Rew Mountain aswang who leads us all.

Haru did not recap.

- Still, Elaine. If any witch or one of those hunters had the brilliant idea of ​​spraying ash or salt before you put the body back ...

-Your mood is all because of the human that is between us.- Elaine sighed grudgingly.- Or because of the stories, they tell in the city. Please. In all popular cultures, there were always reports about us, vampire creatures. It's the incredible 21st century. Who's going to believe pregnant women and their unborn babies being attacked while sleeping by a woman with half a body and a tongue that slips into their bellies?

Haru rolled his silver eyes even more irritated.

"The abortion clinics are an excellent facade for us." He observed seriously. - We don't need to go around showing ourselves to these humans and ...

-It's just food, Dad! You're cranky like that because of her, aren't you? And the story of not getting involved with humans? You don't seem to have paid much attention when you got involved with that woman ...

-The laws must be followed. My mistake cost ...

Haru sighed as he ran his hands through his hair, imagining once again how everything would be different if the mother of that human was still alive. Humans were despicable. The child naturally belonged to the father's family and yet his child had been hidden from his careful eyes. He had grown up among his enemies, learned to fear and hate his kind.

- You will stay that way because ...

Haru gave his eldest daughter a glacial, withering look.

-This human is my youngest child and ...

Elaine pouted as she crossed her arms with displeasure, noting that she now had competition for her father's attention and care.

-Pos she would marry a wizard. That handsome doctor is a ...

-I know very well what it is! - Haru groaned at the unpleasant idea.

Extreme measures were sometimes necessary to correct the children, putting them on the right path.

-And as for this human ...- he wanted to know irritated.

Elaine clapped her hands brightly as a child caught in mischief. I didn't mean to just kill him. It would try to have fun long before that and torment the human. For two days she had come from afar to observe the torments that her half-sister suffered from the plans of the mayor of the small town. Watching her rival's tears for her father's love had only stoked her selfish personality. May the unfortunate suffer. And it was little. And the suspicion of pregnancy was perfect ... It was a pity the test was negative. An impossible appetizing feast.

- You won't believe it! Even for a wizard, he even has his charm there. - Elaine commented dreamily and quickly recovered herself before her severe father. - A receptionist at my request called him. I can't believe how easy it is to deceive these people. My half-sister's future husband ...

-Half-sister?! You are my daughter. Daughter of an aswang. It is a manananggal. It's my blood. Let us protect our blood. Did you do what I asked? Did you kill the man at least? Your sister will only be more skittish with our approach because ...

Elaine grunted with little discomfort for the first time at having to share her father's attention. It was bad enough as the community leadership kept Haru busy. She was the typical only daughter who saw her reign divided and the territory taken away without being able to resist.

-He is alive. It didn't look appetizing afterwards...

The father gestured helplessly in the air.

-It was just a simple order, child. - the complaint was not lenient. You know as well as I do that the damned wizards must have already isolated the city with their spells and protections because of Initiation. Your sister ... Hell! I reread a lot on their part because of your sister.

Elaine looked at her father with visible displeasure.

"My helpless and troubled little sister? Daddy, she was raised among wizards!" You will never be one of us. As much as you want ...

The observation seemed to say all the horror that the statement brought to Elaine.

-Enough! - Haru's warning was very clear. - She is my daughter just like you. Her mother's levity to hide the child and let it be adopted against my will ... Enough, child. Times will come when you and your sister reigned over our people.

-Dad! Peter's family will not tolerate this. Another clan like ours would have decided to sacrifice my half-sister. We need reinforcements in the fight against these wizards. His insistence on bringing this human to live among us could end a win-win alliance. We are royalty among ours and ...

Haru knew all that. Only he was still a father. Leaving her child abandoned among her enemies was an intolerant hypothesis. You don't challenge the Lucky Lady twice. Early on when he discovered his youngest daughter's involvement with a son of wizards, his reaction was out of boundless rage.

I could only thank the providence of the lineage's fate for not having been corrupted and contaminated with their profane blood. Just the thought of her youngest daughter carrying such a monstrosity on her body with a possible pregnancy was able to give her chills. It was almost a miracle that her daughter had not been contaminated by the cursed blood of wizards in those two years.

-My word is just one. I swore that she would have the opportunity to live among yours. Live with you. I would have done the same for you!

Elaine stamped her foot jealously. Haru was more than uncompromising when it came to that human.

-My mother would never have embarrassed the family with such an affront. - The statement displayed pride as always when Elaine remembered her mother.

He nodded, thinking that maybe, the decision to let himself be attracted to that human after all had been a mistake. Auna! He could always remember with admiration. The companion hid her lower half as bat wings grow on her back and then set off taking off in search of prey, perching on rooftops and using her elongated tongue to suck the blood of sleeping pregnant women and their unborn children.

Ah, damn wizards! The distinct and pungent smell of fish sauce and a "tik tik tik" sound made while flying. All that had cost the existence of a wise and powerful two-hundred-year-old creature. Manananggal was for pregnant women. Auna liked to show the dog's smiling face in front of its victims. His bloodthirsty eyes looked into his frozen, wide-open eyes.

Curse. They never took more than was their right. From time to time a child would disappear before winter began. There was never a trace or evidence of the crime. They never found a body or rescued someone alive. It was like just disappearing. Of course, there was the usual police search and they checked street cameras.

Aswang is usually a generalization of any man-eating supernatural being - this includes witches, vampires, and shapeshifters. In this case, it refers to a ghoul. They could eat the heart and liver of their victims, but it was another banquet for entire bodies or even the sick. Auna had always enjoyed stealing bodies and replacing them with banana trunks.

Haru sighed miserably. It was not an attractive alternative but there was always a shelled duck embryo drowned in butter and crab fat.

It was a terrible fact that his lifemate for a century was dead. The older residents still hung garlic around the house, especially on the doors and windows. Any human can become a Manananggal if he drinks the blood of a Manananggal, similar to vampires. The bloodsucker is the other way around. Auna had died at sunrise, unable to turn on her body yet again because of the salt, garlic, and holy water in the lower stump. Murder!

Aswangs are shapeshifters. They are fast and quiet and some also make noises, like Tik-Tik. An aswang will also have red eyes, the result of staying up all night looking for houses where funerals are held to steal the bodies. It made no difference. Rew Mountain was inhabited by aswang and manananggal. Mandurugo ("bloodsucker") used her beauty to attract and marry young people, thus providing her with a constant supply of blood. Just as the ancients spoke: a baby's high-pitched screams, together with a fragrance followed by a terrible stench, indicate its presence.

The stories about them were so old that humans had already forgotten.

-Elaine, I want that human dead. It is my final word. - Haru defined Richard Walker's fate with fury.

And nearby, not even knowing her fate or the horrors that awaited, a human, daughter of a feared aswangs and raised among wizards, did not even know what fate had in store for her.