e·vis·cer·ate
[əˈvisəˌrāt]
verb
[əˈvisəˌrāt]
verb
- The act of disembowelment of a person or an animal.
My name is Edgar Franks. I’ve been stationed in the outskirts of Talisay for about a year. I am 22 years old. I have a wife and a 2-year-old daughter back in NC. Decent build. We just celebrated our victory against the Filipinos in the insurrection a few months back, and later, the rapidly approaching birth of one of the privates’, also my roommate’s, sons. Now, an important thing to note is that our encampment was completely sealed off. Guards at the front gate, but not too far away from a few scattered villages. The top of the walls surrounding us had barbed wire strewn over the top. It was a very fortified area. However, the land was also very expansive, all our houses were spread out between clearings of rainforest and banana patches, the clearings illuminated by torches at night. Our houses were emptied out after clearing out the Filipino rebels from the area, allowing us to move in after they left. They were stilt houses, made mostly of bamboo with straw roofs, open squares for windows, and gable-looking roofs. One thing about the Philippines is that if it isn’t pouring rain to the point of flooding, it’s always searing hot to the point where your skin gets red, raised bumps if you’re out for too long. It was on a particularly hot day, and when I say hot, it was hot. I was fanning myself with a folded bamboo sheet on the front stoop of my hut when, out of the blue, I could’ve sworn I saw an old woman walking through the encampment. She couldn’t possibly be with us; the only local we had with us was a young nurse from a nearby village named Conchita, and Conchita’s mother had passed away a few months back, so it couldn’t be anybody’s mom, nobody’s mamaw, nobody’s auntie, nothing. She did look local, though. With her greying hair in a low ponytail, tanned skin with sun spots and moles, a stout height of around 4’ 8”, and the signature toothless smile sported by many elders in the area.
“Hey! Who’s over there?!” I called out. The woman slowly turned around to look in my direction, and when I met eyes with her, she had the strangest sort of energy to her that I could never explain. She ignored me after that and continued hobbling over towards a wooded area of our encampment, the sound of her sandals clacking against the rocky ground. I was too hot and indifferent to go after her, figuring someone else would take care of it, plus, I didn’t want to look like I was hunting for brownie points after having been promoted months prior. That was the last time I didn’t speak up, because that evening, we were punished. Someone had broken into the coop by the kitchen, and multiple eggs were gone, as well as some young chicks. We were up until at least 1 in the morning, around an hour of which in a plank while our LT berated us with the call of “WHICH ONE OF YOU DID IT, HUH?!” in his usual gruff voice that nobody’s ever heard at ease. Still, knowing I had nothing to do with it, I withstood all of his BS until his voice got hoarser than humanly possible and he decided to give up for the night. I huffed in annoyance, dusted myself off, and trudged back to the hut in the near pitch blackness of the night, only lit by a few torches and the full moon’s light. I didn’t notice it at the time, but there was an odd stench in the air, and an even worse feeling in my gut. A feeling of being watched. I step inside the lantern-lit hut, cursing under my breath and cracking my back before calling out,
“Anyone in here?” expecting an answer, but there was an unusual silence in the hut, even for the time of night. It wasn’t enough to raise an alarm, as Magdalena was usually asleep by this time, Conchita leaves at 7 PM on the dot, and maybe Stevie hadn’t come home yet. The sinking feeling was probably just fatigue from the earlier punishment, so I brushed it off once again and went to bed, and before dozing off, I couldn’t help but notice a light scratch coming from under the house…
“Anyone in here?” expecting an answer, but there was an unusual silence in the hut, even for the time of night. It wasn’t enough to raise an alarm, as Magdalena was usually asleep by this time, Conchita leaves at 7 PM on the dot, and maybe Stevie hadn’t come home yet. The sinking feeling was probably just fatigue from the earlier punishment, so I brushed it off once again and went to bed, and before dozing off, I couldn’t help but notice a light scratch coming from under the house…
“Ugh. Where’d they even find Conchita to begin with? There’s gotta be some kinda place that you can find ‘em around here.”
“Maggie already knew Conchita beforehand. Almost all the women in her family are nurses or midwives.”
“Okay, so where do we find them?”
“...They live in Iloilo.”
“Goddammit, Stevie, you didn’t think to start with that?”
“It’s not like we’re in the middle of nowhere, we’re in a town, for Christ’s sake.”
“A rural town. Plus, all the people here are freako-nuts, with Ms. Chicken Thief from yesterday.”
“Ms. who?” Stevie laughed amidst his confusion, now turning to look at me, stopping dead in his tracks.
“You didn’t see the old lady yesterday? She was walking towards the chicken coop, and she flat-out ignored me when I tried to stop her.”
“..........”
“Oh, come on, don’t look at me like-”
“You knew? You knew who stole the chickens?? The eggs?? And you let us get punished until 1 AM?? What if something happened to Maggie by then?! What if she went into labor?”
“Stevie, do you think the LT would believe me if I blamed it on a ghost? Oh, yeah, Franks, it was DEFINITELY a f***ing ghost who did it.”
“That’s not the point, the point is that you could’ve told someone about the woman who BROKE INTO CAMP, AND THAT YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW IF SHE WAS ACTUALLY ALIVE?!”
“Okay, calm down, you’re acting moodier than Maggie, and she’s the one carrying the baby. Relax for a moment, the chickens’ll lay more eggs soon anyway…”
“Just- shut up. I’ve had enough of you.”
The rest of the walk through town was awkward. I probably shouldn’t have said that, but whatever, this was the same guy who suggested we build the camp from scratch instead of just clearing out old village land and building a wall around it. After what seemed like forever, we were able to find an old woman who spoke very limited English, who introduced herself as Remedios. She had a head of grey-white hair tied back with an old-looking hairband, dressed in a white blouse, typical for nurses in the area, with a floral cutout pattern, a wine-red skirt that went down to her sandals, and a white overskirt with the same cutout pattern as her blouse. She had very tanned skin, dotted with moles, and a fairly wrinkled face. She did say she retired, but for some reason, she was oddly willing to help us. We helped her walk back up the hill to the encampment and brought her to Magdalena, with whom she began conversing with in Cebuano. Magdalena and Remedios laughed together for a while and spoke for what felt like ages. Even after we left, they were still talking their hearts out, well into the sunset.
“Remedios, do you need us to walk you home? It’s getting late and we don’t know if-”
“It’s okay, hijo. I can stay with Magdalena at night.”
“Are you sure, ma’am? Really, we can take you-”
“Please, I insist. The baby is almost ready, I can feel it.”
This caught my attention. She can feel it? Now I’m wondering if we shouldn’t have hired someone who randomly volunteered to nurse a pregnant woman, especially if they hadn’t in years.
“I’m sorry?”
“Yes, the baby is almost coming.”
“But- we never specified… and how do you know for sure?”
“Nena, she feels the kicks.”
Stevie looked almost uncomfortable that this woman had gotten closer to his wife in 3 hours than he had in 2 years. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Remedios craned her neck toward the window.
“Who’s outside?” Remedios asks, squinting her eyes a bit, slowly standing up. The rest of us turn to look out the window, and Stevie pokes his head out to get a better look. A woman had turned the corner around the house.
“Wait a damn minute...” Stevie mumbles, turning back to us. “Am I a nut, or did Conchita just turn the corner around the house?” My heart sank. Something wasn’t right. Just as he said that, there she was, going back around. Conchita was outside, circling the house.
“Who’s Conchita? Ate ni Nena?”
“No. Conchita was the last midwife we had for Maggie. She’s bedridden, there’s no way she could possibly be outside, hell, even well enough to walk.” Stevie stammers, shakily pulling out a handgun from under the mattress. Just then, Remedios quickly grabbed Stevie’s wrist. “Ma’am, let go.”
“You can’t. That isn’t Conchita.”
Now, I didn’t know if Remedios was pulling some twisted joke on us or if she was, indeed, a batty old lady as I had suspected, so I played it safe and took her hand off of Stevie, who then went outside to confront the rogue nurse.
“Ma’am, we’re doing this for all of our safety, so please-”
“No! You don’t know!”
“What don’t I know?!”
“ASWANG.”
“As-what?”
“The woman is an Aswang! She’s circling the house so she knows where to find the blood!”
“Look, you have to stop. This is insanity, you cannot go telling people about some weird Maria Labo scary story crap, these people, they’ll think you’re crazy and you’ll just make yourself look-”
“LISTEN TO ME. Tell Stephen to come back in, he doesn’t know what he’s fighting!”
“What is he fighting, then?”
“The night. He’s fighting the devil himself in a woman’s body.”
“What??”
“It’s soon. Night is coming. She is going to turn.”
“Turn? Wh- What does it being night-time even have to do with any of this?”
“Ed. Please barricade the windows.” Maggie chimes in, and she looks just as nervous as Remedios did. “I’m serious, this is something we cannot fight with guns and blades.”
“You too? What’s wrong with-”
Just then, Stevie came back inside and shut the makeshift door we had for the hut.
“She... she took off..” he huffed, bent, and holding his thigh.
“What?”
“She ran into the woods. I lost her.”
“Hijo, please. Cover the windows, anything. Go. Quick, the sun is almost completely down, and when that happens, we’re in danger.”
“What are you two talking about?? All this time you’ve been-”
“TRYING TO TELL YOU, ED!!” Maggie cried, sitting back up, out of breath, clutching her abdomen. “...There’s a local legend involving childbirth, and I need you two to take it seriously, please..”
“Oh, again with this mythology crap.”
“Ed.” Stevie glared into my soul with that i’ll-kill-you look he gives me whenever he’s pissed.
“Okay, okay, my bad. Go on.”
“I suspected it could happen soon, after the black chick went missing…”
“What does that have to do with any of this?”
“...In Filipino folklore, there’s a creature called a Manananggal. Legend has it that you become one if you swallow a young, black chick, and it matures in your stomach. After that, you’re doomed to transform into a Manananggal every night. They have to hide their bodies, because-” Just as she uttered the final few words, we heard a loud shriek coming from the woods behind the hut. The room went silent. “Love, quick. Barricade the windows, set up the stakes; they should be in the closet.”
“Who’s outside?” Remedios asks, squinting her eyes a bit, slowly standing up. The rest of us turn to look out the window, and Stevie pokes his head out to get a better look. A woman had turned the corner around the house.
“Wait a damn minute...” Stevie mumbles, turning back to us. “Am I a nut, or did Conchita just turn the corner around the house?” My heart sank. Something wasn’t right. Just as he said that, there she was, going back around. Conchita was outside, circling the house.
“Who’s Conchita? Ate ni Nena?”
“No. Conchita was the last midwife we had for Maggie. She’s bedridden, there’s no way she could possibly be outside, hell, even well enough to walk.” Stevie stammers, shakily pulling out a handgun from under the mattress. Just then, Remedios quickly grabbed Stevie’s wrist. “Ma’am, let go.”
“You can’t. That isn’t Conchita.”
Now, I didn’t know if Remedios was pulling some twisted joke on us or if she was, indeed, a batty old lady as I had suspected, so I played it safe and took her hand off of Stevie, who then went outside to confront the rogue nurse.
“Ma’am, we’re doing this for all of our safety, so please-”
“No! You don’t know!”
“What don’t I know?!”
“ASWANG.”
“As-what?”
“The woman is an Aswang! She’s circling the house so she knows where to find the blood!”
“Look, you have to stop. This is insanity, you cannot go telling people about some weird Maria Labo scary story crap, these people, they’ll think you’re crazy and you’ll just make yourself look-”
“LISTEN TO ME. Tell Stephen to come back in, he doesn’t know what he’s fighting!”
“What is he fighting, then?”
“The night. He’s fighting the devil himself in a woman’s body.”
“What??”
“It’s soon. Night is coming. She is going to turn.”
“Turn? Wh- What does it being night-time even have to do with any of this?”
“Ed. Please barricade the windows.” Maggie chimes in, and she looks just as nervous as Remedios did. “I’m serious, this is something we cannot fight with guns and blades.”
“You too? What’s wrong with-”
Just then, Stevie came back inside and shut the makeshift door we had for the hut.
“She... she took off..” he huffed, bent, and holding his thigh.
“What?”
“She ran into the woods. I lost her.”
“Hijo, please. Cover the windows, anything. Go. Quick, the sun is almost completely down, and when that happens, we’re in danger.”
“What are you two talking about?? All this time you’ve been-”
“TRYING TO TELL YOU, ED!!” Maggie cried, sitting back up, out of breath, clutching her abdomen. “...There’s a local legend involving childbirth, and I need you two to take it seriously, please..”
“Oh, again with this mythology crap.”
“Ed.” Stevie glared into my soul with that i’ll-kill-you look he gives me whenever he’s pissed.
“Okay, okay, my bad. Go on.”
“I suspected it could happen soon, after the black chick went missing…”
“What does that have to do with any of this?”
“...In Filipino folklore, there’s a creature called a Manananggal. Legend has it that you become one if you swallow a young, black chick, and it matures in your stomach. After that, you’re doomed to transform into a Manananggal every night. They have to hide their bodies, because-” Just as she uttered the final few words, we heard a loud shriek coming from the woods behind the hut. The room went silent. “Love, quick. Barricade the windows, set up the stakes; they should be in the closet.”
We wasted no time in doing so. With a quick hand, Stevie assembled the stakes into small cheval-de-frises, which he placed at the windows before moving furniture in front of them. He blocked the door, and by the time the torches were lit, we were all in Maggie’s room, waiting for something to happen, and truthfully, starting to doze off. That was stupid, all that preparation for nothing, but at least it helped Maggie and Stevie feel comfortable. I guess. My vision began blurring, and before long, I was snoring. I was awoken in the night. It was dark, and there was a sound coming from outside. A flap, flap, flap, almost like a flag in the wind. Then I heard it again. The shriek that sent my stomach plunging down my torso. Something was shifting the straw roof. I look up, and to my horror, there was a long, dripping tongue the length of a stilt reaching through a gap in the roof above Maggie. I quickly grabbed one of the bamboo spears left over and stabbed at the thickest part of its tongue I could reach, the creature letting out a shrill shriek of pain, retracting the tongue back through the hole, bringing a chunk of the roof with it. The others awaken, watching the creature fly away into the night, becoming dawn. Remedios and Stevie quickly turn to Maggie, checking for any signs of damage to her or the baby. Remedios looked up at the gaping hole in the ceiling and took a sigh of relief.
“We must kill it.”
“Ya think?” I winced, stretching my twisted shoulder and cracking my back, the quick burst of snaps crackling in the air as I did so.
“Today, we must see one of my friends in town. He is an albularyo.”
“A what?”
“You can say it’s a type of healer. Witch doctor, if you will.” Maggie added, Remedios nodding as she explained.
“A little walk from here, there’s a small building. Bamboo growing outside. You will know it when you see it. Ask to see Ramon De Dios. Say, Remedios sent you. He should see you right away. He begins work just as the sun rises. You should be there on time.”
Stevie and I walk in the twilight’s faded blue-gray haze along an outer road in the village. He looked very uncomfortable the entire time, as he typically does whenever he’s worrying too much.
“Y’okay, Stevie?” I nudged at him, attempting to gauge the severity of his pissy mood. “You at least sleep right?”
“No. No, I’m not okay. My wife and future child are being targeted by a THING that knows where we live and won’t stop until it’s killed or kills its target. I’m done with all of this, Ed. I’m tired. I’m tired of all this bull, this- this- hell. And I don’t want to hear anything from you anymore.”
“Dude, it was never that serious, why are you always so-”
“DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN?! You don’t make this any better, do you? How am I supposed to trust that you can help me save my wife when you DENOUNCE HER NON-EUROPEAN NAME, LET ALONE HER ETHNICITY. So we’re going to find this Ramon dude, we’re gonna kill that bat-winged bitch, and we’re going to move on with our lives.”
…Well, that made this walk a lot more awkward. I don’t think he likes me all too much. I still don’t get what I did wrong. I’ve been a good friend all this time, and he’s just been a disturbed pain in the ass. I already let it slide that he married that poor girl, and he did her a favor; this place is a dump. Hell, I would be happy to marry an American man if it meant leaving. In a swift break to the silence, Stevie pulled me into the building we were tasked to find. A dingy joint, concrete walls about ⅔ painted a dull green, with an old man sitting behind the counter.
“We’re here to see Ramon De Dios. Remedios sent us.”
“You may see him. He is in the back room.” The man answered, turning to the open door in the back of the room. We headed inside, knocking as we arrived at the door frame to let him know we were there. Ramon was sorting through a few bags---that smelled very odd, might I add, before beckoning us over with a wrinkled hand.
“What troubles you two?” He croaks, sitting up in his woven chair and yawning, scratching at the wood with a ridged, aged nail, a little longer than considered normal.
“We want to kill a Manananggal.”
“Oh, a difficult task indeed…” Ramon groans, slowly getting up and hobbling to a wall covered in shelves with jars upon jars, some with preserved animals, some with powders, some with shiny substances and oils. The one he gave us had a granulated, clear-white color. “Manananggal are dangerous creatures of the night. Their human forms… they cannot die. They remain immortal forever. That is the curse of the Aswang. But they do have a weakness… their lower half. Manananggal will always hide their lower halves or go somewhere secluded to transform. What you must do, and be VERY CAREFUL, once the Manananggal separates, wait for it to leave. When it does, sprinkle salt in the open wound on the lower half of the body. Come morning time, it will not be able to return to its lower half, and the sunlight will burn the Manananggal to ashes. The solstice comes tonight, so it will be the shortest night of the year. It will be the easiest to do tonight.”
“So that’s it? We just put salt in the wound? Nothing else?”
“Yes, but that’s only if you find the bottom half. After you do that, just wait until the sun rises, preferably in a lit area with religious objects in the vicinity. Crosses, virgin statues, anything. They do not fear God, but faith; faith is what they fear. Good luck.” Ramon nods, sending us back on our way through the now-bright unpaved roads back into the encampment.
“Ya think?” I winced, stretching my twisted shoulder and cracking my back, the quick burst of snaps crackling in the air as I did so.
“Today, we must see one of my friends in town. He is an albularyo.”
“A what?”
“You can say it’s a type of healer. Witch doctor, if you will.” Maggie added, Remedios nodding as she explained.
“A little walk from here, there’s a small building. Bamboo growing outside. You will know it when you see it. Ask to see Ramon De Dios. Say, Remedios sent you. He should see you right away. He begins work just as the sun rises. You should be there on time.”
Stevie and I walk in the twilight’s faded blue-gray haze along an outer road in the village. He looked very uncomfortable the entire time, as he typically does whenever he’s worrying too much.
“Y’okay, Stevie?” I nudged at him, attempting to gauge the severity of his pissy mood. “You at least sleep right?”
“No. No, I’m not okay. My wife and future child are being targeted by a THING that knows where we live and won’t stop until it’s killed or kills its target. I’m done with all of this, Ed. I’m tired. I’m tired of all this bull, this- this- hell. And I don’t want to hear anything from you anymore.”
“Dude, it was never that serious, why are you always so-”
“DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN?! You don’t make this any better, do you? How am I supposed to trust that you can help me save my wife when you DENOUNCE HER NON-EUROPEAN NAME, LET ALONE HER ETHNICITY. So we’re going to find this Ramon dude, we’re gonna kill that bat-winged bitch, and we’re going to move on with our lives.”
…Well, that made this walk a lot more awkward. I don’t think he likes me all too much. I still don’t get what I did wrong. I’ve been a good friend all this time, and he’s just been a disturbed pain in the ass. I already let it slide that he married that poor girl, and he did her a favor; this place is a dump. Hell, I would be happy to marry an American man if it meant leaving. In a swift break to the silence, Stevie pulled me into the building we were tasked to find. A dingy joint, concrete walls about ⅔ painted a dull green, with an old man sitting behind the counter.
“We’re here to see Ramon De Dios. Remedios sent us.”
“You may see him. He is in the back room.” The man answered, turning to the open door in the back of the room. We headed inside, knocking as we arrived at the door frame to let him know we were there. Ramon was sorting through a few bags---that smelled very odd, might I add, before beckoning us over with a wrinkled hand.
“What troubles you two?” He croaks, sitting up in his woven chair and yawning, scratching at the wood with a ridged, aged nail, a little longer than considered normal.
“We want to kill a Manananggal.”
“Oh, a difficult task indeed…” Ramon groans, slowly getting up and hobbling to a wall covered in shelves with jars upon jars, some with preserved animals, some with powders, some with shiny substances and oils. The one he gave us had a granulated, clear-white color. “Manananggal are dangerous creatures of the night. Their human forms… they cannot die. They remain immortal forever. That is the curse of the Aswang. But they do have a weakness… their lower half. Manananggal will always hide their lower halves or go somewhere secluded to transform. What you must do, and be VERY CAREFUL, once the Manananggal separates, wait for it to leave. When it does, sprinkle salt in the open wound on the lower half of the body. Come morning time, it will not be able to return to its lower half, and the sunlight will burn the Manananggal to ashes. The solstice comes tonight, so it will be the shortest night of the year. It will be the easiest to do tonight.”
“So that’s it? We just put salt in the wound? Nothing else?”
“Yes, but that’s only if you find the bottom half. After you do that, just wait until the sun rises, preferably in a lit area with religious objects in the vicinity. Crosses, virgin statues, anything. They do not fear God, but faith; faith is what they fear. Good luck.” Ramon nods, sending us back on our way through the now-bright unpaved roads back into the encampment.
That day was one of the most uneasy days of my life. I held onto that salt for dear life. We set up a small altar in the local church, and we stayed there until dusk. By then, we had returned to Magdalena’s side, waiting for “Conchita” to return. Remedios prayed over us, and finally, Magdalena, hoping the ritual would work, that the unholy beast from the cracks of the Earth would be slain and our people would be freed from the grasp of the Devil. We remained posted up by the windows, and surely enough, Conchita returned, this time with a scar on her lips. She began wandering into the forest, and Stevie and I followed through the brush as she roamed the land with fading light, an orange glow between the trees as the sun retreated behind the mountains and over the shore, her stained white gown dragging on the forest floor, the bottom browned from the mud and decomposed, squashed leaf litter. The entire time, she had been muttering things under her breath, strange things.
“There’s no god at night… There’s no god at night…” She affirmed, the crunch of the twigs almost louder than her voice. She finally stopped at a creek in a small clearing not too far from the main encampment, but just enough that not many would know it existed. She looked up at the night sky and removed the gown, Stevie and I covering our eyes and mouths out of disgust at her naked, decomposing body. It was full of bruises and, most frighteningly, a large scar around her waist. Her body was sagging and sunken-in, veins visible all over her reddened skin, almost as if she had been burning. With an unexpected jerk, her back emitted several loud snaps, Conchita groaning as it did, and what looked like her shoulder blades began moving underneath her skin. Out of the red sores came claw-like structures, her upper arms fusing into them as the ‘claws’ snaked down her arms like vines, bone protruding out from between the fusion in her upper arm and her forearm, elongating as blood sprayed out and her skin became like webbing, her arms now resembling wings. She let out another shriek as her teeth sharpened to fangs and tongue stretched to over 3 feet in length, taking on a mind of its own as if it were alive. The creature that had once been Conchita was now flapping its massive wings, blood leaking out from a now-open scar around the midsection, which then ripped clean, blood pouring into the soil as bone and entrail separated, her intestines coiling around her semi-exposed vertebrae, soaring into the night, the naked bottom half falling helplessly to the ground. Once we could no longer hear the flap, Stevie vomited. The chunks fell into the ground like fertilizer, Stevie almost choked on the horrifying sight we had just witnessed.
“C’mon. It’s just the salt now, let’s hurry before she can get to Maggie and Remedios.”
With a begrudgingly slow pace, he followed as I went down from our cover up in a densely wooded hill to the half-carcass on the ground, spreading a generous amount of salt into the bottom half of the body, and a little on top for good measure. After that’s done, we pick up the pace and rush back to the main encampment, stumbling over roots and other foliage on the way in our desperate rush to make it back before Conchita does. We rushed into the bahay kubo, expecting a bloodbath, only to find Remedios holding a knife at the door, which she lowered as she saw us, folding and latching it back into place.
“There’s no god at night… There’s no god at night…” She affirmed, the crunch of the twigs almost louder than her voice. She finally stopped at a creek in a small clearing not too far from the main encampment, but just enough that not many would know it existed. She looked up at the night sky and removed the gown, Stevie and I covering our eyes and mouths out of disgust at her naked, decomposing body. It was full of bruises and, most frighteningly, a large scar around her waist. Her body was sagging and sunken-in, veins visible all over her reddened skin, almost as if she had been burning. With an unexpected jerk, her back emitted several loud snaps, Conchita groaning as it did, and what looked like her shoulder blades began moving underneath her skin. Out of the red sores came claw-like structures, her upper arms fusing into them as the ‘claws’ snaked down her arms like vines, bone protruding out from between the fusion in her upper arm and her forearm, elongating as blood sprayed out and her skin became like webbing, her arms now resembling wings. She let out another shriek as her teeth sharpened to fangs and tongue stretched to over 3 feet in length, taking on a mind of its own as if it were alive. The creature that had once been Conchita was now flapping its massive wings, blood leaking out from a now-open scar around the midsection, which then ripped clean, blood pouring into the soil as bone and entrail separated, her intestines coiling around her semi-exposed vertebrae, soaring into the night, the naked bottom half falling helplessly to the ground. Once we could no longer hear the flap, Stevie vomited. The chunks fell into the ground like fertilizer, Stevie almost choked on the horrifying sight we had just witnessed.
“C’mon. It’s just the salt now, let’s hurry before she can get to Maggie and Remedios.”
With a begrudgingly slow pace, he followed as I went down from our cover up in a densely wooded hill to the half-carcass on the ground, spreading a generous amount of salt into the bottom half of the body, and a little on top for good measure. After that’s done, we pick up the pace and rush back to the main encampment, stumbling over roots and other foliage on the way in our desperate rush to make it back before Conchita does. We rushed into the bahay kubo, expecting a bloodbath, only to find Remedios holding a knife at the door, which she lowered as she saw us, folding and latching it back into place.
“Did you do it? Did it work?”
“Yes. Now we need to wait until sunrise, around six in the morning. It’s only ten o’clock, so it should still be a while. No sign of… You know who?”
“No. Nena just went to sleep. I haven’t heard anything yet.”
“We haven’t either, at least since she flew away.”
“Good, good. You two be calm, I’ll take care of Nena from right here.”
That night felt like the longest night of my life. I was alert to every sound, my nails were bitten down to the soft flesh beneath, and my clothes were completely drenched in sweat, this time from something greater than the heat. I dreaded shutting my eyes and awakening to that haggard, dilapidated, bloodstained face looking back at me with its gaping jaws, filled end to end with long, sharp teeth, like if it only had fangs inside its mouth in replacement of teeth, Maggie and the kid in a pool of blood while I deal with the guilt of knowing I failed to protect them, and-
“ED!”
“Huh!? What?”
“You hear it too, right?”
The horrid flapping sounds, the tortured screams… She already got someone.
She was still hungry.
I sprung out of my chair and pointed my rifle at the window, Stevie pointing his at the patched ceiling. There was a certain stiffness in the air, not like the usual thin, hot air that everyone can barely breathe in. This felt like a primal instinct, not one to fight, but one to hide. Our bodies know we can not beat them, so it tells us to retreat before it finds us. Just as my nightmares predicted, there she was. Descending from the heights, cast out of the sky like a fallen angel. That face… the grey tinge to her skin, which had several large holes revealing the red, bloody flesh below, small droplets of yellowing pus leaking out of the grotesque, pore-like holes that had to be at least the size of quarters, each of them. Her skin was holding on for dear life. Her eyes looked nearly hollowed out, piercing yellow light emanating from them like two lanterns in the darkness, her sclera pitch black as a moonless sky. Her lower jaw looked as if it were completely unhinged from her skull, teeth as long as index fingers, and a tongue like a third arm that protruded from her mouth. As soon as she descended to window height, I opened fire, the room lit up with the short bursts of light from each shot, and the creature crashed onto the ground after taking the shots. Stevie ran outside with one of the wooden stakes, ready to end this nightmare. I watched from inside, guarding Remedios and Maggie as-
“GOD- F***!!”
“Yes. Now we need to wait until sunrise, around six in the morning. It’s only ten o’clock, so it should still be a while. No sign of… You know who?”
“No. Nena just went to sleep. I haven’t heard anything yet.”
“We haven’t either, at least since she flew away.”
“Good, good. You two be calm, I’ll take care of Nena from right here.”
That night felt like the longest night of my life. I was alert to every sound, my nails were bitten down to the soft flesh beneath, and my clothes were completely drenched in sweat, this time from something greater than the heat. I dreaded shutting my eyes and awakening to that haggard, dilapidated, bloodstained face looking back at me with its gaping jaws, filled end to end with long, sharp teeth, like if it only had fangs inside its mouth in replacement of teeth, Maggie and the kid in a pool of blood while I deal with the guilt of knowing I failed to protect them, and-
“ED!”
“Huh!? What?”
“You hear it too, right?”
The horrid flapping sounds, the tortured screams… She already got someone.
She was still hungry.
I sprung out of my chair and pointed my rifle at the window, Stevie pointing his at the patched ceiling. There was a certain stiffness in the air, not like the usual thin, hot air that everyone can barely breathe in. This felt like a primal instinct, not one to fight, but one to hide. Our bodies know we can not beat them, so it tells us to retreat before it finds us. Just as my nightmares predicted, there she was. Descending from the heights, cast out of the sky like a fallen angel. That face… the grey tinge to her skin, which had several large holes revealing the red, bloody flesh below, small droplets of yellowing pus leaking out of the grotesque, pore-like holes that had to be at least the size of quarters, each of them. Her skin was holding on for dear life. Her eyes looked nearly hollowed out, piercing yellow light emanating from them like two lanterns in the darkness, her sclera pitch black as a moonless sky. Her lower jaw looked as if it were completely unhinged from her skull, teeth as long as index fingers, and a tongue like a third arm that protruded from her mouth. As soon as she descended to window height, I opened fire, the room lit up with the short bursts of light from each shot, and the creature crashed onto the ground after taking the shots. Stevie ran outside with one of the wooden stakes, ready to end this nightmare. I watched from inside, guarding Remedios and Maggie as-
“GOD- F***!!”
I looked out the window, watching in sheer horror as the creature’s tongue impaled Stevie while he let out a haunting scream of agony that made my blood curdle into cheese. His blood was spraying out like a faucet with a finger covering it, as if his insides were pressurized and itching to escape, and that monster was eating every last bit of offal he had left in him, leaving only marrowless bone and an eviscerated carcass where the once-screaming man lay to rest.
“STEVEN!!” Maggie cried out, trying to sit up while Remedios held her down and comforted her, praying over the sobbing woman as the winged beast clawed its way through the window, the sun beginning to rise outside, when I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen, and a sinking feeling as if I had just gone down a rollercoaster, the creature’s tongue pulsing like a leech attached to my abdomen. Without thinking, I shoved my gun into its mouth and ripped some bamboo off of the wall, forming a jagged edge, stabbing the tongue with all my remaining strength, the world becoming blurry as I sat in the pool of blood.
“Get out… GET OUT!!” I coughed, jamming the bamboo stick into the tongue further, which seemed to stop the flow of blood, for now, at least. Remedios helped Maggie up, and it seemed like something clicked in her head.
“Nena, get help. Go.”
“What- what do you-”
“Go! Save the baby. Steven would want this. Run, hija, run!”
Maggie ran out of the hut, albeit sluggishly due to her condition, and Remedios just… stood on the bed. I tried to speak, but nothing could come out. She was standing over me and the struggling creature, muttering something as I coughed up more and more of my fluids. The only thing I could make out was a flowing noise, like a drape being taken down, followed by a screech that pierced through my eardrums, and a flash of light.
“God, please have mercy on this man’s soul.”
“STEVEN!!” Maggie cried out, trying to sit up while Remedios held her down and comforted her, praying over the sobbing woman as the winged beast clawed its way through the window, the sun beginning to rise outside, when I felt a sharp pain in my abdomen, and a sinking feeling as if I had just gone down a rollercoaster, the creature’s tongue pulsing like a leech attached to my abdomen. Without thinking, I shoved my gun into its mouth and ripped some bamboo off of the wall, forming a jagged edge, stabbing the tongue with all my remaining strength, the world becoming blurry as I sat in the pool of blood.
“Get out… GET OUT!!” I coughed, jamming the bamboo stick into the tongue further, which seemed to stop the flow of blood, for now, at least. Remedios helped Maggie up, and it seemed like something clicked in her head.
“Nena, get help. Go.”
“What- what do you-”
“Go! Save the baby. Steven would want this. Run, hija, run!”
Maggie ran out of the hut, albeit sluggishly due to her condition, and Remedios just… stood on the bed. I tried to speak, but nothing could come out. She was standing over me and the struggling creature, muttering something as I coughed up more and more of my fluids. The only thing I could make out was a flowing noise, like a drape being taken down, followed by a screech that pierced through my eardrums, and a flash of light.
“God, please have mercy on this man’s soul.”
