KNOCK-KNOCK!! KNOCK-KNOCK!!
…
CREEEEEK!
The door of the shack opened. A disappointed Lorna sighed after seeing Triggs’ team in front of her Shack. “These vloggers again,” Lorna muttered.
“Hello, Good Morning po,” Triggs greeted politely. “We just want to have a chat with Mang Eddy. Are they still there?”
With the same angst as before, Lorna replied, “Come inside.”
Without further ado, Triggs, Lae, and Zaine followed Lorna inside. Monty decided to stay outside.
Entering the Shack’s living room, they saw Mang Eddy drinking a cup of coffee, while his 2 apprentices were snoozing on the bamboo-woven sofas.
“Oh, it’s you again,” Eddy greeted after taking a sip of his coffee. “What are your plans for today?”
At first, Triggs felt a little bit wary telling their alibi. But with a discrete nudge from Lae, he finally began speaking.
“Uhm… Actually, Mang Eddy… After the incident last night, we realized we weren’t fully prepared for this. We lost our only camera when Zaine went to the forest, so now we're stuck without any way to record our content.”
“Hmm, so you’re leaving already?” Eddy asked.
Fully dedicated to their alibi, Triggs explained further,
“Yes. We’ve never dealt with incidents like these before. The mysteries in this barangay are way more complicated than anything we've encountered before. We need to treat this much seriously and fetch some proper equipment.”
“I understand.” Eddy put the finished cup of coffee on a nearby wooden table. “I’ll just explain everything to Kapitan Mario. For now, is it okay if we exchange contacts?”
Reluctant, Triggs faced Lae. After a somewhat dubious nod from his friend, Triggs answered Eddy, “Su - Sure po…”
Triggs brought out his phone. Eddy did the same. They started exchanging phone numbers.
“When will you be back?” Eddy asked.
“We’re still not sure. Probably a day or two,” Triggs answered. He joked, “Just make sure you’ll leave something for us when we return. Hehe.”
“Don’t worry. I’m sure the investigation won’t be done for a week.”
“Well, see you then, Mang Eddy.”
“Okay. I’ll look forward to your return.”
They bid their farewell to each other.
Lorna ushered the team out of the Shack. Before they could walk away, Lorna’s demeanor shifted from that of a grumpy woman to that of a disciplinarian mother. “Be careful out there…”
“Thanks, Aling Lorna! See you!” Triggs said while waving his hand.
Walking a few steps away from the Shack, Triggs let out a big sigh of relief.
“Seems like it's not the first time you’ve done this,” Lae commented.
“Yeah... I've lost count of how many times I've used an alibi to escape sticky situations. But I gotta admit, that one was seriously nerve-wracking.”
“At least it worked.”
Triggs sighed again.
“Well then, let’s get going.”
The team carried on, traveling in the direction of Bert’s pig farm.
By the time they arrived, the dead pigs were already disposed of, but the stains of blood could still be observed. Flies hover with the leftover stench of the corpses.
Reaching the edge of the forest, near the trail of blood Zaine followed the night before, they found some peculiar things on the ground.
Standing on the soil was a small wooden cross. Encircling the cross was a trail of salt and some scattered garlic cloves.
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“What is this supposed to be?” Triggs wondered.
“I think that was the Wards the Paranormal Investigators placed to fend off the Sigbins,” Lae explained. “There’s a belief that salt and garlic can ward off these creatures.”
“Hmm… So, this is the ‘barrier’ they talked about last night.”
“Supposedly…” Lae replied.
“Hng. I can’t believe these idiots still believe in this nonsense,” Monty murmured.
Before continuing further into the forest, Lae asked Zaine to look around and ensure no one could see them.
After verifying that no one was around, Triggs, Lae, and Zaine brought out their robes and wore them.
Meanwhile, Monty was just standing there nonchalantly.
“Monty. Where is your robe?” Lae asked.
“Why? I don’t even need it.”
Lae started to act like a strict teacher again. “Monty! We already talked about this!”
“Psh!” Monty rolled his eyes. “Can’t you see I’m wearing a hoodie? Just ask Mr. Billy Joe to put the Words on my hoodie.”
Lae couldn’t win with Monty’s stubbornness. She just let it be.
The team huddled together as Zaine prepared to chant his Words.
“VELUM MULTUS!”
Like before, the Words concealed their appearances.
They stayed there for a while, waiting for the night to come to make their next move.
…
…
…
“Ugh! This is boring as hell. We’ve been sitting here for a whole day!” Monty blabbered.
Then he started teasing Zaine, “Hey, Billy Joe! Why don’t you run in there again like an idiot? It’s much more exciting than just sitting here.”
“No! Stick to the plan, guys,” Lae responded. “Let’s just wait a little longer. The sun is about to set anyway.”
“Wew! Why can’t this lady take a fucking joke?” Monty murmured. Then, he started talking to the empty space beside him,
“Hey loser, what you got?...... As expected, you’re useless as ever……. Huh!? Don’t call you that? It’s fucking true thou……”
Triggs noticed it. “Is he talking to Naash?” he whispered to Lae.
“Maybe…” Lae replied.
“What are you doing here? I thought You Giyas had a ‘Celestial Meeting’ or something?...... Postponed? Well, that’s new......”
“Hmm? They are supposed to have a meeting?” Lae uttered in a surprised manner.
“Eh? You didn’t know?” Monty said.
“Lola Vega didn’t mention anything. I think she just forgot.”
Curious, Triggs asked. “Sorry if this sounds ignorant, but what are these 'meetings' all about? It sounds like they're a big deal.”
“How would I explain this…” Lae murmured.
She started explaining,
“Usually, when the Giyas have a meeting, They discuss important events happening in Their Realm, or it could also mean that They want to talk about some urgent matters in human affairs.
So, whenever the Giyas decide to have a meeting, it's a sign that something serious is going on, either in their realm or concerning us. And once the meeting is over, expect They will give us an urgent directive following that.”
“I see…”
“But what could it be?” Lae pondered. “Monty, can you ask Kuya Naash about the agenda of Their meeting?”
“Psh! Come on, you expect Him to know that?” Monty replied. “This is Naash we’re talking about.”
“Well, it doesn’t hurt to ask,” Lae said.
Confused by what they were talking about, Triggs asked again, “What does Monty mean?”
“Kuya Naash is the youngest Giya in Their group. Well, they are much like us humans - the older ones typically don’t share stuff with youngsters.
It’s nothing personal against Kuya Naash. It’s just the older Giyas have too much in their hands, they are too occupied with their responsibilities in the Heavens.”
“I understand it now.”
“Kuya Naash said Himself that he likes to hang around with us more because the older Giyas are always so uptight and busy.”
“Well, that’s cool,” Triggs commented. “Just the thought of having a Higher Being hanging around with us, it just feels awesome.”
Monty begged to differ, “Nah… He’s pretty much useless than the Others, so……”
“Hmm. I don’t believe He’s really useless. I mean… all Giyas are powerful, right?” Triggs replied. “By the way, what is Kuya Naash’s title? Did he have a moniker?”
“I remember Lola Vega mentioning a group of people in ancient times who revere Kuya Naash as their God of Catastrophe.”
Triggs was surprised. “Ca - Catastrophe? Wow, that title was something. Makes me wonder what He is capable of.”
“Actually, I’m also curious. I've been with this group for two years now, and I've never seen what Kuya Naash can do. Monty also rarely joins us in our mission,” Lae said. “How about you, Zaine? You’ve been around longer than me. Have you ever seen Kuya Naash’s power in action?”
Zaine acted like he didn’t hear anything. He stayed silent in a corner.
“Hey, umm... I'm still kinda getting the hang of who's who among the Giyas in charge of our group. Mind giving me the rundown, Lae?” Triggs requested.
“Sure,” Lae replied. She started her discussion,
“As we said before, our Giyas belong to a certain group of Higher Beings that are benevolent to humans. Their group was called Council of Terra Mater, but I’m not sure if They’re still using that name.
As per Lola Vega, when the Council was made, more than hundreds of Giyas joined the group. But as ages passed, the majority of the Giyas left the group.
She didn’t specify the reasons, but she said that some of these Giyas formed separate groups of Their own, while some went on their individual agendas. Still, all of them were under the Celestial Law - I think Lola Vega already discussed that.
In this age, the Council was trimmed to six members, and they are the ones who govern our group.
Being the eldest of the six, the acting leader of the Council is the Goddess of Life Herself, Gaie. She is also my personal Giya.
Ate Panee, revered as the Goddess of Primordial Water of the Matukad Island Sirenas, Favored Calla.
The one who created the Base that we are using is Kuya Vistar, the Former God of Space and Expansion. Kuya Vistar Favored Ate Kloe, but he is generous enough to let us use his Portals.
Zaine’s Giya, Ate Maia, was titled the Goddess of Illusions.
Kuya Dhan is Kuya Otto’s Giya, previously worshipped as God of Grandeur and Luxury.
Lastly, and the youngest of them all, Kuya Naash, - God of Catastrophe and Monty’s Giya.”
Triggs tried his best to absorb everything he heard. “Thanks, Lae. I’ll make sure to remember Them.”
“Sure. Just feel free to…”
CREEK - CRACK!!
A sudden noise of cracking branches was heard nearby.
“What was that?” Triggs uttered.
Zaine sprung up like an alerted soldier, ready to dash into the forest.
Lae halted Zaine. “Easy there, Zaine. We’re going together.”
Without further ado, moving together, the team went to the source of the noise.
A few meters into the woods, they found themselves in the area where Zaine left the corpse of the Sigbin last night.
Hiding in a bush, they were shocked to see 4 healthy Sigbins feasting on the innards of the dead Sigbin.
A bit disgusted, Triggs muttered, “So these are Sigbins, huh?”
“Guys, get ready. I’m going to hold them all at once. Please finish them right away,” Lae stated.
The young lady placed her palms on the forest soil. After a deep breath, she chanted,
“EXCRECENTIA!”
Roots and vines grew under the Sigbins. The plants slithered like snakes and entangled the Sigbins, rendering them immobile.
“Go now!” Lae signaled.
Monty suddenly jumped out of the bush. “Time to prove that you’re not useless, Naash.” He raised his right palm in the air. While chanting a word, he forcefully slammed the ground.
“TERRA HAUSTUS!”