The sun’s rays had set on Kali’s residence, and the mess an hour prior had been cleaned. The scent of adobo lingered around the kitchen, but Anito took no part of it and feasted on some java apples. It was an unusually recurring pattern for the family: Conflict, chaos, then normalcy.

Ryu didn’t expand further on what had happened that afternoon, nor did Anito say a word about it in Obet’s presence. Kali wondered how Ryu figured Anito out, but as he looked at Anito’s light wounds and the dining area’s chaos, he was quick to piece the situation together.

Obet liked the silence, so he didn’t bother asking Ryu about what happened to the television. Perhaps she’ll never tell, so he assumed that this was just the dry run for her teenage years.

“I’m done. Thanks for the food.” Ryu said, putting her plate and cutlery on the sink. As she was about to leave, Obet was quick to point out what she’d missed.

“Ryu. Wash your plate.”

Whether she did or not is open to interpretation.

It was eight in the evening, but the neighborhood lights were still open. The news of Dalisay’s capture had spread, and the people had become a bit more comfortable with evening chatters. Kali enjoyed playing games on his laptop inside the room, guessing words, and stopping animal cruelty while he was at it. He’s smart, but he still can’t figure out how a kangaroo ended up in that situation, but at least it was spared by spelling out the word “Choices”.

Anito, on the other hand, can’t stop bringing up the tree he climbed in their yard.

“Yeah! That tree was absolutely beautiful! If it wasn’t for Ryu hunting me down—"

“There are better ways for you to have discovered that tree, Anito. Definitely not that one.” Kali replied. “Anyway, are you sure about sleeping there tonight?”

“Yeah, and I’ve already prepared while you’re taking a bath!” Anito said, taking his blanket as he left the room. He peeked right back to ask Kali a favor.

“Also, don’t tell your uncle I took the couch pillows and the holiday lights.”

“I’m pretty sure he won’t mind,” Kali said.

The door shut closed, and Anito climbed the tree. Of all the things he hoped for, he wasn’t expecting a taste of his hometown’s beauty, a miniature of home. His safety inside the tree didn’t matter to Kali; surely no one is there to trespass just to harvest fruit in the middle of the night.

Alas, the kangaroo on Kali’s screen was relentlessly hanged. Proof that even smart people can be responsible for animal cruelty.

Meanwhile, Ryu noticed the lack of overlapping dialogue on the other side of the wall, so she asked her cousin about it.

“Is Anito gone?”

“If you think you can still talk to me after what you did to him, then forget it.” Kali grumpily replied.

“Kali, I stopped because he told me so. That idiot has a way for words—he definitely got that from you.”

“You shouldn’t call him that,” Kali said.

“How about I do anyway?” Ryu replied.

The banter abruptly stopped and was replaced with the growing sound of footsteps, culminating in Kali’s door opening to Ryu.

“Wanna go somewhere?”

Kali replied with a question. “Can I bring Anito with me?”

“I don't want that ghoul with us,” Ryu answered as she cracked her knuckles. “Besides, he won't like what he's about to see. That’s technically keeping him safe… right?”

Kali’s curiosity and her reassurance made it too hard to resist her offer, so they set off in the dark of night, but not without making a stop in front of a nearby basketball court, just two streets behind their home. The streetlights were blinking, but Ryu’s demeanor was that of carefree ignorance.

With two knocks on the door of an old, cozy wooden house, Ryu drew the attention of its residents. A middle-aged man appeared from behind the door, muscular and armed with garlic, salt, pepper, a dagger, and a few darts. No, it’s not barbecue night, but in the eyes of his wife, he’s a delicious man.

“Oh, Ryu, and…” The man said, trying to recognize Ryu’s companion. “Ah! Kali! You’ve grown a lot since the last time I saw you!”

As a form of respect, Kali did the ‘bless’ and politely responded to his compliment. “Yeah, it’s been a long time, Mister!”

p.s. Kali actually doesn’t know who he is.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

“Ninong Greg, are you ready?” Ryu asked the man. “Vito already started with his operations.”

“Yes, actually, I was just about to wait for you,” Greg replied. He returned his gaze to Kali and offered him his hospitality. “Ryu and I are gonna go now. If you want to talk or drink coffee with your Ninang Ysa, she’s there—"

Ryu interrupted his offer. “No. He’s going with us.”

Greg thought bringing another child to their operations was a weird choice, but the curator having accepted child volunteers wasn’t a new thing. He looked back at Ryu, Vito, and a few other volunteers’ ages, so he found reassurance rather quickly.

“Well, I suppose it’s that time of night again. Time to begin the hunt.”

They were members of Barrio Nilad’s curation team: A highly respected militia responsible for handling barrio-level paranormal threats. Many hunters had different ways of handling paranormals, so for the government funding the facility, genius matters. Just pure brawn won’t get them anywhere, and the abysmal amount of tactics developed by the volunteers themselves are a testament to that.

Paranormal hunting was divided into three disciplines, which the curation facility followed in their provincial memorandum. The first was the attack discipline, whose operations involved hunting wanted paranormals. It was Ryu’s pet discipline; one she was too familiar with. There’s something with ambush that satisfies her brain.

With a few cups of walking and a little sprinkle of intel, Kali and Ryu browsed through the papers: a picture of a kapre, just as they saw its topless body smoking a cigar on an acacia tree in front of them.

“So, they let the children do the hunting nowadays…” The kapre said, standing up as he towered over the two. “I thought they’ve moved on from me.”

“Shut up and turn yourself in,” Ryu replied. “You’ve dealt more than enough damage already.”

“I was just defending the elves that lived on my small plot of land that your scouters took away from us. I have no one else to defend now, but the curators are still eager to look for me.”

Kali was a bit confused. The papers told a different story. “Huh? But the facility says you’re wanted for mass murder...”

“Add one to that tally, he murdered my lungs.” Ryu replied as the tobacco smoke made its way into her airways.

“Those paranormals who chose to transform are those who reek of real danger, and to that, I took no part; even when I lost all of my friends to you.” The kapre said to Ryu.

“It’s no protocol for me to care, so it’s my fists against yours.”

The kapre spread his arms and challenged Ryu. “I’d like to see you try.”

She jumped at the gambit, only to realize it wasn’t bait, but a showcase of his resilience. His resistance was immaculate, and his build was pristine. Her knuckles barely wounded him, so she took out a dart and pierced his skin with all her strength. The kapre’s expressions started melting as his body gave in to a melancholic trance. Human medicine barely worked on paranormals, so it was quite a shock from the kapre himself.

“What did you do to me!?” The kapre asked angrily.

“Witch kid drops crap from her wheelbarrow, the facility benefits,” Ryu replied. “Now sleep. It may be your last good one for a while.”

Ryu stepped on his cigar, extinguishing the smoke. Her spectating cousin wasn’t one to sabotage her operations, so Kali looked at her in silence. Curiosity filled Kali’s mind about what truly was reality, but he decided to lay low; a smart decision made from the lack of information. Murder is a serious allegation, after all.

A few minutes of carrying and one dump truck later, they marched onward to the next discipline: Defense, whose operations involve ongoing paranormal activity. Ryu had completed her task, so she led Kali to someone who was familiar with the job. They peeked out of a corner wall to an interesting sight: A lit house with a transformed ghoul on the roof, two frightened hunter interns, and a teenager in a beanie and an arm sling with the knack to kick ass.

“You see Vito and the guys over there?” Ryu asked Kali.

“The one with the arm sling?” Kali replied.

“His pet discipline is defense,” Ryu answered. “I heard he got that fracture after kicking one too many ghouls in the trampoline park.”

They listened to Vito’s commands to his team.

“You two. Make sure to sling me higher. We’re gaming after this catch.” Vito said, smirking.

“Haha, Bitoy! Now we’re talking!” One of the team members replied. His nickname for Vito was uncalled for and was more than enough to piss the teenager off.

“SHUT UP! ONLY MY LOLA GETS TO CALL ME THAT!” Vito exclaimed.

The transformed ghoul’s fangs pierced through the rusting rooftops. From the ground, it wasn’t clear what the ghoul transformed into, but as Vito got tossed into the air, he witnessed her upper half on her way to kill a mother and her children, with her lower half nowhere to be found.

“A manananggal, huh?” Vito thought.

He kicked the monster in the face in a terrifying display of strength.

“With enough practice, even my hooves can become my hands.”

After a quick flinch, the monster replied, holding on to her dislocated jawline.

“Your horse metaphor fits you, human.” She snapped her jawline back into position. ”But you shouldn’t be messing with my dinner.”

The ghoul knew her priorities. She knew that the taste of his hunter’s liver was nothing compared to that of an unborn child. With the hole she burrowed through the roof just behind her, her torso jumped down, and the screams of the mother got even louder.

“Eh!? She didn’t even think about eating my liver—am I that expired!?” Vito complained as he rushed down the damaged roof. “Hey! I’m not done beating you up, woman!”

It then became uncannily silent until Vito turned up with a powerful kick that launched the manananggal up high in the air. She came crashing down beside Vito’s teammates, breaking her head. The other teammates were more than terrified of her deformed face. Vito, who remained unscathed, climbed back up and sent his next orders.

“Lawrence, evacuate the residents. Dimple, search for that ghoul’s lower half. I’ll go take care of her.”

“R—right!” They both replied as they scattered.

Meanwhile, Vito took notice of Kali and Ryu from a distance. “Hey, emo freak. Is he your boyfriend?”

“Shut up, horse. We’re cousins.” She replied.

“Bummer,” Vito said without thinking. “You guys wanna stay late? I bought a new console recently!”

“Heh. Spoiled Curator’s boy.” Ryu mocked Vito, who was laughing at her response.

“Hahaha! As if I had any other choice.” He said, making his way down as he grabbed the unconscious manananggal on her hair. “We’re still on defense patrol, so I’ll be back after I turn this bastard in,” Vito added as he joyfully walked away.

However, Ryu’s lips pointed opposite to where he was going. “Idiot. The dump truck’s that way.”

Kali was taken aback at how casually they conversed after the debacle, so he couldn’t help but think they got used to this kind of environment from the paranormals. He quietly observed everything he’d seen so far, but his mind made space for one more question.

“…If this was how they do it for the first two disciplines, then what about the third?”