Narration: Riz

All I can hear at this moment is the constant droning of my bathroom fluorescent light bulb, as I dump the red dust into the toilet bowl and flush it down. Gotta get rid of this. Too many painful memories are caused by this accursed substance. The drug wars were years ago, but it felt like yesterday.

Closing my eyes, I see myself in my werehorse form porting quickly to dodge the gunfire and sorcerous projectiles of the aswang. Whether they be vampire, ghoul, werebeast, or witch, an aswang is an aswang as long as they mean harm to the innocent. I see myself and my fellow tikbalang tribesmen with gallant speed smite the aswang with our blades and clubs. Many of them fell before us. I remember stealing their coin, while some trackers among my group stole important intel from their safes. Our actions helped cripple their operations and many of their dens burned under the night skies.

In another scene I see myself trying to cradle a young woman who is slowly bleeding to death. Surrounding me was a massacre of dead humans and nonhumans in the fighting. I look down at the woman's brown eyes that slowly faded into lifelessness. The scene shifts into the day the federal authorities came to Cebu to violently put down a riot protesting the government initiative to tear down multiple neighborhoods on behalf of Pinnacle for their construction projects. Swarms of people ran for their lives, while a few unfortunate were trampled. The "pulis" was accompanied by a squadron of drones that were sleek as they were deadly. Mostly triangular or rectangular in shape, they shot non-lethal rounds at the protestors, but many ended up badly wounded in the process. There were also androids that restrained or suppressed the protestors and rioters with no mercy. Anti-crowd control items were deployed that repelled the larger crowd. Some emitted sounds that cause people to vomit or lose their bowels.

The last scene I remember is myself and my tatay. I looked at him with mutual contempt. He is twice my size if we were both in our true form. He wore traditional garb and had multiple weapon sheaths as expected of any war captain of the tribe. I see the other tikbalang as well who look on at this sight. Tatay points to the exit and I only walked away without a second thought.

I sigh as I hear footsteps. I hear Tito. Great, a lecture I presume. Known as Tito Ricar, my uncle, he was a fellow tikbalang that was not interested in the affairs of the tribe as he was more inclined to work on vehicles and gadgets for his own curiosity. He has the look of any other middle-aged Pinoy. A bit portly in physique, he has a towel with oil stains wrapped around his neck.

Not looking back, I can detect disappointment in his tone. “We could have sold that coke instead.”

I shake my head. “No. Never.”

He crossed his arms. “At this point, mas maayo ibaligya nalang kaysa kontrahon ang mga aswang.”

I turn to him. “Og pasagdan nalang na madaot ang ATONG kataw-han? Not happening.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Dammit. First you play Robin Hood, playing dangerous games with criminals and the rich. Unya karon, gusto ka mag yinigilante kontra sa mga wakwak? Samtang gabista ang imong ig-agaw dinhi? You definitely can’t afford to have both the authorities and syndicates breathing down your neck at the same time.” I stay silent.

“I don’t understand you sometimes,” Tito said as he walked closer. “Riz, at least try not to do something reckless while your cousin is here, okay? Let our brothers handle them.”

I neigh in a way only human forms can. “It might be too late by then. The Sinulog parade is happening soon. What if they are planning something big, Tito? We have no idea where they operate. And as soon we come, they disappear.”

Tito stands his ground. “Kung adunay mahitabo, make sure she is safe. Bahala’g kana lang jud.”

I reluctantly nod. “Sige, I will try to let her enjoy her time here.”

“Do that and I will let you drive, Lola Maria.” He points to the jeepney outside with his lip. It’s a Pinoy thing to point that way.

“That old pile of junk,” I raise a brow.

He lightly taps my arm. “Bugok, she’s the finest Jeepney that has ever existed. You’ll see once I fix her up.”

I smirk. “Bahala ka dira.”

Maria, eh? As much as I hate to admit it, Maria is kinda badass. Tito told me, she could outrun even pimped out hot rods, despite being a Jeepney. I mean she looks a hunk of stupid, over decorated junk. But Tito proved to me once or twice not to underestimate campy stuff.

I walk out of the bathroom only to be jumped and surprised by Reyna, my cousin. She has her signature moon necklace on her. People could also recognize Reyna easily by her heterochromia. One eye was blue. The other gray. She’s also pretty badass herself. She graduated in the top of her class in old America and is a champion in multiple women’s sports as well as intellectual competitions. She has a large circle of friends. Someone that is far more successful in life than me. But I feel blessed that she is the only one in my extended family that is willing to give me the time of day, aside from Tito.

She shouted, “Viva, Pit Senyor!”

“Not bad. Perhaps, soon you will be fluent in Tagalog or even Cebuano in no time,” I smiled.

She giggles, “Nah, not even close. I feel like I am a bit too American, not that it is bad, of course. But you know, authenticity is important.”

I shrug. “Never too late, Rey. Once Pinay, always Pinay.”

She smiles brightly. “Salaamat,” She giggles again. “Was that okay?”

I nod back. “Yes, yes! See you are well on your way. I hope my home isn’t too poor for you. Tito Ricar and I are getting by, but times are hard.”

She leans on me. “Riz, you know I don’t care about any of that.”

“I know your family thought I looked like a panhandling pulubi,” I replied.

She groans. “C’mon, don’t be like them. I came because I love my home. My real home. America was...fine, but there is something magical about this place, the people, the culture.”

I raise a brow. “Really? Having lived here all my life, things seems to be dull here.”

“Regardless if that is true or not, my roots are here,” she shrugs. “Won’t have it any other way.”

“Even with all the disappearances going on,” I say as I sit on the couch.

She sits down too. “The bad exists, but so does the good. Everything rights itself eventually.”

I smile while I reach for the remote to turn on the TV. “Always with optimism. C’mon what do you want to watch?”

Reyna sits cross-legged on the couch. “How about a corny soap opera?”

I snort, “We have plenty of those.”

Man, do I hate watching them. But it’s fun when she and I make fun of the crazy editing in those shows. Like seriously, you don’t need to zoom in every damn time just to show how shocked a character is. Nakakatawa! I'm looking at you Probinsyano! Every damn episode. Seriously! Heh...