Now, Manila

Eron plopped down in the chair.

He was beyond exhaustion.

It was the kind that drove itself into the bone.

He had superhuman stamina, but even that had limits.

The physical drain was accompanied by the mental and emotional.

Too much death.

Years of it.

“You look awful,” Cherry said with concern.

He couldn’t tell if it was genuine or part of her act.

“I was under the impression that you didn’t really get tired.”

“That was true once,” Eron said.

He had been tireless with the sun’s energy flowing through his veins.

He had been relentless.

Now…

“The fog takes it out of me… might have something to do with the ghosts of my relatives beating me up. Oh… and the fact that I’m trying to keep people alive, yet they don’t listen and get murdered by assholes that suddenly show up out of nowhere.”

“What are you talking about?” Cherry beautiful face twisted in confusion.

Heavy steps stomped down the stairs.

Eron glanced at the door near the bar. “I’d rather not tell the story twice, so…” he shrugged.

Madalena threw the door open with a loud crash, knocking it off its hinges.“What the hell? Maricel is dead? And you let her murderers go to one of our safe houses!” she snapped.

“Lilah told you?” Eron said. “I thought she’d go straight to bed. Redoing that ward took a lot out of her. More than I’ve seen before.”

“They were friends. Which safe house?” Madalena demanded.

Eron regarded his fuming cousin for a moment. “They were in bad shape. I doubt they made it to the safe house.”

“I’d like to make sure of that.”

“I need you to keep this place safe.”

“You’re here.”

Eron sighed. “I need to sleep… for longer than usual.”

Madalena’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”

“I’m just tired, that’s all.”

“You don’t get tired.”

“That’s what I said,” Cherry chimed in.

Madalena glared daggers at the impossibly beautiful woman.

Cherry threw her hands up and backed away to the bar. “Drinks? I’ve been getting plenty of practice. Not much else to do around here. No? Okay, I’ll make myself one anyways.”

“You don’t even need to drink, bloodsucker,” Madalena spat.

“I can still appreciate the taste,” Cherry shrugged.

“Calm down, Madalena,” Eron said. “You going out there might be just what the fog wants.”

“Are you fucking serious with this? The fog thinks now?” Madalena moved past Eron, but he grabbed her arm.

The two superhumanly strong cousins struggled for a moment, but Eron was stronger.

“Fine, I’ll let you explain,” Madalena huffed as she sat down on the other side of the restaurant table.

“You haven’t… encountered our relatives—”

“That’s because you won’t let me try.”

“Too dangerous. You’d end up just like them, but we’ve been over this. I believe that a part of them are still there, but they’re being controlled by something.”

“My Lolo—”

“Says he doesn’t want to kick my ass, while he’s kicking my ass.”

“Yeah, but if they’re still mostly them then maybe there’s a way to free them,” Madalena pleaded.

“You’re the one that saw them die,” Eron patted his cousin’s arm, “whatever this is… it’s not truly them. Not really. The fog captured their essence, soul, whatever and is using them.”

“And you’re going to say that it wants to do the same to us,” Madalena said.

Eron shrugged. “Were you attacked by the shades when you went to the megamall?”

“No.”

“Edwin, Maricel and the others managed to get a few streets down to the Jollibee without being attacked. Those people, the murderers, I think they came from outside the fog. I can’t see them surviving inside the city this whole time without the protection of the wards.”

“So, maybe they had another way.”

“It didn’t look like it. They were injured, like they had been in a bunch of fights. I was thinking that the fog let them in and herded them towards the kids.”

“Why though?”

“To create enough chaos that led to the wards at the safe house being breached. It’s watched me going to each safe house on a fairly regular schedule. It knew that I was due and the outsiders gave it an opportunity.”

“That’s a stretch,” Madalena said.

“Yeah… or it wanted conflict between me and the assholes. The next time me and Lilah went to recharge the wards… well anything can happen in a battle.”

“I get it. Lilah takes a stray shot and no more wards. Let’s say you’re right and the fog has a brain. What do we do about it?”

“We wait. Help is on the way. Just have to hold on long enough.”

Madalena made a disgusted noise and shot up out of her chair. “Fine, while you wait I’m going to get payback for Maricel.”

“Why bother? Even if those assholes made it through the fog the wards won’t last forever. I just won’t take Lilah to that safe house to recharge them.”

“But we’ll lose the safe house,” Madalena scowled down at Eron.

“We have enough.”

Madalena appeared to be torn with indecision for a brief moment before she started to move toward the restaurant’s front doors.

It was that exact moment that Dr. Rufo came rushing down the stairs. He paused at the doorway and eyed the broken door with confusion.

“Would you like a drink, doctor?” Cherry held a shaker in her delicate hands.

“Er… no… no thank you.” Dr. Rufo edged against the wall as he kept his back away from Cherry until he was able to hurry over to Eron’s table.

“What’s wrong?” Madalena was alarmed by the look on the doctor’s face.

“Lilah?”

“Yes!” Dr. Rufo said.

Eron wasn’t surprised. He had sensed something was wrong when Lilah had redone the wards at his grandparents’ house. It had taken more out of her than previous times and she had been half-conscious on the entire trip back.

“What do you mean?” Madalena was in the doctor’s face in a flash.

Eron pulled her back forcefully. “Doc?”

The doctor looked frazzled, near to panic. “She has a fever. A really bad one. I was just checking on her and I noticed she was sweating. Checked her temp… 104. I know, I know. I checked her when you first brought her back and there was nothing wrong with her that I could see.”

“Give her medicine,” Madalena said.

“I already did. Plus ice. We just need to bring her temp down before it rises. She…”

“What is it, doc?” Eron could see that the older man was struggling to get the words out.

“I think she was delirious. Muttering words that… that… frightened me. As in I felt a legitimate physical reaction to said words.”

“Magic. That’s not good. She might accidentally cast a spell—” Eron said.

“Or shut one down,” Madalena said.

Their eyes darted to the wards on the walls.

To their collective relief they were still glowing.

“Um… she’s asking for you,” Dr. Rufo said.

Eron said. “I thought you said she was delirious?”

“Apparently not entirely,” Dr. Rufo said with a deflated shrug.

Eron rushed up the stairs. Madalena on his heels. The doctor trailed behind, but he didn’t want to be alone with Cherry under any circumstances so he moved faster than he had in years.

Two floors up, they rushed into the apartment, straight to Lilah’s bedside.

“Hey,” Eron said softly, “are you okay? Do you need me to do anything?”

“I can’t— it’s pushing— too much—”

Lilah was drenched in sweat despite the ice pack on her forehead.

Eron felt the heat in Lilah’s body through her hand. She was frighteningly warm.

“I’m trying to hold it back,” Lilah grimaced, “but I can’t… please, save them before it’s too late.”

“Save who?” Madalena hovered over Eron’s shoulder.

“Everyone… I can’t keep it up… they’re going to fail.”

Eron muffled a curse. “You’re connected to your sigils aren’t you? Keeping them active drains you of mana?”

Lilah nodded then scrunched her face and made a pained noise.

“How many people are in our furthest safe house?” Eron said.

“The hotel on National Highway to the south?” Madalena said.

“Yeah.”

“Ten from the last time you checked.”

“That’s what I thought,” Eron thought quickly. The wards couldn’t go down. Everyone they’d worked hard to keep safe would die and be subsumed by the fog. Lilah couldn’t handle the drain anymore. He had suspected something like that was happening with her magic. He should’ve clarified it with her long before this moment. Now they were on the verge of disaster. “Madalena, get the truck ready.”

“What? How? It doesn’t run anymore. Not since the fog…”

“I left chains in the back. Secure them to the frame. I’ll pull… and tell Cherry I’m going to need her to come along,” Eron called after Madalena as she rushed out of the room. “Lilah, I’m sorry. I wish I didn’t have to ask you this, but can you hold on for fifteen more minutes.”

Lilah gave him a pained nod.

“What’s going on?” Dr. Rufo said.

Eron ignored him. “When you can’t hold it any longer, do you think you can pick which wards you drop?”

“I— I think so,” Lilah said weakly.

“Okay, that’s good. I think you’ll get better if we can reduce the number of sigils you have to maintain. Cut your connection to the sigils at the hotel to the south on the national highway. Give us fifteen minutes… unless you can’t hold it anymore. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Lilah nodded.

“Don’t worry about the people. We’ll bring them here,”Eron patted her arm. He exited Lilah’s room with Dr. Rufo chasing after him.

“What am I supposed to do?” Dr. Rufo demanded.

“Just do your best to keep her fever down. I’m not sure what’s going on, but at a guess the fever is a manifestation of the drain on her mana. It appears that maintaining her wards are an active drain, not passive. Do you understand?” Eron said.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“Yes, yes, I think so.”

“The fog must be pushing harder against Lilah’s wards, which in turn is draining more of her mana. If she’s already close to her limit then this must be the result.”

“What happens if her uh, mana, runs out?”

“I had thought a mage would only experience terrible fatigue when that happened, but now… I can only guess that the active nature of the wards creates a direct connection,” Eron said.

“I’ll do what I can here,” Dr. Rufo said.

“Good man… try to get Lilah to hold on for as long as possible. Fifteen minutes to pull the truck down there and get everyone loaded. I’m not going to worry about supplies and gear. We’ve got plenty here to absorb ten more people. However, if it looks like her life is in danger… make her sever the link.”

“I understand… good luck.”

Eron left Dr. Rufo at the apartment’s front door and rushed down the stairs back into the ground floor restaurant.

“So… I’m going outside now, am I?” Cherry frowned.

“Emergency situation,” Eron said. “Part of our agreement.”

“Yes… I remember, but I’m rather concerned about what might happen if I need to defend myself.”

“Madalena and me will be doing the defending. You just need to drive.”

“But… what if?”

“Use your best judgment. I promise not to hold what I might see against you.”

“You might not, but can you say the same for the others.”

Eron didn’t have an easy reply for that.

He rushed to the back of the restaurant and the alley that he had turned into a makeshift garage.

Cherry followed him with a sigh.

Madalena had the front end of the pickup truck balanced on her shoulder while she affixed the chains to its undercarriage.

“I don’t know how I feel about this,” Cherry said. “It looks like you intend to pull the truck.”

“That’s exactly what I’m going to do. You’ll drive and Madalena will keep the shades off our backs,” Eron said.

“I can drive if you’d rather stand in the back,” Madalena glowered at Cherry.

“No, I don’t think so. It’s not night time yet, which means that I’m not at my strongest,” Cherry said lightly.

“How can you tell with all this fog?” Madalena frowned.

The ever present misty gray gloom surrounded the street on the other side of the makeshift fence Eron had placed at the alley opening. The glowing sigils on the walls kept the fog back, but now he didn’t know if he could trust them completely.

“A girl just knows,” Cherry winked.

Eron picked the end of the chain up off the ground. “C’mon. We don’t have time to waste.”

----------------------------------------

Now, Northern Philippines

“It’s your call,” Cal said.

“We don’t have enough information on the types of aswangs. I don’t like going in blind,” Demi said.

“Did this datu give you that intel?” Sgt. Butcher said.

“He didn’t. I understand you’ve done some research on the potential monsters we might run into. I can personally cover the intelligence gap.”

“You get involved and we don’t get the gains we need,” Sgt. Butcher said.

“I can try to hold back. Keep my involvement limited to death prevention,” Cal grunted unhappily.

“Danger and struggle is the point. You remove the possibility of death and we don’t gain enough. I appreciate your concerns, Cruces, but everyone on this mission knows and accepts the risks,” Demi said.

Sgt. Butcher turned to Demi. “Those books on Philippine mythology you brought covered a wide range of aswang types. We all read through them on the flight over. I think we can do this.”

“Books are a decent starting point, but myths don’t necessarily translate one to one to our reality,” Cal said.

“You can gather the intel,” Demi said. “The datu didn’t give you the aswangs location, right?”

Cal nodded.

“This place is surrounded in thick rain forests. It’s a moot point if you can’t find them quickly,” Demi said.

“True. I don’t want to waste time here. I want to get to Manila as soon as possible,” Cal said.

“Why don’t we just take the vehicles we need?” Sgt. Butcher shrugged. “We can all pitch in with Universal Points to cover the cost.”

“This potential Quest, if we accept, will be worth it if we succeed without heavy casualties and we’ll need to gain as much strength as possible for the Manila Quest,” Demi said. She regarded Cal. “You can get the intel, can’t you? Find out where this aswang village is hidden in the forest? Discover what exactly we’re up against?”

“The datu said that the aswangs attack a town called Magsaysay to the south in Naguilian, which I assume is the larger city or county. He spoke the truth as he understood it.” Cal considered it for a moment. “Though, he wasn’t entirely honest. There’s another that might just have all the intel that we need.”

“Okay, that’s great. Why don’t we talk to this person?” Demi said.

“She’s a prisoner in a church basement,” Cal said flatly.

“What the fuck? That doesn’t sound ominous at all,” Sgt. Butcher snorted.

“Why in a church basement?” Demi said.

“I have a good idea,” Cal shrugged. “Your call. I was thinking of seeing her anyways and depending on what I found, setting her free.”

“The Quest is a go, pending on the quality of the intel you gain,” Demi said.

“My rangers are ready either way,” Sgt. Butcher said.

“We’ll need to gather pure, unprocessed salt,” Demi said.

“Good thing the datu gave us permission to purchase supplies in the city,” Cal said.

“Gonna be gouged on the pricing,” Sgt. Butcher said.

“Tell them it’s for the aswangs. Don’t overpay. We don’t know if salt even does anything. I’ll know more after I talk to the girl. I’ll get the salt we need if it turns out to be useful.”

Cal stepped out into the street and made his way to the church.

The eyes the datu had set to watch him saw nothing. He blinded them with his telepathy.

The sun was rising over the mountains to the east.

If things went well they could assault the aswang village during the day time. Assuming these ones were just like their mythological counterparts meant they were stripped of much of their supernatural power during the day.

The old church dated back to Spanish colonial days.

It looked every bit its age, despite the obvious renovations over the years.

A scowl crossed Cal’s face.

He kept his telepathic walls up, but he could still hear the whispered thoughts of the young woman in the church basement. He hoped that she hadn’t been abused.

There would be violent complications if she had.

----------------------------------------

Ginessa sat in her cage.

Thin streams of sunlight pierced the darkness of the basement from a small, cracked window set against the ceiling high on the wall.

She tried to alleviate the cramping in her muscles by relaxing and stretching, but the iron shackles connecting her wrists to her ankles made it difficult to avoid further aggravating her raw skin.

Each day was the same as the last.

The nights were much better, especially when her captors fed her.

Unbidden thoughts going back to her last meal had her reflexively lick her lips.

A normal-length human tongue found nothing but dry, cracked lips.

The flaky bits of blood around her mouth and chin were too far to reach. Not that they provided much sustenance.

Footsteps on the floor boards overhead shook dust and debris loose.

She flinched back into the bars of her cage.

Mass wasn’t on the schedule for hours yet.

That meant that someone was coming for her.

Fear found a home in her heart. It beat rapidly in her chest. She was closer to any other normal human during the day.

The last person the spoke to her had been Cristo and the soldier had been surprisingly kind. In as much as he hadn’t struck her or sprayed her with holy water and salt like the priest or any of the other nameless fighters that periodically tormented her.

The steps leisurely made their way toward Ginessa’s location.

Her dread grew with each one.

The door opened with a loud creak.

Curiously, the light stayed off as the steps continued down the rickety, wooden stairs.

There was a loud sound.

Wood breaking.

A soft curse, but no heavy thud of a person falling down to the basement floor like she expected.

She didn’t have her supernatural senses during the day so she couldn’t see anything until a man appeared in the thin sliver of sunlight.

He looked Filipino. Short, black hair, handsome face, clean-shaven, which lent him an air of youthfulness. Though his dark eyes suggest otherwise. Strong with a thick, muscular neck, broad shoulders, well-defined muscles in his chest and arms, easily seen through the light t-shirt. Cargo pants didn’t conceal the muscles of his thighs.

She once had older cousins that boxed and wrestled.

This man reminded him of them.

“What do you want?” she said warily.

The man frowned slightly. Then shook his head. “Not what I was expecting to see.”

A crease wrinkled Ginessa’s brow. She wasn’t in the sunlight like the man. How could he see her?

“I take it you are an aswang?”

She flinched.

“Correction, an Aswang… as in it is your Class?” the man waited several heartbeats in silence. She didn’t know how to reply. She was just like a normal human at the moment. Her supernatural senses were dulled, yet the man radiated danger, even if he appeared to be concealing his nature. “Look… I can pretty much tell that you aren’t an evil spirit, creature, thing,” he sighed. “I’m going to be upfront with you. I’ve pretty much decided that I’m going to get you out of this cage whether you provide me useful answers or not. So… would you be willing to answer a few?”

She nodded hesitantly.

The man tapped one of the many crude, wooden crucifixes that adorned the outside of the cage. “Number one, I guess, is do these things actually work?”

For some reason she felt like she could trust him.

“No, not really.”

“What about that stuff?” the man pointed to the salt lining the boundary of the cage.

“That works.”

“Good to know,” the man said lightly as he wiped the salt clear of the ground in front of the cage door.

“You’ll really set me free?” She held the spark of hope for the first time in months. Did she dare believe?

The man grabbed the thick padlock in one hand and twisted it. The metal squealed as it broke. He undid the chain and pulled the cage door open. He did everything slowly and deliberately as if she were a skittish animal that he was trying not to spook.

Watching strength sufficient to break the thick lock so effortlessly wasn’t comforting and she instinctively drew away.

“I promise not to hurt you,” the man held his hands up, “may I?” he gestured at her shackles.

She nodded after a moment and held deathly still as the man slowly reached into the cage.

He broke her shackles then stepped back to give her plenty of space.

She stretched her arms and legs before cautiously crawling out of the cage. Her eyes stayed on the man as he stood inside the thin shaft of sunlight, like he somehow knew that she’d panic if she couldn’t see him hidden in the darkness.

She felt like a tiny mouse in front of tiger. Which was why she was surprised to notice that the man wasn’t that tall. In fact she was actually a few inches taller than him.

The man cleared his throat. “So, your Class?”

“Yeah, it’s Aswang. Specifically, Aswang: Mandurugo.”

“Right, that’s the one with unearthly beauty, charm and a long, needle-tipped tongue for bloodsucking,” the man nodded. “You don’t look it right now. I mean, you’re pretty, but your tongue looks normal human-sized and you’re only giving off a tiny amount of the supernatural vibe.”

“I’m basically just like any other normal person during the day. The other stuff happens at night,” she said bitterly. Even she didn’t know which part she disliked more.

“Next question then. Do you know anything about the other Aswangs in Naguilian?”

She nodded hesitantly.

“And would you say that you’re part of their group?”

The man spoke lightly, but she sensed danger.

“Yes… no… I mean I was, but not by choice. After I was turned into this,” she gestured at herself, “I didn’t have a lot of options. I can’t survive without blood.”

“How much do you need daily? Human? Animal? Both?”

“Both are fine, but if it’s animal then I need more. Plus human—,” she hesitated, “is just better,” she sighed.

“I doubt they gave you human blood down here, so that means animal. So, you should be pretty hungry, but I’m not getting that impression from looking at you.”

“The hunger is mostly gone during the day, which makes it harder when the sun sets if I haven’t been drinking regularly,” she warned the man, but he appeared unconcerned.

“I know a guy, a Vampire and he can control himself just fine as long as he’s got blood,” the man shrugged. “There’s a hospital in town. I can get you some blood.”

“They won’t just hand it over. They’ll kill me once they find out I’m free.” She came to a sudden realization. “They’ll kill you!”

“No, they won’t. I have an arrangement with the datu. I’ve decided that you might be critical to it… depending on what you can tell me. In the interest of full disclosure. My associates and I have agreed to deal with the Aswangs attacking the people in Naguilian.”

“Why? They’ll kill you!”

“Not likely… especially if you provide good information. Like where they’re located? Numbers? Composition? Strengths and weaknesses?”

“Why would I do that? They’ll kill me if I betray them. While the people in the city will kill me just for existing.”

“Because I have a deal to offer you. Help us out and you can become part of the team. Half of us have worked with or know about the Vampire I mentioned earlier, so you won’t be all that weird to them. Just swear not to drink any of our blood and we’re good.”

“But I can’t not drink blood,” she said. She wanted to take the offer. It sounded like the best chance she had since she had been changed. She couldn’t live with a human population that feared her and she didn’t want to live with the other Aswangs since they had fully embraced their Class natures.

“I told you… I’ll get you blood from the hospital. There are probably a bunch of other hospitals and clinics on the way to Manila. Plenty of opportunities to keep your blood supply up. You can drink animal blood in the worst case scenario.”

“Promise?”

“To the best of my ability,” the man said as he held out a hand.

She stared at it for a long moment before reaching out.

The man’s hand was warm, comforting. He grasped her hand firmly, but gently as they shook.

“Great! You can tell me all about all the other Aswang classes. I skimmed this book, but the info you have is actual, real life stuff. Let’s go. We’ll get you cleaned up and those wounds tended to, plus I owe you some blood bags.”

“The priest—” Ginessa said in alarm.

The man’s face darkened for an instant. “No one will notice you’re free until we’re gone and after we take care of the Aswangs no one will be in a position to object over your continued freedom.”

“I don’t understand why you’re trusting me just like that,” Ginessa said.

“I’m pretty good at reading people.”

“A Skill or magic?”

“Neither.”

Ginessa stared at the man’s broad shoulders as he walked up the stairs.

“Watch out for the broken one. I forget my weight sometimes, plus the wood is old and half-rotted.”

Trust.

Something about him inspired it even though he gave off an aura of danger.

“My name is Ginessa and thank you for freeing me.”

“You’re welcome, but it wasn’t an act of charity. I expect you to help us achieve our goals while I can offer the same to you, so long as your goals aren’t evil,” the man said lightly. “You wouldn’t have any cursing abilities, do you?”

“No…”

“Well… in that case, my name is Cal,” the man grinned as he turned around and held the door open for her as they ascended into the church, “er… being in a church won’t cause you to burst into flames, right? I had assumed you’d be fine since you’ve been down in the basement for awhile.”

“It’s uncomfortable, but no, I won’t burst into flames,” Ginessa said.

“Maybe it’s a mark against the priest that runs this place. Like, it’d be different if the priest was good and true,” Cal shrugged.

“The priest here is definitely not a good one,” Ginessa repressed a shiver at the unpleasant memories that sprang up unbidden.

A look of sadness and anger flashed across the man, Cal’s face. “You don’t have anything to worry about from him and the rest. Not anymore,” he said. “I don’t know about revenge. I can’t say I’d necessarily help you with that. Though it is tempting, maybe at a future date.”

Ginessa nodded. She hadn’t even thought of that. She just wanted to get away. Be free and safe.

Was that really possibly in this world?

She followed Cal out into the sun-drenched street with more hope than she’d had in a long time.