Monsterstruck

CHAPTER XVII: Secrets

         “I don’t think I can do this anymore mom. I really miss you. I don’t know what s**t I’ve done to deserve a fate like this.” Vygnet whimpered behind the bars.

        Adela caressed the bars as if to suggest a response to her daughter.

      “I hate being a yoma. I can’t have the life I want. I can’t have the man I love. I kill innocent people to feed my needs and it’s hard to resist that. Most of all, I hate those tough times where I have nobody by my side, of course Craig is busy, and he don’t know anything about my yomanity.  Verona is acting like she cares for me where in fact she doesn’t. Sometimes, it’s hard to deal with her.  She kept on drumming to me that maybe my real mom has some reason why she left me in an orphanage. Strange as it seems, but it felt like she knows something about my real mom.”

         Hearing that, Adela burst to tears and started to wail.

        “Mom, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I couldn’t care less about my real mom. I just want to find out why she did that to me. And I keep saying to myself that when that woman shows up to me one day to take me back and asks for forgiveness, I won’t forgive her.  You’re my only mother I had known, and I’ll always choose you to be my mom even afterlife. I love you mom, please come back to me.” Vygnet said heartily as she stroked her mom’s hands affectionately.

         Abruptly, Adela opened her mouth and tried to say something but snapped it shut.

          “What is it mom?” Vygnet pleaded.                                                  

        “A….ate…V…” Adela stuttered and resumed to her wailing fit.

        “You mean Verona? Oh, she’s not here and it seems like she doesn’t mind. Does she visit you frequently?”

         Adela kept repeating the word “A…ate V….”                                                                                                                                       

        “Mom. Okay I’m going to call her to visit you here.”                                                                                                                                       

          “A...te...Ver…ona… is….”

       “What Mom? What about Tita Verona?” Vygnet asked, mystified.

      Then, Adela laughed out loud and shook her head rigorously.

       Waves of torture tugged at Vygnet’s insides everytime she’d see her mom in this very state of insanity. But flood of doubts wafted in her cloudy mind when she heard the wrenched name of Verona on her mom’s wailing.

        She felt like her aunt was keeping a huge secret from her. She was used to her dark and stealth deeds, but this was the very first time that she sensed that something was hidden in the depths of her aunt’s scorned life. Whatever it was, Vygnet didn’t have any idea.

        For the very first time, Vygnet felt like something in her belonged to someone who’d been longing for someone that got away.

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        Mrs. Amarillo’s eyes were trained on TV. Vylet could tell the muted horror on her mom’s face upon seeing those corpses being recovered.  The reporter went on nailing down the details of those dead bodies, on how they were found at the dark corner of the street, and what sent chills down to her spine was the way their body was contorted; like someone  mutilated them and rip their chests off. She even heard the reporter’s low chuckle while interviewing those elder townspeople who suspected that a monster must had been lurking around.

         What a disgrace to that reporter. She must respect people’s opinion how silly it may sound. But then, it was not silly for they were right! Her kind did this again. Vylet clenched her teeth and clawed her nails. Since when was the last time she preyed on one?  She had to fight off the demon in her goading her every waking moment to kill humans. With her utmost efforts, she tried to abstain by indulging on meat of animals. Although that didn’t fully satisfy her, but she had to restrict herself.

        Suddenly, her mom’s remark yanked her away from her reveries.

        “Eww. Now I lost an appetite for our dinner,” Her mom quipped, wrinkling her nose.

        “I wonder what the heck those cops do.” Vylet piped sarcastically as she set the table.

        “I agree. This needs to be taken seriously. This wasn’t the first time! Seems like murder toll on the rise. They had to work their asses off now and find the murderer!”

        Her words burned her like she was being toast in the deepest pit of hell.

         If only you knew mom

         Vylet’s hands suddenly went clammy.

        “From now on Vylet, I’m imposing a curfew. You should be at home by seven pm. I’m sorry that killing spree is giving me creeps. I want you to be secured.” Mrs. Marcia said deliberately.

       "But Mom!” She yelped.

        “No but’s. Just follow my rules. Besides being in the outside doesn’t have to do with your job as a home-based writer, right? Better yet, stay indoors no longer than six thirty pm.” She said giving her a stern look.

        “What about hanging out with my friends? “

        “Well, you could hang out with them in the morning. That‘s what you usually do right? So, this won’t change anything.”

        “Err…” 

        The Bora invitation suddenly flickered in her mind. Her hopes drooped when she thought of ditching it because of the curfew. Her mom wouldn’t want her outside no longer than six thirty pm. So, the Bora invitation of Craig didn’t seem to fit in her awful situation right now.

        “I know you’ll go sulking. But I don’t care I just want to secure your safety Vylet. You have seen and heard that news across the TV right? I’m sorry hun, but I can’t afford to lose another loved one again.” Mrs. Marcia said laced with emotions.

              This struck her; the sadness in her mom’s eyes cut her deeply. She couldn’t afford to lose her mom either. Yes, she understood that she was just concerned about her.  Nightlife, over.

        “Okay,”

        “Dinner is ready.” Vylet muttered glumly.

        That night, Vylet tossed and rolled in her bed. She dreamt of a woman who was claiming to be her real mom, goading her to kill the man who owns this crescent shaped amulet.  The woman in her dreams though she couldn’t clearly see her face, kept calling her name in a motherly voice. But Vylet condemned her order and ran fast as she could. She stumbled and found herself in the greenery of Heinville’s and fell over the dead body of Mr. Davis.  With that, she was frozen in tracks and a man with this crescent shaped amulet who looked familiar to her, with his tall, and spiky hair, and its deep brown eyes bore darkly at her.

        “You’ve killed my father! You’ve killed him!!!!!” He roared and held his amulet.

        “No… Craig… I didn’t kill him…….” Vylet struggled to speak as the luminous glow of the amulet almost made her winced in pain.

        “Liar!” Craig seethed and about to lunge at her but his savior—the same one she met at the very first night she became one, shielded him away from his attack and swatted Craig.

        “Don’t you dare hurt her!” He snarled. But Craig retaliated and leapt forward to attack her savior with his amulet. Suddenly his savior, now in a human form...turned out to be someone she really knew. From the hard planes of his jaw, his russet skin that radiated heat from its midnight black eyes that blazed with fury.

        “B…Blaze?” Vylet mouthed, aghast.

        Then, a sinister laugh resonated in the background.

        “No!!!” Vylet shouted as Craig struck Blaze with his amulet. With that, a thick column of smoke enveloped the area.  Unnerved, she woke up with beads of sweat dancing in her skin.

        What a bad dream. She thought. But why does it feel like it was close to reality? No, Blaze couldn’t be a yoma too. The crescent shaped amulet, it occurred to her that it was the amulet that Craig used in fighting off those hooded entities. Why did the woman in her dreams wanted her to kill Craig? Could that amulet be used against them? If so, why did it save her? Why did Craig had to be the villain in her dreams? Could he really do that to her?  All these train of queries were making her head stung as she tried to go back to sleep. She could still remember the enmity telegraphing in his eyes — like he was hell bent to end her life in a flash.

        She then drifted away, hoping to turn that nightmare into a beautiful dream.

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        Craig heaved a deep sigh as his back slumped onto the chair. His fingers were ceaselessly tapping away at the police’s desk as Chief Rendoza droned on the murder case.

        “I want to show something to you.” Chief Rendoza piped in as he thrust a metered envelope towards him. Craig idly unsealed it and pictures of dead bodies gaped at him.

        “It was nineteen eighty-six when series of murder broke off at the same place; in a brothel owned by a Japanese national named Yukito Moda.  The brothel was used to be a prostitution den way back then.  The families of these victims began to worry when their loved ones went missing for almost three days. And soon enough, a janitress at that brothel found these dead bodies underneath the basement of the hotel. At first, she was bothered by the foul smell coming from each of the rooms. It was like no matter how hard she tried to dispel that foul smell using aerosol sprays, it still in there.  Curiosity got the better of her when she found a secret passage leading beneath the basement floor. She almost faint when she got under the basement floor, she found carcasses of men. All of them were sucked dry.”

        Hearing that, Craig’s Adam’s apple loped up and down as the murder case of his father flashed back in his memory. Bodies sucked dry.

        “Who the hell did this to these poor victims?” Craig asked stiffly.

        “Further investigations found out that these men were killed after their s****l intercourse. We suspected a prostitute did this to them but how a prostitute could do such things? Was she some sort of a monster or a cannibal? Those questions are running circles in our head. Not until we met Mrs. Mendez, an old woman living at the midlands who’s some sort of you know, a clairvoyant. She is a retired public school teacher and mother of our deceased fellow policeman here, SPO2 Rolly Mendez who was in the same task force I was assigned at the time when this murder case hit off.  The old woman asserted that this was not done by a human, the way how their bodies were ripped, she is so convinced that a yoma did this to them.” He noted.

        “And you believed her?” Craig drawled, creasing his forehead.

        Chief Rendoza launched into the tale about yomas that was told to them by Mrs. Mendez.

        “She even has this cresclunar, a crescent shaped amulet that is used to ward off evil entities. She wanted to give that cresclunar to SPO2 Rolly, but he was not gullible with such tales. She said that she’s a cresclunar warrior. They fight off with those yomas in the dead of the night. These beings prey on human blood and especially on our brain. They can also shape shift into human that’s why they are hard to detect for civilians like us. We were convinced by her story when further investigations revealed that the autopsies can’t find the victim’s brain, like it has been eaten or what.”

        With that, Craig stared at him wide eyed. In a flash, he beheld the amulet at him.

         “A cresclunar? I have one! My grandpa gave this to me when I was a kid” He countered.

        “Yeah, that was it!”  Chief Rendoza exclaimed in awe upon seeing the amulet.

        “She even said that those who have that cresclunar have the power to defeat those yomas. So young man, given that fact, you’re destined to save those innocent human beings. Does your father also have that?”

        “Yeah, he has one. But wait what it has to do with my dad’s case by the way?” Craig asked quizzically.

        “Let me bounce this off you young man, your father and these victims died with their bodies sucked dry. Claw marks were also found in their torso and in their neck. Their brains were missing and some of their limbs were mutilated.  Do you suspect an average human could do this to Mr. Davis?”

        “I don’t know! That’s why I’m here right? To hear the lead!” He shot back petulantly.

         “I’ll nail down the two possibilities: maybe yes and maybe no. Unlike the victims in that picture, your father was killed with vines of plants wrapped all around his neck, and to the different parts of his body. Someone who did this to him must be so livid to your father. Do you suspect anyone who was in bad terms with him?” Chief Rendoza probed intensely.

        Craig thought for a moment. He didn’t have any slightest idea of anyone who was in bad blood with his father. His father was an epitome of kindness. He looked up to his father so much. Not unless someone was jealous with his good fortune and everything. But he couldn’t really think of one.

        “Can’t think of one,” he answered, irked.

        “Do you have an idea about his past relationship to Ms. Adela Ferrer?”

        “I knew their past because my dad told it to me. But Ms. Ferrer is a good woman and she’s not a home wrecker. Why are you picking on her?  She and my dad seemed to be good friends until his last breath,” he defended.

        “How could you say so?” Chief Rendoza asked with his one brow arched.

        “I’ve known her since third grade when I met her daughter who is also my friend until now. She seems to be harmless, and I have not seen her flirting with my dad or throwing furtive glance at him when we gather around. How did you know about her?”

        “It’s part of our task young man as a police officer so I bet that question doesn’t make any sense. And you do know that Ms. Ferrer have gone berserk after your dad passed away, right?” Chief Rendoza pressed.

        “I’m sorry Chief, but what are you trying to imply? That Ms. Ferrer killed my dad? That’s all rubbish!” He scoffed raising his palms.

    “Well, I’m not exactly accusing her. But some people way back then would see them rendezvousing secretly at Heinville’s.”

        “What? So, you’re now accusing my dad of infidelity? Well, those people are malicious, they don’t know anything about my dad!” Craig snapped.

       “Craig, your mom is one of those people.” Chief Rendoza chortled.

        Craig stared at him with his eyes narrowed into confusion slits, his lips twisted into a scowl.

        “No…no… she’s just making things up. She’s the one who screwed everything up. She said that she doesn’t love dad and when dad died, she seized that opportunity to elope with her lover,” he scathed.

“But remember Craig, what you see isn’t always what you get. If I were you, you should know your circles very well.” Chief Rendoza said with his steel gaze fixed on him.

        Craig could feel his blood flowing in strange patterns in his veins. His dad and Ms. Ferrer had a secret affair while his dad was in wedlock? No. The sickening thought rattled him to the bones. Her mom probably orchestrated this up.

        “This is ridiculous Chief, how could Tita Adela gets involved with this? What’s her motive? And now, you’re saying that they had a secret affair? Hah! If you’re talking about infidelity, well my mom’s the one to talk!” Craig said with a look of disdain.

        “Life is full of secrets Craig. Don’t dwell too much on what you already knew. You must dig into the deepest pit of everything. You might be surprised what lies in it. I understand if it’s hard for you to believe all of these, but I knew what I’m doing son, I’ve been in this job for almost two decades. I can’t just depend only on those gossips, instincts, or such things. We do our job with integrity and compassion. Sorry, I didn’t mean to insult your father, but it just happened that all his actions might be susceptible in finding the suspect. Evil is vicious Craig. We need the help of someone like you.” He asserted looking intensely at his hazel eyes and shifted his gaze towards his amulet.

        Craig looked bedazzle at him. He felt like he was sleepwalking in a dark tunnel tormented by the ghost in his past, viciously walking with him. His dad, whom he really looked up to had a secret affair with his ex? Was his dad being really the one who screwed the marriage and not his mom? He felt like he’d never reach the end of the dark tunnel with all these questions clouding up his mind. He clutched the amulet and it felt like something lit up in his gray thoughts.

        “Can you give me the address of Mrs. Mendez? I think I really need to talk to her about this cresclunar, and I wanna know more about those beings.” Craig said laced with determination.