The Infinity Bracelet

Are werebeasts and ghosts real?

Am I seeing things? But they seemed real to me.

A year after Nana Agatha’s death, Tala stayed with her rich Aunt Ramona and Uncle Sebastian and their son Robbie, in a beautiful, spacious and fully-furnished house.

The house was brick-built, with flowers and trees in the front yard and an elegant black gate. In the garage there was a Mercedes Benz which was the family car. Their driver used the car to drive each family member to and from the office or school.

Tala had been part of the family for two years now. She took care of the kid and played with him like a nanny. She never had a problem about it because she was fond of her cute, chubby and smart little cousin. She also obligingly helped their maids with the household chores.

Three days before Halloween, while sweeping Robbie’s bedroom that was adorned with video game posters and surrounded by video game consoles, she caught him reading a small book called Ghosts, Ghouls and Other Nightly Creatures.

“Why are you reading that piece of trash?” She raised her voice at him. She looked worried. “Robbie, I don’t want you to read that book. You’re too young for that. You’ll get nightmares!” She snatched the book from him.

“Please, give it back to me,” he implored. “I’m old enough to read it. Besides, I only read it for fun. I don’t take it seriously. I will never have a nightmare.” He said in his childish voice. He looked upset.

“‘I will never have a nightmare!’” she mimicked his voice. “Of course, you will! If you sleep after reading that book.”

“No, I won’t,” he said defensively. “But can I ask you something?”

“What?” she asked impatiently.

“Are aswangs and ghosts real?” He was utterly curious.

An aswang or a werebeast is a ghoulish creature in the Philippines that love to eat humans. The werebeasts are shapeshifters. They can turn into any animal or person to disguise itself and attack humans and eat them with joy.

“You said you wouldn’t take it seriously. Of course not! It’s the 21st century and you still believe in our folklore,” she retorted.

“But two of my classmates told me they saw an aswang and a ghost.”

He continued: “Brock saw an aswang one night while he was walking alone in a dark street. He was hungry while waiting for his parents to come home. So, he went outside and bought Snacku, Cheese Rings, Sweet Corn, and Haw Haw candies from the store. While he was walking home carrying those delicious snacks, he saw an aswang flying in the sky! He said it had large bat-like wings, a woman’s upper body, and it eats humans with its fangs and long tongue.

Robbie described the manananggal, which is mostly confused with the werebeast. The manananggal is known as the viscera-sucker. It is a vampire-like creature that love to eat internal organs, hence, its name.

“He screamed and ran for his life before that aswang could get him!” he said.

“And Samuel saw a ghost while playing at midnight Sonic the Hedgehog on his Xbox inside his bedroom. He couldn’t sleep well so he decided to play. While playing, he heard a howling wind and felt its coldness. Then, the TV turned off by itself. He saw on the screen a shadow of a hunchback woman passing quickly.”

“After a few seconds, the TV turned on and showed the video game he was playing. He believed it was a ghost because no one else was in the room and the windows and curtains were closed. So, it couldn’t be a reflection of a person behind him. He didn’t scream because the ghost passed quickly that it took him a minute to realize it was a ghost.”

Tala smirked. Kids these days, she thought. Then she said, “Your classmates were just inventing stories. Those creatures are not real. They were just figments of the imaginations of writers and storytellers. You shouldn’t read this kind of book because you won’t learn anything from it.” She was holding the book Ghosts, Ghouls and Other Nightly Creatures.

“You should read happy storybooks or better yet text books. Those are the kinds of books that a kid should read.”

She left the bedroom. He clicked his downloaded copy of Walking Dead and watched it with pure enjoyment. She did other household chores. When she finished doing her obligation, she read Morning, Noon and Night by Sidney Sheldon. She loved easy-to-read realistic novels.

Brock’s story about the aswang or werebeast– made Robbie curious. He wanted to know what it looks like and what it does to scare people. So, while his cousin was outside, he began to Google it. He saw various websites that showed articles about the werebeast. He clicked on each website one by one and read on it. As he researched on the subject, he learned that a werebeast is a monster that has large wings and fangs. It used to be a human. Its powers are incredible strength, speed and shape-shifting. It usually transforms into an animal, but sometimes also transforms into a beautiful woman with long dark hair or a decrepit person to disguise itself. It disguises itself before it hunts its prey. When the victim is oblivious, it pounces and gobbles the hapless human down. Its usual victims are women, children, and the elderly.

This immortal creature that devours human flesh and drinks human blood.

By day, they appear as harmless humans to fool their victims.

Silver bullets, garlics, crucifixes, and holy water can kill the werebeast.

There are reported sightings of the werebeasts throughout the country especially in rural areas. Some people claim that they have seen these evil creatures and some even claim that they turn into a werebeast at night.

For instance, there was a 28-year-old man who had an interview on a talk show. He confessed that when the full moon appears, he changes into a werebeast and wolfs down humans. He was even crying because he couldn’t control his hunger, thus, couldn’t keep himself from killing human beings.

The man said that one day he wants this curse to end and come back to God. He believed that the devil cursed him to become a werebeast.

The talk show host was unhurt after the interview and is still alive today. Some of the viewers believed in the man while others thought he was crazy.

Robbie fell asleep while he was doing his research.

***

Robbie sauntered in a spooky forest. The sky was so dark, the stars were absent and the full moon was up. Tall trees were looking down on him. They were grinning wickedly. The grasses were so tall and thick they could trap him inside and keep him in the forest for good. No one would be able to find him.

Frightened, he quickened his pace. His heart beat fast.

Behind him he could hear a faint strange sound. Whooosh. He turned his back. He saw a viscera-sucker flying in the sky!

He ran for his life! He ran as fast as he could so the viscera-sucker couldn’t get him! But the faster he ran, the faster it chased him!

The viscera-sucker flew above his head now and reached for it. It lowered its long pink tongue near his head. It was about to take his head but he ducked quickly. He scampered until the monster was gone.

He reached a nipa hut at the heart of the forest. He decided to stay there for a while until morning comes. He’s pretty sure that the viscera-sucker couldn’t get him while he’s inside the hut.

He knocked on the door and an old lady with long white hair let him in. The old lady’s hair was very long that it touched her thin butt and was very unruly that it looked like she never washed and combed it. Her face was wizened and her body was bony and weak. She was the ugliest old person Robbie saw.

He told her about the viscera-sucker that was after him a while ago.

“Hijo, you shouldn’t stay in the forest at night because lots of supernatural creatures go after the people who roam there,” the old lady warned him.

You seemed hungry from running, son,” said the old lady. “Come sit at the dining table. I’ll give you something to eat.” She looked kind and thoughtful.

She gave him a hamburger and a coke. “Thank you, grandma. You are so kind to me,” he said.

He was on the verge of tears. He was thankful for the hospitality of the old lady and the fact that he escaped from the clutches of the viscera-sucker relieved him. Phew, that was close, he thought.

As he ate his hamburger, the old lady told him, “Didn’t your parents teach you never to talk to strangers?”

“What…” Before he continued to talk, the old lady transformed into the viscera-sucker he was escaping from. Her long black claws grabbed his chubby fair hand.

“Help!"

He screamed.

He felt smooth and gentle hands shaking him. He was soaked in sweat.

Tala’s hands were wet when she touched the shoulders of her scared and helpless little cousin. Little Robbie woke up and saw his older cousin. She gave him a glass of water which she got from the kitchen. He gulped it down.

“Thanks, cuz” he said. He was glad that his cousin woke him up.

She embraced him. “I told you not to read about scary stuff!” she chided him and said, “Are you okay?”

“Yes Tala,” he said in a trembling voice. If you looked at his face it was obvious that he was still traumatized by the nightmare he had.

“Good. Please stop thinking about monsters and ghosts. They aren’t real. They exist in stories just to give people nightmares.”

“Okay, cuz.”

Sweet Tala stroke her little cousin’s back and sang him a lullaby. Her beautiful singing voice soothed him. When he fell asleep, she closed the door and went to her own bedroom.

Three days later, the Halloween party arrived. It was held in Robbie’s classroom at around 10 am. Tala arrived at the party. She was wearing a dark angel costume. The students and the teacher were dressed up in different costumes. Most of the students wore scary costumes while some wore funny ones. The teacher who hosted it wore a sexy witch costume.

There were parlor games, an early catered lunch which served sumptuous meals, a wonderful magic show by a famous magician, song and dance numbers by the students, and a costume contest.

“Attention, boys and girls,” announced the teacher. “I know you’re excited to hear who won the costume party. Aren’t you?”

“Yes!” Her pupils yelled in unison.

“Great! It’s time to announce the winners,” she said.

“The third prize goes to Claire!” Claire went in front of the class and smiled. She was in a cute evil fairy costume. A round of applause. The teacher gave her one box of chocolates and a kiss on the cheek.

“The second prize goes to Robbie!” Robbie did the same thing that Claire did. He was in a scary Dracula costume. Another round of applause. The teacher gave him two boxes of chocolates and a kiss on the cheek, as well.

“The first prize goes to Takehiro!” Takehiro clapped along with his classmates, went in front of them and beamed. He was in a terrifying Frankenstein costume. The teacher gave him an airplane toy and a kiss on the cheek.

The party ended at 12:00 PM. Everyone had fun. Tala was proud of her cousin.

As a reward for Robbie, Tala took him to Timezone. He was happy and excited. They played arcade games and sports until past 3 PM. She also treated him to ice cream. He enjoyed licking his cookies and cream. When they got tired, they went homeward. They strolled down a longish road.

It was sunny outside. On their way, they saw a group of kids playing, mothers and nannies accompanying them, and a group of three tall, slender and mysteriously beautiful girls.

They were awed by the unearthly beauty of these girls. But she noticed something else. She felt their auras; they seem to have incredible strengths as if they were as strong as ten muscular men and have otherworldly powers. It felt so eerie.

For a fleeting moment, the three girls cast shadows of bat wings on the ground and showed fangs when they smiled. Tala’s eyes grew wide in fear.

Then, in a blink of an eye, the shadows of bat wings and the fangs disappeared. The girls looked normal again.

Tala grabbed Robbie by the arm, dragged him, and together they ran from the girls.

He was confused. He didn’t understand why they were running. What did his older cousin see that scared her?

“Why are we running?” he asked her simply.

She was dumbfounded by his question. “Didn’t you see what happened to those girls?” was all she could reply.

“No. What happened?”

Since she didn’t want to scare his cousin and make him think she was crazy, she kept silent. She didn’t utter a word until they reached home. Only the sound of their footsteps was heard on the ground.