Moonlight Curse: The Hunger

Chapter 3

The whole day was not only physically draining but mentally as well. I left the office around 9:00 pm and I could barely walk towards the elevator. I was hungry, sleepy and exhausted. Poor Paw and Macy.

"I'm coming, my babies," I thought to myself. 

They must be super hungry right now. So, instead of walking 1 kilometer or more towards the mall where the Shuttle Terminal is, I hailed a cab.

"Manong, to New Paradise, Pasay City please," I hastily ordered to the driver as I got in the cab.

The ride only took 30 minutes and I dozed off half the way home. My apartment building is only 4 stories high, surrounded by terraces on each floor. The main gate is an iron-grilled gate adjacent to the staircase leading to the second floor. I lived on that floor ever since I came to the city with Nana, almost 6 years ago.

The simplicity of the building, its security and the neighborhood's energy were what drew us to this place. My street at 9:45 pm was still buzzing with activities.

In front of our street is the community basketball court. Kids and older guys played basketball until dawn. Sari-sari stores (our version of mini-convenience stores) are in every nook and corner of our street. Group of men set up tables in front of their preferred stores to drink beers, play acoustic music, share stories and what not. Laughter was heard all around. Kids were playing unsupervised. Everybody knew everyone. And so, they definitely knew me.

All the tambays (group of stand-by) and mothers here call me, "Madam." I don't know why. I was never haughty or snobbish. I just assumed it was because I used to look and dress so uptight, like a schoolmarm.

But the best thing about this place is the group of gays who always congregates every 11 pm in front of the store just across the apartment. I could hear their stories from my balcony. Their stories are always ridiculously funny. It's like I have my own private stand-up comedy for free. Sometimes, I pick up their gay-lingo. That's why in the office, we called each other "Bakla" because I started the fad. Often, we speak like gays, "Chuvaness, Ecklavu, Haler, Waley, Keber, Chenes, Babu" are few words Sandra, Alfie, Bessy, Kenny and I used. Those gals are my Accounting teammates at the Law Firm.

The noise no longer distracts me, unlike during my first few weeks then. The videoke (karaoke) sing-off they had every night got to my nerves. I was ready to scream at them and shoot somebody. Every night, I imagined how I would storm into that group's videoke spot, springing crouching tiger style, landing on the table and kicking their Adam's apples starting with the singer, thus, injuring their throats, larynxes and pharynxes. I had other versions like karate chopping the table into two (if it's made out of wood) or simply turning it over with one kick (if it's made from plastic), then using the microphone to club the singers on the head. That way, my imagination exhausted me; I could sleep then despite the singer's out of tune rendition of 'My Way' and 'Careless Whispers'.

Nothing changed. There are still nightly videoke sessions, but at least they are singing more current songs like from One Direction, Taylor Swift or Daniel Padilla's hit singles. I even sing along at my balcony sometimes. Progress is the only road humankind is heading to, so it's been said over and over. And I learned to adapt to this chaotic yet endearingly energetic and happy place I now call home.

Reaching the chained gate, I could already hear Macy's angry barks and Paw's agonizing cries. Yup, they were hungry alright. So, I hurriedly opened the gate and ran 2 flights of stairs to my door.

"Babies, mommy's coming!" I shouted while inserting my key into the doorknob.

As soon as I opened the door, they stormed out l*****g my feet, jumping with joy and their tails never stopped waggling. They truly made me forget all the worries and stresses of my job. My dogs can truly make me laugh, giggle and be a kid at heart every single time I come home at night.

They all went to the rooftop first to take care of their business and once they got back to our room, they went straight to their food bowls which I had refilled with dog food and water.

Ah, the simplicity of a dog's life truly amazes me. How little you give just to make them happy but they give you their all to kiss your blues away. I love my dogs and surely, they love me!

As they feasted, I opened my refrigerator for my dinner which was an apple, a banana and cold, low-fat, fresh milk. I have been on a diet for 1 month now. I need to shed some pounds! I ate while watching Cartoon Network. Don't judge... It was another habit I could not afford to replace with watching Evening News like a sensible adult. Blame it on the weirdness and seriousness of life I was once exposed with. So, now I was merely compensating for lost childhood activities.

While giggling over Tom and Jerry's antics and cuddling Paw and Macy, I remembered how weird I once was. I was also such a wimpy kid growing up. I was scared of a lot of things as a toddler. My brothers loved to make me cry just by showing me pictures of a clown or a creepy looking doll. I was even scared of Ronald Mc Donald! What's with the white painted face, red nose and huge smiling mouth? No wonder kids prefer Jollibee more.

I hated carnivals too. Once, my brothers brought me with them to a town fare during a fiesta (feast day) of Tuguegarao City. Seeing the huge amusement rides as a 5 year-old did not excite me at all. Worst when I saw the freak shows! There were midgets, giants, and fake mermaids. There was a man eating live chickens, bear man, birdman and other weird characters in cages. I was wailing, screaming, and kicking my brothers that I had to be carried like a sack of rice by my oldest brother over his shoulder while slapping my bum over and over.

For days I had nightmares about that place and saw again and again those freaky characters I called "halimaws" (monsters) as if cued on replay at night.

I thought I outgrew my phobia of clowns and carnivals when I became a big sister. Our youngest sister was born when I was turning 6 years old. I was the one who gave her the name, Aurora which is Sleeping Beauty's given name and we all agreed, except for Nana, my mama's aunt, to call her as Aura. Nana wanted to call her Orang! 

"That's a hideous name for a baby, Nana!" I scolded her. 

She just scoffed and was the only one who called the baby "Orang".

Being in-charge of watching her during Nana's siesta time (from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.) made me think mature and realized I needed to act as a real lady for my baby sister.

I became over protective of Aura. I didn't even want my brothers to hold her or to talk in loud voices when she was asleep. I sang to her and read her fairy tales. I became happier when she came into our lives. Maybe because, I found a playmate and I had an excuse not to tag along with my awful and troublesome big brothers who treated me as their slaves or made me the object of pranks and jokes.

When I was about seven years old, my nightmares came back and tormented me every night. I dreamt of being chased by an ugly monster with wings, fangs and talons for hands and feet. I woke up screaming, 

"The bird man is out to get me!" 

My Nana, who was always there to take care of me whenever my parents go on their trips which sometimes took months before they return looking exhausted and rugged... would be there not to console a crying kid but to tell me to face the monster and fight it off!

What the hell? Telling that to a kid was seriously deranged. I would be trembling with fright and would not fall asleep. Nana would nag me to close my eyes and to confront the monster.

She said, "It's just a dream. You can do anything you want with it. So why don't you just kill the monster!"

Being a good kid, I obliged. I then closed my eyes and finally, there in the dark forest I stood alone, waiting, listening, and holding my precious breath. Silently, I prayed to Papa Jesus. A prayer taught by my Aunt Gloria, my mother's older sister whenever I got scared, "Papa Jesus be my savior, be my sword, save me from evil." 

Over and over, I chanted that prayer. With a shrill cry, the monster appeared, breathing noisily like a caged animal, wailing, waiting, staring at me with its hateful, red eyes. I remembered shouting, "Monsters aren't real!" 

Then, it answered with its raspy, agonizing voice whispering, "But we are... real." 

I froze. 

It charged at me belting out a roar.

I closed my eyes and stood my ground, waiting for pain. I heard the monster screamed in pain instead and with the swishing sound of a blade and a loud thud, I opened my eyes. The monster's head lay at my feet. Its fallen headless body just 5 steps from me, jerking, bleeding then burned into ashes in a flash. 

Its head stared straight at me, then in an eerie almost inaudible sound it mouthed, "We are real" before exploding into ashes too.

Then I woke up. Nana was sitting on my bedside holding a knife with a big fat blade which she called "badang". She stood looking at me with mirth in her eyes and then kneeled by my bedside. 

She slid back the "badang" underneath my bed and said, "Don't worry no more, it's dead," and left the room without looking back.

I remembered curled up on my bed that night waiting for sunrise. I reckoned that was the very reason, why until now, every time the sun's about to set, there was this dreaded feeling within me... the feeling of doom. Ever since that night, I slept with the lights on.Back to my reality and well-lit room, as always, I dreamed of monsters.

I woke up half screaming, the T.V. was still on though muted and airing live was the Local Midnight News channel. I must have rolled over the zapper as I fell asleep. I was about to turn it off when something the newscaster was pointing at that made me freeze.

A female reporter was in the middle of a rice field, behind her were 7 white cows, lying on the ground...dead. I increased the volume in time to listen to her blood-curling report.

"A series of animal killings had been reported at the town of Alicia, Isabela for 3 days now. Local authorities still had no leads on why these animals mostly cows were killed in such a brutal way. Their deaths were not of natural causes, the local vet reported. Each animal was missing vital internal organs such as heart, lungs, kidneys and liver. Who would do such a thing to these farm animals which are valuable to a farmer and his livelihood? Stacy Dalisay reporting. Back to you Mike."

I instantly got up to look for my cell phone. I hastily punched 2 on my cell phone. It sped dial Samuel's cell phone.

"Hi, kid!" he greeted.

"Have you seen the news on channel 8?" I asked not minding his usual pet name for me.

"Dead cows in Alicia. Yeah, Meg and I got this. We are here now, kid," he answered.

"Meg? Isn't she supposed to be in school?" I said, a little bit irritated now.

"She has 1 week break for school's foundation day. Instead of attending, she's commencing her training with me. It will be a warm up for her next summer training in Ilocos. Daniel's with Marie in Aparri for a possible job there. After this, we'll be meeting up in Laoag." 

"Okay, but be careful and take good care of her. She's still rough and a little too tough for her age. She has a lot of anger pent up inside her so better be careful. That kid is like a walking time bomb Sam, so be extra watchful." I said.

"Don't worry kid. I can handle her just like how I handled Aura, and look at our baby sister now..." he paused for effects and exclaimed, "the most promising female huntress in the North, so the whole family said. But you were better then, and could have been easily the best huntress in the North by now, kid" he said it with a sigh. 

I knew he wanted to add, "What a waste." 

His frustration with me was not so hard to miss.

"Bro, I am happy where I am now, really." Of course, it was a lie and added, "And Sam, for the love of God, I am 25 so stop calling me "kid" and better not call Aurora "baby" in her face if you don't want to be decked just like last summer. We are grown women now okay!" I exclaimed with a tinge of laughter in my voice. 

Memories of that summer when my siblings surprised me here came flooding in right away and so I hung up before I got a little farther down into memory lane. Then, I would get depressed yet again and cry myself to sleep. Yup, I am now a grown woman, alone, with 2 dogs, away from my family and doing a hellish job. What a wonderland. Well, it's better than the dark world I left behind.

You might have guessed my family's other occupation by now. Yap, we are hunters. Thinking about hunting then made me dread going back to sleep.

After counting thousands of sheeps, goats, cows and even wild ducks, I slept on the sofa again and this time I dreamt of the past.