Moonlight Curse: The Hunger

Chapter 14

We reached the house of Mr.Baluyot, by 8:00 pm. A black jeep was parked outside his house. He surely lived far away from civilization. We were in the middle of acres and acres of rice, corn and some barren fields. I could still make out the silhouette of mountains up ahead. If something bad happened here, no one would ever hear your screams or would find you for days. This was a perfect spot for murder.

The lights were still on and it assured us he was still up and about.

I took a deep cleansing and calming breath, and summoned my focus and attention back to the case.

His house was a typical unpainted two-storey unpainted concrete house with rusty aluminum sheeting for a roof, jalousie windows and a porch. I already pictured his furniture made from Narra wood or Guijo wood; even his staircase would be made from varnished wood.

The simplicity and unpretentious character of the abode made it so inviting but, looking at its surroundings, a feeling of gloominess crept inside me. I could never survive such solitude.

Roberto and I walked towards the porch, stopping at the foot of its staircase's first step as I called out, "Tao po!" It meant, "We are human beings at your doorstep."

Before, I thought this expression meant, "Is anybody home?" But, later on, I learned that during the Spanish era, when creatures of the dark side increased in numbers because of traumatic events and anguish caused by s*****y, deaths of loved ones, unjust imprisonment, crime and violence, poverty, revolutions, forced Christian beliefs and condemnation of pagan rituals and beliefs; one must identify himself as a human being by stating, "Tao po" at the doorsteps before being given the permission to cross the threshold.

Our ancestors believed that only human beings could really step forward once given permission. Other sups could freeze and would be susceptible for capture. So, it became a custom, when one's at the door, the owner would ask first, "Anoka?" or what are you? Then, you should answer, "Tao po."

Unlike the vampire legends, stating "Tao po" is unnecessary, the master of the house upon stating his permission verbally that the vampire is welcome to enter, will give him an open invitation anytime, any day, whenever the vampire pleases to visit.

An elderly male voice answered, "Who are you?", and then someone peered through the window.

"Sir, my name is Maya, my brother Sam talked to you about 4 days ago," I politely answered then asked, "May we please speak with you?"

Few seconds later, Mr.Baluyot opened the door and we went up three steps into his porch as I offered him a handshake. I introduced Roberto.

"Please call me Reno," he said with a genuine smile.

Mang Reno was dark skinned (understandably being a farmer), medium in built and in height. Yet when he smiled he looked like a ladies' man in his younger years. But he also looked worried as he scanned the fields in front of his porch.

He ushered for us to come in. The door opened up into his sala and beyond the wooden sala set was a dining table also made from wood. And as I've imagined, the staircase was also made from varnished wood.

A man was at the dining table and was coming to greet me. And my pulse started to rise.

"Hello, Maya. Long-time no see!" he reached out both of his hands and I hastily grabbed his right hand for a handshake to prevent being enveloped by his familiar embrace.

"So, I've been reduced to just a handshake buddy?" he asked.

"Just a handshake and you are not my buddy," I snapped and added, "I should have known you are here, Miguel."

The man named Miguel was none other than the article writer pen named Ronald Magdiwang, the "Intruder Alert" or for me, "The scumbag writer". 

"So I'm Miguel to you now too, huh? So, should I start calling you Maria?" he sounded hurt for a while there but soon recovered and added, "Still as friendly as I've remembered," he chuckled which made my blood boil closer to exploding.

"Still as irritating as I remember," I gritted my teeth, "And handsome, attractive, cute and wonderfully sexy in every way! Damn! Damn! Damn!" Of course, I kept those to myself.

Roberto sliced through the tension when he introduced himself to Miguel. And then, they looked as if they were sizing each other up. If you had seen roosters before a fight, their chest all puffed up and their wings tensely drawn back. Although Roberto was way taller, Miguel craned his neck just to meet his eyes and hold his same deadly gaze. I could imagine them circling each other anytime soon mimicking the "cockerel waltz" of a young rooster strutting in half circle with one wing extended down in a very aggressive approach to signify his dominance over female chickens or hens.

Thankfully, Mang Reno spoke in a gleeful manner, "I hope you did not come all this way for a derby. Come, Maya, let's take a seat and watch these gentlemen stare at each other in a hostile manner."

I laughed out loud which immediately lightened Miguel's and Roberto's moods. They settled for a brief handshake. 

"Come on guys, we are here for a more important matter." then I looked at Miguel and whispered, "I'll deal with you later."

"Mang Reno, I know you've been through a lot of interviews already. And I read what you told Miguel here. Are all the info correct?" I asked and the answer was rudely cut out by Miguel's laughter.

"Do you doubt the facts of my report?" he asked, "You always think of me as a liar, Maya? When you know the truth that I never fabricated any story. I only write the truth."

"Well, past experiences taught me not to trust you again, Miguel. And yes, you write the truth. But some truths are left to be unwritten!"

"Please you two; let Mang Reno tell the story," Roberto said, which silenced us both. We were like kids being told to behave by a teacher.

"Yes, I read what he wrote and he captured every detail of what I narrated to him," he said as he joined us in the sala or living room.

I sat on the single chair facing the window; Roberto sat on a chair adjacent to me. Miguel was on the long wooden sofa with Mang Reno in front of us, and an antique chest was at the middle also serving as a centerpiece table.

"Why didn't you open up to Sam? I'm sure my brother was honest with you on the nature of our work."

"Yes, Sam believed that some evil creatures, monsters even and not humans killed my cows. At first, it was an insane idea and I did not believe him. So, I mostly told him what I told the police because I did not want to be called crazy or senile," he looked at me with worried eyes then continued, "My son had been pressuring me to retire and to sell my farm and go on live with him and his family. I've been battling with him about this for almost 5 years now. I'm almost 65 years old and for him, that's old."

With his explanation, I understood why he had to cover up the whole truth from Sam and the police. So I asked, "Why did you tell him everything to him?" Glaring at Miguel, I added "Didn't your son read the papers?"

"After 3 days, I did a lot of thinking, and I felt scared most of the nights here alone. I still had 6 more cows left. So, what if the creature comes back?" he looked truthfully scared now.

"Mang Reno, did you see the Sup? I mean, the creature?" I asked, rather hopeful so we could start the hunt.

"I heard it. As soon as I got inside the house and locked all the doors and windows, I heard it growling, snarling and crying more audibly than my cows' mooing, stomping and pitiful crying. Then my dogs were also barking angrily and howling. The sound was deafening, horrible, scary and pure evil. Until now, my dogs are scared to get out of my barn. Me too, until now, I lock all my doors and windows before nightfall. I am even scared to go beyond the fields now. The evil came from the direction of the creek."

Then Miguel spoke, "So when I came here two days ago, I found a scared old man who did not trust anybody. I told him a witness saw 7 men dressed in hoods killing his cows, his fear turned to anger and told me everything he knew."

"Lies, all lies. That boy lied. I don't even know the boy and I knew everyone in the village," he forcefully said.

"What lies beyond the creek?" I asked.

"The forest, then across that was another tiny village," he answered.

"Can we cross the creek by foot?" I asked.

"Yes, I have a strong rope I tied at a tree from the north bank and the other end was tied onto a high tree root in the south bank. But it's total darkness now, even the moonlight cannot penetrate the forest," his voice was turning into a whisper now. His fear was creeping back.

"Sir, it's best to hunt in the dark," I said, reassuring him of my courage and strength by adding force into my tone.

"I'll come with you," Miguel stood up. 

And so did Roberto, "I'll be coming too."

"Then, I better come too," Mang Reno stood, also not wanting to be left out by his young guests' bravado.

"You, Miguel is not certainly welcome to go with me. At the middle of an action, you might start taking out your tape recorder or even a video camera like you did before, which almost got me killed!" I was getting angry at him again.

"I know I made a mistake that time, Maya," he looked rather earnest, "I've changed and learned my lesson. I know I promised not to write about the truth that monsters exist no matter how many readers buy that crap. I came really to help. I even had no idea you would be coming because I know you already quit hunting."

"I did not quit!" I shouted at him and added in a more civilized tone, "You know why I had to live away from all these. I had given you 3 chances already. And you always lied or screwed up. What makes this hunt any different?" I wanted to strangle him... really make him feel excruciating pain!

His answer made me stop fantasizing on more ways to t*****e him, "Because, Mang Reno is my father. And my oldest brother was the one pressuring him to sell this farm. He grew up here, and I still believe my father is strong enough to carry out what he wants to do in this farm."

Abruptly, I looked at both men in front of me, and then, I saw the resemblance. They had the same lovely almond-shaped brown eyes and strong jaw lines. Miguel has soft, luscious, full, red lips that make him look boyish when he grins and smiles, not to mention that adorable deep dimple on his left check. His thick eyebrows are distractions too. They give him very expressive emotions and often make him look comedic. His hair always needs a haircut and combing through. His height is average for male Filipino, just three inches taller than me. He isn't a fan of working out as well so I did not expect to find bulging muscles anywhere under his shirt. Hmmm, no wonder he thinks himself as a be-dimpled John Lloyd Cruz or even a taller Aga Mulach. Wait... I was supposed to be checking for their resemblance, not charcoal painting Miguel's face on a sketch pad!

So I stopped ogling, "But I've known you all my life and your last name is Ventura," I didn't let him see that once more I felt betrayed. I thought I knew everything about him just like how I let him get to know me. Clearly, Miguel was the man I truly believed him to be... a closed book, user, liar and a hypocrite.

"That was my mother's last name, they were never married because he was married to my eldest brother's mother," he looked uncomfortable explaining so, I just left it at that and erased all emotions pertaining to the topic.

Another thing I'm good at... I could easily let go of a feeling and enter another state of emotion in a flick of a finger. But truthfully, I was just an expert at hiding my feelings.

"Okay then, first things first, we need weapons and supplies," I stood up to take command and change the topic.

Then dropped to them the scariest piece of information I had speculated on the bus.

"We are about to hunt a family of aswang, about 3 or more."

There was total silence amongst the men. They just stared at each other and focused their attention to me.

I told them about my dream, and so I suspected the killer to be either a werewolf or aswang. But since, females are mostly aswang, and in dreams sexes are very accurately seen or depicted so I strongly believed it to be the latter. So, I had to educate them about the origin and nature of the monster we were about to hunt.