The Last Guardian

Chapter_28: The Manananggal-Final

As Johnathan and Lisa were rushing out of the jungle, the thunder began to intensify and the winds were getting really strong. Lisa was finding it hard to hold on to Johnathan’s hand, her jacket was fluttering in the wind and her hair was getting all messy. They were halfway out of the woods when Johnathan suddenly stopped.  He saw something a few feet ahead of him-right in the middle of his path, there sat a woman with long black hair, dressed in rags and her back towards him. Lisa stopped and gasped-

“What is that?!”she cried out.

“It’s the Manananggal- be careful- stay behind me-“he replied drawing his sword out and slowly approaching the woman from behind.

As he stood almost three feet away from it, he shouted-

“Who are you? What do you want?”

The woman simply sat there silently, as the winds howled and the lightning cracked- then she started weeping terribly. Johnathan was nervous and Lisa was terrified- this seemed like a horror movie in real life!

“Let’s find another way- this is not good-“said Lisa holding on to Johnathan’s arm.

But Johnathan was curious, he called again-

“What do you want from us? Let us pass!”

The woman suddenly stood up and turned her face towards them. Johnathan flashed his light at her face- it was a face of a dead woman- pale and lifeless like a corpse. The woman then turned completely towards them and with a broken voice she said:

“Save...me...save...me”

“What? Wh-Why- How?” said Johnathan struggling to find words to speak.

And then the woman opened its bloody mouth and let out an unbearable scream that made them cover their ears. Still screaming loudly- she jumped on Johnathan and grabbed his neck trying to choke him with her cold dead hands. Lisa screamed in terror and searched for her gun. Johnathan struggled but even with his full strength, he could not escape. The woman pinned him against the tree and then she started to speak- it sounded gibberish, like all of the languages in the world mixed together. As she did this, her face began to twitch and her head began to shake terribly. Johnathan couldn’t look at her, he was gasping for air. Lisa found her gun and shot at the monster from behind- she emptied the entire magazine but the creature didn’t even twitch. Tiny drops of blood oozed out of the wounds. Lisa panicked and looked for something to hurt the monster- she found a broken tree branch and immediately picked it up. With the branch in her hand she approached the monster from behind and with full force, she hit its back. The monster turned her face and with her left hand, she shoved Lisa away. Lisa fell a few feet away on the ground.

Johnathan was almost blacking out- his sword laid on the ground. He felt as of his life was being sucked out. But he knew he couldn’t loose- he knew that if he lost, Lisa would die too. The monster choked him harder and now he was starting to see darkness in front of his eyes.

“Johnathan- No!” yelled Lisa from behind.

He suddenly felt immense energy emerging from his body-his powers were turning on. Energy began to sparkle like electricity throughout his body, he slowly opened his eyes. Using both of his hands, he grabbed the monster’s arms and pulled them away from his neck. The monster growled and continued its unholy chant. But Johnathan was sparkling like the God of thunder himself. He flung the monster away and it felt to the side in the bushes. The monster immediately stood up again and jumped on him. Johnathan reached for his sword on the ground-to his amazement the sword flew towards his hand. Johnathan grabbed the sword using both his hands and rushed towards it. He pulled his sword behind and then thrust it forward. He had cut the monster right in its belly. The monster stopped moving and looked at the cut. Enraged and baffled at Johnathan’s strength, it then showed its true form. It detached its body and threw open those huge bat-like wings and raised itself to the air. But Johnathan was not intimidated. He knew he could finish the job. So he took a few steps back and ran towards it. He then took a giant leap- his iron leg helped him to leap further than normal. He leapt ten feet into the air with his sword pointed at the monster. Before the monster could move, Johnathan thrust his sword into its heart and pushed it down. The monster was pinned to the ground, with the sword still in its heart. Johnathan went and pushed the sword harder into its chest. The monster shivered and crackled like a paper on fire. Johnathan pulled the sword out and it stopped moving, black ooze began to flow out of its mouth.

Lisa ran towards Johnathan and saw the hideous creature lying on the ground. It was dying slowly and she saw the detached lower part from the waist down had also collapsed to the ground. She drew a sigh of relief and looked at Johnathan, who looked exhausted.

“Is it over?”she asked.

“I think so-“he replied.

The monster was changing its form now. It was turning into its human form- a beautiful woman who was on the brink of death. She looked at Johnathan and said-

“Release me-“

Johnathan felt sorry for her but he didn’t know what to do.

“I-I don’t know how- I-“ he stuttered.

“Leave that to me-“Billy cried walking in on the scene.

Both Johnathan and Lisa looked at Billy- he looked terrible-there was dirt on his clothes and his face was black with smoke. He looked like he came out of a fire. Billy walked up to them and took out his can of spices and sprinkled the entire bottle on the detached limb of the woman, he then sprinkled some on the upper body. He took put his holy book and chanted verses in Latin. The reaction was immediate. Both the detached parts suddenly lit on fire and the body burnt in silence. Johnathan looked at the woman’s face- she looked like she was in peace. The exorcism was complete. The clouds over head had cleared and the storm and thunder stopped. A cool breeze blew across the trees. They saw the body turn to ash and as the flame died out- they walked away. Johnathan walked out of the forest with Billy leading the way, while Lisa was still holding on to his arm. He looked towards the sky and saw a shooting star fly across it.

“You can let go of his arm now-“said Billy.

Lisa immediately let go off Johnathan’s arm in embarrassment. Johnathan smiled- she smiled back.