The sun was peeking over the mountains by the time we arrived. Birds chirped on the roof of the trailer. We were hiding behind a tree that was covered in ants. I was tempted to eat them. They looked like little pieces of candy. And didn't they eat honey? Weren't they bursting with the stuff?
I picked one off and ate it. The vile thing exploded in my mouth and tasted like battery acid. I spat it out.
Mum told me to shut my pie-hole and be still.
The trailer was rocking back and forth, and all sorts of noises were inside – glass breaking, tearing sounds, giggling, kids shouting “More!” and “Cheers!” I looked down and saw a blood-trail leading up to the trailer home, sprinkled by bits of meat and bone. There was also an arm and a leg. Mum looked at these things, and I'd be damned if it didn't sound like she was about to cry.
Then she started talking, not looking at me.
“I know that leg,” she said. “That's Jerry's leg.” She wiped away a tear and said, “I know that arm, too. That's Chloe's arm.”
Then she pointed to half of someone's head. A cat pulled out the brain and dragged it along the grass, growling at us with its tail and hairs up.
Mum picked up a rock and said, “Beat it, you stupid beast,” throwing the rock. She missed, but the cat jumped in the air and ran off under the trailer. Mum turned to me.
“Now listen here. I got a plan.”
And by then I already was backing away.
“Fine by me,” I says. “You just go on and do what you haffta, but leave me out of it. I'm going home.”
She grabbed me.
“You listen to your mum! I order you to run over there, knock on that door, and get me one of them little aswangs.”
“Hells no!”
“Think of all the money I'll make!”
“NO!”
I made to dig out, but she wouldn't let go. In fact, her grip came tighter. She pulled me close to her.
“You're going on over there, kid, one way or the other.” For a second, I thought I saw dollar signs in her eyes. She picked me up and held me over her head. “Now git!” she said, and threw me at the trailer. I landed on the blood trail with a tuck-and-roll, sliding all the way to the trailer. I screamed as I went and hit those little stairs leading up to the front door.
I could hear Mum.
“Get one!” she ordered. “Dammit! Do as I says!”
I got up and limped away, but the damage was done.
The door opened, and all these little kids with no legs come pouring out, some crawling. That was that. Game over...so I just stood there, looking all dumb with my hands over my face.
Nothing happened.
I heard something that sounded like a hand shooting into a bag of rice, and looked through my fingers.
The aswangs were busy with something. Some were under the trailer, some were in treetops, and some were even on the roof of the trailer. All of them sniffed here and there, turning things over. Many of them were already in the air, flying around like vultures. They just went on right past me. They were looking for something else, and I had an idea who it was.
I looked to the woods and saw Mum. She looked perplexed and pissed off at the same time. Her gun was out. I done messed up, but it couldn't be helped.
Granny wrapped her arms around me.
“Gotcha!” she says, breath smelling like onions. “So where's mommy hiding now?”
I made my legs limp and tried to wiggle away from her.
“Help!” I said. “Mum, help!”
Mum looked out from behind a tree. Their eyes met. Granny grinned and held me tighter. I felt her stomach rumble. Mum hightailed it out of there. Granny's hold on me loosened.
“What the...?” she said. “I didn't expect that.”
Granny raised her arms up high and said something inspiring in Filipino. I don't know what, but it must've been “Get her!” or something, because then all them little ones cheered and took off, all flying into those woods. One of them zipped out from the trailer, saying, “Me so hungry! Me so hungry!”
This one stopped, hovering, and turned around.
Vol was an aswang. She looked dead. I jumped back and gasped.
“Vol?”
The real Vol was in there, banging behind those eyes. The aswang...I mean Vol...snarled and tried to bite me. Granny stuck her leg out and put her foot on Vol's head, holding her back. Vol waved her claws at me. I pressed up against Granny. She gave Vol a shout.
“Easy, girl,” Granny said. “Not this one.” She pointed to the woods. “That one. Now go get it, girl! Go fetch!”
And then all the little aswang kids were gone...vanished into the trees.
Granny moaned and spun me around. She sat me down on her knee. She looked even worse than last I saw: all that skin on her face just seemed to drool away – oh, cruel, cruel gravity! Is this ME in the future? I gotta remember to stay out of the sun, and no, no smoking. Granny was all dried out, lookin' something like an unwrapped mummy, what with the teeth all showing, that jaw a little crooked. Someone had her skin pulled back too tight. Her eyes kept changing color for some supernatural reason: brown, yellow, then blue and white – the whole eye, just fading into one color to the next. Maybe she was trying to put me into some kind of trance. Well...truth was...I was more relaxed than I should have been.
She leaned in, smiling.
“Look, little girl...I like you, alright? You're tough. No one ever got away from me before. You're like a grownup in a kid's body. So tells ya what I'm gonna do. I'm not going to kill you. In fact, I'm gonna make you one of us, just like your little friend Vol. Hell, I'm giving up eating kids all together. Wanna know why?”
I nodded. I smiled a little. She wasn't so bad.
“Uh huh,” I says.
Now Granny was serious.
“So one day I gets a'thinking. Something is making us weak, and it's the kids! Sure, they have soft, clean meat, but it's also weak meat. And then I got an idea. What if I just ate adults? And guess what happened?”
I nodded.
“You got stronger?”
“See...” she said, “that's why I like you. You're smart. And not only did I get stronger, I also got new powers.” Only she said it like “Puh-wuhssssss.”
I nodded.
“Like putting people into a trance with your rainbow eyes?”
Granny laughed and looked around at no one in particular.
“Look at this one! A regular Stephen Hawking!”
Granny stood me up. She stayed with her butt on the stairs, looking me up and down, examining me, touching the muscles on my arms and legs.
“Like I says, I won't be here forever. But I'm gonna try to stay as long as I can. I mean, who wants to die? Am I right, or am I right?”
“You're right.”
“So I'm making an army to bring me more adult beef, as you've already seen. I'm gonna create a new race of aswangs – a stronger race, and it all starts today with you younglings. They need a leader. Someone like them, someone they can understand, someone that they can relate to.” She narrowed her eyes. “YOU, child.”
“What about Vol?”
“Oh, I tried her. She's too into herself. All she wants to do is eat – all day, just eat, eat, eat! She even murdered some of the kids before I could turn them into aswangs. I was going to eat her, too, as punishment...but like I said, I'm having no more of that weak stuff. You know what it felt like when I had my first chomp of adult beef?”
“No, ma'am.”
“My mind expanded. I got smarter! I started thinking about all these weird things. I got all sorts of ideas. My body got real sensitive. I could heard real good. I got cottonmouth. And then I got real hungry. Just reallll hungry. And the orgasms were quite splendid. Long story short, it felt pretty darn good. Maybe I can sell the stuff. I could use the money. I hate living in this damn mobile home anyhow. It's embarrassing. I deserve more than this. I wanna live in a mansion around Diamond Head (that's where some of them rich folk live). I want a pool. I want a bi
g, high definition TV.
But I don't care for no car. I don't even have my license. Driving is dumb anyway. Too many crazies out there. You can be the most careful driver in the world, but get crashed into by some stupid-ass driver who tried to break the rules to get to work on time. Straaange world, man. No sir, I'll drive when everyone else learns to drive. Until then, I'll fly the friendly skies, if you catch my drift.”
She got close to me. Her fangs were out.
“Now don't move,” she said. “This is gonna hurt you more than it's gonna hurt me.”
Go for it, I thought (and I think I was still smiling).
I gave no struggle. The whole thing might be fun – flying around and scaring the crap out of people. I didn't have my first kiss yet. Maybe I could steal me a boy and make out with him, whether he liked it or not. I heard that french-kissing was one of the greatest feelings in the world, that it was like tonguing a slug. I couldn't wait. I could do everything I always wanted to do. No boring, useless school. I could eat what I wanted to eat, beat up those who wronged me, steal cars, fly around. I felt free! I could do anything I wanted! I got goosebumps right then and there!
Still....
Something in me clicked. Something in me backed away a little from Granny. It was just a little move, but it was enough for Granny to raise up her eyebrows. She went:
“Hrmm?”
....and grabbed the sides of my head and dove in for the Big Bite.
My hands were on her boobs, and I pushed her back into the trailer. I slammed the door.
BANG!
A gunshot rang somewhere in the world.
I looked around – AND DUCKED. A kid aswang cartwheeled over me and hit the door, crashing through it and landing on Granny. The kid was all shred up...all dead. Granny sat up and cradled the dead thing.
“Oh, my darling Zoot!”
Zoot's face looked open for business, but no one was home. I looked into the mobile home and saw all these legs just standing around, feet tapping, waiting. Granny cried out, and all the legs start running left and right and bumping into things, knocking over a variety of useless old people crap.
There was a huge cry from the woods, then another, and another – a whole bunch of'em. The little monsters were coming back. Mum chased after an aswang, shooting at it.
“Get back over here!” she said. “I just need one of you damn things! PLEASE!”
She shot it down, and the thing exploded, and bits of itself rained all over Mum.
“Damnnn!” she said, still running, arms out to catch the mess, to catch whatever she could. “Useless – all useless to me!
I ain't no seamstress!”
The mob was catching up to her.
Mum and I were heading right toward each other, but she was looking right past me. Her hair had gone white! Her face was all bloody and twisted. I liked seeing that look of extreme fear on her face. Shows her right.
Mum screamed as she ran.
“Aaaaaah! Help me! Help me, God! Jesus! Buddha! Heeeelp!” Then she noticed me and said, “GET OUT OF MY WAY, YOU STUPID BABOON!”
I ducked as she leaped over me. A wave of them little aswangs (sans legs) rushed over me, each one of them laughing all crazy-like. The wind they carried picked me up and tossed me aside. I landed next to that cat I saw earlier eating that head's brain. The now-fat cat hissed at me and ran off up a tree. I made to follow and disappear into the woods, when Vol fell from the sky and stood right in front of me. I could tell from her stare that she was all the way loony tunes – teeth out, hands ready to tear me a new one, nose twitching, ears twitching, curious burping sounds in her throat, etc.
I picked up the brain and threw it at her face. She caught it with her mouth and ran off. Maybe – just MAYBE – there was a hint of Vol still left in that mindless aswang – that part of her that saved me. The thing that was Vol sat in the grass and munched its meal, all the while staring at me.
Now Mum and Granny ran toward each other. Mum just kept heading straight. She closed her eyes and yelled out and tackled Granny into the mobile home. Vol and the aswang kids followed inside. The whole place went over on its side.
Run, you bloody idiot, my brain told me. Get the hell out from here! Now's your chance! Beat it! Just beat it!
And then I heard her screaming.
Mum.
She screamed; and it sounded like she was in agony. The sound cracked my brain.
Now what?
You should just turn around. I know you wanna be a good person and all, but this is ridiculous. Just run away and get help and come back later. Get the police. Right?
It was true.
As I turned around, the front door burst open and Mum popped out, covered in blood, crying, reaching for the clouds. Black smoke rose from under her. I heard kids begging. Granny was yelling orders I didn't understand. Mum was looking around, trying to figure it all out. Her mouth was all over the place.
“Arrgghhelphelpehlpaarrghhh!” she goes, head shaking like a wet dog, her hair throwing blood. Aswangs were yanking on her legs, and with each tug she'd pull herself up again.
I couldn't move. Couldn't run off. I had to see what would happen next. Had to be sure.
The beasts down in that trailer gave a big yank, and Mum went all the way down. There was a mad fire in there. I could smell cooked beef.
A few aswangs on fire crashed up through the windows and tumbled in the air and bounced on the ground. They rolled around as the grass caught fire. Another aswang flew out, and Mum was on the back of this one – both of them on fire. They landed and wrestled a bit...then were still. By this time, the whole trailer home is shaking like a pressure cooker and ready to explode.
Something far off called my name.
I looked to my left and saw Vol on the ground, all burnt and coughing. She sat up and saw me. It WAS her! I ran and embraced her. She hugged back. I could smell her hair burning. Granny shrieked and the trailer home exploded. Her head came flying right at us, teeth chattering like one of those wind-up toys.
I punched her head, and it shattered against a tree.