Episode 3

..."Switch"...

Serina's POV

The manananggal held her big-nosed, warty bleeding face and fell on the ground.

"Alright. Time to send you to the under-realm." The shadow, stood in front of me.

I saw her figure, it looks like she is a female. Her long black hair blew gently on the night breeze.

The woman sprinkled salt on that disgusting creature making a distorted scream until she turned into ashes.

She turned around and got startled upon seeing me.

"Ah!"

A mask was covering most of her face, I can only see her left eye.

"Wh-what are you doing here!?" She quickly pointed her fist at me. Both of her gloves has three golden sharp claws connected to it.

"I'm lost and I stumbled upon that old hag's place, tried to eat me and chased me all the way here." I innocently looked at her holding the straps of my backpack.

I saw her left eye widen.

"You survived her attempt to eat you?" She asked.

I nodded at her question.

She attacked me with a quick slash, I managed to avoid it but she got my uniform's sleeve.

"What are you trying to do!? I-I'm not a bad person!" I said keeping distance from her.

"You've seen me! So you have to die!" She said with her silky voice and dashed forward at me.

"W-wait!" Watching her movements, I managed to grab both of her wrists and headbutted her.

She wasn't fazed and hit my head back, forcing me to fall down.

"I-I promise! I-I won't tell anyone! P-Please don't kill me! My mama needs me at home!"

I said trying to cover myself with my arms.

"That's what commoners say as excuse."

She dashed towards me at full speed, I managed to remove my bag and used it to shield my body.

Hitting and slashing my bag, I lied on the ground with her on the top.

"She's surprisingly light!"

I kicked my bag towards the cliff behind me.

I stood up and quickly ran back in the woods.

"Why is this happening to meeeee!"

I managed to find myself at the fields again and saw the path I took.

Hearing rustling from the bushes she appeared right in front of me.

"Eeek!"

She lunged at me, my vision into turning black.

...

...

...

I didn't know what happened, but when I regained my consciousness I found myself inside my house, placed on our bed.

I sat up with my head feeling dazed.

"Was it all just a dream?"

"It felt too real."

I checked my arm to see if there's a wound.

My heart throbbed fast, terror circulating through my body.

"She's real!? They're real!?"

"But that woman, she didn't kill me. I thought I was done for."

Then, I heard footsteps coming inside our bedroom.

"Serina are you awake!?"

And here comes the broom, I sighed disappointedly as soon as I've thought about that.

My mama came inside looking worried. I checked her hand if there was a broom.

She immediately hugged and sat beside me.

"Where did you head off too!? Me and Oscar were worried about you!" She said caressing my hair and cheek.

"Who did this to you huh?" Mama pointed at my arm which was already bandaged.

"Ma, I'm sorry for not listening to you earlier." I moved closer to her.

"I've been attacked by a manananggal." I said looking in her eyes, with mine getting teary.

She hugged me tightly and caressed my back.

"I'm so relieved that you are alive anak."

[Anak \= son/daughter]

"Skip school for tomorrow, I will bring you to the herb doctor to treat your words."

I nodded at her, wiping my tears.

"Opo ma."

[Opo \= saying yes to elders]

Our papa just came home from fishing, then my mama called me to eat dinner.

I wore a shirt with sleeve to cover the wounds in my upper arm and gestured my mama to not talk about it with my papa.

After a light-hearted meal, we prayed at a holy statuette for safety and guidance.

The four of us went inside our room where we sleep, as me and Oscar grow older it's getting kind of cramped inside.

I'm already used to it, closing my eyes facing the open window I fell asleep.

...

...

...

...

"Pst!"

"Hey wake up!"

A soft but loud whisper woke me up.

I opened my eyes and I saw that same woman who tried to kill me. Her head was hanging down

When I was about to scream, she swiftly covered my arm and grabbed me from our hut. She ran through the metal rooftops without making loud noises.

I keep trying to scream but only ended up making muffled noises.

She brought me at a top of the small hill by the coast and stopped there.

I pushed her off me and glared at her.

"What is your problem!?"

"I thought you might still need this" She handed me my backpack, the scratches she made were already patched up.

I quickly grabbed it from her

"Now, bring me back home!" I kept glaring at her hugging my backpack.

"I understand you're suspicion towards me, I've killed countless lives of evil entities added by the innocent who've seen me." She sat down facing the vast sea.

"You're the only one who managed to survive attacks that no normal person could."

"Lies." I said keeping my eyes on her.

"What's your name?" She asked.

I scoffed.

"As if I've tell you that, you've probably just add it to those innocent people you've killed."

Angering her, using her extreme speed she punched my face real hard, causing me to fall down.

"You don't know anything, stop being arrogant." She pointed her claws at me

"Why should I listen to you!?" I keep staring at her angrily, but deep inside I felt nervous.

To my surprise, she removed her mask.

Her face looked, horrible! The right side of her face was full of burn marks added by a scar on her right eye.

Her nose was disfigured with her mouth full of scars and stitches. It was far from a normal human-being.

"This is what happened when I trusted the likes of you!"

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