"Ano pong masasabi niyo tungkol sa manananggal?" Nicky's guide, Felipe asked one of the locals.
(What can you tell about the manananggal?)

They were in some remote area in the Philippines - somewhere in the Visayas region. His investigations led him here only to discover that something else had wrought the recent string of murders and aborted children.

The locals suspected what would be called a manananggal, a woman who detaches from her lower body. Apparently, she grows wings at night and likes to prey on unborn children feasting on their blood. This one in particular had been reckless, feeding on countless innocents even before Nicky had arrived. This prompted the villagers to engage in some superstitious rituals. Garlands of garlic hung at numerous windowsills suspended by freshly hammered nails.

Manananggal ... the weight of the word itself was enough to draw fearful expressions from most of the villagers. The woman Felipe had been interviewing was different. She seemed rather irritated. She turned to Nicky and spoke in accented English.

“Hello, my name is Isabella and I am one of the teachers in the elementary school. I know that the locals insist that this manananggal is responsible for our recent troubles. But I assure you that those are just stories made to scare children. Your inquiry about this manananggal only unnecessarily worries people. If you really want to help the community then I don’t think scaring the people is the right way to do it.”

“I’m sorry if you think that way, but I’m just acting based on what the people in the community have told me. Please be assured that I am only trying to help” Nicky responded, wary of the woman’s next movements.

“Just remember what I told you earlier,” she said. She motioned to the woman behind her, probably her daughter owing to the resemblance. “Come Kathrina, we will go.”

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Nicky awoke later that night, sweat drenched his shirt. Something didn’t feel right. He sat up from his cot and looked around the cabin until his eyes settled on the clock that hung overhead. They were housed by one of the village’s gracious residents. Mr. Santiago had welcomed them into his house earlier that day. He had a daughter Dina who was with child at the time. Her lover Rodolfo, had left for the city in hopes of earning more for their future. After dinner, they sat around the table and spoke of tales of the manananggal. Mr. Santiago was a skeptic and believed that a bad case a dengue fever had struck the village. Dina however became uneasy of all the talk about the manananngal and decided to turn in early. Everyone chose to call it a day afterwards and went into their respective rooms.

Tick, tick … a sound seemed to have emanated from the clock. Nicky looked at the time – it was 2:34. He remained silent. Tick … Tick tock, Tick … there were two distinct sounds. They rang in certain discord that Nicky was further alarmed. He knew that at that moment that this was what the villagers had feared. He roused Felipe who had been soundly asleep. Quickly, his hand clamped on Felipe’s mouth and motioned for silence. Felipe, surprised but still groggy simply nodded.

Nicky allowed the cacophony to descend to where Felipe lay. After, a few moments Felipe stirred violently, his eyes wide open. After interviewing the villagers for a whole day both of them knew what this certainly meant.

They had made a plan, Nicky would go ahead into Dina’s room while Felipe would grab some garlic and salt from the kitchen. Every second that they spent in preparation could cost Dina her life.

Silently, Nicky inched towards Dina’s room. The bedroom door was ajar and he pushed it open as slowly as he could. What he saw before him made gasp.

With no sense of subtlety, what appeared to be a woman’s upper back hovered over Dina’s body suspended by misshapen wings. An elongated tongue seemed to have stretched out from the creature’s head into what should have been Dina’s pregnant belly. It was instead a mass of blood and pulp with scraps of cloth scattered on the side. Dina herself seemed unaware, breathing slowly as if she were in some sort of coma.

The creature startled by Nicky’s presence turned around to reveal a familiar face, Kathrina whom they had earlier known through Isabella. Kathrina, obviously irritated by the discovery hissed at him. Her tongue recoiled and thrust at him like a predatory snake.

Nicky shielded himself with his arm only to have the creature wrap its tongue around it. He was trapped with this bitch. Perfect … She rushed towards him, her arms outstretched. She clawed at Nicky’s eyes but instead scraped skin from his other arm. Nicky cried out in pain and stumbled into a nearby dresser.

“Boy, the ladies sure hate being seen underdressed”

Just as about Kathrina was to launch another attack, she flinched in pain. Felipe had arrived and had peppered her with salt from the dining room. Those tiny grains which had hit her seemed to have seared her skin. She released her grip on Nicky and moved towards Felipe but doubled back as soon as he showered her with another dose from the salt shaker. She looked nervously at both male figures in the room before suddenly flying out of the open window.

Mr. Santiago, who was woken from the racket was just in time to catch the winged woman flapping outside the window. His attention shifted immediately to his bloodied daughter and shouts of anguish filled the entire room.

Nicky hurriedly took hold of the shaker in Felipe’s hands. “I have to take care of the manananggal. Watch over Mr. Santiago and Dina, make sure they’re okay,” he told Felipe before rushing out of the house.

The flying figure was easy to trace. One only had to follow that malformed shadow. Her movements were erratic but her destination seemed definite. She was headed home and too distracted to notice a trailing figure. The trip took a while but the figure slowed and descended into a lonesome house tucked away into the edge of the village proper. Nicky hid in the shade until he was sure it was safe to approach the small abode.

Everything about the hut seemed shut-off and isolated. The windows were closed and the curtains drawn. The only inviting aspect was the recently opened door from which the figure had just entered.

Nicky swift-footed his way through the clearing until he came onto the side of the open door. It was a small house maybe big enough to hold two rooms. He hoped that its size would prove to his advantage.

“Can’t have those things flying around too much,” he thought to himself.

He peered through the doorway and saw two figures tightly embracing one another - mother and daughter: partners in crime. Nicky broke into the house at that moment simultaneously tossing salt at the couple. Both women fumed and voiced pain. That’s when the struggle started.

Isabella recognizing Nicky snapped and threw curses at him. She signaled for her daughter to leave. Her daughter reluctant and defensive shook her head. Nicky took the opportunity to give the ladies another salt shower. Isabella screamed in fury but pushed Kathrina out the doorway.

“Huwag kang maging tanga! Papunta na rito ang mga taong-bayan, alis ka na habang may oras pa!” Isabella shouted to her daughter. She turned to face Nicky, “and as for you sir, I told you to leave us alone. Now you just have to die!” she exclaimed.
(Don't be a fool! The rest of the village is bound to be here, leave while you still have time!)


Her expression shifted from anger to pain as she was detaching from her body. The transformation intrigued Nicky who stood by a kitchen counter motionless and awe-struck. Her face twisted as she labored with the wings that started to sprout from her back.

Nicky snapped from his trance and uncapped the shaker waiting for the right moment. Finally, when the woman was able to fully detach herself Nicky threw the contents of the shaker into the woman’s lower body which had rooted itself on the floor. Salt covered it, the bloody lower extremis, her severed waist. It burned the skin, the legs, into what should’ve been pumping blood into her body.

If lore was correct she’d never be able to reattach herself now and she’d wither away by the light of dawn. The trouble is Nicky still had to deal with this furious harpy’s upper body.

Isabella screamed at him and tore at his hair. Her tongue extended and drew closer to his left ear. Nicky butted his head against her chest and punched her floating body. She staggered and let go of him just enough for him to grab a knife from the counter and throw it at the hovering figure. Missed … she made a pass at his head but he went down rolled over to where her soiled lower body was rooted. She hissed and flew over his prone form. He threw a fistful of excess salt at her face that left her scurrying from the house clutching at her face.

Nicky laid down on the floor for a few seconds, for a few minutes until Felipe came running through the door and helped him up. Some of the villagers had come as well. There was no way Isabella would live beyond the night.

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Sure enough what had been left of Isabella withered away and she herself could not have survived. But the daughter was set free into the wild. She was vulgar and she was free. But Nicky knew that she was here in Chicago. He could feel it. The moment that woman started babbling about that strange thing. He was sure of it.

He scoured the neighborhood looking for signs of a familiar habitat. The outlines of a cathedral were not far away. That creature probably nestled somewhere nearby.

He brought out his cellphone wincing at phantom wounds that once ran along his arm.

Kundi would find it. The agency would confirm it. And he would kill it.