(Warning: Dark chapter ahead. Please skip this chapter if you don't want a bad dream too lol. )
"Hehehe! Ferdy wait up!"
It was a giggling pleasant voice from Ferdy's older sister who is trying to catch on him while running in the forest.
Ferdy on the other hand was walking ahead while being surrounded faithfully by plenty of personal bodyguards. Ferdy turned around and energetically waved towards his older sister whose face he currently couldn't see.
"Hahaha! Hurry Elina, mom and dad are waiting. We might get spanked if we don't arrive on time!"
"Ouch!"
"Elina!"
Ferdy worriedly shouted as he ran back and assisted his fallen sister who happens to have stumbled on a rock.
Weirdly, the guards who are supposed to help his sister did not even flinch a bit as he did his best to help her stand up.
"Are you okay, Elina?"
"Oh no! Ferdy help! Huhuhu!"
His sister replied with shock and fear as she raised her wounded palm that she accidentally grazed on a sharp stone on the ground. Ferdy saw it and he instinctively sucked the blood without hesitation.
"Wait! Something is wrong!" Ferdy quickly realized what he was doing and just when he forced himself to stop sucking her blood, he only ended up seeing a figure of his sister who is now nothing but a crumbling skeleton before him.
Ferdy looked on the side and saw a huge mirror reflecting an image of himself before the crumbling bones of his older sister. His aswang fangs were out and his nails are cold black covered in blood while his mouth was still dripping with blood and flesh.
The silent and mysterious guards surrounding him reappeared while clapping in utter joy and celebration. They seemed to applaud his work as an Aswang.
As the light started to reveal his darkened surroundings, more scattered bones of his victims appeared on the floor as a terrifying realization finally dawned on him.
Ferdy devoured his sister and his family!
"Uwah!"
Fortunately, Ferdy finally woke up from this terrifying nightmare.
His body was covered in a cold sweat while he gasped for dear air like it never existed before. His eyes were bloodshot and his pale face reflected his deepest fear in his life.
"haah...Haaahuhh...Haa.."
He quickly touched his surroundings just to get a confirming feel that he is currently not dreaming anymore.
It took a while before he completely calmed himself and stabilized his mentality.
His red glowing eyes gazed around the spacious boarding house, which Mr. U-bear sponsored for the scholar-athletes, and saw two other people sleeping with him on two other beds. He checked the time and it was still 4 am in morning. The outside was still dark and the spinning sound of the ceiling fan above was all he could hear.
Seeing the comfy sleeping faces of his friends - Chiko and Gantes, reassured him that it everything is alright. He took a deep breath and told himself,
"I am never going to be like that."
Unable to sleep back, Ferdy decided to get up, washed his face, wore his jogging suit, picked up the sepak takraw ball, and finally went outside for his daily routine. Only this time, he is much earlier and alone.
Taking a deep breath of the cold early morning air, Ferdy reaffirmed himself,
"I will never be an Aswang forever. No. I will never be a devourer. I have already promised my sister. I know, somewhere out there I can find the cure to this curse."
He picked up the sepak takraw ball on the ground and mumbled,
"I will be a pro sepak takraw player. I will fight my fate even if it will cost me my life."
His faint red eyes finally subsided and returned to normal. Ferdy has restored himself successfully. It was just another day for a cursed guy trying to overcome his fate with hope.
***
Somewhere inside a huge but old-looking mansion located deeply in the green forests of Negros Occidental, an old brown-skinned man whose body is filled with scars and signs of brutal fights is currently kneeling in front of a woman clad in mysterious shadows.
"I hope you bring good news." Her cold commanding voice echoed across the wide dark halls of the mansion. Standing silently on the corners are fierce-looking servants with glowing red eyes. It was a mansion full of Aswang.
The one seated at the front was Elina, the Queen of all Aswangs. Elina who represents the strongest power in the Aswang world has been responsible for the unity of all aswangs in the Philippines, except those who have hidden and refused to accept her authority.
Before the mysterious woman, the warrior-looking man sweated nervously, not daring to raise his head anytime soon as he waited for an answer from his report.
"How long has it been? Three? Four years? And still not a single clue about the prince? Are your men even still working?" A doubtful question came from the cold voice of the woman seated in a tall-royal-looking chair. Her long, black, and sharp nails slowly poking out of her fingertips like a cat's- showing her murderous intent.
"Absolutely no my queen!" The panicking man hurriedly answered. He knew that disappointing the queen of Aswang before him was not different from asking for death. He tried his best to recompose himself, and replied,
"This time, our countless scouts finally managed to get our hands on a camera glimpse of the prince as he was boarding a certain Ceres bus hailing for Bantayan. Although..."
A frown quickly followed on the queen's face,
"Although what?" She asked.
"Unfortunately, the video clip we found was a recording about two years ago so it was pretty much an outdated clue. Not to mention, the effort required to get our hands on the tape was not easy."
"You stumbled on a rogue aswang?"
The man nodded in confirmation as he added,
"Two of our men have to get their hands on a bloody fight with a mysterious aswang who popped out of nowhere. It was as if he had been following us all along. Judging from his skill to take down our expert scouts, we could deduce that he wasn't an easy opponent. Only Jerry, the youngest member of that scout team managed to barely survive and witnessed."
"And where is he at the moment?" She inquired.
Clearing his throat, the man replied as politely as possible,
"Right now, Jerry, our survivor is currently resting on our recovery facility and should be able to tell you the whole story when he recovers a week from now. He only managed to tell me those vague clues before fainting from losing too much blood a while ago".
The queen was silent for a while as she fell on deep thought. Her red eyes were glowing menacingly behind the dark silhouette of her tall commanding figure.
"The aswang that sabotaged them, any other information?"
"Unfortunately, there is no other clear information at the moment, my queen; the only clue I got was that it was a rogue aswang who seemed to be as strong as I am. Maybe perhaps even stronger. Only Jerry our survivor can tell."
"I see. What matters is the clue for the prince. Whoever dares to stop us would regret it with their lives."
Then the queen fell on a short silence before speaking again,
"So our only clue is that he went to Bantayan huh... In that case, I want you to send more scouts to that island. Triple it if necessary. Report to me quickly if you get any clues. Understood?"
"Yes, my queen. I also would like to ask permission to personally lead the scouting team myself." The man politely offered himself for the service.
"Granted. You may go now."
"Thank you for the opportunity, my queen. I promise you I won't fail."
The queen waved her hand and the man's shadow quickly morphed to that of a huge cat and leaped away from her sight.
A few minutes later, the queen left her dark throne, leaving behind her menacing aswang assistant and guards. A few turns from here and there, she finally arrived at a certain secret room.
"That Jerry was lucky." a young man clad in dark clothes and has piercing red eyes spoke first out of the shadows.
"I don't want this to happen again. Go clean your mess up. Once I learn more clue about Yang, don't you ever show your face to me or it will be your end."
"Hey calm down, you just happen to raise the difficulty by sending more men together with that wild-scarred dog-"
"It was necessary to avoid their suspicion. Anyway, you know what to do." the Aswang queen replied impatiently.
"Leave it to me." the mysterious man silently left as well.
With everything settled, the Aswang queen finally heaved a long sigh. Her face shifted from cold and commanding queen to that of a sorrowful face. She sat helplessly on her grand-looking bed and turned her gaze on a certain picture frame on the corner.
In the photo, a young, bright, and energetic Ferdy Yang was being hugged by her from behind.
"I hope you are doing well my brother. Don't worry, I will never give you up." then she turned her gaze to the wide red ceiling and mumbled to herself,
"I won't let the curse continue anymore. I will carry this burden till the end and I hope to see you someday conquer the curse, find true friends, and achieve your dream to be a takraw player."
***