The newspaper clipping flew across the street, blown by the itinerant wind.
Its headline read: Aswang caught in Lower Antipolo.
Dogs bark in the distance but something happened that made them yelp and grow quiet.
The breeze blew on empty pipes and narrow alleys and in between abandoned carts and sidewalk vendor tables creating an eerie sound that seemed a lot like whispering people.
Xien sidled up to Rai and almost jumped into her when a garbage can toppled over and made a loud clang against the pavement.
"What the hell was that!?"
"Oh, shut up, it's just a garbage can," whispered Rai.
"Why are you whispering?"
"I don't know...it's just that it seemed wrong speaking loudly when there was no one else around."
"Are you scared?"
"No, are you?"
"A little."
"Why? You're a frickin' cat!"
"What's that got to do with anything?"
Xien jumped on an empty chair and jumped on another one. The chair skidded and startled a rat that was sniffing something on the ground.
Xien's nose followed the direction the rat took.
"Don't get sidetracked," reminded Rai.
"From what, exactly? What are we doing here again?"
"For the Nth time, we are looking for one of the Legends."
"Why here? It's creepy here."
"The walkers said one of them could be found here. How would I know why it lives here?"
"Isn't this supposed to be done by the players? I missed being a merchant."
"They are not here, are they? We don't even know when they'll be back. Besides, we should do our part. Grace won't be able to get out if we don't gather the legends."
Xien stopped walking and stared at a dark alleyway. Her heightened sight picked up a movement.
"Did you see something?" asked Rai.
"I thought I did but whatever it is, it's gone now."
"What was it?"
"It looked like a girl."
"A girl? Are you sure?"
"Well, it was dark, okay? She looked like she was wearing a dress."
"It was him."
"Him?"
"Shh...let's go into that alley."
"Why? Let's stay here. It's...brighter for one thing."
Rai was already walking towards the alley.
There was smoke coming from somewhere and it made illusions in the dark.
From where she was standing, it looked like there were faces floating in the air.
Rai brushed them off like brushing aside cobwebs. The smoke eddied and undulated to form other shapes.
From a distance, something that sounded like laughter pierced the silence.
Xien jumped from where she was perched and ran after Rai.
She found Rai standing still, transfixed.
Xien slowly walked towards Rai, not trusting her eyes. She, too, saw the faces.
She was afraid to look at whatever made Rai stop like that.
Her hackles slowly raised, sensing danger.
She could not help herself from hissing.
The one in front of Rai reeked of malevolence.
"Rai, let's go," she nudged at Rai's foot with her muzzle.
In response, Rai stepped slowly backwards.
The smoke partially obscured the creature in front of her but there was no mistaking its silhouette.
It walked steadily towards them.
Faster.
Faster still.
Rai broke from her trance and turned.
The creature lunged at her back but she ran in the nick of time.
Both she and Xien ran out of the alley screaming their heads off.
After a goodly distance, they stopped under a streetlight.
They were both gasping for air.
Xien sounded like she was about to cough up a giant hairball.
"Haaahhhh...haahhhh. Wait, wait...don't go yet," gasped the cat.
"What?!"
"Stay here…. Don't go anywhere."
"It might catch up to us."
"The light will protect us…"
"Really? Where did you hear about that?"
"Monsters hate the light."
"Vampires hate the sun. There's a difference. Don't just lump them all together and make your assumptions."
"So are we safe now?"
"What made you say that?"
"You are making those lectures again. We must be safe if you have time to scold me like that."
"I hope you are right about the 'light'."
"I'm not. I'm sorry."
"What…? How did you come to that conclusion?"
"Because it's right behind you! Ahhhhhhh!"
With that, Xien bolted leaving Rai behind.
Rai swallowed hard. She couldn't trust herself to turn around. She might faint on the spot.
The sound of shuffling feet confirmed what Xien said.
Then it stopped.
The silence was deafening and the suspense was making her sweat.
There was a gurgling sound and a faint whistle.
Rai had a good guess what it was and she clenched her stomach to keep it from turning.
Aside from the creepy breathing of the creature, nothing else happened so Rai forced herself to slowly turn around.
There it was just outside the circle of light, a shadow.
"Help me…," it said.
It shuffled closer.
There it was, clearly visible in the edge of the circle of light, one of the most powerful Urban Legend: the Headless Priest.
The whistling, gurgling sound came from the open windpipe. Rai kept herself from gagging.
"What do you want us to do?" She asked the priest.
"Help me."
Xien slowly slinked back to the streetlight.
"What is it doing now? eww...that's disgusting!"
"Never mind the blood. It needs our help. I guess we won't be able to talk to him anyway if we don't. It seemed to be focused on only one thing at the moment."
"Help me…," pleaded the priest again and it kneeled in front of them.
Rai knew what it wanted. She took out her cellphone and used its unique function to go into the heart of the urban legend.
"Where are we now?" asked Xien.
The place where they were standing slowly warped and changed. The streetlight vanished and so did the tall buildings around.
The pavement turned into a muddy road and the surroundings became a small forest.
What's left of the urban look of the place was a few small houses and a nondescript chapel.
"We are inside the heart of the story," answered Rai.
"But we already were inside another story."
"Yes. These are worlds unto themselves. Do not forget that stories are very powerful. Didn't you listen to the old man when he was boring us to death with his lectures?"
"I did. A little. I kept dozing off."
"His lectures were always interesting even if his presentation was boring. Anyway, that is partly the reason why we seek the urban legends. They are, apart from the mythologies, the most enduring stories. People still remember them. We need their power to force open the gates that hold other stories."
"Why do we need those stories again?"
"Pay attention. I just told you. These stories exist in their own worlds. In their heart, in their very center lies powerful objects. You'll find out later. For now, we need to help the priest."
"Let me guess, we need to find its head?"
"Brilliant. Now hustle."