Just as the old, Abat faded from the darkness, Anna heard the monster snapped her finger. Suddenly, Rico jolted from his sleep, heavily sweating and heaving.
"A-anna!" Rico gasped. "A-are you okay?!" He wiped the sweat off his brow.
Anna's blood was drained off her face. However, she tried composing herself and calmed herself down before Rico could react. She took a deep breath and immediately held his face.
"I am alright—" She answered.
"I'm glad that you are." Rico hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead. "Then, it was just a bad dream." He sighed.
"What dream?" Anna asked.
Rico paused and stared at Anna for a moment. He felt like his dream was too ridiculous for his girlfriend to understand. He hesitated for a moment but carried on and explained his dream.
"You were speaking to something." He said.
"Something?" She tried masking the fact that she knew what it was.
"A human-like figure with a monstrous face." He said. "It was cat-like yet it still looked like a human face.I-I don't know why but she spoke to you. I can't hear your conversation, but I can see the fear written all over your face." He said.
He explained to Anna how he tried to move and shout her name out to get her attention, but he couldn't move nor speak. He could only see the fear painted all over her face and it got him frustrated how he couldn't help her.
"It gave you something…" He added. "But you hesitated and declined it altogether."
Anna felt a cold tingle down her spine. Rico was awake when they were speaking with that aswang. He knew every waking moment what was going on, but he was paralyzed by the monster. Should she tell him everything? How would he feel if he knew about it? Those were the thoughts floating around her mind as she listened to what he witnessed.
She hugged him tight, trying to de-escalate his thoughts over the sense of danger he witnessed a few minutes ago.
"It was just a bad dream, babe." She replied. "Thanks for worrying about me. I know these past few months had been tough for the both of us, I just want to say how happy I am of you sticking up to me." She kissed Rico.
"I want you by my side." He said and kissed her back. "Let's take some rest." He smiled.
They tried sleeping once again, but it was only Rico who went fast asleep. Anna stared at the ceiling recalling what the Abat matriarch told her. She couldn't help but cry at the inevitable, however, she was still hopeful that there might still be a cure for it someday.
It has already been two weeks since the incident in the morgue. Everything went back to normal, and everyone had almost forgotten what happened two weeks prior. Everyone did, except for Anna. The conversation she had with the Abat matriarch had burned a scar in her psyche. She ended up double dosing her medication from Dr. Yano. She was yet to meet him again. His secretary called her a week ago and told her that the doctor was taking a vacation in the province and will not return until this week.
Anna took up four tablets and drank it while looking at herself in the mirror. She woke up early today and checked herself in the mirror, trying to notice any changes in her physique. She had been dreaming about her monstrous self a lot for the past week.
She dreamt about herself standing at the edge of the bed drooling over her boyfriend's body while sometimes would be at his side of the bed licking her Rico's face with its long, spiky tongue. She has been waking up to this apparent nightmare for over two weeks now, but she couldn't tell Rico about it, she wouldn't dare.
Her situation at her workplace was a little bit different. At least it was a place that she had a little bit of normalcy. She was back at the wards and was tasked to stay away from the morgue or the ER. She simply went back to tending to the patients in the ward, away from the bloody, hectic and sometimes death-filled scenes of the Emergency Room. She was contented in dispensing medications and writing notes on the mountains of charts right in front of her.
To her, writing on those charts was a form of distraction. At the very least, she had a way to lose herself from her chaotic mind. She had already written half a line in one of the charts when Ms. Chin caught her attention.
"Ms. Sanbwan." Her manager's footsteps echoed throughout the hall. "Ms. Sanbwan?!" She called out once again.
Anna stood up from her desk and waved her hand towards her supervisor.
"Over here, Ms. Chin!" She tried greeting her with a smile.
Ms. Chin came up to her and told her about a package addressed under her name.
"A package?" Anna was confused. "I swear Ms. Chin, all my Lazimall online purchases were addressed at my apartment." She said, fearing from her supervisor's wrath.
"I would've scolded you for it, however, this came from a VIP." Her supervisor said. "They wouldn't send it to your home. I guess, it would be weird if they do it."
"A VIP huh?" Samantha interjected. "I wonder who that might be?"
"I already have a boyfriend, Sam." Anna scoffed at her friend's jest.
Ms. Chin made a slight glare at Samantha. "My goodness, Ms. De Calzada!" The old maid did a sign in the cross. "That's very immoral!" She added.
Sam immediately snuck out of conversation before her supervisor could throw a handful of words at her. Ms. Chin's eyes followed Sam as she snuck away from the conversation.
"Could you believe that girl?" Ms. Chin scoffed. "Why would she think a simple gift could woo you? Are you that kind of woman?!" She raised her eyebrow.
"O-of course, not!" Anna immediately answered, flustered at the question.
"I guess so too." Ms. Chin nodded her head. "I am watching you." She walked away.
After writing notes on the last few charts, she went down to the receiving section and took the floral bouquet addressed under her name.
It was a beautiful, yet strange bouquet composed of white tulips, black roses and red roses wrapped in an elegant velvet cloth and secured with a golden tie. It was a weird yet elegant arrangement. There was a black envelope slipped on the bouquet.
Anna placed the bouquet down on the table and read the letter.
"Dayang,
My sincerest greetings!
I am glad to hear from my family members that you have healed well. I still regret that night one of my kinsmen threatened to devour you. We have already talked about this the last time we've met but I still would like to apologize for such an inconsiderate and dangerous action my kin did.
I hope you would favor us in good graces and be assured that our clan will forever be under your command. As another form of compensation, my kin and I will stay away from your territory. I hope this would suffice.
Forever grateful,
Ms. Nerizza Anson-Guerin
Naturally Flowers CEO"
Anna put down the letter on the table. Her knees trembled at the idea that the matriarch was none other than Nerizza Anson-Guerin, business tycoon and one of the richest CEO in Asia.