Aswang
(as-wang)

The most-feared creature in Filipino folklore. The tale of the aswang varies from region to region in the country, with the creature taking on different characteristics; however, it is always described as a shapeshifter that subsists on blood and flesh, specifically human. 

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The market was a delightful surprise, Micah thought.

She hadn't expected it to be this extensive, for a place this remote. And it wasn't even cramped-- there was plenty of space to walk in between the stalls, letting shafts of sunshine fall on people's heads. The stalls were grouped according to what they sold-- here were the vegetable vendors, the fruit vendors, the grain vendors, the school supplies and dry goods, each in their own little section. The carenderias and bakeries were off to one side-- she resolved to go and find out what smelled so good, before she left. And there was the ukay-ukay or flea market, under tarpaulin tents in an open grassy area.

A familiar pungent, salty odor grew stronger, and she turned a corner and saw that there was a dried fish section, the likes of which she had not seen in Manila. She took some photos, asked a friendly vendor what the mounds of brownish-pink paste were -- it was guinamos or shrimp paste-- and also learned that the terminal she was looking for was on the other side of the market.

The woman asked her a question in a language she couldn't understand; seeing the incomprehension on her face, the woman switched to an accented, oddly phrased Tagalog that she was able to decipher.

"You don't look like you're from here, Miss-- where are you from?"

"Manila," Micah answered.

"Manila? So far away-- what are you doing in a remote place like this? Do you have relatives here?"

"My mother grew up here," said Micah, and somehow ended up telling the woman about how her mother had died some time ago, and they'd learned only recently that she'd left Micah some land and a house, and how her dad had sent her here to look at her property and decide what to do with it.

"So your mother was from Entierro," said the woman. "That's the place you were asking about." She gave Micah a strange look. "You'd best be careful in that barrio, Miss. It hasn't got a good reputation."

Micah stared at her.

"Just you be careful, Miss. Don't go wandering off alone, and be sure to be indoors by nightfall and keep your windows and doors locked."

Micah stared even more.

"I see you don't believe me," said the woman. "But it doesn't hurt to be careful, young lady-- especially where aswang are concerned."

That startled her into a laugh. The woman glared, and Micah had to apologize and buy some dried fish, and the woman gave her a small discount. She then asked for carinderia recommendations, for it was nearly noon, and soon she was sitting at a rickety table covered with a plastic tablecloth with brightly colored fruits printed all over it, spooning up some broth from the La Paz batchoy which the dried fish vendor had assured her was authentic.

While eating, she opened up her netbook and posted some photos to Twitter for her friends back home. The signal was weak and kept cutting off, but she finally managed to get them uploaded. When she looked up, the few other people in the place were staring at her. They all looked away again.

She smiled to herself, finished her bowl of batchoy, packed up her netbook, and set off to find the terminal, although she was continually distracted by new and unfamiliar sights.

****

He noticed the man's eyes sliding away from him as he approached.

There was fear in the butcher's voice as the man asked what he would have-- they had just cut up a fat pig, and there was lots of meat... He said he'd take some steak. And blood, too, if there was any.

This request made the man scuttle to the far side of his stall and get busy weighing and wrapping up his purchases. The smell of the man's fear was evident now-- he was almost fumbling in his hurry to cut up and wrap up the meat. He almost wanted to snarl at the man, but that would only scare him even more.

It didn't help that the throbbing in his own veins was getting stronger, or that he could smell all the raw meat and blood in the stalls around him, the sweet smell of dead animal meat and blood mingling with the rich, warm smell of living human meat and blood.

He silently counted down in his head, his hand flexing at his side, helping him to get a grip on himself and wait until the butcher gave him his purchases.

He even managed a civil nod and curt thank you when the man gave him his change, before he turned to go, forcing himself to walk normally and not run out of the meat section of the market.

The time was drawing near, so near-- he had to get back to his brother soon. If he was finding it hard to control himself, the boy must be having a harder time of it. That is, of course, if his cousins had not defied him and taken Dorian out with them again, knowing that it was nearly the full moon. He did not need to look at the calendar to know that-- the hunger slowly uncoiling in his gut told him. It fluttered in his stomach like a bird-- no, not a bird, a chick, a black chick, clamoring to be fed.

He walked faster-- he was nearly to the place where he had left his motorcycle when something suddenly made him stop short. A sense of someone familiar-- Dorian was nearby. His brother was here, in the market.

He swung around quickly, questing for that presence, cursing Ramon and Braulio for disobeying his orders. Were it not for his father's memory, he'd have torn his cousins' throats out long ago.

Thou shalt not kill, Daniel. Promise me...

Yes, I made you a promise, Tatay. But why did you not bind Dorian as well?

There. His brother's presence was getting stronger.

He turned the corner into the next alley blindly, his senses focused on Dorian, on getting him home before anything untoward happened...

WHAM. He collided with something soft.

"Ow! Watch where you're going!" a female voice cried indignantly. "Ay... ay... ay..."

He looked up just in time to catch her as she tottered, thrown off balance by a large purple backpack. She felt warm, and fresh... the rich human smell of her underneath the mild flowery scent of the cologne she wore, rose up to meet his sensitive nostrils, making him inhale...

And then she looked up, and he found himself staring into her eyes for a few seconds before he quickly looked away and let her go, shaken.

She was not tall-- the top of her head barely reached his chin. She was not fat, but not that slim either-- just nicely rounded in the right places. Short, wavy hair that looked as if it had been cut at random nevertheless framed her oval face just right, emphasizing her big brown eyes. Eyes that had stared into his until he was afraid she'd learned all of his secrets.

He glanced at her again, and the scent of her grew stronger as her cheeks grew red. She busied herself with patting herself down, brushing off the white t-shirt and maong shorts that she wore, and checking whether the expensive-looking camera she wore around her neck was undamaged. Her neck, where a pulse was beating...

Hunger uncoiled, sat up, paid attention. He forced it back down, forced himself to search for his brother's trail. Blood-- he scented blood, coming from her-- and then he saw her wiping at her arm with a tissue that came away red. Her arm had come in contact with his package of meat when he touched her. The warmth of her body had made the blood smell stronger... No.

He turned and ran.

* * *

Micah stopped wiping at her arm and stared curiously as the stranger ran away. She'd been hurrying down an alley between several closed stalls that she was sure would take her to the other side of the market, where she could look for the terminal to Entierro, when someone came out of nowhere and ran right into her. She had a confused impression of blue maong and a blue baseball cap as she flailed off  balance, before he caught her and she found herself staring into his eyes. 

Where had she seen eyes that beautiful before? There was that guy in Devil Beside You some years back-- Mike He, that was it-- and that guy in Perfect Match, Lee Min-ho. Or that guy in Protect The Boss. Kim Jaejoong. Eyes that you could flail about for hours-- and yet there was something disquieting about them, although she couldn't exactly identify what it was.

She realized she was staring. He let her go as if she'd burned him, and looked away. Micah looked him over secretly as she brushed herself off. Despite the conventional, boring maong jacket, t-shirt and jeans, he was unexpectedly good-looking. Ikemen, even. But not aegyo. He looked stronger, deeper than that -- really, where are these thoughts coming from, Micah? She checked her camera-- dared she take a photo? Post it to Twitter captioned "an unexpected gem-- good-looking guy in the middle of nowhere"? Would he think she was crazy?

She realized he was looking at her and felt her cheeks grow hot, and looked down, and saw the smear of red on her arm. Nothing hurt, so where had that come from? She fished in her pocket for a tissue and began wiping, keeping an eye on him-- saw his eyes widen, saw him swallow, turn abruptly, and run.

Shaking her head, she muttered to herself, "And he was so cute, too."

The alley was not particularly deserted, and people passed through from time to time. One of them was the dried fish vendor. Micah looked up to see her standing there.

"You can't stare at him like that, you know," the woman said. "He might come after you."

"What do you mean?"

"He's one of those," the woman said. "Didn't your mother ever teach you anything? Don't look an aswang in the eyes-- it will hypnotize you or freeze you long enough so it can attack and eat you. And if you ever manage to escape, it will come after you."

"Manang," Micah said patiently. "I already told you. I don't believe in aswang."

"Don't say that," the woman said. "It will only make them go after you more."

Seeing that the woman really believed what she was saying, Micah sighed inwardly and thanked her, and asked her if this was the right way to go to reach the terminal.

Armed with new directions, she set off again, almost colliding with two young men at the end of the alley. Both stepped aside and smiled at her strangely. Brow furrowed, suddenly uneasy, she went on her way.

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Note: Vocabulary

Ukay-ukay - from the word "ukay" (oo-kai) literally "to excavate and scatter", a shop or stall selling secondhand clothing, usually sourced from outside the country. The earliest ukay-ukay stores consisted of jumbled piles of clothing on a tarpaulin or a low bamboo bed, and customers had to dig into the piles to find items they wanted, hence the name.

Guinamos - (gee-na-mos) shrimp paste, used as a condiment in Visayan dishes

Carinderia - (ka-rin-der-ya) the most common type of Filipino eatery, serving homecooked meals, usually rice and meat, fish and vegetable dishes. They also serve local snacks, in some places called "short orders."

La Paz batchoy - (bat-choi) a noodle dish originating in the district of La Paz, Iloilo City, and a common snack food in Ilonggo communities. It consists of noodles, pork meat and organs, and broth, topped with green onions or in some instances pork crackling. The diner may opt to add an egg, either raw or boiled (I recommend the raw egg, as it cooks slowly in the hot broth and turns it into something like egg drop soup.)

Tatay - (ta-tai) Father.

Maong - (ma-ong) denim

Ikemen - (i-ke-men) Japanese word, literally "a good-looking man." A hot guy. The popular meaning of this word refers specifically to androgynous good looks and a slender but muscular build. 

Aegyo - (e-gyo) cute. Micah here is referring to the fact that although he meets the description of ikemen, he doesn't act cutesy or gentle.