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Post by carrotzmoonman on Apr 21, 2007 12:37:01 GMT 8
Chapter One:
Midnight, the clock strikes twelve; I hear the clanging of the old clock and it reminded me of my childhood, a time when I use to wait for the time my father’s arrival. He would come home the moment the clock strikes twelve. He would train me to be an aswang hunter.
Aswangs have been a long time myth in our land. But what I though was just a folklore, exists in reality. It’s hard to identify an aswang because they can disguise as a human on broad daylight. They are everywhere and they can be anyone. My father was an aswang hunter. Every night he would teach me how to deal with such vile creatures. Their weaknesses and strengths, my father k knows all about it. He also taught me a fighting technique that has long been passed down to those who would become an aswang hunter in our family. On the day of my 12th birthday, my mother died of a mysterious ailment that even the best doctor can’t distinguish. On that same day, my father never came home. He was not even present on my mother’s funeral. Ever since then my uncle, Roberto Fausto, a known doctor in our small town, took care of me.
Unlike my father Uncle Fausto, is not an aswang hunter. He didn’t have the skill to fight them but he can create weapons that enable me to beat them easily. He is the one that takes care of my major hunting equipments and gadgetry.
I’m getting ready for another night patrolling the streets. Aswangs these days are getting tougher than ever. I look at the corridors of this old room, and I seem to notice that it’s getting to be very gloomy inside this house.
“I’m gonna be needing this” I said, holding uncle Fausto’s newly developed XS-135, a bomb that can easily annihilate any aswang within its range, living them only ashes on the ground.
“It’s time Lady Ayla,” Martha said, a long time family servant, she looks at me with a stern face, but even though she looks harsh, I know deep inside that she is worrying about me, “Your uncle Fausto is waiting for you. He said he wanted to talk to you before you leave.
“I’ll be there in a jiffy Martha” I replied smiling. “Tell him I’m coming down, I just need to do one last thing”
“Yes, my lady” She replied back and silently walked out of the room. Before I go, I wanted to look at myself at the mirror, checking out how I looked on my outfit. You can’t blame me for being a girl. Every time I see my face now, reminds me of my mother. Martha always tells me how I strikingly look like my mother when she was young.
Everything is set, I tied my hair and I’m ready to go. But before anything else, I pulled out a picture from the upper left pocket underneath my coat. It was a picture of my parents.
“Mama, Papa, I’ll always keep you near my heart” I said holding the only picture of m parents together.
***
I opened the door of the library, where my uncle spends almost all the time. I found him at his table with his goggles on, wearing a white robe with pajamas underneath it and with an extremely messy hair; he looked like one of those mad scientist I see on movies.
“What is it Uncle?” I said “Martha said you wanted to talk to me?” “Yes Ayla” he replies. My uncle who took cared of me when my mother died never started a family of his own. He is my father’s older brother, but compared to my father he is more childish than him. “Today is your 18th birthday, right?”
“I don’t have to be reminded by such, uncle” “You still can’t forget it do you” “Is this what it’s all about? You want me to celebrate the day I lost my parents?” “It’s not that, it’s been 6 years Ayla. You need to move on.” “Yeah right, I’ll be going now if that’s all you wanted to say, uncle. You of all people know how aswangs are these days.” I said slamming the door. I went straight to the garage where my motorcycle has been parked.
As I was about t ride my motorbike, I seem to have forgotten something. I turned back to the door and found Martha holding my helmet
“Is this what our looking for, my lady?” “Thanks Martha, thanks for every thing”
I put the helmet on and double checked if I forgot something. Seeing everything is set, I’m ready for the night. I started the engine and rode away in a hurry.
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Post by Than-than on Apr 21, 2007 23:55:43 GMT 8
hmmmm,is there a continuation?
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Post by carrotzmoonman on Apr 22, 2007 4:56:49 GMT 8
For those who want to post a comment on the story go to the Ayla: Aswang Hunter thread on the Role playing section. Not here on this thread. If you have accidentally posted a message here please, kindly erase it.....
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Post by Than-than on Apr 22, 2007 13:56:50 GMT 8
must pm any admin in jalarcan forum ^_^ laging online si mhych kaya sa kanya mo na lang ipa bura...if you want it just move it to the right category,of course must call mhych for that .
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Post by Jalarcan on Apr 22, 2007 15:56:03 GMT 8
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Post by carrotzmoonman on May 2, 2007 12:42:45 GMT 8
Chapter Two:
Being the only child I was handed the responsibility of being an aswang hunter. Every night I would patrol the streets to hunt down aswangs.
But I’m not the only aswang hunter around. There are a few like me, who hunts aswangs; we are called the Nightwalkers, a secret society that handles aswang cases here in Metro Manila. Before I patrol tonight, I must report to our headquarters at the secret underground basement of Quiapo church. It’s where my party would meet before the hunt.
With the speed of my motorcycle, I made it to the site in no time. I parked my motorbike near the entrance where Father Teves, a priest and a high council of the Nightwalkers Society, welcomed my arrival.
“What took you so long Lady Ayla, Everyone is waiting for you.” He austerely said
“Sorry father, uncle had to talk to me before coming here”
“Oh, you better hurry; Malcolm had an important announcement to make”
The sly and mischievous Branch Head Chairman Malcolm is also a priest here in Quiapo like Father Teves; he was the one who appointed me as the party’s leader. I’ve known him for almost 2 year now. He was an aswang hunter long before he became a priest and I also found out that my father worked with him on his last assignment. Every time I ask him about my father he would quickly change the subject. I know he is hiding something about my father. That is what I’m after, one of the reasons why I joined the Nightwalkers.
“Speaking of your uncle Ayla how is he?” Father Teves asked leading me to the altar, where the headquarters’ secret entrance lies. “I never saw him visit here since his last weapon demonstration.”
“You know my uncle Father,” I answered, “he always gives all his time in his fancy inventions.”
“A yes, Dr. Fausto’s inventions are truly a great help to the society.” He pressed one of the bricks on the wall after another until the altar table split into two revealing a brick stair, the entrance.
“So, what’s his latest invention?”
“He won’t tell me, but I got his upgraded XS-135”
“You should be thankful you have an uncle like him”
“Oh. I have to hurry up father; I don’t want everyone to keep waiting for me. See ‘ya!” I insisted.
“I see, you and your uncle still don’t get well together.” He added.
I hurriedly headed to the elevator, where my identification will be tested in order of me to enter the headquarters. I pressed the blue button where my finger print will be scanned by the computer.
“Welcome, Ayla Gil. Please proceed to the second phase.” The computer muttered as the elevator opened up for me.
“Please impede unnecessary movements while computer is scanning.” green laser scanned by entire body including my eyes. The green light in front of me signals that I can enter the head quarters “Thumb mark and body scan matched, welcome to The Nightwalker Headquarters, Ayla Gil”
“Finally the QUEEN is here,” as soon as the elevator doors opened, I saw Gim eagerly waiting, “now we can start, I can’t wait to shoot some aswang butts tonight”
Gim Castro, 16, a fellow aswang hunter. He is the party’s jester, and he would find ways of putting a joke out of any situation, good or bad. This sometimes annoys everyone, especially Frida. But he’s a talented kid, an excellent sniper; an expert in analyzing distances in a short amount of time. Like me he is the only son of another family of aswang hunter.
“Save it Gim, I’m sure you’ll get a lot of that when we get there.” Apollo said “So, took you so long Ayla, had a date with someone? Who’s the lucky guy?”
Apollo De Leon, 17, also an aswang hunter belonging to my party, the rich kid, boy-next door type of guy, who has a bad case of narcism. You’ll find him most of the time looking at himself on the mirror or praising how his “delicate skin” feels so soft and light. One thing though, his intellectual quotient is way far than anyone, he’s considered as a genius. He’s expertise is of analyzing and gathering data. Plus his knowledge in arcane arts allows him to perform a vast variety of spells. Melvin’s maternal roots are of the aswang hunters while his father’s were of salamankeros.
The two of them, Gim and Melvin, are best buds since they entered the society 1 and a half years ago. It was that time when Malcolm appointed me as the commander of the new batch of Nightwalkers.
“Let’s do the chit-chat later boys” I look passed them and walked to the end of the hallway where the rest of the team awaits.
The sliding door opened for me. Meet the rest of the crew. They are gathered on the round table busy with their own businesses. I see Frida reading a magazine about guns and artillery, Alyssa doing her nails, Banjo cleaning his sword the Santelmo, Isko talking to his cell phone and Malcolm impatiently waiting for my arrival, I can see the keen look on his face as he looks at me. The moment Melvin and Gim took their seats everyone sat quite for the meeting is about to start.
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Post by carrotzmoonman on May 2, 2007 12:50:29 GMT 8
Chapter Three:
“Everyone, shall we start?” Malcolm started “A few days ago two of our agents informed us about a local bar where the bodies of four people, who were reportedly missing, were found. Police reports say these four people were missing for almost a week. They disappeared from different locations, one from Makati, the other from Quezon City and two from Pasay. And all of them were found on the said bar”
“Could it be another work of “The Breed”?” I said
“It’s positive. “The Breed” is behind this”
“The Breed” is a secret syndicate that backs-up aswang activities here in Manila. Most of their masterminds’ identities are un-identified; we only knew that whoever is behind “The Breed” is influential and powerful. They hire aswangs to be their own personal bodyguard or assassin in exchange they cover the tracks of aswang related killings, making aswangs unknown to the human civilization.
“So what’s the deal?” Melvin said “I mean, what separates this case from other aswang related killings?”
“It’s completely different from previous incidents,” Malcolm explained “The victims have no relation to government officials, clean police records, no social status, in short ordinary civilians?”
“Wow! That’s new!” Gim protested having a discontented look on his face “We have a civilian victim, isn’t this, like, the nth time a civilian has been victimized!”
“Let me finish first Mr. Castro.” Malcolm insisted “As I was saying, unlike previous cases the victims showed no blood loss and had no organs taken from them. They were tortured to death. The only indication it was done by “The Breed” was because of this.”
Malcolm showed us a picture depicting a two strange burned on the chest of the victims. The first mark is similar to the mark that represents an aswang loyal to “The Breed”. The second mark was different yet familiar. I just can’t remember where I saw the mark.
“Apollo what do you know about the second mark?” Malcolm asked “We all know that the first mark is from “The Breed”. The second mark is unlike anything familiar to us.
“This mark bores the symbol for the god of the underworld, Bakunawa.” Apollo identified the mark just by looking on it. “This mark was used by early Filipinos who worshiped the god. It is believed in ancient times that whoever bears the mark of Bakunawa shall have anything they wish in exchange for their souls.”
“Good job Apollo!” Malcolm exclaimed “Your mission is to investigate the said local bar, find its connection with “The Breed” and lastly, don’t forget, your investigating, so try to stay away from unnecessary encounter, there could be civilians inside the bar.”
“What? You mean no aswang but-kicking?” Gim with annoyance asked.
Malcolm didn’t mind what Gim was mumbling about and just looked at me, “But when the worst case scenario happens, Ayla, you know what to do.” Malcolm added. “That’s it everyone, questions?”
Gim hastily raised his hand.
“I’m afraid I can’t answer your question, Gim, we have too little time.” Malcolm said “Punso will be sending you the information about the bar’s location. Okay everyone, let's split-up.”
After the conversation everyone made their own way out of the headquarters. I went out through the same place I went in so nobody would be suspicious; we can’t afford our headquarters being busted b our enemies. The others went out the other exits of the headquarters.
“Leaving already?” Father Teves said as I surface to the altar.
“Yes father”
“One more thing Ayla, I forgot to tell you this earlier”
“What was it, father?”
“Happy Birthday, Ayla.”
I never replied to what Father Teves told me. I just walked myself out the church to motorbike and never even glanced at him.
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Post by carrotzmoonman on May 8, 2007 12:59:03 GMT 8
Chapter 4:
I love how the wind flows through my body as I ride my motorbike. It almost felt like flying like a bird freely in the sky. I want to be like that bird. I wanna spread my wings and soar the skies free from all the trouble, free from all the things that makes me, me.
I never wanted to be an aswang hunter, but I swore on my mother’s grave that I shall find out what happened to my father. That’s why I have to be an aswang hunter in order to obtain my goal.
“BEEP BEEP” I hear my communicator ring.
“Hey Ayla, What’s up?” that’s Punso; he’s in charge of our communication on missions. Nobody really knows what Punso really looked like or his true identity. But basing from his codename, I can tell he’s a short guy (Punso is taken from Nuno sa Punso which means a dwarf-like creature in Philippine Mythology.). “Here’s the location of your mission”
The address of the bar Malcolm was talking about popped at the visor of my helmet, one of the technologies developed by the society. The society is backed up by the latest technology there is on earth.
“Here, I’m sending you this route to your bike. Load it on your bike. It’s the fastest way for you to get to the site.”
“Thanks Punso”
“BEEP BEEP”
“Ayla, Gim here. About the site, Apollo gathered some information about it. I’ll put him on”
“Sure Gim”
“Ayla, the site is a former prison way back Spain’s occupation. The place is also where they execute suspected rebels. When the Americans came the site was converted into a hospital but it was abandoned due to an unknown reason.”
“You know the reason Apollo?”
“Nope, but an urban legend stated that the souls of those who were prosecuted by the Spaniards were still haunting the site.”
“Creepy, huh?” I can hear Gim comment form here.
“After being abandoned, the Japanese turned the site into their military base. But several days later the base was raided by Filipino and American troops, leaving all of the Japanese combatants dead.”
“So, a lot of people died at that place?”
“Yes, the site has been dormant for years until a bar was built on it a couple of years ago. Ever since then, there were no reported incidents of death until now.”
Finally I made it to the said bar, I can see a black Enzo parked near the bar. It seems that Alyssa and Banjo came here first. They could already be inside.
Four dead bodies were found here a few days ago yet it looks like nothing has happened. There’s a flock of people waiting in line to enter.
I went at the back of the bar where it’s much easier for me to enter. I parked my motorbike and headed straight to the back door. I noticed someone creeping up from behind. Something was about to hit me and I swiftly negated form the attack, dodging the claws of the unknown attacker.
I saw a silhouette of two men, my attackers, the other standing up with his hands on his pocket while the other was showing off his shining claws, the one who possibly attacked me.
“You shouldn’t have moved while I’m slicing you” said the show off, “What do you say brother? There’s no use hiding our true form.”
“I do believe you are right.”
They transformed right before me. The unpleasant smell of death covered the place, the scent of an aswang. Their claws started to surface as well as their fangs, their eyes glowed fiery red like embers, their skin pealed off and revealed a skin much like of a corroding corpse. And right before me, two aswangs ready to have its dinner.
“Hahaha, little missy, are you scared now?” The first aswang said
“Oh, should I be?” I said trying to taunt them “Look fellas, I already had a bad night so if you still want to live you might as well run.”
“You talk too much for a human; it’ll be a pleasure dinning you” he instantly plummeted himself towards me trying to slice me again with his claws and, again, missed.
“You guys don’t know who you’re messing with” I took my knife out, grabbed his arms and slashed his hands cutting them off. The knife I was using contains a certain element Apollo concocted that eats aswang flesh once it wounds them.
The second aswang was not as aggressive as the first aswang but before he could make a move I propelled the knife on his head, leaving him as a pile dust on the ground.
I wiped the stains of blood on my dress and decide to enter the bar through the backdoor fast before any aswang finds me again and decides to make a meal out of me. I picked up my knife and felt a stinging sensation at the back of my neck.
I never saw it coming; I felt it flow throughout my body and I blacked out. The sting made me lose my consciousness
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