“Fuck that’s bright. Anyway, you should see what we found back there in a cave, man. You’re goin’ to shit yourse…”
He peered down at the prone body lying between them in a wide pool of blood.
“What the fuck went on here?” he demanded.
Behind him, Angela gasped as the creature burst from between the trees.
Screams filled the night.
In a flash, it had shot towards Paul’s body. Skye and Samara fell back and scrambled a quick retreat in the dirt. The beast ignored both women and slithered between them.
Ken swung the branch and missed.
The monster headed directly for Rick, who took a few defensive steps back and raised his arms, waving the thing away.
The creature sped on, tail of entrails flicking, and small intestines dragging through the fallen leaves like a ragged, wet mop.
“Come on!” Rick roared and jumped forward, meeting the beast with an abrupt kick.
The creature darted aside, avoiding the boot, and drove its teeth into Rick’s leg.
He howled and tried to bat it away with his hands.
The thing immediately moved on, dashing through the dirt…directly at Angela. Unblinking, it opened its mouth, and the bloodied fangs poked free. The spinal tail curled and flexed, propelling the disembodied head into the night air.
Angela screamed and lifted her hands in protection, catching the creature as it knocked into her. Struggling to hold it a bay, she tripped over an exposed root and fell back hard.
The jumble of organs took full advantage of the moment and lashed its tail around her throat.
“Angela!” cried Rick and limped over with Ken close behind.
The thing strained, its needle teeth inches from Angela’s face.
Arriving first, Rick grabbed a handful of the creature’s glossy black hair and tugged hard.
It howled and glared up at him, its face marred by twisting hatred.
“Keep still, Angela,” ordered Ken and took hold of the tight tail. It felt like a slippery band of metal that barely yielded beneath his fierce grip. He gritted his teeth and pulled harder. Something popped in his back. He pushed the pain aside. “Hold that thing tight, Rick!”
“I’m trying. What is this fuckin’ thing?”
The creature breathed deep, taking in a large sniff. The visible lungs attached to its linear form inflated.
“Seriously,” screamed Rick. “What the fuck is this?”
It hissed and wrenched free from both men. Speeding across the ground, it once again took refuge in the dark places of the bush, vanishing in the shadows.
They sat around the campfire, which crackled and popped between them. In the lean-to he’d built himself, Paul’s body had been wrapped in a plastic sheet Ken had brought along in case of rain. It had taken them well into the early hours to settle themselves, get the fire going and prepare the body. Ken yawned, hiding it behind a hand.
“Still say we should’ve gone back to the bus,” said Rick. “Metal, man. It can’t get through metal. We could’ve just drove away. Fuck this shit.” He expected the puncture marks in his calf.
Despite the young man’s bravado, Ken noticed his hands shook.
“Look,” said the older man. “The bus is a good few hours away back down the trail. I don’t fancy hiking in the dark, especially with this…thing popping up. It came at night. We’ll wait till morning. Seems the fire’s keeping it away.”
They all nervously peered over their shoulders and past each other into the dark trees. The bush remained disturbingly quiet. Only Samara stared into the flames.
“I can’t believe it.” She snickered. “We always thought it was a story to scare us.”
“What’s that?” asked Ken. He ripped open the packet of marshmallows. The fun had gone, but maybe the sugar would help keep them awake.
“Yeah,” said Skye. “You said something before. A pen-something.”
Samara nodded. “A penanggalan. It’s a story from my country. My parents are Malaysian.”
Angela shivered. “Go on.”
Samara sighed. “Okay. Well, this is what my mother told me and my sisters. A young woman praying, if disturbed, can turn her head so fast that her head can become detached from her body. The woman has become penanggalan. A vampire.”
“We found a body,” said Rick. “Some chick in a cave with her head ripped off. Shit, I left the stick poking out the fuckin’ neck. Not showin’ much respect for the dead I guess. Anyway, looks like this vampire bitch been busy. Christ, Paul, bro. Can’t believe it got Paul.”
Angela took the bag of marshmallows from Ken and poked one on a stick.
He wished they were swapping horror stories on more fictional grounds.
“If you found a headless body up there, it probably was the penanggalan. The head and insides detach at night to hunt. During the day it’s a normal woman. Sunlight doesn’t kill them. They’re just…normal. They…” She shook her head. “They like to work in hospitals.”
“For the blood?” asked Skye.
“Not really,” said Samara, staring into the fire, the reflections of flames dancing in her eyes. “They work as midwives to get close to pregnant women. It’s the foetus and the mother’s blood they’re after. In Malaysia, miscarriages at night are blamed on the penanggalan.”
They shared a few seconds of silence, checking the dark trees around them.
Angela had stayed noticeably quiet through the story, playing with a ring on her finger, slowly twisting it back and forth.
“You okay?” asked Ken.
She nodded, but stayed silent, not even looking up.
Poor girl must be terrified, he thought. That thing ignored us all and went straight after her. She must be paranoid it’s singled her out. Unless…
He glanced at Rick and then back to Angela.
“Ah shit,” he muttered and dragged a hand down his face.
“So how do we kill this thing?” said Rick. “Paul was my brother, man. We can’t let it live.”
“A vampire…” said Skye to herself. “We don’t have garlic or crucifixes…maybe we can whittle some stakes…”
Samara stood and walked to the pile of backpacks. After digging around, she pulled out Ken’s hatchet.
“This’ll do it,” she said, “if we can get close enough. Any serious damage to the head should kill the damn thing, if mum’s stories were true. But we need to safely get close. It can rip a person to pieces in seconds.”
Ken grabbed the bag of marshmallows and poked one on his stick. He lowered it into the flames.
“I think I have an idea,” he said. “Your Bear Grylls would be proud. Bet he never had to deal with a goddamn vampire.”
“You’re not going to drink your own piss are you, Ken?” asked Rick.
They’d let the fire die down, and the darkness at the edge of camp had leaked in like an oil spill. Huddled inside one of the shelters, they listened to Angela whimper in the next lean-to. It had taken too long to convince her the plan was safe. In fact, she was in the safest position of them all, completely sealed in. It would take the penanggalan a while to work through the layers of branches. Ken glanced at his watch.
Christ, it’s nearly five in the morning. He yawned again. Long night.
“Fuckin’ bitch!” seethed Rick. “I can’t believe she didn’t tell me…”
“You’re not the easiest person to talk to,” whispered Skye. “Anyway, you should be happy. You’re going to be a dad.”
“Yeah, unless this pen-whatever rips it out of her.”
“Rick!”
Ken glared at them both and held a finger to his lips. There was barely enough room and having the two kids argue would surely give the game away. Clutching the hatchet, he peered through the network of branches and leaves at the next lean-to. Angela could barely be seen inside, but her sobs and sniffles drifted through.
Good. If I can hear her, so can that thing. It also seemed to sniff her out. Must be the motherly bloo
d or something.
He quickly placed the hatchet down, wiped his hands on his shorts and picked it back up.
Just hope those vines slow it down.
He’d found some vines and long, twisted twigs and incorporated them into the lean-to, adding some needle-tipped blades from a grass tree for good measure. The vampire was a tangle of veins, arteries, muscle and organs. The more for it to become tangled in, the better.
“See anything?” Samara murmured.
“Not yet. Wait…you hear that?”
They froze, listening to the light dragging sound from the other side of the dwindling fire.
“Shit,” yelped Skye. “There it is.”
The penanggalan slowly crept towards Angela, its tail of gore humping along the ground like a caterpillar. Its head was held high, oriental eyes scanning the area. Beautiful black hair swayed with each small movement.
“Get ready,” said Ken, gripping the hatchet handle so tight his old knuckles screamed.
He felt the tension running through the four of them like static, rising hair and encouraging gooseflesh. Licking his dry lips, he watched and waited.
Angela finally saw the approaching creature and erupted into panicked screams. The lean-to began to rock as she kicked to get free.
Shit! thought Ken. What are you doing, girl?
You’re dead if you escape…
The penanggalan hissed in apparent delight. Maybe Angela’s terror made her smell better with all that fresh, fast-pumping blood. The fangs popped free from its seemingly delicate mouth. Salivating onto the dry, dusty earth, the vampire neared.
“Help me!” Angela roared. “It’s coming!”
Beside him, Samara moved forwards. Ken grabbed her firmly by the shoulder.
“Ssssh. Just wait.”
Angela continued to scream. The penanggalan had almost reached her shelter. “Please oh please…Rick? Ken!”
The monster smiled and slid its entrails on the weave of branches and twigs. It sniffed like a dog inspecting its supper. Still, it tilted its head and gave Angela a sympathetic look.
Sorry I have to eat you, Ken imagined it saying.
Wormy veins the colour of bruises snaked onto the shelter, wrapping around the branches and probing for a way inside. Other tissue flopped from the spine and coated the lean-to, searching for a way to unwrap the delicacy.
Ken raised the hatchet and ran a finger down the sharp edge. He intended to split that grotesque head like a watermelon.
“Get it!” said Rick.
“Wait,” hissed Ken.
The vampire delved further, becoming entwined in the web of wood and vine. Its head bobbed back and forth, gazing at its prize through the gaps.
Angela wailed, still fighting to get free.
“Now!” Ken dove out of the shelter, weapon already raised.
The creature turned and pulled, its body sliding free but for one fleshy strand. Tugging, the vampire stayed trapped.
“Ha!” yelled Ken, sweeping the hatchet down.
The creature ducked.
The blade scuffed through its hair.
“Chop it!” screamed Samara.
Ken thrust the weapon back, striking the thin, tangled and very bloody fibre that held the monster in place.
With a howl of triumph, the penanggalan shot free and darted around Ken into the dark bushes.
“Ya wranger!” he cried, cursing himself.
“Get after it,” said Rick, hobbling past. “Look!” he pointed upwards.
Already the sky had begun to show to first signs of dawn. A faint blue glow lingered over the treetops to the east.
“The cave!”
Ken realised the boy was onto something. Samara said the vampire had to return to normal human form in the day. He bounded after Rick.
“Samara!” he called back. “Stay with Angela.”
He ran from camp and started around the base of Mount Banjarra. Hearing rapid footsteps from behind, he glanced back. Skye was in pursuit, flashlight in hand.
“Don’t wait for me,” she yelled. “Go!”
Ken saw Rick sidestep around a cluster of rocks and vanish into the side of the small mountain. He guessed they’d reached the cave.
“Rick,” he cried. “Wait there.”
He thought the boy had ignored him, but then saw the short mohawk over the rocks. Rick had thankfully waited. Ken couldn’t deal with losing another foolish kid on this trip.
“Let me go in,” he said, panting as clambered over the rocks. “It could be a trap.”
He paused to help Skye. The girl seemed in much better shape than him and even gave a smile as he pulled her up and over.
“Ready?”
They nodded.
“Good. Stay quiet and keep behind me.”
“It’s in there,” said Rick. “I saw the fucker slither inside.”
Ken inched towards the mouth of the cave.
Slick, wet sounds echoed from within, followed by a long and sinister hiss. Ken imagined this was how Perseus felt walking into the Medusa’s lair. He strained to see inside the murk of the cave.
“Let’s have some of that light, Skye,” he whispered.
The girl obliged, directing the beam to the rear of the cave.
A headless body lay on the floor on its back. The penanggalan loitered by the open neck, easing its spinal tail into the wide, glistening cavity. The veins and arteries followed, sliding inside the body like an octopus’s tentacles. Next, the stomach, lungs and heart slipped in. The body began to stir.
“What are you waiting for?” asked Rick. “Axe the fuckin’ thing!”
Ken raised his hand. “Wait. If it’s becoming human, maybe it’ll be easier to kill then.”
The body tentatively stood and lurched like a drunk, with hands swatting at the air, trying to find balance. The head was perched on top on an extended neck of exposed flesh and bone.
“There’s my stick.” Rick pointed at the short and slightly bent length of wood poking from the neck. It had received a generous splattering of blood.
“Make up your mind quick,” said Skye. “It’s nearly done…and it knows we’re here.”
True, thought ken, meeting eyes with the Penanggalan. It growled, baring its nightmarish teeth.
The tendons and arteries pulled sharply, and the head popped back onto its shoulders.
The tip of the stick burst through its left eye.
The young Malaysian woman that stood before them stopped dead, her mouth hanging open.
“Kill it!” screamed Rick.
Penanggalan! An Aussie Vampire Tale Page 3