“Mama, do you want to come out with me for a bit?”
“Sure, hun.”
We stood outside watching the moon, our arms around each other. I remembered the time we used to do this when I was a kid. Mama didn’t like parks and camping areas but to make up for it, we’d take our camping gear outside the house and slept under the stars in our backyard. It was so much fun that it became a family tradition. We’d build a campfire, roast marshmallows, and cook camp food. Mama made sure I didn’t miss out on the experience because of her.
“I’ll miss you, Ma.”
“I’ll miss you, too, baby, so much more than you will ever know. I’m so sorry for all this. I never meant for all of it to escalate this far. Had I known …”
“You wouldn’t have done it?”
“I don’t know. Because not running away would mean I would never have met your father, and I wouldn’t have had you. And I can’t not have you. You are my greatest achievement.”
I hugged Mama like I had never hugged her before, because after that night I was never going to see her again. It was at that moment when I felt something in my chest, a tugging, a connection with my mother I never had before. I looked at her as she changed from my mother to her true engkanto form. Her skin flattened out the scars, removing the traces of three years of torture, evening out the creases around her eyes. Every strand of hair filled out, full and shiny, so black in the glimmer of the moonlight. I had never seen my mother so beautiful in my entire life. Mama looked regal and powerful.
“Mama, you look stunning,” I gasped.
“I haven’t changed in this form in a very long time. I guess your love just drew it out of me. I am so proud of you, Karina. No matter what happens tonight, remember that I will always love you.”
I held Mama’s hand and let my own feelings travel through her. It probably intensified our powers because suddenly my spider senses tingled. Mama felt it, too, and we both focused on where the danger was coming from. There was something closing in on us fast. We ran inside to where the others were waiting. The ground shook beneath us. Something was digging its way up. It was fast and powerful but we didn’t know where it was going to end up.
“Get yourselves ready, we’re being attacked. Patrick, take the kids to the garage. Karina, go with your father,” Lolo instructed us. I grabbed Alyssa and Mark and ran to the garage, taking the stick out of my pocket. I slammed the door shut and took out several weapons from the cupboards that we had been using for practice. Dad took the sword, Alyssa the spear, and Mark opted for a smaller sword. It was a good thing we put our UV gadgets earlier on. We wouldn’t have had the time to sort it out.
It was so ridiculous to think that only a couple of months ago, these same people had relatively peaceful lives. The image of us holding weapons we only saw in movies, hoping to save our lives and the human world, was utterly surreal. Ridiculous was an understatement.
Inside the house it sounded like all hell had broken loose. There were screams I had never heard before and howls of creatures not from this world. Serra’s powers connected us so that Lolo could give us instructions without having to speak. They were drawing the enemies away from the garage. Everyone was moving out into the backyard. I hoped that Lolo’s force field limited the sounds that escaped to our neighbors.
He was warning us that within moments, no one would be able to get out of the shield to ensure the fight didn’t spill to our neighbors. Poor Mrs. Lindum would probably have a heart attack if she saw one of the creatures crawl onto her front yard.
“Dad, take Alyssa and Mark with you and get in the car. Drive away before the force field fully closes.”
“No, I’m not leaving you here.”
“Dad, please. We are putting my friends in danger. Lolo will be sealing us in and they won’t be able to get out. I need you to do this for me. Please.”
I knew he didn’t want to leave me in the middle of the fight, but I also knew that he cared about my friends and that I was right about this. He took me in his arms and kissed my forehead.
“I love you. I have my cell phone with me, okay? Call me.”
I nodded.
“I love you, too, daddy,” I said before giving Alyssa and Mark a hug. They rushed to the front yard to get in Dad’s car, but before they could reach it, Dad hit an invisible wall and slumped to the ground. They were locked in. It was too late.
I screamed for them to come back to the garage. I could protect them if they were inside. They ran toward me, helping Dad on his feet. Before they could reach the garage door, something emerged from the ground, like the undead, poking its claws out of the earth. I had never seen anything so hideous in my entire life. There was nothing left of the Jason I knew.
Then I heard it, the growl of a manananggal. His beautiful mother was equally as scary.
“It’s good to finally see you face to face, King Magatu,” Mirasol said. “So noble, so royal, but also so very useless. Where were you when your most loyal servant needed you? Tell me, did you defend Arman when he needed your help? You killed him. You killed your most loyal servant! You are not a noble King. You are weak and spineless!”
Lolo stared at Mirasol, unable to talk. I could feel his pain, the guilt he’d been carrying all these years. He blamed himself for Arman’s death.
“I loved him like my own son. But the kingdom’s rules are there for a reason. He knew the rules, he knew what was going to happen if he broke them. I am sorry he died away from his family. I did all I could to help him.”
“Liar! You are the king! You could have done more! I will take from you what you took from me!”
Mirasol’s long sharp tongue sliced through the air, aiming for my head. I moved out of the way in time but I saw blood coming out from a huge gash on my arm.
“Run, Karina, get away from here!” Mama screamed.
I pushed Alyssa, Dad, and Mark into the garage as I scampered after them. I turned to see Mama and Lolo aiming for Mirasol, throwing her up onto the force field and burning her flesh. I was grateful the shield only hurt the dark clans and not humans. She screamed in pain as she dropped from the sky. I heard the thumping of clawed feet behind me. It was Jason coming for his kill. Unlike his mother, Jason’s body was fully formed. He had the hind legs of a horse but with sharp talons.
I heard Lolo in my head saying we needed to take the fight somewhere deserted. Keeping the force field sealed was draining him quickly. We had to take them somewhere far away. I thought of the old cemetery a couple of blocks from the local university. It was the perfect place for a fight in the middle of the night. Lolo saw the place in my head and prepared everyone.
In the blink of an eye, everyone found themselves in the middle of the graveyard.
The enemies were surprised by the unexpected teleportation and we took advantage of their confusion. The kapre pounded the sigbin to the ground, dropping a giant rock on it. Serra deafened the wakwak with her sonic wave, rendering it temporarily immobile. A tiyanak jumped onto Serra and bit her shoulder, stopping her mid-scream. But Yokoy came to her aid, stabbing the little critter in the chest. The wakwak jumped on the chance and slashed Serra with its sharp talons, sending the mermaid leader flying. I remembered the pond near the entrance of the cemetery and told Serra and Yokoy to make their way there.
I saw Gulat and Kamudo fighting the nuno and sigbin back to back. It was hard to get a hand on the nuno with it constantly disappearing in and out of the ground. Its spit burned Kamudo’s leg, sending the big guy toppling down on some tombstones. Pili’s powers enabled him to shield the ground so that the nuno couldn’t dig down anymore. The two little men took on each other, jumping around so fast it was hard to follow their fight.
It was not looking like we were going to win. Mama and Lolo were barely hitting Mirasol and Jason who were honed in years of training. Lolo was still weak from the teleport and the enemies knew this. Mirasol had prepared for this moment far more than we have. She was convinced she was doing the right thing, avenging her love. She�
�d been driven by hatred and anger all these years and she was not about to let all her hard work amount to nothing. She managed to convince her only son that killing us all was the only thing that mattered, even if Jason had no reason to hate us.
Mirasol swiped her long tongue and grabbed Mama by the neck, choking her. Lolo zapped her wings on fire and she came crashing to the ground, releasing Mama’s neck. I saw Mark setting up the UV lights, forming a circle around him, Alyssa, and my dad. They were fending off attacks, helping the other clan leaders with their own enemies. Mark turned on the UV lights, sending the creatures screaming away from them. Dad took several UV grenades from his fanny pack and threw some toward Serra and Yokoy. The grenades blasted the night with UV rays, burning the dark clans.
I sensed what Lolo intended to do next. He wanted to see inside Mirasol’s head to find a way to defeat her. Mama heard this and pushed Mirasol back toward him. He held the back of Mirasol’s head and entered her mind, showing all of us the memories in her head. We felt her pain, her love, her confusion, her anger. I was not used to this ability and my head throbbed in pain. I dropped to the ground, holding my head in agony. I didn’t even notice the tears. I saw Mirasol. I felt her. So alone. She had been through so much. Her hate overwhelmed me.
But finally we also knew her secret.
Jason was Arman’s son—not half-human like he was made to believe. He was half-engkanto, the son of one of the best and most loyal of the engkanto. He was half-light and half-dark. All his life he had been trained to transform into a weapon, a monster, a killing machine. He probably didn’t know that he had other skills. That if he chose to, he could transform into something other than a killer.
I felt a searing pain on my back and turned to see Jason’s claws dripping with my blood. I let my instincts kick in and fought back, sending him flying across the graveyard. He stood up quickly, and with one leap, landed beside me, slicing my chest with his talons. I fell back, blood dripping from my clothes. It was hard to breathe. The pain in my chest burned. Lolo saw Jason closing in on me and released a bolt of lightning on him, sending him flying away from me. I tried to get up, looking at how the others were doing.
Serra and Yukoy had managed to kill the tiyanak and were helping Gulat with the wakwak, tearing its limbs one by one. Kamudo and Pili were back to back, fighting the sigbin and the nuno together. Every single one of them was badly hurt, but they continued fighting the leaders of the dark clans.
Lolo instructed everyone to form the defensive circle to protect each other. I ran toward them to join the circle but a claw grabbed me from behind.
It was Jason squeezing my neck, digging his claws into my skin. I fumbled to find the stick in my pocket and turned it into a sword. I stabbed Jason hard on the arm. He let out a shriek, letting go of my neck. I slumped on the ground, coughing to catch my breath. Jason was trying to get up, and he started walking toward me, eyes blazing red with anger.
Instead of going to the circle with my mother and grandfather, I walked toward him. I heard Mama scream for me to join them, but I ignored her. I knew how I could reach Jason. He had to know the truth.
I stopped before reaching him and summoned huge roots from underground, wrapping around Jason’s entire body. He fought the plant, slashing the roots with his arms and tongue. I made more vines and roots come out to hold him down. He struggled to claw out of the thick vines but I wrapped them tighter around his body. I moved toward him, close enough so he could see my face.
“Jason, listen to me. I know you’re in there. I need you to know that you’re not half-human. You are half-engkanto.” He bared his jagged teeth, snarling at me, letting out an inhuman growl.
“Jason, please, listen to me. If you really cared for me, listen to me now. Turn back. Turn back into Jason and look into my eyes.”
He growled and sneered, struggling even harder to get away. He swiped his long tongue and almost sliced my arm off. I pulled out another root to bind his snout together and forced him to look at me.
“Jason, you know me. I am Karina, remember? Remember what you said to me? You said you loved me, you said you don’t want to hurt me. I saw the good in you, Jason. I believe there is some good in you.”
I moved closer to him, ignoring Mama’s protests in my head. I ignored the sound of fighting behind me, the wails of pain as dark clashed into light. It was like approaching a rabid animal. The clan leaders were trying to contain Mirasol and the others, pushing them as far away from me as possible. I didn’t have much time. I needed Jason to sense me fast.
I looked at the sharp claws on Jason’s monstrous arms, so different from the protective hand that caressed my cheeks. I reached out to touch his arm. He stared at me. His eyes were red, so different from Jason’s blue hues. I gripped his arm and whispered to him, channeling everything in my heart so he felt it, too.
“Kill her, Jason, kill her now!” Mirasol screamed as she struggled to free herself from Lolo.
I focused on Jason and the thoughts and feelings I wanted him to have. I thought of the images I saw in Mirasol’s head. I made him see her mother’s smile, her mother’s happiness, real and pure. I made him see his father and the love he shared with Mirasol. I thought of the love I felt for him, the memories we shared together. I showed him how I saw him when I was with him. “I love you,” my head screamed.
“This is how I feel about you even after I’ve seen you like this. I know you’re in there. I know you are. Fight it, Jason, come back to me. We are the same. We are both half-engkanto. Find your way back to me,” I whispered to him, using everything I had to reach Jason.
He didn’t transform back into Jason but he stopped struggling. His eyes registered a small recognition of who I was. I let the vines shrink back to release him. He fell to the ground then stood, towering over me. I stepped back, my heart pounding in my chest. I was scared but also hopeful that he somehow saw everything in my head. That he understood.
“Karina,” he said, not in Jason’s voice but still comforting.
I smiled at him and placed my hand in his, the huge claw of a manananggal. The sound of his voice startled the others. They all stopped fighting to stare at us, wondering what was going on. Mirasol wailed in anger and flew toward me in a blur. Jason pushed me behind him and blocked his mother, sending her crashing onto tombstones meters away.
“Mother, no!” Jason growled as he leaped toward Mirasol.
“Enough, Mother. You lied to me. You said I was made for this. That I can never be good because we are made to destroy. I am your son. I am not your pawn. She’s done nothing to deserve this. I’ve done nothing to deserve this.”
Mirasol recovered and hovered over Jason, swaying unsteadily in the air with half a wing missing. She screeched a deafening scream.
“Everything I’ve done I did to make sure you take over the throne in Engkantasia. This is all for you, Jason. Don’t believe her. She is using her powers to manipulate your thoughts.”
“This has never been for me. All of this has always been about you. I never wanted to live in Engkantasia. You never asked me what I wanted to do. You’ve only pushed what you wanted me to do with my life.”
She flew down, pushing her face close to Jason’s, hissing her words. The other dark clans slowly moved away, hiding themselves in the dark.
“You believe her over me? I nurtured you. I hunted for you. I taught you everything you know and you cast me aside for this little tramp?”
“Please, Mother, don’t make me choose,” Jason whispered.
I saw sadness in her eyes that vanished quickly, replaced by the familiar hatred and anger she held on to for years.
Mirasol growled and grabbed me from behind Jason. Her claws dug into my neck, making me gag. I gasped for air, trying to peel her off me, but she was too strong. I felt myself being pulled off the ground and my vision started to blur.
Before I could react, I heard Mirasol shriek in pain. I was falling fast, my body meeting the earth with a loud thud. Kamudo lifted
me in his huge arms. I looked up to see Jason hanging off Mirasol’s wing. She whirled around, slicing Jason’s chest as he slashed her wing, sending Mirasol crashing on to a statue.
I staggered to where Jason fell. He had transformed back into his human form. The others gathered around us, forming a protective circle while our enemies stayed on their spot preparing to attack. Mirasol screamed at them as she struggled to get back up in the air.
“Kill them, kill them all!”
The leaders of the dark clans charged at us, coming out of the shadows as the fight resumed. I helped Jason to his feet. I hugged him and kissed him, letting go of all my fears.
“I love you,” I said to him, burying myself in his arms.
“I love you,” he whispered to me. Blood was dripping from the deep cuts on his chest. I saw Mirasol flying toward us in a mad zigzag, both claws aimed for my heart. Jason pushed me down and jumped to meet his mother’s attack, sending them sliding on the ground across several tombstones. I ran toward them, screaming Jason’s name. He was buried under a huge rock. His stomach had been ripped. There was dark blood everywhere.
One of his arms was in manananggal form, the one he used to fight off Mirasol. He was barely breathing. He was vulnerable in his human form, he knew that. Still, he risked his life to save mine.
Mirasol was a few meters away, transformed back into half her human form. She wasn’t moving and there was a big hole in her chest. I looked at Jason’s arm as it slowly transformed back into its human form. His hand opened. I saw his mother’s still beating heart.
“I’m sorry, Mother. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry,” Jason mumbled quietly, his eyes fluttering open, blood coming out of his mouth.
Jason gasped for air. More blood came out of his wounds. The leaders of the dark clans had run away after seeing Mirasol’s dead body.
“Lolo, he’s dying. Please do something! He can’t die now. It’s over. It’s finally over.”
“I can’t, mija, I’m sorry. My powers cannot heal a manananggal.”
“Try. For me, please try. He’s half-engkanto, Lolo!”
The Girl Between Two Worlds Page 20