The Moonlight Assassin

Raiding the Hacienda

It was three in the early morning. Cristobal, Lorena, and their army finally won against the monstrous occupants of Hacienda Del Fierro, thanking the cross made from the fire tree. Now, to reward themselves, they raced towards the now abandoned remains of the estate. As they arrived at the mansion, they broke in and looted everything they could find - clothes, jewelry, appliances, food, and paraphernalia of the evil rituals of the Del Fierro clan.

But Cristobal and Lorena heard something. It was the cry of an infant. They approached the room where the baby was, and they saw the infant sobbing inside a metallic crib. The baby boy looked innocent, and wore a mysterious bracelet.

Unknown to the couple, the child was Alexander, the heir apparent to the Del Fierro estate, who was only two days old at that time.

"Should we kill him?" a fellow albularyo told the couple. "You know everyone who lived here are either manananggal, tiktik or wakwak, whatever you might call it. He might kill us someday!"

"No," said Lorena, "even if this child may be a manananggal, we will raise him as a kind, intelligent, and God-fearing child. Even if someday he will become a murderous creature, we will do our best to help him resist the evil inside his body, or use that evil trait for good."

"I agree," said Cristobal to the army, "this child is our trophy for our victory against the Hacienda Del Fierro, and with that comes our responsibility to make him part of our community and become a good citizen. Let's keep this child, which we shall name him, Miguel, named after one of our guardian angels."

Everyone agreed to keep Miguel.

As they left the mansion, the lower halves of Don Salvador and Doña Ariana stand still inside the mansion's garden, merely waiting for their upper halves to return.