Solitude in the Dark

Episode 8: Eccentric

Hayan unmasks himself, digging a deep breath that grants strong relief throughout his body. He slowly holds his abdomen "Ack..." he groans softly after being battered like a sandbag. "This will get away," Hayan said as he lay his back on the railing. He looks above the night sky and watches the stars as they shine from the cosmos. "The two may have returned to the condo by now," he sighed. Quiet roof enough to hear his breath, yet his heart pumps uneasily. With his ocean-blue eyes, stars twinkling in his pupils, a cold feeling shivers down his spine, and with that, he grabs his daggers, and every nerve in his body surges with adrenaline. "Shit!! The kid!!" he said as he stood up and immediately wore his mask.

Something whips straight to his face at incredible speed, such a reflex and he evades it as he flips backwards giving a fair amount of distance. As he sets his eyes above.

A winged woman in half, "You dare to kill Gregorio! You're going to pay for that!" she said. A female demon split in half, screeching at him, with her intestines hanging in the air as she glides in her bat-like wings.

He holds his daggers tight for another duel. In a second his legs feel numb as he's about to pass out with a blurred vision. His right arm was severely cleaved open which led to massive blood loss. She's so fast that... I thought I avoided it...

He pulls out a handkerchief and temporarily closes the wound by wrapping it tight. "He died afraid..." Hayan said as he threw his formal jacket and folded his sleeves "It would be my delight to deliver that same feeling to you, Manananggal." His fighting spirit never ceases to falter despite exhaustion, he forms a stance with both of his daggers in reversed grip ready for another bloodbath.

In his ragged and sharp fangs drooling in her saliva, she laughs after seeing a man severely wounded and still having the pride to stand up for a fight. The Manananggal sets both of her deadly claws to Hayan's throat as she dives down with blood from her internal organs rains down on him.

The Manananggal is an ancient creature from the Philippines that can fly thanks to its wings but with only their upper torso. Their sharp nails can easily cut through human flesh and their long tongue can whip with incredible accuracy with the capabilities of cutting a limb in half. As long as the moon reigns in the night sky, they can feast on humans. However, before sunrise, they must return to reconnect with their other half, otherwise the scorching sun will burn them to death. They are weak during the day and feral at night.

Hayan also charges head-on and launches himself up in the air clashing with his daggers and the Manananggal's claws and exchanging devastating blows. As he delivers powerful hits, sweat and blood drenches through his clothes, as well as his arms tremble from each strike from the overwhelming strength of the Manananggal. With the heavy and aggressive strikes of the fiend, despite Hayan being exhausted and already wounded and with continuous blood loss from his arm, he still has the unwavering will to defeat her, his determination shines more than the stars in the night sky. With his focused precise and agile mobility, he is able to strangle her with his firm grip and takes her down slamming to the rooftops, he stands on top of her and nails her two arms with his daggers.

Hayan charges for a sure kill strike, but the Manananggal has the means to do everything to kill him first. She breaks away from his daggers by force, tearing her palms away from the blades, without any sweat she heals to deliver a lethal attack on his injured arm, and deliberately loses more blood, with her whipping tongue, she wraps it around Hayan's neck, choking him, and with enough aggressiveness, she crashes him on a populated street below.

People are left stunned and terrified as their eyes widen, catching sight of the heinous creature of darkness in front of them. The street collapses to shambles as the people scramble for safety. Unknown certainties and his current state it will be his last stand, "Get out of here! Run!" he shouts at the top of his lungs. But he stands once more even with pain inching across his body, and the risk of dying is in his eyesight yet he perseveres.