The Moonlight Assassin

A Different Transformation

It was the night before Miguel and Tabitha are leaving for Sitio San Roque.

That night, however, was a full moon.

Miguel went to his room and thought about what to do next. Unlike the past moments when he had to cover up his room so that moonlight would never strike his skin, he contemplated on something he had never done before - to give in. He never closed the curtains and waited for the clouds to reveal the moon behind it.

On his knees, Miguel prayed.

"Father God, I don't know why you had to make me like this hideous monster. I did not want to be like this. But I want to show that love prevails in me despite having a deathly creature inside. Give me a chance to let Alexander aside, give him time to think about what to do with himself. Please, Father, give me a chance to live. I thank You for the love. Amen."

As the moon revealed itself, its bright, yellow glow shined through the night sky. As its rays reached Miguel's body, powerful contractions started to manifest. Miguel immediately felt immense pain as his body went through an intense transformation process.

His skin, once tan and glowing, became pale and filled with dark veins. His lean muscles suddenly became enlarged and defined, tearing apart his clothing. His flowing hair became long and unkempt. Claws emerged from his soft hands. A pair of bat-like wings emerged from his back. Finally, his abdomen stretched as far as it could until it split apart into two sections, spilling guts and blood onto the floor. 

However, this particular transformation was different.

As Miguel opened his eyes, he did not see a blank room that contained his consciousness. Instead, he still saw his own bedroom now splattered with guts and blood from his split waist and torn parts of his clothes. As he looked down, he saw his split midsection along with his lower extremities topped with fleshly parts.

To his shock, he screamed, "AAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Miguel immediately flew towards his bedroom mirror, and saw himself as the manananggal people had feared all this time.

He was now that hideous monster.

"WHY, GOD?! Why did you turn me into Alexander?," he exclaimed.

Alexander, who is now inside Miguel's consciousness, whispered into his soul. 

"Miguel, I decided to let you experience how I look in real life. Well, your prayers are answered," said Alexander. 

Miguel suddenly had strange cravings for human blood, which he struggled to contain. He flew out of his apartment into the depths of Maharlika City. 

In the dark of the moonlit night, Tabitha went out of her condominium to buy some snacks at a convenience store. As she walked on the street back to her home, suddenly a group of thugs charged towards her, demanding her wallet and mobile phone. One of the thugs brandished a knife towards her neck, threatening to kill her.

"Give us your money and phone, else your neck's gonna be slashed!", said the thug leader.

"No! Now put that knife down in Jesus' name!", Tabitha replied.

"Well, well... Will that Jesus guy send one of his winged men to attack us? You wish!", the leader exclaimed.

Suddenly, a strange creature appeared to the thugs and to Tabitha. The creature had the form of a well-defined human torso, with wings that shone in the moonlight. 

The thugs screamed in fear, thinking they have seen an angel.

"Hey, boys, you wanna mess with her?", the creature spoke to them.

Tabitha looked closely at the creature's face. Strangely enough, she saw a glowing profile of an innocent-looking man with long, wavy hair. She also thought she had seen an angel.

"Help me!", Tabitha screamed, as the creature charged towards the thug leader who held her up.

Using his fists, the creature fought the thugs in an action-filled manner. His reflexes quickly eloped the counter-attacks of the thugs' weaponry. At last, he downed the thugs until they ran away from the scene. 

The winged human-like creature became tired, and passed out into the street below.

Tabitha immediately ran into the winged being. To her surprise, she saw a completely different creature. She did not see an angel, but it was instead a hideous manananggal. However, she wasn't fearful of the creature at all, knowing he saved her from danger. Taking away all her fears, she went near the creature to thank him for his heroic deed.

As she crouched down towards the creature's body, Tabitha caressed the manananggal's long hair, revealing his face. There she noticed his face, that amidst his hideously pale and veiny appearance, she instead regarded him as the handsome, courageous being who saved her.

"Thank you for saving me. Even if others see you as an monster, I now see you as my hero. How grateful I am to see you like this," said Tabitha, holding back her tears of joy. 

Tabitha took him away to a hidden corner of a nearby building. There she hummed a lullaby to calm the male creature up. She continued to caress the creature's well-built body, as she was amazed by his strength.

A few moments later, the manananggal woke up, slowly opened his eyes, and saw the profile of a beautiful woman under the glow of a street lamp. He was mesmerized by her beauty and her beautiful voice.

But, his urge for blood came to him and there he hissed, "HAAGGGHHH!!!" He was about to bite her and drink her blood.

Tabitha stood up screaming in shock, and exclaimed "In Jesus' name, I beg you to be still!"

However, as he had been fighting all along, amazingly, the manananggal squeezed himself in pain, stopping the urges even further. He instead focused on asking the woman how she is feeling. 

"Miss, how are you now? Are you hurt?", the creature asked. "I am sorry I had the urges to consume blood, but I am stopping it to save you."

Filled with joy, Tabitha went towards the manananggal to thank him.

"I thank the Lord for sending you to save me. How can I even repay you for this?", she said.

The manananggal replied, "Thank you for trusting me too, even if I look like this. May I know your name?"

"I'm Tabitha. How about you?", she replied.

Suddenly, the creature remembered and realized something. 

"What's wrong, sir?" Tabitha asked.

"I know you, my babe," said the creature. "Don't you know me? I'm Mig... ARRGH!" He writhed in pain as he felt he was about to transform.

Tabitha looked back and saw the sky turning dark blue, preparing for the sunrise. After she looked back in front, she saw the manananggal flying away towards the direction of the suburbs. 

"Mig? 'My babe'? Isn't it like... Miguel?", Tabitha whispered to herself.