Into the Night - a Macolet au

Chapter 4

Maloi

Colet and I trekked back to the hut with a plan: check out the place quickly, take a picture as evidence, then rush back into town and report it to the cops.

Madali lang, in theory. In reality? Not so much.

Umaambon pa din pagbalik namin but this time we had to be extra careful. Avoiding twigs, puddles, leaves, branches—or anything that would give us away.

Just as we were nearing the hut, we noticed that there was a small shed behind it.

I didn't dare speak to Colet, so instead I mouthed, "Saan?" when we reached an impasse. Do we go to the hut or do we check the shed adjacent to it. 

Not wanting to risk us being heard, Colet responded by pointing at the shed with her mouth. I nodded, took my phone out readying myself to take a picture.

I then noticed the battery percentage at 2%, still No Service. Sa sobrang haba ng araw ko, kahit phone ko suko na. I signaled Colet for her phone, umiling lang siya then mouthed "Dead."

It makes sense though since kanina pa namin gamit phone niya as a flashlight. Pag minamalas ka nga naman.

Fuck, we're screwed.

I sent a silent prayer to God, pleading, for us to get home in one piece. Literally.

We carefully approached the shed with Colet leading the way. No light was coming from it. We hoped it was a good sign that the shed was only being used as storage.

Before opening the door, Colet placed a hand up, stopping me in my tracks. She then started to look around until she found a branch big enough to do some serious damage if needed. She poised it like a baseball bat, ready to swing, as I slowly opened the door. Good thing its hinges aren't squeaky, sobrang malas ko na if nangyari pa yun.

A strong pungent smell immediately assaulted our nose, causing us to gag, making my eyes water. I used my forearm to cover my nose and made my way inside. The quicker we do this, the faster we could go back and report it to the cops.

I braved my way towards the shelves of stacked jars with only the moonlight illuminating the room, seeping through the gaps of the shed.

It took a moment for my eyes to adjust but as I stared, trying to figure out what was in front of me, realization started to hit me.

What we're looking at were rows and rows of human body parts brining in a chemical solution.

In a of state panic, my phone slipped from my hands as I tried to quickly take pictures before my phone's battery runs out. The soft thud seemed to echo in the hallowed walls of the shed.

Colet noticed and crouched on the floor looking for my phone. Navigating through the barely lit shed, seconds seemed to be minutes of searching.

She was finally able to locate it and handed it over to me just as we noticed someone standing in the doorway.

A silhouette of the same willowing figure we hoped to avoid.