Curse Of The Aswangs (The Vasquez Brothers #1)[COMPLETED]

6: JASPER

The smell of cooked bacon and pancakes woke me up. I took a bath and changed into my school uniform. My eyes fled to the dining room as soon as I climbed downstairs.
And then, the sun was starting to come up behind the mountain just across our house.
I found Ash sleeping on the couch the next morning, the book was open on the table.

I frowned upon seeing a monster with no hair, it's tongue flickering out, moving like a snake.
Underneath it was a word.
ASWANG.
"Kuya?" I tried to wake up my older brother.

He groaned. "Did I fall asleep?"
"You've been busy, Kuya." My eyes lingered at the page.
"Yeah." He sat up on the couch. Ash was usually the one who wakes up first in the morning to prepare our breakfast.
Sometimes I wondered how he could manage all his work, sleeping at 11pm and waking up at 4am.
His excuse was always 'he's an adult now'.
Ash reached out and ruffled my hair as if I was still that 7 year old kid when he first found out he has brothers.

I looked up to him, I always have. And him coming back here was a good thing.
"I'm not a kid anymore, Ash." I laughed.
"Here" He slid his hand into his pocket and gave me a 100 peso. "For your lunch."
"Thank you, Kuya." I said, still surveying the grotesque face of the bald aswang. "Do you think that they're real?"
"The Aswangs? No they're not. They don't exist, Kenj" He waved his hand. "But the murder yesterday. It seemed impossible that it could happen. This has been a peaceful town."

"Maybe it was done by a human, Jasper. Forget what happened last night. It was nothing." Ash smiled. I thought about it. And it felt like a dream to me. "You should get enough sleep, Ash."

"I'll be fine. Besides, I'll have my final interview today. Mr. Tiago's secretary emailed me last night."
"GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!" Zade burst out from the stairs and headed to the dining room.

"Too loud, brother!" I yelled at him.
Ash was sipping on a hot black coffee. Dylan just finished taking a bath and was in his school uniform now.
"So, we're going to the Nueva Bonifacio Museum today and I hope to see a statues of a monkey who definitely looks like Jasper." Zade teased me.
"Yeah, maybe you will see a deformed freak like you there."

"Come on, you guys, you two look like a monkey." Dylan smiled while munching through the bacon.

I caught a hint of smile from Ash too, because I've noticed lately that he had been having problems of his own. He was always struggling with money. Between his huge salary from a publishing company and our tuition.
My mom and dad had left us their will. But it wasn't enough to get us through all 4 years of college.
Mom died from a car crash 3 months ago, and that was why Ash returned in Nueva Bonifacio to take care of us.

His presence, though youthful, radiates the strength of someone who carries both a personal and cultural legacy. His eyes gleam with curiosity and intensity, hinting at the depth of his imaginative world, while his voice, when speaking has a commanding quality that captivates listeners.

He was the alpha in our little family.

I could barely remember it. It was all sudden, and...I still wasn't able to procress it.
But Zade...I understood why he was so mad at me. I just acted like I didn't care but the truth was, I did care.
"Ash, don't give me grief if you get the electrical bill, I saw it from the mail." Zade said.
"How much?"
"1,000"
"I can manage." Ash looked relieved. "And thanks, I was up all night reading the Grimoire, and it was all nothing but spells and creatures."
Dylan's ear perked up. "So, that's what it contains?"

"Yeah and some stuff that I couldn't comprehend, languages that I couldn't comprehend." said Ash. "Why are you so interested in this, anyway?"
"Curiousity." Dylan replied.
Dylan had been a part of our family since Mom brought him home. He was an orphan from the Archangel orphanage in Barotac Nuevo.
"Didn't mom leave any note?" Zade asked Ash.
"Nope, she did not."
"If she did leave a note, maybe she would tell you that you should start doing your laundry." I burst out laughing. Zade was lazy doing his laundry sometimes.
"If she did, maybe she would say that you should stop being an ass." He said.

"Are you nuts? You're the one who's being an ass. Especially when you're playing valorant."
"Valo-? No, I don't play that game anymore."
"And you're username was I'mSorryForBeingAn@$$"
Zade thought about it for a moment. "It's a cool name."
"It's a cool name. It really brings the shitty side of your personality." I said sarcastically.
Zade lifted a middle finger at me and I did the same."
"Hey! It's almost 7!" Dylan hit him with a crumbled paper.
Zade suddenly shot up on his feet. "We should be there by 7:30. Hurry!"
Dylan's face became annoyed. "You should hurry, I'm ready to go."

****

Ash dropped us at school. I got out of the car as Dylan and Zade went to the line of grade 11 students which was at the waiting area.
However, I stopped on my track when my spine tingled.
I didn't know what was it, but I felt a strong sense of danger. I tried to look around the campus not until I looked behind me.
What the hell?
There was a man with two curled horns, dressed in a white barong. His eyes were black.
Like really, really black.
"Jasper!"

My heart jumped. Frankie stood in front of me. "Frank, hey." I said as we passed by the grade 11 students already occupying the jeepney.
"What are you looking at?" He asked, looking behind me.
I hoped that it was just my imagination playing with me because what I saw was truly out of a nightmare.

"Nothing. What's up?" I asked Frankie.
"Dude, we have a new neighbor in our subdivision." He put a hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah, she's very beautiful." I knew that Frankie was in love with this girl from the way he spoke heavenly.
"Is she?"
"Yup."
"Dude, she's your neighbor and you're not making a move? What are you? A shy type?"
"Hey, I'm not like you. You still don't have a girlfriend. And you are being chased by popular girls."
I gently rubbed my jaw, bragging about that fact. "That's just my confidence, dude."
"Confidence?" Frankie teased. "Besides, she's just a year older than me."
"Well, if she's your type. Then go for it."
Frankie winked. "Definitely."
"Well, it's better than Rosie putting us in our misery."
"She will end up with an ugly guy." Frankie and I roared with laughter. We were walking in the hallway when I told him about the Grimoire we found at the storage room.
"It has been weird lately."

"Really? You guys found a book that has supernatural creatures in it?"
"Big trouble seems to be looming over our family. I don't know exactly. Something just feels wrong..." I strapped my bag.
"Dude, it's just your mind because you guys found a Grimoire."
"Yeah. And maybe mom brought it somewhere."
"From Siquijor?" Frankie popped the chewing gum.
"Maybe." I shrugged. Then I noticed that Frankie was staring hard at me.
"What?"

He chuckled nervously. "Nothing. Come on, we need to get to class, ask Isabella if she has answers for the English assignment."