Pontianak: Short Stories

Pontianak short stories: How underwear ended up on my friend's sleeping bag.

*Note: Part of this story is real. My friend did find a pair of panties on her sleeping bag during camp, and no one claimed it. Thus story is based on some speculations that my classmates made.

A while ago, I got shipped off for a three day camp in school. Like any other teenager, we were all very excited about camp, especially since we could spend some time not having to worry about homework and relax without our parents' constant nagging. All of us were eager to spend time bonding with each other and our faces were practically glowing as we dragged our bags to school. We had heard raving reviews of the camp from our seniors, and all of us had high expectations of it.

After a day, however, all of us were exhausted, annoyed and severely sunburnt. It didn't help that we had very little time for showering after being roasted in the sun for two hours. It was quite expected for all of us to tumble into our sleeping bags and fall asleep immediately.

But not me. I wasn't used to sleeping in a hot room, lying on a hard concrete floor and listening to thirty others snore.

And definitely not a few of my classmates, either. They were lying quite close to me, and despite their efforts trying to keep their voices down, I was pretty sure they could wake the entire class up with their conversation. I could hear every single word that they said.

"Heard of a pontianak? Maybe it'll come tonight and..." my classmate made a snatching gesture with her hand.

"Yeah, yeah, and it'll go for you first, 'cause you're fatter and more delicious. Hmm...Nice method for you to lose weight, you know?" my other classmate muttered back. I swear that I could practically see her roll her eyes in the dark.

"Pontianaks suck blood, moron. Not fat. And since you are skinner, it'll have an easier time drinking your blood. Its fangs probably can't penetrate my FLABULOUS layer of fat."

"Pontianaks suck men's blood, idiot. We're not guys, it probably won't be interested."

"Yeah, it won't be interested until I find your corpse in the morning. Close all the windows, it's coming for youuuuuuu..."

"It's a spirit. It can just, like, float through the window."

"Yeah, and that'll be the reason why all the male teachers will suffer from massive blood loss...Pontianaks came! Whoooooo..."

At this point, I stopped listening. Pontianaks? What in the world were they talking about? I rolled my eyes and turned away. Idiots.

In the morning, I woke up at five in the morning when my friend Samantha elbowed me in the face. I was greatly irritated by the violent alarm clock that snored away next to me.

Unable to fall asleep, I quietly grabbed my things and tiptoed out of the classroom to wash up. It was apparent that it had been raining last night. Maybe the pontianak came. Ha. I thought, shaking my head.

When I got back, Samantha was frantically rummaging through her bag, searching for something.

"You know, Sam...I think that waking up a person by elbowing her in the face isn't good for her health?"

Samantha jumped. "Oh my - you scared the hell out of me. What are you saying? Anyway, have you seen my towel anywhere? Can't find it..."

"Think you left it in the toilet last night...let's go check."

At this point of time, most of my classmates had been aroused by the teachers. Irate and tired, all of them shuffled off to the toilet, leaving no one in the classroom. As I passed the two classmates I had heard talking last night, I muttered "Pontianak" and shoved one of them. Both of them burst out in a fit of giggles.

While all of us were busy in the toilet, a bizzare series of events took place in our classroom. I would only find out later about what really happened.

When we left, a wisp of smoke rose from the windowsill and dissipated just as quickly as it had appeared. Matted dark hair swung down from the ceiling, and a pale, bloodstained face peeked out from the curtains. Her white eyes bulged in their sockets as she surveyed the room and let out a low hiss.

Let me drink. Let me drink the blood. Let me drain your lifeblood, and it shall all be over. The pontianak glided around the classroom looking for her victim. They had planned to meet here, hadn't they? She had to act fast. The sky had started to lighten, and before long it would be too bright and dangerous for her to stick around.

Where is he? Where are you? Come out, my dear...

A flicker of movement caught her eye. She whirled, and the sleeve of her robe fell back, revealing a partially decomposed arm. Her fingers had no flesh - only bone. Her forearm was made of a combination of rotting, foul flesh and yellowing bone.

"My dear, it has been a long time since then..." the pontianak steepled her fingers.

There was a flash of light, and the pontianak moved forward, grabbing what seemed to be thin air. Her bony fingers contracted, and a thin stream of blood flowed from seemingly nothing. She leaned forward and licked the blood with her rotting tongue.

"Delicious." the pontianak hissed, licking her blackened lips.

A gasp could be heard, and a middle-aged man flickered into sight. One glance and one could tell that he had probably never gotten much money before. His hair was unkempt and his face was dirty, and it looked like he hadn't shaved for months. His clothes were tatters that just hung like rags off him.

"Come join me, and you shall be free from this pain...Come..." the pontianak looked at him with her milky white eyes.

The man screeched, scrambling backwards. The pontianak snarled, and lunged at the man, sinking her fangs into his neck and pinning his arms at his sides. He struggled, but his cries for help wasn't heard by anyone. He tumbled to the side onto a dark blue sleeping bag and wrenched his arm free. In desperation, he grabbed onto the pontianak. Her underwear, that was.

Her eyes widened in surprise and she let go, blood streaming from her mouth. With a moan, she tried to hold him still once more, but the sun was rising, and her strength was depleted. The man leapt out of the window and escaped. Unable to chase him, the pontianak staggered off, but her underwear dropped off.

When all of us flocked back to the classroom, nothing seemed to be wrong. Until Samantha got back to her sleeping bag and started screaming when she flipped the flap open.

" WHOSE IS THIS? GEDDIT OFF, GEDDIT OFF, DISGUSTING PIECE OF - OF UNDERGARMENT! TAKE IT AWAY, NOW!" Samantha screamed, scrambling back like a frightened insect.

"Whoa, what?" I asked, swinging around.

"THIS - THIS BLUE AND PINK THING WITH BUNNIES ON IT. WHOSE IS IT, GEDDIT OFF, NOW, GEDDIT OFF! TRASH IT! I DON'T WANT TO SEE IT!" Samantha covered her face with her hands and turned away.

I gingerly picked it up with pinkie and dangled it in front of everyone. "Whose is this? It has, um, bunnies on it and it's blue with pink hemming..."

My classmates burst out in laughter, hooting and catcalling, but no one came forward to claim it.

"Ok then, it goes into the bin." I picked my way to the dustbin and was about to throw it in when the two pontianak-obsessed classmates of mine yelled at me.

"Don't do that, it's the PONTIANAK'S!" they burst out laughing at their own joke.

I shook my head in disgust. Pontianaks wore blue and pink underwear with bunnies on it? I didn't even know if pontianaks wore panties at all. But still, I tossed the underwear onto the windowsill and left it there.

That afternoon, it started raining again, and we all forgot to close the windows. When I went back, I noticed that the panties were wet. Faintly disgusted, I shook my head and left it there. That night, I made sure to close the windows.

But the next day, the panties disappeared.

Well, maybe it was the pontianak's. I wouldn't know.