Manananggal of Cebu

First Contact

"Another stressful night at work again" i said to myself while I comb my brunette towel-dried hair in front of my mirror.

I quickly changed and got all my stuff for work. You will never find me without my bag. I always bring with me which contains all of my essentials and I always leave the house an hour before my work starts. I was working for a call center company here in Cebu and my work schedule was on the afternoon shift and that would start from two in the morning until eleven. And I would usually leave the house at 1 a.m. but unfortunately today my motorcycle service called a habalhabal here in Cebu can't pick me up for work. So, I have to leave an hour earlier than I usually do.

"Twelve AM and twenty-eight degrees Celsius" said by my talking clock.

So I hastily left the house. As I locking up my door and left i had this uneasy feeling but I did not pay any attention to it.

The road was empty and no one was in plain sight. I could feel the eery cold air as I was walking on the street. I really hate walking alone specially at midnight. Aside from the thought of monsters and ghost. I also have the fear of getting mugged or robbed or raped which is quite rampant in our streets. I quickly redirected my thoughts into something more pleasant and I was hoping I could grab a cab on my way to the main road. It's a five minute walk from my house to the main road and our area is so deafeningly quiet. All I could hear was my on footsteps.

I was already halfway when i saw a figure sitting under the next light post. As I was getting closer It was a woman sitting on a big rock beside the light post. She was wearing this long white dress, like the one Sadako wears. Her hair was black with gray streaks and very long up to her waist. I had goosebumps and my initial thoughts that It might be a whitelady as we call a female ghost here in Cebu.

"Help. Can you please help me." the woman said as she grasp on her stomach.

As I approached her. I saw her face clearly in pain. She was an elderly woman, she looks like she's on her late sixties. I couldn't ignore her cries. My compassion for her was stronger than my fear. With no hesitation I approach her.

"How can I help you? Are you hungry?" I said as I approached her.

"Can you please help me. Please come closer." she said helplessly.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt? Do you need food or something?" I said as I moved closer to her.

Just as my head was close enough to her. She was bending down grasping and moaning in pain. What happened next shocked me.