Aswang: Carnival of Corpses

The Cafe Murder

Chapter 2

Officer Manuel was first to arrive on the first scene. The body of a young girl found dead on one of the city’s well known café and another on a nearby bar. The killer has become active and this time it attacked someone on public. Sadly, nobody knew who the killer was.

I was still with Serana, just a few blocks away from the crime scenes when we heard gun shots from across the park. People started shouting and yelling. “ASWANG!”one of the people shouted. They were running, people started to panic. A wounded man was running; his left arm was heavily bleeding.

“Serana, it’s not safe to stay outdoors anymore. I guess we should go home. People are starting to freak out.” I told her. But it was as if she wasn’t even paying attention.

“They’re coming.” She said softly. “It has been a month and a half since that first incident. July 7th, two girls were attacked on the town’s park. Both were dead but they weren’t consumed.”

“Yeah, I heard of that one too.” I replied, trying to hide my idea of what I have seen before. I tried to forget what happened already, it was horrifying.

As the crowd went to frenzy, I noticed a man who has blood on his mouth, his eyes were reddish but I can picture out his face. It was the waiter from the café. I realized that he already took off when our order was served. I saw him shaking and mumbling when he left the café for the end of his shift.

The police came in to rush in the scene. They assisted one of the police officer who was attacked. He was bitten and needed urgent medical attention. Moments later, he started to salivate.

He started to scream, he said he was feeling a burning sensation and severe pain from his chest, like it was on fire. He coughed blood and some black bile. My heart started to beat faster.

“That’s one of the sign of an aswang infection. But why is it happening too fast?” I asked out of the blue. Serana was already closing in to the medical rescue team and I had to warn her.

“Serana! Be careful, wait!” I yelled.

“This is not good!” she screamed. “It’s an Aswang!”

The police stopped her from crossing in, minutes later they draw out their police line. My sister arrived, moments later.

“Andrei, why are here?” she approached me.

“I was at the café over there then we heard screaming, then this girl was found dead by the wash room. Furthermore, we heard a lot of people screaming.” I replied honestly, I started to sweat. I felt uneasy like something bad was about to happen.

“I am glad you’re safe. You should go home. We received another attack call from the nearby downtown area. It caused heavy traffic but the culprit was apprehended. He looked like he was dead as shit. Like a zombie from a horror movie.” She added.

“Where is he now?” Serana asked. She ran towards us and asked further. It was my sister’s first time meeting her.

“Oh, that’s private information. Sorry I can’t give you that.” My sister apologized. Leading us away from the scene; the officer was still screaming as we left.

“You and your friend should go home. It’s getting dangerous. Police might patrol again soon. I might be home late.” My sister added, biding me goodbye.

I walked Serana to the bus stop. There were fewer people around the vicinity and the press started to come. Just the word aswang started to send chills down my spine. I feel defenseless.

“Just what is happening?” I asked. My body was feeling cold. I can’t imagine my sister working out in the open and suddenly some psycho grab her and kill her. That is one horrible thing to think of and I can’t take chances.