The Date

I. The café had a few customers that night. Tina was alone at a table in one corner, quietly sipping a cup of mocha cappuccino while stabbing a slice of chocolate cake with a fork. To her left a group of boisterous young men sometimes glanced at her. They were obviously talking about her. Two…

The Visitor

I. The hospital reeked of sickness and death. Along its cold concrete corridors echoed the groans of the ill, the pained, the dying, and the prayers of hopeful souls. Medical staff, patients and their relatives with worried faces shuffle about. The groans of the dying and the scent of death were intoxicating. “Calling Doctor Diaz,…

The Couple

I. “What a sweet smell!” Tina reveled while sniffing the cool morning sea breeze. Tacky, her pet puppy stirred in her arms and raised his head as if alerted by something. She turned and saw a couple strolling at the water’s edge near them. The woman was pregnant – five months probably. Tacky jumped off…

Highway Hassle

Running for dear life being chased by an Aswang (Philippine ghoul/ witch).

Mandurugo: A vampire from Filipino folklore

The tip of her hollow tongue tapers to a needle point and pricks the sleeping victim’s neck and sucks a bit of his blood.

Tiyu-an, the aswang with an immortal puppy

By day, the tiyu-an is a normal girl or woman but by late night the puppy licks her legs as a way of telling her that  it’s time for her to hunt.