[Santos Building, Binondo, Manila.]
[12:23 AM]
In a five-story old building across from Recto Avenue-once a notorious "drug den" run by powerful syndicates-no one is entirely sure if it has been fully abandoned. Some say an armed group is still squatting inside, though it's unclear whether they're part of a syndicate or something else entirely.
Back in 1998, a new rebel group emerged somewhere in Metro Manila. They weren't aswang or vampires; they were an armed vigilante faction that called themselves the light in the city's shadows. To the general public, they were known as terrorists.
"We are the Mat a'i-Taō, the urban hunters of Metro Manila. We are humanity's side in the vampire war."
Christian froze at Jun's words.
"Fifty years ago, we set foot in Manila from Davao under the name of Mindanao Death Squad. The Tangkay and the Sagrada Family knew us well, and the government feared us because we could spark a full-scale revolution across the capital at any moment."
"And we have a good use for you, kid."
A woman in a black jacket with long hair and a slim build entered the room.
"The commander is calling for you."
Jun: "Is that so? Alright, I'm coming."
He patted Christian's head.
"Rest for now, okay?"
Then he walked out of the room.
Outside Christian's room, two guards stood watch on either side of the door. In the hallway, two men in civilian clothes wore rosaries around their necks and carried rifles. Jun paused and whispered to them.
"Keep the orasyon alive, or if you don't want to let the demon escape..."
He walked slowly away, disappearing down the hallway. The corridor was old and decaying, the building's age showing everywhere. Old newspapers from the 1980s, '70s, '90s, 2000s, and even recent ones were pasted on the walls. Voices of people talking drifted from every room. Everyone in the building carried weapons: guns, bolos, knives, and more. Most wore bandanas with strange folk-occult symbols drawn on them.
Jun climbed the stairs to the fourth floor. When he reached it, he was greeted by a hallway lined with armed, scarf-covered guards and otherworldly skulls hanging on the walls as displays. He headed straight for a door guarded by two men. One of them spoke.
Guard: "The captain is calling for you."
Jun smiled.
Jun: "I know. That's why I'm here."
He opened the door and stepped inside. The room was decorated with flags hanging from every corner of the ceiling and a collection of weapons mounted on the walls-rifles, AK-47s, grenade launchers. One flag was from the Katipunan, recently used in a 2010 coup attempt. Another was an inverted Philippine flag, symbolizing war.
All the guards inside had half their faces covered by bandanas. In the center, a sturdy man sat behind a table, wearing a black jacket and a black bandana, smoking tobacco.
Jun stood calmly, meeting the man's glare.
"I heard the rumors that you want to bring an aswang into our organization."
He leaned forward toward Jun.
"Have you forgotten what kind of organization this is? Or do I need to spell out the word HUNTER for you?"
Jun cleared his throat and spoke calmly.
"The victim was once human. He wasn't born a true aswang. And he's my student."
The man he was speaking to was Ricardo Tanggol Jr, son of a former general from the 6th Infantry Division of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in Davao during the 1970s. In the 1990s, he was removed from his squad, so he joined the Mindanao Death Squad and moved to Manila to expand the number of hunters across the Philippines for the Vampire War.
Ricardo: "You can't just say a former human is still human, that's like saying a former prostitute is still a virgin."
Jun: "But we have a good use for him, don't we?"
Ricardo stood up and slapped Jun hard across the face, leaving his cheek red.
Ricardo: "Stupid!! Don't you understand me? Don't you know why this group even exists?"
"What belongs to monsters is for monsters. What belongs to humans is for humans!!!"
He stubbed out his cigarette on the table and continued.
"We built this group to clean up Manila-not to help fucking monsters or outsiders like the government supporting the Sagrada Clan."
"We're not like the Krusada Forces. We're different. We're on humanity's side!!"
"We're the ones who will shine light into the darkness of this city. That's why those traitors call us terrorists!"
He put an arm around Jun and whispered.
Ricardo: "Kill that monster, or I'll feed you to the bastard myself."
Jun took a deep breath, cleared his throat, and spoke.
Jun: "I'll kill the kid. But on one condition: Let me help him first. If my plan doesn't work, I'll kill him myself."
Ricardo was stunned by Jun's words. His hand clenched, and he swung a punch at Jun's face-but Jun dodged and elbowed Ricardo hard in the cheek. Ricardo staggered back. Before he could recover, his bodyguards restrained him.
As they held him back, Ricardo shouted.
Ricardo: "You're a traitor!! An idiot!!!"
A long pause...
"Remember this: you'd better back up what you said, or I'll split you both in half and tie your guts together!!"
Jun stared back with a calm face, which only made Ricardo angrier.
"Get out of here!!!"
Jun left the room and slammed the door behind him. He turned left and went out to the building's balcony. The dark, cloudy sky greeted him, the city view hazy from surrounding pollution.
He opened his cigarette pack, took one out, lit it, and smoked in the dim balcony light. The noise of cars below brought the night to life.
A woman in a jacket with a slim build, long hair, glasses, and pale skin approached and leaned on the railing.
"Got scolded by the commander again, huh?" she asked.
Jun: "How did you know?"
Woman: "Eh, it's written all over your face."
She took the cigarette from Jun's mouth and put it in her own.
Jun: "Hey, give it back!!"
The woman laughed.
Woman: "Smoking's bad for you, you know?"
Jun: "I don't do it often."
This woman was Kara, another hunter and a former member of the New People's Army.
Kara: "You've got so much going on-one life as a teacher by day, hunter by night? What kind of setup is that?"
Jun: "Living in Metro Manila is so expensive. Taxes are a pain in the ass, and it'd be a waste not to use my degree, right?"
Kara: "Fair enough. But you could live a normal life, you know?"
Jun: "No. Not until I avenged what happened to my daughter."
A long silence fell between them. Kara's hair swayed in the wind, the lights of the buildings reflecting in her eyes.
Kara: "What happened to her?"
Jun's face showed no emotion, but he gave a faint smile and looked down at the passing cars below the balcony.
Jun: "We lived in Cebu back then, with my family and my only daughter, Althea. One day, her classmate transformed into a manananggal and massacred half of their classroom. It also attacked Althea, but the school security guard shot it immediately. Althea was taken to the hospital with a deep bite on her shoulder."
Jun: "A few months later, we got discharged. But from that day on, we noticed strange changes from her behavior. She always crave meat, and she also distanced herself from people and her own friends. Then one day, I saw her standing naked in her room, huge wings sprouting from her back as her body split in half."
Jun: "I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I stood frozen, like I'd seen a monster. I told myself it was just a nightmare, but it wasn't!! I was seeing it for real!! My world shattered, and in that moment, I felt like I became a wild animal because I didn't know what to do."
Jun: "The next day, two men in black, claiming to be from a government organization knocked on our door and looking for Althea. We hid her and decided to move to Manila, thinking it would be more peaceful than staying in Cebu. But..."
Jun: "When our ship docked at the port, some police wearing special forces uniforms inspected us. After checking our X-rays, they blocked our path as we exited. Then they suddenly drew their guns and shot Althea in the back of the head right in front of us. They killed my daughter in front of me, and no one around even reacted."
Jun: "It felt like my body was dragged into a dark place when my wife screamed. I felt like I'd been shot too. I died right there while everyone else just carried on."
Kara: "What happened to your wife?"
Jun: "She lost her mind and killed herself in prison."
Kara: "Why was she imprisoned?"
Jun gave a bitter laugh.
Jun: "Because we brought a monster here."
Kara: "Who imprisoned you two?"
Jun: "The Special Forces with a red cross on their backs..."
Kara blew smoke into the air.
Kara: "Aside from that, did you notice anything else about them?"
Jun looked into her eyes.
Jun: "They had no shadows."
Kara: "Ahhh, those are the Krusada Forces. A government organization controlled by a secret clan of vampires that migrated to Manila during the Spanish and American eras."
Kara: "They're not human. They're vampires."
Jun gave another bitter laugh, as if he'd already expected it.
Jun: "They say they're here to kill the monsters in the city, but they're monsters themselves. The world is so unfair, isn't it?"
Kara: "People aren't born for happy endings, you know?"
Jun: "I know. But that doesn't mean I'll stay quiet. That's why I'm here."
Kara: "I understand. You can't shake off that weight until you send them to the grave, right?"
Jun looked down, but a sinister smile crept across his face.
Jun: "I want to taste their blood."