Slowly, light peeked through the narrow window of the old house.
Golden sunlight.
Warm but gentle.
And for the first time since their nightmare began…
everything felt normal.
"Wow…" Mara murmured while staring at the ceiling.
"I thought we were really dead last night."
"Same," Kevin said while still lying on the floor.
"But we're still alive."
"Of course," Nikki said while fixing her hair.
"I really am beautiful."
"It's still early and you're already so arrogant," Jace replied, but he also smiled.
In one corner, Anton was quietly looking out the window.
"Guys…" he said.
"Hmm?" they all answered at the same time.
"We're awake," he added while rubbing his stomach.
"To eat."
And they all went out of the room and headed to the kitchen together.
There were canned goods, but no rice. Jace complained.
"Plant something first, Jace," Nikki replied.
"Oh Nikki, we'll turn into skeletons waiting for your rice harvest," Mara joked.
They suddenly all laughed.
A laugh they hadn't heard in a long time.
"It feels like nothing happened… I hope it was just a dream," Nikki said while looking outside.
"Maybe everything really was just a dream," Paolo added, now calmer.
"If it was a dream," Mara replied, "that's the worst nightmare I've ever had."
They just laughed again.
A brief silence.
Somehow, they felt lighter.
"Let's go outside," Lianne said.
They went outside one by one.
"Hmmm… wow, the fresh air feels so good," Mara said.
"I hope no monster comes out."
They looked around.
They didn't see anything else but:
Green surroundings.
Fresh air.
Trees slowly swaying.
And not far away—
a river.
"Hey…" Kevin said.
"There's a river here."
"It's beautiful…" Lianne whispered.
"Like… a safe place."
"Finally," Nikki smiled.
"I can finally rest here."
There were fish swimming in the clear water.
"Wow, the fish are big. That's food," Paolo said.
"Yeah," Anton replied.
"It feels nice to sip soup right now even without rice," Ria said.
And everyone agreed.
Suddenly—
pak!
A rock fell and hit a fish.
"There, we have food," Paolo said happily.
"Wow, nice one bro," Anton and Dex said at the same time.
Despite everything…
it felt like nothing had happened.
"The air feels so good," Dex said while taking a deep breath.
"If it's like this, I could vacation here."
"Don't be noisy," Anton replied, but even his face looked lighter.
"Breakfast is the only thing missing," Jace joked.
"Then we'll have a good life."
They laughed again.
A real laugh.
A moment where they forgot their fear.
Sudden Silence
Until—
Ria stopped.
"Guys…" she said softly.
"Hmm?" Nikki turned.
"Do you think we can still find Sarah?"
The smile on their faces suddenly disappeared.
"After breakfast, we'll look for her," Dex said.
So they slowly left the river, heading back to the old house, carrying a large fish.
But as they got closer…
they saw a child.
Standing, staring at the house.
Holding vegetables.
And wearing a garlic necklace.
"Hey… there's a child," Mara said, pointing.
The child looked at them.
"You are them?" said the girl.
"What's your name?" Nikki asked while approaching, but the child stepped back.
She looked at each one of them.
And said:
"You should leave. You are not safe here."
The child suddenly turned and ran.
"Kid! Can we have what you're carrying? We're hungry, we haven't eaten breakfast!" Paolo shouted.
The child stopped for a moment.
And looked back.
Then ran again.
"Thank you! And be careful! There's a monster here!" Dex shouted.
The child looked at them again.
Then ran once more.
"How is there a child here?" Ria asked, confused.
They entered the house—
except Paolo.
He followed the child.
Until he caught up.
"Kid!" Paolo called.
The child looked back.
"Why are you following me?"
"I just have something to ask… is there a town nearby? We were supposed to go to Alona Beach but we ended up here," Paolo explained.
"It is not an accident that you came here," the child replied.
"What do you mean?"
"You are with an aswang," the girl said.
"What? No! We don't have an aswang with us!" Paolo replied.
"It's up to you if you don't believe me," the child said.
"We've been friends for a long time… and we made a vow—" Paolo suddenly stopped.
"Vow," the child repeated.
"Yes…" Paolo answered, trembling.
The child hesitated.
"Sir," she said.
"You need to listen. All of you are in danger because you are with an aswang."
"Go back to your friends. Don't tell them. The aswang might act and kill you immediately."
And suddenly, the child ran away.
Paolo froze.
"Could it be true…" he whispered.
When he returned to the old house—
everyone was happy, cooking.
He looked at each one of them one by one.
Nervous.
Confused.
"Who among you is the aswang…" Paolo asked quietly.
"Oh, Paolo, where did you go? Why did you suddenly disappear?" Nikki asked.
"Bro, are you okay?" Dex asked as well.
"Ahh… uh… yeah, I'm okay," Paolo replied.
"Don't worry, bro. We'll find Sarah," Dex added.
Paolo nodded.
"Let's eat!" Mara said cheerfully, having just finished cooking.
And they started eating.
"Wow, this is so good—" Jace choked.
"Wow, you're so greedy," Nikki replied.
"I'm just hungry," Jace answered.
"Eat slowly," Nikki said.
"Ahem…" Mara cut in.
"Aren't you curious about that child? She was wearing a garlic necklace."
"I was about to ask her, but she left in a hurry," Lianne replied.
"Maybe it's to scare off the monsters that chased us last night," Ria said.
Everyone suddenly froze.
"How did you come up with that?" one of them asked.
"Well, in horror movies, garlic is a weakness of monsters," Ria replied.
While the others just listened as they continued eating.
"Come on, that's just in movies. That's not real," one of their friends said.
"There's no harm in trying, right?" Mara replied immediately.
Everyone nodded.
"Yeah… hopefully we can find some garlic," another one of their friends said.
On the other side
The young girl ran back home until she finally reached their house.
"I'm back," Cindy said.
"Oh, my child, why are you only coming home now?" the old woman asked.
"Did you go to the old house?" her grandmother asked again.
"Yes, Grandma. You know… someone is living there now. They're strangers. I think they're the ones who were shouting last night," Cindy explained.
"Did they see you?" the old woman asked.
"Yes, Grandma. They even asked for vegetables, so I gave them some," Cindy replied.
The old woman smiled.
"But they need to leave that place, my child," the old woman said, clearly worried.
"Yes, Grandma. And one more thing… they have an aswang with them," Cindy said.
"I think they didn't get lost. They were really meant to end up here," she added.
The surroundings fell silent for a moment.
"Grandma… I don't want this kind of life anymore. There are already so many victims. I hope we can help them," pleaded Cindy, a ten-year-old girl.
"Don't worry, my child. We'll find a way," the grandmother replied cheerfully.
"I think… it's not just because they have an aswang with them that they ended up here," the old woman added.
"What do you mean, Grandma?" Cindy asked.
"It feels like they did something… that pleased the aswang," the old woman replied.
"If that's the case, Grandma… maybe it has something to do with what the man said earlier. That they made a vow," Cindy said.
The old woman fell silent for a moment.
Slowly, she looked into the distance.
"I knew it…" she whispered.
"A vow… is a mistake that brings death."
The wind outside grew slightly stronger.
And inside the house—
In the old house, the group of friends were full.
They sat down in the living room.
"We shouldn't stay here for long," Paolo said.
"We need to find Sarah and get out of here."
Everyone nodded.
"I want to go home too," Lianne said.
"Me too," Nikki said.
"Same," Jace replied, and the others agreed.
"Okay," Dex said.
"Then let's start searching."
"Let's search around the house and towards the back of the forest," Anton said.
They all nodded.
"Let's spread out a bit but don't go too far," he added.
"Yeah," Mara replied. "Don't go too far."
They left together, walking around the old house.
The surroundings were quiet.
No birds.
No wind.
It felt like something was watching them.
"Sarah…" Paolo whispered as he looked toward the side of the trees.
"Sarah! Where are you!" Nikki shouted.
"Over here!" Jace shouted from the other direction.
"Did you find anything?" Lianne asked.
As they walked, they slowly became separated because of the number of trees and turns in the area, without noticing it.
"Wait…" Dex said.
"Where are they?"
"Huh?" Mara looked around.
"They were just here a while ago."
The fear grew stronger.
"Anton!" Nikki shouted.
"Paolo!"
But no one answered together anymore, only scattered voices calling from afar.
"Sarah…" Paolo shouted, breathing heavily.
"Please… where are you…"
"Here…" a faint voice was heard from somewhere.
Paolo stopped.
"Sarah?" he called softly.
He moved toward the trees.
On the other side—
"Guys! Here!" Jace shouted.
"I found something behind!"
"Wait!" Mara said.
"It looks like there's someone there…"
Mara and Nikki slowly moved closer.
Until they saw Anton and Dex staring in one direction.
"What is that?" Nikki asked.
No one answered.
Everyone looked at a single point.
Behind the tree…
something was lying there.
"No…" Dex whispered.
"Please no…" Mara said.
They slowly moved closer.
And there they saw—
Sarah.
Lying on the ground.
Soaked. Covered in mud and blood.
Her body torn apart, as if she had been dragged for a long time.
"NO—" Nikki screamed and stepped back.
"This isn't real…" Mara said, her voice shaking.
"Sarah…" Paolo shouted.
When he saw Sarah's body, he froze in place.
One by one, they dropped to their knees.
"Why…" Jace shouted.
"She was with us last night…"
"We couldn't save her…" Mara said.
Anton stood there, stunned.
"We were looking for her…" he said.
"But we were too late…"
And in the middle of the silence—
the morning they thought was normal…
turned into a nightmare again.
After crying, Paolo, Dex, and Anton started digging.
The tears kept falling.
Suddenly—
Paolo shouted.
"You'll pay for this, you monster! I will kill you!" he yelled.
Everyone was shocked.
They weren't used to seeing Paolo like this. He was always very timid, but now he looked like a completely different person.
"Sarah!" Paolo shouted. "I will avenge you!"
His friends came closer.
"Do you know… I really, really love Sarah," Paolo said while still crying.
"I just couldn't say it because I was afraid," he added, sobbing.
"There's nothing we can do anymore," Anton said softly.
"I LOVE HER…"
"I LOVE HER SO MUCH…"
Paolo kept repeating as he cried.