The Girl Between Two Worlds

by Kristyn Maslog-Levis

  “Stop,” Mark said. “That’s the place. Start climbing.”

  None of us were using our powers tonight, not until we need to. We couldn’t afford being detected before getting close to Mama. I pointed to the fence and signaled for them to climb over. Kamudo grabbed my dad before he could react and leaped over the fence effortlessly. Gulat took me by the waist and pushed himself up. For a second, it felt like we were flying. Then I felt the thud of his hooves on the ground inside Jason’s familiar backyard. Serra, Yukoy, and Lolo climbed over the fence, not breaking a sweat.

  Mark’s instructions were perfect. We were standing behind the shed. I looked around for a good spot to attach the camera. I remembered the little owl statue near the guesthouse. I crawled toward it and inserted the camera in its mouth. I moved quickly back to the shed where Kamudo had already pulled the lock free. I found a spot between the cracks of the roof and stuck the second camera in there, turning it on.

  We walked down the steps, trying to find our way in the dark. I heard a crack, then a neon glow stick came to life. Dad remembered to bring one tonight. He threw it in front of us, landing near the door at the bottom of the steps. I hurried down, trying to get to Mama as fast as I could.

  The door was made of steel, solid and tight. The plan was to break down the door. We were going to be quick, in and out, before they sensed us. But before Kamudo could smash his way through, Dad stopped him and moved closer.

  “Let me. We’ll get more time if we’re quiet,” he whispered.

  He grabbed something from his fanny pack. I didn’t even realize he had it. He put on his cap, the one with the LED lights in front of it that he used when he was fixing things. Then I saw a small black case I had never seen before. He opened it to reveal a set of tiny silver instruments, almost like the ones the dentist uses. Dad took two of them and inserted them in the keyhole. I stared at him dumbfounded as he twisted the tools around, picking the lock. In my entire life, I never knew my dad could do this. He sometimes alluded to his wild youth but never really gave any specifics. I wondered how wild it actually was.

  After what felt like hours, we finally heard a distinct click and the door opened. Dad stashed his tools back in the fanny pack and stepped in the dark before we could stop him. We heard him drop on the ground with a thud, groaning from the fall. I took the glow stick and threw it in. Dad was lying on the floor a couple of feet down, clutching his leg. I saw the steel ladder attached to the concrete wall under the door, and rushed down to help Dad. Everyone else jumped down without difficulty.

  “Are you okay? Dad?”

  “I’m okay. Go find her. Hurry,” he said, still clutching his leg. Serra helped him sit up and I walked into the darkness. It was freezing and foul. I almost gagged at the smell of old blood and human excrement. How could someone survive being locked in here? I couldn’t tell how big the room was so I took the neon light and threw it across the room. It bounced on the wall and dropped on the floor, next to a shape lying on the ground.

  I let out a small gasp. She looked dead. It couldn’t be her. She couldn’t be dead. She couldn’t be Mama. She was wearing the same nightgown, her three-year old nightgown. It was ragged, covered in dirt and what looked like blood. I didn’t know how long I stayed like that, staring at her, frozen on the spot.

  The woman on the floor moved her head, turned around and locked her familiar eyes with mine.

  “Karina?” she said, brushing her tangled hair away from her face, the hair I had envied for so long and brushed so many times.

  I ran to Mama, hugging her with all my might. She was alive. I felt her wince and I let go, afraid to hurt her. I knew she was hurt but in the dark, it wasn’t easy to see just how much damage they had done to her. I called Kamudo and he swept her into his arms easily. Yukoy and Gulat helped my dad while Lolo led the way. Slowly, we crept back up into the backyard. We were close to the door when I heard Mark’s voice in my ear.

  “Karina, they’re coming. It’s not the manananggal. It’s … it’s something else. I can see three creatures. I don’t know what they are but they’re heading your way. Get ready.”

  I told everyone what Mark just said and they looked at each other. I saw the panic in Serra’s eyes.

  “She must have summoned the leaders of the dark clans,” Lolo whispered. “If that’s the case, we need to split up. You and Kamudo have to take your parents over the gate fast. We will distract them. Kamudo, can you carry both of them?”

  He nodded before Dad could protest. I didn’t know what the dark clans were like but if they were anything like the manananggal, I didn’t want my parents to be anywhere near them. Kamudo held my parents, one on each side. I stared at their faces. If we survived, I would never waste a single moment with them again.

  Lolo pushed the door open and ran ahead, away from where we were heading. We moved out next, Kamudo following me toward the fence. I smelled the stench of rotting flesh before I felt the fear inside of me, gripping my insides. They were very close. I didn’t know how many but there was definitely more than one. I heard huge wings, screeches of a wild animal, and something else I couldn’t understand. I turned around, trying to see where the sound was coming from but it was too dark. I said a silent prayer for Lolo.

  We moved quickly toward the fence, finding the same spot we climbed before. We were a meter away when I saw him emerge from one of the trees. But it didn’t look like him. Not my Jason. Not the guy I kissed that night in the front yard of my house, causing the flowers to bloom.

  The thing in front of me was a monster. He was wearing jeans but he was far from being human. Dark veins rippled through his arms, down the length of his giant hands that ended with long sharp claws. His body was covered with spikes in different sizes, protruding out his back and chest. But it was his face, his lovely face, that was utterly disfigured. He had a snout, snarling, baring its jagged teeth. His eyes flashed red with anger. I could feel him wanting to kill us. I couldn’t see the Jason I knew, but I could still sense a part of him. He was there, inside this hideous creature.

  “Jason,” I said, hoping he was listening to me. The beast snarled, drool coming out of its jaw. “I know you’re there, Jason. I can feel you in there. I know you can feel me, too. Please, help us. I need you.”

  He growled, taking a step toward us. I didn’t flinch. Instead, I moved toward him, extending my hand slowly.

  “Remember me, Jason. Please. I know you care for me,” I said, lifting my arm higher. He reacted to my movement and slashed my arm with his claw, ripping through my clothes. Blood trickled from my arm. It felt like a hot knife just sliced through it. The pain surprised me and tears started to blur my vision. I had never felt pain like that before. Once when I was five, I accidentally sliced my hand with a knife but it was only a small cut. This one stretched across my entire arm. I looked at him and he saw my tears. His eyes were Jason’s again. He was staring at me with guilt and sadness, so much of it.

  “Go!” he screamed. “Hurry!”

  Before I could say anything, he leaped away, leaving me with my family. I felt a giant arm wrap around my waist, squeezing me against Mama. Kamudo leaped over the fence in one jump. I heard the screech of wheels as Alyssa stopped in front of us. Kamudo pushed all three of us inside the van and disappeared into the trees.

  Alyssa sped away, leaving tire marks on the road. We were the only ones in the van and I started to panic.

  “Where are the others?” I asked Mark.

  “They’re okay. They got away. I’ve told your grandfather we’re heading back home.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. The pain shot up my body. I almost forgot about my arm. My shirt was soaked with blood but it was hard to see in the dark. I could almost laugh at how ridiculous our situation was. A family of three, all wounded, bleeding, and probably maimed. But at least we were together again. Mama was holding on to Dad’s hand, squeezing it tight. I smiled as I watched them. It was the last thing I remembered before everything went dark.
/>   Chapter Nineteen

  MAMA’S DIY

  ENGKANTASIA BOOK

  Wakwak

  The wakwak takes humans at night as its prey, just like the manananggal. The wakwak can fly but it has no ability to separate its torso from its body. It prefers to hunt in rural areas.

  The wakwak makes a sound by flapping its wings while flying. The wakwak’s sound, which sounds like its name (waaak-waaak), also indicates that it is searching for victims. It rips and maims its victims and then feeds on their hearts.

  The creature has long sharp talons and a pair of batlike wings. Its claws are used to slash victims to retrieve their hearts. A wakwak can also transform into a wolflike beast to disguise itself.

  A dream. I knew it was a dream because I was extremely happy. Everything in my world had sorted itself out. My parents were smiling, sharing a private joke. My friends were playing around as usual. Jason had his arms around me. No one was sad, tortured, or in pain. A part of me never wanted to wake up and just remain in the happy little place in my head. But there was also a big part that was screaming to get out, forget this silly little fantasy, and sort things out in the real world. In the end, the realistic side won over and I woke up wincing from the pain in my arm.

  Someone had cleaned up the blood and placed a clean bandage on it. The sun was already high in the sky. Another day at school missed, but who cared really? It wasn’t like I could use my diploma as ruler of Engkantasia.

  Last night’s rescue mission rushed through my head. Mama in the underground cage, bloodied. Jason baring his teeth, his claws ripping my flesh. I wanted to cry. There was joy in finding Mama, but there was also sorrow in losing someone I had come to love. The problem was that I still loved him, despite what I had seen him turn into. Was it possible to be in love with a monster?

  I headed to my parents’ bedroom to find Mama. I could hear hushed conversations downstairs. Mama was lying on the bed, her eyes closed. She looked serene and beautiful. They must have tended to us last night after I passed out. I wanted to talk to her but I also wanted her to rest. I stood staring at her when she sensed me and opened her eyes.

  “Mija,” she said, extending her arms toward me. I ran to her, embracing her, smelling the familiar scent of my childhood. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I sobbed like a little girl. Great big sobs of joy and sorrow all rolling into one. Mama didn’t say anything. She touched my back, caressed my hair like she used to when I was little. When I finally stopped crying, I looked at her and smiled. I could see the mother I lost three years ago. Age had caught up with her a bit while she’d been imprisoned but she still looked absolutely beautiful.

  I traced the lines on her face with my fingertips, scars that were not there before. Her arms were the same. I could see healed wounds, big scars that lined from the top of her arm all the way to her back. I wanted to see how far the scar went but I also didn’t want to see it. I wondered what they did to her down there. I wondered how much pain they put her through the last three years. She saw the pain in my eyes and took my hand, kissing it gently.

  “Don’t worry about that. They don’t hurt anymore.”

  “But they did at some point,” I said, choking back the tears that threatened to spill again.

  “Your Lolo healed us as much as he could. There are still scars and some wounds and bruises, but not as severe as last night. We will heal faster. You’ll see,” Mama said.

  “What did they want from you, Mama? Why did they keep you?” If they wanted to rid Engkantasia of an heir, they could have just killed Mama, then killed me. I didn’t understand why they took her and kept her alive all these years.

  She sat up and took both my hands into hers. She tucked my hair behind my ear, a familiar act that made me want to be four years old again.

  “I gave myself up to them.”

  My brows furrowed, shocked at what she just said.

  “You went with them willingly? But why?”

  “I started sensing a presence days before I disappeared. I knew it was only a matter of time before they figured out about you and your powers. I wanted them to believe I was the last heir. Once they got rid of me, they would leave you alone.”

  “But that’s not what happened. They kept you alive. Why?”

  “They wanted to get my father here, in this realm. They thought keeping me alive would push him to cross the portal. But then your powers started to emerge and they sensed just how dangerous you can be to them. They wanted information from me. They wanted to know what kind of powers you have, how to defeat you, how to defeat us all. But I refused to tell them anything. I refused to summon my father here.”

  They. Meaning it wasn’t only Mirasol who hurt my mother. Jason did, too. I didn’t know if I could keep loving him after this. I knew I shouldn’t.

  “Why did they want Lolo here?”

  “I don’t know. It felt like a personal vendetta, something that Mirasol have against my father.”

  I wondered if it was a family grudge that made them want to kill Lolo. Or perhaps something else. Something unknown to us. I felt a tingling sensation at the base of my neck and realized the necklace was heating up. It wanted to be reunited with its owner. I took the necklace off and placed it around Mama’s neck where it belonged.

  “Why did you give me your powers? You could have escaped from them if you kept it.”

  “I had to protect you. I didn’t have enough time to explain to you about your past. I hoped that my powers would protect you.”

  “Lolo protected me. The night when Mirasol followed us to Alyssa’s house. He protected us.”

  Mama sighed. “I didn’t think your Lolo would come. He never came to look for me so I didn’t want to rely on him. All I wanted was to protect you, no matter the cost.”

  I wanted to ask Mama what they did to her. I wanted to ask who tortured her. I wanted to know if I could still save Jason, if there was a chance he could be saved.

  “You can ask me, mija. I will tell you the truth,” Mama said. Did she know how I felt about Mirasol’s son? How could she when she had never even seen us together until last night? But I forgot that Mama wasn’t a normal human mother.

  “Did he hurt you?” I asked, wanting to take the words back the moment they came out.

  Mama shook her head and relief flooded over me. “He’s not like her. Even during moments when he wanted to impress her, I could sense that he wasn’t. It was Mirasol who did all the work. She wanted the satisfaction of punishing her enemy. But she never got anything out.”

  “How did you survive for so long?”

  “You and your dad kept me going. You are both my source of strength. My source of real power. Mirasol underestimated the power of my love for you, my resolve to protect you. She never understood that. She doesn’t have that capacity to love.”

  I felt sad for Jason, growing up in a family without love. I couldn’t imagine having parents who couldn’t show affection to their own child.

  “He can’t help who he is, mija. He was created for one purpose alone, to destroy Mirasol’s enemies. But I saw the changes in him when he started falling for you.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Although I don’t have my powers anymore, I am still an engkanto. I can smell you around him. I knew he was sent out to get closer to you. But he never expected to feel something for you. He showed me little acts of kindness without his mother knowing. He fed me more, gave me more water to drink, things that would be easy to hide from Mirasol. He is afraid of her. Deeply afraid. Even without my powers it was easy to sense that.”

  My heart ached after hearing this. A life without a loving mother. What would that be like? I knew he cared for me. But was it enough to make him go against his own mother? Do I risk the safety of my family just to find this out?

  “I want to save him, Ma. But I don’t know how.”

  She sighed, squeezing my hands. “I know, mija. But … no one knows if he can be saved. Or how to do it if it was possible. He is
the creature that my kind has been fearing for a very long time. Even if we save him, everyone in Engkantasia will want him dead.”

  There was nothing to say. She was right. I already knew this. But I wanted to have some hope. Letting us go last night was proof he could control what he was. Maybe he just needed someone to help him, motivate him to be good. But could I help him change a lifetime of indoctrination?

  “Let’s go have breakfast downstairs,” I said, changing the topic. “I’m hungry.”

  We walked together, holding on to each other for support. I saw more scars on Mama’s legs and her back as she moved slowly to the kitchen. I gritted my teeth to stop myself from saying anything.

  The conversation stopped when they saw us. Dad came to Mama’s side, taking her to her favorite chair in the dining room, the one with the extra cushion. He had already made brunch for us—bacon, eggs, mushrooms, and toast. A feast fit for Mama’s homecoming.

  No one talked as we dug into our plates. The clan leaders were scattered around the room, looking at us. Lolo’s stare was transfixed on Mama. It was like being in a fishbowl. Finally, I couldn’t stand the silence any longer.

  “Where are Mark and Alyssa?” I asked Dad.

  “They went home last night. They’re probably still at school but they promised to drop by later.”

  “What did you say to the principal about my absence?”

  “Well, that part wasn’t hard. I told them the truth. That your mother is back and that we’d like to take some time together. You won’t be going back to school until next week.”