The Girl Between Two Worlds

by Kristyn Maslog-Levis

  I felt glad not to have to go to school but also disappointed that I wouldn’t have the chance to see Jason again until then. I knew I was being absolutely juvenile, thinking about Jason when everything was still up in the air. But I couldn’t help it.

  Lolo cleared his throat. “When you’re finished, we need to discuss some things about last night. It seems that Mirasol has managed to make the dark clans cooperate. We may be facing more trouble than we anticipated.”

  We finished breakfast and headed to the living room. I sat between Dad and Mama. I was still afraid to take my eyes off her. I felt like she would disappear on me again if I blinked. Dad probably felt the same way. We gathered around Lolo as he told us what happened last night.

  “As I feared, the manananggal has gathered the dark leaders to help eliminate us. We fought them last night and the only reason we made it out in time is because they did not anticipate one of Mark’s contraptions.”

  A smile tugged on my face, knowing that my friends helped save the all-powerful leaders of Engkantasia. I never even heard Lolo mention Mark’s name before. This was definitely a first. I made a mental note to let Mark know when I saw him next.

  “As far as I can tell, they have four of the dark clans with them. I don’t know how she has managed to keep them in line but this only means more danger for us. They have never been able to cooperate with each other and this is the first time it’s happened.”

  “What kind of creatures are they, Lolo?” I asked. It was bad enough I had to fight Mirasol and Jason without four others to worry about, too.

  Lolo waved his hand in the air to show me the creatures from last night. It still fascinated me how he could create a movie screen out of literally thin air.

  “This is Yanuk, the leader of the tiyanak clan. You’re already familiar with how feral they can be. Segunda is the queen of the sigbin clan,” Lolo continued. She looked like a hornless goat with shorter hind legs, batlike wings, and a tail sharp enough to split things into two.

  “Her mouth is designed not only to rip flesh. She also has a long tongue to suck blood. It is easy to tell when the sigbin is nearby as it smells like decaying carcass. A single spit from a sigbin can turn anyone’s insides into goo.”

  All of them smelled like decaying something though. Even Jason.

  “Nonok, the king of the Nuno sa Punso, is always eerily calm. He is guarded and suspicious. Humans sometimes mistake him for a dwarf because he looks like one. He sits on top of a mound of soil, invisible to humans, and if someone makes the mistake of kicking his ‘home’, he finds great pleasure in punishing them. Swollen feet, limbs, genitals and body parts, and vomiting of blood. They are capable of more horrendous punishments than that.

  “Finally, this is Kurnula, the queen of the wakwak clan. Like the manananggal, the wakwak also has red eyes. The manananggal and wakwak clans are closely related, but there is a hatred between the clans that go back hundreds of years. Although similar in many ways, the wakwak can never turn into a beautiful human form. It is cursed to remain in it monstrous shape—with huge batlike wings, sharp talons, and a body covered in fine fur that could almost pass as human if not for the hideous head.”

  I sat there, staring at the images, afraid to say anything. The creatures I had been fascinated about all my life had turned into reality. I now understood why Mama never wanted me to read about her world. They were not just products of someone’s imagination. They were real. And they had been hunting us through the years. What confidence I had over last night’s successful rescue slowly started to fade.

  I felt Mama’s hand holding mine tightly. I thought she was just as scared of letting go of my hand as I was with hers. This was what she had been trying to protect me from. All the secrecy, the lying, hiding my identity all these years. It was because of this. What little anger I felt for her for lying to me quickly dissipated and was replaced with fear. Fear for my parents, my life, my friends’ lives. It was becoming clear that I had dragged them into something much bigger than I originally thought.

  Before I could ask Lolo about the plan, the doorbell rang. Everyone held their breath. We rarely have visitors but today was the worst time to have one. Lolo rushed the clan leaders into the garage as Dad walked to the door. He waited for a couple of seconds before opening it. My heart raced as I saw two cops standing outside.

  “Hello officers, can I help you with something?” Dad asked, his voice an octave higher.

  “Mr. Harris?” the tall officer asked.

  “Yes, that’s me.”

  “We got a phone call from your daughter’s school. They said your wife has been found. We would like to have a word with her, if you don’t mind,” the shorter officer said.

  “My wife is very tired. She needs to rest. If you can come back another time …”

  “No, hun, that’s fine,” Mama cut in before Dad could close the door. I gave her a quizzical look. I didn’t know what story they could tell the authorities but it definitely couldn’t be the one that involved the manananggal.

  Mama smiled to the officers and led them into the living room. They sat across Mama while Dad sat next to her on the couch. I stood at the back, listening to the conversation. Dad was as clueless as I was about Mama’s plans. He was fidgeting with his hands, as nervous as I was.

  “First of all, we’re relieved to know you’re okay, Mrs. Harris. It’s very rare to find a missing person in such good health after disappearing for quite some time.”

  “Thank you,” Mama said, still as graceful under pressure as ever.

  “Can you tell us what happened to you? Start with the night you disappeared.”

  “It’s all a blur. I remember getting out of bed late to take out the trash because I forgot to earlier that evening. I must have slipped on something and lost consciousness. When I woke up, I was somewhere else totally unfamiliar, and I couldn’t remember anything except that I fell and hit my head. I just kept walking, begging for food, finding shelter where I can.”

  “For three years? Why didn’t you go to the police for help?” the shorter officer asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “I was too scared. I didn’t know who I was. I didn’t know if I was a fugitive, an illegal immigrant. So I wandered around, surviving on anything I can find. Until around two weeks ago when I started remembering things. Just fragments at first, flashes of images of my life.”

  “How did you get back here? How did you find your way?” the taller officer asked, immersed in my mother’s fake story. I must admit I was quite impressed with how easily she weaved the lies together. She had had years of experience hiding the truth from everyone around her.

  “I walked, hitched a ride, asked around for directions. I remember the location of our old house so I went there. That’s where Karina found me yesterday afternoon, standing in front of our old house.”

  Did she see that in my head? My dreams of finding her standing in front of our old house, wondering why there were strangers living there?

  “Yes,” I chimed in, catching my mother’s story. “I sometimes walk past our old house, just in case she comes back.” I wasn’t really lying. It had only been lately that I hadn’t dropped by the old house because of the training sessions.

  The other officer, the shorter one, still needed some convincing. “What about all your scars? How did you get them?”

  Mama covered her face with her hand, holding back what sounded like a sniff. When she looked up, her eyes were teary. Her acting ability fascinated me. I almost believed she really was in distress. She focused her attention on the officer, almost mesmerizing him.

  “Things didn’t go smoothly all the time. I got into dangerous situations and had to fight my way out,” she wiped away a tear then stared at the shorter officer. “Have you ever lived in the wild on your own? Not knowing anyone, not knowing who you are, not knowing where you come from? It takes something from you. Sometimes, you question if you’re still even human.”

  That worked. The shorter office
r swallowed and fidgeted with his notes, obviously uncomfortable being placed on the spot. The taller officer stood and nudged the other one.

  “Thank you so much for your time, Mrs. Harris. Again, we’re glad you’re home safely. If there’s anything else you want to tell us, please don’t hesitate to give me a call,” he said, handing Mama his card.

  When they left, Mama turned around with a smile. “What?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure if I should be proud or be scared of you,” Dad said, finally speaking again. He’d been so quiet during the officers’ visit. We finally realized just how good Mama was at hiding the truth.

  She took his hand and mine, holding on to us as she spoke carefully. “The things I lied about in the past, it wasn’t to hurt you. It was to protect you. My life here in the human world is only worth living because I have both of you. I would do anything to protect this family. Anything.”

  We hugged her as tightly as we possibly could. We believed her and understood why she did what she did. After what we had seen, we knew it was the only way. I wished we could go back to before Engkantasia, the innocence of not knowing the things we had to face, the things we had to do.

  The clan leaders and Lolo walked back in the house. Lolo asked Mama to talk with him privately. I wanted to listen to what they were saying but I knew Mama needed this time with Lolo. It was the first time they had actually spoken to each other since Mama ran away from Engkantasia.

  I used this time to clean myself up and change into something other than my pajamas. It was a good thing the sleeves hid the wound from the police officers. I didn’t know how I would have been able to explain it to them. The pain was still there, throbbing and constant, but I could ignore it now. I put on fresh clothes and looked in the mirror. I felt naked without Mama’s necklace but I knew it was back to where it truly belonged.

  I heard Mark’s and Alyssa’s voices downstairs and rushed to see them. Mark had already set his laptop on the dining table surrounded by everyone else.

  “What’s going on? Why aren’t you at school?”

  “Your mother’s back. We used that as an excuse to cut some classes today and it worked well,” Mark smiled.

  “We’re looking at the footage from last night and this morning, to see if there’s anything that can help us,” Alyssa said. “How are you feeling?”

  “Okay. It’s not too bad,” I said, taking a seat beside Mark. He showed us last night’s fight from two angles. A shudder went through me, seeing the creatures Lolo was fighting with the clan leaders. They were vicious and relentless.

  “We watched this several times last night, hoping we can pick something up,” Alyssa started.

  “And? Did you find anything?” I asked. Alyssa looked at me, hesitating for a bit.

  “They mean business. See how they are all targeting the heads and throats?”

  I nodded.

  “They don’t fight to maim, they fight to kill. I think they’re making sure none of you guys ever go back to Engkantasia.”

  They wanted to take over everything. Not just the throne, but all the clans as well. And if they succeeded, it wouldn’t stop there. They would definitely target the human world next.

  “We are powerful in our own world, but here, we are quite vulnerable. We don’t have the resources we need to strengthen ourselves,” Pili said. “We can’t consume flesh like they can. We need longer to recuperate in this world. And they know that.”

  Everyone fell quiet. How would we defeat enemies that were much stronger than us? Would we even have a chance to win this thing? I looked at Lolo, trying to read his mind. The situation had escalated and he knew that. The original plan was supposed to be just to train me, find Mama, and defeat the manananggal. Instead it had turned into a full-scale battle. One that would require more from me. I just hope I could deliver whatever it was they expected from me.

  “I want to discuss matters with the adults and the clan leaders, if you don’t mind,” Lolo said. “I suggest you use this time to create more of those things we used last night,” he looked at Mark.

  Alyssa and Mark followed me to my bedroom, taking all their things with them. They looked tired but still seemed to be excited about things. Before I could ask Alyssa anything, she answered the question in my head.

  “He wasn’t there. I don’t know if anyone noticed though because the whole school is buzzing with news of your mother coming back.”

  “What did you tell people?”

  “The same as Mark. That we haven’t seen you yet, we don’t know the story and that’s it.”

  I looked at Mark but his brows were furrowed, looking intently at his screen.

  “What is it?” I asked. I sat next to him and looked at the loop he’d been playing since he got in the room. It was a footage of me confronting Jason last night when he slashed my arm.

  “He didn’t want to kill you,” Mark said. A part of me already knew that, but it made me feel better knowing Mark agreed. “The other creatures were aiming for throats, heads, and hearts. There was nothing stopping Jason from doing the same to you but he didn’t. He went for your arm instead.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” I said. “He can’t stay in this world being what he is. And if he gets deported to Engkantasia, every clan and his dog will try to kill him.”

  “So you’re just going to let him die?” Alyssa asked, surprised at my resignation.

  “His life is beyond my control. I need to focus on what I can do. Right now, he’s on his own.”

  No one said anything for a while. They knew this was a hard decision for me to make but what could I do? What could anyone do?

  I changed the topic and told Mark about Lolo’s mention of his UV bomb and how it saved them all last night. A big smile spread across his face. He took out his notepad from the backpack and showed it to us.

  “I’ve been working on a new concept, similar to the one you place on your wrist. This one attaches to weapons—a stick, a sword, anything you can use to fight. You activate it and it just sends out UV rays constantly while you’re fighting. It won’t be enough to kill them but it’ll be enough to distract and burn them, inflicting extra pain.”

  “How are you able to afford all this, Mark? Tell me it’s not something illegal,” I asked. He was far from financially stable which was why he was juggling two jobs. I wouldn’t be able to take it if he got caught doing something illegal because of my problems.

  “It’s not illegal. There are other means of trade on the Internet that doesn’t require money. Trust me, okay?” he smiled. I could only hope he was telling the truth.

  Alyssa looked at her watch. “I need to go to training. Text me if you need to talk,” she gave me a hug and rushed off. Mark left as well, to finish the new gadgets he conceptualized. I watched my friends leave and a pain shot through my chest. I was already missing them.

  Chapter Twenty

  June 2015

  Channel 12 Breaking News

  Three years after disappearing from her home in San Jose, Filipino migrant Marie Harris has finally returned.

  At the moment, it is not clear what happened to Harris. Authorities are still conducting investigations, interviewing all members of Harris’ family. However, according to our sources, Harris sustained several injuries when she returned.

  This has been one of the most baffling cases the authorities have faced because of the lack of evidence as to Harris’s whereabouts. In the three years of investigation, no clues were ever found. Harris’s husband was a suspect at one point but the authorities have now cleared him of any charges.

  I felt his presence before I saw him. Skulking in the dark like the monster that he was.

  He was outside the house, waiting for me to come out. Every fiber of my being was rushing me to meet him, but logic dictated I should wake the elders. I could sense my Jason, but his manananggal side was there as well, hibernating with one eye open.

  I walked as quietly as I could down the stairs, trying not to wake anyone
up. I looked around the room. It was dark and I couldn’t sense anyone. I reached for the door knob and gasped when I saw Serra standing in front of me. I looked at her, not saying a word, begging her to let me through.

  She nodded but stayed outside to watch me talk to Jason. I was grateful that she was watching over me but also giving us enough space to talk.

  I walked slowly, bracing myself for a possible attack. The closer I was to him, the more I felt it. The darkness was covering him like a fog. It was the same thing I felt when I sensed the manananggal outside Alyssa’s window that night. Instead of being afraid, my heart broke into a million tiny pieces.

  I didn’t even notice the tears streaming down my face as I walked across the road. Nothing else mattered. All I wanted to do was hold him, hear him say that he truly loved me, and that I wasn’t just a target. I stood in front of him, close enough to see the black veins coursing through his arms.

  “You’re not even trying to hide your real self anymore. So was everything just a plot to get to me? I was so naïve to fall for it so easily,” I said, trying to sound brave, even if inside I was crumbling to pieces.

  He just stood there staring at me. I couldn’t read the expression on his face. I wanted to believe that maybe he did have some feelings for me. He let us go. Didn’t that count for something?

  “Why are you here? Did they send you to kill me? What are you waiting for then? I’m alone. No one is here to protect me.”

  More silence.

  “Say something!” I said, slapping his face. He felt like solid marble, so unlike the gentle guy who made me feel protected. He caught my hand and held it to his face.

  “I love you, Karina.”

  “What?” I couldn’t breathe. His words took me by surprise. I searched his face to see if he was mocking me, but all I saw was his pain.

  “I’ve never met anyone like you. A part of me is screaming to rip you to pieces, but there is also a part of me that wants to protect you from everything. I’ve never felt like this before.”

  I pulled my hand away from his face and stepped back. I wanted to cover my ears so I couldn’t hear his lies but I couldn’t stop myself from listening.