Chapter 5: The Man & the Kids

~~THE MAN & THE KIDS~~

The man— the first figure he'd slit the throat of— was the leader of that group, and somehow, impossibly, still standing. His right fist was buried in the shattered ground, proof enough that he'd thrown one hell of a punch. But how? Nobody could figure out how that was possible. Lights popped on up and down the street, people crowding at their windows, all trying to catch a glimpse.

Something invisible wrapped around this giant, but nobody could see it. All they knew was that there was a man losing his mind out there, doing something no one could explain.

The mysterious man's face barely changed—just his eyes moved. Then he said, half to himself, “Aethel, what a great flow.” A slow grin crept up. “Aethel Fluid huh? Getting more of it now. Wild, isn’t it?"

“What the hell just happened? How—?”

“I-impossible. Has he been hiding this all along? ”Someone," he stammered.

“Don’t care. Forget him. If you want to stick around—” That’s all it took, and the two of them bolted, tripping over themselves.

“Go! Run for your filthy lives!”

Kei stood frozen, stuck on the man in the street. None of it tracked.

“Where’d he go? "Irene's voice was low and confused.

Kei finally snapped out of it. The guy who’d been balancing on the wood was gone. He squinted around at the debris.

The man still stood right in the middle of the street— until, suddenly, something tore into his throat. Blood shot on the side of his neck, spitting the liquid sideways into his back like a spray. He hadn't seen a thing happen, but he knew, without a doubt, exactly who could have done it. Before he could finish his first thought, his body toppled backward, eyes wide, limbs jerking as his back smacked into the mud.

“There— he’s over there! "Kei found him right away, pointing.

Irene spun. “Where?”

—

They ran flat out, dread crawling up their spines. But they didn’t even make it a block before he cut them off, right in front of their faces. The figure—the one they both feared, hated, and understood even less than before— just appeared there. It was terrifying, how normal he made it look. Their hearts thudded so loud it blocked out everything else. They figured it was over.

One guy crashed through a pile of carts, spinning and stumbling until he finally hit the ground hard. Boxes, baskets, whatever was stored— everything flew everywhere.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

The other guy was just as unlucky. He rolled right through a sack and ended up covered in fine red powder. He started coughing, only to realize it was ground chili straight in his eyes— white-hot agony. It burned so bad he was on the verge of tears, and there was nothing he could do but keep his hands away from his own face. Worst thing that had ever happened to him in his entire life. His eyes went bloodshot, veins crawling across the white like they were about to burst. He was grateful he could still see at all, but the pain was undeniable— worse, probably, than getting shot.

“My eyes— my eyes!" He collapsed into the mud, pushed by his friend, who wasn’t planning on leaving him behind.

But in the end, their luck held— they scrambled away, beating a path out of sight.

“He’s gone now. Where’d he go?" Kei muttered.

Caution never left them. They crouched behind a wall, peeking over the top. Two grubby street kids, worn down from running around all day. A lollipop was jammed in Irene's mouth— pilfered from who-knows-where.

“Looking for someone?" A smooth and calm voice said behind them.

That voice. There was no mistaking it. Both their knees started shaking, and they staggered back in unison. Their eyes went wide like they'd seen a ghost. "H-he's s-so big," Kei's jaw wouldn't stop trembling.

“Am I big?" The man said, 'easy', it's really him. "Okay, lets fix the problem." Then, in a blink, his body shrank, folding down into a kid their age. It was so fast, stranger than magic— they watched every bone and muscle shrink that Physics don't really applied to it, and heard his voice shift until he didn’t just look like a kid; he sounded like one too. “See? Now we’re all the same size,” he said, grinning. "Better?"

The kids screamed, totally losing it.

“H-how—?" Irene couldn’t even get her mouth open all the way.

“How did you do that?" Kei shrieked. “You were huge a second ago! Then you just— shrunk! Is that a power?"

“Secret,” he said, deadpan.

“For real? That’s all you’ll say?" Kei pressed.

“And how do you pull the disappearing act? One minute you’re right there, then poof, new spot. You’re a ghost— or, wait. You’re an Aswang.” Saying it freaked him out more. "I'm right, aren't I? You're an Aswang."

He just grinned, not even denying it.

Kei’s face drained.

“You actually buy into that crap? Well— believe it or not, I’m pretty sure I saw one before. Not just saw—played with one, even.”

“Played with— are you messing with us, or is that real? Maybe you're the Aswang. I’m right. You’re going to eat us, aren’t you? That’s what I heard: you chew through guts and everything, don’t you?”

“Believe whatever you want. I’m not here to convince you.”

Irene elbowed him. “Idiot, Aswang aren’t real. Don’t let him mess with your head.” But just then she noticed her lollipop was gone.

“Hey, that’s mine!" She shouted. “Why’d you take it? Go buy one yourself! That’s disgusting; you already licked it.”

"It's not even good. They dumped a bunch of additives in this— Neotosil, Achrylic Acid, Tosinol, Noptalin, Xenophil, Cinilin-Cinil. Way too much junk crammed into one tiny little treat. Funny how the small-minded ones will do anything to trick people, all so they can profit off it. Not that it's surprising — people in this world are way too obsessed with money."

The kids traded a look. He wasn’t wrong. But Irene still wanted her lollipop back.

“Yeah, well, it’s still mine, and I don’t care if it’s gross. Gimme it back! I’ll rinse it off. Just— don’t finish it.”

Too late. He’d already snapped the stick clean with his teeth.

“That was fast,” Kei mumbled. “And it was a big one, too.”

Irene just stared, stunned and crushed.

“How about these, then?" He said, holding up three huge, brightly wrapped lollipops.

Both their eyes lit up right away. Bigger, and they had to be better. Their hands shot out, ready to snatch one each. No hesitation.