Carpooling Loonies
Death on All Hallows Eve (The conclusion)
(Editor's note: These are excerpts from 'The House on Burgos Street' by the same author.)
The wilted leaves crushed against her cold soles. Tang Tasio's nightly saunter welled up the courage in her to follow him one night as he went deeper and deeper into the darkness. She felt like her body was floating like a feather, cold as a damp leaf. Iyay Caring, wondered why she could not hear a sound and her eyes were beginning to feel the strain in the dark. Her eyes never left her father's shadow until she saw they were slowly moving towards a lighted place. She stopped, pressing her body behind a tree while Tang Tasio continued to move towards a woman sitting in front of a small hut, seemingly anticipating the arrival of her father. She watched in bewilderment as the woman stood, her naked body covered by her long hair. 'Tonight, you will again guard my body. When I return, yours shall be the gift of eternal life as I drink the blood of a newborn. Obey me Tasio, and like me you will live forever. If you turn your back on me, death shall meet you before you're ready to face it.'
I can't see her face and her mouth does not move as she speak. No, she's not speaking to him. I am hearing her voice inside my head. 'Tang! Tang!' But she too could not hear her own voice.
She bolted up from her bed, her forehead damped with sweat. The same nightmare continues to wake her every night since Tang Tasio died. They will never rest. She will never let them. They have to leave or like Tatang they will be led to their accursed demise. Burn. They must burn the place down. It will be the only way to burn the old woman's soul. Burn the land covered with the blood of those Gumba devoured with a hunger of a serpentine. They burned her body believing it will end her evil deeds. But it's the soil that fed on so many people's blood that remains. Burn it! Burn it! Iyay Caring's thoughts pounded on her head. Burn!She opened the Orasyon and when she looked up, the moon was fiery. It's time. Iyay Caring began reading the Orasyon.
***
The Rochas gathered in the living room listening to the pounding beneath them. The children held each other tightly as their father summoned a force none of them could see. 'Papa Anton! Look at Mary...' The older Rocha stared at her sibling in horror. Mary, the youngest Rocha, fell on the floor. A strong wind whipped across the room breaking the mirror hung beside the stairs. Anton dropped on his knees beside his daughter not knowing what to do. 'Anton, what's wrong with her?! What are we going to do?! Good Lord, please help us!' Edang, his wife, cried in panic. Anton tried to carry Mary but she had the weight of a huge rock. He knew it was a supernatural force against them. Mary remained unconscious even when Anton was shaking her forcibly. Suddenly, they all stepped back in revulsion when they realized Mary's body was melting.'Noooo!' Edang was even more frantic while the rest of them were silenced in disbelief.
The lights went out. The only sound they could hear was the angry wind stirring outside their house and slapping the windows until they smashed into pieces. This time they held each other tightly leaving Mary on the floor where they could not see her anymore. A strong force knocked Anton down. The heavy antique chair slid from one side of the room and hit Anton's back.
The lights suddenly turned back on and Anton slowly got up from the floor trying to ignore the burning pain on his back.
'Where's Mary?' Edang asked between sobs.
Mary was no longer on the floor. All that's left there was the grime that fell off from her skin and the foul smell that enveloped the room. The wind stopped and all they could hear was each other's heavy breathing. Something caught Edang's eye. 'Look!' pointing to the corner of the room. Hanging on the ceiling was Mary's burned body. Below it a naked woman stood still. Gumba stood there staring at them with bloodshot eyes.
The flame on the floor started to rise. 'Mary! Mary!' Edang tried to reach out for her daughter's body but Anton pulled her towards the door. 'We need to leave now or all of us will die in here! There is nothing we can do about Mary anymore!' The Rochas ran out of the house. A big crowd was gathered in front of it, gasping at the sight of the wrathful flames.
Iyay Caring stood a distance away from the house watching in silence. She dropped the Orasyon when it too started to burn on its own. You already have claimed your revenge Gumba. Somebody else will now suffer the fate you have suffered. Leave now. Leave... Iyay Caring covered her head with veil and turned away.