3. The Alley

It was night.

Elena tried to walk faster. She willed herself to run but the load she is caring plus the fact that she is pregnant stopped her from walking any faster. Her heart is pounding so hard it reverberates to her ear. It is as if she had her ear against her chest.

Then she heard the flapping of cloth... She turned... And what she saw made her scream...

Standing in front of her is a cloaked man. The hood and the dark obscuring her vision. She can't see his face.

Her scream caught the attention of some bystanders who tried to see where the scream was coming from. On the other side of the street, four topless men drinking some gin stopped momentarily and turned to look at the direction where the scream came from. At the corner, three students waiting for a cab turned to Elena's direction.

Elena was shaking. Almost loosing her grip on the bayong she is carrying. She willed herself to move. She was able to take one step back when the hooded figure slowly raised his head. Ambient light slowly creeping she can now see the person's jaw. It looks fiery red. It has some black markings like a tattoo.

She held her bayong tighter not knowing what to do. A lot of things raced through her mind. "Is this Mang Andoy's killer," she asked herself. "What could he want from me? I never saw him before. I was never even a witness to the murder!"

As Elena continued on these thoughts, the hooded figure's head continued to raise. Now she can see his cheeks, riddled with tattoo. His head stopped moving. Light does not penetrate enough to allow her to see the figure's whole face. But she notices that his eyes seem to glow.

"Miss! Are you okay?" shouted one of the drinkers from the other side who stood up to have a better look. Then seeming to notice the figure standing in front of the woman, they felt alarmed. They took steps toward the street.

"Hoy! Who are you?" asked the other man to the hooded figure they can barely see in the dark as he moved ahead of his buddies. Some of them picked up iron pipes or wooden planks.

The students waiting for the cab got scared at the shouting. They huddled together and tried to cross the street towards the fast food chain.

The four drinkers began their way across the street when the figure turned his head toward them. They can see his yellow glowing eyes. And it made them stop and rethink if they will go and help the woman or not.

"Puta, aswang!" shouted the thinnest of the four holding his wooden stick tighter.

"Let's get him!" shouted the braver one who was also the one who asked Elena if she is okay.

"Let's go!" shouted the big bellied one holding an iron pipe.

As they moved forward towards the island that separates the two opposing lanes, the figure whipped his left arm toward their direction shouting "Daga!"

In an instant, a bolt of light came out from the sleeve end of the figure's cloak. The light materialized to a knife before it disappeared into the neck-high island.

The brave one among the drinkers stopped dead on his tracks. Clutching his neck as he fall backwards from the impact of something that hit him. Blood came out of his mouth and seeped through his fingers. His eyes wide in shock. He hit the ground with a thud.

The others looked at him, got mad and angrily looked at the hooded figure.

When the hooded figure released that bolt of light, Elene got to her senses and turned toward an alley to her left.

With deadly swiftness, the hooded figure flicked his other arm toward the direction of Elena. A bolt of light flew out and struck the wall behind her. Missing her by inches.

The assailant then moved to follow Elena in the alley but stopped when an iron pipe flew in front of him. He turned to see that the big bellied iron pipe bearer was no across the island. The two others just over the top.

Elene moved faster across the tight alley barely two persons wide. Boxes and crates were piled on either side. She tipped some of them and a few fell crashing on the ground. She heard screams as the four drinkers sparred with her assailant. As she turned her head back to take a look, she saw lights flash, heard more screams, and thought she faintly heard skin tear as if opening a zipper.

As the screaming stopped, she stopped and turned towards the end of the alley hoping that she will see one of the men who tried to help her. Her heart stopped when she heard the eerie fluttering she heard before. But no one emerged at the end of the alley. Trembling, she raised her gaze. In the ambient light of the new moon, she saw a figure descend from above. Her knees felt weak and she fell sitting on the ground.

"This is it for me," she thought. "I am sorry for my baby. He hasn't even come out yet to see the world and now he will die with me."

Tears trailed down her cheek as the fluttering figure landed a few feet in front of her.

"What do you want from me!" she screamed at the figure.

"You," the figure replied. His voice seem to come from the depths of the earth. "I have no business with you."