Day 5
I still don’t know what’s happening. They say I can leave any time I want, but whenever I try and go out the door, I can’t move. It’s like I’m being pushed away by some force. I tried begging my hosts to let me go, that this is some sort of mistake. That I have a family and I want to see them again, but I don’t think they care. They told me that I ate the black rice and by the “rules” I have to stay with them. Forever.
Day 14
Now I know how they built this mansion. I’m not the only human they have here, but the others, I think they’ve been here longer than I have. Their eyes seem dead and they barely talk except to acknowledge orders from the masters. I asked one of them how long she’d been here and she said ‘years’ before she started crying. But that doesn’t make sense, they’re all still my age.
Day 25
They brought in a new prisoner, this time it’s a small child. I thought that the child might be one of them, he had white skin and white hair and he seemed to glow, but the masters kicked him to the pit and made him lift rocks like the rest of us. I’ll go talk to him when the masters let us rest.
Day 26
I don’t even know how I’m counting the days. There’s no sun here at all, the only lights are from the fires inside the mansion. Cirilo says it’s because it’s because the bad engkanto are used to living in the dark, it keeps their Aswang pets happy. That’s the kid’s name, Cirilo, he says that he looks the way he does because his father was an engkanto. One of the good ones, or so he says. He tells me that his mother took them to live with his father before she died, she willingly took the trip through the Balete tree, unlike most humans.
Day ???
Cirilo and I are still here, still stuck building a new wing of the mansion for the masters. I don’t know how many days I’ve been here, it may be months, even years. I think being around Cirilo stops me from ending up like the others, maybe it’s because I have someone to talk to. The kid’s strong though, he’s never once flinched at the masters, maybe it’s why they hate them so much. He’s always looking out into the dark. Maybe he’s waiting for something.
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Story Continued from the Dalaketnon’s Tale
Written by Karl Gaverza
Copyright © Karl Gaverza
Story inspired by Albino description in Bikol Beliefs and Folkways: A Showcase of Tradition. Nasayao. 2010.
Albino Illustration and Watercolor by Sam Despi
Website: http://samdespi.com/
IG: @samdespi
