[7:15 A.M.]
Camp Sagrada, Quezon City.
The hallway was cold enough to sting skin and filled with uniformed personnel rushing in different directions. Andres tapped his keycard against the scanner. The lock clicked open.
Inside was a Senate-style meeting room, compact, but authoritative. Rows of elevated seats, a massive projector screen, national flags on both sides, and walls lined with soundproof panels. A faint hum from the air-conditioner echoed, turning the entire chamber into a refrigerated vault.
Officials began arriving from various sectors: police, military, intelligence units, foreign affairs officers, research scholars, and several unidentified individuals in suits that didn't match any Philippine agency.
Andres spotted PNP-CIDG Director Rocky Dela Cruz, AFP's General Jose Paraluman, and a handful of foreign observers whispering among themselves.
The air felt heavy-not only cold, but anxious.
Andres sat alone in the back row. More people poured in, filling every chair as footsteps and hushed conversations faded into a thick silence.
Jared slid into the seat beside him, an iced coffee in one hand.
"Hey," he whispered.
Andres glanced at him with a blank expression.
"Sorry about earlier," Jared murmured.
"Never mind," Andres replied.
The room darkened. A spotlight illuminated the center stage as a man in a tailored suit strode forward. The microphone buzzed. Dir. Michael Sagrada, the Director of the Krusada Forces, the grandson of the founder.
"We will now begin," he announced. "All participants, please stand."
Everyone rose. After the brief ceremonial protocol, they took their seats again.
"Welcome to all attendees," Dir. Sagrada said,
Director Sagrada: "including our guests from the United States: Mr. Jonathan Reeves of the State Department, and Mr. Dean Giordano, Senior Investigator of the International Unit and former Rank A Vampire Hunter of United States Supernatural Agency."
A wave of applause rolled across the chamber. After few introductions, the audiences silently go back to their seats.
"The killings in Metro Manila have increased by 78 percent this year," he continued. "We are approaching the highest death toll recorded since 1986."
A murmur spread across the room.
"These incidents are not random. They are coordinated. And they indicate a growing threat."
"We all know the creatures that inhabit this city. Our local shapeshifter clans, foreign vampire clans, and other entities with unclear motives. For years, the has been fighting to reclaim what was taken from us."
"So, we need a new form of crusade."
"Recently, a clan of Aswang operating overseas triggered U.S. involvement. This brings us to our cooperation with the US Government today."
Director Sagrada gestured toward the American representative.
"Ambassador Reeves, the floor is yours."
Reeves stepped forward, placing a folder on the podium.
"Good morning. Thank you for including the United States in this joint investigation."
He clicked a remote. A gruesome photo flashed on-screen: bodies piled in a dim basement.
"Last month, the FBI uncovered a mass grave inside the private property of a Filipino pastor in Los Angeles, California, William Apollo of the Church of Christ."
"The bodies were mutilated. Human organs found stored in freezers. Torture devices scattered across the basement."
"Vampires only drink blood. Lycans only occasionally consume flesh. Skinwalkers are never this organized."
"...We conducted research through historical records dating back to the late 1900s specifically from the journals of Filipino-American War soldiers, and we found references to a shapeshifting creature in the Philippine Islands known for consuming human corpses."
"We traced the pattern, and our investigation led us back here. That is why we need your assistance."
"This was something else-an entirely new international supernatural threat."
Dir. Sagrada reclaimed the podium.
"Let us clarify something:
'Aswang' is not a single species. It is a classification."
"Some of them are shapeshifters. They possess long and sharp tongues. Some move like animals. They all share a single trait, a black blood."
The projector displayed a distorted corpse-part human, part animal-its species is unknown.
"One of the most invasive species of Aswang is the Wakwak, a birdlike creature with a long tongue, predatory toward raw meat and human fetuses. Originally came from the Dinagat Islands, they migrated to Luzon due to territorial conflicts and extinction threat."
"Yesterday, one of our biologists from University of Santo Tomas, Dr
Pablo Albulario conducted an autopsy on a well known 'Aswang'. Her name is Maria Labo, a serial killer from Ilocos Norte, known for dismembering victims and allegedly feeding human meat to her colleagues."
The next slide showed medical scans, including X-Rays and other parts of the autopsy.
"Her tongue measured two meters and ended in a blade-like structure. Her muscles can reshape without bone alteration, allowing extreme forms of transformation."
"Her blood is darker than any known organism, highly resistant to allicin-the compound mostly found in garlic."
"She also possessed retractable claws hidden beneath the skin."
"There are over one hundred classified Aswang species in the Philippines. Some are used by some terrorist organizations, just like the the New People's Army and the ISIS."
"There is an criminal organization called Tangkay which means in Tagalog: 'Branch of a Tree.' They are trying to unite all the 21 clans around the world."
"There is not enough time today to review the thousands of documents we accumulated, and some cases remain classified under the National Bureau of Investigation."
The projector changed to a video showing a freezer inside an unknown factory.
"This footage is from a facility in Valenzuela City. These bodies were stored for months, believed to be victims of the White Van kidnappings carried out by the Itak Gang and the Asong Gubat Clan."
"What alarmed us we found documents showing these bodies were scheduled for export to the United States."
"Typically, Aswang only export bodies back to their home islands. But why export to another country? Are they forming alliances with foreign species? Or is there a mass migration?"
"We have also documented cases of Aswang leaving the country like the gruesome crime committed by an Aswang overseas worker in Hong Kong last week."
"The government keeps this from the public to prevent widespread panic. We are now coordinating with the United States to prevent escalation."
"If we fail to act, the consequences will be irreversible."
"This cooperation will form the new foundation of our new project, Project Birdhunting."
Silence and Shock.
A wave of shock rippled through the room.
Chief Dela Cruz stood up.
"America again? Are you saying our own military and local forces cannot handle this alone? What happened to our independence?"
Gasps. Some nodded. Others stayed tense.
Director Sagrada met his gaze.
"Half of our population is hostile. They have already outnumbered us. If we don't intervene now, this country will collapse into a apocalypse."
"There is already a silent war in our streets. Foreign clans versus local clans and clans versus the government."
"This alliance is not about surrendering independence or downlooking our .
It is about survival."
"In Manila, they coexist with Spanish Vampires making a Clan War. Multiple clans are preparing for unification. It has been in motion for decades."
"They have been preparing for a massive unification against the government and foreign clans. This will be a huge massacre."
"This is why we are launching a new militarized crusade in Manila with the help of US-to cleanse Luzon against foreign intruders and restore the lost peace, cleaning out the clans from Dinagat Islands and the vampire migrants from Spain."
"My great grandfather sacrificed everything while defending Quiapo Church from a great swarm of manananggal during 1899. We must have more efforts to do the same way."
"We are taking back the lost peace of our land."
He paused, voice low and heavy.
"WE NEED MORE EFFORTS TO CLEAN OUR COUNTRY!!"
After the meeting, Andres and Jared went out to eat near the camp. Disappointment was written all over their faces because of the director's decision. As he sipped the broth of his Arroz Caldo, Jared turned to Andres.
Jared: "Have you noticed that the Philippines seems way too dependent on America?"
Andres just laughed at Jared's comment.
"Honestly, we wouldn't even be able to move without the US involved," he said.
"Our armed forces are too weak, not enough to stand against the clans we're up against."
Jared: "Yeah..but the US has its own shits, right? It's even more dangerous for them since it's their first territory."
Andres: "The shapeshifters are aggressive here in the Philippines, but it's more dangerous there in the US."
Jared: "But if you compare, their technology is way more advanced than ours. They even created a new strain of Vampirism on St. Lazarus Island during World War I for military purposes."
Andres: "Fair point... but why can't we adapt?"
Jared: "Yeah.. It feels like something's blocking the country from improving."
Andres: "Corruption?"
Jared: "As always... but have you considered this?"
Andres: "??"
Jared: "Have you noticed that our forces are always focused on the Aswang? Why don't they have much informations about the vampire migrants in the city?"
Andres: "Maybe it's just too confidential."
Jared: "It's impossible for the two species to form an alliance-the shapeshifters here are territorial."
Andres: "or maybe, they are just hard to spot.."
...
Going back to the camp, a man dressed in white approached a suited man in the Command Office, holding a black leather case that seemed to hide something suspicious. He handed it to the man and said:
"Deliver this to the Director. It contains confidential files. Do not open it."
The man carried the case into the chamber, but as he walked, he felt suspicious.
"This case feels way too heavy to just contain documents..."
He entered the room and saw Director Sagrada, sipping a red tea. The room was fairly spacious, with a table in the center. At the back stood a large portrait of Bermundo Sagrada, and on either side were Philippine flags.
Man: "Director, The Commander sent you something..."
He carefully handed the case to Dr. Sagrada.
Director Sagrada: "Huele delicioso."
Inside the black case were five packs of fresh red blood. Dr. Sagrada inhaled the scent while the man watched silently.
Man: "Is there a problem, sir?"
Dr. Sagrada: "No, Tengo hambre."
The man peeked into the case. Seeing what was inside, his hair stood on end. He froze, become pale, unable to speak, overwhelmed by what he witnessed, and instinctively took a step back.
Director Sagrada closed the case and looked at the man. The light reflected in his pupils, making them glow faintly under the shadow of his face.
The man tried to back away, but behind him, the man in a white suit holding a knife slashed his throat. The man fell to his knees as blood splashed across the floor like a waterfall and then he collapsed in his own blood.
The man in white licked his knife, savoring his victim's blood.
Man in White: "¡Buenos días, Señor!"
He pressed his hand to his chest and bowed to Director Sagrada.
Director Sagrada: "You haven't changed, Miguel. You're still like your father."
The man laughed. The man in white was Miguel Sagrada, brother of Michael Sagrada, defender of the Sagrada Clan-one of the strongest vampire clans from Madrid who migrated to the Philippines during the Spanish Colonial Period.
Míguel: "Did you like the fresh blood I brought?"
Director Sagrada: "I haven't tasted it yet."
Director Sagrada reopened the case and inhaled the scent of the blood packs.
Director Sagrada: "Pure AB type, huh?"
Miguel: "I got them from the donors at Makati Hospital."
Director Sagrada: "Gracias por el regalo, Miguel."
Director Sagrada closed the case and placed it on the table. He walked slowly past Miguel. Director take a cup of glass, held to the corpse's head, squeezed it's neck, and poured the blood flowing from the cut on his throat into the glass.
When the glass was full, he released the neck, and the man's body collapsed onto the floor again.
Director Sagrada: "Want a drink?"
Héctor returned the knife he was holding to its sheath on his waist.
Miguel: "No gracias, señor."
Director Sagrada: "How's the hunt in Cubao going?"
Miguel: "The clans are becoming aggressive."
Director Sagrada: "Hm, aggressive."
Miguel: "Their territories in the streets are now getting stronger."
Director Sagrada: "You don't have to worry, we have control over the city government against these cabron indios."
Director Sagrada: "Don Sagrada is still watching us, do you know that?"
Miguel: "Yes Señor!"
Director Sagrada: "Continue the hunt, destroy their lairs, y nos chuparán la polla."
Miguel: "Entiendo, señor."
Director Sagrada: "And also, call the special janitors to clean up this mess."
Miguel walked out of the room like a wind, leaving the dead man's body on the floor. Dr. Sagrada looks back at the large portrait, staring at his father's figure.
"Han pasado años, Padre, y todavía no hemos ganado la guerra."
"Remember how Moses take the promised land before, it always starts with crusade."
"Déjame limpiar la tierra primero"
To be continued.