Halo - 11. Chapter Eleven

I raked his hands through my hair, not believing what I just heard. “Seriously? You’re…You’re pregnant?”

Miranda nodded as she clenched her eyes closed.

“So…it’s Dustin’s, right?” I asked stupidly.

“Of course, it’s Dustin! Who else could it be?” Miranda turned her back towards me and smothered the side of her face into her pillow. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

I looked at Miranda, not knowing what to do. “Are…Are you going to keep it?”

“I don’t know! But need to talk to somebody. I can’t tell my family since we’re still dealing with my dad’s death. I can’t tell Dustin since I don’t know he’ll react.” Sitting up and looking at me, she continued by saying, “That’s why I haven’t said a word since what happened at the fundraiser. I just didn’t know what to say. What I saw back at the fundraiser was…and what happened my dad… Oh, my God, Duncan. I don’t know what to do!”

I didn’t know what to do either. What was I supposed to do for the girlfriend of my brother who tried to antagonize me at every move…but that wasn’t Miranda’s fault. She had been nice to me ever since she started dating my brother, and despite her naivety to how her boyfriend treated me even though I was his own twin, I knew she was kinder than most of the people that Dustin was friends with. So, I decided to walk to the bed and sat on the side, placing my hand on top of hers as she continued to take deep breaths.

“You’re the only one I feel I can talk to about this right now, and there’s no way I can tell Mike since I don’t know if I can trust him.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.

“I don’t know most of what happened back at the fundraiser since I hid under one of the tables for most of it. But I remember you saving me from that man who killed my dad before he almost killed you. I watched as Mike healed your wounds, and I knew he wasn’t the same person I knew almost a decade ago. Something happened to him when he was gone, and I know that he had to be involved with what happened. He’s hiding things from me, and I don’t know if he’s worth telling that I’m pregnant. In all honesty, he’ll probably kill Dustin and say that it was just an accident.”

I held back from saying from what happened with Mike and her boyfriend back at my house, and instead said, “But you trust me?”

“I don’t know who else to turn to, Duncan. And you seem to be the only person I can confide this to without freaking out or judging me.” Miranda was fidgeting with the ring on her finger, the ring that my brother gave to her when he proposed. “And to think my life was full of drama before…it doesn’t compare to what’s happening in my life right now. I thought I was going to marry Dustin, have my father walk me down the aisle…and nothing of that is going to happen.”

I looked at Miranda with shock. “You don’t want to be with Dustin anymore?”

Miranda was silent for a moment, and then she said, “I just don’t see a future with him as my husband, Duncan. Not anymore. And is that the point of dating someone, because you see yourself being with that person, in marriage and until death? And I don’t see him as father material at all.”

“So…you’re keep it?”

“I don’t know, Duncan… I just don’t know. I hope you’ll help me with that decision, but I know that’s a lot to ask.”

I scratched my head. “I won’t lie, that’s a lot to ask someone…but whatever decision you plan to make, I’ll support you regardless.”

Miranda looked at me with hopeful eyes. “Really?”

“I will. You’re like a friend to me, Miranda, and I want to do what a friend should do, and help you through any troubles,” I squeezed her hand gently.

Sobbing, Miranda leaned forward and hugged me. “Thank you, Duncan. Thank you. That’s all I wanted in a real friend.”

I hugged her back. I wasn’t put in a situation where a person depended on me for emotional support since my mother was diagnosed with cancer and needed me by her side, so she could pull through. Though it seemed it was all in vain because my mother died in the hospital bed while I held her hand one last time as I cried my heart out. However, I wanted Miranda to pull through this successfully, to be with her if she decided to have the baby or not. It was going to be a lot for me to handle; I don’t know if I’m the best for the job. But I know I’m not the only person who she could turn to and I felt somewhat honored for that.

“You’ll keep this between us, right?” Miranda said as she released me. “Just for now?”

I nodded. “I will.”

“Thank you again, Duncan. I know I have to tell my family eventually if do decided to have the baby, and of course Dustin will have to know sooner since he’s the father…I just don’t want to deal with it right now.”

“I understand. Just continue to rest, so you have the right mindset when you so come up with a decision later.”

“Okay, I’ll do that now.”

“Good. You can call me if you need anything or just want to talk. Okay, Miranda?”

Miranda nodded, lying down on her bed and pulling the sheets to her shoulders. I turned her lamp off and walked out of her bedroom before gently closing her door. I then sighed, knowing that I had to keep this a secret from Mike who would want to know that his little sister was pregnant by a guy who he just fought with. But I wanted Miranda to be the one to tell him, and I thought that was for the best. So, I decided to hold the truth as I searched for the office where Mike was most likely at, trying to find that binder.

Turning to a different hallway, I saw the pour of light coming from the door at the end. Walking inside, I see Mike sitting at his father’s desk. He had his hand raked through his hair as he turned through pages of what must’ve been the binder that my father was talking about. So, I approached the desk and stopped next to him. I looked more closely and saw that the pages were mostly newspaper articles in sleeve protectors.

“How’s Miranda?” Mike asked with his eyes glued to the turning pages.

“She’s going to be okay,” I replied, placing a hand on Mike’s shoulder. “So, what’s in the binder?”

“They’re mostly articles from the Philippines, and these articles are all about missing people. The most recent ones are dated only a couple of months ago.”

“It makes sense. You were one of those missing people.”

“Yeah, but here’s the thing. All these people who are missing are native to the Philippines. And from what I scanned, the last time any of them were seen was during the night.”

“So…what does that mean?”

“I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but it seemed that my father was looking for my whereabouts by following the clues of other missing people in the country…people who must’ve been taken by the aswang. Why else would all these people disappear during the night, the preferred hunting time for the aswang?”

“Your father must’ve believed you were taken by the aswang,” I concurred as I scratched my chin in thought. “Did you find anything else interesting? Like how my father is involved in all this?”

“None of that is in the binder…but it could be in my father’s computer. I just don’t know that damn password.” Mike thumbed through the pages in frustration. “I tried all the possibilities, but none of them worked and…wait a minute… No way.”

“What? Did you find it?”

“No, it’s something else entirely.” Mike turned the binder to the first page and began flipping through them, and like a flipbook it displayed a moving image.

The moving image was of Mike’s father and when Mike let go of the binder, the pages continued to turn at a rapid rate. The pages continued flipping like there was an infinite number of them, and soon the moving image of his father turned three-dimensional. It was slightly transparent, like a hologram in one of those science fiction movies, and I crouched down to get a better view of it.

“Michael, my son,” the image of Mike’s father said. “If you discover this book that is displaying this message, I am gone from this world and…I’m so sorry that it had to be like that. This message is dated during the time that you reappeared in my life just a couple of weeks ago. And I’m creating this message because I might not be in this world for long and I want you to know some important things before I’m gone…

“When you have disappeared from my life, I have pursued so many leads to find what happened to my only son that all unfortunately led nowhere. However, I discovered something that I have not intended to find instead…the aswang. That is the reason why this book contains so many articles about missing people in the Philippines that I originally found to see if these people were missing for the same reason you were. All these people were missing because of the aswang, and what happened to them is…indescribable. I…I made a deal with them, Michael. If I claimed the land in the Philippines where this mysterious gold was deposited, they would release you back to me… I know it was farfetched to believe that you would come back to me in one piece…but I was a desperate man who just wanted his son back and I was willing to do this just to know happened to you.

“After I claimed the land and then you reappeared, the aswang took credit for your reappearance and I was completely indebted to continue with the gold mining operation. If I didn’t…they threatened to do things to our family, to your mother, to your sisters. And that is why I’m going to do a fundraiser to promote the operation and so the aswang won’t harm our family… Mr. Sawyer, if you know him, told me not to go through with it, saying that the aswang don’t want just the gold, but they wanted to do sinister things with it as well. He helped with my search for you since his oil company was somehow connected with the aswang for reason I still don’t know. I still went through with the deal because what I do know is that I’m too scared to find out what will happen if don’t go through with it. Call me a coward, but I all I wanted was for our family to be whole again, and if that meant dealing with these aswang, then so be it.

“So, I’m creating this message because if anything goes wrong, I just wanted to let you know that I never stopped looking for you, Michael. As my son, I hope you can understand why I essentially made a deal with the devil. I also know something happened to you after you returned almost a decade later, and I entrust you to keep our family safe, especially your youngest sister Miranda. I love you, Michael, and stay safe.”

The pages stopped flipping and the image of Mike’s father faded away. I couldn’t believe what I just saw, and I turned to look at Mike who was staring at the binder with a blank expression on his face. Then I saw stray tear pooling in his eye and I quickly stood back up to wrap around my arms around him from behind the chair.

Mike held my arms as he sniffled. “Damn it, Dad. Why did you have to go and do that?”

“He loved you, Mike. Any good parent is willing to anything for their child,” I said as I rested my head on his shoulder.

“But he didn’t have to make a deal with the aswang since I wasn’t taken by them…but I guess it goes to show how manipulative they are.” Mike took a deep breath. “I didn’t know my father loved me so much that he was willing to do all this just to find me again since he didn’t outright told me that he loved me before… But I was wrong, and I just wish that I had a moment to tell him the same thing.”

“I sure he knows, Mike, from where ever he is now,” I assured as I released my hold of him.

“Yeah…” Mike stood up from the chair and examined the binder. “I’m surprised this binder acted like an incantation book, considering the message it displayed. I wonder where he got it from and whether there’s a anting-anting around as well.” Leaning forward, Mike’s suddenly widened, and he said, “Duncan?”

“What?” I said.

“Duncan…is this the same person that I saw your father with back at your house?” Mike pointed at a black and white picture of a woman on one of the articles.

I looked and saw that the picture was of Stephanie. “Yeah, that’s my stepmother, and if she’s in this binder then…”

“Shit. I don’t think it’s coincidence that the binder stopped at that page, do you?” Mike quickly grabbed his coat from the back of the chair and put it on. “I thought I sensed something in your house when I first went there. Didn’t think it was one of the aswang.”

I shook my head. “But Stephanie wouldn’t…there’s no way she’s…”

“Well, there’s one way to find out,” Mike suggested as he closed the binder and placed it back inside the drawer of the desk. “Let’s go back to your house, Duncan. I have some questions I need to ask this woman.”

“Okay, but just relax, Mike. You don’t know for certain if Stephanie is an aswang.”

“Yeah, but we’ll see. Now let’s go, Duncan.”

I was still uncertain about Stephanie being an aswang. She seemed so nice, and despite being different from my father in terms of age, I liked her. And I appreciated when she intervened between Dustin and me when we were fighting since I most likely would’ve came out of that altercation with something broken.

Though Stephanie did seem too perfect since she would always clean the house and cook the food without any complaints, almost happy that she was this glorified housemaid while my father was out most of the time for his oil company. I hoped it wasn’t a coverup and that it was something else entirely.

Mike checked on Miranda who was sleeping before we walked out of the house and got into his car. And when Mike swerved out of the driveway before pumping on the gas pedal, I knew it was going to be an uneasy ride. I held on tight as Mike drove fast to my house, passing two red lights and only slowing down when a police cruiser passed by.

Then we were soon back at my house, and Mike exited the car and went for the front door at a record speed. I quickened to be by him and I used my keys on the door, but the door seemed to be stuck. I looked at Mike with confusion, and both he and I pushed the door with our combined strength. The door slowly opened and what was beyond it was shocking.

Walking past the threshold, I looked at the foyer of my house and saw what looked like spiderwebbing that covered the entire area. It was black in color and when I heard a wailing sound coming from the second floor, I shrank back next to Mike.

“Well, it’s confirmed. There’s indeed an aswang here…a mangkukulam to be specific,” Mike said as he crouched down and touched the webbing between his fingers. “They take the form of humanoid spiders, using their hair as webbing and needles to create it to capture their prey who they then control by using a doll.”

“God! Where’s my dad and Dustin!”

“Shit,” Mike uttered as he looked up to the ceiling.

I look up as well and saw a dark figure lowering itself down to us. Mike grabbed my hand and pulled us against the wall as the figure continued lowering down to our level. It was a person with an extra pair of arms and legs, eight limbs in total like a spider and as it lowered itself by its hair, I saw the face of the person and I knew who it was…Stephanie.