A young woman in her early 20's who grew up in Manila decided to spend summer with her in-laws at a town in the Visayas region. It was her older sister who married and lived with these folks, but her sister passed away recently. The young woman wanted to pay respects to her sister's grave and at the same time get to know her in-laws.
And so she traveled to the barrio and was warmly welcomed. Everyone was really happy to see her especially her sister's daughter who's almost her age too. Being a Manileña, the young woman dressed differently than the people of the barrio who are conservative and plain. Her distinctive jewelries, watch, earrings and necklace definitely made her stood out.
Throughout the day, she noticed that the relatives, although they're very nice to her, they appear to avoid eye contact with her. Even her sister's widower behaves the same way, but they kept on looking at her jewelries and the way she dressed. She also noticed the eerie environment of the house to the point that it is creepy. She was scared at first, but thought that it must be a normal thing in their province. Besides, her niece is not like the older folks and she's all the company needed to erase all her doubts.
Night came to the small barrio and everyone was finished in their supper and chores. The young woman could feel the stares of her in-laws while she and her niece were exchanging stories which she finds very uncomfortable. She excused herself and proceeded to the bedroom to rest.
Since the house is not that big, she was assigned to share the room with her niece. Before they slept, her sister's daughter asked if she could wear her earrings, necklace and other accessories while they were sleeping, of which she agreed. They closed the lights and bade each other good night.
Suddenly, in the middle of the night, she was awakened by the sound of hushed noises and a strong, putrid smell. She felt movement inside the room and knew that someone was there, but continued to pretend to be asleep. Her heart was pounding and she was very afraid. She peeped a bit and saw it was really dark but she could make out silhouettes of a man, and two aging women, although they seemed really different. She almost screamed for help and run away but not a part of her body could move. Then there was whispering, something about the jewelries and the watch, then inhuman hands tried to feel her wrists and neck. A little later, she felt her sister's daughter, their own child, being lifted away then everyone was gone from the house.
A few minutes later she got up, took her things and ran away as fast as possible.
Luckily the next barrio is not too far away and there she waited on the bus station. The next morning when there was daylight, news traveled fast as there was a young lady found dead in the neighboring barrio said to be eaten by aswangs because most of her insides were missing. She was almost unrecognizable but they said she wore a lot of jewelries in her body. She realized that her niece was eaten by her own family of aswangs. A breath of relief came out of her when she saw the bus to the provincial capitol arriving.
