Filipino Scares

while doing, umm, number two; i saw a sign on the door situated in front of me. it was a list of things to do, as courtesy to the next user.

it was pretty normal. until i got to this one:

don’t take your time, someone is waiting behind you.

life’s been too hectic for me to actually write stuff these days, so for days like these i’ll write memories from my childhood.

i was around 5 to 7 years old when my grandmother, on my father’s side, died. i remember visiting her while she was sick, i remember having nightmares about this particular flower vase she had by her bed, i remember her being a strong woman even while she was lying there on her bed.

i also remember my grandmother loving her orchids. prior to her confinement to her bedroom, she was always either at the kitchen cooking, or at her garden tending to her orchids.

weeks or months passed with my grandmother confined to her bed. i don’t remember who she told this, but one of her last wishes was for my family to take care of her orchids.

one day, my sister and i came home from school to find our house filled with the scent of orchids. outside, two or three brown butterflies were flitting to and fro. it was a little disorienting. i vaguely recall running to the garden to see if the orchids were already there.

they weren’t.

a couple of hours after getting home, after finding the house smelling like orchids, we get a call from my father: our grandmother had died a couple of hours before.

johnson knows firsthand the power of gossip. it creates friction, tension—division. it can make and destroy careers. and he discovers that it can also drive a person crazy.

three years ago, a rising banking corporation fired johnson because of trading insider info. wrongfully accusing johnson of trading company secrets. he knew his colleague, and former best friend, had something to do with it. he knew the rumors he heard about himself, rumors he dismissed as just harmless gossip, had something to do with him getting fired.

so he sought to get even.

with just a few choice words in a few right ears, johnson was hired by a rival company. and with a few more choice words, in a few more right ears, johnson managed to get his former friend fired—and blacklisted.

johnson understood the power of gossip. but he didn’t understand it enough.

for two years, johnson lived a quiet life. enjoying a fruitful career, meeting the woman of his dreams—he had the life. and then his former friend bounced back from his two-year slump.

this former friend began a crusade against him. countering everything he had planned, everything he was working on. johnson didn’t know how it was happening—just that it was.

finally, the two of them talked. the two of them faced each other, and johnson knew something was different. his former friend didn’t just change—he wasn’t even human anymore.

he had to have the help of the devil, for him to be able to rise from the ashes of his former career.

but no one would believe johnson if he told anyone about it.

johnson kept his silence—and his former friend started taking over his life. from his wife to his career, johnson lost everything to said former friend. and johnson kept quiet, kept his distance. he knew he needed to be able to prove to everyone his theories.

and a year later, he had everything he needed.

johnson went back to his office, where his former friend had taken over his job, had gotten the promotion he had been working on—and to find out that his ex-wife was now expecting their first child.

all as planned, johnson went to his former house. went to where his ex-wife was sleeping soundly. took back the bewitched who left him, and proceeded with his plan.

that night, johnson waited for his former friend to find the note he had left behind. he waited until said friend arrived at the warehouse where he was keeping his drugged ex-wife.

he waited with a wooden stake he would use to kill the demon who took his friend’s form—and ruined his life a second time round.

that night, johnson smiled to himself as he heard his former friend arrive. he laughed, to lead said friend to where he was seated. where he was holding the wooden stake against the hardening belly of his ex-wife.

johnson plunged the wooden stake and listened to his ex-wife’s screams. she would survive, johnson knew, because he was purging the demon’s seed out of her body. she would be reborn.

and the demon pretending to be his former friend would die that night.

but something was horribly wrong. johnson looked at the pooling blood under his ex-wife. he stared at the anguish crossing his former friend’s face as his ex-wife’s screams started to falter—and die.

johnson looked at the body of the woman he loved before. and saw that the demon was still alive—but his love was dead. he turned to his former friend and saw the demon in his friend’s eyes.

he saw that the demon was him.

“juanita, answer the phone.” daniel dela rosa was hurrying along the corridor of his cousin’s apartment building, closely followed by mang florencio, his uncle’s caretaker.

but the phone just kept ringing.

finally, the two of them arrived outside juanita’s door. it was open.

“juanita?” daniel didn’t think. all he knew was that weird things were happening, and he had a bad feeling about the thank you he heard when he was talking to his cousin earlier.

mang florencio quickly made a beeline for the showers. daniel didn’t know why, but he felt compelled to check in there too.

but there was nothing there.

“juanita?” now, daniel was really worried. he pointed mang florencio to the direction of the kitchen; he didn’t feel right asking mang florencio to check the bedroom. if all of these were just one big mistake, at least it was him who would be barging in juanita’s room.

what greeted him when he opened the door was, in a way, worse than what he expected—but not as gruesome.

juanita—his juanita—was slumped at the foot of the bed. white as a sheet. daniel quickly checked for pulse, but even as he did, he knew he wouldn’t find any.

he could hear mang florencio coming in from outside. daniel turned, and gasped.

nothing wrong with the showers. it was painted over the whole wall facing the bed.

daniel turned to mang florencio. the old man was already dialing on the phone. a couple of minutes, and a few hurried murmurs, later, mang florencio was running out of the house.

daniel followed, of course. they reached mang florencio’s house in record time.

”mang florencio, what’s going on?” daniel asked in between gasps as they entered his house.

“my wife.” mang florencio quickly went to his bedroom. his wife wasn’t there. they heard something fall in the floor above them. the two ran towards and up the stairs.

“nothing wrong with the showers.” mang florencio’s wife was herding a little boy into the bathroom.

“florentino!” mang florencio’s shout was everything daniel needed to know. he ran after the caretaker’s wife and kid. but he couldn’t make mang florencio’s wife loosen her grip on the child.

“let go of him,” daniel said with gritted teeth. “let go of florentino.”

“you don’t understand, iho.” a glance at the caretaker showed daniel that mang florencio’s eyes were brimming with tears. “my son needs to go inside the showers. it’s the only way.”

“no.” mang florencio broke his wife’s hold on their son. florentino ran towards his room, and his mother crumpled before his father.

“it’s the only way!” the woman cried.

a thump caught the attention of the three, with mang florencio’s wife the first to act.

“no, no, no.” she kept repeating.

daniel ran after her, and they entered the little boy’s room. mang florencio was behind him, and then the old man was pushing himself to the front.

florentino was slumped at the foot of his bed. he was white as a sheet. daniel knew what they would see when they turned around. and sure enough, emblazoned on the wall were the words “nothing wrong with the showers.”

“i told you,” mang florencio’s wife turned to them. “i told you it was the only way. now, there is no way to appease her.”

the wife turned to daniel, “she wanted to prove that there’s nothing wrong with the showers.”

“she promised she would stop.” mang florencio hugged his wife, stroking her hair. his wife continued, “she just wanted to prove that there’s nothing wrong with the showers.”

“now we wouldn’t know how to find her.” she turned to mang florencio. “we lost our son, and someone will lose theirs too. juanita will not stop until she has proven that there’s nothing wrong with the showers.”

daniel froze as the woman said the last words. behind him, the door closed. and locked itself.

nothing wrong with the showers.

the end.

the first thing daniel dela rosa did that morning was call his cousin. on the third ring, he heard the distinct low rumble that was juanita dela rosa’s voice on the othe end of the line.

“who in the name of all that is good and mighty is calling me at five in the friggin’ morning?” daniel wanted to laugh at his cousin’s greeting, but he couldn’t. not after what had happened the night before. just hours before.

“it’s me,” daniel replied. “daniel.”

“danny?” he could picture juanita frowing on the other end of the line. “what made you call?”

for five years, daniel’s life had been a mess. and while juanita had tried to give him help before, he refused her every single time. daniel was definitely not surprised why juanita would be confused with his call.

“nothing, it’s nothing.” daniel didn’t really know why he called juanita. he just wanted to know for himself that she was alive. and that mang florencio and his wife were wrong.

juanita was alive. she was not the little girl who had been trapped inside his uncle’s bathroom for twenty years. if there was a little girl there even.

“daniel, it’s not nothing if you’re calling me at this hour.”

thank you. daniel turned, sure he had heard something on his end of the line. “i’m—this is a mistake. i’m sorry for calling. good day, juanita.” daniel dropped the call.

mang florencio was staring at him solemnly. it unnerved him.

outside, dawn was breaking. mang florencio’s wife had left the two of them and had gone straight to bed. shaken by the events of last night. now, daniel was sharing the awkward silence with his uncle’s caretaker.

“do you want to look into the bathroom?” daniel was surprised by the question. mang florencio had been adamant since day one that the bathroom not be used. don’t use the showers.

but he was curious. and he wanted to prove the caretaker wrong.

“let’s go.”

they walked towards his uncle’s house in silence. when they reached the house, mang florencio hesitated before entering.

“i am breaking my promise to your uncle by doing this.” daniel looked at the forlorn face of mang florencio. he knew the caretaker cared deeply for his uncle. he just didn’t know how deeply.

they pressed on; walking up the stairs, daniel could feel no bad vibes from the house. he never did.

but then again, daniel wasn’t psychic.

mang florencio looked at him sadly, and then he entered mang tiburcio’s room. it was in the same state they left it in, the night before. daniel looked at the bathroom they had left open. it was closed now.

“mr. dela rosa—daniel,” mang florencio motioned for him to follow him. they opened the bathroom door. a couple of large rats darted out. daniel stifled a scream.

“rats. there are only rats inside.” daniel didn’t want to enter the bathroom. he would rather live in ignorance. faced with the chance to find out, daniel discovered that he would rather not.

but mang florencio was already in the bathroom.

“impossible!” daniel heard the old man say. he darted into the bathroom, after mang florencio. the bathroom was filthy—but there was nothing there but dust and grime. and a lot of rat poop.

“what were you expecting to find inside, mang florencio?” daniel asked.

“juanita’s—” the caretaker shook his head. “never mind.”

the two of them were about to leave the bathroom, when something caught daniel’s eyes. it was a brownish envelope with mang florencio’s name on it.

”mang florencio?” daniel picked up the envelope and handed it to the caretaker. “a letter from my uncle?”

mang florencio opened the envelope, read the contents, and stared at daniel.

“juanita is dead.” the old man handed him the letter from his uncle. daniel glanced at it, and saw the gist.

“if you are reading this, florencio, it means you couldn’t stop my nephew from entering the showers.” daniel caught mang florencio’s gaze. “it means, juanita is out.”

daniel continued out loud, “now, you must make sure my juanita does not find the juanita i raised.”

“what does this mean, mang florencio?”

the caretaker’s eyes widened. and daniel remembered.

thank you.

to be continued.

daniel dela rosa woke up in the middle of night sweating.

it was actually very cold, so daniel did not know why he was sweating in the first place. but in the dark, he could see a figure standing at the foot of his uncle’s—his—bed. “hello?”

nothing wrong with the showers. daniel heard the words in his mind, but for some reason, he knew it was coming from the figure. nothing wrong with the showers.

daniel tried to stand up, but his arms and legs felt heavy. they felt clammy. daniel turned to his right hand and stifled a gasp. a hand was holding it in place. he turned back to the foot of his bed. the figure was gone.

nothing wrong with the showers.

daniel jerked his head to the left and saw the figure leaning over him. in the dark, he could not see its features—but he knew it was a girl. a small girl.

and then the room was flooded with light, and the little girl was gone.

“mr. dela rosa.” daniel sat up to find mang florencio by the door, panting. “mr. dela rosa, why did you not heed my warning?”

”mang florencio, what are you doing here?” daniel realized that the room was very humid after all. no wonder he was drenched in sweat. but he could’ve sworn it was cold just a minute ago.

he must’ve been dreaming.

the caretaker helped him stand up from the bed. still groggy, daniel turned to see mang florencio pick up his bag and hand it to him.

“we’ll talk in the morning, mr. dela rosa.” the old man was practically pushing him out of the room. “for now, you stay in my house. away from here.”

daniel turned to see mang florencio staring at the partly opened doors to the bathroom.

“you opened the door.”

the next thing daniel knew, he was sitting in front of mang florencio’s house. it was just beside his uncle’s—his—house, so not a lot of time must’ve passed.

mang florencio stepped out of his house, followed by his wife. he sat down before daniel and laid down a few items: a basin, a pitcher of water, a spoon, a white candle and a small bottle of oil.

“what are you doing, mang florencio?” daniel watched as the older man poured water into the basin. his wife had began chanting in a dialect daniel couldn’t understand. “mang florencio?”

the candle flamed on its own, or mang florencion must’ve lit it without him seeing, and then it was thrust into his face. the flame made circular characters in the air before him, and daniel could swear he something in between the flashes of light.

“mr. dela rosa, daniel, put your hand in the basin.” daniel followed the orders without question. he watched as the caretaker placed the candle on top of his submerged hand, letting the melting wax hit the water.

“what are you doing, mang florencio?” daniel asked. he didn’t know what answer he wanted, but at that exact moment, any answer would do. the caretaker did not oblige though. in the background, mang florencio’s wife was making a strangled sound.

daniel wanted to help her, but mang florencio looked at him sternly. that kept him in his place.

“mr. dela rosa, why did you not leave when i asked you to?” daniel did not expect that question. or maybe he did, he just didn’t expect it right then and there.

“i was going to.” daniel told the caretaker what had happened. and how he saw the note in the computer. “i thought you were pulling a prank.”

“did i not tell you not to use the showers?” this time, daniel had a ready answer.

“i didn’t use the showers,” he began. but before he could continue, the caretaker had cut him off.

“you opened the door. that was enough.”

“enough for what?” daniel was getting weirded out. mang florencio motioned for him to look at the basin where his hand was still submerged in water. a mound of wax floated in the water. it was in the shape of a little girl.

“enough to let her out.”

behind mang florencio, his wife suddenly fell down. daniel and the caretaker turned to look at her, just in time to see a little girl run away from the body.

“florencio,” the woman whispered. “what did you say was the reason juanita no longer came around here again?”

”mang tiburcio sent her away,” the caretaker glared at his wife.

“that child,” the woman turned to where the child had run off to. “that child said she was juanita. and she’s been inside her father’s showers for twenty years now.”

“that’s impossible.” daniel seemed to have found his voice again. “that couldn’t be juanita. juanita was at tito tibo’s wake. she’s not a ghost—she’s still alive.”

“florencio?” the woman stared at her husband. mang florencio couldn’t look at his wife straight.

finally, he said, “juanita’s been dead for twenty years.”

“impossible,” daniel whispered.

to be continued.

it was a very tiring day for daniel dela rosa. he had just returned home from his first job interview in five years, and the first thing he saw was his uncle’s room—his room—was trashed.

he remembered locking the front door behind him, when he left earlier. and even then, the caretaker lived right next door. daniel was sure that old man would’ve at least informed him if his house got broken into.

the thing is, daniel isn’t very sure that his house had gotten broken into. nothing seems to be missing. it was just very messy. messier than how he had left it a four hours ago.

he took out his cellphone and dialed.

”mang florencio,” he greeted as soon as someone picked up the phone. “it’s daniel.”

he listened as the older man talked about how good it was that someone was living in the house again. mang florencio rambled on for a couple more minutes, before he stopped.

“why did you call, mr. dela rosa?” the caretaker asked, suddenly suspicious.

daniel replied, “i just wanted to ask if you saw anyone come in the house earlier.”

the caretaker paused. a very long pause, it seemed, for daniel.

“do you have any other place you could stay the night?”

that question certainly took daniel by surprise. did the caretaker know something? is there actually a burglar inside the house right then and there? is daniel in danger?

“i can crash at my friend’s apartment,” daniel answered. “why? is there something i should know, mang florencio?”

“no, no.” the caretaker answered. but daniel could hear fear in the old man’s voice. “but, just the same, mr. dela rosa. i would advise for you to stay at your friend’s place for the mean time.

“come back tomorrow.”

just then, the phone went dead. daniel looked at his cellphone to see the signal bars disappear. “that’s weird.”

the ceiling light flickered, surprising daniel.

“very weird.”

whether or not there was a burglar in the house, daniel could suddenly feel that it would be in his best interest to follow mang florencio’s advice. he grabbed some clothes and stuffed it into his messenger bag. he turned for the door, but caught a glimpse of the computer.

he must’ve forgotten to turn it off when he left for his interview.

there was something written in the screen. nothing wrong with the showers. daniel stopped, stared at the screen, and burst out laughing.

“very funny, mang florencio.” daniel dropped his messenger bag on the floor. turned the computer off and walked towards his bed.

daniel pushed off his clothes from the bed, and crashed into it. he thought, mang florencio must’ve gotten a good laugh. all the while, thinking his uncle’s caretaker had just pulled a prank on him.

but with him flat out on the bed, daniel didn’t notice the door to the bathroom open.

he didn’t see the pair of eyes peeking out from the darkness.

to be continued.

after the initial creepiness of settling in a new house subsided, daniel dela rosa found out that he liked living in his late uncle’s house.

“i could get used to this,” daniel sighed happily. he was sitting in front of the computer, which he managed to fix on his second day, searching an online classified ads site for a job.

strewn all over his uncle’s bed—his bed now—are a week’s worth of clothes he had worn and taken off. daniel was yet to do any laundry. or anything at all, actually, other than eat, sleep and look for a job.

though while he is still searching for more prospects right now, daniel had finally gotten a callback from one of the companies he applied to. he had an interview later that day.

daniel pressed the enter key, finishing yet another application, and then stood up. it was time to get ready for his first job interview in five years.

he opened his suitcase, fished out a shirt and a pair of slacks, and started for the room’s adjoining bathroom. daniel stopped, remembering the caretaker’s warnings to him. “don’t use the showers.”

but what harm could it do? he’s been in the house for over a week and nothing had happened to him. true, he’s been using the toilet and bathroom downstairs for his entire stay, but unless something is seriously wrong with the plumbing, daniel could find no reason not to use the showers.

it was time that he test if the master’s bathroom was operational.

he opened the door and coughed. the bathroom was dusty. daniel wondered when was the last time the door was even opened. at the corner of his eye, he saw something move.

daniel turned, closing the door again. just as he did, he saw the keyboard of the computer fall from the desk.

“that’s weird.” daniel picked it up and set it on the table again. he must’ve accidentally hit the keyboard when he stood up, and then opening the bathroom door must’ve released some trapped air that pushed the keyboard from its already precarious place on the edge of the table.

yep, that was it.

daniel turned back to the bathroom and saw a piece of paper on the ground before it. that must’ve been what he saw moving earlier. he picked it up.

“don’t use the showers.” daniel frowned. “huh. would you look at that? tito tiburcio even left a note. he must’ve been very serious.”

forgetting what had happened, daniel picked up his clothes and started for the door that led outside the room.

inside the room, the still-on computer whirred and opened a word program. words began appearing on the screen.

“nothing wrong with the showers.”

to be continued.