Goody-two shoes (Originally titled “Mabait”, Written by James Ryan “Raipo” Toledo. Original Art by Dexter Entera)

Man has existed always existed alongside the unseen and unexplained. And through out time these belief in the unknown have been watered down to mere superstition.  Modern man has more often than not dismissed these as nothing more than old folks tales, but for those who know better there are reasons behind why beliefs, traditions and superstition are still practiced…and feared.
Enter Shawn, a child of modern times. Bred in the midst of urban chaos he could have fared better if not for the constant battery of negativity he is subjected to. Shawn,  in a nutshell, is quite large for his age of fifteen and with that he feels a certain sense of superiority among children his age. Shawn uses this physical advantage of his to full extent, tormenting those who dare stand his way. At his age, he has already detracted to from the values he was taught when he was little. For him, things like “cooperation”, “humanity” and “compassion” are but mere childish lessons best left forgotten.
Shawn’s mother, Cecil, on the other hand is his exact opposite. She has been schooled well in good manners and virtue which won the liking of everyone around her. Cecil was also taught not to trifle with the unseen, not unlike her child. Things unseen like little black folk running around the nooks and crannies of one’s house. The kind that could make one’s gonads swell if provoked. Best not to stir the ilk of their kind as she always say. This is what Cecil believes in and though try as she might to teach Shawn of the old ways, it only falls on to his deaf ears.

As far as Shawn is concerned, everything that Cecil teaches him is hogwash. Like any other kid that lives within this generation superstition is only a way to keep them out of the streets at night. Shawn’s generation is more scared of drive-by’s and gang-bangs than hairy bogeymen living in balete trees as they are told by their elders.
All this is about to change for Shawn however.
After coming in from school one day, Shawn as usual hurried to the comforts of his room, only to find it in disarray. He immediately stormed downstairs to confront his mother, thinking that she was the culprit. The two met downstairs with Shawn obviously infuriated and muttering curse to his mother whom he had an argument a day ago for his not-so-exemplary behavior at school. As the two met, Cecil heard curses directed not only to her but also what Shawn likes to calls pests in their house. Cecil was infuriated and disproved of his son’s behavior. Cecil went on that these so-called “pests” should be referred to as “goody-two shoes” lest he wants to taste their wrath. Shawn dismissed this and was only aggravated by what his mother said and continued to curse the unseen pests.
So aggravated was Shawn that he went out of the house still muttering curses as he left to find some neighborhood kids to vent his fury on. But as he was just about to leave for the gate, he heard Cecil’s piercing scream…
Hurrying back, Shawn saw their house turned inside-out as if it were hit by a typhoon. Shawn was shocked, still trying to figure out how all this could have happened in an instant. But the thing that shook him the most is the blood that was splattered all over the scene. He went further in only to find piles of flesh here and there. He couldn’t hear Cecil anymore, instead he smelled a vile stench permeating the stagnant air inside the house.
It was then that he got a glimpsed of a pile of guts and flesh that as he figured out, used to his mother.
Shawn’s first instinct was to turn away and run from all this but he was dragged back. The presence behind him breathed heavily and gave off an unusual warmth that provides a clue on how huge the creature is. Shawn thought of running but the thing already grabbed him by the leg with something that felt like a tail. Shawn wasn’t sure of anything, anymore as fear gripped his heart….
…and the last thing that Shawn felt was a crushing bite at the side of his throat, enough to crush his windpipe thereby disabling his capacity to let a scream…
Beware. The unseen have ways and means to make trespassers pay. Dearly.