As Valentine's day approaches, Yani finds himself back in his shop. The clock had already ticked to the twenty-fourth hour—marking his need to soon end operations. He stretched his arms, and stood up to stretch his sides. He yawned, walking towards Kris who sat behind the curtains the entire night.

“Not yet done with the papers?” Yani asked, and invited himself to sit beside his companion.

“Almost. I’m just correcting someone’s grammatical mistakes.”

“Come on, the professor wouldn’t mind. Also, just use auto-correct.”

“Technology can never be trusted.”

“Very well, then.” Yani yawned once more. Kris halted his current academic agenda.

“Tired? There were a lot of customers asking for luck in love.”

“Yeah… This always happens when I get fully booked. I don’t know why I get more exhausted as compared to playing ball.”

“It’s because doing our practices takes a whole lot of spiritual energy. Technically, your body is fine. But, your spirit gets exhausted.”

“Damn, really? I didn’t know that.”

“Of course not.”

Kris looked around the desk and spotted a couple of herbs Yani stored. He took a dry and narrow bunch of leaves before standing up. Yani tilted his head, “What are you on to?”

Kris didn’t respond. He simply took a kettle from the corner which was already filled with warm water, and poured it in a mug. Then, he took Yani’s precious mortar and pestle—“Hey, don’t touch that!”—and began pounding the saluyot leaves into a paste while gradually adding droplets of water. Then, he began adding other ingredients like ginger and calamansi zest—resulting in a taste bud abomination. Yani watched Kris mix everything up into a warm concoction—almost afraid that Kris would make him drink it.

And of course, Kris just had to fulfill his fear.

He offered the abomination to Yani. “Here, drink it.”

“What? No. You mixed in like twenty stuff in that. I wouldn’t even do such a thing.”

“This would replenish your spiritual energy.”

“I can replenish it with some good night sleep.”

Kris squinted his eyes, not taking “no” for an answer. He pulled out his bamboo stick.

Yani was stunned. He stood up from his seat and stepped back. “What are you doing…?”

“Taking care of you.”

“I don’t know how you babaylanes show affection, but this definitely is not one of them.”

“One…”

Yani gasped.

“Two…” Kris angled his hand—about to slam the stick to the wall.

This made Yani panic, “Fine! Fine! I’ll drink it, geez.” He hurriedly took the mug and gulped down Kris’s creation. He felt his stomach churn with each molecule entering his system. The taste was horrendous. It was a mix of spice—the type you’d encounter whilst eating Buldak ramen, bitterness like biting directly into an unripe avocado, and sourness that’s worse than seeing your crush get in a relationship with your best friend.

Before Yani could even attempt to puke, Kris went on his tippy toes and covered his mouth, making him muffle a “HMF!!”

Kris kept himself to Yani’s height by using Yani’s shoulders to assist his own weight. They stayed that way for approximately thirty seconds. Probably the worst thirty seconds in Yani’s life. And just when Kris knew the latter was in the process of digesting, he pulled away. 

In an instant, Yani held his stomach and bent facing the ground—mimicking puking sounds. “That was horrible! How could you do that to your friend?!” His eyes welled up with tears.

“I wouldn’t do that to a friend.”

“You didn’t need to hurt me twice!”

Kris turned around and hid a small chuckle. He found Yani hilarious. Entertaining, even. 

When Yani’s churning stomach finally settled down, the door chime rang, and it unveiled another customer.

“Good evening, are you still open for a consultation?”

“Yeah, sure. Come over.” Yani smiled at the girl. 

When they all settled down in the main area, Yani didn’t feel like putting on an act from the exhaustion and shock from Kris’s special treat.

The girl observed the two boys, then looked elsewhere like she was trying to look for someone. “So… where’s the mangkukulam?”

Yani tiredly raised his hand. “That would be me.”

“What? You’re so young. I thought the mangkukulam here was an old woman.”

“That’s my grandma. I’m her replacement.”

The girl nodded in understanding. Yani added, “Before anything, what’s your name?”

“Oh, I’m Mika.”

“Ok, Mika. What brought you here?”

Mika paused. Exhaled. Then, “I need your help. My sister has been very sick lately.”

“How exactly do you want me to help? I suggest maybe going to a doctor?” Yani tilted his head—confused about the girl’s request.

“I know, but- But I think someone cursed her. Like kulam. I thought that maybe you could help her with it. After all, that’s what you guys like to do, right? Make people suffer?”

Yani was silent. He crossed his arms and furrowed his brows. “Girl, do I look like an albularyo to you? I’m a mangkukulam!”

Kris hit the back of his head. “Don’t be rude. She obviously came here for help.”
“But it’s offensive to ask for my help when she already has a pre-conceived notion of a mangkukulam.” Yani huffed.

Mika then stood up—bowing, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it in that way. I just assumed that you know something about it and would know how to help.” She said in a panicked tone.

Kris, with no choice other than being the mediator, signaled the girl to raise her head. “Don’t worry about it. He’s just really tired today.”

Mika went back to her seat—awkward and apologetic. Kris started, “So, about your sister. Mind telling us what happened?”

“She was dating a guy from the province. He’s a very superstitious person. And one day, my sister was caught cheating on him. After their breakup, Janna began vomiting and became sick for multiple days now. So I assumed that by his nature, he would try something like a kulam.”

Mika fidgeted with her sleeve. “I tried reaching out to him, but to no avail. I would go to his house if I knew where he lived, but Janna’s the only one who knows the place, and she’s not capable of speaking right now.”

Kris nodded in understanding, and Yani rebutted, “Ok, sure. But even if that’s the case, I don’t know how to solve your problem, ok? I do the cursing, not the fixing.”

Mika seemed disheartened by Yani’s response, and this made Yani’s own heart tug. He huffed, “Fine! Even though you were rude to me, I’ll help.”

Mike raised her head up and gladly shook Yani’s hand. “Thank you so much!”

Kris was quite proud of Yani for taking on the initiative, but, “How exactly do you plan on helping her? That’s not your expertise. Albulayos are the ones who deal with this mess with their healing charms and prayers.”

Yani smirked and wiggled his eyebrows at Kris. And of course, Kris got the message. He sighed, “Fine. I was planning to, anyway. Mika, I’ll be the one to help you.”

“You’re a mangkukulam too?”

“No, I’m a babaylan.”

“What’s a babaylan?”

Kris shook his head. I can’t believe commoners know what a mangkukulam and albularyo is but not a babaylan. “I’ll help, but only when the full moon comes.”

Day With the Full Moon

Yani and Kris are currently inside Mika’s home. In the bedroom, they closed the lights, laid Janna on the floor, and surrounded her trembling body with candles. Kris sent Mika outside of the room for her own safety.

Janna was very disoriented and barely conscious. Yani was surprised that the poor girl lasted this long. He’s never seen dark spiritual arts be used other than his and his grandmother’s mischievous tactics before. The energy in the room seemed interesting, to say the least.

Yani looked down on Kris who was on the floor with a bucket of water in front of him. “Are you going to perform a tawas?”

“Yeah. You’ve done it before, right? I overheard from a passerby back in Quiapo.”

“Only a few times. But only when their misfortune isn't hinted at in their memories. Otherwise, it’s easier to use my seventh sense.”

“Such a convenient skill.” Kris said whilst lighting up another candle. The dimness of the place added more depth to the small flame’s reflection in the water. Second after second, the room glew of the same aura Kris possessed. Fiery, strong, and unbreakable.

“Yeah… But I can’t really use tawas in a context like this. I don’t know how to translate it.”

“Figures. You can only see misfortune, not evil.”

Kris took a block of tawas. It was a palm-sized salt crystal that’s in the shade of white. He took a candle and began heating the crystal’s bottom right above the water that reflected his every movement. Suddenly, Janna began tweaking roughly—releasing undesirable sounds. “Ahk- Gha!” This made Kris look in her direction. And suddenly, dark gusts of smoke-looking essence began wrapping around her body. “Shi-” He looked at the bucket of water, and the tawas was not yet finished. He can’t really perform a bugaw before a tawas since the evil influence must be present for the tawas to work.

“Yani, help me. Do this.” He handed over the salt block to Yani.

“What am I supposed to do with this? I don’t know how to do good magic or whatever you call it!” Yani panicked.

“You can do it, just do what you’ve been doing but change your intentions.”

“What does that even-”

Janna’s body sat up in a swift movement—like she was being controlled. 

“Yani, just do it!”

“Yeah, I will!”

Yani tried his best to focus on the tawas amidst the sudden shift. He stared directly into the water and allowed the salt to melt. Slowly, Yani could see shapes forming in the water from the dripping crystal. However, due to his inexperience, the floating specs were forming too slowly.

Kris pinned Janna’s body down. He used his bamboo stick to trap her neck down on the floor. Surrounding him were the smokey essence trying to pull Janna back up. But of course, he used his power to remain on top. “Conducting bugaw.”

Kris’s eyes darkened to a crimson color. Then, ambers began spilling out from his bamboo stick. He pushed harder against the girl’s neck, and she began screeching—almost painful to the ears. Even Yani flinched from the sound. “Leave her body!” Soon enough, ribbons of flame wrapped around Janna’s body—inhaling every last bit of that dark essence. Yani’s jaw dropped from the view. Those were real powers. One that he thought he could only see in fiction. He didn’t expect how powerful Kris could be. He thought the loud bang from Kris’s bamboo stick was all that he got. But, he was clearly wrong. This kind of power shook the air in the room—nearly taking down all of the candles, and even the one he was holding. Wait, Yani. Focus on your tawas!

Janna’s body stopped moving as she fell in a slumber, and Kris placed his hand on her cheek—feeling if there’s any sense of darkness left. After confirming that there wasn’t any, he sighed in relief.

Yani then finished his tawas. He looked at the water, ensured that there was an image made in it, and slouched with an exhausted thud. “I think I used all of my spiritual energy. My dungan is not strong enough for this.”

Kris watched the latter and sat beside him. He looked at the image floating on the water. “What is that?”

Yani looked at the image as well. “Insects”

“Insects?’

Yani swept his hair backwards. “A witch that uses insects to do harm. A parasite that steals another person’s body.”

Kris observed the water, and looked around the room. Then, he spotted a mosquito leaving through the window. “A mambabarang.”

“Yani, I need your seventh sense. Check on where her boyfriend lives.”

Yani nodded at the command, and went over to Janna’s body. He held her hand, and closed his eyes. Like clockwork, flashes of her memory began traveling to his mind. 

“Rizal Province. Joseph Dalang.”