1937

"Gu! Haaaa... I want to go back to the city." Alisha sighed after she tripped again.

The sweltering hot climate and the sticky humid air doesn't relieve Alisha of her bitterness as she was walking along the side of the uneven dirt road for more than an hour. Alisha was experiencing this torment because her mother, Mama Helena, sent her to buy some ingredients in the market that, according to her mother, takes two hours to reach by walking. 

Alisha was beginning to think that her mother punished her due to being persistent. And it's all thanks to her for insisting to go back to the capital. It's her second day on this tiny island in the middle of nowhere, and it's already giving her a hard time. What's worse, she hadn't had any breakfast yet!

'She's too cruel!' Alisha irritably thought.

The prickling heat spreads over her upper body from her neck to her arms as she was dragging her feet across the dirt road, occasionally tripping over ruts and humps. It's her first time walking this far, and her mother told her that she needed to be used to it since they were no longer going back in the capital. 

Before everything changed for the worse, Alisha's father suddenly appeared after eight years since he abandoned her mother after getting pregnant. Her mother was a bar waitress back then, and her father is a U.S. Navy officer. 

The excuse of her father gave her mother was he'd been assigned to a place called Hawaii. That's why he was gone, and it was a sudden deployment. No wonder he suddenly vanished without a word, but her mother didn't buy it. It was because when she told him she was pregnant, he was gone by the next day. So what it implies was totally obvious, her mother said.

Their voices were so loud that night she heard everything entirely. Although her mother spoke in broken English, Alisha could understand half of it. But that doesn't matter to Alisha. The only thing stuck on her mind was for her parents to be together so that she can have a father. 

While they were bickering, she was able to observe her father from her room. Her mother said to her, don't go outside but Alisha opened her door a little so that she could see him. It was the first time she saw her father, and he's a big man. Alisha has a striking resemblance to her father, but contrary to his golden-brown hair and hazel eyes, she got dark brown hair and gray eyes. If not for the apparent facial likeness, her father would not be able to recognize her as his daughter due to the disparity in colors. 

Alisha was ready to introduce herself any time, but unfortunately, Alisha didn't get to meet him because the next day, they fled. Her mother said they're going to her old village, but Alisha didn't want to go. She was thrashing about and yelling. Then, eventually, her mother persuaded her. Her mother said that the aswangs(changelings) in their area would get to eat Alisha's heart if she doesn't go with her.

Alisha was deeply frightened by hearing that. These nasty creatures were rampant in their community. She always huddled with her mother when it's time to sleep because these beings are nocturnal. They are human at day and a monster at night. 

Suddenly, the tiny hairs on her skin stood up on end, and cold breeze brushed her neck. Alisha quickly remembered some time ago her mother told her that there are even more changelings in her hometown. And not just changelings, there are vampire-like witches, ogres, and goblins. 

Alisha's knees went weak from remembering it now. Thinking of it doesn't help her at all, considering she was walking alone on the road, and a few meters from her spot is the edges of the forest where these beasts dwelled.

By the moment Alisha heard the crunching noise of a branch like it was stepped on, she ran as fast as she can without checking up on it. A few minutes later, when she recognized the entrance of the village business plaza just a short distance away, she slowed down. 

'How am I able to go back from that?' Alisha mulled over as she was panting from exhaustion.

But before she could sigh a relief from that frightful situation, she noticed some children, probably the same age as her more or less, crowded together noisily near the entrance. 

Alisha was about to ignore them when she caught a little glimpse at what they were busy gathering about and did a double-take. Three young hooligans were preventing two boys from passing through. She immediately approached the three noisily laughing boys after she witnessed the scene. When she got near, she caught a bit of the conversation.

"—not allowed to enter this place because you are the son of a whore." The boy in the middle of the laughing trio said as he pushed the skinny boy holding a basket tray of food. 

When Alisha heard this, her vision darkened. Even though their dialect is different, she knows what that foul language translates. She had heard it plenty of times back in the city, and sometimes it was targeted at her. She was called the daughter of a whore by some of their neighbors. She didn't know what that means until recently.

Alisha immediately pushed the boy who said a swear word. All of them looked at her and were shocked due to her sudden appearance. Alisha pushed him because she could not tolerate people saying nasty things even if they're old or as young as her or even more so. She would be strict with an iron fist, as her mother towards her.

"Waaa! Who are you?! Why did you suddenly push me?!" The bully staggered a little at her force and was seemingly angry right before he looked at her. But when he gets to take a good look at Alisha's face, he was stunned. 

"Whoa! She's a Kana!" One of the boys with the bully said in awe.

Ugh. That word again. 

Kana is a short term for Amerikana or American girl. Alisha heard this word plenty of times, too, at least five times a day back in the city. It's getting old already, she thought. Alisha didn't regard the boy who referred her as Kana; instead, she responded to the bully she shoves.

"You are a bad guy! You shouldn't say those nasty words. If you say it again, I will punch you!" As she points her finger at the bully, she changed her dialect. She learned it from her mother, who always speaks her native dialect inside their home.

"Whoa! She even speaks our diale—Ugh!" The boy who said Kana didn't get to finish his words because he was shoved in the face by the lead bully.

"What?! What's this got to do with you? Even though you're good-looking, I will not hold back on you!" The lead bully raised his fist after he finished his words. 

But before the boy could hit her, the two boys, whom the trio was bullying earlier, rammed him hard in the stomach in unison. They stumbled on the ground, and after that, chaos ensues. The two other bullies join the commotion, and shortly after, Alisha joined in too.