English Version: Sands & Sparrow

4

Present time. Manila, Philippines.

Heavy rain poured in the night; flashes of lightning powerfully ripped the sky like a piece of paper. A few blocks in a deserted street lies an old building that served as a hideout for syndicates. From the dark, a mysterious figure lurked in a corner. Like the speed of lightning, it moved swiftly, soft moans were heard, one by one a lifeless body of a man collapsed on the ground. Then another one felt the cold blade on his neck, without making a sound, his throat was slit in a heartbeat. Another guard whimpered to his final death, but before he loses his breath he caught a glimpse of a shadowy human figure stabbing his companion.

An intruder had entered the building, a man with a gun tried to attack but like the fate of others, one swift of a sharp blade severed his throat causing thick blood to flow down from his neck. Within seconds, he dropped on his knees with eyes wide open. A pair of black boots passed in front of his lifeless eyes, and it walked without a sound.

Between the harrowing darkness, raindrops were turned into a rhythm; the sound of the storm transformed into an orchestra of a deadly melody. The shadow elegantly trailed across the hallway, in a calculating speed, the throats of unsuspecting victims were cleaved, blown brains were scattered on the wall by a silencer and knives were thrown to their bodies with perfect precision.

The cold breeze had entered the open windows, causing the stench of walls to reek a foul odor. The pungency of human waste and old wet concrete emanated a dirty air from a gust of wind. Dimmed, flickering lights on the dusty ceiling guided the hallways. Water dripped somewhere, echoing a hollowed noise across the corridors.

Inside the office, Antonio hurriedly loaded ammunition into the gun, his shaking hands barely able to hold it, causing a few bullets to drop on the floor. A bolt of lightning ripped the sky once again, and the flash of light gleamed on his face as the lamp over the table flared. He flinched at the thunder, its sound like a huge boulder thrown from above, shaking the ground. The loud noises of nature made him fidget; the thunderbolt seemed to mock him, sending tremors through the windows as if an earthquake had occurred. "I-I'm going to k-kill you," Antonio hissed in fear while placing the revolver on the table. He received a phone call from one of his men, knowing what transpired and ready to face his unknown enemy.

The door slammed open.

"B-boss...y-you must leave." His henchman arrived at the door, catching his breath and staggering towards him. Extreme loss of blood caused him to kneel on the floor, facing the table until he collapsed.

"F--uck," Antonio uttered in pure terror; his henchman was dying in front of him with a dagger stuck in the spine. He watched the blood slowly flow down onto the carpet. The man had a temporary seizure, his feet trembling on the floor, and then he lost his breath in a snap.

"Twenty-seven," a mysterious voice counted the deaths through the narrow hallway. Using the gun with a silencer, the locks were destroyed on every door as it fired a silent shot again and again.

Out of nowhere, the lightning echoed through the night once more, sending shrills to the skin, the sound of thunder screamed like a banshee in the midst of hell.

BANG!

Antonio kept on firing the gun when he spotted a figure standing near the door, but the shadow just stood, staring at him. It watched him from afar without the slightest fear. He fired his gun again, but the bullets failed to penetrate to the body, falling off like pieces of crumpled paper. The shadow slowly emerged from the dark, wearing black long sleeves and pants with bullet holes on the chest and stomach and exposing the smooth white skin coming from the bullets. He fired again, but to no avail, only to see the cartridges resembled like a speck of dust wiped off from the clothes. "You ruined my shirt again," a voice of a woman spoke to him with annoyance.