In a dark strip of road in Manila, there is a road, notorious for the apparition of a lady in white that suddenly appears to haunt lone motorists who dare to travel alone, a road known as Balete Drive.
There was a crackle of electricity that cut through the night's silence, then a swirling vortex of light appeared, suspended in midair. "WAAAAHHHH!" from this swirling light, Cecilia drops down, face-first, on a patch of grass. She turned on her back, groaning. "That hurts so much! How does he make it look so easy to teleport?" she murmured. She feels her chest and then looks under her pink shirt. "These are already smaller than average. If I lose a cup size because of the fall, I'm going to kill you, Chris!"
She slowly got up and, after dusting herself, looked around for the white lady. "Hello? White lady? I'm here to help you." She pans her gaze to the left, then to the right. "So, no jump scares, no popping out of nowhere, and no breathing down my neck, please."
"Who's breathing down your what?" She turns around to see an ominously illuminated figure.
"WAAAAHHHHH!" She cried out in comical terror at the figure, who happened to be Chief Bustamante holding a flashlight with the beam pointed upwards. "Please don't hurt me!" She cried out, shrinking and cringing on the ground.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Miss Bermudez, take it easy, it's just us." Murillo said out loud, her hands outstretched as if to reach out to Cecilia.
Cecilia lifted her head, and when she saw the two, she was more puzzled than surprised. "Chief Murillo?" She then turned to her left, "Chief Bustamante?" She stood up and dusted herself. "What are you two doing here?"
"We're here to help you bring that ghost back to the ship," Bustamante explained
"Help me? Really?" Her voice became lively and bubbly, a far cry from the frightened tone she had just moments ago.
"What do we know about this ghost?" Murillo asked, wanting to know what they were up against.
"According to Triple-A, it is the infamous white lady of Balete Drive, or rather, the latest incarnation of the white lady of Balete Drive," Cecilia said, sharing some of the facts she knows.
"The latest incarnation? So, there were different white ladies of Balete Drive?" Bustamante clarified.
"Apparently, the white lady of Balete Drive is not a single entity, but a string of different female ghosts," She explained. "A demon controls the ghosts and forces them to instill fear, and once these ghosts have outlived their usefulness, he consumes them and finds a new slave to feed him fear."
"Then that demon is our target; just rescuing the white lady won't cut it. That demon will only find another white lady," Bustamante concluded, "And where do demons hide?"
Cecilia grinned. Instead of answering, she turned and glared at the old Balete tree, the road's namesake. The three of them marched towards the ancient balete. "I know you're in there, ugly, come out, come out and play!" Cecilia chanted, mocking the entity.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Murillo covered Cecilia's mouth to stop her from talking.
Cecilia wriggled free from the chief's hands. "Relax," dismissing her concerns, "A demon couldn't be so thin-skinned."
"You dare mock me? The demon of the tree!" A horrible and twisted voice rang out of the balete tree.
Bustamante and Murillo shot dagger-like glares at the fidgeting human. "He, he…Okay, I admit sometimes I can be wrong." Cecilia nervously quipped.
The ground beneath them started to tremble, nearly knocking them off their feet. Then the great balete tree splits open, and a towering demon with long, branch-like limbs, sharp claws, and skin as rough as tree bark emerges. Beside it were three female ghosts, clad in white but stained by dirt and blood. Their hair, wet with oozing clear slime, covered their faces. The demon pointed at the three trespassers. "Get me their souls!" he ordered the ghosts.
"Forgive me," the white lady whispered before charging.
"What?" Cecilia uttered in surprise. The white lady charged at Chief Bustamante with a forceful push, and the Chief Officer was sent flying meters away. Another went after Murillo, and with a backhand, the white lady sent her to the ground. The third white lady attacked Cecilia, pushing the human until she backed up into a tree with no opening to escape.
The white lady raised her hand to strike. Cecilia's eyes widened with terror as she saw the deadly claws descend upon her. The white lady's hand stopped mere millimeters from the human's face. Cecilia noticed the white lady grunting and how her hands trembled. Taking advantage of the distraction, Cecilia shoved the white lady and ran to a safe distance.
Cecilia thought she was safe in the area she ran to; however, she did not notice the demon lurking behind her. When she felt two hands that trapped her in a vise-like grip, she realized she was dead wrong. The demon lifted her and brought her close to its maw.
The demon roared at her, the stench of death coming from the demon's breath, nearly knocking her unconscious. "It's been a while since I tasted human flesh…Time to remind me what it tastes like!"
Cecilia struggled to break free as she was brought closer to the demon's mouth filled with jagged teeth. "No! No! Let me go!" She screamed, desperately trying to free herself.
The demon clamped down, but bit nothing. It turned its head to the left to see its prey safe in the arms of a newcomer, the captain of the Twilight. "Who dares to…"