I come from the province of Capiz and was a child when this bizarre event happened.
It was something that has left me scarred for life.
Kuya Pablo was my cousin and best friend.
We were as close as brother and sister.
We also lived very close to each other
I liked my Tita Maria as well.
She was gentle and kind and practically, the kind of mom any child could ask for.
She was also very close with my mom.
I always enjoyed going to their house.
They were always so welcoming and treated me like a daughter.
However, they were having financial problems ever since Tito Carlos stopped working as
a farm hand and had gone back to finish his training to become a police officer.
And tita Maria unfortunately wasn’t earning much in their little ‘carinderia’ business.
So, she sought my mom’s advice and after careful consideration, she decided to work
as an OFW.
She applied at a job placement agency and got a job as a caregiver for an old man and
his wife in a foreign country
One night we were all having dinner.
“Are you sure about this?
You know being a caregiver isn’t all that it’s cut out to be.
“I’m sure I can handle all that.
I did take care of Lola in the hospital and I’m pretty sure I did a good job.”
“You’re not scared at all by those stories about employers mistreating their employees?”
At the time, there were many stories about overseas workers being mistreated or abused
by their employers.
The majority of those stories were from female workers who claimed to have been raped, abused
or tortured.
But tita Maria assured everyone that she was going to be alright
She then asked us to look after Carlos and Pablo for her to which we happily obliged.
The day came for Tita Maria’s flight.
She kissed all of us on the cheek before waving goodbye and boarding.
Pablo was really sad when his mom went away, but I did my best to keep him company and
distract him.
Once a week we would talk to Tita María on the phone.
It was our only means of communicating with her
She would often tell us about her employers and how they simply adored her.
She talked about her daily routine of waking up, preparing breakfast and gently helping
the old man sit up and give him his medicine.
“It’s like taking care of Pablo.”
That gave us all relief.
At least, she was being treated well.
She would also tell us about the strange habits and practices her employers had.
Like they refused to eat fish on Fridays and they insisted on food that wasn’t seasoned
with salt or garlic.
“And sometimes…
They let me eat the same meal as them...
like raw liver.”
“Raw liver?”
“They said it’s an old family delicacy.
It was strange at first.
But eventually, I got used to it.”
“That is strange.”
But she assured us that she was perfectly fine.
Sometimes, I felt that I didn’t give her enough credit when it came to adjusting.
We changed the subject and talked about how tita Carlos had just graduated and was applying
at the Roxas City Police.
It seemed to motivate tita Maria to work even harder.
She would always end the call saying she looked forward to going home to see her family.
Then one day, while I was with Pablo, I learned that tita Maria’s employer had passed away
and that she herself had gotten sick.
She didn’t want to stay abroad, so she had somehow managed to persuade the Philippine
embassy to send her back home.
We drove to the airport to meet her when she arrived.
I was stunned to see she was quite thin.
Her clothes hung off her shoulders and her cheeks looked hollow and sunken in.
I wondered if her employers were really treating her well.
We immediately took her back home and spent the next few days nursing her back to health.
We weren’t so sure what her illness was, but in a matter of days, she miraculously
got better.
Save for her appetite.
She didn’t like eating any of her usual favorites like sinigang or escabeche.
Oddly enough, the only thing she seemed to still enjoy was dinuguan.
One day, tita Maria told us that she wanted to cook a special dinner as a thank you for
nursing her back to health.
On that night, we sat around the table to a delicious meal of adobo, rice, and grilled
pork.
Tito Carlos started to take in the meal while Tita Maria stayed inside the kitchen, her
back facing us.
“Maria, this is so good.”
“Did you learn this while abroad?”
“Yes.”
I took a spoonful of adobo.
It was really, really delicious.
“Tita.
Why aren’t you eating?”
She didn’t reply.
I then noticed how she calmly started cooking again.
There was an odd air of uneasiness in the room.
Like something was missing.
“Maria, where is Pablo?”
He was right.
I hadn’t seen Pablo all day.
Where was he?
“Yes, Tita.
Where is Pablo?
Is he at a friend’s house?”
“No, he’s here.”
“Oh, he’s upstairs.
I’ll go get him”
“No need, he’s already here.”
I was very confused.
I didn’t see him at all.
Then I saw Tita Maria slowly turn around Her eyes looked bloodshot, her skin had turned
somewhat pale.
She walked over to the refrigerator and slowly opened it.
What she said next is something I can never forget.
“Carlos, our son is here.”
She said as she opened the refrigerator door.
Please don’t actually show the severed head.
Just their reactions because I don’t want to get in trouble and have young viewers
We all looked and to our horror, we saw the severed head of Pablo staring back at us.
“Doesn’t he taste perfect?”
We stared at the meat on our plates and we realized what we had just eaten.
Horrified, I began to cough up and spat what I had eaten while Tito Carlos got up and in
a fit of disbelief, began to confront Maria.
I heard a loud growl coming from Maria.
I looked up and saw that her eyes had gone white, her mouth had widened into a wide grin
that stretched from ear to ear and her teeth had grown sharp!
She crouched on top of the kitchen counter and snarled.
Then quickly shifted her gaze to me with her sharp teeth exposed.
Before we could say anything, Maria lunged forward but Tito Carlos stopped her from attacking
me.
Instead she struck Carlos across his chest with her long, sharp claws.
She then turned her attention to me and was about to attack when my mom grabbed her from
behind and wrestled her down to the ground.
Tito Carlos grabbed a kitchen knife and slashed Maria across her face.
Tita Maria leapt out of the window and into the night.
Carlos slumped to the floor and began to weep in agony as we heard neighbors entering the
house.
When they looked inside the refrigerator and saw blood all over Carlos and the floor, they
quickly assumed that Carlos had gone mad and murdered his entire family.
I quickly rushed to his defense and told them that it was Maria and that she had somehow
become a terrifying creature.
The men began to go on a massive hunt for Maria, with Carlos leading the search; while
the women boarded up the doors and kept their children close, in hopes that they would keep
them safe from the monstrous Maria.
The following days were met with neighbors gossiping about what could have caused Maria’s
monstrous side.
The most outlandish and somewhat believable rumor was that Maria must have been transformed
by a blood sucking monster disguised as her employer; which would explain why she was
fed raw liver.
In time, her story had spread across the province and she was given a new nickname.
Maria Labo, the slashing woman, who prowls the night looking for humans to eat with her
horrifying slashed face and insatiable appetite.