"It always has to be in abandon buildings."Oliver whined, swinging his leg over the gate. "Why can't they inhabit something modern like a hospital or something? I mean, those places are way more suiting. Scary, smelly, and reeks of death. It's a perfect place for scum like them!"

"Can you please shut up, Ollie-boy?" Len sighed heavily. Oliver always complained when they went on missions. Why do they have to live here? It stinks! Why, of all people, does a little boy and teen go to hunt monsters? Can't they dwell somewhere much cleaner? It drives Len nuts just listening to his comments about their mission. Honestly, he has to wonder why the kid has monster hunter blood in his veins.

"And dude, what happens if this mission is just a fluke? We're going here based on rumors. We're not even getting paid! I say we get an actual mission on the bulletin board—"

"Just shut up!"

"Oh, you're telling me to shut up? Really? How about you when you read a book? You keep commenting on its writing style, plot, and characters. You never shut up, even if Isayto! So, why should I shut up?"

"I'm going to ignore you now."

"Admit it Len Kagamine, I am right!"

"Ignoring."

Oliver puffed up his cheeks and jumped off the gate. "We're not even sure this is true anyways."

"Isn't the disappearances good enough proof that—"

"Oh, I thought you were ignoring me."

Len tried to punch the little boy, but Oliver was far more skilled than him. He quickly grabbed his fist, twisted his arm, and then swiped Len off his feet. The ground was all muddy and wet from the early shower, which made the blonde teen grimace. "This is disgusting! You can sweep me off my feet, but only if the ground is dry."

Oliver smirked arrogantly. "Too bad, I do what I want. Now, come on. Let's get this over with. I have a book I want to finish."

If there was one thing they had in common, it was their love for books. Even though Oliver wasn't as into reading as Len, he still felt somewhat passionate about his hobby.

Len muttered some incoherent and most probably inappropriate words under his mouth before standing up.

The building their target was in was an abandon office. It must have looked nice back in the day, but the fading white paint and broken windows didn't look too appealing. It was at least 4 floors high with an evanescent sign that said: Pampanga Mayor's Office.

Len forced the rusted door to open, the hinges squeaking in protest. They were both greeted with the pungent smell of mold and aging concrete. But the two boys were already used to such smells, being the monster hunters they were. Monsters' scents were even worse: rot and death and age mixed together.

"Rumors say that this place is haunted," Oliver began, skipping inside a few steps before twirling, "The idea is stupid itself, but I don't blame them; the place looks scary enough." He paused, sniffing the air. "Though we both know ghosts don't exist, right Len? Humans only leave a trace of their dreams and hopes behind and they take form of their past vessel."

"Why are you giving me a lecture, especially on a mission? I already know all these, Ollie."

Oliver smiled. "I don't know! It's something that came to mind. And you know me; I say everything that comes to mind."

"It's a terrible trait, you know."

The English boy giggled at first, but his face turned solemn. "What do you think inhabits this building?"

"How am I supposed to know? You of all people should! I mean like, you can sense their thoughts right? Each thought should be a clue to what they are."

Oliver, despite a whinny brat, was extremely gifted with something rare: he could sense the thoughts of monsters. Thoughts are ideas. He can't hear them, but he could sense them. For example, a monster is angry. He could sense the anger through the waves made by its thoughts.

"I don't know. . . I'm getting mixed signals. I can feel grief and anger and extreme hunger. It might be a Manananggal, but it isn't as angry as the ones we've encountered."

"Maybe it's an Aswang?"

"Aswang just feel really hungry. They don't feel angry or sad unless you make them."

"Maybe it's a ghost of a dream or something?"

"Those don't feel hungry."

It made Len uncomfortable to not know what they were going up against. He had gotten used to knowing with Oliver's ability, but right now it seems like it's useless. He can only hope whatever they're up against was something easy to beat.

"Wait, do you hear that?" Len asked, narrowing his eyes. It sounded like a baby crying, somewhere far up the building. It was faint, but recognizable.

Oliver strained his hearing – which was damaged with years use of earphones – and loosely managed to catch the cries of the baby. "Now, I think I know what the monster is. . . unless it's natural for people to leave their babies in abandoned buildings."

"I have an idea of what we're going to face as well."

They both looked at each other and nodded in understanding. Len took out his bottle of holy water while Oliver brought out his water gun from his backpack. The former shot him a look.

"I filled it with holy water," replied the little boy.

"You incompetent child."

"You ungrateful filth."

"Now, do we have time to insult each other or exorcise this monster?"

"You started it!"

"I find it strange that it lives in an abandoned building instead of a forest. I read that they mostly live in the forest."

"Why are you changing the subject?"

"Let's get going."

"Hey!"

Len immediately started walking to the stairs. The ground was moist from the shower earlier, thanks to the broken windows, and it felt icky to hear the squishing sounds of sandal against puddle. The blonde teen was a complete clean freak and the thought of his sandals getting all dirty and germy was disturbing.

"I wonder where it keeps the bodies~" Oliver's tone was all sing-song. Even though he was 12 years old, he had a mind much older than him from the near death experiences. "In the basement? A room? Or does it eat the bones?"

"In the recent reports, they find the bones of the people who disappeared on the first floor. The thing marked its territory through that, but it's stupid; us hunters can easily pinpoint its location." Len paused, thoughtful. "And please don't talk like that, it disgusts me that you talk to lightly about death."

Oliver laughed. "What's the big deal? Death is inevitable and natural. It's not like it happens every few decades. People die every day."

"I think your mind is scarier than all the monsters combined."

The little boy smiled. "It should be."

Len stopped in his tracks. The sound of crying was much stronger here, but it echoed of the walls. It was hard to find the location.

"Oliver, in what room is the thoughts stronger?"

Oliver glanced at the options. They were in the hallway of the 3rd floor and there were at least 5 doors on each side. The little English boy hummed thoughtfully, eyeing the doors. He concentrated inside each room, trying to pick up thoughts. There were little traces of thoughts here and there, but the source was exactly on the door to the right – the second to the last.

"There," Oliver said, pointing at the location.

"Hey, don't point! You know what they say! If you point, you'll make spirits angry."

"I thought ghosts didn't exist."

"That's because there's no proof of them, but what happens if they are? You'll be cursed with the flu or worse!"

Oliver rolled his eyes. Len was always so superstitious about these things. Despite him being a devoted Catholic, he still believed in stuff his religion deemed nonexistent. What's up with this guy?

The teen went on ahead cautiously, stopping in front of the door. "Hey, hurry up!"

The English boy rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively. "I go at my own pace, okay? Don't rush me, we'll get this done anyways."

"Sometimes, I hate you, but at other times, I really hate you."

"I'm flattered."

Oliver paused in front of the door, holding his gun firmly in his hands. Len did the same with his bottle. "Alright, here goes nothing." With that said, the teen turned the knob and opened the door.

Inside, a little baby laid on the floor. Moonlight streamed through the broken window and into the room, illuminating the baby's petite body. Hot, wet tears flowed down its plump cheeks.

Len took a deep breath and began to sprinkle holy water while reciting a prayer.

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be the name—"

There was a loud inhuman screech and the sizzling sound of something melting. The baby, now floating up in the air, looked deformed. Its nose was big and the mouth was very wide. The eyes were a piercing red and it glared at Len ruefully. It looked injured, having droplets of melting skin. The holy water seemed to work.

"Shtohp!" it screamed, voice sharp and animal-like. Its words didn't sound right, but that may be because of its age; despite being a demon, it was still young.

"Tiyanak," Oliver calmly said. "So knew it."

Len ignored both of them and continued on with his prayer. "—thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses."

As the blonde teen went on, the Tiyanak screamed and wailed. It charged at Len, but stopped when a blast of holy water hit its face. It let out a loud, shrill scream.

Oliver let out a laugh. "I told you this baby would come in handy!"

You never said anything, thought Len.

The Tiyanak let out a mighty roar and crashed right into the gloating Oliver. Like any ordinary monster hunter, the boy immediately went with his instincts. He brought out the garlic from his belt and stuffed it into the thing's snapping mouth. It recoiled and chocked, gagged and hacked, crippled down onto the floor.

"Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit! As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be world without!" Len spilled the whole contents onto the Tiyanak and its skin and bones melted off like ice cream. "Amen!"

The Tiyanak screamed and screeched, melting away into a puddle that sizzled into nothing.

A laugh. Oliver was laughing. "That was much easier than expected! It wasn't worth a penny, I bet. No wonder why it wasn't posted on the bulletin board." He sighed dreamily. "Oh well. It seems that our mission here is done. Let's go."

Len shrugged and placed the empty bottle into his belt. It was a hassle they always had to bring a lot of stuff, but it sort of did make him feel a little special. Belts with built in pockets and leg and shoulder holsters might not seem appealing to most, but it was for safety. Then there's also the silver sword at their side. . . But it seems like Oliver was less into the safety precautions; he put most of his weapons in his backpack. Stupid kid, he'll get himself killed one day.

"Wait a minute." Oliver stopped mid step. "I feel a high rush of anger."

Suddenly, there was a loud crash. The already-broken window shattered, glass shards skidding on the floor; the concrete walls splintered and fell in a puff of white dust. A rather large figure zoomed pass them in incredible speed.

"What in the world?" Oliver gasped, nearly swept off his feet. If it wasn't for the years of monster hunting, he would have screamed. After all, a mere shadow can't scare him. "That thing looked a little too big to be another Tiyanak."

"I'm guessing it's a Manananggal. If you looked carefully, there were two wings and they're usually angry." Len sighed and ran a hand through his spiky blonde hair. "Great. Another mess to clean up. Let's get this over with."

"You sound like Momma, Len." Oliver chuckled softly. His real mother and father died long ago on a job. He was adopted by the blonde teen's parents when he was young. It was not a walk in a park living with them, though. They were nice, but were extremely cruel on training.

"Very funny." Len rolled his eyes and went on ahead, leading the way. "Just follow me; we'll search the whole house. I'm pretty sure her lower half is here somewhere."

Oliver huffed and followed along obediently.

A Manananggal was vampire-like creature that fed on fetuses and babies and men. Its name was derived from the Tagalog word tangal which meant 'to remove; to separate.' To hunt, it removes its upper half from its lower half and grows into something grotesque with bat wings. The upper half is easy to find, just follow to flapping noise of its wings. However, it is not easy to kill. You need to find the lower half and sprinkle something like holy water or salt; only then will it die.

The duo searched the whole house, but to no avail. The lower half was nowhere to be seen. If it wasn't here, why would the thing even both going here in the first place? It wasn't hungry, but just plain angry. What could that mean? Did they cross its territory? But the Tiyanak was there so. . . Ugh, this is making Len's head hurt.

"Let's go home." Len said, obviously dejected. He hated it when their prey runs loose. "Maybe the Manananggal is on the bulletin board. We'll check tomorrow."

Oliver shrugged. "If you say so, boss. Can we stop by Grandma's to eat?"

"Absolutely not! It's over 10:00; we broke the children's curfew. We will get in trouble if we get caught."

"Why not sneak there—"

"Oliver."

"Okay, okay, fine. But you're cooking me something to eat when we get home."

Len groaned. Why does it always have to be him? Why can't the boy learn to cook a little?

"Hey, don't give me that attitude. You were the one who said we can't go to Grandma."

"Fine, fine. Just shut up."

"Yay!"

And so, the duo sneaked back into their house with the promise of egg and spam.

A/N:

Hey guys! This will be a three shot. I would like to thank my sister, Queen of Dispair (that's her FF name), for helping me out with the plot! She's the master of horror.

Now, let's explain some things:

I capitalized tiyanak and manananggal in the story because in this AU, they're a sort of 'kind.' Take Filipinos, for example. It works a like that

Tiyanak – A Filipino monster. It is said to be a baby that died before it was baptized. It went through a place in hell called the limbo and was transformed into a demonic creature. Sad, isn't it?

Manananggal – Even though I explained what it was, I didn't give you the background and cause for this monster. It is said to be witches or a traumatized woman who didn't die right.

Aswang – A vampire-like creature that feeds off of fetuses and humans. It is close to a manananggal but it doesn't split into two. It has bat wings and claws.

Pampanga – A province of the Philippines. It takes place here because Philippines is infested with monsters in the story, due to people believing in them. Though the monsters live off of food, they also live off of belief. Filipinos are known to be quite superstitious.