Chapter 7.1: Unprecedented Events

Bagwis tugged his cap while writing something down on his old notebook. He was trying to not catch any sort of attention. In front of him is a plate of rice, adobo, and a cold coke for a drink. Bagwis lied low in the quaint town of Rizal, his late wife's hometown. For weeks, he'd been following Benitez from a safe distance, observing and studying everything he does. Bagwis knew several important details about the spirit of the Bakunawa. Its power lies in the water. Contact to it replenishes lost strength and cures its wounds. Its weakness, on the other hand, is the banging of gongs. The banging of gongs momentarily helps separate the spirit from the human body. Another important fact is that the spirit of the Bakunawa takes thirty days before fully possessing the human body. During this time, the Bakunawa can only control the body at night when the human strength is weak and tired from the day. For two good weeks of observation, he found nothing off with Benitez, no strange behavior o