The car screeched out of the parking lot and into the main street in seconds. Rina had her foot pressed hard on the accelerator, hands still gripping tightly on the steering wheel. She didn't want to risk the creature catching up to them. The thing had wings, she thought. What if it could actually fly?

"You need to slow down or we're gonna crash."

She swept her eyes towards the man sitting beside her as her gaze darted between the mirrors and the road. Her heart hadn't stopped its frantic beating, which made it a bit harder to focus on anything else other than driving.

"I'm serious!" the man said, hands tight on the grab handle. "It's not gonna come after us anymore so slow down!"

"You can't know that!" The dial on the speedometer went up a few more lines.

The man sighed. "Yes I can."

Rina risked a glance at him and the sincerity she saw on his face eased up a bit of her panic. The man seemed to know exactly what had happened. Perhaps she'd do well to listen to him for now.

"Stoplight!"

She whipped her head in time to see the light changing from yellow to red and she slammed on the brakes with a curse. They screeched to a stop just in time, their bodies propelling forward from the relative momentum.

The man let out a heavy sigh beside her, sinking in his seat. "I give you my word. It's not gonna come after us. So try to keep it under forty until we reach the main avenue. Okay?"

"What if it flies?" Rina craned her neck towards her window looking up.

"Technically it can," he said. He held up his palms to her when she turned to him with wide eyes. "But it won't. I promise."

"You promise?" Her laugh was ice-cold. "Your promises mean nothing to me! I don't even know you!" She waved a hand at him and gave him once-over.

"And yet you let me into your car."

Rina opened her mouth only to close it again. Of course the man had a point. A very good point at that. She didn't even know why she did it. Perhaps it was the blood rushing to her head, clouding her judgment, that was to blame. It was a stupid decision made in a moment of shock and panic.

"Green."

Reluctantly, she turned back to the road, but not before shooting the man a glare. She disengaged the hand brake and stepped on the accelerator more gradually, easing past the intersection at a more reasonable speed.

"How do I know you're not just pretending to be human so you can go and eat me later for yourself?" She watched him at the corner of her eyes. Questioning him was another stupid thing to do, she admitted. She should just kick the man out and be done with it. But she needed answers and he might just be able to give it to her. Besides, she was still alive wasn't she?

"Eat you?" The man raised an eyebrow. "You thought the Ekek was gonna eat you?" He chuckled.

"Ek- what-" She shook her head and groaned. At least her panic had gone away, she thought. Although nothing still made any sense.

"Ekek," he said. "A human-bird hybrid from the family of Aswangs. You've heard of Aswangs right?"

The doctor nodded. Aswangs were shape-shifting monsters who fed on blood and human innards. They were the Philippine version of a vampire and a shapeshifter, cross-bred. Although at no time were they depicted ogle-worthy, and they didn't die from sunlight either. Movies and literature had their fair share of gruesome stories and most of Rina's knowledge only came from what she'd watched and read.

"But they're just myths." She steered the car into a left side street.

"You still believe that?"

She pursed her lips. If she hadn't seen the creature with her own two eyes, she would've even laughed at what it's called. Ekek. It didn't even sound scary.

"Why was it at the hospital?" She stopped at another red light and faced the man. "Was it after you?" She half hoped to get an affirmative answer.

The man shook his head. "Not me. You."

"What do you mean me!"

"Green."

She let out a shaky breath and removed her foot from the brake. "You're joking right? I mean, I-" She ran a hand through her hair. "I'm just trying to get through residency for chrissake!"

"Yeah well, that's gonna be the least of your problems from now on."

Rina sighed and shook her head. She must be dreaming, she thought. Everything that had happened could only be a stupid nightmare. What would a creature, which wasn't even supposed to be real, could possibly want with her? She was human. She was normal. She had done nothing to deserve being scared to death by a human bird. At least not that she knew of. Unless-

"This is because of that stupid conversation I heard isn't it?" She shot the man a quick pointed look.

He hummed. "That got wheels turning I guess. But the problem only really started when you told Gale about it."

She stopped at another intersection and rested her left arm on the steering wheel, angling her body so she was facing him. "What does Gale have to do with this?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"She's-" He pursed his lips and stared at her, an unsure expression on his face.

"Well?"

"I think it's better you hear it from her," he finally said. "You know where her place is, right?"

Rina faced front, biting her lower lip. She had known Gale for a long time, and though it pained her to think her friend would have anything to do with the weird things that had been happening, the desire to know the truth was as strong as her instinctive denial.

They would be coming out into the main avenue once the light changes, and the choice to take a right or a left turn had turned into making a decision of either running away or seeking answers. She could only pick one.

She stared at the red lights counting down numbers and sighed. She had duty in the afternoon and she didn't have spare clothes with her. Were they enough reasons to turn her back and speed on home?

Rina shook her head and flicked the left blinker on just as the stoplight turned green. She eased out of the intersection with only a handful of cars. Suddenly her quarter-life crisis seemed so attractive. How she wished she could turn back time.

"This can't be happening to me," she said as she steered the car to the left-most lane.

Beside her the man smiled.

She glanced at him, a blank expression on her face. With the adrenaline gone, she could feel her limbs growing heavy, the exhaustion of the day finally settling in. What problems would she be getting herself into, she wondered, but decided it was best to take things in stride for the moment. She would give Gale hell first, she thought, and then she'd take it from there.

The man squirmed in his seat to get a hand in his pocket and took out what seemed to the doctor was a phone. He quickly jabbed at the screen and with one final tap, hit the lock key at the side and turned to her, smiling. He didn't strike her as a bad person, and he did tell her to go to Gale's place. Did him knowing her friend meant she did the right thing trusting him? Or should she reevaluate her old friendship because the man seemed to know her?

"Texted Gale we're on our way," he said, breaking her thoughts.

She nodded, slightly surprised the stranger even had her friend's number.

A few minutes and they'd be arriving at the condominium complex, and Rina decided she'd hold judgment until then. She'd already gone and made a few stupid decisions in last hour alone, making another one wouldn't have much bearing.

She sighed. "If I'm going along with this nonsense you might as well tell me your name." She glanced at him.

"Hm?"

"Your name," she said. "Unless you prefer I give you one for the purposes of civility."

The man chuckled. "Tempting," he said. "But since I already have one, you should just make use of it. I'm Adam."

"Okay, Adam. I'm Rina."

"I know." She could see him smiling from his seat.

"How-?" Her eyes darted to him in shock. "Are you a stalker?" In her head she quickly ran through a few options on how to kick the man out of her car if it turned out he was.

"No!" He held his palms out and shook his head.

"Then how do you know who I am?"

"It's a long story," he said. "I'd rather not explain it while you're driving."

Rina was about to argue when they finally reached their destination. She opened her window and quickly handed an I.D. over to a guard. She muttered a thanks as she took their visitor's pass.

They found an empty slot in front of the building itself and silently walked up towards the elevator. The guard on duty recognized Rina from when she was still living there and simply greeted them a good evening.

The elevator immediately opened with a loud 'ding' and they stepped inside the compartment. She eyed the man standing beside her as they went up the ten floors to Gale's unit. It was the first time she was able to see clearly what the man looked like.

He was good foot taller than her with a lean built and wide shoulders. A five o'clock shadow adorned his tanned face and he had a mess of dark hair in dire need of trimming. He wasn't gorgeous by any means, more like the typical boy-next door, but he had an air about him that seemed homey and attractive to Rina.

A sound indicative of their stop echoed and the doors opened. Adam placed a hand on the side of the opening and gestured for the doctor to step out first with a smile.

Her head remained glued to his face as she passed him, her brows furrowing. She hadn't notice before because of the dim light of the car but the green eyes she swore she saw staring back at her from when he first got in the passenger seat were gone, replaced by light brown irises.

"Your eyes," she said as they walked through the hallway, her attention still on his face. "They were green before. But now-" She narrowed her eyes.

"We'll explain later." He smiled at her.

They stopped in front of the third door on their left and Adam hit the door bell. Two chimes immediately came from inside the unit. After a few seconds they heard the unmistakeable sound of locks unclicking and the door swung open, revealing a familiar petite form.

"Hey." Gale smiled.

Rina couldn't help but frown, the idea of her friend keeping a big secret that apparently involved her hitting her hard for the first time. That the woman was standing before her, expecting them, confirmed what had been mere claims on Adam's part before. She hadn't expected to feel so angry, but the sight of her friend came as an ice cold bucket of water thrown on her face. In an instant everything felt more real. Gale had kept her in the dark and it felt like a betrayal. She trusted her. And the fact only made her emotions spike a few more notches.

She pushed the door wider without a word and went inside. She didn't even check to see what kind of look Adam and the other woman exchanged. She turned to face them only after she heard the door close.

Gale flinched at the other woman's hard stare. She rolled her lips in and sighed. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions."

"A lot doesn't even cover it." Rina pursed her lips and crossed her arms under her chest. "Start talking."