I am reposting this story for the benefit of my subscribers who missed it due to technical difficulties. I took a break from my usual serial horror story “The Wishing Well” to share with subscribers a story that was recounted to me by my cousin and his friends just a few months ago while camping in the area of Los Banos, Laguna.
The following story has been contributed to an anthology to be published this Halloween, 2022 by Beyond The Fray Publishing, my publisher.
The “TAMBAL” is considered an elemental or “elemento” in Filipino folklore.
“Tambal” – one of the most terrifying folkloric elementals or “elemento” in the Philippines. It is a creature that often lives in the forest or in large parks on the lookout for people they can steal. These elementals take the form of a friendly person who lure their host and disorient them in the forest. Like a doppelganger, they mimic their host’s appearance and manner to family and friends until the actual person is found. The Tambal, upon being caught as a doppelganger, then fakes death by turning into a tree trunk – Until it spots and stalks its next host.
A dormant volcano within a preserved rainforest, Mount Makiling sits within the province of Laguna in the Republic of the Philippines. Its flanks are surrounded by the town of Los Banos and provide hikers, campers and tourists a place to ply their athletic prowess. Some of Makiling’s steep trails provide challenging terrain to those young or vigorous enough to undertake the highly humid atmosphere and the thick vegetation that constantly impinge upon cleared and marked trails. For that reason, most choose the gentler paths to the established scenic vantage points that older tourists frequent. Among those gentler paths are narrow one-lane roads, well-marked for the tourists that may partake of the view via a tour bus or a group of novices that choose to see the mountain for the first time and opt against an arduous hike. Then there are the bicyclists, veteran to the highly humid atmosphere of the rainforest and the rigor of pedaling up a mountain.
Among these bicyclists is a gentleman in his 30’s, Mike and his group of friends, Eddie, Alan and Charlie. The group, all married and with children, were avid hikers as well and have taken their wives and children to the rainforests of Baguio, higher up north where the air was cool. The group loved the scenery and the quiet of the rainforests – away from the constant noise and traffic of the large towns and streets – so much so that they made their vacations to these forests a frequent outing.
Mike had been eyeing Mount Makiling for sometime as his job as a computer specialist in the town of Santa Cruz became more demanding. He had less time to travel to the northernmost reaches of Luzon, let alone leave the province of Laguna which stretched around the large “eye” of the Philippines, Laguna de Bay. Most of the trips entailed a long drive of several hours where the group stopped at local hotels and resorts for the night. Needless to say, they sometimes took a few days off before the weekend to travel. Since the days were too long for some of them who had younger children, the group often left their children behind in their version of a “couples retreat” with grandparents and the occasional “au pair” or “Yaya” as live-in nannies were called.
Earlier in the year, one of Mike’s closest friends, fellow bicyclist Eddie, an affable bespectacled young entrepreneur who went to university with Mike, was devastated by the sudden disappearance of his one and only brother, Rey. Rey had been working long hours, living north in the metropolis of Manila as a financial consultant in a high-pressure job. Rey often called his younger brother to catch up and even texted him with funny photos of food, friends they mutually shared and events Eddie missed because of their distance. Rey also loved the outdoors like his younger brother, but because of his job constraints, he could only go when time permitted out of his busy schedule. Thus, he compensated for this by walking the large park nearby, Luneta Park in the center of the Manila metropolis.
Months before Rey’s untimely disappearance, Eddie intimated to Mike his growing concerns about a man who seemed to be stalking his brother. Rey sent a series of texts with a blurred photo of a man in a suit which was strange for the tropical weather, when most wore short-sleeved shirts. When Eddie asked Rey if he knew the man or if he had any enemies at work, Rey replied that the man was a jogger at the local park of Luneta when he first saw him. Eddie shared the blurred photos with Mike during a luncheon with their wives in attendance. The women were similarly perplexed. Rey finally called Eddie, his voice more alarmed for a man who was usually calm, if not sublime, even at the most stressful moments of his life.
Rey had changed walking paths after noticing the jogger appearing to follow him. After he had changed paths, the jogger appeared again at the periphery of his eye in a more remote section of the park. Rey confronted him, turning around suddenly as the man jogged within a few feet. What he felt was more sinister than he expected. Rey asked the man if that was a path he frequented as he had seen him several times before. The man appeared friendly in manner, but Rey saw a strange light in the man’s eyes that told him he had another agenda.
This is Rey’s story and what ensued when Eddie joined Mike and friends up the slopes of Mount Makiling for a week of camping.
“I think the man is sick, Eddie. Mentally imbalanced.” Rey’s voice registered fear.
Eddie hit the speaker button on his IPhone and placed it on the cafe table as he sat during his lunch hour right outside a busy cafe in the small but bustling town of Santa Cruz. He watched the center square yards away as children were hustled by their mothers for the shade of the small park nearby.
“Eddie, you there?”
“I heard you, Rey. I just don’t know what to make of it.”
“I know. I can’t either.”
“What did he say when you finally confronted him?”
“Well, I got really uneasy.”
“Because…”
“Because of a look in his eyes. It didn’t jive with what he said.”
“He said…”
“He said he was jogging established paths, but didn’t want to venture to the more isolated places in the park for fear of being mugged.”
“Until you came along.”
“Yup.”
“So he explained it, but you don’t trust he told you the truth.”
“Um, yeah. Kinda peculiar for a man.”
“You think he’s going to mug you instead?”
“But I don’t take any money with me. Really. I’m taller than him too. I could tackle him.”
Eddie breathed in, sipping his cool chai. He glanced at his watch as he ate what remained of his barbecued plantain, enrobed in jackfruit and fried as an egg roll. A local snack.
“Hey, Rey. Do me a favor and don’t walk that park alone or don’t walk in the park at all.”
“I’ve decided to go back to the busier routes. Time permitting.”
The conversations by phone resumed for a few weeks, until one Friday afternoon, Rey called Eddie again, this time with Mike near him. Eddie turned on the speakerphone. This time, his brother’s tone was different:
“Eddie. He just walked into the foyer of the building. Dressed in a suit.”
“Who? The jogger guy?”
“Yup.”
“So what was he doing there?”
“I don’t know. I was stunned to find him downstairs.”
“Are you still walking in Luneta park?”
“Not as often. I hadn’t seen him there lately, though. Until now.”
“Did he see you?”
“As soon as I saw him, he looked right at me.”
“Did you go up to him?”
“No. I ran to the elevator banks and went up.”
“Wait, did you walk during lunch? At the park?”
“I did. But it was quick.”
“So he followed you or he must have a meeting in your building?”
The phone clicked.
Eddie looked at his cell, glanced over at Mike.
“Call him back.” Mike said.
Eddie hit the redial button and he heard Rey’s cell ring.
And ring.
And ring.
Rey looked up to find the jogger dressed in a suit and tie, standing at the door of his office. He stood up, perplexed.
“Uh. How’d you get in?”
Rey, in the midst of a busy week, was at his last reserve of energy, ready for a slow and more relaxed weekend in the company of his wife and baby daughter. The man caught him unprepared.
“I’m so sorry to barge in, compadre. I had a meeting up on the fifth floor and thought I’d come and see you on the way down.”
The jogger proceeded to enter the room, approaching Rey and extending his hand.
Rey walked around his desk, tentatively shaking the man’s outstretched hand. It was cold and stiff as if it had been refrigerated. The man reeked of cologne as if he had just stepped out of the shower.
The man shook his hand, but his eyes looked back hungrily at Rey.
“I must admit, I’m in a bit of a hurry.” Rey prodded, anxious for the meeting to end. He darted a look through his office window at his secretary who was not at her desk.
“I won’t keep you. I just wanted to invite you perhaps for a drink after work or a jog this weekend sometime?”
Rey recalled promising Eddie to stop walking through the park to avoid this man. Apparently the walk during lunch was not a good idea.
“Okay. Let’s have a drink. I only have time for one.”
“Your cell’s ringing, by the way.”
Rey looked down and saw Eddie’s name flashing on the screen. When he looked up, the man was gone.
After finally giving up, Eddie decided to go back to work and Mike stood up to take his leave. They both left a tip and parted, Eddie dialing Rey’s wife as he strode out.
“Edna, call me back when you can. It’s about Rey.”
Eddie looked down at his archived photos at the blurry images of the jogger Rey had sent him several weeks ago. He realized Rey hadn’t even told him the jogger’s name. The pictures were hazy and out of focus.
No name, no face. This is not good, Eddie thought.
“Not good.” Mike said to Alan and Charlie as they pedaled into a fast food restaurant, Jolly Bee, for a quick snack of adobo with fried garlic rice, a basic Filipino dish. They were getting ready for a Friday night of soccer on the television with their wives before a late dinner at the local plaza. That’s when Eddie got a call back from Edna. Mike sat at the fast food restaurant as he listened to a hysterical Eddie. Rey was missing minutes after he was spotted by colleagues meeting up with a man in a suit and walking towards a local watering hole.
Sirens, an ambulance and the local police. A man’s broken body was spread -eagled on the cross-street, having been dragged by a commuter bus just past the edge of Luneta park. A man in a suit watched as the body was picked up and covered by the ambulance, his back turned away from a busy tavern across from the park. His face was in shadow, but he looked like the jogger who just had a drink with Rey. He was alone and not with Rey.
Several months later, Eddie joined Mike, Alan and Charlie, who were all still on the lookout for the missing Rey. Rey’s wife Edna had received the message from Eddie that he could not get her husband Rey on the phone. Sometime later that evening, when Rey failed to come home for dinner, Edna contacted the police. A thorough search ensued, including Rey and Edna’s extended families and friends. Eddie wanted to take his wife away and camp with his friends and their wives to a new location where they can temporarily forget the constant search three hours north of them. They headed for Mount Makiling, the last image of the jogger, all blurred, still on the archive of his cellphone. Next to the photos was Rey, his smile forever etched in Eddie’s memory and immortalized on his cellphone. Eddie had taken off work and driven to Luneta Park for the entire month, joining hundreds including the police, in search of his brother as he consoled Edna and his niece, Soledad.
By the time the group’s caravan of SUV’s reached the campsite on the northwest flank of Mount Makiling, it was dusk. There were two SUV’s in total, plus the large camper, a Winnebago owned by Alan which slept six. Mike drove with his wife, with Eddie and his wife Mai in the back seat. Eddie was in no condition to drive, still grieving for his brother. Alan and his wife followed in their camper and Charlie and his wife were in their SUV, a Toyota Forerunner. They parked in a circle around a large parking lot and began loading their tents and gear into the camper which Alan would take up the campsite. After much deliberation, Charlie opted to follow the camper in the Forerunner. They had a tent and wanted privacy and the stereo along with a portable generator.
The campsite was empty, save for a few teenagers, who were packing to leave. That left the group of eight with all the silence of the forest, save for the animals’ sounds around them. As Alan and his wife Michelle opened the camper and extended it with a tent from which they could place a dining table and chairs underneath, Mike helped Charlie set up the generator and the stereo nearby, the Forerunner’s tailgate facing the seating arrangement. Nestled in tropical vegetation, they felt somehow protected from the elements by the little campsite. Eddie and Mai made a campfire by the Forerunner and proceeded to pull out a portable barbecue and some marinated pork and milkfish, a local seafood.
Gear unpacked, sleeping arrangements established, they sat cooking around the fire in the growing darkness around them, chatting and laughing, enjoying each other’s company. By nine they had finished eating a large meal of barbecue pork ribs, salt and vinegar milkfish and a large portion of steamed rice which Mai had cooked in a large pot prior to leaving. Mike was nodding off, but knowing he still had to help Charlie pitch their tent next to the camper, he stood to commence putting away the remains of the meal to prevent animals from wandering into the camp by night.
That’s when Mike saw a man standing by the Forerunner, just at the edge of the firelight of the campfire. His eyes registered disbelief and he raised an arm to point in the man’s direction. The conversation and laughter came to a dead halt.
Everyone followed Mike’s finger.
The man by the forerunner, still in shadow, backed away.
Eddie suddenly stood, gawking in shock.
“Rey?!”
The women, who were grouped together, turned at the sound of Eddie’s voice. One shot up from her chair at the picnic table. “Oh madre de Dios! It’s Rey!”
Eddie began to walk, then run towards the figure.
“Rey!”
Eddie ran in pursuit, as the man, now completely in darkness strode off.
“Eddie, no! You don’t know if…” Mike yelled.
Charlie followed.
“Stop!” Let’s get into the truck.” Alan yelled.
Mike told the women to stay behind in the camper as the four men clambered into the Toyota. The tailgate shutting downwards, they pulled towards the road in pursuit of the figure.
Eddie rolled down his window on the front passenger side, yelling out his brother’s name.
The forest unfolded as the SUV weaved to follow the road in hairpin turns around the mountain. High beams on, they proceeded down towards the lower ridges of Mount Makiling, revealing pinprick lights where the town of Los Banos and the local university stood in slumber.
Ahead, Charlie paused the truck as a man who looked a lot like Rey stood in a jogging suit. Eddie waved at the man who stood on the narrow and dusty road yards away. When the lights showed the man in stark contrast to the wooded background, his eyes glowed.
The man turned and ran.
Into the forest the man went.
“Rey!” Eddie yelled. “It’s me!”
“It’s not him.” Alan said. “I feel it.”
Mike paused. “Let’s divide up.”
“I’ll go after him” Eddie said, flicking on a lantern.
“Take Alan with you. Charlie and I will head south.” Mike said. They both turned on their flashlights.
The understory was thick. Flies, snakes, mosquitos and cicadas made the night alive. Mike wrestled with the undergrowth, while Charlie kept swatting his face, looking for any signs of human trampling underfoot. At a small clearing was a brook. Mike made his way, swatting flies as he washed his face to be able to see in the humidity.
Then, something came into focus.
Mike could hear his own breathing.
He focused again.
“You see what I see?” It was Charlie, right behind him.
Ahead, a large mound of sorts, half buried, appeared in the darkening night.
The shape was a shape of a man folded over, doubled over like an ostrich with its head under the ground.
Mike aimed his flashlight at the mound. As he did, it moved.
Uncoiling from its impossible posture, its head turned to the light.
Gaunt, dirty and exhausted.
The face of a man peered back at them.
Mike’s jaw slackened in shock.
“Holy Santos”.
It was Rey.
Eddie reached the man first, grabbing him by his shoulders, tackling him to the ground. Then, as he felt him, he knew it wasn’t his brother.
But the man turned his face as they lay on the ground. It was Rey.
It looked like Rey.
It smiled like Rey.
Then it hissed.
But it’s eyes.
Was older than the rainforest.
Ancient.
Evil.
Alan pulled Eddie away before the creature with claws had a chance to eviscerate Eddie, one claw like a dagger.
It snickered, hissed again.
Eddie stood, rooted to the spot.
Alan found he couldn’t move.
Together, they watched the creature emit a hiss, like a snake.
Then it metamorphosed.
A whirl of blackness swirled into a ball.
When it cleared, they both heard the forest come alive again.
Ahead of them, a tree trunk stood on the spot where the “Tambal” was.
Then, a yell: “Over here!”
Eddie’s face registered awe. He recognized the voice and looked back at Mike.
“THAT sounds like Rey!”
Mike and Charlie wrestled with the understory as they saw a cavelike protrusion from a nearby ridge. The yell came from that direction. This time, Charlie reached the origin of the sound first. A man still in his suit sat amidst brambles, scratched and disheveled. They grabbed him as Eddie made his way through the thicket to join the group.
Several yards down the mountain, Mike and Charlie called an ambulance to the foot of Mount Makiling. Rey sat on a stone wrapped in Mike’s shirt. He was smiling.
This time Eddie knew it was his brother.
Police Report:
At approximately 10:15 p.m. at campsite number 18, in a remote section of Mount Makiling, Los Banos, Laguna, Mr. Reinardo Ruiz of Makati, Manila was found in a clearing by a brook. He appeared unharmed, though dehydrated and with minor scratches. He had disappeared from the edge of Luneta Park, 350 miles away north of Los Banos four months ago. Mr. Ruiz was unable to explain how he was able to travel on foot and was unable to recall where he had been.
