Part II: Going Local on Myths & Urban Legends

photo by geishaboy500

This is my second post in a mini-series where I talk about the ghost stories in my neighborhood.

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You see that huge house over there? The one that’s vacant and decrepit? A security guard died there. He was shot at and the police were all over the crime scene. You should’ve seen the outline of the dead body. It was the talk of the town.

But that was many years ago. More than a decade, to be exact. So let’s focus on the current events happening in my neighborhood. Not more than three weeks ago, my brother came home from work with a news that, for a couple of days, made my mother not pass by a certain portion of the empty lot that stood just across our house. Here’s the story that my brother told:

Security guards patrol the subdivision using motorized tricycles.  One night, a guard was doing his usual round. He was not alone, though. Seated on the passenger seat was a young woman (whose relation to him I honestly do not know). It was the wee hours of the morning, not late enough to go home and not early enough to wake up the sun and catch some of its rays. It was, more or less, the so-called witching hour. And so the motorized tricycle noisily made its way down Jericho Street, where a good half of a whole block was nothing but grass and rocks. In one part was a path that was guarded by two tall (but definitely not old) trees. The trees were pretty thin but its leaves were abundant and the branches seemed to sprawl everywhere. So much so that both trees covered the first few steps within the path. It was in that area that the young woman suddenly let out a scream. Her scream went on and she burst into hysterics. The guard, baffled and panicked, looked around but could not figure out why his companion was suddenly acting so alarmingly strange.

And then, right before his eyes, was a very, very, very tall man — dark and hairy with the scent of tobacco lingering in the air. It was definitely not human. This creature stood by the two trees and, with burning crimson eyes, reached out to them. The guard was frozen; the young woman’s screaming had died to a whimper by then. The tall creature, without so much as a pause, yanked out the young woman from her seat by grabbing on to her long hair.

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I do not know what happened right after that. Where is the young woman? What happened to her? My brother said this story came from one of the guards and that guard swore the story was true. While I am really not convinced that such creatures do exist, it’s fun to hear about it. No doubt that the guard and the young woman encountered a kapre. It is a creature known to be really tall (around 9 ft), dark and hairy. He smokes tobacco and wears nothing but a loincloth. Although scary, this creature is not necessarily evil. Or so they say. Here are some facts about the kapre, taken from Wikipedia:

• Kapres may make contact with people to offer friendship, or if it is attracted to a woman. If a Kapre befriends any human, especially because of love, the Kapre will consistently follow its “love interest” throughout life.
• Kapres are also said to play pranks on people, frequently making travelers become disoriented and lose their way in the mountains or in the woods. They are also believed to have the ability to confuse people even in their own familiar surroundings; for instance, someone who forgets that they are in their own garden or home is said to have been tricked by a Kapre.
• Some more examples would be hearing loud laughter coming from an unseen being, witnessing lots of smoke from the top of a tree, seeing big fiery eyes during night time from a tree, as well as actually seeing a Kapre walking in forested areas.