Haunteds

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Summary

In 1974, the mysterious cult's mass kidnapping and ritualistic killing led to the summoning of the Shade-a paranormal entity of living shadow. Ever since then, starting in October in Bastillio-a city in the Philippines steeped in history and superstition-the Shade would be seen haunting twelve teenagers at night throughout the month, often resulting in their deaths. But the discovery of U.V. lights as a deterrent from the Shade led the government to establish a system to contain the Shade's threat. Fast forward to 2025, twenty years after the system had successfully prevented any more deaths, the media and global firestorm surrounding the phenomenon died down. So when sixteen-year-old Vergil Torres was identified as one of the twelve and was immediately brought to Biringan-the government shelter where haunteds like him would stay for the month-he was more excited than scared for his life. But the gruesome and inexplicable death of one of them during their stay in the supposedly safe house renews the horror of the Shade. Vergil, together with his classmate and fellow haunted, the "traditional morena beauty" Cana Bernardo, decided to get to the bottom of it. The two classmates who were indifferent to each other must now work together if they are to survive through the month.

Status
Complete
Chapters
35
Rating
n/a
Age Rating
18+

Prologue: Haunteds' Handbook

TOP SECRET

FOR BIRINGAN PERSONNEL AND HAUNTEDS EYES ONLY

Subject: Project Book Keeper Preliminary Briefing for Haunteds

Document Prepared: 1, October, 2025

Briefing Officer: Maj. Lewis Coleman

Project Book Keeper is the systematic study of SE-1 intended to compliment the efforts of Operation Night Fall, as established by Executive Order on Prevention of Domestic Hysteria Killings of President Lorenzo Rizal on November 1, 2005. This, HAUNTEDS’ HANDBOOK, contains TOP SECRET information for Shade Study with ease-of-use in mind. As such, this notebook only includes necessary summaries of proven and tested observations for the current system in place. The use of information contained in this notebook is at the discretion of the briefing officer-in-charge.

Description:

SE-1 (Supernatural Entity) or colloquially known as the Shade, is a shadow without a visible source casting it. Like a shadow, subject has no mass, no physical body. SE-1 is also faceless and devoid of any distinguishing features. Subject’s entire body shows a very dark coloration. The creature’s upper half appears as a silhouette of a human being, with proportionate arms and a head. Its lower half tapers off to a tail. Subject’s height and width varies nightly.

Below are a set of rules established found to be effective in keeping haunteds alive:

Shade Rule #1:

SE-1 only targets haunteds. No incident of SE-1 attacking others had been reported.

SE-1 kills its victim through what this document will refer to as “haunting”— it hovers motionless next to the victim, putting the target into a catatonic state through unknown methods, leading to cardiac arrest. Drugs administered to counter catatonia were ineffective. All known medical treatment employed to resuscitate the victim after SE-1′s haunting had proved to be unsuccessful. SE-1 disappears after each kill(s). Previous records suggest that number of kills vary from night to night.

Shade Rule #2:

SE-1 always appears next to its intended target. If close proximity is prevented with the use of U.V. lights, (see Shade Rule #4) SE-1 will appear at a distance safe from the U.V. lights. However, SE-1 must have a direct line of sight of any of the twelve haunteds. If all twelve are hidden from SE-1, it disappears. It reappears again once a haunted it made visible to it.

Shade Rule #3:

SE-1 is observed to appear only during every night of October of every year. Earliest recorded manifestation of SE-1 is October 1st, and is always observed to have vanished come November 1 of the same year. SE-1 appears any time after sunset. The earliest ever recorded was six p.m. And disappears at sunrise, without fail.

Shade Rule #4:

SE-1 ceases to exist under U.V. lights and sunlight. The use of U.V. lights erases all traces of the Shade but will reappear in places untouched by U.V. lights(so long as it has a direct line-of-sight of any of the haunteds, see Shade Rule #2). In the event of a haunting (SE-1 latching onto a haunted) taking place, it is advised that the victim is to be exposed in U.V. lights to stop the process.

Note: This is purely an intellectual guess based on the behavior of SE-1 and had not been tested. Keeping haunteds inside the protection of the U.V. lights is still the recommended option.

Shade Rule #5:

SE-1 does not bear any reflection on any items that produces reflection (e.g. mirrors). SE-1′s image cannot be captured or recorded by any devices.