Maria Labo

Maria and her family face mounting financial strain after she loses her job. She contemplates becoming an Overseas Filipino Worker to help ease the burden, hoping it will secure their future. Ermin supports the idea, even as he fears the risks.

With Ermin's blessing, Maria travels to Dubai to work as a domestic helper and caregiver. She leaves behind her husband and two children, choosing distance over the uncertainty at home. The move is framed as a step toward stability for the family.

In Dubai, Maria befriends Nanay Leng while running errands and buying groceries for her employer. The bond offers Maria some comfort far from home and a sense of kinship. Their growing closeness becomes a key thread in her story.

Maria is assaulted in a van and is later found wandering. The trauma lands her in a hospital, where doctors warn that she should be sent back to the Philippines. The incident marks a brutal turning point in her stay abroad.

During the hospital stay, Nanay Leng transfers a curse to Maria by opening her mouth and letting an orange entity slip out and enter her. Nanay Leng dies soon after, having sacrificed her immortality in the act. The supernatural change begins to take root.

Back in the Philippines, doctors diagnose amnesia and aggressive behavior. Ermin brings her home, hoping familiar surroundings might rekindle memories, while a hospital employee warns that she might not recognize him. The domestic return seeds uncertainty about her identity.

At home, Maria initially appears normal but soon shows signs of trouble, threatening her children with a knife as the curse grows. The unsettling behavior marks the first clear clash between the woman she is and the monstrous force within.

The aswang's power fully takes over and culminates in the brutal act of killing her children. Ermin chases after Maria and shoots when she escapes, repeatedly calling her a monster as the scene unfolds. The family is left devastated.

Ermin buries the children and finds Maria nearby, crying in remorse as the curse reasserts itself. A wound scar on her face emerges from their confrontation with a bolo, a visible sign of the violence that has taken hold.

Rumors spread about a terrifying aswang; Ermin seeks help from an albularyo, who warns there is no way to restore Maria to her former self. The town grows wary as authorities close in on the creature.

The police intensify the pursuit of the creature and confrontations ensue. In the end, Maria is killed, but the story does not end there. Her death becomes a doorway to something else.

An embalmer examines Maria's body and discovers the corpse is missing, revealing that she is not truly gone. The revelation hints at a haunting continuation and a fate beyond the grave.

Despite authorities' belief, Maria's life endures in some form. Her survival sets up a haunting continuation that lingers over the town. The legend of the aswang remains unresolved for now.

The timeline closes with a chilling sense that the curse persists beyond the frames of the story. The town braces for what might come next as the aswang myth continues to haunt the living.