Abiku

A small spirit. Usually invisible to the naked eye, but can assume the shape of a young man through the conglomeration of a collection of fetus skulls. Abiku enter the womb of a pregnant woman, kill the baby, then take its place. The resulting child is the Abiku itself given form. These children are sickly and often die soon after birth. To drive out the spirit from this child, a plate of food must be put near the child, and then iron bracelets and anklets must be affixed to the child. If this is done successfully, the Abiku will be banished from the child and die. The child will remain sickly, however. The sickness is unidentifiable and fatal, usually claiming the child around age 3 but sometimes lasting up until age 10.

Abikus rarely affect corpused areas, but those living in low-corpus or no-corpus areas are particularly at risk.

The Abiku takes physical form when with other Abikus. It takes the form of the skulls of all the children it has killed, formed into a human shape. Though it seems to be made of skulls, they assume flesh-like properties and can be cut and sliced apart. Once killed, the Abiku skulls dissolve into talcum powder, commonly known as baby powder, which can be used to cure rashes. They also often carry jewelry stolen from the pregnant women they prey on, or anything else they might have picked up.

Abikus are commonly found in predarks around the world. They are found in places related to children, like schools or playgrounds.