I Believe, Yo Creo

  When I was little I was always afraid of the dark, always afraid of the stories my abuela, Grandmother, used to tell me. Stories of legends that would leave me waking in the middle of the night with sweat streaming down my face and fear rooted deep in my soul. The one that always frightened me the most was the story of La Llorona who had flew into a jealous rage when her husband had left her and drowned their three children in the river and then herself.

That wasn't so much the part that scared me it was the fact that she came back every night and cried for her children as if she regretted what she did and if she saw anyone else's child she would take them and they would never be found again. In the end my abuela would always tell me that the thing that cursed her was her beauty and so if I was ever near the river I needed to always make sure to never talk to a beautiful crying woman dressed in white.

For a long time I wouldn't go near the river after dark in fact I wouldn't go near the river period if I was alone. It wasn't just my belief in La Llorona that kept me away either it was that I always felt as if I was being watched around every corner and dark crevice I felt like there was a set of eyes on me. A deep set of glowing red eyes that had no soul in them, a pair of eyes that could belong to El DIablo himself. And it didn't stop there sometimes I could feel the presence of another close by even if a room was empty and I could almost feel their heartbeat underneath my palms, mi abuela would tell me I had a powerful spirit. That I was one of the people who could feel the souls of others left behind and the demons or impressions that strong emotions or actions could leave behind. That all changed  though when I became a big brother to my sister Maria and I forgot that the eyes and presence ever existed. She was my little princess, or so she would tell me many a time after she learned to talk, and I was her knight, I was supposed to protect her.

And I did to the fullest extent of my power, it wasn't one of those times when the brother hates their sister, I adored my little sister and I was always there to make sure that she knew I was there for her no matter what, even when our parents got divorced and abuela died and our parents tried to separate us I had made sure to stick by my sister's side.

Maria had one of those personalities that just enchanted others to protect her and she was always told how beautiful she'd be when she would got older and how no one could ever hurt Maria. I had always believed that.

One Halloween though I was careless and didn't realize how dangerous of a situation I had let Maria and I get into.

We where going out trick or treating and I heard about a scavenger hunt going on in the forest, a gathering of trees that wasn't even an acre long a rather pitiful forest, for kids seven and under so I decided to take Maria there and let her have fun and of course I was going with her.

~*O*~

"Mira Rafael! La luna!" she said pointing up at the moon which was bright and full. She was always so happy to be out at night time.

"Perfect for un hombre de lobo to come eat you." I teased holding onto our bag of things that we'd found already.

She scrunched up her face sticking her tongue out at me, she was only six but she already had so much attitude.

"Oh no es un demonio!" I said in mock fear grabbing at my chest.

"No I am a princesa." she said emphasizing the last word pointing at the crown on her head for good measure to show me she was a princess.

I shook my head in amusement,"Come on and let's find everything else on the list so we can win and get all the candy."

"Okay!" she said looking at the paper with the flashlight she had looking for the next object or clue.

The farther we got the more uneasy I started to feel and I couldn't shake the feeling but I kept ignoring it, smiling a Maria every time she looked back at me. After a while we both admitted we were lost and sat down on the mossy ground to try and use the map to find a way back. Maria was fidgeting and I knew she was bored by the way she kept sighing and rummaging through the little knapsack we were given.

At some point I started to get worried and I wondered if we would ever get back to civilization and then I thought I heard the sound of a woman crying but when I looked over all I could see was the river. I shook my head hearing it again almost as if the woman was running by me as she cried only leaving a trace of the sound. But that was just ridiculous or some elaborate hoax.

Maria huddled closer to me gripping tightly to the front of my costume as we both heard the sound again,"It's okay Maria it's just the wind." But something in my mind told me otherwise something made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up ad made my senses stand at full attention.

She nodded her head but stayed close to my side, I looked at her,"No te preocupes Maria."I spoke in Spanish to calm her down further. It was something I often did ever since she was little and as soon I spoke the words I felt her fists on my shirt loosen just a bit.

We got up and started walking, deciding to follow the river home and that's when the sounds of crying got louder we kept walking coming upon a woman dressed in white weeping at the shore of the river calling out for her children in Spanish. I pulled Maria closer.

"Miss are you okay? Senora?" I said she ignored me starting to walk into the river.

Maria panicked running towards the woman who looked like a lost mother and Maria loved our mother to death,"Maria!" I called out following after her.

Maria was closer and was trying to talk to the woman in Spanish but she ignored Maria and just kept getting closer to being submerged in water.

"Maria!" I called out again just about arms reach from her but then something happened.

The woman turned her face suddenly horrid and crying tears of black dried blood that stained her pale cheeks taking Maria into her arms and pulling her under the water with her.

"MARIA!" I screamed diving into the water looking for my sister and the woman having to come back up for air. I went down again searching the waters our knapsack and Maria's flashlight laying abandoned on the shore.

~*O*~

After hours of searching the police had found me and I was brought home to my mother who was weeping hysterically. After telling the police my story they searched the river for days but they never found any trace of Maria, and I was soon diagnosed for pneumonia because I had been out in that water all night looking for my sister.

That night in the hospital both the eyes and the presence came back.