Chapter 28

  THE HUNTERS’ RATTLE

  March 18, 2003

  In a small house lost among concrete buildings, held up by invisible pillars of love and resilience, a girl lay hidden in the basement. She crouched among boxes covered in dust and ancient cobwebs, holding her breath as if the air itself might betray her. She tried not to think, not to be afraid… but her watchful eyes scanned the dimness just as a shadow began to descend the stairs.

  The presence was drawing closer.

  The silence became unbearable. The girl’s heart pounded with restrained fury. Nervous, terrified, she barely moved her hand… and an object suddenly fell with a sharp thud against the cement floor. The sound echoed like an omen.

  —Found you —said a female voice, as the light switch shattered the darkness.

  —That’s cheating, Mom! You used your magic —the girl protested, emerging from her hiding place with a frown.

  The woman laughed softly as she brushed dust and cobwebs from her hair.

  —Melody, you need to learn how to lose.

  —We said no magic.

  —And that fell by itself? —the mother replied, pointing to a small wooden cat statue now lying on the floor.

  —It was the ghosts —Melody answered with a mischievous giggle before slipping out of the basement.

  The mother watched her go and then, with calm composure, glanced at the wall clock. Her husband was taking longer than usual. She thought, without concern, that perhaps his boss had kept him for overtime. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing worth worrying about… yet.

  —Melody, go take a bath —she called from the kitchen—. When your father gets home, we’ll go to the amusement park you like so much.

  —Yes, ?I’m going! —the girl replied, disappearing toward the bathroom.

  Later, the mother helped her get dressed with gentle, careful movements.

  —Remember: no magic.

  —Yes… no magic in front of humans —Melody repeated obediently.

  —Very good girl —the woman whispered, kissing her on the forehead.

  She turned just as the sound of the front doorknob broke the stillness of the house.

  Nervous, her husband burst inside. He slammed the door shut and swept his gaze across the windows, like a cornered animal.

  —Leo? —María called.

  —María… we have to leave —he said, his voice breaking. He was on the verge of tears; terror had sunk into his bones.

  —What’s going on? —María approached cautiously and then saw the tears streaking down his face.

  —They… they found us. I couldn’t save her.

  —What are you talking about? Take a deep breath, calm down.

  Leo obeyed, filled his lungs with air… but the trembling did not stop.

  —I left work late. On my way back, I heard screams in an alley. I went closer to help. I saw a witch holding a sphere of fire… and two men, huge, with deranged eyes. When she threw the fireball… she just turned into smoke. My God, María… they tore that poor girl apart. She was a child. I froze… and I think one of them saw me.

  With clumsy hands, Leo closed the curtains, plunging the house into an unsettling gloom.

  —They can’t be here —María whispered—. We came because they told us the city was protected by spells… Melody…

  —María, grab clothes and the passports. We’re leaving. Now.

  With her nerves stretched tight as a rope about to snap, María searched for a backpack. She chose only the essentials: a few clothes, the passports, money. Nothing else. Everything else no longer mattered.

  In the living room, Melody waited. She was wearing a beautiful light-blue dress, unaware of the horror creeping toward her home. She watched her parents, realizing for the first time that they too could be afraid… like children abandoned in the dark.

  —Sweetheart, we’re not going to the amusement park today —María said, forcing a smile before hugging her—. But we’re going on vacation.

  —Is everything okay? —Melody asked. Even though she was small, she knew something was terribly wrong.

  —Easy, little hawk. Everything’s fine —Leo whispered, kissing her on the forehead.

  Then it happened.

  Three knocks. Sharp. Hard. Authoritative.

  The sound thundered against the front door like an omen.

  Leo looked at María and, without saying a word, signaled for her to hide in the basement. Fear squeezed his chest, but the determination to protect his family kept him standing.

  He stepped toward the door.

  Took a deep breath.

  And pretending to feel a calm he did not have, he opened it… and found himself face to face with the two men.

  —Hello… what do you need? —Leo said with forced cordiality, as if politeness could seal the door better than a lock.

  —Do you live alone? —asked the man with the scar. The burn mark, resembling a deformed crescent moon, devoured his right cheekbone. As he spoke, he tried to drive his gaze into the interior of the house.

  —Yes.

  —We have information that you do not live alone —the other one interjected. His strangely gentle face contrasted disturbingly with his broad, muscular body.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  —There must be some mistake, gentlemen.

  —This neighborhood has had a high number of sightings of witchcraft practitioners —said the man with the scar, casting him a look that seemed to pass judgment—. Haven’t you seen anything strange?

  —Witchcraft? —Leo let out a nervous laugh that died instantly—. Fairy tales. That doesn’t exist. Don’t waste my time with this nonsense. Good night.

  He tried to shut the door quickly.

  He couldn’t.

  A huge hand stopped it. The arm of the gentle-faced man tensed like an iron beam. A second later, he shoved hard. Leo fell to the floor and the door flew wide open.

  The men entered without permission, as if the house already belonged to them.

  Drawers yanked open. Books thrown to the floor. Rooms violated.

  —Leo Levy —said the man with the scar as he hurled several books to the ground—. We’ve been watching this house for weeks. Where are your wife and daughter?

  He stomped on the torn pages.

  —Those cockroaches can’t deny their nature. Sooner or later the unholy books appear, the rituals, the potions… maybe even their filthy runes. We’re in a good mood today, Mr. Levy. If you hand over those little vixens, we’ll let you live.

  A book split beneath his boot.

  —?I swear to you, I don’t have a wife or a daughter! —Leo begged from the floor—. You’ve got the wrong house!

  The gentle-faced man approached slowly. He looked at him with an almost compassionate expression, like someone observing an injured bird… and then he struck him.

  The impact was blunt.

  Leo’s lip split open. Warm blood spilled out.

  —Where are they? —the man asked in a low voice, soft, almost loving.

  Leo felt as though he were staring the Devil in the eyes… and that God had chosen to look away.

  —I don’t have… a wife… or a daughter… —he murmured, dazed but resolute.

  —Everyone talks, sooner or later —pronounced the man with the scar.

  He dragged over a chair, slammed Leo into it, and began punching him again and again in the stomach.

  —Where are the witches?

  —I don’t have… a daughter… a wife… —Leo’s voice dwindled to a thread of air.

  In the basement, María desperately covered Melody’s ears. Silent tears streamed down her face as she murmured forbidden prayers, begging Hecate to cover them with her shadow… to turn the hunters’ eyes away, to let mercy still exist in the night.

  —Sweetheart, listen to me —María took Melody’s face in her trembling hands—. You must stay here, hidden. ?Do you understand?

  —Mom… I don’t want to be alone —Melody sobbed, clinging to her.

  —My little witch —María whispered, holding back tears—. You are strong. You are good. Now listen carefully… hidden, quiet. And if I don’t come back… run. ?Do you remember the spell?

  She pointed to the cracked wall of the basement.

  —I don’t want to leave you —Melody said, hugging her with all her strength.

  —Tell me —María insisted, her voice breaking—, ?do you remember the spell?

  —Yes… I remember.

  María kissed her forehead one last time and left her there, wrapped in shadows and fear. As she climbed the stairs, she begged Hecate with every step, pleading that her daughter remain beyond the hunters’ reach.

  —Where are they?! —roared the man with the scar, delivering another blow to Leo’s limp body.

  —Here! —María’s voice cut through the air.

  Both men turned around.

  —Finally —the one with the scar smiled.

  Leo’s body collapsed unconscious to the floor.

  —Oops… so weak —he laughed cruelly.

  —Capere et perdere —María whispered.

  Her eyes ignited with a sickly green glow. From the walls behind her, roots burst forth like living serpents—thick, ancient, laden with dark, devastating energy. She spread her arms, commanding the attack.

  The roots surged forward… but when they brushed against the men, they crumbled into dust, as if magic itself were being denied.

  —No magic, filthy witch —said the gentle-faced man with disturbing calm.

  Horror crossed María’s face.

  How could mere humans unravel her sorcery?

  She raised her arms again and then drove her hands into the ground.

  The roots slid beneath the house, shattering the floor, cracking the walls, making the foundations tremble. The men stepped back, believing the attack was aimed at them.

  But the roots emerged behind Leo.

  They wrapped around him like a cocoon and dragged him back to María’s feet.

  With tears falling uncontrollably, she held him by the neck and gently slapped his face.

  —Leo… please… wake up…

  She sensed the hunters advancing.

  She lifted her gaze, desperate and furious.

  —Stop! —she shouted—. Or I’ll bring this house down!

  The men halted.

  María was ready to bury them all if it meant saving her daughter.

  —I love you… —Leo murmured.

  He woke for just an instant, only long enough to say goodbye. Then life left his eyes. A thin thread of blood slowly ran from his mouth. There were no more groans. No more sounds. Just a motionless body.

  —Leo…? —María whispered—. ?Leo!

  She tried to shake him, to call him back, to pull him back into the world. But soon she understood the inevitable. Her sobbing tore her soul apart; her screams were knives plunged straight into the heart of the night.

  —Dad…?

  Melody’s sweet voice rose behind her.

  —No! —Melody screamed.

  The girl’s cry thundered through the house like an ancient storm. The ground began to shake, the walls groaned as if awakening from a long sleep.

  Her eyes ignited with a golden light, pure and terrible. Ancient runes began to carve themselves into her skin, appearing one by one, like ancestral memories reclaiming their place. Every second was an invisible blast that tore through the air and shattered the walls.

  —Damn child! —roared the man with the scar.

  He drew his weapon and fired.

  María did not think.

  She released Leo’s body and threw herself toward Melody, wrapping her in her own.

  The gunshot rang out.

  The bullet pierced María.

  Blood burst forth as it exited, and in that same instant a root emerged from her flesh—alive, desperate—intercepting the projectile after it had passed through her. It stopped it midair, and as it did, it bloomed.

  A white flower slowly opened, tinged with soft shades of red.

  —Mom! —Melody screamed.

  Debris fell without pause, and with her final breath, María lifted her gaze toward her most precious treasure.

  —Protect her, mater vitae…

  The words, barely a whisper born between life and death, echoed like an ancient call. Then María’s body began to bloom. Shoots emerged from her flesh, each different from the other: flowers of countless shapes and colors, impossible, sacred.

  The roots rose once more, but they were no longer the same. They bore a marbled hue, veined with countless colors, as if they contained all the memories of the earth. They rose up and encapsulated Melody… and also María’s blossoming body.

  Melody heard the debris crashing down upon that living shell, but the roots did not tremble. They remained firm, unbreakable.

  When everything stopped, when the world finally fell silent, the roots began to burrow slowly into the ground, as if obeying an ancient vow. The girl was left there, amid dust and ruins.

  Her father’s body lay motionless.

  And where her mother’s body had once been… only petals remained.

  Melody stood up. With her own hands, she pushed aside the debris blocking the basement exit. She went down once more and stopped in front of the cracked wall.

  —Saxum dissolvit, materiam destruit —she whispered.

  Her eyes shone with golden intensity. The cracks in the wall responded in unison, lighting up with the same glow. They spread, growing like veins of light… until the wall completely dissolved.

  Only dust remained where stone had once stood.

  Before her stretched a long earthen corridor, dark and silent. Fear tightened her chest, but she knew she had to move forward. With her first step, the walls began to respond to her presence: from the soil sprouted luminous mushrooms, pulsing in shades of purple, green, and blue, lighting the path like buried fireflies.

  Melody walked, guided by that living glow, and after several minutes, she emerged into a forest.

  Before her rose large white stones, marked with symbols painted in black: impossible flowers and stylized mushrooms forming a perfect circle. At its center, a smaller ring of white mushrooms gleamed with a gentle radiance.

  —May Hecate guide me… may Mom guide me —Melody whispered.

  She stepped into the circle.

  The earth trembled.

  The mushrooms shone with greater intensity and then released a sparkling dust that rose around her like a whirlwind. Melody covered her face, trying to protect her eyes. The world spun, dissolved… and then, silence.

  When the dust cleared, she was no longer in the forest.

  —Excuse me… where am I? —she asked timidly, approaching an elderly woman with a kind face.

  —Hatori Village —the woman replied, visibly worried—. ?Are you lost?

  Her eyes widened in alarm.

  —Shimmering dust?

  The old woman urgently pointed her toward Gothel’s candy shop.

  Melody obeyed and went inside.

  The woman tending the shop radiated authority. Her gaze was stern, yet there was something strangely reassuring about her, like an invisible refuge.

  —Excuse me…

  —Oh, gods… —the woman stepped forward at once and embraced her—. ?María?

  —Do you know my mom?

  —I was an old friend of hers —she replied in a deep voice—. What happened?

  —Some strange men… —Melody couldn’t go on. Tears overtook her.

  The woman handed her a handkerchief.

  —Why didn’t she use those mushrooms for all three of them? —Melody asked, a thread of anger cutting through her sadness.

  —She used the Mark of Last Salvation —the woman explained gently—. The realm only opens for one… and it must be a child.

  She sighed, holding her close.

  —I’m sorry, Melody.

  Then she pulled back slightly and smiled warmly.

  —I’m Madame Liona. Pleased to meet you.

  She set a plate of still-warm cookies in front of her.