"Into the eternal darkness, into fire and into ice."

Dante Alighieri

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"You think, Cristobal is the one that started it?" Senovio asked.

"What do you mean?" Evie replied.

"The curse," I answered for him.

"Oh! Heavens no!" Evie said, waving a hand. "The only one who can confirm of such a thing is Madame Roma."

“The Fortune Teller,” Stacy replied. He rolled his eyes in disgust. “She is a strange woman and speaks nothing but riddles. However, she might answer your questions.”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Alright,” I replied. “Take us to her.” Senovio looked at me, dumbstruck. He grabbed me by the arm and jerked me across the room. I yanked my arm away and rubbed my upper arm. “That hurt, you know,” I hissed at him. Senovio shook his head. “Carmen,” he replied. He paused and held his hands together in front of his face. He inhaled a deep breath and released it from his mouth. “Imma tell you something right now, Carmen. Us, Mexicans, don’t mess with things like that. That fortune telling stuff, is for the movies.” I placed my hand over my face and shook it from side to side. I gave him a bland look. “And here we are,” I replied. “About to go see Madame Florence.” I brushed past him and scooped Henry into my arms. I heard Senovio scuff behind me before trailing along like a puppy. “If we were in Mexico. We would send an entire army of Priests singing O Fortuna.”

We returned to the previous room with the phonogram. At first, we grew hesitant about the room because of our previous experience. However, Evie insisted the episode would not occur again. “That is Madame Roma’s way of keeping any outsiders out,” she explained. Then she gave an airy giggle. “Your reactions have made her very happy.” The door swung open, we entered the room. Back then, divination was at its prime during the 19th century. Husband divination games occurred during Christmas and Halloween. While seances occurred almost at every house party. The room differed from before. It was decorated in deep blues and purple tapestries that covered the wall from top to bottom. Beads layered on top of one another, creating a canopy of glowing light; while lanterns lit up the room in a deep golden color.

“Who dares enters my dominion?” a voice called out to us. Senovio slapped my shoulder with the back of his hand.

"My sister does!" Senovio spat.

“Then you must seek within,” she replied, twirling the crystal ball in her hand.

I approached the table. “What do you mean?” I replied. “That makes no sense.”

“You will find it within,” she retorted. “It is a devil’s curse which seeks to destroy you and your family, all except for one.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“Who?” I replied. “Is it my brother? I don’t need no riddles...”

The woman leaned her head back. She closed her eyes and raised her arms, breathing in. “Dark spirits from the grave,” Madame Roma chanted. The room grew dark and the crystal ball glowed a deep emerald green. My lips narrowed into a thin line, pressing hard against my teeth.

“Hold up!” Senovio shouted. The woman stopped and looked at him. “We don’t need no dark spirits leading us from no grave site. The only dark spirit that is leading is to our grave is our Mom. And you don’t wanna mess with her.”

“Shut up!” I shouted at him. Madame Roma ignored our argument and continued to chant her mysterious riddles. She raised her arms high above her head, yodeling at the top of her lungs. Our chairs rose in the air and spun us around. Henry cried out from the tops of his lungs death gripping his chair. Senovio jerked his body forward, covering his mouth. He was struggling to keep himself from throwing up. I looked around. The world was spinning faster as the crazy witch lady continued to chant her words of rhyme. I had no time for this. I let out a high pitch scream that caused the woman to stop chanting. She slammed her hands over her ears and let out a painful yelp. The chairs slammed back down on the floor, and everything around us became still. The woman glared at me from the corner of her eye.

“You dare disturb the spirits?” she asked offended.

“Yeah,” I retorted. I nodded as I stood up. “We need to break the curse. Not have a seance while chanting stupid things.”

The woman smirked. “You have spirit,” she told me. She reached into her pocket and gave me two thick, small bundles of sage. I looked at the herbs confused. Then I wrapped my fingers around them until my knuckles turned white. Before I could pull my hand back, she covered her hands over mine. The woman narrowed her eyes. “This sage will protect you and your brothers from the evil to come. There is one thing you must find.” She leaned towards me and whispered in my ear. She slipped a key into my hand and smiled. We slowly backed away and darted from the room.

I led my siblings down the hallway and grazing along the moving busts. We passed by the corrupted paintings towards a black door that stood beside the second bridal painting. Henry patted his feet across the carpeted floor, trailing behind us like a lost puppy. Senovio grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back. I turned around. “What did that lady tell you,” he asked me. I told him it was nothing. Then, I reminded him of what was important. Senovio raised his chin, narrowing his eyes. He wasn’t sure whether to believe me. I rolled my eyes and continued to walk.

Senovio crossed his arms over his chest and looked over his shoulder. He breathed in a sigh. “Mama!” Senovio shouted. I jumped in place. My shoulders scrunched up, and I mouthed every word I knew. “Bring the chancla, a rosary, a picture of La Rosa de Guadalupe so Carmen can talk to me!”

“I don’t think mom can hear you?” I spat, turning around.

“I’m gonna pee my underwear,” Senovio sang aloud.

“Senovio!” I shouted.

“Trust me Henry,” Senovio replied, ignoring me. “If you saw me as a Mexican kid, living in the barrio of Jalisco. I would not be chilling in my room surrounded by ghosts. I would run to mom and dad’s room real quick. And our parents would ask, “ke paso mijo?” And then, I would say that King Tut is in my room, all my lights would be on, and the Jesus candles would be lit up. A Rabbi would have been called and arrived in five minutes. All the neighbors would pray for my safety and…”

“Alright!” I yelled, throwing my hands down. “I will tell you. Could you please stop rambling like chicken already?” I laced my fingers together and brought them to my chin. A sigh escaped through my nostrils as I struggled to compose myself. Senovio waiting for my explanation. His dark eyes widened with internest. Henry looked at our brother. He looked back at me and imitated Senovio's stance. I scuffed. “Madame Roma mentioned a black door. It will give us the answer. We must be careful with what lingers on the other side.”

“What did she mean by that?” said Senovio.

“I have no clue,” I replied, pulling out the key. "But whatever that door holds...God bless us."