Hate is a powerful word. No one really knows when to use it. Hatred towards someone is… harsh. And this emotion is when no words can describe how much you despise another. The reason the world is so full of cruelty is because of hatred. This came from greed and disagreement, everyone wanting more than they can have. This is why the invaders attacked in the first place.
Every day was the same. The villagers were panicked, as usual. Dolores was hiding away, not wanting to hear all the noises. Camilo was trying his best to make the kids laugh. And she was a terrified as usual. Each night, she’d have a more vivid dream of Esmeray and her followers.
“Sofía?” Camilo asked. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah… I just have… a lot of dreams about her…”
The two fell silent, neither knowing what to say. It was one of those awkward silences that benefitted one more than the other.
The silence got Camilo thinking. Should he talk to her about… things? She did seem to enjoy teasing him about what his sister and cousin thought.
Sofía, on the other hand, got caught up in the worst train of thought. She couldn’t get Esmeray’s words out of her head. What if she was the reason that harm would come to the Madrigals? What if, what if, what if?
“¡Sofía!” Camilo cried as her head hit the hard stone tiles of Castia’s courtyard.
***
She was back by Esmeray for the eighth time in the last five days. However, she seemed more pleased than usual and that was hard to say. “¡Hola, Sofía! Any news?”
The powerful aura around the invader prevented her from keeping anything from the woman. “Everyone is seeking shelter in Casita,”
“Anything else?” she demanded. At once, she felt like she was being choked by the air around her, like her lungs were closing up on her.
“No… no, Emperatriz,” she weakly let out, each breath becoming harder and harder to take in and release.
“Alright, I trust that you are not hiding anything, weakling,” Esmeray said, letting the girl be able to breathe freely again.
Esmeray was not in charge of her, not her empress. Sofía had control of her own life. She only had to make the invader believe that she was under her control or else someone she deeply cared about could be in serious trouble.
“Hm, how about we actually invade… tomorrow at dawn?”
“No!” she cried.
“Excuse me?” Esmeray hissed.
“Everyone will still be asleep by then, so it won’t be a fun fight, will it?” Sofía quickly said.
“True, I guess. We’ll go at sundown, then,”
“Um… Emperatriz… why are you so insistent on becoming immortal?”
And cue the music.
“Why do I want to live forever, you ask? I’m sure you already know the answer,”
“Um… I have a few ideas?”
Esmeray cackled before she began to sing. “I think you already know what I’m after,
“But incase you’re too dense in that little head,
“Here’s my reasons why,” A dramatic twirl and a few beats later, she began to sing more upbeat.
“They think they help everyone,
“But they leave the needy untouched!
“They were like this from the beginning,
“Before we first struck!”
“You’re looking at it the wrong way!”
“Brainwashing, I presume? No matter, we can fix this. After all, we have all of eternity!”
“But eternity is a long time!” Sofía exclaimed before adding her own notes to the song.
“What could eternity possibly quench your needs for?
“Eternity lasts forever,
“It’s not like it’ll solve everything,
“It’s not like once you get tired of it, your life goes back to normal.”
“Who said I’d get tired of torturing the Madrigals and all of Encanto forever and ever?”
“Is that what you really want? To be the villain? I mean, is it really the Madrigals you’re after?”
“The Madrigals left behind scars among the people.
“They help no one in their path!
“And look at us! We all are determined to get back at them for the harm they have caused us.”
“What could they possibly have done? You attacked! You killed Pedro in the first place! You caused the miracle to be formed! It was all you! And this is because of hate, the unecessary hate that you have no reason behind!”
“Maybe so, but Pedro still is among the living,”
“What?!”
“Pedro Madrigal never died. Captured, yes. Tortured, yes. But the light never left his eyes,”
“I think you took that from him long ago, even if he is still alive. You took his happiness and joy away. He never got to see his three children grow up, never got to see their children. Why? Why do you want this so much?”
“Because, mi esclava, my grandmother was engaged to that man before she was killed. And they never found her body.”
“How are you even alive, then? How was your mother born if your abuela was killed before she had an esposo?”
“Because,” Esmeray hissed. “My mother was my abuela and Pedro’s daughter. And he was the one who killed my grandmother,”
***
Sofía woke up, gasping for breath. She looked around, studying her surroundings. She was on a large bed that laid against a soft blue wall. On the bedside table was a series of medicine bottles. A few arepas con queso laid on a plate next to the large stash of medicine.
“Oh! You’re awake!” Julieta’s voice exclaimed.
She turned her head and saw the woman standing to her side, Mirabel and Camilo right next to her.
“I saw something… awful…” she murmured.
“What is it?” Mirabel asked. “What did you see?”
“The invaders… they’re attacking tonight at sundown…”
YOU ARE READING
Abre Los Ojos || Camilo Madrigal
RomanceSofía Valdez and her twin brother Leo have been through a lot. Their mother died in a fire when they were young and have been on the run since, traveling from orphanage to orphanage. But after returning from the war ending in Gaea's defeat, Sofía le...
