"AMARILLO" (A Camilo Madrigal Fanfiction)

Chapter 1: A Tragedy - Forever Severed

In the dead of night, in a dark and quiet room, there lay a child around ten years old next to her week-old baby sister. The children were sleeping soundly and there was nothing but silence and peace within their bedroom.

Their slumber was cut short when a loud bang broke their silence. It was their mother who crashed the door open. Flames roared inside their room as the child and her sister were startled awake. The sound of the baby's cry echoed throughout the room along with their coughs and desperate gasps for air.

"Conradina! Come! Let's go! We don't have much time!" says their mother while frantically grabbing the children's spare clothes.

Conradina grabbed her baby sister and clutched her into her arms. She noticed that their mother had a machete in one hand, covered and dripping in blood. She knew that something terrible had happened.

After her mother grabbed what she needed, she puts a bag around Conradina. "Take your sister away from here. Follow the Madrigals."

Before Conradina could say another word, their house started tumbling down. Her mother pulled her to safety, and they ran outside the room.

The house of la familia Guerrera was huge. It was the home of twenty family members - A family of blacksmiths who helped provide weapons for everyone else during the war. As they passed through every part of the house towards their exit, Conradina saw her tíos and tías, covered in blood as they fought bravely against the strangers who had invaded their home.

Outside, she saw more of her relatives. Her older primos and primas, fighting with their own machetes. Their sleeping garments are now drenched in blood. Their eyes filled with rage. Their cries resembled the roaring flames. Their chances seemed slim because her cousins were only around fifteen to nineteen years old, but she can already sense their will to die for the family. Everything was too hard for Conradina to process in her young and innocent mind. She saw their neighbors crying for help and mercy, begging on their knees, and mercilessly slayed right before her eyes. She kept on accidentally trampling over dead bodies as her mother hurriedly pulled her towards the Madrigals. But before they could reach them together, the sound of galloping hooves drew closer and closer as they tried to outrun it.

Her mother had no choice but to stop and fight to spare the lives of her children. Before she stopped, she spoke while panting, "Conradina. I have to stay behind. You must go and follow the rest of our community. Find our neighbor - the Madrigals. Take care of your sister for me."

Conradina, overwhelmed, scared, and confused, she started to weep as she tried to stop her mother with her trembling voice. "No! You have to come with me! I'm not leaving you!"

"You must! It's me, or all of us!" Her mother screamed at her as she stopped dead in her tracks and pulled out her machete. She raised her weapon up high and yelled for her daughter to run. "Go! Now!"

Conradina clutched her sister tighter into her chest as she slowly backed away and started to run as fast as she could, away from the danger. As she ran, she glanced at her mother and saw her smiling back at her with sorrowful eyes. She knew what that look meant. It's the same face she makes whenever she looks at her daughters and whispers "I love you".

And in a blink of an eye, her mother turned away and ran toward her enemies, still wielding her machete, screeching her battle cry.

She ran and ran while the sound of her sister's cries started to get into her head. She wanted to believe that her family will be alright and that they will come and follow her. She sobbed as she panted, growing tired from all the running. Her knees felt weary, her shoulders burned in pain and exhaustion. And yet she kept on running in fear of meeting the same fate as her neighbors.

Her eyes were starting to grow dim. She tried to sharpen her sight, but she could feel herself growing weaker and weaker. Her mind was telling her to keep going, but her body was starting to give up on her. The sound of her sister's cries was starting to fade, not because the baby felt at ease, but because she was starting to lose consciousness. She was trembling all over. She was tripping through almost everything on the ground, stumbling her way towards safety, still clutching her baby sister to her chest - not wanting to lose her.

Those moments felt like eternal damnation for her. She started to take a slower pace. Step by step, panting, groaning in pain. She wanted to cry, but she was too tired to even do that. Her head was spinning, she was losing her mind.

A light started to appear from a distance. She was starting to think it was the gate of heaven. She couldn't hear anything at all. Moments later, she felt like she was floating on air. For a short while, she felt like a dead and empty soul, floating into the abyss.

A voice broke the silence of her surroundings, "Conradina! Conradina, can you hear me?" She was starting to hear things again. She slowly peeked and saw a pair of kind eyes, staring back at her. It was the priest from their village.

"Oh, thank God! You're alright! Don't worry, you're in good hands. My cousin is currently nursing your sister. Rest now, child... It's going to be alright."

Weak and helpless, she groaned and tried to utter a few words, "M-mi mamá...She's-"

"I know, child, I know... All of us have lost a lot of our loved ones. We can do nothing but pray." Says the priest who tried to comfort her and shield her in his arms.

Conradina looked around and saw a lot of familiar faces with fear in their eyes, muttering and whispering their prayers to the wind. Finally, she was able to break down crying. She hugged the priest tightly, hiding her tears from anyone else to see.

"We have to go back! My mother is still alive! I just know it! She's out there fighting!"

One of the villagers tried to shush her, "Hey kid! Keep it down!"

She wasn't able to hold herself back anymore. She screamed at the villager, "My mother is out there fighting! My family did not cower! They're right there fighting for us! We have to wait for them! Wait for my-"

The priest covered her mouth and whispered, "Please, keep it down! I know it's hard to accept what happened. But please, be reasonable! You made a promise to your mother that you'll keep Imelda safe, correct?"

"Yes... She told me to." She answered with her muffled and trembling voice.

The priest firmly said as he lets go of her, "Then honor her will! Regardless if she's still out there somewhere. What matters now, is that you'll fulfill that promise. From now on, your job is to keep Imelda safe. Now, keep quiet. We don't want our enemies to find us."

Conradina fell silent. She just kept on looking at the ground as those dreadful scenarios played in her mind over and over again.

Not a few more moments later, she heard another sound of galloping hooves drawing closer and closer. Her eyes widened as she realized what the familiar sound was. She whispered, "No."

"Everyone! Get to the other side of the river!" She heard Pedro Madrigal's voice loud and clear. In a panic, everyone was frantically screaming and bumping into each other. The still and gentle waters are now disrupted by every single person who crossed the river. The priest tried to shield her from seeing yet another horrible scenario, but her eyes were fixed on the blades of those horrid men. She saw how Pedro was slain before the eyes of his wife and the community. She gasped and hid her face in the priest's chest. She heard Alma's wails and the screams of everyone else around them.

All of the sudden, Alma's candle ignited a magnificent flame and shined brightly all throughout - spreading warmth and sending their pursuers away from all of them. It sent them flying off their horses as mountains began to grow rapidly around them. Conradina followed the sight of those mountains from the ground, to the skies. When she looked back down, she could no longer see the river. She was just staring at the base of the mountain.

She looked around and realized how impossible it is for anyone to climb over, especially for someone at her age. She was forever severed from her loved ones.

She glanced at her sister in the arms of the priest's cousin. They only have each other now.

She tried to hold back her tears.

"It's just you and I now, Imelda."