New Shoes

Gone and Found

Early in the morning, before the sun was up, Joaquin went back to the mansion, tools in hand. Instead of going inside, he climbed the walls to get to the roof.

“Ok.” He thought, “This better work.” He took a rope and tied an end into a loop. He threw the looped end up towards the tower, feeling the rope hook onto something.

“Huh. I almost didn't expect that to work. Alright, here we go.” Joaquin took a couple steps back and ran towards the tower. When he got to the edge of the roof, he jumped, swinging to the side of the tower. He groaned in pain at the impact before slowly climbing, “Ok, so far so good. All you have to do is not screw this up. Don't screw up, don't screw up, don't screw up.”

…

Manolo looked out the cell window as the sun began to rise. He didn't get much sleep in the cold cell. There had to be a way to get out of this. What could he say that would-

He heard heavy footsteps walking toward his cell, “Right this way, señor.”

“I'd like to be left alone with this delinquent.” Manolo's blood went cold. Xibalba. He turned around and saw Xibalba staring at him with bloodlust in his eyes through the cell bars.

He opened the cell and stepped inside, “You know, cobbler, I considered just letting you rot in here. But then I thought about the mayor's daughter. She's too close to you. She was asking about you last night, in fact. Knowing her, she won't stop until she knows what happened to you.” He scoffed, “I can't let you cause any more trouble for me.”

Xibalba pulled a knife from his belt, moving closer towards Manolo. Without thinking, Manolo grabbed his wrist and tried to push Xibalba away. 

“You can never let things go, can you?!” The two shoved against each other, until Manolo managed to knock the knife out of his hand. Xibalba quickly went to grab the knife, only for Manolo to lunge at him. They wrestled for a while, Manolo trying to get away. Xibalba pinned his head aggressively to the stone floor holding the knife to his face.

Before he could strike, there was a loud crash and townsfolk screaming. Xibalba snarled and looked at Manolo, “Don't think I'm through with you yet.” He nicked the side of Manolo’s jaw with the knife before running out the cell.

Luckily for Manolo, Xibalba didn't bother to close the cell. He normally wouldn't do something like this, but he took the chance to escape, running into the street. He saw people running frantically through the streets and loud banging.

“What's happening?”

…

Maria ran to her father's room, who for the first time in a while, was wide awake and lucid, running down the hall to her.

“Papa!” She said, “What's going on?!”

“I don't know, mija.” The mayor said, “Where is Xibalba?” They ran to the main entrance of the mansion where Xibalba was already waiting for them.

“Señor.” Xibalba said, “This man wants to speak with you.”

There was a decrepit man next to Xibalba. He looked like he came a long way and his clothes were stained with dirt and blood. 

The man weakly went up to the mayor, “Señor…” He wheezed, “An army… an army is coming…”

“An army?” The mayor repeated. 

“M…Mictlan… Mictlan!” The man collapsed on the ground. Maria ran to check the man's pulse, which was very weak, “Someone get help!” A staff member rushed out to find help.