The Curse

"If Senor Febin Crisostomo dela Vega had known that his great-great-grandson and namesake, is going to be a drunkard, and much worse, a self-proclaimed atheist, he would have castrated himself then and there," he heard one of the old men say. Senor Febin, according to all these senile, toothless, nonagenarians who had claimed to have seen him, was a thorough gentleman and walked to church every-morning, his back as straight as a stick, until the day he died. They also said that he had strong distaste for alcohol that he firmly forbade "that poison" to be served on his own wedding—much to the embarrassment of the parents of the bride and groom.

To these old men, Senor Febin was a saint and if ever they do see their idol's current descendant pass by their favorite hang-out, everyone would take a break from their very serious game of dama to watch one of them shout "Shame on you!" at the young dela Vega.

'Just because I was named after him it doesn't mean I have to live like that old bugger,' Febin thought as he cleared his throat in the loudest, most disgusting way he could and spat. 'Take that, you meddling old geezers!' He opened his ever-reliable flask, drank from it will full gusto, waved at the old men and went on his way.

He continued walking on what seemed to be never-ending cobblestoned street, until he reached the end of it. It was difficult, but managed to open the rusting gates of his ancestral home-The dela Vega mansion. He was about to knock on the main door, when he remembered that nobody was there to open it for him. His mother and father had long passed away, and he had no brothers nor sisters. Instead, the forever-lingering smell of mold welcomed him as he entered. 'I will soon rot, like this house. Well and good!'

He sat down, the chair almost falling on the marble floor of his used to be lively home. He used to be a lively too, sober, and proud of his name, not so many years ago. He laughed out loud, thinking about the past. "That was when you were living in a complete lie, you fool!" he shouted at his own reflection on the broken mirror in front of him. Tears started to flow down his cheeks, and still he was laughing, even louder than before. "The riches! The glory of the dela Vega name! The curse—"

Oh yes, the dela Vega curse! The reason why he chose to become a wretched man. The reason why he was an only child. The truth that he cannot disclose because he was, still, in the end, the descendant of the most-respected Senor Febin dela Vega. "The deceitful, two-faced bastard, Senor Febin Crisostomo dela Vega".

It was on the night of his engagement party that his father told him the truth. "My son, soon you will be married to Corazon. As for me, one of the Devil's minions will take me to hell himself, if not today, maybe tomorrow, or the day after that…Who knows when…But, it is my duty to tell you about the curse that all the dela Vega males and his family has to suffer…"

He remembered being told to sit down, before his father started with his narrative. "It is necessary that you do," his father insisted when he declined. And when he realized how upset and disturbed his father was, he relented and swore to him that he would listen.

"The first Senor Febin Crisostomo dela Vega was born in the Far East, a result of a union between a General and his not-so-Spanish wife. On the day he was born, the midwife was almost sure that the child would not survive at that time, as she was very much aware that the woman's early labour (and later on, death) was caused by the violent beatings she had received from her high-tempered husband."

"General dela Vega spoiled his son rotten, and it was actually him who introduced the boy to the world of debauchery. Febin Crisostomo dela Vega grew up to be a troublemaker with an uncontrollable thirst for wine, opium and of course, like is father, bedding women, may they be willing or not. One of these women, was Dulce Mercado, daughter of a Chinese mestizo and an eccentric yet very beautiful woman who was rumored to have descended from one of the famous native kings who had conducted a 'blood pact' with the early conquerors. The moment he saw Dulce, he immediately expressed his wanting to have the then fifteen-year old girl to his father."

"Of course, he got what he wanted. And after ravishing the young girl over and over until he got tired of her, he gave her to his father, who willingly had his fill as well. They left her outside the gates of the Mercado home after the terrible ordeal, naked and defiled, and her sanity gone. Little did they know, that they themselves had marked their own grave, for her mother, Caridad, had knowledge of the ancient forbidden arts of her native ancestors. Somehow she was able to find out who was responsible for her daughter's fate."

"Caridad was a brave woman, she confronted the dela Vegas, and told them that they will pay for what they had done to her daughter…They denied everything of course, and laughed at her. After a few days, General dela Vega caught a mysterious disease that the father and son decided to pack their bags and go back to Madrid. The old man's unusually-expanding stomach seemed to be growing at a very fast rate. They tried to find a doctor that could cure him, but all the specialists could not find out what was actually wrong with the general's body. He lived long enough to make sure his son marries a daughter of a wealthy family. They found the General's body the day after his son's wedding, his stomach seemed to have burst open, with insects, worms and maggots coming out from the flesh…"

"Febin started having nightmares after that. Night after night he dreamt of Caridad telling him that her revenge was not yet over and he will soon be next. And that his sin was too great that his descendants would also have to pay."

"My son, listen to me. Once you get married the nightmares of Caridad will come. Like myself and the others before me, your firstborn will be male, of which you will name after our ancestor…Trust me, it cannot be helped, you may think of many names, but in the end it is the name Febin Crisostomo that will come out of your lips…The nightmares of Caridad will stop, but pure terror will begin…."

"Unlike you I was not warned by my father. The night after you were born I came to see your mother before I went to sleep in the other room. I remember how she looked so pale and weak…and how I whispered to her that I was proud of her…"

"…When I turned to leave, I felt her strong grip on my arm, and then I saw her eyes…I knew that wasn't my wife lying there, it was Caridad. She smiled, and with an extraordinary strength she threw me down on the floor. She got up and like a wild animal she started attacking me, and all I could think about was…why wasn't anybody coming to help me? I tried to run away from her, but I couldn't, she was too fast, too strong…"

"I called your mother's name, over and over…hoping that she will come back to her senses…hoping that she will fight to take control of her own body again…I prayed out loud, and the woman laughed and mocked me….In the end, I was forced to…I was forced to…"

He begged his father to stop talking, but the old man continued, "Luckily, if you call it that, it was my father who found me beside your mother's lifeless body. There were no traces of the commotion that happened that night before…except that is, she was dead. Somehow we were able to convince everybody that her death an accident and it was also only then that my father told me about the curse. And yes, like the others, my father died the same way as our ancestor, the general did."

Febin remembered coming out of that room and seeing the beautiful face of his Corazon, the love of his life. Then and there he made his decision, "With me, it will be different…".

Until now, even when years already had passed since that night, people still talk about how he humiliated his fiancee in front of the guests, and how he had turned the whole evening into a disaster. This was the start of his journey to self-destruction. He will not end his life, no…He will pay for his ancestor's sins in his own way. He will live his life making people see him as they should have seen the great Senor Febin Crisostomo dela Vega and his descendants…and the curse will end with him.