Knock, knock, knock, knock.
“Hello, Simon. Enter, please enter.”
As Simon came in, he felt shivers go down from the top of his neck to the small of his back.
Out of nowhere, he felt the breath taken out of him.
He sat down across from his aunt at the same dining room table that started this whole story.
There was the crucible, the same bowl-like cup that was there the day they started the interaction that led him on this circuitous journey.
His aunt’s cat came up to him and lay in front, quietly waving his tail like a pendulum.
“I repent.”
“You, what?”
“I changed my mind about all of this. Break the curse. Undo the spell.”
“Why, Simon, nephew, I told you, now that the curse – I mean spell, is created, it can’t be broken.”
Simon’s pupils in his eyes turned from round to slits like that of a snake (like how his aunt’s eyes got).
“I’m not God, Simon. I can’t bring the poor boy back from the dead.”
“You must! You must! I no longer want any part in this. You tricked me!”
“How could you say that?”
“Because I didn’t know the spell would work so well. I just wanted Margaret to leave her man and be mine! I didn’t intend for him to die!”
“Yes, you did.”
“No! I just wanted them to break up so that Margaret could be mine!”
“You need to be careful what you wish for, Simon.”
“I didn’t mean for him to die!”
Putting his head down on the hard wooden table, he sobbed.
“She loves me now, and I love her, but it’s not how I thought it would be. It’s all so weird. This torture is inhumane.”
His aunt remained quiet.
“You – and what your so-called ‘friends’ do. It’s black magic. You’re a part of a satanic cult!”
Gisela pondered the options while looking up into the air.
“You were hovering in the air at the funeral, watching the whole thing! I thought you said you were a good witch.”
A few more moments of silence went by.
“Well, if you really want it broken, then there may be one way…”
Simon perked.
“I’m really not supposed to tell you this. It’s against my order. If they find out, they’ll do something worse to me than death.”
“How is that possible?”
“You really don’t want to know.”
“How can we break the spell, then?”
“There’s only one way. Don’t worry, nephew, I’ll show you how to break it, but I couldn’t possibly tell you right here.”
“Why?”
“There are spirits that constantly monitor my place. They’ll alert La Flaca if I even mention the solution, and my contract will be void.”
“Where should we go?”
“A secret place.”
They hopped into Gisela’s old truck.
She drove like a madwoman the whole way to a dirt road that led through the woods.
Simon’s nerves were just about ready to overtake him.
He was pale, cold, lifeless, with a nervous fear about what might happen.
Would it be worse to break the curse, or should he just fulfil the yearly sacrifices and take Margaret as his wife?
Gisela stopped the car.
“We’re here.”
She took her cat from off her lap and set it down onto the forest floor.
“Catch some chipmunks, Chewie!”
The cat burst off into the woods.
She opened her trunk and took out a large red hood, put it on, and gave Simon one too – a white one.
“Put this on. This way, the spirits won’t be able to detect us.”
Simon did as he was told, then followed his aunt down a well-worn path.
They came to an opening in the woods, where a large slab of rock laid in the middle.
“This is where I come to talk to spirits undetected.”
“What spirits?”
“I speak to the spirits in the trees. Druids, some people call them. I like to call them fairies.”
Simon thought she was talking crazy once again, but was surprised when floating lights came to her, one after the other.
Then, as if they came just to see what was happening, the lights darted back towards the trees.
He pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming again.
“Simon, come.”
They arrived at the center of the clearing, and Gisela put Simon’s hood back.
Just then, he went into yet another vision.
The Light, the man he had seen in a vision before, slowly walked towards him.
This time, Simon caught his gaze directly.
His eyes reminded him of the inferno coming up from the community center that fateful day…
Though his aunt was still there beside him, Simon couldn’t really see her.
Everything was consumed by the bright white light.
As the man came towards him, Simon became more awestruck, nervous, and shocked.
“Simon, why did you have a hand in ending Diego’s life?”
He couldn’t help but burst into tears…
He knew who it was.
Falling to his knees, he shouted, “I’m sorry. I repent! I repent! Jesus, please forgive me!”
“Diego was innocent. I know you were doing all this for Margaret, and you will have her.”
Simon’s heart twisted and throbbed at His words.
“Yes, you will have her. She’s your helper now. But because you did this, the sweetness of her will turn into bitterness for you, and you’ll have to live with that for the rest of your life.”
Simon looked away, wondering how that could ever be.
“And though you love her, you will eventually hate her because of what she reminds you of and how you got her. This will be what you reap for what you have sown.”
In that moment, Simon realized that he already didn’t value her as much as he once did.
“But don’t worry. Because through all of this, you learned who I am.”
Hope, like a river, felt like it was springing into the deepest parts of Simon’s being, his spirit.
“I am truly good, Simon.”
The Light touched Simon’s face, and he felt a sensation like that of love and unimaginable peace.
“Just as I met Saul and renamed him Paul, so will you now be called Peter, because I’m going to make you as a little rock in my hand against my enemies.”
I should be put to death for what I’ve done, Simon thought. Now this man is giving me mercy and even blessing me.
“Now that you know the foul parts of humanity, spirituality, and sorcery, which I detest, I can train you up to be a great leader in the church I am sending you to. You will suffer many things for my name’s sake, but don’t worry. I am with you through it all.”
The Light disappeared, and in His place was a small white stone.
Simon picked it up.
It read ‘Peter’, in gold print.
But Gisela was gone.
She had disappeared.
The only thing that remained of her was the red hooded gown.
She was eternally lost.
The Light freed Simon from every effect of the curse.
Any agreement with Santa Muerte was now and forever broken.
And to God, it was like Simon had never sinned at all.
He remained faithful to Christ all his days, grateful for all He had freed him from.
A once wicked Simon was now a reborn Peter.
Simon never doubted again that Jesus was real.
He had seen the Truth face to face.
Simon drove out of those woods a changed man, having a new identity and a new fervor for living.
Few things are how they seem at first, he reasoned. I have to tell as many people about Jesus Christ as I can – and the terrible mistake of practicing witchcraft!
Simon pulled up to Margaret’s house, as promised, in his aunt’s old blue truck with Chewie in the passenger’s seat.
Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock.
“Simon! What took you so long?”
He got down on one knee.
“Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she said immediately. “How soon should we get married?”
“First, I think we need to move. Start over in a new place. Leave everything behind. And, if you’re willing, we could go now. Before we change our minds.”
“An elopement?”
“Exactly.”
“Where would you want to move to?”
“I think we should go to the other end of the state, to the oil fields. There’s plenty of work over there. I’ll be a labourer. And we’ll serve God. I know I can make money. It’s not as hard as adults say.”
“I’ll go anywhere you want to go, whenever you want to go. I love you, Simon.”
“Wait, there’s one more thing I have to tell you.”
“What is it?”
“From now on, call me Peter.”
THE END.
Thank you for reading, if you liked the story – send the chapter links on my to someone to read, or buy a copy of the book here!
MARK SOTOMAYOR 