Waves of heat raise from a cracked clay ground. Watery mirages surround the place of a boy laid to rest by one of South America's best bounty hunters. Some villagers whispered that the boy was actually a witch, while others believed him to have been an insane kid. The meat of his real story no longer mattered; scavengers picked it apart. What remained were the bones for the framework of a very lucrative tourist attraction.
Little activity happened in the day. Night, though, contrasted the hot day. With it's chilling dry winds and moonlit sky, it created the perfect stage for Armando's Witch Tours.
"Ladies and gentleman, you are about to see the resting place of the rarest of witches, El Brujo Niño," Armando whispers knowing everyone in his tour group could hear him as he was only able to hear a faint sound of the wind. Although, the sound could have been coming from their breathing. "It is said he came to this town in search of the girl he loved, Elaina."
"That's so romantic," came a gentle voice of a young lady from the group.
"That's so pathetic," said a horse abrasive voice in the group. "I mean, she probably didn't even let him have her did she?"
"Well...we do not know the depth of their relationship," Armando answers with a slight frown. "But what we do know is that he went as far as to kill for her believing he could gain her love. Unfortunately, he met his end before he could succeed. It is said his body is protected by the spirit mothers of the old witch village."
"What did I tell ya? Pathetic!" The abrasive young man said before he cleared his throat and folded his arms.
People began rolling their eyes at the sarcastic young man. The soft voice woman spoke again to apologize for her brother's rude interruption.
Armando observes her. She looked young, but her demeanor much older than her brother. He nods his head and moves on with the tour.
When the tour ended, Armando led the tour group back to the main village where he invited them to his gift shop. The soft voice woman eyed a couple of earrings made to look like small skeletons.
"Oh come-on. Do you really wanna give this guy more money? I mean we over paid big time for that crappy tour."
She shot him a dry glance as her fingers found their way to a rough surface skull figure. Her finger brushed over a red stone. After starring at it, she went to a mirror and placed it to her hair.
"He can't even keep this small shop organized." He mumbled as he watched her pull a hair clip from an earring bargain bucket. Then he saw a small red stone glisten as she held the hair clip to her head.
After paying, they started walking back to an inn. The young woman held the hair clip in her hands the whole time. Amazingly her brother silently watched her study it as if it were really valuable.
When they were finally in their room, she seemed to still have it in her hands. He couldn't take it anymore, he had to tell her. "Do you think that fake thing is real?" He said starring at her as if he already figured out the answer.
"It is real. I can feel the energy of the stone. It's warm."
"Let me remind you. We came to this town for a bounty. It's a strange bounty, but it's worth putting food on the table."
The young woman held the clip tight in her hands and closed her eyes. The stone grew warmer inside of the skeleton head. "This 'fake thing' will help us against the magic that protects our target."
He grunted at the thought. After all this witch stuff seemed like a tourist freak show. He believed his sister fell into the trap of thinking this fake jewelry held a charm to protect them against some fake Brujo.
Nothing was real about brujas or brujos. They did not exist and the ones that called themselves such were only con artist. But for some stupid reason, some clown decided to put a bounty on a dead boy thought to have been a real witch.
Later that night, they finished their dinner of canned beans and rice. It was the perfect time to pick up their target. The town was practically sleeping with the exception of the restless trees waving in a dry chilly wind.
They walked back to the place where Armando took them, the location of El Brujo Niño. Now that it was only them, it seemed to have a more creepy feel. The young male shivered; his sister raised an eyebrow and smirked at him, but he simply crossed his arms as if only the chilly air was his only pest.
He then walks over to the area they were at during the tour. "I think our man is right here."
His sister seemed to ignore him as she walked past him and stood further away.
Taking the skeleton figure in her hand, she removed the tiny Inca Rose stone, which came out far too easy. Maybe it was just a cheap jewelry she thought.
She held up the stone and concentrated on finding the real location of El Brujo Niño. It seemed to bring nothing but warmth. Which if you hold anything long enough could be just your own body heat.
"I knew that thing was fa—," he said as he began to see a small red beam of light through the grasp of her hand. She clinched it tight, but it's light escaped her hand. A silhouette of her bones formed as her began glowing red.
The young woman cried out from the burning pain ex–raying her right hand. She began to say strange words that sounded poetic. At this point, her brother's machoness was gone. He knew their family touted having witches but no one seemed to have powers. He thought it was just something to scare away unwanted strangers.
She raised her arm high above her head, her fist glowing stronger. Within seconds, her fist pounded the ground. The earth beneath their feet shook and made the dry cracks in the ground deeper. Dust flew around them. The young man shielded his face with his arms.
Wind pushed around him until all he heard was whistling and pounding; his ears blocked from pressure. He calls out to her, but he himself was sure if he was speaking.
When the dust began to settle, he finally saw her. The hand with the stone was fully planted into the ground, and she was kneeling. Small cracks around her hand filled with blood.
Her head was down for a moment. When she lifted it, he stood frozen examining her face. Her eyes and that strange half smile did not bring the familiar warmth; it brought a coldness that sent a chill down his back.
"I thank you for giving me another chance to win the heart of my sweet, Ellis."
Update:
Hello! Thank you for reading this story.
Special thanks for all the encouragement Emilylovesu2, KhaosAkuma, and Deltahalo241! You all have inspired me to continue this story.