DISCLAIMER: If you recognize it, I don't own it.
Manolo wasn't sure which would be less pleasant to deal with, the general or the angry death god currently staring him down and pointing the head of a snake staff in his face. "Um…hello?"
Xibalba didn't move. He was scowling more than usual, and as Manolo looked up, he noticed several small puncture wounds on his face.
"How did you get those?" he asked, trying to push the staff out of the way.
"You tell me."
"Hey, hey, let's all be cool about this!" The glowing form of the Candle Maker poked his head out from behind Xibalba and awkwardly waved at Manolo. "Don't be too hard on the kid. He probably doesn't know what's up."
"Yes, yes, I know your little theory," Xibalba said, covering his face with a wing.
"C'mon, just try it out."
Xibalba huffed, then sighed in acquiescence. "My way first." He moved his staff away from Manolo and focused his attention on the young man. "I have some questions for you, and you'd better answer them truthfully."
"Alright…?"
"Have you noticed anything strange happening as of late? To you, perhaps?"
"No."
"You haven't blacked out and woken up in any unusual places?"
"Does the music room count?"
"With blood on your hands?" Xibalba asked, gesturing to the wounds on his face.
Manolo gave him a look. "What, you think I did that? How? Last time I checked, I didn't have claws. Or any way to reach you down there and get back."
Xibalba narrowed his eyes. "Hold still." He leaned in close as his pupils turned forward and peered deep within Manolo, who held his breath and didn't move.
He's not lying, the god thought. He doesn't even want to kill me. So who was…?
Then an image of something flashed before his eyes. Something that never was.
Manolo and Xibalba jerked and recoiled from each other, shouting in pain. "What was that?" the young man said, a hand on his forehead.
The Candle Maker grimaced. "I tried to tell ya."
"Not now!" Xibalba snapped. "He's on his way!" He slammed his staff onto the ground, and the snake sprang to life and slipped out of his hand. "Go," he told it. "Find Maria Sanchez before he does. If you come across him, you know what to do."
Manolo staggered to his feet as the snake rushed off. "W-Where's it going?"
"To protect your wife," Xibalba said. "You're both in danger. We need to get you out of here before he shows up, hide you somewhere he won't look."
"Who's he?" Manolo demanded. "What's this all about?"
"We'll explain later," Xibalba answered. "Once we've figured it out ourselves. Look, we don't have time for this - "
The ground jolted, throwing them all off-balance. From a few streets away came the sound of shattering glass and people screaming.
"Okay," said the Candle Maker, "Plan B."
"More like Plan C," said Xibalba.
Manolo had already scrambled out of the alleyway and was tearing off down the street. "Maria!"
"You can hide from us no longer, creature called pig. You must come out."
Chuy glared at Ixa and retreated further under the bed. "Bleh!"
Ixa pulled her head back into the open. "He isn't going to come willingly," she said, looking up at Maria. "Shall I go find a net? That always works."
"Let me try." Kneeling down as best as she could, Maria whistled a few times while knocking on the floorboards. "Chuuuyyy? It's time for your bath, Chuy!"
"Bleh."
"You can have a nice juicy apple when you're done…"
Then the ground shook, and every window in the Casa de Sanchez shattered with a burst.
The two women screamed and leapt onto the bed, trying to avoid the raining shards of glass. Both of Maria's hands instantly flew to her womb, shielding the baby. Chuy, who had begun to poke his face out from under the bed, squealed and pulled it back in.
Ixa drew her knees up to her chin and covered her head with her hands. "What happened? Is the world ending again?"
Maria clapped a hand over her mouth. "Quiet! Did you hear that…?"
They listened. For a moment, there was silence. Then from below came footsteps, loud and crunching and deliberate.
The blood drained from their faces. "What do we do?" Ixa whispered.
Maria was quiet for a few seconds, thinking. "We sneak out," she finally said. "Try to find Manolo and Papa. Find something to fight with if we run into trouble."
Ixa nodded. "Stay behind me."
Chuy trotted down the stairs first, growling. Ixa followed him with a pillowcase stuffed full of books. Maria came last, gripping the handle of a bullfighting sword. Approaching the landing of the staircase, they peered down below.
The parlor was in ruins. Glass shards and upturned furniture covered the floor, the pictures were shaken from the walls and the front door had been blown off its hinges. In the center of the mess was a blackened circle, from which a pair of sooty footprints wound their way back into the dining room. The footsteps were almost right beneath them, slow and echoing.
"Coast is clear," Maria whispered. "Let's make a break for…Chuy, no!"
The pig had already run down the rest of the stairs and was following the footprints into the next room, sniffing them as he went.
"I'll get him!" said Ixa as she started to descend the last flight of steps. "You go. Quickly!"
Maria paused, but nodded. She followed Ixa to the bottom of the stairs, and while the other woman slipped into the dining room, she darted across the parlor to the front door.
She was halfway across when she stepped on one of the footprints and suddenly stopped. Wait a minute. Kneeling down, she brushed a hand across the print and rubbed the dust between her fingers. It was smooth, fine and pitch black with tiny flakes of something green. It doesn't look anything like what we've got around here.
The sound of crunching glass came from the dining room, followed by the hiss of escaping air.
"Maria!" Ixa shouted amidst coughing while Chuy squealed. "Help! Help…" Her voice trailed off and was followed by a soft thud.
"Ixa! Chuy!" Running forward, Maria opened the dining room door. Ixa lay still on the floor in a cloud of pale blue mist rising up from a small, broken vial. Chuy was next to her, dazedly spinning around until he too collapsed.
I have to get out of here. Backing away, Maria turned and was about to run for the door when a bony hand grabbed her by the wrist. She jerked out of the stranger's grasp and whirled around, raising her sword. Then she saw his face and froze.
"Did you miss me, Maria?"
She screamed and pointed the sword at his chest, only for it to fall out of her shaking hands. This can't be happening…thiscan'tbehappening…
He caught her as she fainted, nestling her in one arm. His other hand caressed her face, the sharpened fingers tracing delicate circles across her skin.
"Mi amor," he breathed, relishing the moment. He would have cried if he still could. "There's no need to be afraid. We'll be safe soon."
He leaned down and kissed her, forcing her lips apart as his hands began to wander. Not here, he thought, pulling away. Plenty of time for that later.
"Maria!" A terrified voice came floating in from the street, backed by the quick approach of running footsteps.
Oh no you don't. Pulling the last vial of gold dust from his bandolier, he threw it to the ground. Take us home.
Manolo raced up to the doorway and was nearly blown back into the street by a gust of wind that blew out from the center of the parlor. Through the cloud of hazy black dust, he could make out a swirling vortex of gold. In the center of it stood a dark, blurry figure with glowing green eyes, and slumped in his arms was Maria.
"No!" he screamed as they vanished. The world around him seemed to fade away as he ran forward. Flinging out his arms, he touched the vortex just as it began to disappear.
There was the sound of a thunderclap. He was hurtling through nothing in every direction, being pulled every way at once. He screamed in pain and fear.
And then there was nothing but light.