I am sorry for the long delay; I was having some trouble writing this chapter, but I will explain more later. This chapter is a continuation/addition to the previous one, hence why it is so short. Still, I hope that you enjoy it!

The Land of the Dead

It had taken a while, but Héctor Rivera had finally stopped struggling against the arrival agents as he had finally realized that there was no use to deny the truth. That he was dead and that there was no way that he could return to his family now. That he would not see Imelda and Coco (and Imelda's brothers) again until they died, something which would, hopefully, happen a long time from now. The man now slumped on the floor near his bed with his head down, his gaze unfocused and distant.

"Señor Rivera?"

Héctor looked up when someone spoke to him, meeting the gaze of the skeleton that had greeted him when he had woken up dead.

Fabian Acosta had dismissed the other agents once Héctor had stopped fighting and was now watching the newly dead man with a sad and sympathetic look on his bony face.

"I understand how you feel," he sat down next to Héctor. "Every new arrival feels the same way once they realize that they are no longer among the living." Fabian placed his hand on Héctor's shoulder. "But you will see your family again."

'Si, but no for a long time!' Héctor wanted to shout, but he restrained himself. This arrivals agent had tried to help him, so it would not be good to snap at him, even though Héctor was still upset that he would not see his family again until they died.

"I know that eleven months seem like a long time, but it will Día de Muertos before you know it and-"

"¿Espera, que?" Héctor's head snapped up to look at Fabian Acosta in confusion. "¿Día de Muertos?"

Fabian nodded, "Surely you must know that Día de Muertos is when the spirits of the dead come back to visit the living?"

"Wait, wait," Héctor scrambled back up to his feet. "That's not just some story? The dead do visit on Día de Muertos?"

"Yes," Fabian also got up from the floor. "As long as your family places your picture or some object that represents you in their ofrenda, you can visit them." He then looked apologetic. "Though they won't be able to see or hear you, and you won't be able to interact with them physically either."

Héctor did not care as he felt a tiny spark that he thought had died with him reignite, becoming a raging inferno and fill him to the brim with hope. He would see his family soon! Sure, Día de Muertos was months away, but it was sooner than waiting for them to die.

'Imelda, Coco, I'm sorry, but please wait for me just a little longer.'

'I'll be home soon.'

Santos' Inn Room, Mexico City

After leaving the police station, Imelda, Chicharron, and Juanita returned to the Santos couple's inn room. It would take a couple of days to arrange for Héctor's body to be transported back to Santa Cecilia. In the meantime, with the innkeeper's permission, Chicharron and Juanita offered to let Imelda stay in their inn room. While she usually would not accept charity, Imelda did not have the money to rent a room of her own, so she accepted their offer.

The widowed woman was now wearing a cold and stoic expression in contrast to the volcanic rage she had displayed back at the station. She began to unpack the small suitcase she had been carrying, quickly putting away the small number of clothes she had brought with her.

"Do you need anything?" Juanita asked gently, worry evident in her face as she watched the stoic widow putting her things away. "Maybe rest for a bit?"

"No, gracias," was Imelda's curt reply as she finished unpacking. Then, as she placed her suitcase under her bed, she added. "I'll be going to the train station to arrange for them to transport H-Héctor back home." Her voice cracked a bit when saying her husband's name as a flash of pain crossed her face before her cold mask returned.

Juanita and Chicharrón looked at each other, concern evident on both their faces. They knew that Imelda was not as well as she wanted to appear, trying to hide her emotions and focusing on another task to ignore the pain that she was feeling. They wished to help her but were uncertain if this would be proper since they were pretty much still strangers to her.

Chicharron then saw Juanita's eyes hardened with determination and quickly recognized the look that was now on his wife's face. It was the same look that she always had when she was dead, set on doing something, and would not allow any force on earth to stop her. He had always admired that determination, and it was one of the things that had drawn him to his wife many years ago. That look had always filled him with confidence and, even now, he could feel that confidence rising within himself.

His eyes meet Juanita's gaze with a look of determination, and she smiled, understanding that he had her back. It did not matter that they barely knew the Imelda Rivera or that she was using a cold, stoic façade to appear strong.

They would be there for her.

Mexico City Jail

After Imelda had introduced her boot to his face, Ernesto was given some basic first aid for his bruised face and split lip. Once Ernesto's injuries had been treated, Ernesto was hauled into an interrogation room, where he was forced to sit on one side of a table while Oficial Gutierrez sat on the other side. Then, the interrogation had begun.

Ernesto found no use in lying since the officer already had a lot of evidence of him being guilty, this interrogation just a formality to give him a chance to tell his side of the story. And that's precisely what Ernesto de la Cruz does.

"This is all that puta's fault. Hers and that brat! Héctor would not have tried to leave me and take his songs if it were not for them! It's because of them that I was forced to poison my best friend!"

Oficial Gutierrez and the officers guarding the room were all disgusted by Ernesto's attempt to justify murdering Héctor Rivera and how readily he threw the blame to the man's widow and child. All of the officers were tempted to punch this bastardo's face in, but they restrain themselves. They have a confession, despite how cruel it was, and, thanks to the witnesses and the evidence, Ernesto would receive a long sentence.

After the interrogation, Ernesto is thrown into a cell where he will stay until his trial. As he is left alone, he begins to sulk and brood about his misfortune. He growls as he thinks about the ones who, in his mind, are responsible for things going so wrong for him: the Riveras and the Santos.

'I'll make them all pay!' he swears.

Like I said before, I had a lot of trouble finishing this chapter, and to be honest, I am not completely happy with the result. This delay is because I have been losing interest in continuing the story, plus my real life is getting in the way. Therefore, I do not feel motivated to continue with this story, so I am placing this story on a hiatus. I might regain interest in finishing it in the future but, for now, I have other projects in mind that I want to focus on now.