CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
When Callie realized she was sprawled on sand, and heard the ocean, she knew she was on the beach. The words Teresa passed over the veil between living and the dead echoed in her mind. That it was cold, she could feel sand and hear the ocean and thought she was on a beach.
"Teresa!?" Callie called out over the roar of the waves. She unsteadily got to her feet and could see two small figures in the distance, at the shore. "Oh god, Teresa!" She ran as fast as she could through the sand. But it seemed as if she couldn't run fast enough, wasn't crossing enough space in front of her. Wasn't getting closer.
"Teresa!" she called out as loud as she could.
Like time meant nothing, she was suddenly tripping at their feet. She peered up at the little girls. One in pajamas, the other in an old dress that she figured would've lined up with 1920s fashion for little girls. The girl in the pajamas had a face she now recognized and had been searching for this whole time.
"Teresa, there you are!" she said with a smile as she got to her knees and took Teresa's shoulders in her hands.
"Teresa, there you are…"
Raul, Marco, and Valentina all simultaneously sighed out in relief and clutched each other. "She found her… oh, thank god."
"I've been looking everywhere for you," Callie told her. "I know your cousin and your brothers. They sent me here to find you. I'm Callie."
Teresa was weeping openly. "Mami and Papi said not to talk to strangers."
Callie paused for a moment and then remembered the saying Raul had given her. "Your mami also said, 'Al mal tiempo, buena cara,' didn't she? That's what Raul told me."
Teresa sobbed and threw her arms around Callie's neck, squeezing tight. "I'm really scared! Can you take me to Raul and Marco?"
"Yes, honey, that's what I'm here to do. I'm gonna get you out of here," Callie promised. She pulled away and stood up, gripping Teresa's hand tight. "Whatever you do, don't let go." She finally looked over at the other girl, taking in her blue skin and wet dark hair. "You must be Teresa's friend, Carmela."
"She's my sister," Carmela said in a deep tone that sounded insidious.
Callie froze, her eyes catching how tightly Carmela was holding Teresa's other hand. She saw the veins under her skin, bulging and blue. She could practically see how cold she was.
"Carmela…"
She was cut off by a sudden shriek. "Mija!"
Callie and the girls whipped around to see a beautiful older woman with black curls, in a white gown, floating towards them from down the beach. She had her arms outstretched and the closer she got; the more Callie could make out the tears straining her face red.
She was the embodiment of La Llorona.
"We have to go, girls, now!" Callie shouted, gripping Teresa's hand, and racing away from the Woman in White.
"We have to go, girls, now!" Callie suddenly shouted in the room. She writhed briefly in the chair and started breathing heavier.
"What's happening now?" Raul asked, feeling like his surroundings were vibrating.
"I think they're running from the Woman in White," Nathan said. "Maria Velez. It could be someone else. But Callie is trying to find their way back here."
"Is there anything we can do?" Marco asked, now standing on the other side of Teresa's bed.
"Have faith in them," Nathan answered.
"Mija!" the woman, Maria, wailed on the beach. "Mija, come back! Perdoname! Perdoname!"
Forgive me… she was saying. Begging.
Callie didn't see the apartment building where she'd left it behind. But that wasn't surprising. She just wanted to put as much distance between them and Maria.
"Don't let mama get us!" Carmela cried.
"I won't, sweetie," Callie panted as she ran. The beach drifted away as they raced further into darkness. She could still hear Maria crying out in the vast distance.
"Where are we going?" Teresa cried.
"I'm taking you home," Callie told her. "We just have to find it. Okay?"
They kept running. Callie could see her breath in a fog in front of her. But she kept running and refused to let go of Teresa's hand.
When Teresa's hand suddenly stopped following her, Callie was yanked back so hard she fell onto her already bruised side with a yelp. She looked back to see that Carmela had stopped running and was pulling Teresa back to her. Teresa was caught between their hands like an insidious game of tug-o-war.
"You can't take my sister away from me!" Carmela growled; her voice sounded void of human character. She sounded demonic. "She's mine! You can't have her!"
Callie desperately wrapped her arms around Teresa's body, trying to pull her away from the other girl. "You know Teresa doesn't belong here, Carmela. Her family misses her and wants her back."
"She's MY family!" Carmela ominously shouted in Spanish.
"You know Teresa doesn't belong here," Callie muttered in the chair. "Her family misses her and wants her back."
"Who is she talking to?" Raul asked Nathan.
Nathan shook his head. "I don't know. Another child maybe – someone that's bonded with Teresa."
"Like Carmela?" Marco suggested.
Nathan nodded absently. "That's a possibility."
"Carmela doesn't want Teresa to come back to us," Valentina said, shuddering.
"It could be that. Could be that she doesn't want to be left alone for her mother to find her," Nathan surmised out loud. "Could be lots of things…"
"That doesn't sound good," Marco said, leaning at Teresa's side on the bed.
"It isn't," he said.
The room suddenly shook violently, as if shifting sharply to the side. The walls creaked and quaked and little things started falling around them.
"What's happening now!?" Marco asked as he shielded Callie.
"She's not your family!" Callie shouted into Carmela's face, seeing nothing human in the little girl's eyes. "She's alive and you can't have her! Now let – her – GO!" She bellowed the last word with an added shove at Carmela's shoulders while Teresa desperately yanked her hand away. Carmela went flying into the dark with an echoing shriek.
Teresa, still sobbing, clutched at Callie like a lifeline. "Can we leave now?"
Callie nodded unnecessarily and stood, gripping Teresa's hand. "Don't let go of my hand. We're going home now. We just need to find it."
"… We're going home now. We just need to find it…"
"They're looking for us," Raul said over the banging noises around them.
Nathan leaned closer to Callie and started chanting into her face, calling out to her. "Callie, come back! Just follow my voice! Follow my voice!"
Callie panted as she raced through the nothing with Teresa, searching for the apartment. She heard crying sounds somewhere. She heard childish giggling somewhere else. She just kept running, kept searching for the apartment. She kept searching for Teresa's home.
"What's going on?" Teresa's small voice asked as she ran to keep up with her. "I don't know how I got here…"
"I'll explain it all to you later, honey," Callie assured her. "The most important thing you need to know is that we have to find home, and then you have to get back to your physical body before anyone else does. I know that wounds weird and scary but it's really important that you do that, okay, Teresa?"
"Okay," Teresa panted heavily.
Callie pulled her along as they ran through the darkness. Searching, searching, searching…