WARNING: This chapter contains the merciless killing of an animal. If you are sensitive to such things, I recommend you either proceed with caution or skip the chapter completely. If you choose to read the chapter in its entirety and the scene mentioned disturbs you in the slightest, don't say I didn't warn you. Enjoy.
Sao Paulo, Brasil
June 15th, 2004
9:40 a.m.
Taina Pereira crept down the creaky stairs into her friend Maria's cellar. She had called Taina along with their two other friends Gabriela and Vitoria to see something she had "borrowed" from her aunt.
"Maria?" Taina called out stepping down onto the cold cement floor. "Maria!?" she called again stepping towards the center of the room.
She heard the storm doors creaking open followed by footsteps. There were rushed voices speaking amongst one another in hushed tones. One-by-one- Maria, Vitoria, and Gabriela came into view.
"Where were you guys? I've been down here forever," Taina said placing her hands on her hips.
"We had to get some things," Gabriela chirped as she lifted a small basket above her head.
"Things? What do we need things for?" Taina asked now crossing her arms.
"You'll see," Maria said taking the basket from Gabriela. "You know how I called you all to see something I stole from my aunt?"
Taina shook her head, "You said you borrowed it on the phone."
Maria stared at Taina for a few moments before shrugging, "You know what I meant. Anyway, look at this," she said opening the basket.
She pulled out at least 10 candles before revealing a sleek wooden board and wooden piece shaped as a teardrop.
"Oh my God, really?" Vitoria said rolling her eyes.
"Yeah. My aunt is a witch- she talks to the dead and talks up spirits all the time. I've seen her do it," Maria said with stars in her eyes. She placed it gingerly on the cellar floor running one of her hands over it.
"So what, are we going to 'talk to the dead'?" Taina said sarcastically.
Gabriela nodded her head as she moved to stand beside Maria, "We're gonna do it this weekend. We just have to get everything ready."
Taina and Vitoria both just shook their head. "Wouldn't your aunt notice that it's gone?" Vitoria asked looking towards Maria.
Maria rolled her eyes, "I'm going to put it back before then, stupid. I just wanted you to see it."
Taina and Vitoria looked between themselves as Gabriela and Maria set up the candles.
"Well," Vitoria said as she looked back at the other two, "I'm going to school. Taina, you coming?" Taina gave her a short shrug before nodding. "Alright, later lames," Vitoria said turning to leave.
Taina gave Maria and Gabriela a goodbye before following suit. "Do you believe in any of that?" Taina asked looking over at Vitoria.
She shook her head rolling her eyes, "Maria's just looking for attention again. I'll still go on Saturday, just because I want to see how disappointed she'll be when she finds out it's not real."
Taina didn't say anything. She didn't believe in talking to the dead, but she didn't want to try it out either. What if, by some ridiculous chance, this stuff was real? What if they brought a spirit back from its resting place and it couldn't return? Taina shook her head at the silly thoughts than ran through her mind. Gabriela was already the naive one of their group, and they all saw how Maria took advantage of her. It'd be a cold day in hell before she'd let Maria push and pull her around.
"Something wrong? I've never heard you this quiet before," Vitoria said looking over her shoulder at Taina.
Taina had been so lost in her thoughts she didn't notice she had slowed down. "Oh, I'm just thinking," she said with a nervous laugh. She sped up her pace to stride alongside Vitoria again.
"About what? Don't tell me you're starting to fall for her shit." Taina gave her a small smile accompanied by a slight shrug. Vitoria scoffed shaking her head. "Look, when we go back over on Saturday, I'll show you it's not real. I'm going to move the planchette around myself. Maria and Gabriela are going to freak out. It's gonna be great," Vitoria said as a deviant smile spread across her face. The two laughed between themselves as they joked about scaring Maria and Gabriela. The superstitious thoughts Taina had begun to think on melted away. Vitoria was right. There was nothing to worry about. The truth would come out soon. All she had to do was wait until Saturday.
Saturday
June 19th, 2004
6:15 p.m.
Taina, Vitoria, and Gabriela all sat in Maria's cellar listening to music and chattering as they waited for Maria. She had stepped away for their "final ingredient" after bringing down her aunt's Ouija board.
"What is taking her so long?" Vitoria asked crossing her arms.
"Maybe a spirit caught her after she stepped outside," Taina said wiggling her fingers at Vitoria.
She reached over to tickle her friend just as the cellar door creaked open.
"Maria!?" Gabriela called out over Vitoria's exaggerated giggling.
"Come help me!" Maria called back.
Gabriela pranced her way over to the stairs to help Maria. She gasped, stopping at the bottom of the stairs as she looked up towards the doors.
"Don't just stand there, help me!" Maria shouted.
Gabriela started up the steps with urgency. Vitoria looked at Taina with a certain look.
"I know," Taina whispered turning to look back at the stairs. Whatever Maria needed help with caused quite a ruckus as she and Gabriela made their way down into the cellar. Taina's mouth fell open in slight shock as what they were bringing down finally came into view.
"What the actual fuck?" Vitoria asked with her voice full of surprise.
Gabriela and Maria walked over followed by one of Maria's uncle's goats.
"Why did you bring a goat down here? Maria, are you high?" Taina asked as she and Vitoria burst into laughter.
Maria rolled her eyes as Gabriela proceeded to tie the animal to the hook on the farthest wall. "We need him to summon the spirits, dumbass."
Vitoria wiped imaginary tears from her eyes as she began to settle down, "Oh, so the spirits can speak through it?"
Maria placed her hands on her hips scowling at Vitoria. "No, it's so we can offer him to the spirits so they'll come to us."
Taina and Vitoria looked between one another. Offer him?
"What do you mean we need to 'offer him'?" Vitoria asked as she crossed her arms.
"What do you think? We need to sacrifice him. The spirits won't come unless we come bearing a gift- my aunt does this all the time before she talks to the spirits." Vitoria shook her head in disbelief. This was just starting to sound a little too crazy, but she gave in anyway.
"Okay, so how are we supposed to kill him then? Are we gonna hit it over the head with a bat or something?"
Maria reached behind her to lift up her shirt. She raised her arm up before pulling it around to show the girls a 10-inch butcher's knife.
"You can't be serious," Vitoria scoffed taking a step back.
"I am. We need to do this."
Vitoria looked over at the goat who seemed to be enjoying the pets that Gabriela was giving him. Although Vitoria had an 'I don't care' attitude, she just couldn't see herself, or even watching someone else, kill an innocent animal.
"Whose going to do it?" Maria asked.
Vitoria and Taina both snapped their attention to her. "Why don't you kill it? You were the one who wanted to conjure the spirits," Vitoria said sarcastically.
"No, I'm going to be the medium tonight- one of you has to do it."
Taina watched as the girls all argued with each other. Gabriela was just as against the killing as Vitoria, and Maria felt that their reluctance to do it would help the spirits come sooner due to their innocent hearts.
"I'll do it," Taina said after she felt fed up with their constant bickering.
"Why didn't you say something earlier? We're losing time," Maria spat as she handed the knife over to Taina.
Taina gripped the handle of the knife tightly. She hesitated to walk across the room to where Gabriela sat scratching the goat under his chin. Her eyes were glistening with tears as the thought of the precious animal she stroked would be dead within minutes.
"Well? Do it!" Maria commanded.
Taina glanced at her with a displeased look before walking across the room to where Gabriella sat. "Gabi," Taina said grabbing her hand as she reached up to pet it again.
Gabriela sniffled as she stood to join Vitoria and Maria. Taina's hand shook as she tried to prepare herself for what she was about to do. She turned to look back at the girls hoping that Maria would change her mind. She didn't. Taina turned back around to look at the unsuspecting animal before her. She swallowed hard, took a deep breath, then pulled her arm behind her. She brung her arm forward hitting the goat in his side just beneath its ribs. The goat jumped forward bleating in pain. The girls screamed as the rope around it's neck pulled it back causing its body to land with a hard and loud thud. Taina's grip on the handle combined with the way she jumped backwards caused the goat even more pain as it's internal flesh was tore through again. It thrashed about on the floor, bleating loudly and scattering its blood.
"What the hell!? You were supposed to kill it, not torture it!" Maria shouted as she watched the goat writhing in pain.
Taina could feel her heartbeat in her throat. Everything seemed like it was going wrong. She turned the knife around in her hands and lifted it above her head. She brung it down into the goat's throat, hoping that this would be the stab to end it. When she pulled the knife from it's throat- the bleating didn't stop. It was distorted from the blood that began to fill its airway, choking it to death.
"Here, use this to catch the blood," Maria said walking over to hand Taina a clay bowl.
"How?" Taina asked dropping the knife to take the bowl in her hands.
"Just put it near it's throat! And for God's sake would you stop crying!?" she screamed turning to face a hysteric Gabriela.
Taina knelt down to place the bowl near the goat's throat. The irony smell of the blood paired with the typical animal smell of its fur caused her gag. The last breath the goat took caused a pocket of air to slip under the blood and surface in a bubble. The burst splattered blood all over Taina's arms, and even her face. Taina cringed away.
It was one thing to kill a goat. It was another for her to gather its blood. But being splashed with goat blood was a totally different story.
"Here's your blood, I'm not doing this," Taina said passing the bowl to Maria.
"You've already killed it. You might as well stay. Here," Maria said handing Taina an old towel.
"Are you kidding me? This is grosser than the blood."
Maria threw her hands up in frustration, "It's all I have down here. Either use it or don't."
Taina scowled at Maria before wiping her face.
"Alright, when I light the candles, we all sit down and touch the pointer thing," Maria said pulling a lighter from her jeans pocket.
"It's called a planchette," Vitoria corrected.
Maria rolled her eyes, "Shut up. You know what I mean." She knelt down to light all the candles, and placed them in a circle big enough for them to sit inside of. "Okay, everyone sit down."
Taina, Vitoria, and Gabrielle sat on each end of the board. Maria placed the planchette down in the middle and took her spot on the last side.
"Now you guys put a finger on it," Maria directed. Everyone took their right index finger and placed it on top of the planchette.
"Now what?" Gabriela asked looking at Maria.
"We need a spirit to summon. Does anybody have someone in mind?" The girls all looked around each other with the same curiosity. "No one has anything?" Maria asked heavily annoyed.
"How about my dad?" Taina offered.
"Finally. Okay," Maria said pushing the planchette around in small circles. "I ask the spirits to bring forth Taina's father. I ask the spirits to bring forth Taina's father. Mr. Pereira, are you here?" Maria stopped moving the planchette, and they all sat still. The silence ate away at their nerves as they waited. "Mr. Pereira, are you here!?" Maria called out. The air in the cellar was still as they got no response. Vitoria and Taina looked at each other from the corners of their eyes. The planchette twitched beneath their fingers, earning a gasp from the girls. "Is this Mr. Pereira?" Maria asked again. The planchette twitched again before sliding upwards to the corner that read 'yes'. Maria and Gabriela gasped again as they looked first between each other, then to Taina and Vitoria.
"It's your dad!" Maria cheered. "Quick, ask him a question!"
Taina sat in thought for a moment before speaking up, "Daddy? What's one thing you wish you could have gotten before you died?"
The planchette sat still before it started to move around the board. The point of the planchette spelling out: b-i-c-h-a-n-o (pussy). Maria scoffed looking up at Vitoria who made no effort of hiding her smile.
"Vitoria, this is serious! Why do you have to be such a bitch!?" Maria shouted.
"Because it's not real! You had Taina kill a goat for no reason!"
Just then, the planchette flew past Maria towards the wall where the goat remained tied. It hit the wall with a clink before falling on top of the goat's body. The girls all stared between the wall and the body of the goat unsure of what just happened.
"Vitoria," Maria began still looking towards the far wall. "If you did that, you're not funny." The bowl of blood that Maria had sat down beside the board flipped up into the air sending its contents about. They all screamed as the feel of boiling blood burned their skin.
"I'm not doing this!" Vitoria screamed as she stood up. "Fuck this, I'm leaving. Taina, let's go!"
"You can't leave, we're not done!" Maria protested.
"No, fuck you and that stupid board. I'll see you at school," Vitoria said as she and Taina began towards the stairs. They started up the stairs towards the cellar doors with Vitoria cursing Maria the whole way.
"She's fucking sick," Vitoria said reaching towards the cellar doors. She pushed them open and stepped outside. She gasped as she caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure standing to her right. It was just Maria's aunt. "Mrs. Araújo, you scared me," Vitoria said placing a hand over her heart.
Maria's aunt took a long drag off her cigarette, blowing the smoke towards Vitoria and Taina. "Did you say 'goodbye'?"
Vitoria glanced at Taina before nodding her head, "I told Maria I would see her at school."
Maria's aunt scowled at Vitoria. She took another long drag of her cigarette, "But did you say 'goodbye'?"
Vitoria and Taina swore they saw her chest rise as she inhaled, but when she spoke no smoke escaped from her mouth.
"I- I don't know what you mean. I'm sorry, but it's getting late and we should go home. Goodnight, Mrs. Araújo."
Maria's aunt watched as Taina and Vitoria walked away. She took another long drag on her cigarette before flicking it away. She knew exactly what they were doing down there. She also knew that they didn't know what they were doing. She shook her head feeling sorry for their ignorance. They had just invited someone in, and without saying a proper 'goodbye'- they would never leave. But that was a lesson that they would have to learn on their own.