Aaaaaaand I am not very good with gory bullfight scenes, so please, don't be upset! I will do what I can!
...
Wow, the arena sure is full today.
Carlos stood there, hearing the applause of hundreds of people, who were there, today, to watch him.
To watch him fight. To watch him kill.
Or be killed, Carlos thought, thinking about the fact that his throat was dry.
He turned to the gate. A cold sweat broke through his body, making him shiver only the slightest bit.
"Unleash the bull!" Carlos had no idea how he managed to yell it, because his throat was so dry and cold.
The chains holding the gate slid off.
The spectators leaned forward eagerly in their seats.
Carlos held up the bloodred cloth in position, awaiting the beast.
For a moment, all was peaceful. Carlo's shoulders stated to slump, thinking the bull was probably de-
KRASH! The door fell off its bolts, and out stepped a large, brown bull, with horns like knives- sharp. Well- polished.
Carlos swung the cloth. "Torro, torro! Venga!"
Who knew that yelling at the top of your lungs at the beast that could possibly be the death of you would be kind of fun?
The beast's eyes turned sharply to the only movement close to him, which was Carlos himself, waving the cloth and yelling.
"Andale, torro, venga!" Carlos snapped the cloth harshly against the ground.
That got the bull's attention better that he thought.
The beast's hoof scraped against the ground one, two, three times. It reared its head back, then charged sharply towards the owner of the cloth.
Carlos stood, waving the cloth skillfully near his chest. Wait for it...
Swoosh! At the last moment, Carlos gripped the bull's horn, swung over it, and rolled off the moment his feet brushed against the ground. He turned in time to watch the bull's head crash into the thick wooden fence post.
An applause immensely erupted. Roses were tossed from the adoring audience to his feet.
"Throw the kiss, son!" Laughed Luis. 'The kiss' was what Luis tought Calros to do, to see ladies all around swoon and try to catch the flower. Carlos saw his father do it once when he was younger, and it seemed to do the trick.
Carlos couldn't hold back a laugh. He picked up a rose, kissing the petals. Then he tossed it back into the crowd, and did his best to hold back a grin as some senoritas swooned or tried to reach for it.
"That's my hijo!" A proud Luis laughed from the sidelines.
Carlo's eyes followed the rose, so he could see who would catch it...
...and a delicate, small hand did.
Carlos felt his smile fade.
She was the most beautiful...
She smiled down at the rose, lightly smoothing her fingers over the velvety red petals. Dark hair curled up around her shoulders and ears, almost coordinating with her beautiful light skin and honey- colored eyes, which drifted in Carlos' direction as she shyly smoothed a silky strand of hair behind her ears. She smoothed out her skirt, slightly shifting, still smiling at him.
Carlos' heart pumped faster that the bull when it was running towards him...
The bull... THE BULL!
Carlos swung around, and barely managed to slide under the bull's legs.
Gasps of fear and awe swallowed the crowd whole, as Carlos' face barely managed to avoid the sharp hooves of the large beastly bull.
He leapt up, catching his breath, turning to look back at the bull. Which was running back towards him. Of course it would.
The beast suddenly stumbled, horns stuck against another fence post that was near Carlos only moments ago.
Glad I didn't just stand there.
His eyes darted to the beautiful young lady up in the crowds. Her face looked horrified, fearful.
He couldn't describe it, but Carlos felt some kind of... motivation fill his veins, adrenaline rushing up to his head so fast that it hurt.
But he didn't care.
He strode to the sidelines, to his father.
Luis gave a proud smile, brandishing a slivery blade. "Here you are, mi hijo."
Carlos smiled at his father and nodded. "Thank you."
The bull's horn loosened against the wood, pulling its head out along with a portion of the fence.
The blade didn't weigh heavier on one end, like he thought it would. Instead, it balanced in his hand ever so evenly as he held it up, the tip pointed at the beast.
This is it.
Once again, the bull was free, standing about a hundred paces away from the young madator. Its head reared back, and Carlos saw a glint in the bull's eyes.
He recognized the glint, the one his father told him there was always in a bull's eyes: hatred.
For the first time since he could remember, Carlos saw what hatred was.
The bull charged, faster than it had before. Carlos' feet and instinct reacted quicker than his mind could keep track. With a mighty yell, a quick leap-
The blade jammed into the beast's side. The beast bucked Carlos off its back, knocking the madator to the ground.
Rock- hard ground crushed against Carlos' chest, making him winded and dizzy.
Another kick from the beast. Carlos flung against the arena's fence. Once again, a gasp formed in the crowd, but it was filled with terror.
Carlos' whole body ached. His head was pounding and throbbing like his heart, but stood up anyhow, on week knees. He wobbled a bit before he stopped seeing double and he regained his balance. His eyes darted to the bull, standing, awaiting for his opponent to move.
Carlos' face heated behind his eyes. The fire pounded from his stomach, to his heart, to his mind. He gripped the sword, which he somehow managed to keep a hold to.
"This time, monster," he hissed under his breath, "it ends now."
The whole arena fell silent for almost a full minute.
The bull's head reared back, letting out a mighty bellow.
Carlos calmly took a strong stance, pointing the tip of the blade at the bull.
His feet sped faster than he ever thought they ever could. His head pounding, heart beating... even the bull was surprised.
Carlos leapt into the air, letting out another yell. it was more powerful than the first ones he let out before.
The sword sliced the creature's throat. Blood soaked Carlos' jacket, and he felt the undisturbingly warm, sticky liquid seeping to his shirt.
The creature fumbled for a moment. It stumbled to the left, then the right, swayed, and collapsed on its side, sending up a cloud of dust.
The air was frozen. Even in the warm sun, Carlos felt chills all over his shaking body.
Applause broke the frozen air, and everyone stood up, cheering and shouting for the new madator, who'd just proven how great and prepared he was.
Luis clasped a mighty hand on his son's back. "That's my boy!" he laughed.
Carlos' eyes drifted to the woman, who was smiling and applauding for him. His face heated up once again, his heart raced impossibly fast.
...
"You did excellent, mi hijo!"
The family- Carlos, Luis, and Grandmama- were all gathered in the small family room, in the Casa Sanchezchatting and laughing. Grandmama was cleaning off Carlos' jacket, muttering about why blood stains were hard to clean. "Really, now, mi hijo, yourtalent's remarkable, but the stains..."
"Oh, grandmama," Luis chuckled, combing back his son's hair, "don't complain."
"I'm not complaining, Luis, he just made a bad impression on that young woman."
Luis sat up. Carlos' head snapped to attention.
"What woman?" Luis asked.
"Who? What?" Carlos asked at the exact same time, equally confused.
"The pretty one-" Grandmama winked at Carlos- "Who caught the rose."
Luis nodded. "Oh..." He looked at his son, slyly grinning.
Carlos' face heated to his ears. "Oh, come on, papa-"
"And-" Luis shut his son up- "I never knew of this lovely lady. The senorita is flawless, no?" Luis chuckled and nudged his son.
There was a knock on the door.
"I'll get it." Luis stood and walked out of the room.
Carlos looked at his grandmama, who continued cleaning off the jacket.
"I wouldn't be surprised if you knew who it was," chuckled Grandmama.
"Who?" Carlos leaned forward, confused.
Luis came back in. "Carlos, a young friend is here to see you." He wiggled his eyebrows.
Carlos stared at the guest behind him. It was her, the beautiful woman who had cought the rose!
"Carlos," Luis presented, taking the delicate hands of the lovely woman and leading her over, "may I present Carmen Rivera, the Rose of San Angel."
AHAHAHAHA I DONT KNOW WHAT IM DOING *Collapses*
I wasn't sure what Carmen's maiden name was- surprise, surprise! So I merely looked up "SPANISH SURNAMES" and found "Perez" which may possibly be derived from the word "pearl". I simply guessed, but anyone who knows, tell me please! Thanks again for reading!
NOTE- Turns out, her last name is "Rivera". I'm sorry, this chapter was origionally written before Jorge confirmed her last name! Thank you, BigDogLTD for letting me know!