DISCLAIMER: If you recognize it, I don't own it.

"Papa!"

"Ofelia?" He stumbled back and forth, his head whipping around as he tried to make sense of the darkness surrounding him.

"Papa, help me!"

"I'm coming! Just stay where you are!" He stumbled forward, feeling his way through the darkness. Dirt and leaves crunched beneath his feet, and sharp branches cut into his face. Through the leaves, he thought he could see a faint red light glimmering from far away.

Suddenly there was a thunderclap, and the light surged into a blinding, bloody glare as a scream of fear and pain pierced the silence. He tripped as he skidded to a stop and fell to his knees, then immediately scrambled back to his feet and ran. "Mija!"

He didn't get far. A massive, hulking form burst out of the foliage with a roar and knocked him over, digging its claws and teeth deep into his flesh.

Manolo bolted upright, throwing off his bedsheets as he gasped for breath and clutched at his throat. The tightness in his chest gradually uncoiled as his eyes darted around, taking in what little light there was in his bedroom. The clock on the wall showed half past two. On the other side of the bed, Maria was turning back and forth in her sleep with a small frown on her face. The dream must not have gotten to her yet that night, Manolo thought. She wouldn't have fallen back asleep.

He carefully got out of bed, putting on his slippers and lighting a candle as he stepped out of the bedroom and into the hallway. Holding up the light, he crept towards the end of the corridor. The small door on the left stood slightly ajar, and hints of candlelight came from within.

With a shaking hand, Manolo pushed the door open. "Ofelia?"

She was curled up beneath her covers, a candle by her bed and a book lying open across her chest as she slept. Her glasses were still on her face, sliding down her nose, and her dark curls were being ruffled by the cool gusts of air from the open window.

I'll have to talk to her about that in the morning. Manolo put down his own candle and shut the window, then put Ofelia's book away and straightened her covers. He lingered a moment once he was done, sitting on the bed's edge and running a hand through his daughter's hair. "Ay, mija…"

A scream from across the hall jolted him back to reality - Alejo's typical cry for help. Ah, well. I wasn't expecting to sleep through the night anyway.

The night turned into day, and the hours rolled past like cogs in a clock. Breakfast was a quiet affair that morning, as it often became. Maria hummed as she set down a bowl of greens for Chuy and mashed up some avocados for Alejo. Manolo blinked rapidly and shook his head, trying to clear the fog from his mind as he stirred his eggs and rice with a fork.

"I think you might need to get Ofelia," Maria remarked, glancing towards the dining room doorway.

"I'm here, Mama." The girl walked quietly into the room, already dressed and rubbing her bleary eyes. She smiled at her parents and brother as she sat down but said hardly more than a word: her gaze wavered between her plate and some point off in the distance as she ate.

Manolo cleared his throat. "Mija," he began, "I have a few things I'd like to talk to you about."

For the first time in days, Ofelia perked up. "Really?"

He nodded. "Your window was open last night."

Her smile instantly faded. "Oh…I guess I forgot to close it."

"That's alright. Just keep a better eye on it from now on?"

She frowned. "But it's summer."

"We'll work something out, mija. Maybe put a screen up."

Ofelia resumed picking at her breakfast. "Why don't you like my window being open?"

Manolo froze and bit his lip, having no answer for the question he had anticipated. "Well…you see…"

Then, as luck would have it, Alejo chose that particular moment to let out a shriek and knock the bowl of avocados onto Chuy's head.

"Now," Manolo said, sinking back into his chair after several minutes of mess-cleaning and pig-wrangling. "There was something else I…"

But Ofelia had already slipped away.

He groaned, resting his elbows on the table and his face in his hands. "What am I going to do, Maria?"

His wife looked at him askance as she sat down beside him. "Go upstairs and talk to her."

"You know that's not what I mean."

Maria sighed and shook her head. "She's a smart girl, we both know that. She'd understand if you just said why we're worried about her."

"That's the problem," Manolo answered. "I don't even know what it is."

At least the library's quiet, Ofelia thought. And yet it still didn't feel right.

She was sprawled on the sofa near the large window, trying to stir up interest in the book she was leafing through. She had shut the doors behind her, a rare thing: as long as she could remember, they had stood open at all hours of the day. Perhaps it didn't matter anymore. Hardly anyone crossed had its threshold in the past months. Vicente and Gabriela always took to playing outside during the summer, and her parents…it seemed as though her parents were too busy for anything besides working and looking after Alejo. She saw them at meals, of course. Sometimes in the evenings. Whenever they needed her help with something. Whenever they saw the need to shoo her away from something harmless…

The girl sighed. I wish things could be the way they were. Just for a day.

I could offer you more than that.

Ofelia bolted up, dropping the book. "W-Who are you?"

You will know me in time, the voice in her head replied with a hint of a growl. Soon you and I will meet properly.

"…I don't know if I want to."

I mean you no harm, little one. I come bearing a great gift. Much will be asked of you in the coming days, and much will be rewarded. A life of happiness and a family that will love you without fail. You shall never want for love. The sudden jab of what felt like sharp claws abruptly dug into her arm. You need only be ready for us when we come for you.

Go away!

"Ofelia?"

She opened her eyes and looked up. In the doorway stood her father, a hand on the doorknob as he watched her with concern. "Are you alright?"

She blinked a few times, trying to breathe properly again. "Si, Papa."

Manolo looked confused but forged ahead anyway. "I wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened downstairs. And there was something else I meant to tell you."

"What?"

"Señor Alvarez told me he's expecting a new shipment of books this afternoon," he replied. "He said you're welcome to help sort through them - you can have some if you do. Shall we go down there, mija?"

She felt her arm, where the phantom scratches still stung. "I'd like to."

The water of the lake churned as the invisible god swam back to shore. The rest of the jaguars gathered at the shore as Pax dragged himself back onto land. "Did you find the girl?" one of them asked.

"Yes. She will resist, I can sense it."

"Why this one?" one of his men growled. "All these months of hunting when we could take whatever child we wish!"

"Because she was born of our enemies' triumph," Pax answered, glaring at him, "and thus we shall right that wrong through her."

"What if she proves too strong?"

"Weakness is in her nature. She is only human." He looked back towards the island. "But she will turn one way or another."