A Memory of Bill

A Memory of Bill

By: Gus Calvo

It was again 3:00 AM when I had to go to work, times working in that supermarket chain proven to be weird because after many years of thinking of undiagnosed schizophrenia with the help of my doctor and counselor, they realized I wasn’t. The hour of the witch still creeps me out, because is when there is a time in the day where everything from the other world becomes visible to anyone who is not with the blood of the witches.

As I walked inside my shift, I couldn’t stop thinking about the hour of the witch, it happens several times on the world, but is limited to the time zones, the problem was within every hour there was a chance a hellmouth would open, and that’s what happened in Florida, the biggest one opened in the Everglades a few years ago, a second one on Key West and a Third on Lettuce Park in Tampa which wasn’t far away from the supermarket I was going in.

A week before, July something of course, Bill died; he was one of the coworkers who was next in the meat department, he was horrible but dying in such a way it was bad still. I couldn’t stop thinking about him and that maybe his spirit was stuck still with us, but as I was walking down, I realized I wasn’t alone in the plaza.

The plaza was big, but it was mostly the supermarket and just a few business that surround it, it was not far from Lettuce Park, only five minutes north the road in the boulevard; the supermarket was in the center and in the sides were a few business including a bank and some bars that would cater the suburb the plaza was located in. There was no human near me, but I could see them perfectly, the shadow people was gathering around, I was thinking about going back to the car and get out.

I was already half the way in the plaza, and I just need it to ring the bell and I would at least be with other humans, but the problem was if there was a cluster of Shadows then no matter how many we were we would be death. I couldn’t keep walking any longer, the Shadow People were going inside the store, I knew I wasn’t going to go in because they only appear whenever a tragedy happens or they were going to take a soul with them, to a destiny that wasn’t heaven, limbo or hell.

Some of my elder relatives said that it was in my blood, the blood of the afro indigenous from the Caribbean who were blessed by Busiraco over the centuries, they say in our blood we could contact the world of the spirits but also other ones that were linked to ours, think some sort of a shaman or a mystic but in my case my knowledge of the forbidden lore was minimal except I knew it involved my stability on my mental health.

“I shouldn’t had come today” I said to myself, I just stood in the parking lot looking at the Shadows go inside the store, but also I noticed I wasn’t alone, behind me there was the Hat Man, at least one of the many. They were the leaders of the Shadow People, they had more power than the clusters but they were also sentient and they spoke the human languages from the areas they appear, they were terrifying and paralyze me from head to toes.

His hand was so cold, he was blocking me to keep moving just by touching my shoulder.

“Is always one of you, who can see us, is fine, there is nothing much you can do until we claim you, just like we claim the others of your kin”

“Did you guys claim Bill?” I could only ask.

“No, he wasn’t one of you, he was just an accident that happened and we devour him whenever his soul came back to the place he felt some happiness”

“You are monsters”

As soon I blinked, they were gone. I walked slowly to the store again, only to realize they were back on the corners, far away from any human who was walking, for some reason they feared or at least when there wasn’t a Hat Man there, they hated the scent of humans, they just lurk in the places where they don’t have to deal with more than two people.

I wonder if the Hat Men could control them. I was not even sure, as I walked inside the store, some of the grocery clerk that was already in but I still had ten more minutes before my shift, so while I was walking I realized I wasn’t alone on my side, I saw the shadow of Bill, he was there in the corner of the seafood station, he was there in between the door that connected the meat department and the little inside cooler.

“Why you can’t go?” I ask him, even if I knew I wasn’t expecting an answer.

“I want to know if my wife would be OK?” He asked me to my surprise.

“She will, she will move on and will live with one of you nephews”

“What about seafood?”

“Will be fine too Bill, people come and go, the question I have for you, are you going to be OK?”

“I do not know Tim, I do not know” He said those words as he faded in to the nothingness.

A Long Time Ago, Not so Long Short Story

A Long Time Ago, Not so Long

Short Story

By: Gustavo Calvo

(I will correct it later)

A long time ago there was this young guy, he lived between two lives, one live was to please his family and the other one was to be free; that young guy eventually moved countries and tried to live his life to the fullest but he couldn’t escape from his past. There were always the voices in his head of self-hate and from his ancestors that bounded him. During that flight when he was arriving in the new land he didn’t feel scared.

Then he got lost in a Wonderland, so many years of abuse paid a toll on his mind and his body, where he grew twice in size and shrink a fourth of his height. It was a trip without a white rabbit but with so many queens of heart. He had so many friends, and he forgot about them.

No matter what, the monsters that grew in his head overcame his memories and the memories became shadows of what they were, so many times that guy spoke with a younger friend; his friend was a red war eagle who lived in the north, a talented eagle with his brother a fox bring happiness to the world, they always make other smiles and so to the young guy.

The guy knew he wasn’t going to be there for a while, he was lost in a Wonderland that four Alice’s controlled the Kingdoms, each Kingdom held a memory and eventually the guy became a shadow of his own self, he kept asking his friends to not forget about him, even if he got lost in the Wonderland because eventually he wanted to find himself and find them again.

The four Alice’s didn’t got much of the guy’s memories, he gave one to each friend on the distant land and ask them “if you forgive me, that’s fine, sometimes we are destined to forget the people who become shadows of the realm” The guy kept talking with his friends, but slowly one by one they started to forget him, slowly he was becoming a shadow, a shadow trapped on his room, a shadow that only existed to be a servant.

Time passed by and the guy isolated himself from the world, only the red eagle was the one behind; his brother forgot about him, the others from the tribe of the guy forgot about him too. The eagle could barely remember him, as he was fading, the guy only was appearing to say hello on rare occasions, he was becoming faster and faster a shadow.

Until one day the guy finally stopped being himself and became a persona of who he was, a memory, a walking memento that was there to serve and only existed for that purpose. He kept muttering “please don’t forget me, please I don’t want to fade away, my heart is with you, even the Alice’s couldn’t take me fully”

A long time ago, not so long ago, where his memories got fragmented because there was no purpose for him he found; the four Alice’s eventually one by one started breaking their seals over a 9 year period but the guy was lost and he woke, he saw himself as a human, he was on a world that he didn’t recognized, it was a cold room along with other men, it wasn’t a prison but it was some sort of a retention center.

“I wanted to die” he muttered while being on the couch, he realized he wasn’t in his fantasy world but instead he knew he lost his mind, he knew the years of abuse paid a toll on him and eventually he found himself with his worse that we has going to become a shadow for all eternity. A long time ago, he spoke with the eagle and the fox, he wasn’t even sure what was real and not, but that conversation he remembered “I hope I can day I can go and visit, I am proud of you; I have no clue what will happen with me, but even if you and the rest forget me, I can come back as a new friend and we can build fresh memories”

Eventually the guy became friends with a bunny, a duck, the father time, a dragon, a snow leopard, just to name a few, he became friends with the King of Avalon, and a demi guy with the spirit of a musicians of the rocks. The memories were still spaced on the four Kingdoms that the Alice owned inside his mind, but at least he was not trapped in that nightmare that almost costed his life.

New memories were formed, and old ones triggered by music came back, but the guy couldn’t still remember but at the end he let them go the ones he couldn’t make come back; old friends became new and it was like starting over again.

When the Big Sister Comes Down to Visit

I am not correcting or doing anything with the grammar, I is lazy on that level. Thank you. Also this a draft that I need to develop further.

When the Big Sister Comes Down to Visit

By:

Gustavo Calvo

There was these rumors, an online rumor like so many about this Facebook group that was handled by a mysterious figure, that went by The Sister. Nobody was aware who she looked in real life, only a small group of people knew her and were part of her apostles, but overall the sister’s main goal was to keep her political movement that had no name but rather it was there, she was gathering followers just by “supporting them” as no one could live without the Sister.

Jax Smith wanted to know more about the Sister but there was not too much information online about her whereabouts or if it was real, a real person. The only thing they knew it was Sister had adepts everywhere and her Facebook page reached around 600,000 individuals but not many people knew her at all, not even the members of the Apostles.

Jax was curious as they traveled to New York City to try to find information of the Sister, she was revered as a religious figure also because everyone who fall under her charm couldn’t say the opposite about her, as her followers would dox anyone who dared to defy her.

They were sitting on a park in the middle of the Bronx, after spending a week in the city they were feeling helpless to know if the clues they got were right, getting an interview with the Big Sister would mean to win a Pulitzer as her was a charismatic person that out of nowhere moved the masses so much, then they reach a point that they knew finding here was going to be an impossible task so they started writing the article while waiting in the airport.

She is a mystery, almost as if George Wells created her; there is nowhere to be found her but people seem to adore her, everyone know her and she goes by the name Sabrina, rumor was that she lived in the Bronx but on a honest level as a journalist I should had checked my sources, yet the experience of chasing a person that probably doesn’t exist is fascinating, but who created Big Sister?

The honest answer is “I do not know”, could be a character created from a viral campaign by any politician but she doesn’t really support any, but rather she doesn’t support any campaigns, she is just there creating bliss to her followers. Not even a Google Reverse Image Search could give any results, the only information was that she hated the Republican Party.

So who she is?.,,

“She is someone real” Said a voice behind Jax, “Who is that?” They replied. “My name is Dominique Sabrina Hildedottir” Said the voice who was somewhat raspy and gravely “or you can call me Sabrina” Jax was impressed, but at the same time they were scared of somewhat taller and bigger than they.

“Are you real?” They ask. “Yes, and I heard you been looking for me, so I decided to come up, also I have to say close your laptop and only put your phone on record, I am willing to concede you an interview but I do not want to be video recorded, please do not try anything stupid I am not alone as my inner circle is here with me”

“I do not see them” They said. “They are here Jax, they been already following you for at least two hours, your plane won’t go out yet so we can sit at Starbucks and you can buy me a drink”

“Deal”

The two of them started to walk, Jax was kind of scared as he really didn’t spoke to many people about what they were looking for, but also, they were fascinated by how unique Sabrina was. Not many people they knew who could exert  influences were trans or at least non-binary and Sabrina was one of them, one of they, she was tall, around 6’3, her hair was short and curly and her voice was extremely raspy as if she smoked a lot daily. They wanted to ask a lot of questions, but the time was limited.

When they finally sat down, they realized them weren’t alone, some of the people around them when they was waiting followed them, “it was her inner circle” they thought before sitting down with the Frappuccinos and bagels, they were studying her and the more they analyzed her, they fear her, it wasn’t a normal fear, Sabrina was someone who accrued so much power and yet she seemed to be ordinary as any other person, yet they know she wasn’t alone as there were at least 20 people who were escorting her.

“How did you thought about the Big Sister?...”

“Sorry for the interruption, but that has been on the works for a while, it started with a group from different parts of the world, science communicators, we all need it a voice of representation but also they were vulnerable, they were lost so we decided to form an experiment, we created a character, we started to create groups and then it just expanded, we are like a legion and I am the savior”

“I am curious, what is the ultimate end?”

“Jax, to create a new form of power, you haven’t realized it? I thought you were smart, I guess intel on you was wrong, maybe you are just a lucky person”

“She didn’t called me he or she, she knows my pronouns, this is creepy” They thought. “Why? What is the ultimate power?”

“To enable a counsel of science, to create an hegemony where perfection will truly exist…”

“She is lying” They thought.

“Tell me the truth” They said.

“I would have to kill you, my followers are willing to die for me and if I tell you the truth you will don’t come alive”

“Why?”

“Is for a greater good Jax…”

“Then I rather die”

“ I want to become a figure who is worshipped, the savior of the helpless, the ones who will me as a mother of all”

“Fuck you”

Sabrina made a hand gestured and someone not far away shoot at Jax point blank, but they didn’t die without sending the voice file of their phone to their editor. It was a start to throw the cult of the Big Sister into the fire.

La Llorona

Por: Gus Calvo

La tormenta estaba tomando apogeo en la Bahía de las Animas, los rayos y truenos se podían oír y ver a lo lejos, casi en el nuevo Hotel Caribe que estaba en una de las isletas metida en la bahía. Las olas estremecían la tierra y a lo lejos en el sector de las murallas José Ignacio Villazón estaba corriendo hacia la Iglesia de San Pedro Claver para buscar resguardo de la lluvia.

“Alguien ábrame la puerta por favor” Golpeo en el convento que estaba anexo a la iglesia, pero nadie le respondio.

“ !Soy un pobre hombre en un busca de refugio hasta que la tormenta pase!” Pero nadie respondió. La visibilidad era muy pobre, y con el ruido de la tormenta lo mas seguro es que nadie lo podía oír en las premisas. Por un momento pensó que de pronto las hermanas no le iban abrir por algún voto de castidad en lo que los hombres no tenían permitido entrar.

La tormenta seguía empeorando, y al parecer iba a llover por un par de horas, pensó que de pronto podría resguardarse bajo la puerta de la iglesia que era la suficientemente grande y arqueada, pero se percató de manera tardía que la lluvia estaba pegando al lado de los muros.

No sabia que hacer, y no quería salir debido a los rayos. En su estupor cuando iba a volver a la puerta del convento, se percato de una mujer vestida de blanco, de las más exquisitas telas traídas del oriente, perfectas tes morena, y unos ojos verdes que parecían desafiar las leyes de la física. En sus manos llevaba un bulto cubierto, parecía un encargo, pero nadie iba a cubrir una parcela con telas tan costosas.

La mujer no se percató de José, y se acerco a la puerta, siempre mirándola fijamente con esos ojos verdes que parecían esmeraldas satánicas, se paro con una pose desgarbada y saco su mano de entre las fundas que llevaba, era una mano esquelética la cual le hizo dudar a José que si de pronto él había muerto.

“Si me vienes a llevar, no estoy listo, mi vida ha sido un suspiro en estos 22 años, perdonadme mis pecados antes que me lleves al otro mundo” Susurro Jose entre sus mas profundas lamentaciones.

“Santo Padre Celestial, ¿Qué es esta abominación?”

La mujer dejo caer el bulto para que esta mostrara el cadáver de un infante de apenas unos pocos meses de nacido.

“¡Déjenme entrar! Mis hijos, mi hijo, mis retoños han muerto, necesitan la bendición del Padre Carrasquilla” La cara de la mujer empezó a transformarse en una calavera que derramaba lagrimas de sangre.

“Este sufrimiento de una madre, en no poder subir y ver a la divina providencia es un castigo divino” Él bebe empezó a parpadear y José le vio esos ojos rojos que parecían haber visto el mismo infierno y la cara de Satanás. La mujer seguía llorando mientras golpeaba la puerta. José no dudo mas y salió corriendo de la puerta de la iglesia, volvió a tocar de una la puerta del convento dando gritos de ultratumba.

Una hermana de apellido Rodríguez se apiado de él, pero más fue coincidencia ya que estaba pasando por la entrada y oyó los gritos de miedo. Ella se sorprendió al ver al pobre hombre, pero su atención se cambio cuando vio a la mujer que daba gritos de dolor en la entrada de la iglesia.

“Pase mi buen hombre, usted esta entre nosotros los vivos, esa pobre alma en pena si usted sigue al lado de ella, se lo llevara al infierno”

José se tranquilizo y le pregunto a la hermana ¿quién era ella?, y la hermana con una sonrisa le contesto “La llorona, viene con la lluvia y se va con ella misma.”

Hitori Kakurenbo

Fueron aquellos pasos a las dos de la madrugada lo que me despertaron, estaba solo en casa, y oí a alguien caminando adentro. Lo primero que hice fue ponerle seguro a la puerta y llamar a la policía, de una me encerré en el closet Me quedé pensando ¿Qué pudo ser eso? No tenía idea, pero me llamo la atención ya que los pasos estaban en diferentes direcciones, pensé por un segundo que podrían ser varias personas.

La policía se estaba demorando en llegar, al menos sentí una eternidad en esos pocos minutos que duro la experiencia, el pánico me estaba inundando mis entrañas y honestamente no sabía que hacer. En algún punto oí la risa de un niño dentro del cuarto; me quede pensando en todas las posibilidades ¿Qué haría un niño en mi casa?

Mi casa no era muy grande, era parte de un condominio, dos habitaciones en el segundo piso y una en el primero, no era una casa muy grande considerando que era lo que llamaban una townhouse, pensé por un segundo que algún niño del vecindario se habría metido para hacerme una jugarreta. Sin dudarlo salí del closet y empecé a caminar la casa, estaba solo ese fin de semana ya que mi esposa había ido a visitar a sus padres al norte de la Florida y se había llevado al perro.

Mi suegra y mis sobrinas les encantaba el perro, y siempre que venían a visitar Mota dormía con ellas en el cuarto de huéspedes; pero ese fin de semana estaba completamente solo. Pensé que por un momento nuestro hijo había vuelto pero el estaba en los dormitorios de la universidad y lo mas seguro es que nos hubiera llamado con anterioridad.

La policía se estaba demorando en llegar, pero siendo honesto conmigo mismo nunca llegaban tan rápido al menos que fuera cualquier tipo de emergencia que no fuera en una residencia. Volví a oír los pasos en el primer piso, se me congelo la sangre, tenia que ir a ver que era eso.

No grite, solo camine en silencio armado con un bate; pensando que los asaltantes ya tendrían algún cuchillo de la cocina o pistola pero la risa de los niños seguía vigente, seguía activa seguían moviéndose, el miedo se estaba apoderando de mi pero para mi mayor sorpresa cuando baje al área en común no vi nada mas que un osito de felpa que tenia al lado un cuchillo, prendí las luces y revise las ventanas al igual que la habitación de huéspedes y la puerta de salida.

Todo estaba en orden, no tenia idea de donde había salido ese oso de felpa, cuando lo revise con detalle me percate que adentro había arroz y sangre como si alguien hubiera hecho un fetiche y lo había tirado dentro de mi casa, no sabía que estaba pasando, pero sabía que no era un sueño. Solo pasaron 15 minutos desde que llamé a la policía cuando por fin llego una patrulla a la casa.

La teniente reviso que las ventanas estuvieran aseguradas al igual que la puerta principal no fue dañada, le di el oso y le expliqué de la manera más calmada que no me pertenecía, ella prometió llevarlo a la jefatura y deshacerse de él. A las 2:45 estaba de vuelta en mi cama, revise todo con detalle que no hubiera mas cosas extrañas, y trate de cerrar los ojos, los trate de cerrar por un segundo y volví a oír la risa de un niño.

The Zodiac is Among US

“Who are you?” Said Leann Domingos to the man with the thick glasses. He wasn’t tall, he was 5’10’’, he had a really ugly face that made him look like a blob-fish and smelled like Doritos. She was quite intrigue because she didn’t remember how she got into that hill, but she thought that she recognized it as Slipdown Mountain, she thought she was in Parker County albeit the last memory she had was in Dallas.

The man was completely quiet, he was just there watching her, she was feeling drowsy, tired as she was drugged. “Who are you?” The man didn’t reply he just looked at her with no visible smile except a deadpan face.

She was trying to find her cellphone, but she noticed that she was tied down to a tree, she started to scream but she didn’t have the strength. Everything was so surreal, she wasn’t feeling her body, she was feeling as she was watching everything from far away.

The man moved close to her, she finally saw him with more detail, he was wearing a suit and his shoes were quite elegant, they were quite shiny even if the light was dim around them. He seemed to be a politician, but she wasn’t sure. Again, she saw his face, it was ugly as if someone vomited an In-N-Out Burger and made a sculpture of a blob.

“What do you want from me?” She tried to mutter the words, but the words didn’t come out from her mouth. The man placed her a mask with a symbol that had a circle and overlapping was a plus sign. She then shot her on the head leaving her dead and he took his car and drove away.

The trunk of his car opened and one banner flew away, as the banner shattered again the road the words of the slogan said “Together, we will win” and he drove south, as far as he could go, just hoping that someone would find the body of Leann and let the world know the second generation of the Zodiac was going to rise.

The End Game

The End-Game

Short Story

“What was that?” Lynn started to wonder as the doors of the plane were opening and everyone was asked to jump into the island. Recently Netflix purchased a new format by John de Mol in which 10 teams, comprised of 10 people competed to reach the center stage of an island and in the center stage there was the prize which was $10 million Renminbi or, one million per participant.

As soon the hatches opened, everyone jumped; Lynn was scared, she didn’t knew where she was going but when she saw the island and two more planes dropping people; she realized that the Versus game was a serious thing; the parachutes started to glide everywhere, some of the contestants where going in free fall, they were trying to reach the grounds as quickly as possible.

It was a race in the sky, Lynn started to panic when she realized it was over a 100-people looking for the same objective; she didn’t knew what to expect as soon they hit the land, but when she saw her teammates dissipated to other sides of the island she knew her chances of even reached the goal were diminished to nothing.

As she was reaching her landing point, that it was near an old abandoned town, she started to hearing gun shots and screams, at first, she thought that it was part of the environment but after she saw the other contestants killing each other, she understood that it was a battle royal. She tried to diverge her way from the center and landed in the top of a house; there she stayed for a moment analyzing the situation; she tried to call everyone that was on her team, but she realized the worst, they were dead.

She inferred that part of the rules of the game were that there were no restrictions to reach the goal; and that involved killing people, killing anyone until there was no one except the winners who reached the goal.

It was a macabre experience, 100 people in a battle royal, all in the name of entertainment. She was wondering why she accepted? She was motivated by greed, she was motivated for a quick shot to fame, she then remembered that she had a small tablet similar as an iPod and she could saw the position she was as well the people who were eliminated; she was terrified because at that moment 25 people were eliminated from the competition and were dead; 4 of them were her team mates, other five were missing.

She tried to run as fast as she could to the hills; to hide in between the bushes or find a cave; she was running for her life, she was scared to be shot by someone as no one explained to her what was that game about. She didn’t want the money, she wanted to stay alive and go home with her parents and daughter, she was wondering if they were watching?

She was panicking while running; she found a small shed, she decided to hide there. While closing the door, she found a Glock 26, she took and checked that there were bullets, she was happy. She sat down while she heard people screaming, dying, the bullets, she was having a nervous breakdown.

Then a guy carrying a pickaxe was approaching to her hiding spot; she was preparing to die, she was sitting in a corner fearing for her life; then she realized he was going towards her, probably looking for supplies or something. She didn’t hesitate, she shot him in the head, he fall on the floor dead on the spot; she was crying, asking for forgiveness, she started to think if he had a family? A job? A life? Something…

She apologized to his dead body and grabbed the pickaxe, and started to walk to the designated goal… She didn’t knew what was going to happen to her…