Entry #16

Adan,

The rest of Christmas was truly blessed and beautiful, and the weekend had been without incident. Myself and the rest of us here at the mission thought we would escape Olvida’s visit in one piece. Sunday’s dinner had been prepared since Mass let out that morning. The courses were plentiful, enough to reduce even the soldiers to swooning over the tender meats, the sweet fruits and flan, the spicy vegetables, and the burning tequila. Liquor, wine, beer, milk, and water, all running over every glass and cup to follow the hearty meals and finger-licking desserts. Tairona played music, both with their own instruments, and ones brought over from Spain by our own men. The combination was harmonious and different, and my foot was soon tapping at its own will.

There was such happiness in the mess hall. Everyone was laughing, and telling stories over one another. Father Leoncio smiled more than once, I think, which is a feat in itself. His rosy cheeks and nose, however, indicated the cause, not to mention the drink he swirled in his hand. He and Father Alvarelo had been smoking and speaking by the fire for most of the night, and despite my hesitance in approaching Alvarelo since the chapel, I smiled at him when he offered me a grin of his own before continuing his parlance with Father Leoncio.

“He fancies you,” came a voice from behind me.

I turned and found Pepita at my back. She, too, was loitering around the outer rim of the party, watching everyone, but engaging no one.

“I doubt that, Pepita,” I shook my head, and sipping on a cup of milk.

“Men do not smile like that but for one reason.”

“He is a man of the cloth, sister, with vows that he must keep. If there is love he feels, it is the same love that our own Lord shines up on us all.”

Pepita rolled her eyes, her back thumped against the wall and she winked at me. “You keep telling yourself that one, Nieve.”

“Are you drunk, Pepita?”

“More than any man in this room, and look at me! I keep myself together better than any maiden. I am all contradiction, despite a lack of diction,” she burst into giggles, and bowed her head to my shoulder. I could not help but laugh myself.

“You are a beautiful mess tonight, Pepita.” I kissed her brow affectionately, as if she were my own little sister birthed from the jungle itself. “Truly.”

“You are a kind, and savely woman, Nieve,” she mumbled, and sighed. “I am glad I have you to talk to.”

“If… your affections are with Lope, why has Gonzalo’s wife been so difficult on you this weekend?” I glanced past her, Captain Gonzalo was kissing Olvida’s neck and shoulder. She was noticeably distant from these affections, pulling away as he played with the edge of her sleeve’s fabric.

“I asked Captain Gonzalo to come away with me - no, do not look at her, look at me! - I asked Captain Gonzalo to come away with me… what seems like ages ago now. Really, it was just a year. He denied me, and so then I denied him. Lope got me over the worst of it. When I see him with that pretty wife though… I begin to wonder what I could do or could have done.”

“I am sorry, Pepita.”

“Do not be! I am not a pitiable creature worthy of… any of it. I am happy with my lot in life, and Lope will not be here forever.”

“No?”

“No. Gonzalo is looking for any excuse to move him and his men out of this place.”

“Hermana Nieve!” Father Alvarelo called as he made his way over to both of us. “Hermana Nieve, do you dance?”

“Horribly, Father! Are you mad?”

“Absolutely. Come, dance with me!” He giggled and grabbed my wrist, pulling me into what was left of the space between the tables covered with food and drinks. Tairona servants were dancing with men from their village and with soldiers, blushing and throwing their heads back to laugh. I looked back at Pepita, who smirked knowingly and turned to melt into the crowd or revelers.

“Father Alvarelo, watch out for my feet!”

We were dancing so fast, spinning and playfully following the rhythm of the music. He was not so much better as I when it came to dancing. We were both stepping on each other’s feet, and bumping into one another constantly. Father Leoncio chuckled and shook his head from the place by the fire. We must have appeared like children to him! The soldiers were cheering Father Alvarelo on. Normally, we probably came across so straight laced and proper to them. There was nothing in our vows that said we could not dance, however, so here we were! For the moment I forgot about everything. The sounds, the disappearance, all of it. I was simply dancing and enjoying myself. I knew I would sleep well that night.

But as night descended on the mission, such knowledge would change. I had retired to bed early, and put my aching, dancing feet up for the time. I slipped under my covers after fastening the last button of my collared night gown. Outside my shutters I could hear the wind rattling, wanting to come in and whisper me to sleep. The glow of the moon encrusted the very edges of my window skill, casting the occasional silver shadow in my room. The night wanted to join me, but in no time, I had fallen asleep and joined the secretive night itself.

How long had I been sleeping, I know not. The darkness of my slumber gave way to the jungle. The under brush spread, and I was standing at a familiar lake. It was the pool I had seen in my vision with Mama Gondu. There was no sound, no creatures, and not even a cloud in the sky to damper the shine of the stars and the moon above. I crept further into this clearing dominated by the lake, and stopped on the muddy bank. A bubble broke the surface.

And a scream crashed through the night’s stillness. I could not decipher whether this was in my dream or not. Regardless, the sound had startled me and I shot awake just on time to hear the next scream. The sound pierced through the hallways of the mission, and the sound of it shook my very nerve. So much pain and terror in one constant note, cracking only as the voice gave out, taxed and useless. I burst from my room, holding a robe around me. Just as I came around my corner, I saw Doctor Gil take off down the corridor, the opposite direction from my position. Pepita was following after him.

“Pepita!” I called. “What is happening?”

Pepita whirled around, and waved for me to follow. “Olvida. Quickly, follow me. We may need your help.”

“But, Pepita, what has happened to her?”

We were running by now, and joined Father Alvarelo and Father Leoncio in Captain Gonzalo’s quarters. Father Alvarelo and Captain Gonzalo were attempting to calm a thrashing, and crying Olvida. Father Leoncio met us at the doorway, and waved us in quickly. “It started an hour ago. Hurry, look.”

I rushed forward with Doctor Gil and Pepita. Father Alvarelo and Captain Gonzalo parted from the bed, making room for us. Doctor Gil took a seat on the lip of the bed. Olvida’s slip was disarrayed, nearly exposing her. Perhaps I would be more bashful to such a state were it not for the wounds covering her skin. There were slashes, as if a large cat had attacked her, and there were gouged patches of red being exposed. She had ripped up the bedding and started stuffing and wrapping her wounds. Olvida looked at me through all of them, but her eyes were not her own. They were wide, the whites blazing around the dark spheres in the middle. Her pupils were completely dilated, and her gaze darted this way and that like a mad animal. There was blood all over the sheets, and soaking through her slip.

In an instant, she roared and grabbed at Pepita’s throat. Pepita tried to force her hand off, but the look on her face was an expression of absolute surprise at Olvida’s grip. As Captain Gonzalo and Father Alvarelo attempted to shake her grip, they too were astounded by her strength.

“The dirty little whore of Babylon herself. You think I do not know. I see you - I SEE YOU!”

Pepita could not argue or defend herself, she could hardly resist. I saw her knees buckle, and slump to the ground. She claws at Olvida’s arm, but her suffocation was restricting her from putting up much of a fight.

“Olvida, let the child go!” Captain Gonzalo called, but could not break through
Olvida’s sudden wildness.

Olvida flexed her arm, snapping Pepita closer to her. Pepita’s hands clamped into the mattress, and she offered a choked whimper. “Were you ever held like this in my bed, little whore? Were you ever held so tightly by my husband like this?”

“St…op,” Pepita rasped, but the combined strength of the Doctor Gil, Captain Gonzalo, and Father Alvarelo were not enough to overcome this preternatural force that had overcome every nerve, muscle, and essence of Olvida.

“You never wanted it to stop before. You always wanted more, my little, little whore!” I saw the fingers clench tighter into Pepita’s throat. The nurse’s eyes bulged, veins swelled against her skin in her face, and her lips were violet and quivering.

“Pl.. ea…se..” Pepita groaned hoarsely.

“Get her off,” Doctor Gil cried, but it was Father Leoncio who stepped forward. He slapped his hand to her neck, and there was a hissing sound. Olvida’s hand was thrown off, and Pepita stumbled back into my arms. I caught her, but we both slammed into the floor. When I looked up, Olvida was arched in the bed, gripping at her neck where Father Leoncio’s hand had been. He stepped back and watched her drop to the pillow and mattress, unconscious. He breathed deeply, and his fingers unfurled. His rosary unwound from his fist, and a smoking cross swung back and forth from his shaking knuckles.