• “Let me tell you about that house over there, the one on the hill with the broken windows. That house belongs to Bruja, a haggard old woman whose name is the very definition of her being. They say it’s abandoned but none dare go near it. It is said Bruja came from the woods north of here and with her she brought roots and hexes. Some say she was born in Salem and fled when they accused her of being a witch. She even killed a man who broke her heart. They say she ate his flesh, and used his bones and blood as make-up. All that’s known for sure is when people who go in her house they never come out.” “Great story dad it scared me when I was like five. Gosh it doesn’t even sound real. How gullible do you think I am?”, a boy responded sharply to his father’s fireside tale. The father got a harassed yet authoritative look on his face and said, “John Devin Wallace, who made you so bold? I raised you to be refined not smart. Show me the respect I taught you. Besides the story is true, why do you think no one ever goes into that house? I have my reasons for telling you things.” “Dad your stories are hilarious, but sometimes your motives baffle me. I bet no one even lives there. I’m going out to see Gina, I’ll see you later okay.” John responded to his father. As John left, his father yelled out a final warning, this one more serious than the others. “The past does not change, those who have entered that house do not leave, ever.” The words were so strong that for a moment they forced John to a halt. Shivers went through his spine as the thought of his father’s story went through his mind. ‘What if the story is true?’

    As John walked out he began to regret even taking his father’s words seriously. “What am I five?” He scolded to himself. The more he thought about it the angrier he got. He reached Gina’s house and knocked on the door. A young woman opened the door and answered. “Hey Jay, what’s going on?” “Gigi, I got a question.” “Shoot.” She replied. “Have you ever been to the old Bruja house?” John asked. “Why? That place is abandoned, it could cave in at any point.” “What if someone’s really in there?” John replied. “Don’t tell me you believe that old story. No one lives there, it’s just old, so no one pays it any mind.” She said shrugging her shoulder. “Then why isn’t it boarded up?” He questioned. “How should I know, why don’t you go find out for yourself? Don’t tell me you’re scared.” She said with a sneer. As if his pride had been crushed, he puffed up his chest and replied. “Of course not, just curious.” “Then let’s go.” She responded grabbing his hand. “Wait.” John said. “You are scared.” She sneered again. “No, let someone know you’re gone.” He said in a matter of fact tone. “Oh right.” She said with a blush. “Mom I’m heading out with John.” The girl yelled. “Okay Gina, don’t stay out too late.” A woman’s voice responded from inside the house. Gina turned and smiled. “Okay Jay, let’s go.”

    They reached the house on the hill where Bruja was said to live. Gina stopped as John continued into the yard. “Hey Gigi, what’s the hold up, let’s go?” John yelled to her. “You go ahead, someone has to make sure you’re okay. I’ll call you if something’s up. Besides you’re the curious one.” Gina replied. “And you say I’m scared.” John whispered as he walked through the door.

    The malodorous smell of mildew swept over him like a wave crashing into a buoy at sea. The house looked just as horrible on the inside as it did on the outside. Broken wood planks were everywhere and old tattered silk rags of multicolored mold hung from them. Though the houses inner appearance looked menacing, he still was determined to prove his father wrong. “Hello!” He yelled as he traveled from room to room. He kept doing this until he got to a room that looked untouched by time’s cruel ways. He looked around amazed by the room’s beauty unaware of anything around him. “Hello young man may I help you?” A high crackly voice came from a dark doorway. John was scared so badly he was petrified. He worked up the courage to whisper out “Who are you?” The woman walked through the doorway; she was old, but you could tell she used to be a beautiful young woman. She smiled a sweet smile and calmly said, “I’d ask you the same thing seeing as you intruded in my house.” John came out from his shock and felt a bit more comfortable “Sorry my name is…” “John, I know. You’ve come to see if I really exist, if the stories are true.” The old woman had interrupted John reading him like a book. “How did you know that? You really are Bruja, aren’t you?” The woman nodded and smiled. “Yes they call me Bruja, but that’s such an ugly nickname. I prefer Felicita, Felicita Biancolini. I’m what you call clairvoyant; you see I saw your coming before you came and have been waiting for you. Since you know what they call me, you probably know what they have said about me. It is all misunderstandings and superstition. I only made a few predictions. I had nothing to do with what happened after my prediction, they just needed someone to blame and I was the first to know so I was the most obvious suspect. So I stayed here in fear. I allowed no one into my home for years because people just didn’t understand my gift and wanted me dead.” John was scared yet relieved. He knew she was telling the truth but, he still wasn’t satisfied he wanted to know more. “What about the story where you ate your lover and used his remains as make-up?” Bruja’s smile quickly turned into a frown and tears streamed down her eyes. She looked at John and said, “Make-up, those people are horrible.” “I know, so what really happened.” John responded. “I can show you better than I can tell you.” She then took John’s hand. John withered at the feel of her cold, clammy hands. He took a deep breath and said, “Show me.” Suddenly the feel of Bruja’s hand became warm and soft. He then got the feeling he was being yanked away from his body. The room was spinning and swirling and after a while John couldn’t take it anymore and lost consciousness.

    John woke up in a room with two people in it. One a Native American man, the other was a female. The woman could be no one but Bruja, the beauty of the older woman obviously matched. She was angelic a vision of true perfection in the eyes of any man, but her eyes found true perfection in only one. The man standing in front of her was her love and that became very obvious through their embrace. “I must leave, it’s no longer safe for me here.” Bruja said to the man as she began to release the embrace. “ After a while he felt the snatch again but this time he was able to stand it.

    The scenery changed he was now the woods. A little girl and an Indian boy where playing and laughing as they chased each other through the forest. John watched as they ran together. Suddenly the atmosphere changed the air was cold and uninviting. The kids played on until a thunderous bang filled the air. A bullet whizzed by John and hit a tree near the Indian boy, who ran away immediately after. The man grabbed the girl by her hair and dragged her out of the woods screaming. “The devil gotten in you Felicita. Do you know what they do to you for dancing in the woods? And with a savage boy.” The man screamed as he raised his hand ready to strike her. A woman ran out of the house to stop the man but he instead hit her. “Mama” the girl yelled. The girl’s cries echoed as he was once again snatched.

    He was now in a room, it appeared empty yet beautiful. It reminded him of a place he had been before. It was the room where he had met Bruja, but now there was a bed in the middle of the room. Suddenly Bruja arose from the bed shocked. She ran toward John with a panic on her face. John was scared that the woman would attack him but she ran right through him to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. John followed looking through the house and seeing how it looked before time decided to ruin its splendor. The house was beautiful but yet and still didn’t compare to Bruja’s room, not even time could damage something of such beauty. Bruja looked at the knife for a minute and then ran to the door and waited. Soon there came a pounding at the door that boomed throughout the whole house. Bruja looked through the peephole but only saw a dark figure with a blunt object. She stood with her hand on the door knob as if prepared for what has to come. She opened the door, lunging the knife through the dark figure only to realize too late that it was her lover with roses in his hand. She rushed him to her bedroom where she attempted to explain her actions, tears streaming down her face. The man didn’t understand why he deserved her treatment and then she grabbed his hand and said, “I can show you better than I can tell you.” John had experienced a sudden de-ja-vu that gave him a sick feeling as the man responded, “Show me.” The man stiffened and his soul left his body and entered Bruja’s. The man’s body hit the ground with a lifeless thud. Bruja knelt down next to him tears still running freely down her cheeks. “I promise I will make this right. No matter how long it takes, no matter the cost, we will be together.” Bruja vowed. She looked around the room and for the first time noticed John there. “John, you don’t know how long I’ve waited for you.”

    The sick feeling was now full fledge panic. His face flush from the sight of Bruja stealing this man’s soul. His legs felt like mountains making it impossible to move. “My love must live again, and for that I need your soul.” Bruja said menacingly. John, petrified by fear, could not respond. He was powerless as Bruja began to approach him. To his surprise she then kissed him. He was so shocked the fear he once had suddenly left him. Now the ecstasy of the embrace held him steady as if mesmerized. Then suddenly there was one last snatch and everything went black. His lifeless body hit the floor with a sickening thud of dead weight.