The door closes, leaving the two women alone. “Grandma?” Mila asks, but there is no response. A metallic hum fills the room as Doña Guille stares blankly at the door. Tears swell behind her ancient eyes but are replaced with a sudden look of urgency.
She moves towards the bookshelf. “Mija, grab your bag and pack whatever you need. Essentials only. Apurate!” There is desperation in her voice.
“What’s going on?”
“They found me mija. You have to leave. Hurry!” The old woman begins pulling books off the shelf. They fall with a deafening crash.
“What…what’s going on?” Mila repeats.
Doña Guille sighs and turns to her granddaughter. There is sadness in her eyes. “They know I am a witch. That man is here to pick me up. I don’t have time to explain. You need to get your stuff and leave.” Her tone was stern and demanding. Mila opens her mouth to protest but turns to her room instead. “Pack light. Just what you can carry.” the old woman adds as Mila disappears into the room. Books continue to fall to the ground. Drawers open and shut in the other room.
This goes on for minutes before Doña Guille stands up with an old shoe box and runs to the room. There are two beds crammed into this room with a few dressers. Mila is zipping up her bag when the old woman enters the room.
“Estas lista?” Doña Guille asks in a shaky voice.
“Yea…” she looks over at her grandmother with a worried expression. “You need to tell me what’s going on,” she pleads.
A tear slips from the corner of Doña Guille as she moves towards her granddaughter. Her hand shakes as it lands gently on the young girl’s cheek. “In a few minutes, they’re going to barge through that door and take us and lock us away in a prison built for witches like us. If that happens, there is no escape. They’ll do horrible things to us…” her voice breaks as the words become too hard to say.
“But…but witches aren’t real…” Mila protests.
“They are real mija, and I wish I had more time to explain to you. Pero you need to leave.” The old woman opens the box. Inside is an envelope thick with a bill and an old leather-bound notebook. She hands her the envelope. The bills are worn and dirty and fill the room with a strange musk. “This is all the money I have. It’s not much, but it should get you a few meals. And this,” she says as she picks up the old leather book, “this is our spellbook. Guard it with your life.”
Mila grabs the book it is about the size of a small notebook, but a thick two or three hundred pages. The cover is worn without any distinguishable writing on its face and the pages are worn and yellowed. “This is all we have left of our people. Learn as much as you can from it.”
“Magic isn’t real…”
Footsteps echo down the hall. “We’re out of time mija. You have to be brave. I’m sorry I didn’t teach you enough.” She hugs her granddaughter tightly and fights the tears.
“You’re not coming with me?”
Doña Guille grabs Mila by the shoulders and looks into her eyes. Her eyes swell with the tears she holds back. “This next part, you have to do on your own. I’ll hold them back as much as I can, pero you have to run.”
“Come with me. We can figure this out. We can…”
“No mija. I’m too old. I’m too tired of running.” The footsteps get closer. “I know you’re scared, but you can do this. I know you can. Don’t use your real name. Don’t let anyone know you’re a witch.”
“But..”
“There’s a man named Bones somewhere in the 13th district who knows how to do the old shaman tattoos. Find him. Show him this book.” The footsteps go silent. “I love you mija. Good luck. Jakata!” Doña Guille shouts as she shoves Mila back. A bright white portal of light appears suddenly behind her. It swallows her as she reaches out to grab her grandmother. Mila falls onto the cold hard ground. She sends metal cans rolling against the wall behind her. She looks up to see a final glimpse of her grandmother as the portal shuts. She watches as her grandmother turns to the door. She can hear a loud crash somewhere in the distance. Suddenly, darkness.
Mila remains frozen as the loud noises of the city dance around her. The buzzing of the railcar above, people shouting in the distance, and a bus making its stop somewhere behind her. There is a light at the end of the alley. For the first time since landing, she begins to notice her surroundings. Two long buildings stretch up endlessly on both sides. The alley is wide but thick with trash. It piles up around her. Her bag sits in front of her. A dog barks and it snaps her from her trance. A foul stench fills her nose and she bends over to vomit.
Mila sits there a bit longer as tears fall from her eyes. For the first time in her life, she feels alone as the world continues to move around her.