Page 107 of Anaki

“The Iron Fang?”

Abuela nodded. “She was predicting fate, but she was sure that both of my granddaughters’ souls would align perfectly. I had to prepare you bothand lead you on the path here. I had to keep it in your heads that there was something better out there, and keep you safe. Of course, you both had to make things difficult.

“Emmie ran off, away from my reach. She was always so stubborn.” Abuela pouted. “Then, I failed you. Kept you hidden too much. You left me as soon as you could to explore. You’d come back every once in a while, more broken than the last time. I never could get you to stay.”

Abuela’s eyes filled with tears.

I never wanted her to see me as a burden when I was younger. Emm was strong. I was getting sick. I yearned to prove to her I was resilient and capable of standing on my own. Torn between these emotions, I turned away, clutching a nearby limb for support, unsure if I was ready to face her.

Abuela continued. “I never knew what was wrong, and you wouldn’t tell me. I held off finding out until I couldn’t take it anymore. When I knew you were withhim.” Abuela’s arm shook and wrapped around mine. “I know what he did to you.” Abuela’s voice shook. “Why didn’t you tell me? Did you think of me as a weak woman, mija?”

I shook my head quickly. My voice trembled. “H-how?”

Abuela rummaged through her large bag and pulled out a ragged doll. It didn’t look like one a child would play with. It was perfectly stitched with dark brown hair, real hair by the looks of it. It had a pair of jeans and a ripped white collared shirt. Blood was splattered on the shoulder.

My eyes widened. “Wait,is that a hex bag?” I grabbed it from her hand, and looked inside. There was a damn bloody finger in it.

“Is…is that his finger!?” I screamed.

Abuela scoffed. “I killed the bastard, Elena. The finger was a memento. It was slow and meticulous. I made sure that he lost everything before the final blow was delivered, and I made sure it was my face he saw before he closed his eyes and was sent to Hades himself.”

¡Dios Mio!

“Abuela, what,… I don’t understand. I didn’t think you were capable of this kind of magic. What happened to your rocks, your mushrooms? Your quirky personality? Are you on mushrooms right now? Oh goddess, are you on heroine now?”

My hands were waving in the air. I couldn’t believe she would do such a thing. I turned to walk away, but suddenly I was hit on the back of my head. I turned and growled. “Did you just hit me with a chancla?”

Abuela stomped toward me and slid it back on her foot. “I did, and there is a perfectly good explanation why I could do such things.” She wiped down her blouse like she took great effort to even throw the damn chancla at me.

I crossed my arms and raised a brow.

Abuela sighed dramatically. “The reason I was able to do the hex bag…”—she stalled and shuffled her feet—“was because I have lied.”

I stood up straight and pressed two fingers to the bridge of my nose.

“Aye, Abuela, you will have to be more specific.” I slapped my hand on the other. “There is a lot going on. Lied about what?”

Abuela tipped her head back and ran her hand down her face. “I have much more magic than I let on. The goddess told me we are descendants of great wizards and sorceresses. My great-great-grandparents immigrated to Earth to get away from Elysian, due to the council slowly becoming corrupt. They then locked their magic away, along with the future generations, so we did not become any part of their realm.”

My mouth hung open. “You gave Tajah your blood… she should know…”

Abuela chuckled. “That sorceress is powerful, but an old magic binds our blood. Even she doesn’t know. It will appear as a weak Wiccan magic. My power is much, much more.”

I looked down at the hex bag in my hand. “And what else have you done?”

Is she some serialkiller?

Abuela stepped closer to me. “Took care of your ex. That is the only life I have taken. I gave Emmie the strength to run from her ex-fiancée. I didn’t know she had it in her to kill the man, but she did.” She smirked. “Damn proud of her for that.”

Her smile faded. “No, mostly I used my magic for frivolous things.” Abuela walked over a log and beckoned me to follow. I didn’t hesitate, too absorbed in the lavish lies she had told over the years.

Secrets she kept from us.

But were they really secrets? She took us into the woods and showed us what she was doing. Played with her crystals, told us there was more than met the eye.

“I remember,” she began. “When you both went through a phase where you both absolutely hated storms.” Abuela chuckled and put her hand on my knee. “Somehow, they only happened at night, and you both would scream and wail. It was very inconvenient for me.” She shook her head, and I snorted and covered my mouth. “You both would run to my double bed and jump on me. It scared the magic out of me once.”

I perked my head up. “Like when the lights turned on and off and you said it was the electricity acting funny?”