Empty Void

Chapter 1 - The Encanto

Camilo

I don't know where I am. Everything is black. I can only see myself. I feel like I'm walking on water, but I don't sink. When I look down, I see my reflection. I hear someone laughing, so I look around. No one is there. Only miles, and miles of pitch, black darkness. I look down again, but it isn't me who I see in the water. It is Abuela Alma. "We must help those around us, Camilo. But to do that, you. . . must stop being yourself, mijo."

"What?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes, Camilo." I turn to see my mother walking towards me with a strange smile on her face, "Do what mamá tells you, we don't want to upset her now, do we?" What were they talking about? Do they expect me to pretend to be someone else for the rest of my life?! Just for the sake of someone else's needs?

"Mamá, why-"

I scream out of fear when I feel someone grabbing me by my ankle. It's Abuela.

"Come now, let me help you change back, cariño." Abuela started to pull me down.

"No, let go of me!"

I managed to break free of her grasp, but as I started to run, a woman from the village appeared right in front of me. But the weird thing was that she was inside a mirror. She looked exhausted and worn out, like she hadn't slept in days. "Hey, Camilo. Turn into me," she reached her arms through the mirror and grabbed me by the shoulders, "come on kid. BE ME. I NEED YOU TO BE ME. Take care of my kid for a day or two, will you?"

She shook me violently, and I pushed the woman off of me. Her eyes were blood-shot red, she looked like she was crazy. She had her hands clasped together, her gaze never leaving me. I tried to run from her, but she only followed.

My eyes were still glued to her as I ran, a terrifying feeling shivering down to my core. I bumped into another figure, and I fell to the ground. I couldn't see it well, but I could figure it had the face of a man.

"My sincerest apologies, son. Here, let me help you." He offered me his hand, and I reluctantly took it. It was only when I stood up when I was able to see the horrifying sight. It was another villager inside a mirror, but he had no eyes. His eye sockets were hollow, darkness seeping in them.

I screamed, terrified of what I had just witnessed. Then another villager popped up, same as the last one. In a mirror. No eyes. I ran again, and another one came out. No matter how much I wanted to escape, they just kept coming. It got to the point where I was surrounded by them.

"Camilo. Camilo. Camilo."

They called out my name like the dead. I had nowhere to go. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to escape. Then, some figures started walking up front. Squeezing over the rest of them, each of my family members were walking towards me. All consumed by the same darkness that controlled the rest of the villagers.

They all surrounded me as well, but they didn't say my name. Instead, they said, "Change. Change. Change."

Again. Again. And again.

It never stopped, they all kept tormenting me. I tried to cover my ears to muffle the sound, but I could still hear them. I could feel their gazes upon me, how they judged me.

"Stop," I whispered. "Just stop," I pleaded.

"Stop it!" I screamed, tears streaming down my cheeks. And that's when I felt Abuela's grasp again, only this time I couldn't free myself. And before I knew it, I was underwater. I moved my arms and legs, in an attempt to get back to the surface. But I just kept sinking. I looked down, and Abuela wasn't there anymore, yet I was still sinking. My lungs started to shrink, aching from the lack of oxygen. I was running out of air. Air. Air. Air. That was all I could think of. I couldn't hold on for much long-