I have a very important question to ask you, but it has to stay between us. Have you ever felt something stirring inside of you? Kind of like a buzzing in your chest. Sometimes faint. Other times strong. And never completely gone. It’s harmless, don’t worry. In fact, it’s actually really good. It’s there to warn you of danger and you should never, ever ignore it.


    Now tell me, how would you react if I said there’s even more to it than that? What if, all of a sudden, ancient gods you never dreamed could possibly be real just showed up and unlocked the stirring inside of you, giving you the ability to do magic?


    Pretty crazy, right?


    Yeah, it was super weird when it happened to me. I’d be lying if I claimed I never want to do magic. Who wouldn’t after all? I mean, yeah, facing off against mean bokíbeys and scary hupías last year wasn’t exactly on my to do list, but it was totally worth it. Probably. Just know that having magic comes with certain dangers, it’s just par for the course.


    It’s like in all the best books and shows, magic and grand adventures go hand in hand with peril and villainy. It’s never easy. Heck, I’d call you naive if you thought it would be. It’s like that famous quote everybody used, with great responsibility comes great power, or something like that. I don’t know. Papi was the superhero nerd, not me.


    Anyway, what I’m trying to say was that you need to proceed with caution. Be careful. Listen to the gods. And most important of all, fight as hard as you can against abuelos* who want to sacrifice you to evil Cacica’s from another world . . . What? Did I forget to mention there were other worlds out there? Did you think I was making this up?


    Okay. Fine, I’ll start at the beginning.


    *****


    “So, why are we visiting this guy again?” I asked while staring out the window of Papi’s Toyota Corolla. The world outside was a blur as it passed by. I was glad the highway of Carretera Vieja #2 was fairly empty, especially at the start of summer vacation. Car rides were so boring. The only way this could’ve been worse was if we were stuck in traffic.


    The name’s Irene Rosales Vivas by the way, in case you were wondering.


    My papi, José Rosales, snickered with a snort at my question. I was sat behind Mami, Yuisa Rosales Vivas, so I couldn’t exactly see her expression but I knew she was upset. Papi cleared his throat and apologized as he always did when she was upset.


    “Because,” she started to answer, “this guy is your abuelo. He’s family, and he wants to see you two.” Her accented voice seemed cheery, but I could tell it was forced.


    On the radio, Juanito Alima?a started up again for what seemed like the fiftieth time today. I glanced at my little brother, Alejandro Rosales Vivas, who was sitting beside me. He was in his booster seat, drawing in his sketchbook, and paying no mind whatsoever to the conversation. I always found it amazing that he was able to draw so easily in the car. If I tried to do that I’d be puking my guts out with my head lolling out the window. The figures he was making resembled simple animals, just shapes and wavy lines really. Each one kind of looked like a little maze. This six year old kid was a real natural with pencil and paper.


    “Some family,” Papi muttered to himself.


    “José!” Mami exclaimed and slapped his shoulder with a loud smack. I was pretty sure she was glaring at him and silently telling him to shut up. This wasn’t the first time I’d heard them argue about the trip.


    Papi shrugged matter-of-factly. “Qué? He hasn’t seen OR talked to us in years, and NOW, all of a sudden, he wants to? Como sea, tu Padre siempre fue un—”


    “JOSé!” Mami leaned over into view which confirmed my suspicion. She was definitely glaring at him. Her deep brown eyes were wide and intense. If a look could shoot laser beams, this was it.


    Papi jumped a little in the driver’s seat and I couldn’t blame him. I’d been on the receiving end of that look and let me tell you, it wasn’t a good place to be.


    I could kind of see where Papi was coming from though. This guy, our abuelo, called up Mami out of the blue, and the next thing we knew, we were packed up and on our way to a few weeks stay at his place. He lived somewhere in Puente, a barrio, or district, in Camuy, Puerto Rico. It was an hour from where we lived in Bayamón and yet Abuelo had never been around. I didn’t really understand why we left so abruptly for someone who never even came to visit. My parents rarely talked about Abuelo, if at all. I could probably count the amount of times he had come up on one hand and now we were staying at his place?


    Something fishy was going on if you asked me.


    Papi leaned close to the steering wheel. He stared at Mami for a long moment with curved brows, looking upset and more than a little nervous. My chest hummed as if in response. It was as if something inside of me had come alive. Like a hummingbird trapped in the cage of my ribs. I looked up at Papi and felt my anxiety rising. I wasn’t sure if it was their argument or that he hadn’t been watching the road, but whatever was causing the feeling, I didn’t like it. Just then, as if Papi had felt my concern, he glanced at me then looked back to the road.


    My chest quieted.


    I first noticed the feeling when I was around my brother’s age. It always came around to warn me, almost like it was a sixth sense, and only ever faded when the danger had gone. I didn’t really understand that at first. I didn’t know what it was. The only thing I knew was that the feeling was part of me, something to listen to and not be afraid of. It wasn’t long before I understood what the feeling was trying to tell me. With its help I even dodged a few bullies in school. It also helped me avoid dangerous animals when I’d been playing alone in the forest and once even warned me of a particularly irritated crab.


    I once asked Mami about it and she told me it could be an Opía, a spirit who was both a guide and messenger for the Taíno gods. I thought it was a neat idea. Before then I didn’t know she believed in that kind of stuff. Most people I’ve met turned away from the Taíno beliefs, instead following the singular deity religions.


    Honestly, I began to wonder if I might have more unusual gifts when I was younger. I thought, or rather hoped, I might have had latent powers locked away inside me. Magic just ready and waiting to burst out. I wondered if maybe I just needed to be in the right moment, something dangerous or exciting, but nothing ever happened and I wasn’t about to go out looking for more danger than had already found me on a regular basis. So I let it be. Either I had super cool magic powers or I didn’t. If it was meant to happen then so be it. I had turned ten a month ago after all. On that day I decided it had been long enough, and gave up the thought.


    Papi sighed, pulling me back to the present. His shoulders slumped and he continued watching the road. “Pay no mind to me, sweety. Papi was just . . . taken off guard, is all,” he said reluctantly.


    I fiddled with the skirt of my bright blue summer dress. It wasn’t because I was bored though; my fingers just needed something to do. “That’s okay,” I answered. “This trip was just kind of sudden; not how I expected to start summer vacation. That’s all.” I looked back out the car window and watched the tops of trees rush by. Papi turned onto an exit between Zanja and Puente. I hoped this meant we were getting close.


    Mami turned around on her seat, smiling. The sun shined warmly on her brown skin and her black wavy hair fell long down her back. People often said we looked alike. I couldn’t really see it though. Sure, I had her hair, but my eyes were a softer brown and my complexion was light like Papi’s. I was pretty sure I looked more like him but it felt rude to argue.


    She winked at me and tilted her head playfully, probably noticing me flick the fabric of my dress about. “I know, mi chiquitita.* Why not play something on your Nintendo. There’s still a bit before we get there.”


    Keeping her eyes on me, Mami reached down and tapped my plain purple backpack by my feet. I sort of shrugged in agreement, not really in the mood since it was hard to focus in the car but my fingers needed to do something. Besides, playing something could help get my mind off of . . . well, everything.


    As Mami turned back around, I reached inside the already open zipper, and pulled out my Gameboy. With a click of the power button it was on and ready to go. The logo played its cute animation, then faded with a ding. All I did was stare at the game’s menu. Generally an opportunity like this was something I would relish. It wasn’t like I often had Mami telling me to play something. Usually it was the opposite. Something must’ve been wrong with me if a game didn’t seem appealing to even play with.


    Out of frustration, I turned the Gameboy off and dropped it on my lap. I let my head fall back against the car seat. Staring up at the black ceiling, I swayed my head left and right. Just what was going on with me? I let my head fall to the left and watched my little brother who was still drawing in his sketchbook.


    Now he looked more like Mami, I thought, down to the brown skin and super dark brown, almost black eyes. His hair was dark brown like Papi’s, however, he wanted to let it grow out, to see how long it could get. I wasn’t sure why and when I asked him, he didn’t really have an answer. He just wanted to. It had grown to his shoulders in such a short time. It would probably reach the middle of his back, like mine, sometime around winter. I giggled softly. He really did look adorable. Don’t tell him I said that.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I glanced down at his sketchbook and blinked a few times to clear my eyes. I couldn’t quite make out what he was drawing. What was it he was working on that had him so focused? Finally getting off my butt, I leaned over as far as my seat belt would allow and examined the page.


    Alejandro drew a lot of animals, as I said before. They almost looked like the Taíno petroglyphs, ancient symbols the people used to carve into stone. I saw pictures of them in history books and from what I could tell, he was doing a really good job. I was impressed. He sure was a heck of a lot better at drawing than I was at his age. Honestly, he was still better than me. Some of the animals looked pretty familiar. I saw cats and dogs, manatees, and one that looked like a rabbit. He also drew various bird-like creatures that I couldn’t identify. I just assumed they were from his imagination.


    My eyesight suddenly became weird. That’s the best way I could describe it. The drawings shifted and distorted before my very eyes. The animals almost looked like they were dancing, which was, again, weird. Maybe I was just tired or something.


    I rubbed my eyes, hoping that would make it stop. Then, all of a sudden, I knew what one of the bird drawings was. It just popped into my head out of nowhere. I pointed at it and said, “This is a cool looking raven.”


    Where did that come from?


    Alejandro looked up at me and blinked a few times, speechless. “Thank you . . . but how did you know it was a raven? No one ever knows what I’m drawing.” He tilted his head with a soft chuckle.


    I just shrugged and smiled. “Lucky, I guess.” I then slid my Gameboy back into my purple backpack and found myself staring out the car window again.


    We must’ve gotten off the highway because now the buildings were level with us as they zoomed by. I noticed a random KFC and my belly rumbled. Before I could say anything, Papi turned down a really bumpy street. My stomach protested, but he probably would’ve said no anyway as Mami was busy singing along to a Rita Moreno song. She was even dancing in her seat, making Papi blush bright pink while he grinned at her.


    The road was a bit windy and much quieter than the highway. There were old neighborhoods to our left. The simple blocky homes were closely packed together. Each had clay shingled rooftops, ornate openings where windows would be, and were surrounded by bright white cement walls. On the right, however, the homes were larger, colored in pastel hues, and were spaced pretty far apart. Between them were thick patches of trees.


    Come to think of it, the forest around these homes looked like it stretched far behind them and seemingly above them in the distance. I raised my gaze up as we were driving by a small mountain. It was pretty cool. Or it would’ve been, but then I saw the gray clouds up above. As if this trip needed ominous, looming storm clouds too.


    Jeez. I shrugged and leaned back in my seat, ready for this drive to end.


    Papi eventually slowed down and made a right turn. We drove up a hill covered completely in grass. The concrete road was gone, but it was clear other cars had driven up and down the same path we were on now. The single car length path was surrounded by flamboyán trees. My eyes widened at just how many lined the path. The way ahead was covered with beautiful red flowers that blew gently in the breeze.


    “What do you think, really pretty huh?” Mami said with a giggle, no doubt seeing my astonished reaction. I replied with a nod, unable to pull my eyes away from the path. The ground was littered with small red petals and was really pretty.


    “Mami, what does Abuelito do?” Alejandro asked curiously.


    “He writes stories. Fun fantasy stories inspired by the island’s past.” Mami smiled.


    I guess it made her happy that Alejandro had decided to call him Abuelito, matching our late Abuelita, who was Maria Yúca. Honestly, I still hadn’t decided what to call him yet.


    “Fun stories for adults you mean,” Papi snickered.


    “They don’t need to know that,” she sang the reply with a wicked grin and shot him another glare, but he just shrugged.


    I chuckled to myself as I may be young, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew what they meant by adult books. Mami liked to read scary looking books with dark, creepy covers. Papi, on the other hand, read those romantic books with the cheesy half shirtless people on the covers. They used “adult” as a catch-all term meaning, “not for you.” I swear, adults are so weird. They think us kids don’t know, but we do.


    As we exited the flamboyán lined path Papi made a half circle, then stopped. The ground here seemed much flatter than it had been on the road. Before us was a pretty big, two-story house. It was a white cement home with vibrant red clay shingles and a wide open arching veranda lined with balconies. The building’s corners were covered in plants. Vines and trees were filled with red, pink, and burgundy flor de magas.


    Mami immediately turned off the radio and lowered the car window. I could hear salsa music softly playing from the house. Soon, a tall man emerged from inside, dressed in a white, long-sleeved buttoned shirt, beige slacks, and brown loafers. His hair was dark gray and had been neatly brushed back away from his face. His skin was a deep brown, and his eyes were deeper still, so dark they looked nearly black.


    He stretched his arms out wide and his grin pushed the wrinkles around his lips back. “Ah bienvenidos!”* the man greeted, sounding more like a ringleader of a circus than a man who had never been around. His accent was even thicker than Mami and Papi’s.


    I assumed that was Abuelo, but I still didn’t feel much of anything for the man, one way or the other. He was just a stranger. Mami, on the other hand, smiled wide and her eyes teared a little. She pushed the car door open and flew into the old man’s arms, hugging him tightly. It was weird. I then realized how tall he was. Mami was roughly five foot, so most people seemed tall compared to her but she only reached the man’s chest. Like WOW he was tall.


    Papi sighed, taking my attention from the scene. “Go ahead and undo your seat belts you two. I’ll get you first, Alejandro.”


    Just as Papi opened his car door, mine slid open as well. I quickly unclipped my seat belt and hopped out. My heart jumped a little. I was standing right before the tall man, forcing my head back just to be able to see his face. Mami was standing next to him now. My chest hummed all of a sudden. Pretty strongly too. It was giving off some crazy warning signals but I had no idea why. I thought maybe I was just nervous so I ignored the sensation.


    “Irene, this is your abuelito, Zigor Vivas. Go ahead and say hi,” Mami said.


    I fiddled with my hands while my heart raced nervously. My eyes darted back and forth between the two, unsure of what or who to focus on. I ended up just raising a hand in a quick wave. “Hola,”* I greeted softly.


    Abuelito grabbed his slacks and hitched the fabric up a bit, then knelt. A large smirk creased his face. “Hola, my goodness look how big you’ve gotten.”


    The feeling in my chest was out of control. It had never felt this strongly before but I had no idea what was setting it off. My stomach was churning into a tight knot. It felt like I was shrinking right before the guy. I nervously twirled a foot in the dirt, but then Papi came around the car with Alejandro in his arms, taking the focus off of me.


    “Se?or Zigor,”* Papi said flatly, his expression pretty stern.


    Abuelito stood up, his expression changing weirdly to one of amusement. “José, y Alejandro! Cómo está mi nieto?”* He rubbed the top of Alejandro’s head, making my brother giggle warmly.


    “Bien,”* Alejandro replied with a big smile.


    Abuelito nodded with approval and then clapped his hands once, calling everyone’s attention. “Well, why don’t I take you to your rooms. The kids will be sharing, if that’s okay.”


    “I’m sure that won’t be a problem, isn’t that right, Irene?” Mami asked with a look that told me it wasn’t a question.


    I shrugged. “It’s fine. I don’t need much space anyway,” I replied matter of factly. I then turned around to grab my purple backpack and Hello Kitty themed roller luggage which was situated on the floor of the car. After slinging my backpack over my shoulder, I stood before Abuelito, clutching hard the handle to my roller luggage.


    “Very good. Let’s get in before the storm starts,” Abuelito said.


    “Storm? What storm?” Mami asked as she looked up, seemingly only then noticing the thick gray clouds overhead. “How did I miss that? I don’t think I remember the news saying anything about rain. It won’t be a problem, will it?”


    “No no, las noticias* said it would only be a light drizzle and might last for several days, but nothing to fear,” Abuelito replied self assuredly.


    “Oh, I was hoping we’d go to Playa Pe?ón Amador ma?ana,”* Mami said disappointedly.


    “And we still can.” He laughed softly. “You do have two weeks here with me. You worry too much, just like Mamá.”* Abuelito’s smile twitched a little. I raised a brow at him. He should’ve known better than to bring up Abuelita in front of Mami.


    Mami’s breath caught in her throat and she quickly looked away, a saddened expression on her face, but nodded. “You’re right, anyway, I’ll get the other bags.” She rushed past Abuelito to the trunk of the car, grabbing the car’s keys hanging from Papi’s pocket as she passed.


    This time Papi did the glaring, but toward Abuelo, who stared back with a weird expression. He looked like he had a smirk on his face. It seemed like he didn’t care how Mami felt. I was starting to like him less and less.


    Then with a wave of his hand he said, “Vengan, vengan,* let’s get you all inside and rested.” Abuelo bent down to grab my roller luggage and winked once at me, that same smirk on his face. It made my skin crawl. Why was he smirking so much? It was beginning to creep me out.


    The hum in my chest now felt like a heavy rumble, similar to a California earthquake. It definitely didn’t like Abuelo and I was starting to agree. It felt like . . . I needed to watch out with this guy, but I really didn’t know why at the time.


    I forced myself to let go of the handle and allowed him to take the luggage. After a deep breath, I followed him toward the house. Thunder suddenly sounded above, weak, like a grumbling stomach. The perfect punctuation to a bad first impression.


    Once we reached the veranda, I took one step and all of a sudden, an odd chill shot up my leg and spread throughout my entire body. I’d be lying if I said that didn’t freak me out. I was left kind of breathless and looked down toward the ground, to my simple white gladiator sandals on my feet. Had I stepped on something? I tilted my feet to check, but there was nothing.


    “Irene, is everything okay?” Papi asked as he tilted his head back at me, confused.


    “Huh?” I looked up at him and shook my head. Maybe it was just my imagination. “Sorry, it’s nothing . . . I thought I forgot something,” I lied and looked away, but startled as there was Abuelo, standing beside me, giving me a curious gaze.