El Queco, as a faithful morning rooster, was the one in charge of waking up the ladies of that pension with his barking, even on Saturdays and Sundays, which was when they silenced him with their protests, but not that Tuesday in February, the 16 girls got up to get ready to occupy the bathroom, some in shifts because 6 of the rooms had a bathroom inside, but they had no problems because Adelina was in charge of supervising the times very well, and that they were all ready for when the transport passed through them, some of them She carried them herself, but since Romaia and Érika had their own car, they were just in charge of going through Pamela to go to school, where the news of the balcony operation had already started to flow, being confirmed by the girls who proudly showed the photo of Gael Dominguez, her latest victim.
The classes passed without incident like every day and around 2 in the afternoon; Romaia would put the letter with the two photos in the mailbox of the post office, already with their proper stamps and the sender and recipient information.
- Surely it will take about a year to respond! –Érika says.
- Yes right? Not even the photos we send you are going to go to waste. –Romaia answers.
And they went to the pension like every day to do their homework, but with the mobility that the car gave them, they decided to take a walk along the beach.
Not without first telling Adelina by means of a public telephone, that they were going to arrive. a couple of hours late.
-I fancy a bottle of Bacacho.
Pamela says referring to a very popular white rum of the time.
-Ay Pamela, Pamela; Wait until Friday! Remember that Queco is a good gossip, and out of the blue he barks at Ms. Adelina when he detects us alcoholic breath, and he has already sentenced us. –says Romaia.
-Oh Romaia, Romaia; If he sentenced us, it was because you made your mother drunk and knocked down her pots with your car when you entered the garage, not because Queco betrayed you.
-And -Érika vomited. - Romaia says pointing at her.
-That time I don't know if the flower pots bothered him more, or because we went to the mansion of the countess of Malibrán, but if we arrive again drunk or at least with alcoholic breath, he will talk to my parents so they can take me away. the car.
-So get rid of cravings and wait until Friday better.
They left Pamela and the girls arrived at the Román mansion without incident, already after 5 in the afternoon, as they had eaten some coconuts and pineapples from which they sold at the beach stalls, as they decided to wait until time for dinner to eat again.
Dinner was punctual from 8 to 9 at night, but if someone arrived late it could be served without problem, but he had to wash everyone's dishes, and when they were all gathered in the spacious dining room; Adelina told them.
- I hope you have not gone to the mansion of the countess of Malibrán again! Since they were walking in those directions.
- How is she going to believe that about us, Ms. Adelina think? Besides that mansion scares me! They say that you know your story very well; Could you tell us so that we all know at once why you don't want us to go?
- Sure it could, but no! Further; Why does a bunch of idiots like you want to know the story of that woman?
- Well, no longer go! Terrible things are told about that mansion, but nobody knows the story like you. –Erika says. - Come on, it costs you nothing!
Adelina had not the slightest intention of telling the story to the group of schoolgirls who listened attentively and anxiously, but at that moment a very common blackout in that city arose, and in which she lit the luxurious candlesticks with which they would wait for that the light should return, she told them.
At the insistence of the schoolgirls, who had nothing better to do on that occasion than to listen to a horror story, as the electricity service was restored.
-If you insist so much, I'm going to tell you the legend, but after a while I don't want them to be knocking on the door because they're hearing or seeing things, I'm going to lock myself up and pretend they don't exist.
The girls looked at each other in awe at the macabre atmosphere, created by candlelight in the spacious dining room with antique decor.
-It is said that at the beginning of the 19th century, a very unique visitor arrived in Veracruz who caused curiosity and admiration; she arrived accompanied by class, beauty and luxury, it was known that she was the wife of a Spanish Count, who was frequently absent from home for long business trips, and affairs of the Spanish crown; her mansion was the largest and most luxurious in the port, and was known as the mansion of Malibrán and her wife named Blanca Beatriz del Real y Herrera, as: The countess of Malibrán.
The atmosphere had become macabre before the gloom of the candlelight, and more with the barks and howls of the Queco, who seemed to enjoy making the atmosphere more macabre on that dark night, ideal for telling horror stories.
-In that time as now, boats from all over the world continually arrived in Veracruz, and attracted by this opportunity, faced with loneliness due to the absence of her husband.
-The countess of Malibrán was heading in her luxurious carriage to the docks, to search the taverns for a visitor who was to her liking and thus, invite him to her house to hang out with her, sometimes alone, and other times at one of the lavish parties she made in her mansion, when the Count was away.
-It is said that the parties were very lively, that many of the elite personalities of Veracruz, were invited and that they commonly lasted until dawn, and with the Sun rising, people retired to their homes in their luxurious carriages and some were invited to their luxurious rooms, as well as slaves to their barracks and thus, the Countess could spend some time alone with her companion in turn, however, that was the last time the young man was seen again, because after days nothing was heard from him again.
-In Veracruz, there was an enviable tranquility and within that immense stillness, the rumors began among the people, that one and the other were telling strange things that happened in the house of a woman, who had arrived at the port accompanied by much pomp, luxury, and a noble title that no one had in those times in the region.
-These were the years that began the 19th century, very strange things were whispered around the inhabitants of the town, there was talk of a witch who practiced black magic, and who lived in a humble hut, surrounded by swamps where crocodiles, and sandbanks abounded in front of that hut there was an earth oven and on top of it a clay pot that, due to the heat it received, emanated nauseating odors.
-One of them very penetrating that caused nausea and vomiting when breathed in.
-In the facade of that hut, a door built with pieces of boards, branches and cardboard, where the head of a huge stuffed eagle with bright eyes as if it had life, adorned it.
-From the door of that hut to the window, it had huge spiders that seemed to play among their own cobwebs, right there you could see the face of an infernal-type idol with a single eye and in its mouth, a gold ring that part of his beard adorned him, that beard was constituted in an enormous tangle as if it were a skein of thick black yarn, together with that great idol, a disgusting skull still with remains of rotten meat and a very unpleasant stench.
-They said that that witch, whenever it struck twelve at night, would go out to the door of her house, and with her arms stretched out towards the sky, in the most frightening darkness, with a cut voice she asked the forces of evil to protect and fulfill her requests; Satan himself called with strident cries that were getting lost in the thicket of the trees, and pines of the small town that was Veracruz at that time.
-The existence of that witch who lived in those sandy areas, reached the ears of the countess of Malibrán who, dressed in black, sometimes and sometimes in white, but always with elegance, began to visit her because she wanted her to conjure a curse, who said that in the past it had been installed by another witch from old Spain.
-That rare and elegant woman suffered beyond belief, because even married with enough time, she still could not have children.
-Although sometimes it was thought that she murdered the sailors, that same night and threw them into an old well with crocodiles, the truth is that she kept them locked in the dungeons of the basements of the mansion, guarded by slaves of her entire confidence , where no one but her could access, where she slept with them several times, keeping them stupid and in love with magical concoctions that she prepared herself, because her intention was to get pregnant, and that is why she went with the sandy witch who taught her how to prepare them.
-And as the days and nights passed without achieving her goal, when the date of her menstrual period came and her period lowered, she poisoned them, and it was when she threw them into the old well with the crocodiles, so that no one would ever find or the slightest trace of the sailors.
For this the girls were already frozen with fear, and something that fell on the second floor made them jump and scream.
- No, I'm leaving! –said Belinda Castillo Ruiz, one of the pensioners. -It already frightened me.
- We saw the dungeons where he locked them! They have bars and cots, as if they were jail cells. –said Romaia, who, although she was also afraid, seemed calm.
Belinda tried to leave the dining room, but faced with the darkness of the Román mansion.
And the howls and barks of the Queco who would not shut up, she decided to sit down again.
-That rare woman never found out from which province of old Spain she came to Veracruz. –Adelina continued talking. - People knew that the husband was a count of the Spanish crown, and the place where they lived was an immense mansion with a royal palace tinge, in that old construction, apart from the luxurious and gloomy rooms that it had, there was a gigantic well that at the bottom it housed large lizards, that were fed with live dogs and cats, beef and pork, as well as poultry, that elegant and beautiful woman who visited the witch of the sand, was nothing less than the countess of Malibrán, she was known Thus because her marriage to the Count gave her that rank, there in that swampy place surrounded by dunes and cactus plants, the countess of Malibrán had her palace, this one, I repeat, was a classy and extremely beautiful woman, her pearly complexion contrasted with her Dark hair, her jet-colored eyes gave off defiant looks at times and at other times, tender and sweet that seemed to be asking for love, giving a very distinguished touch to her strong personality, and her doll beauty, which she used to attract sailors.
-The husband for work reasons left home for two or three months, which the Countess took advantage of to flirt with the men of her liking, meanwhile she continued with her obsession of getting pregnant, going with the sandy witch for more and more potions.
-And she continued to bring handsome young men to her mansion, it is said that in the midst of her madness, he had half a dozen young lovers in her dungeons, who thanks to their beauty and her strange love potions that she prepared by liters and liters, did not They had eyes more than for her and without trying to run away or ask for help, they stayed only to make love to her as many times as she wanted and chose them, however, every time her menstrual period came, she considered that all of them were useless, and all together they were poisoned and thrown into the crocodile pit, being replaced by a new sailor who she recruited on the docks easily, thanks to her class, wealth, sensuality and beauty.
-After a few days, the disappearance of the young sailor was noted, first in the boat to which he belonged; And the search began, everywhere it asked about him, in the bars and taverns, where it was always said that the lost sailor, had been seen getting into an elegant carriage accompanied by a beautiful woman, and the same people who had been in one of the parties, Surprised, it wondered what had happened to that handsome young man, with a pleasant personality who had attracted so much attention in them, because at all times of the party he was always close to the Countess, but the disappearance of those young people was never clarified, passing time and the countess of Malibrán, every afternoon she used to walk through the town in a luxurious stage drawn by magnificent steeds and a black slave who dressed elegantly led him.
-Every time she saw a young man of her liking with attributes of sympathy, she invited him to her palace to have fun with her, lovingly, but the young guest also mysteriously disappeared, leaving no trace left to find him.
-She always proud and at the same time humble, she kept going to the witch to beg her to remove the curse of not being able to have children, and the witch with imploring gestures kept asking the forces of evil that she could conceive children, after so much evil pleading and from so much magic potion, the Countess finally managed to get pregnant, by one of the 5 or 6 sailors she had locked up, and during her pregnancy, she stopped recruiting lovers, keeping those she had alive, locked up and in love, because one of them was the Lucky father, perhaps hoping to find some hereditary trait in her baby from one of them, a monster was born at the end of her pregnancy that, just by looking at it, terrified, its head was extremely large, with protrusions like cut horns and With a pair of huge eyes, on each hand he had seven fingers and also defective and long, and instead of nails he had claws like birds of prey, the Countess, realizing what she had procreated, constantly suffered spasms, that used to make her hysterical when she saw the horrible features of her baby monster, the result of the love concoctions that she gave to her captive lovers, and those that she herself prepared and drank in order to get pregnant, when she saw her Deformed and unsaved son, she immediately poisoned the presumed parents, throwing them into the crocodile well and hiding her son without murdering him.
-She nurtured him to a slave, maintaining her life of luxurious parties and occasional lovers, who disappeared without leaving a trace.
For this, already the boarding schools kept a sepulchral silence and only Adelina's voice was heard, amid the sound of the wind that blew in through the windows, since the light did not return and not even the Queco barked.
-But since everything good ends. –Adelina says continuing with the story. -Some time later, a cold and humid night with omens of misfortune, the Countess's husband returned home, he was happy thinking about the meeting with his wife, he already saw himself in her arms enjoying her tender caresses, and flattering her beauty and elegance, but when one of the slaves opened the palace door, his surprise was enormous when he saw a horrible bundle in the arms of one of the slaves, it was the little monster that only gave frightful grunts as if wanting to speak, as if wanting to tell he, dad, immediately ordered the slave to disappear from his sight, and that he did not want to see him again in his life, the Count, realizing that monstrosity, ran to his wife's room to ask her about the little monster, without even imagining that had been procreated by her, and another more unpleasant surprise received when he found in his wife's bed, a young man given to her caresses, full of anger, the Count attacked them, but when the Countess was discovered and trying to justify herself, her features became rough and a grimace of bitterness was appreciated in her, because she was taking the forms of the sandy witch.
-Her appearance was horrifying, her eyes looked like two burning coals, her face was furrowed by large wrinkles, her head was deformed, lengthening at the same time that a couple of protrusions emerged from her forehead as if they were filed horns, her fangs stood out horribly after having belonged to fine teeth, her hair was messy and bristling like thorns ready to attack.
-The Count, when he saw the transformation that his wife was taking, wanted to scream, but a lump formed in his throat, and with a terrible fear in front of that spectrum, he drew his sword to bury it in her heart, doing the same with the young man, who He accompanied her in her love affairs.
-Once the double murder was committed, without knowing exactly what was happening, because he was certain that the infernal entity that he had killed with his sword, was not his beloved Blanca Beatriz, and he went to meet the slave, who was carrying the child and when he found her, he asked angrily who belonged to that monster that he carried in her arms, the slave plunged in great sadness, told the Count that that horrible creature was the son of the Countess, without being able to control himself, the Count took that phenomenon for his arms and threw him with force, along with the corpses of those who minutes before he had murdered, also killing him with a blow to the heart, the terrified black slave did not know what to do, trembling with strong convulsions and in that state, when the Count ordered her to the other slaves, and dungeon guards who will throw the lifeless bodies of his wife.
-That of the young sailor and that of the deformed entity into the well of lizards, the slave with terror On her face pointed towards that sinister well, telling him at the same time that in that same well infested with lizards, the Countess had thrown to the bottom several young people whom she invited to her orgies, and that she killed them by poisoning them to throw them with all vileness, to which they were a snack for those ferocious and hungry animals.
-When the Count heard all the horrors that his wife was committing, the Count together with the slaves, threw the cold bodies of those who one day enjoyed the pleasures of the world, to end in the most grotesque.
-When the bodies fell to the bottom of the well, the voice of Blanca Beatriz del Real de Malibrán was heard, repeatedly asking for forgiveness.
- -I need you to forgive me! give me your forgiveness, forgive to me please, TELL HIM TO FORGIVE ME!
-The count of Malibrán gave a horrible laugh accompanied by long laments, which were heard even in the last corner of the gloomy palace, spreading laughter and lamentations throughout the Veracruz countryside.
- Legend has it that that tragic night, the count of Malibrán went mad, and that he was often seen in the streets of the port shouting with all the force of his voice:
- JUSTICEEE AND NEMEEESIIIS, LET THE MALIBRÀN COUNTESS DIE!
-Those terrible cries of the Count were heard terrifying full of terror and revenge, they sounded like loud screams of wild animals stalking their prey.
-The same legend continues to tell that in those inhospitable places, at that time mysterious cases continued to happen, those same cases are repeated even in these days on dark summer nights, when the stillness lets us feel and the deep silence is imposed, see in those same streets, today Lafragua, that of Mario B. Remes, up to Malibrán street, where suddenly the sinister carriage appears, carrying the countess of Malibrán inside, carrying the little monster that in life fate itself gave him as a son, repeatedly asking for forgiveness, in those directions she is seen, dragging the old curse that centuries ago, that witch of the sand left in her potions and concoctions, sometimes you see the Count, who with a whip In his hand, he follows a mysterious shadow that laughs out loud, throwing lizards with youngsters in their jaws, and the countess of Malibrán screaming, as I have already told you.
- JUSTICIEEE AND NEMESIIIS, LET THE MALIBRÀN COUNTESS DIE! LET INFIDELITY DIE.
-That's how that beautiful and elegant woman ended, Countess Blanca Beatriz del Real de Malibrán, who through the years continues to claim lives among people, appearing on occasions as elegant and beautiful as she was in life.
-Searching among the young people who walk at night.
-Along the boardwalk, for that sailor who finally gave her the precious son that she continues to long for.
-This is the true legend of the countess of Malibrán.
At that moment the light came, and the group of pensioners who almost all formed a compact mass around Romaia and Erika, did not attempt to go to their room, to which Adelina said: realizing their fear perfectly.
- Now if everyone to sleep! And everyone to their room, that is why I did not want to tell them the legend of the countess of Malibrán, because I know they are a bunch of scary girls; and do not even think about going those directions at dawn, because they say that it continues to appear and more so when a woman who is in her menstrual period goes to her mansion!