Gabrielle had always known that her life would be full of twists and turns, but she never imagined it would start in such a dramatic way. There she was, holding on with all her strength to a makeshift tent under a bridge while a furious storm threatened to take everything away.
Lightning slashed through the sky, and the wind howled around her, whipping her hair and shaking the small tent she struggled to keep standing. Gabrielle didn't know how she ended up like this, in the middle of a storm under a bridge, with rain soaking her clothes and her dreams.
— Okay, this isn't exactly the glamorous scene I imagined — she thought, as the wind threatened to tear the tarp from her hands. — But, what can I do? Not everything goes as we expect.
Gabrielle took a deep breath, smelling the scent of wet earth mixed with the sea breeze. She closed her eyes for a moment and let her mind drift back to the sunny mornings in Armação dos Búzios. The coastal town was her home, a paradise of crystal-clear beaches and luxurious mansions. Life there was peaceful, surrounded by comfort and… rules. Lots of rules.
"Hi, I'm Gabrielle," she said in her thoughts, almost like an introduction on an imaginary stage. "I'm sixteen years old, I'm stubborn, and against all odds, I'm here because I want to be a great actress!"
She remembered clearly the morning she had left home, heart pounding and a heavy suitcase in her hands. The decision to go to the big city and pursue her dream seemed so right, so liberating. Every step on the asphalt road, leaving behind the affluent neighborhood where she grew up, was a step closer to becoming who she really wanted to be.
"I left the comfort of my home in Armação dos Búzios to follow my dream," she thought, pulling the tarp over her head to prevent the wind from ripping it away. "Running off to the big city seemed like a brilliant idea at the time."
The memory of her father, with his stern and disapproving face, crossed her mind. She had told him she was determined to be an actress, but he didn't want to listen. And now, here she was, under a bridge, trying to keep her "home" from being blown away.
Gabrielle opened her eyes, facing the storm as if it were a personal challenge. She knew this scene wasn't the end — it was just the beginning of her story. A chaotic and challenging beginning, but still, her beginning.
It was in this moment of reflection that a strange, shiny object flew towards her. Before she could protect herself, she felt it strike her head, and everything went dark. The last thought that crossed her mind before she fainted was a stubborn and hopeful one: — One day, I'll tell this story with a laugh.
***
Gabrielle slowly opens her eyes, her head aching as if she had been hit by a giant hammer. She looks around and, astonished, sees all the debris brought by the storm.
— Ow, ow... Wow! What a mess! Looks like a hurricane passed through here! Well… it actually did!
She pauses, takes a breath, and carefully examines the chaos caused by the previous night's storm. Her home—or rather, the small camping tent where Gabrielle had been spending her nights under a bridge near a canal in downtown Rio de Janeiro—was now completely destroyed!
— Oh!!! My house!! What am I going to do now?
She looks around in despair, unsure of what to do. The state of the place after the storm is at its worst, and Gabrielle herself is in a chaotic state. Her skirt, supposedly white, is grimy, as are her black and blue blouses, which she wears layered for style and protection. Seeing her few belongings muddied or lost, the girl feels deeply saddened, thinking that all her effort was in vain.
Gabrielle Alves is a beautiful 16-year-old, 1.65 meters tall, with long blonde hair and large almond-shaped eyes of a deep brown color. She left her home in Armação de Búzios against her father's wishes to study theater at the most prestigious school in Rio de Janeiro after receiving one of the few scholarships offered by the institution. All of this was to follow her lifelong dream of becoming an actress.
— I already know what he's going to say… — Gabrielle reflects, completely lost, thinking out loud about the probable lectures she'll hear from her father and the consequences she'll face for daring to defy him!
"I saw this coming… forget that stupid dream and accept the future I've chosen for you!"
Gabrielle lowers her head for a moment, with an expression of regret, but then she stands up firmly and exclaims with all the power of her voice, as if to banish those thoughts once and for all.
— Be quiet! I'm not giving up!! Asking me to give up is like asking me to stop breathing…
As she tries to get up, a blinding flash hits her brown eyes.
— Ouch… what is that?
Gabrielle quickly closes her eyes to avoid the light, but curious, she slowly opens them, looking at the ground and cautiously searching for the mysterious glow.
Her eager, half-closed eyes search for the shiny object and discover a short and thin golden teapot, attached to a second object.
— Wow! What is this? A teapot? It looks like Aladdin's lamp!! And… huh… there's something else stuck to it… what is this? It looks… like a chamber pot!?
She also notices a small piece of paper stuck to the teapot.
— …with a… little note?
Curious, Gabrielle grabs the paper attached to the teapot and reads it carefully.
"Hmm… the newly opened "Pousada Buraquinho"… is hiring… immediate start… with housing?!"
A joyful expression fills Gabrielle's face, and she begins to gather her few belongings scattered by the storm. "Woohoo! This is perfect! I won't have to go back home!" she thinks, excited.
— Ready! — Gabrielle exclaims triumphantly after packing all her belongings into a small blue polyester handbag, closed with just a zipper.
***
A small and narrow structure consisting only of a door and a small roof stands before Gabrielle. The place is so tiny that it seems smaller than a room, exactly the size of a portable toilet. A worn wooden sign, located to the left of the small structure, reads "Pousada Buraquinho."
On the other side of the small door, a young man jumps as if startled by something. His eyes convey a feeling of exasperation, with an inhuman color: black sclera, red iris, and yellow pupil. This state of hostility changes within seconds, and his eyes return to their human colors.
"There's a Djinn nearby… I can feel it!!!" — This was the thought that immediately crossed the young man's mind.
Outside, Gabrielle looks incredulously at the place, and completely disheartened, she rings the bell.
"I can already see myself going back home… this must be a prank." — She murmurs in a tone of despair.
Suddenly, the small door opens, and on the other side appears the smiling Guilherme Oshiro, a 20-year-old young man, thin, 1.79m tall, with black hair and dark brown eyes. He is wearing jeans and a dark red t-shirt.
— Welcome to Pousada Buraquinho! I'm Guilherme Oshiro, the Inn's owner and manager! — Exclaims the enthusiastic Guilherme.
Gabrielle is startled and takes a step back as she suddenly notices the young man's presence.
— Oh, Jesus… what a scare!
Guilherme approaches Gabrielle and continues speaking:
— Give me your luggage, go ahead… make yourself at home!
Guilherme grabs Gabrielle's luggage and gently pushes her inside the inn.
— Hey, wait… hold on, sir!
Gabrielle enters through the small door, being lightly nudged by Guilherme. She's surprised to see that right after the small entrance, there are steps leading to a lower level.
"Steps?? Could this place be bigger than I imagined?" — Gabrielle wonders.
Gabrielle hurriedly descends the steps and finds herself on a balcony.
— Wow!!! — Gabrielle exclaims in surprise.
From the balcony, Gabrielle has her first glimpse of what Pousada Buraquinho really is. The entire inn is built underground, in a vast cavern! Besides being a vast space, very different from its entrance, the place is also quite cozy. The inn is entirely structured in wood, with two more floors below the main entry balcony, featuring a large leisure area, with a pool and adjacent spaces.
— This place is amazing!! — Gabrielle says excitedly.
— What an incredible place! Sir… — she continues, turning to look at Guilherme, who is calmly descending the steps.
Guilherme, who was inspecting the contents of Gabrielle's luggage, closes it just as the blonde girl turns to him.
— Yes? Were you going to say something? — Guilherme asks, flashing a big smile.
— Actually… I came because of the… — Gabrielle, quite embarrassed, tries to inform him that she's there to apply for the receptionist position.
— You're hired! — Guilherme says promptly, preventing Gabrielle from finishing her sentence.
Gabrielle's eyes widen with a feeling of euphoria, "I won't have to give up on my dreams anymore! I won't have to stop being who I am."
***
Gabrielle sits excitedly on her new bed. The receptionist's room was located in the area reserved for the inn's staff—a simple yet cozy space that exuded a tranquil atmosphere.
The room consisted of a single bed embedded within mahogany wood cabinets, maximizing every inch of space. A pale yellow bedspread covered the mattress, adding a subtle lightness to the deep tone of the wood.
To the right of the bed, a large window without curtains allowed natural light to flood the room, illuminating the furniture and bringing a sense of warmth to the environment. The view revealed a small, well-tended garden, and from an immense concrete wall emerged a concrete staircase leading to a discreet gate that provided access to the side street, on the east side of the inn's small main entrance.
On the wall opposite the window, a mahogany desk completed the setting, offering a practical space where Gabrielle could organize her notebooks, theater books, and small mementos.
Despite her satisfaction and the peace of now having a place to sleep, Gabrielle felt somewhat uneasy about her sudden hiring.
"How strange, he didn't even interview me for the position... ah, whatever, who cares! Now I have a roof over my head, a job, and I can continue my acting course," Gabrielle pondered, feeling content.
Lying on her new bed, Gabrielle looked to the side and saw her small suitcase leaning against the wall. With one hand, she extended her fingers and lightly touched the suitcase, thinking, "This is all I managed to save from yesterday's storm..."
Sighing, Gabrielle got up and sat on the edge of the bed, facing the suitcase. It was then that she noticed the zipper slightly open. "Huh? It's open?" she thought, frowning. "How strange... in the rush, I must have forgotten to close it properly."
Looking closer at the opening, Gabrielle noticed a blinding golden reflection coming from inside the suitcase.
— What's this? I don't remember having anything this shiny... — she said, intrigued by the glow.
She immediately pulled the shiny object out of the bag and exclaimed in surprise:
— It's the golden teapot I found under the bridge! — Gabrielle said, contemplating the object for a few moments.
— It's just like Aladdin's lamp!! Could there be a Genie inside too? — she said with a mischievous expression before breaking into soft laughter.
Only after focusing again on the splendid artifact did Gabrielle notice another object hanging from the teapot: a chamber pot!
— My God, what is this? A chamber pot? And golden, just like the teapot... — Upon realizing that the new object was indeed a golden chamber pot, Gabrielle began to laugh.
— Ha, ha, ha, ha... that's right! I remember it was together with the little announcement paper for Pousada Buraquinho... I must have brought it along with my things...
She then heard a loud crash coming from outside and, with a start, jumped off the bed, standing in front of the wardrobe.
— What was that? — a trembling Gabrielle asked herself.
Abruptly and violently, the door flew into the wall with a bang. An inhuman, grotesque, and deformed creature emerged.
The creature before Gabrielle was a being made of pure nightmare. Its large, muscular body was covered in skin as dark as pitch, with a rough texture reminiscent of reptile leather. On its back, large and thick crystalline, pointed spines protruded from its spine, gleaming menacingly under the dim light.
From its elbows, sharp crystal blades jutted out, ready to cut through anything that crossed its path.
The creature's hands, with only three fingers, ended in sharp claws, with nails made of the same deadly crystal. Its feet, also with three toes, dug their claws into the ground, each step making a dry and threatening sound.
The creature's head was draconian, a blend of ferocity and malice. Razor-sharp teeth filled its mouth, and from the corners of its lips, a dark and sinister smoke spread, as if the very air around it was contaminated by its presence. Its eyes, full of rage, glowed with a malevolent light.
A thick tail extended from the base of its spine, moving with the precision of a whip ready to deliver a lethal blow. Every movement of the monster was accompanied by a dry and harsh sound, like stones grinding against each other.
The terror felt by Gabrielle caused her legs to give way, and she collapsed heavily to the floor. Panting, she groped at the bed beside her, not knowing what to do. She looked around in fright, her eyes wide with fear... the door to her new room, which had been hurled toward the opposite wall, was completely destroyed... her vision of the golden chamber pot hanging from the teapot became blurred due to fear.
— Where is the Djinn? — the grotesque and misshapen creature asked, its body entirely covered in the color of darkness.
In an impulse to protect herself, Gabrielle grabbed and held against her body the golden chamber pot that was on the bed, with the golden teapot still hanging from it... her body trembled at the terrifying sight of the horrendous creature.
— A lamp? — the creature bellowed in ecstasy, referring to the golden teapot.
— Returned to such an obvious place... Farid! — the beast growled in disdain.
"So this really is a lamp? Who is Farid?" Gabrielle thought, gasping with fear.
The deformed aberration approached Gabrielle, and with one of its giant, misshapen, claw-like hands, it separated the lamp from the chamber pot.
— NOW YOU WILL DIE, YOU CURSED ONE!! HA, HA, HA! — the creature roared, crushing the golden teapot with a single squeeze, reducing it to crumbs before Gabrielle's frightened eyes.
The beast then turned its attention to the girl.
Gabrielle shrank back, in a total state of panic, behind the golden chamber pot, praying that the creature wouldn't notice her and would quickly leave. However, contrary to Gabrielle's wishes, the creature advanced slowly toward her.
— Now that I'm done with the Djinn... I'll destroy the Master!! — the beast bellowed.
Gabrielle trembled even more with fear as the monster approached, its slow and heavy footsteps echoing through the room. The monster's sharp claws extended toward her, ready to pierce her body. She clung to the golden chamber pot, feeling the cold metal against her skin, as if it could ward off the terror surrounding her.
At the instant when the claws were mere millimeters from touching her, a piercing sound of metal colliding reverberated through the room. Gabrielle's eyes widened, surprised and scared. Before she could process what was happening, something... a voice... perhaps just a whisper, seemed to emerge from somewhere, or from everywhere at once, filling the air around her.
Gabrielle blinked, her heart racing, leaving the question hanging in the air: who, or what, had just intervened?