The skies cried in agony, washing away the blood splattered along the road. A tail of smoke rose from the wreckage of a crash.
People die every day; it's just the natural order of things. Some say that solace awaits at the end of the tunnel, but strangely enough, he couldn't feel the so-called peace at the end of his life, only bitterness.
Slowly, life slipped away from his body, and the memories began to fade back into nothingness. If experience is what makes us a different person from before, then his crumbling soul was no longer the same, just new.
Perhaps that's natural cycle of souls, but for sinners like him, the end is just the beginning. And beyond the dream, the world began to shake.
A young boy opened his eyes in the darkness after hearing the sweet melody of a harmonica and the crunching sound of wood. The lyrics of the melody slowly came to his mind.
"El camino es largo
Con muchas curvas sinuosas
Que nos conduce a quién sabe dónde"
Each note took him through a spiral of emotions only shared between musician and listener.
"Si estoy completamente abrumado
Es por la tristeza
De que los corazones de todos
No estén llenos de felicidad"
Getting up, the young boy saw an old man through the darkness. Seated between his bundle and the Void below, lost in his own world while playing with his harmonica. The shadows, cast by the lamp on the ceiling, danced with the melody.
"Es un largo, largo camino
Del cual no hay retorno
Mientras vamos para…
The melody suddenly stopped like a movie cut before the end and the silence settled again in the Void. The old wooden elevator they were in swayed alone in the vast expanse of nothingness.
The old man, wearing his colorless beret, turned to look at the boy. His eyes were like two suns, their light dripping through his neglected beard like liquid gold.
"Such a pure soul sent to this side. The Lords most not like you..." muttered the old man.
"W-what?..."
Those words echoed like a wave in boy's fragmented mind. His memories were blank, with a few scattered fragments: a bustling city, a bucket of sardines, six guitar strings, a pair of hate-filled eyes and a very special word that shook his entire being.
Traitor
But even in such state, he knew that he didn't belong here.
"Forgive this old man's manners, it's been a long time since I spoke to someone... Anyway, what's your name, boy?" he asked, trying to mend his mistake.
"I-It's Tadeo, sir..." he stammered, "and yours?"
"Me!?" said the old man, too stunned to speak. A mad laughter echoed through the place. "It's been so long that I forgot!"
The colossal chain supporting the small elevator in the Void began to sway ruthlessly. Fear crept into Tadeo's mind. The old man paid no attention to his reaction and walked to the border between the endless fall and the light, chanting in the darkness with open arms.
"Welcome to the Void, Tadeo! A hellish place where cold gnaws at your bones and hunger tears your sanity. The Color, our very lifeblood and essence, slips away from us, the broken ones, until we fade into nothingness." The laughter died abruptly, and the old man's gaze bore into Tadeo's soul. "But I see the Color still hasn't left you, for now."
"What do you mean!?" wanted to ask Tadeo, however, time waits for no one.
The colossal chain creaked and a rain of sparks erupted from a mechanism at the center of the platform. Without warning, the elevator began to descend slowly into the darkness.
"You're broken, like the rest of us trapped in this hell. The Color will seep through you, drawing unwanted attention from those who crave it. They Lurk in shadows, waiting to devour you," the old man continued, unfazed, his words echoing like a dark curse.
Tadeo's heart was pounding wildly, like the crank connected to the mechanism, sending adrenaline to each fiber of his body. Yet, his mind was surprisingly calm, analyzing the problem. The workings of mechanism traversed by the chain seemed quite simple; the only thing to highlight was the huge piece of metal stuck in it.
"Well, it looks like it's time for me to go," said the old man "that piece of trash I put there won't last long."
Tadeo ran toward the crank, trying to stop it. His hands screamed as he abruptly halted the blow, his weight felt overwhelming like a massive mountain. Despite the pain, his mind remained focused. The old man prepared to leap into the Void but looked back at the boy one last time before jumping.
—One last thing before I go. Always stay in the light, okay?