Chapter 1
The Martinez family had been on the road for nearly four hours. And in that time little was said. Ray never said much on family trips anyway due to the fact that his attention was always on his Gameboy. The family could have gotten into an accident and Ray never would have known. But his parents were being much more quiet than Ray was used to.
"How you feeling?" Ray's father, Gus, asked his wife, Nancy. "I don't think you've said more than a couple words since we left."
"I don't know how I feel," replied Nancy. "I mean, how should I feel? That woman left me when I was only six years old. To say that I've resented her every day since would be like the biggest understatement of the century."
"She kinda went overboard with that church of hers, didn't she?" asked Gus.
"Dad says it's a cult," said Ray, his eyes still firmly glued to his Gameboy.
Nancy gave her husband a look.
"I don't know if that's the exact word I used," said Gus. "I just said that they do things a little differently than other churches. I mean, they do exorcisms, for crying out loud."
"It's a Catholic church," said Nancy. "Yes, from time to time they perform an exorcism or two, but that doesn't make them a cult. They've been doing them for hundreds of years."
"That's what I said," explained Gus. "But Rayray was hellbent on using that word. I tried to warn him that it would upset you."
"You said a swear," said Ray, once again not bothering to look up from his screen.
"Hell is not a swear," said Gus. "It's a place, a place for bad little boys that try to out their dads."
"She dedicated her whole life to the church after dad died," said Nancy. "She would always tell me that they had important work to do. She would be gone for weeks at a time without so much as even a phone call to ask me how I was doing. It felt like I had lost her long before she actually left."
Keeping one hand on the steering wheel, Gus took hold of his wife's hand with the other.
"You two aren't gonna kiss, are you?" asked Ray, his attention still fixated on his game.
The family arrived at a run-down little house a few hours later. Nancy let out a deep breath and clenched her husband's hand tightly.
"You've got this," said Gus, prompting Nancy to nod her head.
"Rayray," said Nancy, "you don't have to go inside to see your grandma if you don't want to. You can wait in the car and keep playing your game if that's what you want."
"I don't mind," replied Ray, powering off his Gameboy.
The trio pushed forward and were led into the house by an old woman. The look she gave Ray as he entered sent a shiver down his spine.
The old woman led the three to the bedroom where they would find Nancy's mother. Ever so gently, the old woman closed the door behind her, giving the family their privacy.
"Hi mom," said Nancy, her voice visibly shaking.
Nancy's mother's eyes and mouth were opened wide as she lied motionless in her bed.
"This is my husband Gus," said Nancy, prompting him to wave. "And this handsome little guy is Raymond, prompting him to wave as well."
Nancy then began breathing heavily. "It really has been a while, hasn't it?" she said.
Ray noticed his grandmother's gaze was on a small book on her nightstand. It had a worn out leather cover and was the oldest thing Ray had ever seen in his young life.
"Oh, that book," said Nancy, who had noticed Ray fixated on it. She retrieved it and handed it to him. "Your grandmother said she wanted you to have this."
"Oh, thanks," said Ray, noticing his grandmother's gaze now set squarely on him.
"That is a very important book, Rayray," said Nancy. "It's been in our family for hundreds of years. So I want you to promise to take really good care of it, okay?"
"I will," said Ray.
Unable to keep her composure any longer, Nancy began crying uncontrollably. "I'm sorry," she said, "I can't do this." And with that, she rushed out of the room.
"Nancy," said Gus. "Wait here, Rayray." Ray's father followed his wife out the door, leaving Ray alone with his grandmother.
"Raymundo, come closer," said his grandmother.
"It's Ray, but okay," said Ray before making his way closer.
When his grandmother offered her hand, Ray took a hold of it. "You're a very special boy, Raymundo," said his grandmother.
"That's what everyone tells me," said Ray.
Ray's grandmother tightened her grip. "You will have to make the greatest sacrifice," she said. "Everything is going to happen for a reason, Raymundo. You can not fight it. The circle will end where it began."
"What?" asked a confused Ray.
Ray's grandmother then tightened her grip on Ray so hard that it was beginning to hurt him. "The house," she exclaimed. "It's been awoken. It no longer sleeps. It hungers for blood. It will not stop. It will never stop!"
"What house?" asked a wide-eyed Ray, who was trying his best to break free from his grandmother's grasp.
"You must stop it, Raymundo!" exclaimed Ray's grandmother. "Make it bleed! Make it bleed!"
Ray immediately began screaming, prompting his father to rush into the room and pry his hand from his grandmother's. "What are you doing?" he asked before leading Ray out of the room. As the pair was leaving, Ray took one last look at his grandmother, who was just as motionless as when the family had first entered the room.
The family left shortly thereafter. Having not been able to sleep much the night before, Nancy was fast asleep in the passenger seat.
As the car waited for a passing train, Ray began flipping through the small book his grandmother had given him. "Hey, dad, what do all these weird words mean?" he asked.
"What weird words?" asked Gus, who was immediately handed the book by Ray. After flipping through a few pages, he stopped. "Oh, haha, very funny, Rayray."
"What?" asked Ray.
Gus handed the book back to his son. "There's nothing written in there," he replied. "All the pages are blank."
Ray opened up the book but found no blank pages. He was again presented with page after page of writing in a language he had never before seen.
"Speaking of unfunny jokes," said Gus. "You wanna tell me what that whole screaming fiasco was all about? Why would you grab onto your grandma and then start screaming?"
"I didn't grab her," replied Ray. "She grabbed me. She wouldn't let go. She kept talking about a house. And I'm supposed to make it bleed. Houses don't bleed."
Gus let out a loud sigh. "Rayray, this behavior has really got to stop," he said.
"What?" asked Ray. "It's true."
"I find it a little hard to believe that your grandmother said those things to you," said Gus.
"Why?" asked Ray.
"Because your grandmother died two days ago."
The train passed and the Martinez family was able to continue on their journey.
