Page 127 of Castle of the Cursed
They have a slight glow around them, and I wonder if this is even their real form. If I reached out, could I touch them, or would my fingers go through them?
“I no longer remember my beginnings,” says Brálaga once we are side by side. “I do not recall the organism I once was, but by now I no longer think in the self-serving way you assume. I am no longer an individual. I have morphed into a new entity that transcends a physical shell. I am partly this garden, I am partly this castle and the other castle, I am partly all the Brálagas in the world. I am partly you. And constantly, I am expanding. I do not know what I am evolving into, or what happens next, just like any of you. Yet at this moment, I am a grandparent in awe of two human beings—and a Bleeder.”
Brálaga looks at Sebastián. “You have surprised me, and that is hard to do.”
“What happened to the other twins?” I ask, greedy for answers to my questions. “Matilda and Josefina? Araceli and Isabel? They only journaled once.”
Brálaga nods, their expression grim. “Humans are very delicate,” they begin. “It is an easy thing to forget when you have been raised in the other castle. Josefina drowned Matilda, thinking she could revive her body, but as drowning is a natural death, Josefina died on the spot as well. Isabel tormented Araceli by possessing and killing those around her, which had an unexpected and devastating effect—Araceli killed herself, thereby also killing Isabel.”
I wonder how they will sum up my fate when this is over. “Do you know about the Book?” I ask, and Sebastián moves in, resting a hand on my shoulder. Something about the reaction makes me tense, as if the question has just endangered me.
“There will always be those who fear progress because they cannot see past the sacrifice it requires,” Brálaga says, not exactly answering my question.
“The being who delivered it claimed your plan would destroy Earth,” I say.
“Growth is death,” says Brálaga, without elaborating. “I know you have many more curiosities, but as the hour of your battle nears, I must ask you to limit yourself to a few final questions.”
I can barely breathe at the mention of my battle. Yet I force my gut to unclench, and I try to focus on this last chance to interview Brálaga. There is something I want to know about that only they can explain, so I ask, “What is la Sombra exactly?”
“A carnivorous castle,” they say with a small smile, and the cave walls around us flutter with shadows.
As the animation unfolds, I see hundreds of silhouettes together in what appears to be the windowless cathedral. This looks like a party. As the figures cluster together to converse, dance, and eat, something starts to happen at the far end of the room.
By the back stone wall that leads to the jardín de sangre, the ground begins to dip. A gap widens between the floor and wall that looks like a mouth opening—
The celebration turns to hysteria as guests are sucked into the castle’s belly.
“This soil is connected to the other castle, my home dimension, which is constantly trying to expand,” explains Brálaga, their tone almost mournful. “If la Sombra were to feed on too much blood, the connection could become so strong that it swallows your reality. Yet that is not my intention for your world. While it is true that many will die if Antonela is successful in corporealizing as the first Earth-based caster, she will also be the mother of a new evolution of powerful earthlings.”
“Will she be successful?” I ask, not expecting them to answer.
Brálaga’s gaze slides from me to Sebastián, lingering on the shadow beast. “Why spoil the ending when it is so near? We will find out soon enough. I will be watching.”
“What happens if Antonela and I die and Teo takes off?” I blurt. “There won’t be a Brálaga left at the castle!”
“There are Brálagas everywhere, child. See for yourself.”
Black veins surface across the cave, and I’m reminded of the other castle’s walls. The veins draw a map of Earth’s seven continents, and bloodstains pop up across each one, pooling mostly in Europe and the Americas. It looks like some sort of census map.
“Just as you did not know about this place, others are unaware of their Brálaga blood. Yet when I need to call on another branch of the family, I do.”
The bench beneath me disappears, as does Brálaga. The cave walls and the census map are replaced with the foliage of body organs. The plants start to grow, until they’re crowding our space and about to crush our bodies—
“Time to go!” says Sebastián.
His grip closes around me, and everything blurs as he whisks me away to safety.
Sebastián deposits me in a chair in the dining hall.
In just two weeks, this castle has managed to upend everything I thought I knew about the world.
He sets what’s left of Beatríz’s tortilla in front of me, and my appetite curdles at the memory of us cooking together. “You knew who Brálaga was,” I say to Sebastián.
“Everyone knows Brálaga, the self-made god,” he says, passing me silverware. “I still cannot believe we met them.”
Self-made god. That’s a term I never heard before.
Thinking of the way Brálaga looked at Sebastián when I asked if our plan will work, I ask point-blank: “What aren’t you telling me?”
