Almas Perdidas -

She opened her arms. He stepped out of the circle of lost souls and into her embrace. For a moment, he was solid. Warm. Real.

The woman gasped. “ Hijo .”

“You can’t take him,” Mateo said. “He’s not alive. He’s just… remembered. The moment you leave this place, he becomes the fog again.” almas perdidas

Mateo took the small, cold hand. He led the boy back through the tunnel, past the cistern, through the slanting rain, to the river’s edge. The water was dark and swift.

Mateo stood alone in the rain. He was no longer a ghost. He was just a man, wet and tired, with nothing left to lose. She opened her arms

“To the place where lost souls go. To beg one to return.”

“They say you know the way,” she said. “ Hijo

He led her not to the river, but to the old cemetery on the hill, where the forgotten graves leaned like crooked teeth. At the center stood a cistern, dry for a hundred years, its mouth a black circle.