Chapter 4 - The Night of the Red Moon—The Forest is Set Ablaze!
By midnight, the storm had passed, but a terrifying new danger emerged. The sky cleared to reveal a swollen, crimson moon—a "blood moon"—casting an eerie red glow over the pine trees.
Suddenly, the smell of burning wood drifted into the cabin. It wasn't the sweet smell of the fireplace. It was the acrid, suffocating scent of fresh pine needles and gasoline.
Elena rushed to the window. In the distance, through the thick trees, she could see a ring of fire slowly rising around the base of the hill.
"They've done it," Elena cried out, panic seizing her throat. "Rogelio... he’s actually setting the mountain on fire! He’s going to burn us alive!"
Doña Inés stood up, her expression incredibly calm, almost serene. She walked to the fireplace and pulled a heavy iron lever hidden inside the stone chimney. With a loud, grinding sound, the stone hearth slid aside, revealing a dark, narrow staircase leading deep into the earth.
"Get the children, Elena. Now," Inés commanded.
Elena quickly woke Lucía, wrapping her in a heavy blanket. She scooped up little Mateo, who was crying from the smell of smoke creeping through the cracks in the walls.
"What about you, Abuela?" Elena asked, using the term of respect for the first time. "You have to come with us!"
"I will be right behind you," Inés said, handing Elena a burning torch. "This tunnel leads to the abandoned silver mines beneath the mountain. Follow the path downward. Do not turn back, no matter what you hear."
Just as Elena descended the first few steps with the children, the front door of the cabin violently splinters. The wood exploded inward as Rogelio, his face blackened with soot and distorted by madness, kicked the door open. He was covered in sweat, his eyes bloodshot. Behind him, the forest was a roaring wall of orange and red flames.
"There you are, you old crone!" Rogelio screamed, raising a heavy iron crowbar. "Where is she? Where are the kids?!"
Inés stood in front of the open fireplace, blocking the secret passage with her fragile body. "They are gone, Rogelio. Beyond your reach. Your fire will not save you from what is coming."
"I don't need to save myself from anything!" Rogelio shrieked. He lunged forward, swinging the crowbar.
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Elena, watching from the darkness of the stairs, let out a scream as she heard the sickening sound of a heavy blow. She wanted to run back up, to fight, but Inés’s final words echoed in her mind: Do not turn back, no matter what you hear. Save the children.
Crying silent tears, Elena turned and fled down into the pitch-black depths of the earth, holding her children close as the sounds of the collapsing cabin and Rogelio's manic laughter faded behind her.
