The magician. With influences on "the pricipe of the fog" (El principe en la niebla) written by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Juan was in the old beach house of his parents, in the main hall of the house that led to the patio of the home, was a child who invited him to play with a ball and ran to the courtyard, Juan followed him, arriving in the courtyard saw some white statues seemed to stage a circus, the main figure was a jester, standing on a white stone with something that seemed to be a door and in the center had something written, next to the jester were two large figures with spear. The boy's ball hit him, Juan kicked it and the ball fell near the statues, the boy went after the ball when approaching the statues, the jester looked under and smiled, his eyes turned a red like two embers , stretched out his arm to take the child, Juan tried to call the child's attention, to prevent him from danger, however the child did not hear him, he ran to rescue him at that moment the statues jumped and closed the path, the jester took the child and smiled, while he opened the door and entered, Juan was still fighting the great figures without getting results, then the child turned his gaze to him, Juan was filled with panic to see that he was himself as a child, and woke up desperate.

Juan looked forward to his brother's arrival, to tell him something. A short time later his brother arrives, sits down next to him and says: Let's see, tell me, what's wrong with you? These are the nightmares, which I had as a child, remember, but this time they are more real, and you are in them, remember that when I had these nightmares, my father died. Said Juan. And I tell him his dream. Calm down, those dreams will happen, because they are just dreams. His brother replied.

Diego arrived at his house after the meeting with his brother, and was reflecting on what Juan said, he was worried although he wanted to show it because during the time of those nightmares were bad times for his family, instants that marked his life with the fear of forming a family and have the fate that ran his father, in addition, he also suffered from the same nightmares, he prepared a glass of Wisky, turned on the radio and took a seat to stop thinking about that torment, but suddenly something uncomfortable, Something caused him uneasiness, he seemed to feel a presence besides his in his house, he heard footsteps in the upper part of his house, he got up from his seat and went to look for his weapon that he hid in the shelf of liquors to defend himself He went up the stairs with great caution, checked the rooms and the bathroom, found nothing, suddenly the radio stopped ringing and he heard the steps at the bottom, under the stairs quickly, when he arrived he saw Someone rushed into the studio, shot but only hit the wall white, went carefully to the studio and looked at his body pointing the gun, when he saw a man sitting on the desk, with a penetrating look and eyes that changed color, from red to green, from green to blue, then from blue to red, and he said while his eyes were green: Did you think I would forget the promise? You have done us well the task assigned to you, you have been a bad boy ... with so much that I have granted you and you do not fulfill your part.

He ran his hand over his face and his eyes changed to blue: I do not know what to do with you, I've waited a lot, I want you to fulfill your part of the deal, your father is saved but, you will not escape me, if you do not do it the good, I'll have to resort to actions that you would not like but, that's my business. At that moment his eyes turned red and Diego pointed him with his gun and said: I will never fulfill, for you I can not give life and I refused to have a family, I have always waited for your presence, I knew that some would come, your dreams told me but, I do not understand Why my brother? He did not let me be part of this since then. I think you did not listen when I said that in case you did not comply, I would have to resort to other actions and in those acts is your dear brother, all thanks to your father sacrificing for him and you took the place of your brother asking A wish, you were very intelligent, however I asked you for something in return and you still have not given it to me for that reason you have to pay the consequences, the man replied. NO, YOU WILL HAVE WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR, Diego said and shot him.

The mysterious man disappeared, Diego looked with his eyes in all directions suddenly heard a voice behind him, turned and made other detonations, without hitting the target. A sharp and macabre smile was heard throughout the house and the lights went out, then several roars of gunfire were heard.

Diego did not know what to do, could not see anything in the darkness, could only see a shadow with red flashes like two embers of fire, Diego pulled the trigger but, no longer had ammunition, the shadow was approaching him little by little, took by the neck and said: Your body will burn through your veins, your skin will lose and you will die after bringing it to me. Diego felt that his body burned from inside his body, his veins sprouted all over his body and with his little strength he reached his phone, called his brother and he asked for help for Diego.

The next day Juan visited his brother in the hospital, he had all his veins sprouted and his skin color seemed to have been exposed for a long time in a tanning room, he complained of pain and a heat that burned him from inside , Juan approached his brother little by little, who beckoned him with much effort to bring his ear to his mouth and said: Take care of Kaine ... Find my diary there you will find everything ... Remember that sacrifice always brings a good result. Saying this Diego gave a loud cry of pain and his skin began to peel off his body, the doctors removed Juan from the room and closed it that was the last thing he knew about his brother, his body lost all its skin, then his body it was charred until it was ashes.

Days after the loss of his brother Diego was in the house of his brother looking for the newspaper, when entering the room Juan felt a light cold breeze that he urinated the skin, then he saw the closet and noticed something shone in inside, I try to open it, but suddenly could not smoke thickly from the edges of the closet, tried harder to open it, but their efforts were in vain, when surprisingly the closet doors were opened aggressively, throwing it away and from the inside from the wardrobe a shadow with bright green eyes was seen, then a macabre smile was heard and the shadow was thrown towards him, at that moment he woke up in his brother's bed, he was asleep he thought it had been real, the newspaper was at his The side had a leather cover and engraved the name of his older brother.

He began to leaf through the daily, stopped on the sheet where a story began, while reading Juan felt that he was being transported to the scene, he was in a circus together with his father and his brother Diego at the age of 12, about 9 years older. that he, suddenly the images accelerated until arriving at the presentation of a magician disguised as a buffoon named Kaine, was a man with about 30 years of age much younger than his father, with eyes of strong colors that changed of tonality, Again the images accelerated until they were in a room with their companions and Kaine. I came here because the options are few and I have nothing to do ... I had previously asked you before, but now I come to you because I have no alternative, Mr. Kaine, I want my youngest son to stop suffering that terrible disease that kills him Little by little ... I'm asking for your mercy. His father told Kaine. I will do it, but this time things will change, I will not ask you for a temple, this time something else will be very valuable to you. Are you willing to do it? Kaine replied. For my son whatever. Then Kaine smiled and said: Then I'll go for the compliment, when I'm ready. He looked at Diego and said: Do you want to ask me for a wish?

His father put him on his back as if to protect him from something and they left the room. The images took him to his parents' beach house, when he was a child he was sleeping when he heard that he was called from a distance, he got up and walked to the patio of the house, his father followed him to stop him when a large statue Blanca stopped in front of him, blocking her way, then her mom ran another white statue, grabbed her by the arm, her dad called Diego telling him to go look for his brother, he ran to Juan but, kaine got in his way and He said: Let your father keep his promise or do you have any desire to ask me ?. Do not listen to Diego, go for your brother. His father said to him, at that moment his mother managed to get rid of his imprisoner and Kaine ordered him to kill her, the crying of his mother was heard and Kaine grabbed Diego by the neck.

Juan saw that terrible scene without being able to participate in it, he did not know what to do. Kaine pulled out a huge knife and was about to kill her brother, while the statue trampled his father, surprisingly heard the voice of his dad saying: I sacrifice for the life of my son. Kaine looked at him and ordered his imprisoner to kill him, then he threw Diego and went to his younger brother when he was close to him, Diego shouted crying: Yes, I have a desire. My wish is that you leave my brother in peace. Kaine stopped, gave a macabre and sharp laugh. You're smart, for your age, but, do you know what you're doing? Do you know that you must keep your promise? Otherwise you will have the destiny of your dad sacrificing himself. Kaine told him. No, I know ... but, I'll do what you ask. Diego answered. Then, you will give me your first child in exchange for your brother, you promise? Kaine spoke to him, staring at Diego. In that the images disappeared.

Juan continued with the review of the daily and later said: The nightmares of my childhood are tormenting my dreams but, they have returned after that night that I was with Ana, it has been more than two months and I have not heard from her . Then in a few pages later I pointed out: Today I met Ana, she is five months pregnant, if my accounts do not fail me, it was on that night that we were together, she told me that she had some nightmares with a jester-magician, the situation begins worry, he has returned for what I promised, but, I must stop it ... I do not want my son to be a spawn of evil. My nightmares and those of them are like the patio of my parents' beach house and they are related to the statues that are in her patio, so I will go there.

Today I was in the beach house my parents, being there brought back many memories of my childhood and my brother, I went to the patio I saw the statues, they had the same dark image of always seeing them fill me with fear, next to they were the tomb of my parents with a great angel asking for prayers for them, when approaching the grave of my parents the statue of the jester seemed to move his gaze towards me but, I thought it was a game of my imagination, being in front of the grave from my parents, the memories took over me and I could not stand my tears, suddenly looking up at the angel, he was not praying as he did when I saw him for the first time, he was looking at me, then his wings They opened slowly and one of his arms began to move, I point to something with his index finger, when turning around, the panic was the owner of my body, my heart quickened its beats and a cold freeze my movements, it was Kaine, with his dark look of siem pre, I wore the costume of a jester, I turned my gaze to the statues, it was a fact lacking that of the jester. He looked at me and smiled, then said: It seems you've seen ghosts! He assured you that I am more than that and I have been living longer than them. And he showed a very dark laugh. It is not long before you give me what you promised me.

When I heard that come out of his mouth, I had no choice but to flee in that place but, the exit door closed and when he turned he was walking towards me while saying: No, you will run away like your father must fulfill your word, When you promised it, you were not such a child, then the angel was already in the air and it was not white anymore, but black, its innocence and compassion had disappeared, it pounced on me like a hunting bird was prey, I crouched, I closed my eyes Kaine's laughter tormented my ears and I could not remember anything else, because when I opened my eyes I was at home and Ana was with me, she asked me what had happened? because he sounded very scared when he supposedly called her.

Juan continued reading the notebook, he did not believe what was in this text and the things that his brother hid him, he supposed to have a good communication with his older brother but, the most shocking thing was to see. Order to demolish the whole house and relocate the bodies of my parents, my brother accepted my decision to move the bodies because I said: They should be in a better place, he thought that would solve everything, however the nightmares continued and in them the I saw myself die, then one day I made a decision that I am very sorry for, I know that by doing that I will not get to heaven.

I call Ana and I'll meet her for a dinner, I'll be as gentlemanly as I can, then we'll walk all over the city and take her to the outskirts of the city, she was very happy, we had time without sharing so much, we were in a place where We could see the whole city, in a moment she felt our son move and took my hand and put it in her belly, I felt those movements and I was filled with joy but, I had already made a decision I did not want my son to be an entity malignant, I closed my eyes and let my tears flow, I held my hand tightly and hit her belly with all my strength, she screamed and said: What are you doing? I returned to do the same, until doing it many times, she tried to stop me several times but, do not leave her, she cried and I continued with my brutal act, I could not stop something I could not do it, her crotch was filled with blood, she I shouted of pain and suffering, wondered why I behaved, I also cried, then I took her to the hospital but, when it was too late, I had died due to bleeding, I felt very bad, I did not want her to die, I just wanted to Stop the birth of my cursed son.

My version was to the relatives and police officers was that: We were at home planning what would be the room for the new inhabitant and we started to play when we realized she stumbled and fell down the stairs, no evidence was found that I had hit her or pushed because I took care of that using the system that makes the world roll ... Money. From that day I decided to have surgery on my reproductive organs to be sterile and not give a spawn of evil. I still carry with me the image of Ana suffering and asking to stop, insomnia is my companion in the dark nights and loneliness invades my life from that day, to avoid any relationship with women out of fear, although that did not stop Kaine either. appearing everywhere, I have been hiding this from my brother, for fear that something will happen to him ... That curse will follow me until the day of my death.

There were no more pages written Juan could not believe his brother arrived, he saw himself in the duty of looking for the culprit of the death of his brother, for that he had to answer these questions Who was Kaine ?, What does he grant? wishes ?, Where would I find it ?, Would it be related to Diego's death? And it was said; If Juan was already dead, why did he appear in his nightmares? If his brother gave himself up for him, then he began to find out about him and locate him at the same time.

Days after so much searching without obtaining any results and with big dark circles for the loss of sleep by nightmares with Kaine. Diego was at home looking through one of the windows with a lost look, the bad dreams together with the questions of Kaine, they were affecting his sanity, when he heard his wife arrive he continued to look out the window, suddenly he heard his wife gave a loud cry, which alerted him and ran to the kitchen where the scream came from, when he saw his wife with his crotch full of blood, the kitchen was dotted with that color characteristic of our vital fluid in our body, and not far from her was Kaine with a penetrating look and her red eyes like two flames of fire, she was carrying something in her arms, covered with a cloth full of blood and she said to Juan: Since you and your father brother did not fulfill his simple task, you will be the one who will give me what I have searched for a long time and this time it will be given to me. Then he showed what was in his arms was a baby, covered in blood and told him: Your son will be mine, then showed his macabre and sharp laughter that characterizes him, tormented Juan, who crouched covering his ears, everything that was all around him he disappeared, when he opened his eyes he found himself in the patio of his parents' beach house in front of the temple that his father made to Kaine. The main pillar that supported the statue of the jester, had a kind of door with something written in the center: QAYIN, the door began to shine and move, from there you could see Kaine coming out and said: If you are looking for me, you find He drew a sword and attacked Juan, at which point Juan woke up.

When he woke up he heard the telephone ringing when he answered the sender's voice. He said: Come to the clinic that is near your house that your wife is giving birth, but she is very delicate. When he heard that and when he related it to his nightmares, his skin became prickly and a great fear took over him. He hurried to get ready but, being ready, he found that his room was inhabited by a stranger, he looked at it well and it was true, it was Kaine, but this time he looked a bit gaunt and old. Kaine said: Still do not know who I am? That made Juan think and if he analyzed everything he noticed what was written on the door of the temple that he had just seen in his dreams and remembered that he had seen it once, in his mind he traveled to the past and remembered when he was in school in the classes of religion and Juan said: Are you Cain the brother of Abel? and your name came to the one you currently have because of the conversions of the languages ​​over time. Exactly, you're smarter than I thought. Answered Kaine. But, you should be dead, you were expelled from Eden and you lost eternal life when you left those lands. Replied Juan. That is also correct (He smiled in a scornful and mocking way) but, I was cursed with a stamp that kept me alive that shows in my eyes, that is my mark and being expelled among another land, where I met Lilith who taught me the magic, because of hatred of the Supreme, I made a pact with someone hated by some and loved by others in this world and gave me the power to grant my desires, but, I always asked for something to change small things, but lately my body has become very emaciated, that I have changed my order with your family, to get to you and I must get a replacement because without someone like me, the world is not how you know it and guess who will give me that replacement? And he made himself laugh with a gaudy and macabre laugh.

Juan ran in search of the weapon that belonged to his brother, which he took from Diego's house on the day of his death, and shot, but it was a surprise when the shots hit Cain's body, the bullets continued their way until they hit with the wall that was behind him. I think someone is waiting for you, said Cain and laughed with his laughter that characterizes him, then disappeared but, the laughter continued tormenting Juan, as he could left his house he got up and his car, the torment of laughter had him confused. When he was near the hospital Juan had an accident and his car was overturned, he had been seriously injured, with the little reserve force on his way to the clinic taking the gun with him, as he entered a reception nurse: Where is the patient? María Rosa Guevara ?, Juan told her, the very frightened nurse told him bad news: She died giving birth ... But ... the child is saved is in the check. He asked for the address to get there and the baby's data, the only thing that mattered to him was rescuing his son. In his mind he listened to Cain's voice with a singing and mocking voice saying: Your son will be mine, he will be mine and you will not be able to stop him. He heard his laughter in Juan's ears again. He was desperate to reach the place, entered by force shooting the guard seriously injuring him, hit the local nurses strongly, looking for his son, when he saw his tenderness was noted, approached slowly and smiled, tears flooded his eyes and said: You look a lot like your mother, took it and left the place.

At the clinic's exit, even Cain's laughter tormented his head, some armed police officers were waiting for him to give him a high voice, and to hand over the boy, he refused to hand him over, Cain's laughter continued in his head, he was confused, he did not know whether to kill his son as his brother did, with the pressure of the armed policemen pointing at him trying to convince him to hand over the baby, so he pointed his gun at the baby and Cain's voice said: I did not do it that. The policemen watching Juan's movement shot him and he fell sprawled on the ground, the last thing he heard was the voice of Cain telling him: I will take care of your son, and of course he will be called Cain. Days later Cain adopted the baby.

Then a boy and an old man were standing in front of a gravestone in a cemetery where it read: Juan Francisco Suárez, A great person, without people like this world would not be as it is. Why do we always come to see this grave? The boy asked. It's because you're with me, little Cain.