They say a mother's love is eternal, and that a mother will always love their children no matter what…

My name is Maria Di Fiore; I am a member of the Order of the Holy Maiden. We are in charge of protecting the innocents from evil spirits and demons. I swore to eradicate all evil from this earth, however…My son turned into an evil spirit known as El Charro Negro…

When I was young, I exorcized and purified hundreds or even thousands of demons and Sombras...I was ruthless, and always used God as an excuse to do that...but to be honest…

I really enjoyed doing that...seeing the agony of the monsters I purged...it was a great sensation...

I didn’t know what to do when I realized that my son was now the demon that I swore to be destroyed. I was in shock...maybe that’s why I retired from the Order…

March 18th

(BEEP BEEP BEEP)

That morning, I woke up with tears in my eyes...once again I had that nightmare...the nightmare where I lost my beloved Roberto...On that nightmare, I saw him disappear and never return...I feel desperate, I want to see him again...but I know that’s impossible…

I stood up and looked at the mirror, I looked terrible, I had bags under my eyes...however, I needed to smile, smile to hide the sadness of my heart…

When I got ready, I decided to put on my favorite dress. A black- sleeveless dress...it was Roberto’s favorite...and went to prepare breakfast…

As I walked down the stairs, I saw Daniel coming out of his room, he looked at me and with a tiny smile he said; “Good Morning Mother…” I smiled and replied; “Good morning mijo, how are you doing today?”

“I’m doing fine, I think I just might go to bed again…”

“No Daniel, get ready you must go to school…” Fabiola screamed from across the hallway...she walked towards him and put her hands on her hips looking angry...Daniel sighed and replied; “Yeah yeah...sheesh,you’re worse than my mother, and she’s right here…”

“Oh shut up and get going...Good morning teacher…” Fabiola greeted me...I chuckled, they looked like a pair of siblings, it reminded me of Uriel and Valerie in the past...by the way, Fabiola started calling me “teacher” because I am teaching her how to use manna properly...maybe I should start being a teacher…

I went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, I don’t mind doing it...I really like it...Carolina helped me but she is a little, you know...not focused and spilled the water...I started to prepare them and the girls came down to greet me…

Mariana, Abril and Estrella...they are very polite...Estrella, even though I was against the idea at first because of what she did...actually made me think about how I accepted my son...so I started to care about her as part of the Ministry…

After breakfast, I decided to go for a little walk...I once again went to train...I also train because I want vengeance...I really want to kill Darius Lucifugus…he did this to me and my family and that’s why...I will kill him…

That day in particular, I decided to go somewhere special...I went to Sun City...I went to the house that I used to live with my family...5 years ago…

I walked down the neighborhood...it was abandoned after the “explosion” five years ago...Darius declared that it was “radioactive.” That idiot...the only thing that is radioactive is him…

As I walked down the neighborhood....tears began to fall, I couldn’t contain myself any longer, it was so sad...my family was abducted that fateful day...I arrived at the house where we used to live in…

It wasn’t there...only parts of it...Roberto destroyed it completely when he fought Darius...he probably thought about buying me a new one...that’s just like him...I chuckled thinking about that…

I began to remember Daniel and Valerie when they were young, running in the house and having fun…

But the thing is, I can only remember those two...I can’t remember about my oldest son...Uriel...on that fateful night, he accepted to become the successor of El Charro Negro...once someone accepts the deal...his entire presence is erased from this earth, including pictures, and memories…

I saw him as an enemy for almost a year...until one day, an “incident” occurred...but that “incident” is for another moment okay…

I began to see Uriel as my son because I could feel it...he was my son despite not remembering him...I decided to have a normal life with him…

But one day, he disappeared one year ago...just like that, I heard that he began to hunt Sombras all over Latin America, but still...he never called or wrote me a letter…

It made me feel as if I was the only one who cared...to be honest...I cried a lot...only Valerie and Daniel knew of how bad I suffered…

One day, on January, the demon, Juan de la Trinidad...the bastard who stole my child...came to visit and told me where to find him...I begged Sister Griselda to let me come here to the Borderland...she accepted with the condition that I wouldn’t fight Darius…

I know, Darius is strong...however...I was standing in the Sun City International Bank’s Office...I stared at the floor...I even entered inside...I was in disguised wearing sunglasses and a black wig just to be safe...I stood there in front of the receptionists who asked me:

“How may I help you ma’am?”

I wanted to kill her...I wanted to kill everyone here...why are they so happy? Don’t they know about what horrible things that man did?I wanted to scream the truth...Without noticing, I began to release manna in the form of wind…

(GGYAAHHH)

She began to scream, and the people around me began to run away as the wind grew stronger...I was blinded by my rage...but then I saw the face of the girl who stood in front of me...she was afraid...afraid of me...and her body was filled with cuts...cuts that I made to an innocent girl...

The guards began to charge at me...I blew them away and ran out of the building….I used my manna to create a dust storm and disappeared...I threw away the sunglasses and the wig…

I was sitting in an alley...I looked at my hand and I was trembling...I heard the police heading to the bank...I immediately decided to return to the Ministry…

As the sun was setting...I was alone in my room...I was curled up in the corner feeling depressed...I can’t believe I was about to kill innocent people...what happened to all the teachings Sister Griselda gave me? What happened to the woman that promised Roberto to never kill someone again? I am a sinner...Oh God, please forgive me…

I took out a knife that I had hidden in one of my drawers...I looked at myself in the mirror and saw a monster...with tears in my eyes...I slowly picked up my knife and pointed it at my heart...the heart...the organ that has been tormenting me for years…

I tried to kill my own son...I even denied his existence for a year...it’s natural that he doesn’t want to be with me...I understand him and my other children...I’ve been a terrible mother...

I didn’t mind killing myself...my children don’t need me anymore...Uriel and Valerie are now living independently and Daniel is someone who never needed me in the first place...Nobody would miss me...I don’t have a mother or a father...the Di Fiore surname was just written on my birth certificate meaning that I didn’t have a family...

I made up my mind...I knew that God would forgive me...I was about to follow Roberto...At that moment, a split second before I pierce my chest with the knife...someone knocked at my door…

(KNOCK KNOCK)

“Mother...may I come in?”That voice...the voice of the one I tried to kill...my son Uriel…

“One minute mijo…” I put down the knife...I immediately cleaned my face and put makeup on...I was so happy...my son came…

After a few minutes, I opened the door, Uriel was standing in front of me with a pair of strawberry doughnuts...He looked at me and said:

“I brought your favorite doughnuts...do you want to eat them with me?”

I nodded in agreement...we decided to eat at the Church’s ceiling, Uriel likes to sit there and watch the moon…

As we ate...I didn’t know what to say...Uriel was only at the moon, he then began to say; “You know, that viejo once said; The moon is the same everywhere...that means whenever I see the moon, I know that my family is also looking at it...even if we are on the other side of the world...we look at the same moon...that’s when I know that we are connected…”

Soon, I began to cry; “You said that we are connected huh? Tell me this, why did you disappear that day...You left your family behind Uriel...you don’t know how worried I was...First I lost your father...and then I lost you…”

“ I see...I’m sorry…” He only said that...I filled myself with rage and just when I was about to say something...Uriel began to speak; “You know...I really regret doing that...I wanted to stay with you but...my rage was something dangerous that I felt that something could happen to you...After what happened with Serena...I thought it was best to just avoid anyone I love…”

I began to cry...I hugged him and said; “Uriel, I thought you hated me because I wanted to kill you...I thought you never forgot…”

“Those things don’t matter anymore...even though you don’t remember me...you swore to me that you would always be there for me...you told me you were going to be my mother...and that makes me happy…”

My eyes opened wide...he smiled...Uriel smiled at me...and when he smiled, he had the resemblance of Roberto...there is no doubt, he is my son...I hugged him tighter with tears in my eyes as I said; “Thank you, Uriel...you reminded me why I am fighting in this world…”

Uriel changed his expression to a serious one, and took out my knife; “Mother, don’t ever think about dying...I don’t want to live in a world where you aren’t alive...my siblings would suffer...you still have people that care about you…”

I only looked down feeling horrible about what I was about to do...Uriel broke the knife into many pieces with his bare hand as he said; “Mother...promise me that you won’t die…”

I began to chuckle, Uriel looked at me confused...I patted his head and replied; “I promise you that I won’t die no matter what...I mean, if I have such a spoiled child...I wouldn’t die in peace…”

“Thank you…” He chuckled as well...That night, he and I watched the moon...I felt that I was at peace...I spent time with my son and that made me so happy…

“Hey...mother, there is something I want to talk to you about…” He looked at me once again but that expression was different, he looked like he was worried. I began to worry and asked; “What is it hijo?”

“It’s something about a girl I met at school…”

A girl? Don’t tell me...am I going to have an embarrassing talk with my son? He hasn’t spoken about relationships since Serena...I was so excited on the inside...but I didn’t want to overreact...I looked at him and asked; “A girl huh...what’s her name?”

“Her name is Marjorie Bellerose…” He replied with a strange tone...almost as if he was in love...I chuckled and and said:

Well son, it appears you can also be a normal teenager...please tell me about her…”

And so...that night, I had a pretty normal conversation with my son…

The End…