CATACUMBAS De Un Orfanato Religioso Historias De Terror - REDE

0:05 I was an orphan child in the seventies and the truth is that to this day I do not know if my parents simply abandoned me in one of those places, if they died or if they had a real reason to leave me alone. Whatever the case, I guess it doesn' t matter. The second important thing in this whole situation, without a doubt, has to be the fact that, although to this day the institutions of orphanages are not so well controlled in Mexico, imagine in the seventies the place was crowded and everyone there knew that we were alone. Everything that happened inside that place, no one was interested in whether we were beaten or left without food, we were orphans and we had no family that cared for us many caregivers very often felt free to take out all their frustrations of life with us. I' ve always been a quite rebellious person, I' ve always had this almost pathological need to challenge all authority. This could not be stopped even when physical punishment reached the point of causing injuries that left me scarred to this day. And this trait of my personality is the one that made a house, home or orphanage run out of space. The first person to be moved from such places was me, which led me to live in different places for a long time.

1:37 It should be noted that at that time the Catholic religion was very strong throughout Mexico. In fact, all the orphanages and homes I was in were part of the church already know a place that was disk funded by it. And while that was how it worked, the truth is that in the places where I had grown up I didn' t feel like it was. They were normal people trying to do a job. Of course, we were being asked to pray and memorize parts of the Bible, but we were not so pressured to do so. At least this had been the case until I turned ten. Shortly after that, the site that was filled had been so filled that some of us were moved elsewhere. When I heard the news, I was fully aware that one of the selected children would be me, almost without being told anything. I packed my stuff by the time I was confirmed, as it had happened a few times when I was taken out of a place so fast that I lost some of my few belongings in the process. The truth is that at that time I didn' t care where I was taken, as it was always a similar place, a small house with land large enough to house some children. But as soon as we got to the place, I realized this place was different than anyone I' d ever been.

3:06 It looked very strange, it looked like a church, it had tall towers and they were very large. It didn' t look like any construction I ' d seen in Mexico at any time in my life, but it was right there in front of my eyes. It looked as if it had been built many years ago, perhaps long before even the largest adult in that place had been born. Soon after we entered the place, I think we were in the entrance a little more than twenty minutes. The place was even bigger inside. They really looked very old, but the scariest thing about that place was not how old it looked, but the pictures and figures with which it was adorned. The corners and walls of the place were decorated with sacred art, but they were not pretty pictures like Angels j or Jesus help someone.

4:00 All the paintings and sculptures were too explicit. You know Jesus crucified with the classic crown of thorns, the nails in the hands and feet sores in the body, and not only that, but they looked too real. Seriously, it seemed like the blood could come out of the paintings or drain directly from the statue. I was grateful for the moment when the man in charge of the orphanage arrived to receive us, because at least I was able to turn my gaze away from that art, at least for a moment. That man was very serious, dressed like a father and seemed kind enough. As soon as he started talking, very quickly, I realized that appearances deceive, as he was clearly a very strict man. He told us that we could only address him as Father Manuel and that he would not tolerate any kind of tone in his orphanage, that we would follow the word of God to the letter and that whoever had some kind of objection would be rebuked with a hard hand.

5:10 He also told us that escaping from that place was impossible and anyone who tried would be punished so hard that he would not want to try again that, in fact, he was so sure that he would swear that if any of us did, no one would go looking for him, but he would not be received back either. When he realized that life was cruel and immediately. He made us walk to a gigantic bath where there were different showers, which had no separation between them. He gave us a huge glass bottle and told us that we should wash our heads very well with the shampoo it contained, as it was a safety measure to prevent lice in that place. The truth is, none of us were quite sure we should use those showers.

6:00 They were just weird. As if that were not enough, that man also did not seem to have any intention of getting out of the bathroom. I was just rushing us to do it. He didn' t do anything to us. He just stayed there until he was sure we washed our heads like he ever wanted the whole time he was there. He saw us again while we were bathing the first night in that place. I realized that, with regard to maintenance and food, it was one of the best places I had ever been. I mean that there was enough for everyone, not in excess, but the portions were not a misery that left you with more hunger than you arrived and, moreover, did not know at all bad, although the dining room was full of that sacred art in which the only thing you could think or want was to get out of there as soon as possible. After entering or in the place, I realized that the orphanage was mixed. I mean, everywhere I' d been was exclusively for kids. I knew there were orphanages for girls only, but for me the fact that there were both girls and boys in this place seemed something really unique, because I had spent my whole life in that kind of orphanage. The truth was that I had never even talked to a girl my age, only caregivers who came to be

7:31 in orphanages. There were two long tables at each side end of the dining room. In one went the boys and in another the girls, and sometimes this came to break and Father Manuel let it be so. It was known that if you did it a short time later you would receive a punishment. Usually, most of them avoided doing so. In addition, they assumed that eating with the girls was not worth it, as during the hour of rest we took it at the same time as them. It was easier to talk to them without Father Manuel seeing us. And in fact, that' s how I met Maria when I first saw her, she made me a very pretty girl and I liked her instantly and always looked for a way to want to talk to her, and that was one of the things that brought me the most trouble in that place, because if she needed or wanted something.

8:28 Then I was there trying to get it at all costs for her and it was also what led me to discover that the punishments there were another level. They weren' t ear jerks or pats. I mean cold showers and standing in the yard, getting you to kneel on beans at the same time you held Bibles in your arms until they decided it was enough. Maria had a best friend at that place, called Samantha, and they both accepted me. In his group of friends we were five people, three children, Martin the eldest, who was about to turn twelve, Manuel, who was my age and I This was the first time I felt part of something clear that I had already had friends before in the other places where I had been, but I never felt that I really belonged to any of them. You know how when you' re in a group of friends, but something inside of you knows that they' re friends with each other. But if they had to say goodbye to one, the first one would be you was the way I had felt all my life, but at that time I felt involved in something.

9:46 I didn' t feel excluded and for the first time I had no desire to leave that place. Mary was the funniest girl I had ever seen and unlike most Mary, if she had met her parents, they had both loved her, but her parents died of Viruela two years ago. Maria always fantasized about the idea that her grandfather, who lived in Mexico City, would come looking for her one day. I had only seen him once, but I remembered him as a very good man, who really cared about the family. I was convinced that one day he would realize that he had ended up in that orphanage and go and find her. We encouraged this fantasy and told her that maybe she could take us with her when this happened, and in turn, she would say yes. I guess it was something we were doing to imagine that there was a possibility of a better future for us. Away from that horrible place full of mistreatment, statues and art photographs. The five of us became such friends that, despite the ill- treatment and punishments we had come to receive for sometimes being in a group too long. The truth is, we were all happy to be in that place. But all this changed when, a year and a half after what I am counting, Mary

11:16 did not appear in the courtyard at the time of rest. We asked Samantha what had happened to Mary, as we had seen her during breakfast. We assumed she wasn' t sick. Samantha mentioned to us that one of the nuns had been very hard on her and had told her that her grandfather would never come looking for her. And not only that, but he had also made it known that they had tried to communicate with all their remaining living relatives, but none of them wanted or had the slightest intention of taking care of her. This had destroyed her and she said she had been crying in the girls' room. As a child we were totally forbidden to go to the girls' room and in fact, we tried. One of the nuns saw us and returned to the courtyard. We couldn' t comfort her until the next day. As soon as we went out into the courtyard, we realized how discouraged Mary was. She was very happy and lively and now she was just sitting there like a shell of what she had been. Of course we tried to comfort her, tell her that the nun did not know what she was talking about and I even told her that I was sure her grandfather would come for her one day, but there was no word to say for Mary to believe it again. Now she was convinced that, like us, she was alone. I remember well that to encourage her we agreed to meet at

12:52 night. We' ve done it before. We left our rooms at hours not allowed, went into the kitchen pantry of the place and took some things like chocolate, and we had even recently begun to pretend that we smoked only rolled paper. This seemed like a good idea to cheer her up. I remember well, that night we were all sitting behind the boarding school, a place hardly anyone was going to check out. It was very big and full, with so much grass and different types of weed that reached your knees. We talked about how much fun our life would be when we were great with the intention of doing it again, that Mary would again believe in the hope of a better future for us. But she was just very quiet. His eyes were still swollen. It looked like she had been crying that day too and I remember well that in how many lovers she tried to ask Mary what she wanted to do when she left that place. Maria didn' t say anything. Da tried to encourage her to respond, as she really believed that would make her feel better. Instead of responding optimistically. She just told us that we wouldn' t leave that place, that we' d stay there forever and that no one would come looking for us. It never seemed like I was about to cry again and I, seriously, felt a strong feeling

14:22 of wanting to protect her at all costs even from depression. In my last attempt to get him back to normal, I decided to give him another hope and almost without thinking, I told him that all the people in our families and even the caregivers of that place could go to hell, that we didn ' t need anyone and that if nobody was going to look for us, then we left. From there we could run away, get a job, buy a house and live by ourselves doing what we wanted and eating chocolate until this hurt. I don' t know how I got into it or how quickly it climbed, but suddenly, not only Mary, but all my friends were completely convinced that that was the solution to all our problems. They said that it would be wonderful to get out of there, buy a house and have nothing to do with that place anymore. They even reproached themselves for not having thought about it before. Martin said we could wait until we were a little older so we could get a job more easily, but none of the others was willing to wait. They said we should do it at the time, although we were all already convinced of what we wanted to do. Now the hardest thing was to try to figure out how to escape from that place.

15:50 Because of what Mary had told us. The truth was that no girl who had tried had succeeded. We all said we had to try to find somewhere where all five of us could get away and start a new life, even myself, who at first wasn' t quite sure. Quickly everyone' s emotion invaded me. We were more than willing to find a way out. We thought this would not be difficult, but soon we realized that it would be an almost impossible mission as much as we tried. There was not a single place that could even be suitable for climbing. The walls were so tall and smooth that it didn' t matter how many times we tried, we didn' t make it, to the point that for a moment we thought it would be best to just leave it that way. After all, at some point they' d just kick us out. But Mary was not willing to wait so long, and even though all of us had already stopped trying she was still looking for him. At first we wanted to tell him to stop, but again he had regained that ambition and happiness in his eyes.

17:04 Now I had something else to wait for the truth. None of us thought he was going to find anything, since we hadn' t made it. All this changed when one afternoon, during the break, he told us that he thought he had found another door. We all asked him what door he meant, since there was only one door. Even the same father had said it, but she insisted. He told us he found a door behind the orphanage. All of us had been in that place hundreds of times and we were completely sure that we had never seen a door, but she insisted and told us that it was not an ordinary door, because it was a door that was on the floor and there was weed that covered it in such a way that it was not seen. It was like I was completely forgotten over the years. At first we doubted, but Mary didn' t used to be the kind of person who invented that kind of thing. We decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and that same night we went to that door and as we walked towards her, Mary told us that she had tried to open it, but it was closed with a lock, which was very rusty, but it still looked resistant. When we arrived at the place, we were all surprised because if there was a door it was covered by

18:37 a lot of weed and it was seen that it had not been used in a very long time. It was metal and it was all rusty. Between Martin, Manuel and I tried to pull it in the hope that the lock would be given, as it looked rusty enough to break, but that didn ' t happen. After that, Martin took a huge rock and began to hit the padlock over and over again, until it finally happened almost without wasting time, he opened the door. It should be noted that by now, for obvious reasons, we did not have lamps and had not even lit public.

19:17 The only thing that served to see in the dark was the moonlight, but it could not help us at that moment, as it looked too dark in there. I mean, everything around us was already dark, but in the middle of all that darkness you could see that rectangle even blacker. It was like I absorbed all the light. Not letting anything see, we all stood silently looking inward. For obvious reasons, none of us dared come down. There was also a smell of moisture. We didn' t know where he was leading or what he was. Not knowing what to do. The only thing we thought was that I should close it and cover it again with soil and weeds, hoping that it would not be noticed again. We' d try to get some candles so we could light up inside and the next night we' d come back and try to see where that place was headed.

20:18 For all that time I felt very strange something inside me I told me that we should not go in, that the best thing was to look for other options, but everyone seemed to be too convinced that that was the answer to what we wanted to do. I didn' t dare say anything. I only followed the current the next morning. We tried with all our means, to get candles, but we didn' t make it. They were usually reserved for nuns or the father, and none of us were allowed to have any of them for two reasons. The first was that we could cause a fire and the second was the most obvious. If we had light, we could wander more easily. For everything, the orphanage Manuel managed to get matches and having nothing better, we decided that would be more than enough.

21:14 We gathered and returned to the place where that strange door was and once there we removed all the herbs and reopened. We were in front of that totally black rectangle. Manuel, without wasting time, lit a match and burned a truoso of cardboard and for a few seconds lit up. They were stairs that were going to take us even further down. It looked really weird. It was like two or maybe three meters down and we could only detect that scent of moisture. I think by that time we were all afraid, because the dim flame of the cardboard wouldn' t even let us see at what times the steps end but still we built ourselves up of courage and entered. The vibrating of the place was very heavy, but still we continued to descend and every time the piece of cardboard went out, we all stayed totally paralyzed in the dark until Manuel lit the next one. Finally we reached the end of the steps and just then the cardboard Manuel was holding went out. We couldn ' t see much, but when we lit it we found something that went far beyond what any of us had been able to imagine up to that point.

22:37 They seemed to be long and dark, passageways, quite narrow and the walls were not at all common, they had divisions. It wasn' t until I was an adult that I found out those places were catacombs and for those who don' t know. Catacombs are like some kind of underground place where the church used to bury the dead. In ancient times, the place was abandoned and as far as any of us knew. No one in the whole orphanage knew that there were catacombs in that place. Being the kids we were and not knowing they were catacombs. The first thing we thought was that those passageways were no more or less than our departure ticket. We assumed that at some point, those passageways might well lead us out of that horrible orphanage and so we could escape we called them the tunnels. At that time, none of us dared to advance more than a metre after the steps, as, as I mentioned earlier, it was very dark. In addition, it seemed that the more we advanced the humidity it made the matches and cardboard go out much faster, so we all agreed that it would be best to prepare ourselves, try to get a candlestick or some oil lamp. I would also like to clarify that by that time we had not realized that on those strange walls there were dead. We just thought it was part of architecture or something.

24:12 Rather, I remember the excitement coming back to everyone and we were convinced that we would get out of there and live as we had always wished. I think it takes about three days to prepare everything, to collect our scarce belongings. We managed to get a pair of candles and an oil lamp. It was a total miracle that no one noticed they were missing. We were convinced we' d get out. We lowered the steps again, this time a little more prepared, achieving light without any problem. At first, our step was very slow, as, although we were very excited, a part of us was convinced that this place was very scary. We wanted to look brave. Fear didn' t give in. I remember Mary holding me firmly by the hand. I think we walked about three meters in before we saw the first lap. That place was like a maze, as on the other side only a few centimeters away there was also a turn. We quickly realized that it would be much harder to find a way out in that place.

25:26 If there was one. We decided to go a little further hoping to have some sign of being approaching a way out, but it was not so and, in fact, the more the minutes passed, we realized that the candles and the little oil we had managed to get for the lamp were running out quite quickly. By that time we were all walking with a little more confidence. Of course it was very dark and smelled of moisture, but by being together we had already lost some fear. Or at least that' s what we thought until Martin came up with the idea of reading something that was written in one of the passageways we were about to turn around in. He said aloud leave hope to everyone who enters here today. Of course I know that ' s a phrase from a famous book, but at that point none of us knew and for obvious reasons, we were very afraid. We had grown up hearing stories about God and the Devil and how good and evil existed.

26:37 Therefore, that prayer that was there implied that we should not cross, We decided to go a little further and go towards the other. There seemed to be no warning at all, but by that time Martin was already intrigued by those walls. He began to see around until he realized that in one of those rectangles that were on the walls he could still see quite clearly the letters Martin read that said Francisco Esquivel also had two dates in a row, which clearly indicated the day on which he was born and the day on which he died. Right now, I' d be lying if I said I remember the exact date. All I know is that Martin mentioned that he had died very young, but I think that after he said that was when we all realized that all those rectangles that looked so old and full of dirt, which we had previously believed were just decoration of the walls, were tombs. It was probably that in all of them there was a different person. This scared us so much, so we decided it would be best to come back.

27:56 After all, we had already had a good time looking for a way out and all we had found were many more passageways that we didn' t even know were there. First of all, there really wasn' t a way out anywhere, but we knew there should be one, because our children' s mind made us unable to accept that we were wrong. But we still decided that it was best to return to our steps in order to return more calmly the next morning. We also thought we could try to get something to mark the passageways we had already traveled. Since they all looked quite the same and so we would know which ones had a way out and which ones didn ' t. Disappointed, but also convinced that it was the best decision we could make. At that point, we turned around and started walking out into our mind was easy. The floor was of land and so many years it is the place had been abandoned. Our steps would be the only ones to be seen on the floor. We just had to follow them and that' s what we did at first. We were all doing that, but all of a sudden we felt that we had already made too much progress, and not only that, but we also seemed to be going to places that none of us remembered coming in, despite seeing clearly that if it were about the

29:29 shoes we had, each of us seemed to be going in directions that made no sense. I think at first none of us wanted to accept it. We were very quiet, we all thought about it, but I think after walking about an hour without seeing the slightest exit signal, we all accepted that we were lost. In addition, the steps we were following led us to that passageway where everyone who enters here was to give up hope. I think that was the moment when we all startled that message, and we were already afraid of it, and now it seemed like the steps were going to that altered passageway. We just started running. We didn' t even have a clear address. We only knew that following our footsteps was no longer reliable and that we had to get out of there or we would probably die. Samantha was crying, Mary too Martin, Manuel and I were trying to contain our tears of concern, but seriously we were nowhere to break. Also by my mind, I was just crossing the idea that we could never find our way out again and that we would probably starve to death in that place. But from one moment to the next, almost without thinking about it, we all managed to see a small entrance of light at the end of one of the

30:59 corridors. We had run in such random directions that we didn' t know if it was an exit from the orphanage or the same place we had entered. But still, at the time it didn' t matter we just wanted to get out. We arrived and when we opened the underground door we realized that it was the same place we had entered. We were at the orphanage back, and not only that, but it was already starting to dawn. Very soon they would realize that we were not there, so the relief we felt for getting out of the tunnels was totally overshadowed by the idea of the punishment that awaited us. As soon as they realized we weren' t there, and in an attempt because they didn' t know that our intention was to escape, we threw our backpacks back into the catacombs and closed down trying to hide the door as much as possible and running into our rooms, begging that we could arrive in time for the caregivers not to notice. We split up with the girls. Luckily, they weren' t found out. For us. It was a totally different story. We were barely climbing the stairs when the director was already leaving the angry room, as we were not there he found us and didn' t even let us up the truth. I ' m not so sure I can relate exactly the kind of physical punishment we

32:30 received that day, as they were really strong going through that initial pain. The truth is that we were grateful that nothing had happened to the girls and that at least they would have been spared the punishment. Besides that, we were all happy to have managed to get out of the tunnels. None of us wanted to come back at the time. And, moreover, it' s not like we could have done it either, because because we were found maximum security to make sure we didn' t leave. But this was only for a couple of months before they thought no one would try anything anymore. I guess it was partly because of the fact that they didn' t know exactly what we wanted to do, because while the punishment was being applied to us, we realized that they imagined that we went wandering around the orphanage at night to steal food from the pantry. And I think that as all this time passed, that' s when all of us started wanting to take that idea of coming back, because our backpacks had stayed in that place and we had to manage without them. And the more we thought about it, the more we all agreed that maybe we were confused after all, if we had been walking in different directions. We assumed that, being such a large place, it would be easy to get lost. But s s s we thought

34:00 that if we could find something to mark a path, it would be much easier to find the way out that we wanted so much. Besides that, Manuel had managed to steal a small pocket watch from the Director' s office, so we would have a better sense of time. We agreed we didn ' t need to go out the first night. Now we had a better perspective on the whole place. We knew how enormous it was and we were all convinced that, one way or another, there must be a way out. We also understood that the site was so gigantic that we probably couldn' t make it through everything in one night. We agreed that we would go a maximum of two hours to explore a little and mark different passageways and after that we would return so that we would have no more punishments. We agreed on everything and, again, we re- prepared ourselves to enter the beginning.

34:59 We couldn' t find anything good enough to use as a marker and a couple of days later, Mary had the solution to that problem. The girls began to take sewing lessons. He had plenty of yarn of different colors. Our plan was, in fact, quite simple. We' d just make a path with the strings to leave the trail and we' d just have to follow it. After thinking about it for a moment, we assumed that we should also have different types of thread to mark the passageways that we were already passing through and those that we found blocked or without the possibility that there would be any way out. Around there, after thinking about all that, we decided to come back, although I remember well that the night we had all planned to return a heavy rain was released all over the orphanage was so strong that going out would be just crazy. And the worst thing was, it wasn' t a one- day rain. This was something that lasted about a week. Sometimes I wonder if it was God trying to keep us from going back into that horrible place we had miraculously managed to get out of last time. But none of us saw it that way at the time.

36:19 Rather, we were very disappointed and angry that we could not leave for the fourth night, although it was still raining. It was no longer a storm like it had been in the previous days. It was just a light breeze. We decided that it would be best to carry out the plan once and for all. When we arrived at the entrance and went down the steps, we quickly realized something. The place had flooded, the water reached our knees and the ground felt so muddy that only lifting the foot implied a great force, but the worst thing for us at that time was to realize that our mochas were no longer there We assumed that the flood had made them float and now they were somewhere in that gigantic place disappointed. We went back to our rooms to wait for the site to dry again in a few days.

37:16 We came back the next few days, but it was almost the same. After two weeks, the water had come down so much that it was no longer a problem. We didn' t know where the water had gone, but by that time, barely if it covered our shoes, it was fine. Considering all that, our plan came back again. We tied the first thread to the security railing of the stairs so that this would indicate the way was red. We' re starting to walk. We turned around in the first hallway, even though we had already been there the previous time. But we all agreed that we had to check everything well, because our belongings might well be in one of those places. But we also agreed that if we found the way out, we' d leave without them. After all, even though, according to us, they would be our most precious belongings, we had not missed them so much in the time when we had not had them with us. It would be a way to get rid of it.

38:24 As I said before, the place was quite extensive. Many of the places were dead ends. We only marked them with a black thread in the entrance when we went out and continued to check the others. This system was very easy. In fact, that first day we didn' t have any problems. After two hours of setting markers, we had not managed to find our belongings or a way out, but we felt that it had been a quite productive night, at least more than the first time, and after that we returned without any problems. The thread plan had worked very well and we left it tied there to return to our rooms. I think we' ve been going around those places for, like, four days without finding a way out.

39:15 Moreover, it seemed that the site became much more gigantic as we moved on almost as if it were even bigger than the orphanage. As such, we decided to add another two hours to our search range. After all, coming back was much easier. Now, obviously, we always skipped. The passageway that I said abandons hope to everyone who enters here, but outside of that we continue to review the others. Next night we came across something quite strange as we walked through one of the passageways, we realized that there was a rare bump in the middle of it and as soon as we got close to see what it was, it turned out to be Samantha' s backpack at first gave us all some laughter and also satisfaction to know that at least we had found one of the backpacks at the time, when Samantha picked it up from the floor, she realized it was empty was closing. It would have been impossible for the water to get their stuff out. The scariest thing, at least for me, was to see that the closure was closed.

40:24 What I had was a big tear on the side of the backpack. It looked so weird as if someone had broken it. With all intent. I can' t speak for everyone, but at least I know I had a strong urge to run out of that place. I was very afraid to think that among those passageways I would live something that I would have managed to open that way. The backpack was true that it was made of fabric and maybe it could have been torn with something, but it was still rare. We continue our search. We were all restless about what we had found. I guess a part of us didn' t think a glass nail or whatever could have done that. The backpack would have to be traveling at a very fast speed to be torn that way, and we doubted it could be that way.

41:16 But it was the most logical explanation. We were walking when, all of a sudden we all started to hear something strange. At first we didn ' t give it any importance, because when we were four, we made quite a lot of noise when walking. As time passed, we realized that there were more steps than ours. The steps of a sixth person were heard walking far behind us we turned, but at the same time the steps stopped and with the scant light given us the oil lamp we could not see many meters after the tunnel. At some point everyone turned black. We decided not to give it much importance, because we thought that maybe we had been confused and were only about our same steps, which echoed between all places. It was weird, since we' d been doing that for many days and none of us had noticed it until that moment. And the more we walked the clearer it was for us. We knew he wasn' t any of us and we knew there was someone else. We were trying to keep saying that it was just a sound effect from the echo of the passageways, but none of us was totally convinced. We only advanced about two meters when something happened.

42:40 The jar where we had the oil for the lamp fell to the floor instantly breaking. We quickly started yelling at her and blaming Samantha who was the one with the bottle, claiming how she could have dropped something so important. But Saman told us that he did not know why he had dropped it, since he had it very well attached, but it was as if something had taken it from his hands at that time, along with all the strange things that had been happening to us all the time we had been there, the truth is that none of us was able to doubt his word. Already frightened, we decided that it was best to return and perhaps return the next day we began to walk back, following as always, the red thread. I think we were about halfway there. When the oil lamp started to warm up, it was like a warning. Samantha was the one holding it in her hands and suddenly she told us she was feeling the hot handle. We did not take much importance because it was quite unlikely, since the handle was not made of metal, but of wood. Precisely to prevent such incidents. We thought maybe Samantha was just a little nervous about what happened with the oil.

44:06 But the further we moved on, Samanth said he couldn' t take it anymore. Manuel took her and told her he' d take her. But almost the moment he grabbed her, he let go of her by throwing a loud cry of pain, causing her to break, making us stay in darkness. At first, we all cried out for the fear that this caused us. Martin quickly pulled out the matches and lit half the candle we had left to light it. First we could see it was Manuel' s right hand. It had a red line, almost as if it had taken zero. About to melt down, we knew something very bad was going on. We begin to rush through, carefully following the path marked by that bond. We were all very scared and all we wanted was to get out. Yeah.

44:58 We didn' t mind finding other sas None of us wanted to go back to that place again we started running along the way Martin was going to the front of all of us until suddenly he braked dry. I ran right into his back and fell in the mud. I asked him why he had stopped and he was still with the candle in his hand, mute and despite the dim light, he could see how pale he was. The path of the thread was leading us directly to that passageway that had written the sentence that scared us. The red thread that we had been following in the hope of leaving, had been untied and was now inside that strange passageway in which none of us was willing to enter. It didn' t even give us time to say anything. When Mary felt a strong pull that seemed to come from the other end of the cordon. It was like we were invited into that place.

46:00 Almost immediately. Mary let him go, for it made no sense to follow that path. The only thing we could see at that time was the red thread, being slowly dragged into that dark passageway that had given us so much distrust ever since. At first, our first intention was to run, but I guess before we even wanted to do it, we all remembered how it had turned out the last time we had tried to do it, the first time we had come down and how we had come out practically of pure miracle. Martin started lighting the passageways with the candlelight, trying to come up with some plan to get out of there as soon as possible. On this occasion we were already a little more experienced, although we always used that red cord to go out all in the background, we knew that if we just put our brain to work a little bit, we could remember exactly where to go, as we had done it before. Trying to calm our nerves, we started walking. None of us trusted the trail that our steps had left, for they had not only caused us to be lost the first time, but by that time we had walked so much between the passageways that there were treads in all directions. We were walking just praying to God that we knew exactly where the exit was and allowed us to find her. While we were

47:34 walking, none of us could ignore that those steps that were heard behind us were coming back. But this time another sound began to be heard was similar to that of a crying. It was like someone was seriously suffering, specifically a grown man. Those tears were so hurtful that they made you freeze your blood. It was impossible to ignore them and it was even impossible to try to deceive your brain that it was the echo or anything else. We start walking in a slightly more hasty way. We quickly realized one thing. The place looked different. I mean, we' ve been through those passageways for a long time and we haven' t seen them as such yet. What ' s more, you didn' t even see the markers we had placed anymore. Everything looked exactly the same and there was not a single way to guide us. But everyone in the background was perfectly aware that even having the best sense of orientation or even the cord that led the way, the truth is that it seemed as if those catacombs were a kind of conscious construction, which could be able to change and modify its appearance, because the more we saw those passageways that we had been going through for several days, we realized that it looked like it was a totally new place for us. For obvious

49:07 reasons, we began to despair and enter different passageways to see if that way we would find the way out again. Of course we were trying not to separate after all we knew we had better chances of surviving by staying together. But the more we moved on, the more scared we were. We were, despite being a situation like the first time we entered that place. The truth was that it was different in many ways. To begin with, we felt watched and, secondly, we did not stop listening to those steps that were also running right into our direction. We were very desperate and, in fact, it seems to me that at some point Martin stumbled upon something making the candle that was left not only go out, but also fill with water and mud, which made it totally useless for us. But at that time no one could blame him, as we could only hear how those steps were approaching. We just keep running without looking back. To be completely honest, it' s not like we could see much either. I remember well that we all turned around in one of the passages and Samantha, who by that time had taken the lead, threw a whining. It was also clearly heard how his head bounced against one of the walls. This was probably one of

50:38 the many closed passageways that we had been bumping into during those days. She was crying saying she thought she had opened her head. Without much thought, Martin pulled the matchbox out of his pocket and lit one in the hope of seeing if Samantha was well. With the light of the match, we could see that he had a crack in his forehead, which was bleeding a lot. Samantha started putting pressure on her head. This was a very shocking thing to see. Very soon we realized that that passageway was not at all like the others. He had no graves. The walls were of porous rock due to humidity, but not only that, but on all walls there were different paintings of sacred art, as well as some figures of normal size like those you could find in any Catholic home. They all looked like they were looking down and from our perspective, they looked like they were staring at us.

51:47 I could even feel the pupil in her eyes moving when you did We didn ' t stay long, as all of that seemed even scarier than everything we were already living. We ran again trying to keep Samantha from following the pace, but because of the heavy blow she had taken seriously, she seemed a little disoriented and couldn' t run at the same speed as she normally did miraculously. The steps had stopped and now it seemed like we were alone. This was only for a couple of minutes, as something else was heard again.

52:29 This time they were not steps as such and neither were they heard precisely at a considerable distance from us. This was heard at the sides, heard almost by our side and seemed to be what caused that sound. He walked on all fours, he sounded much bigger than some rat. We could even see dust coming out of those rectangles on the walls, almost as if moving from within. Even at first we thought that all the tombs were shaking something, as if there was some sort of earthquake that would cause the entire construction of the catacombs to collapse at any moment. But it wasn' t like that. It just seemed like different beings were running along with us I can ' t say for sure anymore. Every time I think of that night, I can only imagine that they were attracted to the smell of blood. I ' m saying that because the side Samantha was on was where this kind of movement seemed the most. Some strange grunts were also heard. It was almost like something was marrying us. I' d like to say that I remember everything perfectly. The truth is that all this happened so quickly and was the most traumatic event in my life. For that moment. None of us were convinced where you are. S to N or N N. N o n o s u s that we had even entered passageways that we had never explored

54:02 and that were totally unknown territories. Everything was very dark, but at some point I saw what I can only describe as a humanoid shadow but also at the same time it was too small. It looked much darker than the rest of the place, which was quite difficult. By itself he moved in a very rare way, as if he were some kind of ape. He hung from the ends of the walls and jumped from one side to the other. I' m not so sure each of us had seen it and I think we were more determined to try to find a way out. When he suddenly came down and looked at us, we knew he was looking at us, since his eyes were not normal, they were red and glowing as if they were two spotlights in the middle of the darkness. We were all petrified looking at it for a few minutes. He' s not doing much, he just squatted there staring at us. None of us knew what to do.

55:08 When all of a sudden Samantha was laid down and dragged away, what we could hear was Samantha' s screams moving away from those dark passageways. But in the darkness it was heard, as it had ceased, to be dragged. All we did was run in the opposite direction, begging for not being the next ones. The funny thing about all this is that, the more we ran, at some point we realized that nothing was heard anymore, only Samantha was yelling at us to wait for her while she was crying. I ' m not quite sure. At what point they stopped chasing us, but the truth was that we were so exhausted that we stopped. Samantha caught us crying and still bleeding a little from her wound. At some point I felt that I would return my stomach for all the physical effort and fear I felt.

56:05 We didn' t know which way to run. Manuel pulled out another box of matches. We were afraid that the flash would reveal our location, but the risk might well be worth it if that light could give us a vision of where to go we were on unknown ground and there might well be some way out. I don' t know. I guess at the time we just wanted that magical exit we had dreamed of so much to be real. He lit the match, and with little light, everything looked exactly the same as porous walls filled with tombs. It wasn' t even possible that that place could be that big. But still. There we were. We walk more cautiously by making a left or right decision for our next move.

56:54 That' s how we did it. Manuel turned on a match to verify that there was no wall in the background. First it seemed like I had a way out. I can almost swear that in one of the times he lit a match I could see how there was an entrance leading to another passageway, but when he lit this one again it was gone. The truth. It' s just that at that moment I thought it was just my imagination, probably next to my desperation to want to leave that place as soon as possible. I didn' t mention anything and very soon we got to the bottom, where there was a wall. We turned around, knowing we couldn ' t go through there. But suddenly something brought our attention back to the wall. It sounded like it was some kind of crackling. We all turn almost instinctively. The match that Manuel had lit so we could see the end of the passageway was still on the moment we turned around. We could still see for a second or two something that we all agreed wasn' t there.

58:02 The first time. It was a gigantic representation of a crucified Christ. It was the size of a real person and the cross was so high that it almost reached the ceiling it looked too real it was as if a person of flesh and blood had been applied liquid ceramics on top. This was just something we could see for a few seconds. I was about to run again when Manuel lit another match again. He was still there as if he' d always been there. He had a crown of thorns and nails on his hands and feet, and his eyes looked to nothing like watching the darkness.

58:46 I can' t say for sure, but I think I said get out of there. Sometimes, when I remember it, it might be that I just thought it really hard and didn' t say it, but I know that at that point we all realized something, and that blood that looked so realistic, in fact, it was. I was dripping, and if you kept looking at it carefully, you could see how it emanated directly from the ceramics. Maria dropped a couple drops on her shirt. We all looked up at the same time, only to see with horror that that Christ was no longer looking into the void, but by that moment he was already looking directly at us. And not only that, but also the expression on his face had changed. She was no longer that calm face that had already accepted her destiny. Now that he was looking at us, he seemed to be dying.

59:46 It was as if with the look he was begging us for help. At the same time as we listened to a man' s tearful cry, it was the same one we had heard at the beginning of all that. Ah now we all knew that it had always come from him. We start running in the opposite direction to the passageway. While we were doing so, we could all hear clearly how those thick and heavy nails fell to the floor and also how the ceramics began to fall off the gigantic cross that held that Christ prisoner. The worst thing is that they also began to hear footsteps, which were running fast toward us. I will never forget that as we ran, there was an echo in all directions, and there was a sound of crying and asking again and again to forgive him. The truth is, I don' t know how long we ran. I guess he gave us some kind of adrenaline rush and we were just groping for the passageway, where we could get in so we could keep running, and we had nothing to see anymore and that thing seemed to be stepping on our heels today. I cannot assure or affirm the following, but I feel that at some point we entered the passageway that had the phrase that terrified us. I know because the moment we entered, the vibe completely changed the whole place. It felt strange.

1:01:21 But that place, which had always given us a lot of distrust and fear, felt even worse. The smell of moisture was so unbearable that you thought you could suffocate at any time for not breathing the right oxygen. Moreover, unlike the other passageways, in this one the walls were so narrow that you felt that at any moment you would be crushed or stuck. Between them they were so glued from each other that it was almost impossible not to scrape your arms when trying to cross it. But at that time, being persecuted by that Christ, we could not or or or or two turn back and only keep moving forward. In fact, at some point I tore my face from the side of my nose to almost my ear, so I think it was a wire or something. All I know is that it started to bleed a lot, which wasn' t good, as we almost immediately started to hear the walls go back to rumbling. For a moment I thought I would be dragged, just as Samantha had been, but at that time the walls seemed to become a little wider. The further we moved on, it still sounded like something was running. As we turned our heads, we all saw some steps and what seemed to be a gate that let some light in. Without saying a word, we all started running as fast as we could. We

1:02:54 kept listening to that rumbling of the walls and those four- legged things ran between the boxes of the deceased, just like that ceramic Christ, chasing us all over the place, when suddenly we were already there. We didn' t even realize it, but it was a different door. This was made of wood, which allowed the light to come in and had a rusty and very old bar lock. At that moment, I only opened it and helped Mary out. When he left, the first thing he received us was that it had already dawned. There was some light. However, it was raining.

1:03:37 The sun was not in its utmost splendor. That rain was the best feeling of my life after I survived that hell. I remember we started jumping euphorically celebrating that we were already outside that feeling, or little lasted us, as we realized that Manuel was not there and immediately we returned to the door and started shouting his name over and over again without getting any kind of answer. No one was brave enough to re- enter something inside of us. He told us that if Manuel hadn' t made it out, maybe it was because he had been caught long before and we didn' t want to be next. I think we were silent for several minutes until we turned towards different directions and realized something else that we had overlooked. That wasn' t the orphanage. There were no walls. We were outside and the walls of the orphanage could be seen in the distance, perhaps a mile away. We were wounded and we did not know what had happened at all, as there was no simple way to explain what we had experienced. And I guess we were a little in shock, too. We just turned around and walked into the village. The wonderful life we imagined as children was not fulfilled as we wanted it to be. Sometimes I think that wasn' t worth it It

1:05:11 was because none of us came back to be himself after that day. The truth is that, being children living on the street, we had a really bad time. We asked for money or food, sometimes we worked. There were people who helped us and others who, by thinking about doing a good deed, suggested taking us to the orphanage, which was the worst thing that could happen to us, to which we always distanced ourselves from the people who said that. But despite years of living on the street, we managed to get ahead by sharing what we had with each other. The ones who got us the most help. It was an elderly couple who came to provide us with a roof where we could stay. Thanks to them we got to improve our way of life. Story written and adapted by Lisa Hernández