"A MODERN-DAY VERSION OF THE POPULAR MEXICAN LEGEND" "THE WEEPING WOMAN" "Here you have a textbook case of cardiac arrest." " Good morning, doctor." " Good morning, ma'am." "But professor, it's claimed that this man died after seeing a ghost at midnight." "Nonsense." "Scientifically, it's nothing more than a common case." "So you don't believe that paranormal phenomena can cause heart damage?" "As a subjective belief, sure, but as a tangible fact, no." "Ghosts only exist in folk tales." "What about astral bodies, professor?" "Bah, theories, dear students." "Just theories." "Please, as soon as they take the corpse away, prepare everything for the 10:00 surgery." "Yes, doctor." " Shall we go?" " Yes, professor." "6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12... 13!" "Mario, what are you doing?" " There are 13 of them, Don Fernando." " Since when are you superstitious?" " I've always been like this!" " Always..." "Aren't you a little too old to be superstitious?" "Oh, Don Fernando!" "For God's sake." "Children, because we're celebrating Juanito's birthday today," "I'm going to tell you a story, okay?" " The story of "Pérez Mouse"." " Yeah!" "Yeah!" "Once upon a time, there was Pérez Mouse." "He was a mouse who loved cheese, but whenever he tried to eat some, they would stop him." " Whenever he would..." " Here's Luisito." "Mum, when are you going to cut the cake?" "Right now, Juanito." "Children, now we'll cut the cake." "Yes, yes, yes!" "Juanito, blow out the candles!" "In one breath, okay?" "That's it." "Now you're gonna cut the cake." "Let grandpa do it." " Nice party, right?" " Mind your own business!" "I'll bet you don't have the cars ready for the children." "But they already left, Don Fernando." "40 years working for me, and you still don't know the ropes." "This always happens." "When you're in a bad mood, I'm the one who gets the blame." " Mum, I want to turn four again." " Why, son?" "So you'll throw me another party." "You want another party, huh?" "If this isn't happiness, I don't know what is." "Love and innocence..." "should be eternal." "It's getting late." "Why don't you put him to bed?" "You're right, Dad." "Ready, Juanito?" " See you tomorrow, Dad." " See you tomorrow." "I don't want to go to bed yet." "You must be a good boy, Juanito." "It's late." "Are you going to tell me a story?" "Yes, my love, I will." "A very nice story." " "Little Red Riding Hood"." " You already told me that one." " Then "Sinbad the Sailor"." " You already told me that one." "Then I'm going to tell you..." " "The Adventures of Pinocchio"." " Okay, that one." "May God preserve our good fortune." "Let's go to the library." "I've something important to tell you." "As you know... my first son mysteriously disappeared on his fourth birthday, and a few days later, we found him in the garden, with a stab wound in his chest." "Why do you torture yourself with those memories?" "Juanito turned four today, and I have my fears." "What do you mean, Don Fernando?" "Your son is also first-born and descends from the Moncadas and Cortés." " Why connect an isolated fact with...?" " It's not isolated!" "My brother died the same way!" "It's as if there were a curse over our family." "In such a big family, it's normal for tragedies to occur which have no connection to one another." "In this room, there are two books that establish that connection." "This one... and an older one that we'll look for later." "Here it recounts a terrible affair in which our ancestors played an active role." "I'll read it for you." ""In New Spain during the rule of Don Luis de Velasco," ""viceroy by God's grace and by his Catholic Majesty..." ""...on a street in Mexico City..."" "Hail Mary!" "It's 12 o'clock and all is well!" "Hail Mary!" "It's 12 o'clock and all is well!" "Let's go, Ana." "You mustn't be afraid." " I'll only be gone for a month." " You're leaving me again, Rodrigo." " You don't love me like you once did." " Don't say that, Doña Ana." "You know that leaving now isn't up to me." "My butler needs me." "It's something about money." "I only know that you're leaving, God knows for how long." "You still haven't fulfilled your promise of recognizing our son and giving him his rightful name." " There will be time for that." "The child will be four soon, and he still doesn't have your name." "I will fix everything." " Be patient." " I have been patient, but you don't seem prepared to keep your promise." "We must wait for the right time." "My position and ancestry prevent me from acting hastily." "Your ancestry?" "Are you forgetting that I come from Tlaxcalteca nobility?" "Our son is doubly entitled to a clean name!" "And he'll have one." "Don't worry, Doña Ana." "Do you swear it?" "He's coming." "Don't attack until I give the order." "Don't let him escape." "He always carries a lot of gold." "Hand over that which we would otherwise take by force." "The gold you seek is well-guarded behind the point of this sword." "Stay there!" "I don't need any help to send his soul to the devil!" "Help me, you fools!" "That's it, you cowards!" "One by one, or all at once?" "Bastards!" "Get back!" "Now you'll taste my steel!" " Upon my faith, those scoundrels are in a hurry." " Cowards." " What happened to you?" "Are you hurt?" " No, it's just a scratch on my arm." "I owe you my life." "It's always a pleasure to help a gentleman." "I'm Don Rodrigo de Cortés, Marquis of the Valley." "I'm Captain Don Diego de Acuña." "Please, come with me." "You honor me with your company." "Now is not a good time." "Allow me to leave." "We'll toast to the lucky star that brought me your help." "If you insist..." " Come in." " After you." " Only to show you the way." "Call the owner and bring something to treat a scrape." "Let me help you, Marquis." "Upon my faith, you arrived just in time, captain." "Ma'am..." "It's the marquis, he's wounded." "Wounded?" "My god, Rodrigo!" "What happened?" "It's nothing, but without the good help of this gentleman..." "Captain Don Diego de Acuña, Doña Ana Xicoténcatl." "Heaven brings me two gifts on the same night:" "helping this illustrious gentleman, and kissing the hand of a noble lady." "You have my gratitude, captain." "What happened here?" "He's that tough-talker who got away from us last week." "That's one less ruffian." " He's with the Devil now." " Grab him and let's go." "And now all we need is a good bottle of wine, to toast to our happy encounter." "With your permission." "Forgive me, marquis, but what's your relationship to that beautiful lady?" "You can imagine it." "This is her home, and for now it's mine too." "What about your wedding to Doña Elvira that's talked about all over town?" "Doña Ana is a demure lady." "She hardly leaves the house, so she doesn't know what I'm up to." "And why hide it?" "We have a son who I should recognize, but my family and even the viceroy are against it." " Such behavior doesn't befit a gentleman!" " Captain!" "You can't make a mockery of a lady's honor like that!" "Remember you're under my roof!" "You've no right to judge me!" "I love Doña Ana, and I was trying to see her when I found you." "I made the mistake of defending you, thinking you were a gentleman!" " You're insulting me!" " You deserve it!" "Defend yourself, captain!" "I'd rather wait for your wounds to heal." "I won't have anyone say I fought a wounded man." "Defend yourself!" "If that's how you want it, I'm ready." "Jesus!" "What's going on here?" "Nothing." "The captain was showing me how I got wounded." "But I thought..." "There, on the table." "Finally, if there is among you any other objection, speak now or forever hold your peace." "And I ask the same of all those in attendance." "Before you are joined in marriage, I ask you twice more:" "if you have any objection, speak now or forever hold your peace." "Doña Elvira de León, will you take Don Cortés Marqués del Valle, here present, for your lawful husband, according to the rite of our Holy Mother, the Catholic Church?" "I do." "Don Rodrigo de Cortés, do you take Doña Elvira de León, here present, for your lawful wife, according to the rite of our Holy Mother, the Catholic Church?" "I do." "Join hands." "I join you in matrimony, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost." "Amen." "Stop!" "Come in, Doña Ana." "Ana..." "That's right, Rodrigo." "And Don Rodrigo de Cortés, here is your son and the woman you humiliated." "You're a coward!" "I'm at your command." " Get that woman out of here!" " There's no need!" "Step aside!" "If Don Rodrigo de Cortés isn't a rogue who only knows how to humiliate women, he can prove it tonight." "I challenge him to a duel at 12:00 sharp, in the same location where this notice is posted." " Captain Don Diego de Acuña." "It's me, Don Rodrigo." "Open the door!" "Doña Ana ordered me not to open the door for anyone." "This is my house." "Open it, I command you!" "What do you want?" "My son!" "I want my son!" "You'll never see him again!" "Let me in!" "I'll never let him have him!" "I'd sooner kill him!" "What are you saying?" "I'll never let him have him!" "I'd sooner kill him!" "For God's sake!" "My son!" "Go away!" " Let me in!" " Go away!" "Sir, quick!" "Quick, it's Doña Ana!" "Your son!" "I'll show you your son!" "Here's his blood, and mine." "I was looking for you." "That's how Doña Ana Xicoténcatl died." "And ever since, her lost soul has been walking the streets, crying out for her son." "Whew, now I can relax." "That's just the legend of La Llorona." "Is that all you were afraid of?" "For most people, it's a legend, but for our family, it appears to be a curse." "You'll see that revenge is implacable, not just for the first-born, but for those who try to stand in its way too." " I'll bring the other book." " Don't bother." "Forget your worries." "You take the past too seriously." "The past... almost never returns." "However, it's better to be safe than sorry." "Look after Juanito." "Don't worry." "Leave that to me." "See you tomorrow." "You still haven't gone to bed?" " Where's Juanito?" " Sleeping." "After the fuss he made earlier..." "Where were you?" "I'm so tired." "I fell asleep in the garden." "Drinking again, huh?" "Don Fernando, for God's sake!" "Fine, fine... go to bed." "I'm afraid that tonight I won't be able to close my eyes." "It's... it's something horrible terrible." " What?" "This damned rheumatism, sir." "Sir, will you be having your milk?" "No, Nana Goya." "See you tomorrow, sir." "Turn off the light on the way out!" "You sure are nosy!" "And you're useless!" "Useless?" "Without me, this home would be a mess." "Ricardo." "Aren't you coming to bed tonight?" "Yes, as soon as I finish this." "Go to sleep." "What's going on?" "Is something wrong with our boy?" "No, nothing." "He seemed restless and..." "Ricardo is something wrong?" "No, dear, it's nothing." "What was that?" "Ricardo, what's happening?" "Nothing!" "Stay out!" "Go with Mario and don't leave Juanito's side." "Take him away!" "Please, what's going on?" "Is Dad alright?" "It's fine." "Go with Mario." "Did something happen, Doctor?" "No, nothing." "Take him away." "Francisco, call the police right now." "The police?" "Ricardo!" " No!" " Doctor!" "Doctor!" " No!" " Mum!" "Ana María!" " My son, they're taking him!" " What's going on?" "Oh, my son!" " Where is my son?" " Calm down, madam!" " My son!" "Here he is!" "My son!" "Mum!" "My son!" "Darling!" "My life!" "My little son!" "You see?" "We saved him." "What's that?" "Are you wounded, Doctor?" "It's nothing, Mario." "May I help you?" "No, thanks." "It's fine." "Yes, sir." "Nana Goya and I are the only servants who stay here at night." "Ever since we were born, we've been working for the family." "Just like our fathers and our grandfathers." "What happened, Doctor?" "A very strange thing that I'll tell you about." "But I beg you to keep watch over our room." " Sergeant!" "Stand at that door." " Yes, sir." "Come on." "And when I tried to grab her, she wounded me as she escaped through that door." "Open this door!" "Boss!" "Something shifted here!" " A book." " Allow me, please..." " I think the key to this matter is in here." " Why, Doctor?" "Before, during the conversation I had with Mr. Moncada shortly before his mysterious death, he expressed his fears about tragedies befalling his family." "He read from another book in the library and alluded to this one, which he said would help explain the origins of this vendetta." "Preface." "This account makes reference to mysterious events which have caused the deaths of various members of our family, ever since La Malinche put a curse on Hernando Cortés and all his descendants." "After the conquest, the service done by Doña Marina was forgotten, and the losing side, blaming her for the defeat, focused all their hate on her and her son." "Then, the conqueror, fearing for the life of his son with La Malinche, was forced to take him from her." "And the haughty princess, known to the Spanish as Doña Marina," "was so humiliated that she went crazy and thought she saw her own son in every child she met." "My son." "My son." "It's Doña Marina." "Doña Marina." "My son." "My son." "Set her free." "Free?" "My revenge will fall on your children." "Free..." "As the legend goes, her faithful servant swore before Marina's corpse to carry on the curse." "And ever since then, her vengeance has continued." "Boss!" "Behind that door, there's a corridor leading to a garden." "Let's go!" "For now, I'm going to take some precautions." " You and Martinez, stand at that door." " Yes, sir." "Don't worry, Doctor." "Killers never commit two crimes in the same place." "Let's go." "Ana María." "Ana María." "Help!" "Help!" "Over there!" "My son!" "Please!" "Antonio, stay there." "Follow me." "Here!" "Follow me!" " There?" " Yes, over there!" " What do you mean?" " Over there!" " This way!" " Where?" "Where is it?" "Where?" "There's nothing here." "There it is." "My Juanito!" "Nana Goya!" "The nanny?" "I said it before." "That woman was no good." "You see, Doctor?" "The killer was flesh and blood." "Who would've imagined it?" "From La Malinche to Nana Goya."