Horror Stories | La Llorona Weeps in California

Welcome to Scary Story Time with Spooky Boo. Today I bring you the story of a nice little familiy who moved to the United States so the mother would stop dreaming of the horrible La Llorona. Little did they know, the nightmares would worsen as they neared the lake with the witch of Sandcastle and one day fate would seal the deal. Read the story at www.scarystorytime.com.

Before I begin I’d like to invite you to come chat with my friends and I on Saturday nights while watching Creature Features on YouTube at 10:00 PM Pacific. We watch the campy b-rated horror movies and the guests as they’re interviewed by Vincent van Dahl. Come and chat! Find the channel info at www.creaturefeatures.tv.

Now let’s begin:

La Llorona Weeps in California

1

Carlos Martinez heard the stories for years yet he refused to listen. He was clearly a minority in Sandcastle and wanted to fit in with the others so he hid is family and their superstitions from all of his friends. His parents waited for years to get into the United States, and after learning English and teaching it to their family they were allowed to bring whatever they could to go manage the grape vineyard staff. Henrico Martinez, Carlos’s father, was already working in the vineyard when his wife and children were staying in Mexico awaiting their chance to move away from the nightmares of Alicia Martinez.

Carlos remembered the days of his mother’s tears and recurring nightmares of La Llorona. She would sit in their one-bedroom apartment in Mexico City and cry out in the middle of the night for her children. Even when they came running in to comfort her, she still moaned in pain and unable to wake up.

“Mamma, it will all be okay,” Carlos said in perfect English. Their father told them if they wanted to be with him in the United States then they must learn the language and getting accepted would be easier. Carlos heard his father telling his mother one night that if perhaps he was able to land a job at the winery where he worked then the family could move and the horrifying nightmares might disappear.

That was 10 years ago. Carlos, now 26 years old, still hears his mother cry in her sleep every night. They did everything right so they could move. Carlos and his mother saved $25,000 US dollars between his online business and her two jobs washing dishes and doing laundry. Their father sent home a hefty $1000 per month for them to live on and saved another $2000 while only eating small meals and living extremely frugal. He thought for sure this would end the nightmares.

“Mamma, I’m here.” Carlos sat next to his mother’s bed. While managing the vineyards in the next city over Henrico was gone during the week and left the house to his son while he traveled from Los Angeles to San Francisco several times per week. Carlos didn’t mind at all because he knew that one day the little coffee shop he bought at a young 19 years old would keep him at work during the day and at home to protect his family at night. That is all they needed.

His mother shuddered in her sleep. The tears poured from the corners of her eyes as she cried out ‘no no no! La Llorona! Leave my babies alone!”

“Mamma, wake up. It’s almost time to get up and go to work.” Carlos pleaded with her while shaking her arm. I must open the shop for the morning commuters. You need to help me bake the bread and muffins.

Alica’s eyes fluttered open as she took a deep breath then stared at her son for a moment. “I’m sorry baby, the nightmares never stop.”

“I thought moving here would stop them, Mamma? But we have been here for ten years and you still cry out in your sleep. How can I help you?”

“I don’t know, Carlos. La Llorona is here. She speaks to me in my sleep and wants me to do horrible things to people–to children.” she sniffed back the tears.

Carlos grabbed his mother’s hand and squeezed tightly. “Momma, La Llorona is not real. You are having nightmares of an urban legend from back in Mexico.”

“No, Carlos. I’ve seen her when I drive to the store. I’ve seen her at the lake from the roadway. She stares at me as I drive by and cries. Then in my dreams I see what she has done to her babies–to my babies! She threatened our family for leaving Mexico!”

“Momma, your baby is right here. You have no other children.”

“You’re wrong, Carlos.” she stopped talking and the tears flowed heavily now. Through the sobs, she continued, “I had two babies before you. I was married before I met your father.”

Carlos stared blankly at his mother. All of these years and he didn’t know her secret past. He released her hand and squeezed his fist in anger. Lies. All of it had been lies! “What do you mean, Mamma? Does Papa know?”

“Yes, he knows. It is why we had to leave, Carlos. I was married to a very bad man who used my children to punish me for wanting to leave him and his evil ways. I didn’t believe he would do it. I couldn’t live that life any longer. He killed people in his business. A drug king. When I left him, he hunted me down and he killed my babies. He drowned them in the river near our house. Every night since then I can hear them crying out to me as she keeps them down.”

He hugged his mother with both arms and hid his face in her long black hair. He didn’t want her to see his weakness of crying, he had to be strong for her. When his tears stopped, Carlos leaned back and squeezed her hands. “It wasn’t your fault, Mamma. The evil man is gone and we worked hard to come here and get away from him. He can’t find you.”

“She found me, son. La Llorona found me. She lives at the lake. I’ve seen the old woman with my own eyes. But we must continue, right? Go warm up the car, I will be out in a few minutes.”

As Carlos went out the start the car his thoughts went back to the lake and when his friend drowned. All of his friends were there and only a few would swim out to the damn raft because of the rumors of the lake witch. He swore that when his friend drowned he could see the shape of a woman near them under the water, but it all happened so fast he wasn’t sure. He would have jumped in had he known how to swim but growing up he had nowhere to learn. Now he knew why his mother refused to live near any water for it tormented her dreams every night.

2

Alicia ran the brush through her long, thick hair and dabbed the tissue to her checks to erase the tears. Another day at the coffee house will make everything ok again. Carlos will forget the conversation and they would be fine, or would they? He now knew about the evils that lurked in her mind every day and the past she tried to escape from. Looking at the tangle of Halloween lights Carlos brought in from the garage to hang on the outside of the house, she contemplated for a moment what it would be like to just end it and let her family move on.

“No, I don’t want that. Get that horrible thought from your head, Alicia!” she mumbled softly.

“Ah but you do, momma!” a woman in a long white dress appeared before her. Her long white hair was flowing around her face and shoulders, but there was no wind. Her dress was wet and clung to her body. As she stepped closer, she grabbed the string of orange and purple lights from the table and smiled.

“No, La Llorona, I do not. Leave me. Get out of my head!”

As the woman moved closer Alicia noticed her feet and dress weren’t even touching the ground. Her beautiful face slowly began to decay before Alicia’s eyes. Her skin fell to the floor in grey, leathery pieces as she stretched her arms out to her.

Alicia closed her eyes and rocked back and forth. “You’re not real!” she repeated, feeling something tighten around her neck. When she opened her eyes La Llorona’s face was right in front of hers. The stench of death reeked from the witch’s mouth as she opened it to speak. The witch lifted her bony hand to her lips and blew something into Alicia’s face and suddenly the mother’s mind went numb.

“Come with me,” the witch hissed.

Alicia absently stood and followed the witch up the stairs, led by the string of Halloween lights. When they reached the top of the stairs. they stood, staring over the balcony and into the living room. Alicia didn’t scream or cry, she wanted to obey.

“Tie the rope around the bannister. Make it tight,” the witch whispered in Alicia’s ear.

Alicia did exactly as the old woman said. The lights were tied around the bannister and tightly around her neck yet she didn’t hesitate from listening for more instruction. She wanted instruction, she needed it. This seemed wrong, all wrong, but wasn’t it what she wanted all along?

“Yes, you want this.” the witch said, blowing more powder in her face.

“Yes, I want this,” Alicia stared absently into the living room.

“Now jump!” the witch screamed in her head.

Without hesitation, Alicia rolled over the bannister and flung herself toward the ground stopping only in time to hear the snap of her neck.

 

3

Carlos did as his mother said–he always did. On the cold, foggy mornings the old car took longer to warm up. He didn’t know why they didn’t just buy a new car as between his business and his father’s job they were sure to be able to afford one, but his parents never wanted to discuss it. His car was still parked at the coffee house from the previous day or he would have just taken it instead. As the car shuttered and rumbled in park, he realized that he forgot to grab his wallet.

“Momma? Where did you put my…MOMMA!” Carlos cried out. His mother hung above his head under the staircase with her legs dangling and feet swaying into his face. “No!”

Dialing 911 and hitting the speaker button, Carlos grabbed his mother’s legs and held her up so the rope would no longer pull on her neck. As the 911 operator spoke, he screamed into the phone. “20210 Conch Shell Avenue. Quickly. My mother, she…she’s hanging from a rope. I can’t get the rope down to help her, please hurry!”

He didn’t know what to do as he held on to her legs hoping he was taking any weight from her body away from the rope around her neck, but deep down inside he knew she was dead already. Her eyes were lifeless and mouth agape. Her arms were limp and her legs were heavy. There was no pulse in her wrist from what he could tell and that is as far as his hands could reach. He didn’t want to let go of her legs. He couldn’t let go.

3

Carlos watched as his friend Reggie came through the front door that was still open from when he ran into the house. He watched several police cars park in front and Reggie ran in then grabbed Alicia’s legs. Another officer went up the stairs and untied the rope. Both friends caught her and gently put Mrs. Martinez on the living room floor.

“I…I was just with her,” Carlos said through sobs. “Reggie, she told me to go out to the car and she did this knowing I would come back in to get her. Why?”

“No one truly ever knows, did she say anything to you?”

“Yeah, she was talking nonsense about an old Mexican urban legend and saying it was out by the lake haunting her. She said I had brothers that were murdered by her ex-husband decades ago. Reggie, I didn’t even know she was married before. She never told anyone.”

“What about your dad, where is he?”

“Why? He’s at work in Los Angeles. He’s not supposed to home until Monday.” Carlos watched the men carry his mother out in a black bag on a stretcher. Suddenly the bag twitched and shook violently. Carlos screamed as the body bag holding his mother lost balance and fell off the gurney.

“Let me see!” he yelled as the paramedics opened the bag to confirm she really was dead.

The red ring around her broken neck the rope had left was more visible than before. Carlos ran his fingers across the redness then threaded his fingers in her hair. “Why momma, why?”

His mother’s face quickly morphed into the face of an old hag. “Your momma’s dead, boy! Sacrificed her soul for yours or I would have killed you next.”

Carlos jerked his hand away screaming, “It’s the white witch!”

“Carlos! What?” Reggie shook him by the arms.

“My momma, she’s…she is…” he looked back at his mother’s face which was now settled at peace. “Nah man, my mind is playing tricks on me.”

“Call your dad and get some sleep. I’ll put a sign out at the coffee shop for you and I”ll be back later. As your friend, Carlos, not as a cop. Are you going to be okay?”

Carlos looked around the house and already felt alone. “Yeah, I’ll be okay. I’ve got some calls to make.”

“It can wait, buddy. Get some rest.”

“I have to call papa.” Carlos picked up the phone as Reggie shut the door behind him. Everything was now quiet in the house. Too quiet. With all the police and paramedics gone and without his mother’s voice singing her favorite songs he suddenly felt very vulnerable. He could still smell the coconut shampoo from her hair earlier and almost feel her fingertips against his cheek. He cradled the back of his own hand next to his face when the phone blared in his ear, waking him up from his daydream. He didn’t remember putting the phone down, just the door shutting when everyone left. Within seconds the phone rang again.

“Son, is everything ok? You called and hung up. I thought I heard your mom screaming.”

Stalling and unable to contemplate what his father just said, Carlos took a moment to answer. “This is the first time I’ve called you. Papa, come home.”

“I’m in Los Angeles, son. Tell me what’s wrong. Is everything OK?”

“Papa, Mamma is…she is…” he could barely get out the words as his throat closed up when he tried to speak. He squeezed his eyes tight trying to focus. Visions of his mother’s face hanging in front of him with the very Halloween lights he planned to put up after work flashed in his mind. “She’s dead.”

Only silence came from the other end. The roar of the diesel engine stopped and Carlos could hear his father’s faint breath.

“What?” Henrique’s voice squeaked on the other end. “How?”

“Suicide, Papa. I didn’t want to tell you this way. Just come home. Please?”

“I’ll be home tonight. I’m on my way. Stay strong, son.”

4

Henrico suddenly couldn’t breathe. As he drove into the city limits of Sandcastle, he pulled over to the side of the highway. He wasn’t ready to face his son or his home just yet. His wife of 20 years had died, and why? She had been acting weird over the past few years in Sandcastle, so strange, in fact, that she started taking a prescription to calm her anxiety. He pondered that thought for a moment. She had been taking pills, why didn’t she just take the pills? She wasn’t the type to put on a show, she would have wanted to go quietly.

He leaned against his truck and cradled his head in his hands. As his veins began to throb into one of his intense headaches, he heard a soft cooing from within the trees of the woods. He stared into the darkness and the cooing grew louder over the ocean waves of the Pacific. He stumbled in the rocks as he walked toward the sound.

“Henrico!” the whisper grew louder.

“Alicia?” he walked into the woods, ignoring that he hadn’t turned off his truck. The lights were still shining on the road as he turned around to check and a shadow walked between the truck and the trees.

“Whose there?” he bellowed as he began walking back toward the truck when a woman appeared between him and the road.

“Henrico…” the woman whispered. The wind carried the words as they seemed to wisp around his body. “Come Henrico,” She beckoned with her hands for him to walk faster. The voice was his beloved Alicia, but it couldn’t be. She was dead. As he walked closer, he could see the woman wasn’t the face of his beautiful wife, but that of an old hag with blackened teeth and an evil grin.

Not seeing the lights coming quickly toward him, Henrico walked into the street toward his truck. The horn blaring into the night as the other diesel truck slammed on its brakes, too late to stop. As the truck jackknifed into the parked semi, Henrico’s brains spattered on the windshield and his body tossed like a rag doll on to the street then all was quiet as the shaken truck driver from Portland called in the accident.

5

Carlos waited patiently for his father to return home. He sat in silence in the middle of the living room remembering the shock in his mother’s face as he walked into the room that very morning. Reggie closed the coffee shop for him for the day and all he did was sit in the same chair all day long and stare at the same spot hoping that maybe it was all a nightmare and his mother would come and wake him up from the horrible dream.

As he stared at the balcony and he imagined his mother hanging there by the string of lights her body began to appear before him. He stared in shock as the shape took form and her beautiful face shine. “Your father, Carlos.”

“Mamma?” he stood and touched her feet. A jolt of energy went through his body like electricity as his eyes rolled back into his head and he shook violently. He saw his father staring wide-eyed like a deer into the lights of the oncoming truck. As his head smashed into the windshield and his body flew the woman on the side of the road laughed with vengeance. It was then he recognized the old face. It wasn’t La Llorona at all, but the witch of the lake. He remembered her face when he and his friends partied on the raft that fateful day.

“I will kill you!” he growled before crumbling to the floor.