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ahead. This is what it feels like when you’re walking to the gallows , I guess.  
                  A man ushers me into the backseat of a Jeep. I see Diablo t hrough the window riding his h orse. Alongside him, Santana rides, a scowl on her pretty face. I’m confused at the angry looks she’s throwing my way.
                  Christa rides up to them and starts to ague with Diablo. They way she’s glancing at the Jeep gives me the impression they’re arguing about me . Maybe they don’t want him to take me captive. Maybe they feel sorry for me after all. Maybe they’ll eventually be my friends. God, I hope they ’ ll be my friends.
                      The men in the front seat of the Jeep look at me and frown . I’m scrawny and plain - a ragamuffin. My long, blonde hair is greasy and stringy, my blue eyes are bloodshot and the dress I’m wearing is baggy and unflattering. I’m wearing not a stitch of make up so I look pale and … eleven so they’re probably wondering what the hell Diablo sees in me.
                  After a while, they lose interest in me and chat among themselves. I’m thankful for that - it gives me a chance to gather my thoughts. What the hell does the beast want with me? Why me , when I embarrassed him in front of his people? I’m so much trouble – hasn’t he figured that out as yet?
                       Am I supposed to fuck this freak - this scruffy, hairy aberration? The thought of that makes me want to hurl. The very thought of being in the same room with this murderous animal makes me want to jump off the cliff myself. I stare into the dark and wish I died when he first shot me.
                                                                         
     
    *               *               *
    We’re drive up to the hills and finally slow down at a ranch. The sign at the entrance says Tana - Mera . Like the song. The Jeep stops , everyone alights and I’m confused – I’m not expecting Diablo to live on a ranch, I’m expecting him to live in a large Bin Laden - styled cave.
                  They ask me to get out of the Jeep so I comply. The darkness doesn’t help – everything looks sinister and creepy - so Adam’s Family.  
                      Diablo and Santana walk ahead of me.
                  A man they call Lorenzo walks up to me. ‘Follow me, Senorita.’
                  I nod. We walk for a while and stop outside a door.
                  ‘Thi s is your room,’ he says and ushers me inside.
                  I have a room? Hesitating, I step into the room and look around. It’s normal , thank God!
                  Lorenzo shuts the door and leaves, but does not lock it. 
                  I was expecting to be thrown into some dark, damp, underground dungeon, littered with human skulls and coffins of all sizes , complete with a cauldron of foul smelling liquid , bubbling on an open flame. Instead, and to my surprise, my room is modern, comfortable with colour co-ordinated linen – different hues of apple-green and cream and bits of silver strewn around. Cannibals with a flair for décor? Bling? 
                  I stand in the middle of the room and look around. Not a single skull and way cleaner than my bedroom back home. The room has a king-size bed, dressing table, side tables and a fluffy, spearmint-coloured carpet. No pictures and no personal stuff. Pretty much like a hotel room.         
                  Too afraid to touch anything, I perch on the edge of the bed and try to think. What now?
                  I keep glancing at the door, expecting Diablo to barge in any moment and start hacking at me, or drag me outside, tie me to a stake and perform a ritual , virgin -