C4 antho - Chamber Four

The Affliction
___________
by C. Dale Young
from Guernica
No one would have believed Ricardo Blanco if he had
tried to explain that Javier Castillo could disappear. What
was the point in trying to explain it to someone, explain how
he had seen it himself, how he had watched as Javier Castillo
stared deeply as if he were concentrating, and then, slowly,
disappeared? Ricardo always began the explanation in the
same way, by stating that it wasn’t a sudden thing, that no,
no, it was a gradual thing that took sometimes almost as long
as three minutes.
Ricardo was an odd man. He wanted to believe Javier
Castillo was a god of some kind. But Ricardo did not believe
in gods. He did not even believe in Christmas, angels, or miracles.
He even found it difficult to believe in kindness. And
yet, he had left his wife and family to follow this man, this
Javier Castillo, a man he knew little about. What he did know
about Javier Castillo was that he possessed an “affliction.”
This is the word Javier Castillo used to describe his ability to
disappear. An affliction. Ricardo wanted to believe that, but
he could not find it in himself to believe. What he felt for
Javier Castillo was a kind of envy. And maybe, somewhere
inside his messed-up head, Ricardo believed that the longer
he was around Javier Castillo the more likely he, too, would
gain the ability to disappear.
But Javier Castillo... Yes, the really surprising thing
about Javier Castillo was not the disappearing act. Anyone
can disappear. What was remarkable about the disappearances
was the fact that Javier Castillo had control over where