The Mistletoe
Chapter X

I had a lot of time to reflect on my dreams during the early morning, and I was getting nervous about what it meant to have such a creature in the inn where I was staying.

Thinking about the encounter, I could recall that its hair seemed to be black, with reddish tones in its fur, its ears were smaller, it had a long tail, and very robust jaws with sharp teeth. I was drawn to the detail of its lighter spots on the belly, and it definitely had the size of a horse, its yellow eyes with an aura similar to those of the Peuchen.

“Will it be as tough as the Peuchen? Will I be able to hunt it down?” I muttered as I remembered my battle against the Peuchen, over three years ago now.

My father knocked on the door and said, “It’s breakfast time, Miguel. Everything okay?”

I looked at him for a moment and confessed, “I saw the wolf, dad, it’s not really a wolf.”

My dad crossed his arms and said, “Then what do you think it is?”

“Something new, something that seems ancient, very similar to the Peuchen. Its shape, size, eyes. It’s big; I don’t know if it can be taken down with bullets because it seems to come from very far away.”

“Hmm...” My father thought. “If it’s here, this is bad. You know we can’t tell anyone about this without evidence? But still, if you see it or feel it again, you should tell the police.”

“I was thinking about how to face it. I have more experience, but this creature is very different from the Peuchen. I get the impression it could use its claws, and its bite would be stronger. I managed to defeat the Peuchen by dislocating its jaw while it fed on my blood, but this beast has a stronger jaw and seemed to have scars, so it must have experience.”

“It’s not bad that it has scars. It means it’s not invulnerable. Remember, you told me that the scaly skin of the Peuchen gave you a lot of trouble, although I must confess, I was not happy when you went there without telling me anything.” he added.

“Sorry dad!“. I made a pause and then I continued. “Yes, maybe that’s where I have more options. But it’s robust, almost like a bear, and I think it could be just as or even more intelligent than the Peuchen,” I said, thoughtfully.

“Yes, son, comparing a giant wolf to a vampiric feathered serpent is difficult; they have different anatomies and consequently, different strategies. Anyway, let’s go eat,” he finished saying.

“Let’s go! My stomach is growling with hunger!” I joked.

“Don’t eat up everything in the kitchen, Miguel, please, try to be more discreet,” he pleaded.

As we walked to the dining area, I saw the other family sitting on the other side. I overheard that the two girls had neck pains and bites, both on their chest and neck, but they seemed to be recovering already.

The father approached us and said, “We left an insect repellent spray in the dining room; lately, they seem to be very aggressive. Several of them attacked my two daughters. Up until last week, one of mine was almost anemic!” He joked. “But this worked wonders!”

“Mosquitoes in winter,” I thought I had seen it all.

We had milk, butter, vegetables, ham, cereals... I didn’t know where to start, so I took a bit of everything and grabbed a whole loaf of bread.

“Miguel! You have to slice these; they’re not like hallulla or marraqueta bread!”

My dad took a knife and started slicing the bread into slices for me and for him. The bread smelled exquisite, with various seeds. Initially, I was very skeptical because I didn’t like whole grain bread, but after tasting it, it was very delicious. It wasn’t the whole grain flour that industrial bread in Chile had; it was evident that it was country bread.

While enjoying the bread, one of the girls smiled at me and blushed; it was very noticeable on her pale face. I got nervous and choked on the bread, starting to cough.

“Son! Be careful, swallow properly!” shouted my father.

It was a show; the father from the other family came and gave me a strong pat on the back, and the slice of bread flew to the floor, like those cats that vomited their own hair.

“How embarrassing!” I thought. This way, I’ll never have my first kiss or a girlfriend.

“I’m a hero,” the man said, raising his hands, jokingly.

I thanked him and continued eating; my appetite was stronger than my embarrassment. I must have eaten about six slices and two cups of milk with cereal; they say breakfast is the most important meal.

I went for a walk around the farm and couldn’t see the little cat, but I played with the family’s dog. It was a very active terrier that loved playing with a small ball that squeaked when squeezed, and it ran all over with it.

I could see the chickens clucking and eating from a bowl. The rooster did its typical movements, and I saw how it even managed to kill a rat that came out of a hole.

“Wow.” I didn’t think roosters were that strong.

The cows were inside their stables because of the trouble with the supposed wolf, and there were no bulls or horses.

I could see that the hill continued upwards; I imagined what the landscape would look like from up there, but I thought it would be better not to get into trouble. While the dog spun around me, and I threw the ball over and over again, I debated in my mind whether I should go after the wolf. But I needed to find out what I was facing, and I had no idea where to start looking.

My dad had a book and the insect repellent spray with him.

“Ugh, this smells bad,” they said as they spread the spray on their skin.

He handed me the spray and said, “Do you want some?”

“Dad, I don’t think a mosquito can penetrate my skin; not even a knife can, much less a mosquito.”

My father laughed and said, “Sometimes I forget how special you are.”

“Stop talking nonsense. Everyone is special in their own way.”

“Well said, son,” he replied. “Every mind is its own universe. Knowing your experiences now, there might be a whole underworld beneath what we appear to see, and with you, we’re only scratching the surface.”

As the mountain wind moved his wavy hair, I saw him delving into his thoughts, trying to understand everything that was happening and what might exist.

“You know, son, I didn’t believe in anything before, but now that I see what you do, hear what you tell, hmm... I don’t know what to believe anymore. Perhaps your grandmother was right, and the Lord has a plan for you.”

“Maybe, Dad, maybe. I don’t know what to believe anymore,” I told him.

While we were talking, the raven flew over me and stood in front of us, carrying something in its beak. It looked at both of us for a few seconds, and then slowly dropped a twig with a leaf on the ground.

As I picked it up, my father murmured, “mistletoe...”

My father walked and scanned the entire perimeter, from one place to another, as if looking for someone.

“Isn’t this the plant my grandfather blessed me with? What’s going on?” I said.

“I was just seeing if the raven belonged to someone. There are birds that could be trained by people, I don’t know, maybe...” He was thinking.

The raven flew away and headed towards a part of the forest. While my father and I watched, he said to me, “I have a feeling that...”

“It always goes in the same direction,” I interrupted.

“And it has been following us since we set foot in Styria I gave it food, and I thought this plant must be some kind of gratitude. I read that it’s normal for ravens, but I have a strange feeling that it has been watching us ever since we arrived, coming and going, flying around the inn, and then leaving.”

Dad paused and said, “What if it’s showing us a place?”

“Wait a moment,” I thought. “In that exact place is where I saw the wolf; it wants to lead us to the wolf,” I told him.

“Wait, wait, let’s not rush into this. Let’s get ready, pack everything we need to take so that we don’t get lost, and tomorrow we’ll go explore that path,” he confirmed.

We started packing our suitcases and decided to go the next morning to check that trail where the raven used to pass.

We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the surroundings while I tried to get a signal, which was weak. I couldn’t watch videos, but I entertained myself by looking at memes and people’s posts.

Lunch was good, light. Basically, it was chicken soup with flour balls that felt like savory cereals. Dinner was basically a homemade stew accompanied by boiled potatoes or rice.

After eating too much, I sat down to figure out what this wolf could be. So, I decided to prepare an emergency bag with a compass, my smartphone charger, and we also had a map with the main trails, water, and food to carry in case the journey got long or we got lost. My dad had prepared a flashlight and gave me one too.

While I was checking my tablet, I saw a silhouette outside the window in the darkness of the night, after my father had gone to his room and fallen asleep.

“Hey kitty!” I looked at the cat peering through the window, waiting for me to open it. I opened the window, and it elegantly entered, looking around as if searching for something.

It looked at me and let out a slight meow, giving me the impression that it was smiling at me.

“Shhh!” I said. “My father is sleeping, and we don’t want him to wake up, okay?”

“Werewolves, Fenrir, shape-shifters, blah blah blah...” I continued page by page, swiping.

The cat sat at the foot of my bed and started cleaning its claws. I lay back down again, continuing my research. Typing, only using references about the wolf, I surfed page after page. The cat approached me and began rubbing against my arms, purring.

“Ah, kitty! Can’t you see I’m doing something?” I said while rubbing its head against my cheek. Suddenly, it hit my tablet, making it fall to the floor.

“Ah! What the hell are you doing, big girl? I hope it’s not broken, or else I’ll leave you outside again.”

I picked up the tablet and in front of me, I saw what seemed to be the image of the creature I was looking for. Head, body, legs... “It’s a match!” I thought.

“The Beast of Gevaudan,” I murmured.

This creature had terrorized France at the end of the 18th and early 19th centuries.

“And it’s still alive? Pew! they should have given it retirement so it wouldn’t go around eating people.”

It used to attack mainly young people and children, and it used to go for the neck, driven by the blood of its victims. It seemed to possess some kind of intelligence, and while it could be wounded with conventional weapons, obviously it didn’t bother it too much, if it’s still around today.

“And it seems to be bigger than it was back then,” I thought. Neither lead, nor sabers, nor silver. It simply disappeared, and it seems to have returned for some reason unknown to me.

“Well, now that I know what it is, I just have to plan how to hunt it. What do you say, kitty?” I asked.

The cat just wagged its tail and watched me attentively. Now that I knew what creature it was, I relaxed, took the tablet, and started entertaining myself with some good memes. My apparent new pet slinked around my arm, purring and snuggling next to my face.

“Look, here I have some cat memes. Do you want to see them?”

While absorbed in the absurdity of the cat images, the cat licked my cheek, and I laughed.

“Do you want food? I’m sorry, but really, I didn’t see you today, and I didn’t know you wanted something.”

After a pause, it started sniffing my neck and began licking it, seemingly really wanting something because it was quite insistent with my neck.

“Stop, stop, you’re getting me dirty and tickling me. Behave, or you’ll stay at the foot of the bed. I don’t have any food, sweetie.”

We lay down again, and I continued watching my memes. I was slowly starting to get really sleepy, and as I was closing my eyes, the cat starts again rubbing against my face and licking my neck compulsively again.

“Ahh, no shit, I was falling asleep, you’re going outside.” I complained, I thought maybe she was in heat, because of the weird behavior.

She stared at me, almost as if she was sad and made some light meowing sounds, the kind cats make when they want something. .

The feline meowed once more, and lay down at the foot of my bed, wagging her tail and staring at me, while sleep was slowly winning me over, all I could think about was my father, the people who might be in danger, the raven with its message. I constantly debated in my dreams the possibility of going along the path without my father, so as not to put him in danger, I finally decided to go alone during the night, so I cleared my head and in a flash of a second, on my dreams, I saw the beautiful woman I had dreamed of in Chile, but this time, sitting cross-legged, on my bed, watching me attentively with an alluring smile.

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