The Mistletoe
Chapter XIV

After a few days, while I was cleaning some things and was outside the mansion, I heard what seemed to be a violin. So, I approached and saw Laura and Carmilla listening to, let’s say, an interesting performance. Laura gestured to me, so I approached and joined the spectacle. After finishing, the man said to the girls, “Do the ladies wish to buy an amulet against the vampire, which I have heard roams these parts like a wolf? People are dying all over, but I have a talisman that never fails; you just have to sew it onto the pillow, and when the vampire appears, one can laugh at him to his face.” The amulets had some ribbons and strange drawings that I couldn’t make sense of.

Carmilla and Laura bought a talisman each. The vagabond watched them, and they smiled or seemed to, at least Laura did.

The man turned to me, looking into my eyes, and as if he knew me, he said, “Although, young sir, I have the impression that you don’t seem to need it. Don’t you?” The man smiled at me and then turned to look at the girls.

Suddenly, as he looked at them, he seemed to discover something that momentarily caught his attention. He pulled out a leather case full of small steel instruments.

“Look, miss,” he said to Laura, showing her the case, “in addition to some less useful activities, I practice dentistry.”

The man hushed the dog and continued while I pet the animal.

“As I was saying, I am a dentist, and your friend has the sharpest teeth I have ever seen in my life; long, sharp, pointed like a spear, like a pin. Yes, I saw them perfectly; they are dangerous teeth. I understand these things, and here I am with my file, my awl, and my tweezers. I’ll round them off and make them nice for the young lady. If the lady consents, instead of fish teeth, she will have a denture befitting her beauty. Is the lady angry? Have I been too bold? Have I offended her?”

Indeed, Carmilla looked at him with a hateful expression. She stepped away from the window, accusing Laura. I was laughing my head off; the situation seemed both amusing and bizarre.

“You allow that charlatan to insult me in that way? Where is your father? I want to ask him to throw this man out of the castle. My father would have ordered him to be whipped, then burned alive. Miguel! Do something, throw this man out of the castle! You are in charge of our care!” demanded Carmilla, truly offended.

I escorted the man outside, and he seemed to whisper in my ear, saying, “The wolf is nearby, but be careful, boy, you must watch your back too, your battle will be on two fronts.”

I was astonished by his words, and as the mysterious man left with his dog, Carmilla suddenly changed her mood. But I no longer cared. How does he know about the beast? Had the beast traveled with me? Why does he act as if he knows me?

Laura’s father had arrived that afternoon, quite sad and disheartened; it seemed there was bad news. When he called me over, it meant something really bad had happened.

They had discussed various topics and seemed to be primarily talking about some kind of illness, which this time seemed to have infected another girl. Basically, the girl raved about being attacked by a monster, feeling worse, and today the doctor would come to talk with him. But the worst news was yet to come.

“Our dear General Spielsdorf,” he paused and continued, “was attacked yesterday by what we think is some kind of wolf. The beast had already taken a child and two girls, so our dear general went to hunt it with a group of hunters, but the monster was resilient and gravely wounded him. He passed away that same night due to his injuries. He is in God’s hands now.”

Laura’s father was very saddened. Mr. Spielsdorf seemed to have been a great friend of the family. Laura burst into tears and rested her face on my chest. I simply hugged her, but my deepest fears had been confirmed. The infamous Beast of Gevaudan had traveled to the past with me from the present and was already wreaking havoc in this village, which already suffered enough from the plague that was going through it.

I couldn’t wait any longer here; every minute that passed endangered a person, and I wasn’t going to let the creature touch Laura’s family, not even Carmilla, although I didn’t like her much.

“I believe,” spoke Carmilla, “that all things happen by nature’s imperative. And that the illness and misfortunes spreading around the region is also a thing of nature. But I agree that something should be done about that creature; every beautiful maiden that falls under its maw breaks my heart. Don’t you think so?”

Laura’s father tried to ignore the response and, looking into my eyes, said, “Miguel, I will form a group myself and try to find the beast. Whenever an animal tastes human blood, it’s well known that it won’t stop and will go after the next. Thus, it is imperative for us to resolve this issue as soon as possible, and you look fit enough to accompany us. Do you know how to use a firearm?”

Both Laura and Carmilla looked at me. Carmilla seemed almost excited by the idea, while Laura was in shock and terrified, shouting to her father, “Father! Don’t do it! For God’s sake! I couldn’t bear to lose you! Nor my friend Miguel!”

“Enough, daughter. The doctor will come soon, and I will have a very long night. We can talk about this later.”

Carmilla wanted to speak with Laura, but she wasn’t in a condition; she was too distraught with the news, and the idea of losing the only fatherly figure left for her was surely not easy to digest.

Carmilla accompanied Laura to her room, and I went with Laura’s father to check some firearms he had obtained with the group of hunters he had hired for the occasion. He was determined to hunt down the animal, as it was a danger, especially to his own daughter, given the creature’s tendency to hunt girls and children. This was very personal for him.

I had never fired a firearm and told him so. He asked me everything about my supposed experience with the wolves I faced, and I confessed that I had no experience with those types of weapons; I had never hunted an animal, let alone a predator.

Well, I suppose you know I wasn’t going to tell him about my experience with the Peuchen in Chile, or the vampires I faced when I arrived here. Most witnesses said it was a large wolf, partially marked, with a long tail, robust, and extremely big.

“I don’t know what to believe, boy,” he confessed. “First, the supposed monster lurking after the girls, and now this. God. What’s happening in this village? They talk to me about vampires and now werewolves! I fear this could affect people, and they might decide to take justice into their own hands. Nobody wants a witch hunt. Can you imagine? We must do this, for the other girls and for Laura,” he finished, sighing, really worried.

I didn’t know what to say, but I was sure that the weapons they had wouldn’t be of much use. They had spears, sabers, rifles. They had even obtained silver bullets! They were serious. If I attended with them, there would be a massacre in which I would be forced to engage in combat. This would forcibly remove my alibi, and I would be completely exposed. I have to intercept the Beast of Gevaudan before Laura’s father and kill it before more lives are put at risk, but I didn’t know where to start looking.

After the preparations, I walked to my room and tried to meditate on my situation. I realized that some things in my backpack had been moved. Did Laura’s father suspect something? Could it have been a servant? Whatever it was, I had to act and do it soon.

I grabbed a few things and waited until it got late. I jumped out of the window and took the axe. I ran several kilometers quickly, marking the trees to orient myself. At one point, I felt like I was being watched, so I turned around. Nothing, but I could feel that pulse I felt in the presence of something supernatural. I tried to locate the source, but it was faint and then disappeared. Suddenly, I saw something moving among the bushes and got ready with the axe.

A large cat jumped meowing to the other side, and I said to myself, “God, that scared me!” I quickly returned to the castle and climbed rapidly to my room. It was getting late, and I needed to sleep, so I put on my pajamas, lay down, and tried to clear my thoughts, eventually falling into a deep sleep.

That night, I had perhaps the most annoying dream I could have had. I felt a constant tickling on my neck, as if someone were trying to scratch me with a feather. You know, the typical pranks are recorded and then uploaded to the internet. The tickling was really aggressive and seemed quite insistent until I finally woke up. The door was slightly open, and I checked to see if there was a fly in the room. I closed the door again and finally managed to sleep.

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