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.