The Mistletoe
Chapter XII

The girl, named Laura, after helping me clean the bloodstains off my face, escorted me with the other servants to the room where the rest of the servants stayed. I imagine they left the girls relatively close together, and having a boy in a room nearby wasn’t well-seen.

I overheard that Carmilla seemed to come from an affluent family and had been abandoned by her mother after a carriage accident. Unlike her, I was practically a wandering homeless, so it’s not surprising that they didn’t trust me much, and I completely understood it. To me, it was already a miracle that they had taken me in.

The people in this era seemed much kinder and more trusting than in my modern time. The saying “things were better in the past” didn’t seem so cliché anymore.

After bathing in what seemed like a kind of tub with boiled water, I managed to remove the remaining stains, and they gave me clothes from that era. Ready and dressed, I was waiting for someone in the living room, filled with decorations, candles, and lamps I wasn’t familiar with.

“That’s an oil lamp... Don’t you have those in your land?” Laura’s father asked.

“Yes... Yes, we do,” I said, then thought, “There were, but it was a long time ago.”

I noticed he had my backpack on the side with some things. His face was quite serious but with a touch of kindness; it seemed like I was about to be part of an interview.

“Laura told me your name is Miguel, right?” he asked.

“Yes, sir, that’s correct,” I replied, trying to pay attention to his British Accent.

I had learned modern American English online, through video games and other types of media like music and movies. I felt like I was in a British wizarding film; his English was formal with a British touch. I sat next to him and prepared for what would be a long night.

“Look, Miguel, I have a couple of questions for you. First, tell me what happened to you today?”

I paused, trying to remember my alibi, to keep it consistent.

“I was walking in the woods when I came across a pack of wolves. I had an axe with me for such cases, and I had to defend myself with what I could,” I explained.

The man looked at me and then affirmed, “It’s a great miracle that you came out unscathed; not many can achieve such a feat. But it’s quite reckless to wander through the woods alone; I hope you’ve learned your lesson, young man.”

“Yes, sir,” I affirmed, wondering what else he might ask.

“I haven’t checked anything of yours there, in case you’re thinking I was rummaging through your belongings. But I need to know more about you. Where do you come from? What is your family lineage? Why are you in these lands?” After speaking, he paused to let me explain.

I had an idea, so I started. “My name is Miguel, I’m from Chile. My mother left my father and me when I was young, and my dad... sorry, my father...worked very hard as a teacher. I decided to seek a new life and took a ship to Europe. Since then, I’ve been wandering across the continent, looking for a place to stay,” I finished telling him.

They say the most convincing lies are those that always have a mix of reality in them; one can even convince oneself many times. I couldn’t tell Laura’s father that I came from the future, let alone that I had just been fighting a group of vampires; they’d take me for mad, and I’d end up on the streets. This place was where I needed to be for now, until I found a way back to the future.

“Damn...” I thought. “I’m like Marty McFly, but with magic.”

Laura’s father observed my backpack carefully and said, “Both Madame Perrodon and Madam De Lafontaine found your clothes very peculiar, and the bag you carry is something I’ve never seen before. Are these your inventions? Are you a tailor?” he asked.

“No...no... ummm... My father asked me for them... with... another friend. Yes, that’s it, a friend of his made them,” I replied.

Laura’s father felt the texture with his hands, trying to understand the material they were made of, so I guessed the next question.

“And how did they make them, what are your clothes and this bag made of?”

Momentarily considering, I went with the easiest response. “No idea, sir. I’m not usually the best at deliberating what I carry, you understand.”

Luckily, Madame Perrodon arrives and interrupts us.

“Sir, we have the room ready for the young man. Will he be working for us?” she asked.

“Ah!” Laura’s father said. “I had forgotten. Miguel, we would like you to help with some tasks around the mansion while you’re here. It won’t be much, but if you’re going to stay for a while, you’ll understand that having some extra help would be good for us. What do you say?”

“No problem, sir, I’ll help with whatever I can,” I affirmed.

Madame Perrodon escorted me to a room, and as we walked, I stopped for a moment. It seemed like I heard something.

“Is something wrong, young man?” she asked.

“No, nothing, sorry,” I said as we resumed walking.

“We left your axe with the other tools, young man. I’m sure you understand,” said Madame Perrodon.

“Yeah, of course, as if I’m going to kill someone,” I joked.

She looked at me wide-eyed, then let out a smile before leaving me alone.

The room was small, and my clothes were very plain. I began to unpack and check my things. The compass seemed to work perfectly, but I thought, “What good will this thing do me? I need the DeLorean to get out of here.”

The map wouldn’t be of much use either, as it had many places that didn’t exist yet, so I would probably have to replace one from this era. I took out my smartphone and charger. “Darn,” I thought. “Good thing it’s fully charged; there’s no electricity here. I’ll have to turn it off and activate it when I return to the present.”

I always carried a portable charger with me because I used to play outside or on trips where there was no electricity. I was really glad to have packed it for this occasion.

“Maybe it will be useful to take some photos,” I thought. “Damn, I’m a tourist from the future, like in the creepypastas!” I smiled while thinking about the possibilities.

But then, a strange shiver ran down my spine. “What if I change the timeline? What if my family disappears? My father? Me!? I must be careful; I shouldn’t erase my own existence.”

But then, I reconsidered if I was actually creating an alternate timeline and returned to those mental debates about alternate universes and other mental messes.

I thought about the Raven, which was now at the window on the outskirts. “What if free will doesn’t exist, and I’m destined to be here? What if all of this was already planned? It would mean that whatever I do was already predetermined, and I just have to go with the flow. Nevertheless, I had to be cautious because people from this era wouldn’t treat a time traveler well, let alone one with superpowers.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

“Come in” I said.

The door opened slowly, and I could see Laura peeking in stealthily. It was late, and everyone was supposed to be asleep.

“Hello, Miguel,” she spoke, a little hesitantly.

I swallowed hard; I was starting to get nervous. “Be normal, Miguel! She’s just a girl!” That’s the problem. When ninety percent of your friends are online, and they’re all males, you see girls as something mystical, not as real people.

“Hi, how’s it going? Pretty late, huh?” I said, getting, as usual, nervous.

Laura let out a small laugh, covering her mouth, and I said to myself, “Idiot, don’t use modern slang; you’re incognito, remember? You’re a timeless tourist.”

After calming down, she said, “I thought you might get bored during these long nights, so I took the trouble to replace two books for you. One of them, I think, is written in your native language.”

She stretched out her hand with the two books, and I took them as a sign of goodwill, accidentally brushing her hand, causing the books to fall to the ground.

“Oops! Sorry, I didn’t mean to...” I said, picking up the books.

I could hear her heartbeat faster, see her dilated pupils. I also smelled the change in her scent; she was as nervous as I was. That made me even more nervous, I begged to not go into a vicious loop of awkwardness.

One of the things I didn’t like about having heightened senses was that I had learned to notice subtle changes in people’s emotions. It was almost like a kind of telepathy; you could learn a lot about people based on their emotions.

“Thank you very much! I’ll read them,” I said, attempting a smile.

“I have to go, I should be sleeping. See you tomorrow?” she asked softly.

“Sure. See ya,” I whispered, slipping into modern dialect again.

As she silently walked down the hallway to her room, I said to myself, wiping away the sweat and trying to compose myself. “Wow, that’s the longest conversation I’ve had face-to-face with a girl. But I have to stop using modern slang, or I’m going to raise suspicions.”

I took the two books and looked at the covers. One had the title in English, “Collection of Arthurian Legends,” and was entirely in English, obviously. The other, which she said was in my language, was “The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha.” I had never touched a physical book before, and my father had volumes of those, as there was neither internet nor electricity. I had no other choice, and I had a long night ahead of me, so I took Don Quixote and began to read to see if I could fall asleep with it.

The reading was slow and heavy because the language style was different from mine. “At least it’s in Spanish, it was very nice of her,” I thought. Laura had sensed that the language was not my strong suit and took the trouble to replace me two books. She must have been a very lonely girl in this big mansion full of old people, and I thought about how lucky I was to be able to connect with others online. Loneliness was optional; talking to anyone was just a click away, and now, ironically, it was my turn to experience this scenario, that my father always complained I was missing. “Will I be ready? Can I get used to living without the luxuries of the modern world? When will I be able to see my father, my family again?”

Sleep was slowly taking shape, and I closed my eyes with the book still on my chest, letting the only candle beside me go out. I dreamed of my father and the beast that might still be out there. Was it gone? Would it continue lurking around the inn where it was? And as I slept, I felt a strange vibe, as if someone were watching, attentively, and I remembered the cat that kept me company during the nights in my room.