The Mistletoe
Chapter V

Summer had arrived, and Christmas was approaching. Due to recent events and the harassment from conspiracy theory enthusiasts, our house began to receive soil from the “graveyard,” some small dead animals, dolls, and sometimes rotten eggs thrown at us.

My dad just cleaned up and prepared for classes as if nothing had happened. We had set up the Christmas tree, but no one would come home due to fear and harassment from the crazy people around the neighborhood. Finally, we learned that my grandmother would be the only one to come and see us. My dad didn’t show it, but I could feel the stress and sorrow of living in this miserable situation.

Approaching December, when things seemed to be calming down, while having breakfast and watching the news, a new case came up.

A girl in her twenties had been reported missing for three days, and a search was underway. The location was said to be near the lake, where she and a friend were swimming.

The friend had reported simply seeing a bird-like creature that had hit her with a kind of tail and left her unconscious overnight. Since both were under the influence of alcohol, although the police started the search, it didn’t seem like they took her account very seriously.

Seeing the face of the girl and her family moved me a lot, and it motivated me even more to take matters into my own hands. My dad said:

“What a shame, and so young. I hope they can at least replace her body. If only we could help...”

“In fact, we can...” I said, seriously. “I can.”

My dad said:

“It must be some kind of animal. Once they detect it, a couple of shots will take care of it.”

“Dad,” I said. “A farmer posted on social media that he had seen it and shot it, and I don’t think he did much harm.”

“Son, don’t believe everything posted on social media. Many times, there are no filters, and anything is uploaded without verifying the facts.”

There was no point in arguing; I didn’t want to further diminish the tense family atmosphere that had already psychologically worn out my father. I simply affirmed what I had said and began to plan how to track the creature on my own.

With both of us on vacation, it was going to be difficult to sneak away since we both had days off. The only possibility was to use the days when he was asleep.

I thought about which day would be better and chose Christmas Eve. My grandmother and my father drank a little more on those festive days. My father, not being accustomed to drinking, only did so on holidays. He never smoked or drank, really.

On that date, when they had gone to sleep, I would go to track the creature. During these days, I had also noticed that I was becoming faster and more agile. I was already able to climb trees and tried to use movements I had learned in my karate classes. My senses had sharpened enough to see in the dark.

Counting the days left for Christmas Eve, I watched videos of hunting and animal tracking, taking notes. I also took a map of the sites around the lake and tried to remember the drums and sensations I had when I first encountered that creature. This would serve as a reference when I started tracking it. I also used videos to practice axe movements like throwing it, lateral and frontal cuts, etc.

When Christmas Eve arrived, my grandmother came, as usual, with her usual bottles of champagne, my grandfather also came, and they apologized for the rest of the people.

“Hello, my children, how are the poor ones?” said my grandmother as she hugged both of us.

“We are ready for the barbecue,” said my grandfather, showing his beers and a large piece of beef.

Since my changes, I noticed that I ate much more than an average person, and I developed a great taste for pork. My grandfather laughed a lot when I devoured it, and I didn’t seem to gain weight.

As for alcohol, before the holidays, my class had a nighttime bonfire near the lake, and they brought vodka and rum. One of the girls sat next to me and offered me a quite long glass; I took it to try to socialize. Jonathan kept his distance from me, and I learned from my father to simply ignore him.

I took the glass and drank it. After a few hours, many of them were already drunk, and the girl was talking to my face completely drunk, too close. She fell asleep in my arms, and disgusted by the smell, I decided to leave her lying there with the others. She wasn’t ugly, but I wasn’t going to have my first kiss with a girl in that state.

I noticed that I didn’t get drunk, so I tried another glass—nothing. I figured my metabolism must be different, so bored and not fitting in with the group, I returned home.

We started the barbecue early, and I eagerly anticipated the moment when everyone would go to bed.

“Can the kid have some?” asked my grandfather.

“Not until he’s eighteen,” my father emphasized.

I wasn’t going to drink anyway. It was bitter, foul-smelling, and it didn’t affect me at all. I preferred to drink juice or a traditional Chilean beverage called “mote con huesillo.”

I had already taken a nap earlier, pretending to feel unwell, and after eating well, I was ready for the hunt. I didn’t even pay attention to the gifts, but I tried to be polite and hide my impatience.

Inevitably, the topic of my mother came up, and things began to get uncomfortable. My grandfather asked my father how he felt, while my grandmother emphasized how much I resembled my mother.

“Son, you are the perfect mix of both, don’t be ashamed, be proud. Do you already have a girlfriend?”

“Mama, don’t start,” my father said.

“Maybe he doesn’t like women,” my grandfather said.

I just sighed and said, “Grandpa, I do like women; it’s not that.”

“I already have that clear, son. Your problem is your shyness,” my father said. “With the browsing history I saw on your computer, it was clear, but you should be more careful with the pages you open; your computer was full of malware.”

It was clear that all three of them were already in “champagne” mode, and it wasn’t worth arguing. “Was it necessary to say that, Dad? God, swallow me whole!” I thought with my eyes closed.

They all laughed heartily and shared their personal experiences, the kind that a teenager doesn’t want to know. My grandparents spoke candidly, but my father was very reserved about intimate matters between him and my mother. She had been the only woman in his life, and as far as we knew, he was the same for her. So, the bond was very special and unique; my father never wanted anyone else after my mother’s departure. At that moment, my father dropped a bombshell; he remembered the place where my mother came from.

“Fólkvangrsburg, or Fólkvangrsburgo, in Austria.”

“Damn... What a name for a tongue twister,” I thought. My father had been searching for the place, which according to my mother, was up in the middle of the Austrian Alps, but he never pinpointed the exact location. Finally, he had given up, thinking that my mother had given him false information.

With the topic of intimacy and my mother’s city, I had almost forgotten about my mission. Now, a little past midnight, the three went to sleep, exhausted from food and champagne. I made sure they were completely asleep, and then I started packing.

I carried my father’s axe for chopping wood, a bag with a map, a compass, my smartphone, and a lighter just in case. Almost at one in the morning, I quickly set out on the journey, trying to pick up the creature’s trail.

I began to venture into the forest, running at full speed. I could feel the strong friction of the air rippling in my clothes and hair. I felt a burning sensation in my chest that began to beat furiously. I began to see tracks, then smell a particular scent and followed the trail at full speed.

There, I started to hear the sounds of drums, which were joined by whispers and subtle chants, very low in my mind, almost like murmurs in my ears. Then I felt that pulse, almost magnetic, drawing me to my prey.

And there it was, emerging from the darkness, the famous Peuchen. It began to whistle, and I started to feel dizzy, then received a slap with its long tail. I went flying at full speed, breaking a tree and crashing into rocks.

The impact recovered me, and I launched myself at it with the axe. It swung its tail again, which I managed to dodge, and I threw the axe. I hit it in the eye, but the axe broke in two.

“The axe is useless, darn it...” I said aloud.

It began to whistle, and I lunged at its face, delivering a strong blow to his nose. After the hit, it made a whimper, and the creature became enraged, attempting to bite me, breaking several trees behind me as it ran. As I increased my speed, it began to snake through the dense forest, while I jumped from tree to tree.

When I was atop one of them, it lunged at me, at full speed, and I hit its nose again, this time with a kick.

I tried to cling to its tail, a big mistake. It started tossing me around like a ragdoll through the forest. I let go and tried to grab it to climb onto its head, but it’s serpentine movements made it elusive, and dodging its tail proved too challenging.

I realized my phone wasn’t with me, and I got distracted, throwing another tail swipe. Now it was roaring, resembling the dinosaur from Jurassic Park.

“What are you doing, idiot? How did I get distracted with the phone?” I told myself. The Peuchen lunged at me. I managed to grab a dead log and hit it on the head with all my might. It staggered back, looking a bit dizzy.

I searched for another rock and threw it, breaking it with its long tail. It spread its wings and tried to escape.

“No, no, no!” I leaped with everything, breaking one of its wings while carrying me into the sky. It started to wobble and roar, twirling, and both of us fell back to the forest.

Then I got up, and I could see the creature looking at its broken tail while I gave it a smile. It roared once more and launched several tail swipes.

“They’re really hard to dodge,” I thought, almost doing acrobatics to avoid them. I stumbled over one of its tail swipes, and it managed to hit me again, sending me flying, crashing into several trees, like a pinball.

It came back with everything and prepared its fangs to drain my blood. I managed to dodge them just in time. It began to whistle, and before getting dizzy, I punched it in the nose again. It truly hated being hit in the nose.

It recoiled and roared. I took a much larger rock, and with a jump, I hit the Peuchen on the side, breaking the rock on its right side, and falling to the ground.

“This thing is really tough,” I thought, quite frustrated. Trying to stand up, I hit it in the eye with a punch, leaving it half-blind. It managed to shake me off, and I fell several meters, hitting and destroying several rocks. Its eyes emitted a reddish gleam, and it launched itself with its sharp fangs at me, partially penetrating my skin.

“Ah!” I screamed as it buried its fangs into my shoulder, and I slowly began to feel dizzy.

“That’s it,” I said to myself for a moment. “I saw my father, my grandparents, my family, and then finally my mother.”

The beast’s eyes began to turn a fiery red crimson, and then I started to hear the drums again, followed by the chants, which seemed like those of maidens.

“Are they angels? Am I dying?” I thought. “No, this thing is going to keep killing people. I can’t, I can’t.” I put one hand on the upper part and another on the lower part of the beast, trying to open its mouth.

My hands began to bleed, but I kept going, with all my strength. I could hear the sound of drums, as if a primal force was at work.

“Ah!” I screamed, giving it everything, and I felt a crack, then a whimper from the beast. It let go of me and began to wobble.

Its jaw had broken, and it was now swaying. I took another large piece of rock, seemingly larger than me, jumped with what was left of my strength, and hit the Peuchen in the head, breaking the rock into pieces and finally knocking the great serpent to the ground. The winged serpent fell lifeless to the ground, with me next to it, one by one, both of us were heavily injured.

I could see that the creature next to me was slowly turning to dust, and I was too weak to stand up. I took a deep breath, and regeneration began to take effect.

When I managed to stand up, there were almost no remains left; the creature had vanished, as if it were ashes.

“And I wanted to take a photo.” I thought, while recovering. It seemed to have some anticoagulant or poison because my regeneration was a bit slower than I thought. One way or another, I finally recovered and tried to replace my things.

“Oh, crap, this is a disaster. Where is my smartphone, and the rest of the stuff?” Hours later, I managed to replace my things; my phone was a mess, but it still seemed to work.

I activated the GPS and realized that I had traveled from Llanquihue to Valdivia. I took the map and began the journey home; it was already dawn. I was curious, so I started the stopwatch. Upon arriving home, with the sun rising, half an hour had passed.

“I traveled from Valdivia to Llanquihue in an hour!” I tried to do the calculations, but the phone short-circuited and died.

“Damn creature!” First, the tablet, and now the phone. I won’t be able to see the likes on the video I uploaded of my last MOBA!” I finally went up to my bedroom through the window, to the second floor, and changed quickly; I’ll have to come up with something for the torn clothes and the damaged phone.

The next morning, my father came home, getting ready to clean, and asked me to clean my room, which took me by surprise, pleasantly. I took my torn clothes and discreetly threw them in the trash. My grandparents left, and I had to show him the broken phone.

“I won’t buy you a high-end one, and you know it,” he said.

“No problem, as long as I can have the basic apps, I’m fine,” I replied.

Dad was quite surprised by the response; it wasn’t typical of me since I always tried to ask for the latest phone or the one with better graphics. But my near-death experience made me think about how close I was to dying, worrying about a phone.

And you may wonder, how did I know it was the Peuchen? Well, when I heard the lady on TV, I didn’t take it as lightly as my family did. I mean, if a winged serpent is stalking you, wouldn’t you try to figure out what the heck it is? I surfed the internet and found it, and it was exactly like that.

Something inside me had the feeling that the Peuchen wouldn’t be my first encounter, so I had to be aware of the creatures lurking in this world.