44 - MANÉ DA TIANA

 44 - MANÉ DA TIANA

Since the day they found the strange creature attacking the cattle, Juca has redoubled his care with the safety of the pastures. Now there were six horsemen prowling the entire region day and night, always in pairs, so that one would protect the other's back. And, at any sign of abnormality... it didn't matter what it was, the order was to call the other knights to help... yes, Juca was really worried about the latest events in the region. And that's because he didn't know that Manoel's body had been found with one of the bullets he had fired, and that afterwards he had disappeared. And that they had seen him in a scene of carnage... well, he had known Manoel for a long time, and he would never suspect that his drinking friend was, in some way, a monster. Even because Tiana's Mané, as his friends used to call him, was an extremely pleasant person to talk to. There was nothing about him to betray anything strange about his behavior. He was polite, courteous... reserved, like every caboclo. Perhaps his friend's only strangeness was his disappearance from time to time... usually during the week of the Full Moon... but Juca had never connected one thing with the other. It had been a few days since I had seen Manoel anywhere... not even in the fields, which was absolutely normal, since he worked in the pastures and hardly saw the farmers on a daily basis, but I hadn't seen him at the store either. , after working hours... but since his friend disappeared from sight from time to time, he wasn't surprised...

Juca was making his inspection rounds as usual, when he saw something strange in one of the pasture points... it looked like a shadow trying to hide among the vegetation... the boy looked once, twice... and the feeling of to have seen something move was strong, though nothing else could be noticed. His first impulse was to move forward, to continue his rounds. But his curiosity was greater... what if it was some predator hiding in the bushes, ready to attack the cattle? It hadn't happened for a while, but there could always be a jaguar hunting in the region... of course it was crazy to go alone to see what kind of animal was hiding there... after all, if he felt cornered, surely the would attack. But to avoid surprise, he would not dismount. And when he was close to the spot, he would fire some shots in the air. That would certainly scare away any animal that was hiding there... and it did. But no animal ran through the woods. And that made Juca even more curious, as he noticed a slight tremor among the vegetation. There was something there... and he had to see what it was... stupid? Yes. If Zacarias had known what he was about to do, he would have scolded him for sure. But, if he didn't, he would be worried all day about something that might be nothing...

When he was about fifty meters from the clump where he noticed the movement, he carefully dismounted. He looked for a place to tether his horse... he wouldn't want to stay on foot, depending on what he found hidden in the middle of the bush... and then a doubt assailed him... what if it was an anaconda? At least it was a boa constrictor... well, whatever it was, he wasn't going to leave there without being sure that nothing dangerous was plaguing the place... suddenly, that smell of carrion reached his nostrils. It was so strong that he wanted to throw up. Juca stopped, turned his face to the side... covered his nose with the handkerchief... it got a little better, but the smell was still strong. His horse was agitated. Juca understood that, if he hadn't tied the animal tightly to the tree, he would have stayed on foot... because his horse began to clearly demonstrate that the only place on earth he didn't want to be was there... The boy drew his rifle , examined it, to confirm that it was loaded, checked his revolvers... everything ok, it was possible to start a small revolution... and there he went, tiptoe, towards the suspicious place... all his senses on the alert, ready to take action... and the smell, each time stronger... using the barrel of the rifle to push away the vegetation in front of him, Juca was advancing through the woods... until...

The boy was prepared for anything, but certainly not for that vision... in front of him, trying to protect himself from the sun's rays, was a creature that seemed to have emerged from the most horrible of his nightmares... a mixture of wolf and bat, but with a human appearance... and Juca immediately recognized who he was, despite his monstrous appearance...

- Tiana's Mané?!.....

The strange being looked at him... the pain he was feeling was etched on his face, and the creature cowered all over, trying to protect itself from the daylight... I could see that it was injured, several burns were spreading across its body. face and arms.... Juca looked at him again, and understood that the creature needed to protect itself from the sun... he went to his horse, took a blanket he had on his saddle, and with it covered his friend. The latter looked at him gratefully. Apparently, the thick fabric had helped to control the sun's rays hitting the creature's skin. Sitting in front of Juca, the strange being decided to start talking...

- Juca... I... I... didn't want to... do... anything... none of that...

- Do what, Mane?

- Look... I... I killed some... cattle... I needed... their blood... to survive....

- So it was you...

- Yes... I... I... need... need... blood... understand?

- No. I don't understand....

- Look... look at... me... I... I'm not... like you... you...

- I still do not understand...

- A.. a while... ago... I... I found... the... the mu... woman in... white....

- Know....

- She... she attacked me... attacked, Juca.... and then I... I turned... what... that you... are seeing...

- Did you find the woman in white?

- Yes... she... she was... very... beautiful... and then... she was the same... like I... am now.... and she... attacked me!

- Look, I...

- She is... she is a... vampire, Ju... Juca... and I... me too... am one, ago... now....

- And now?

- I... I don't know... yesterday... I... killed a... man... my se... thirst this... was terrible... terrible! Only... it only passed... after I... killed him!

- And what do I do now?

- No... I don't know... now... during the day... I can't... move... I'm... paralyzed... and the sun... bothers me... bothers me! I'm... with... with me... afraid of the night...

- Why?

- Because... because... I... I know... that I will... kill... again! And I... I don't... want... this! En... do you understand?

- Yes... but what can I do?

- No... I don't know... I just... know... that... when the... night comes... I'll go back... to killing....

Juca points the rifle at what was once his friend and pulls the trigger. The creature doesn't even blink.

- Agra... I appreciate what... what you have... tried to do.... but... that doesn't... doesn't hurt me...

Juca lowers the rifle and looks compassionately at Manoel. He returns the look, but with a sad look, of someone who has already lost hope in the world, in life....

- Mané, I'll try to get you some help...

- The... only way... to... help me is... by killing me!

Without saying anything else, the boy turned his back on the creature, mounted his horse and dashed off towards the village. Maybe the priest knew how to solve the problem. Because the delegate, certainly, would not be able to fix the situation...