48- GOODBYE, TIANA'S MANE...

 

48- GOODBYE, TIANA'S MANE... 

Duarte was sitting in his chair, leaning his head on his forearm, thoughtful. Certainly, things were not going well in the region. They found the dead man who had disappeared... yes, they rescued Mané from Tiana... and now he was really quite dead... Deputy Vicente simply cut off Manoel's head, without even blinking... when he remembered the scene he had witnessed the day before, Duarte felt like vomiting... he never thought he would watch a scene like that... was that why he stayed so long in the desks of San Francisco? Damn, he had graduated with a Bachelor of Laws with all the merits... he decided to be a delegate, to take the Law to the farthest reaches of the sertão... and now this happened? Yes, he was unconformed...

It was a little after two in the afternoon when Juca arrived, all out of breath, accompanied by the priest, who was carrying all his vestments... they wanted Duarte to accompany them to the fields, because they had to show him something unbelievable... Vicente he was talking to him, and decided that they should go at once, without many questions... Duarte didn't like his colleague's attitude very much, but what to do? As he belonged to a Federal autarchy, he was above Duarte, who accepted the ... invitation ... and went with the group to the pastures. They were still a little far from the place where Juca had left what had once been Manoel, and the smell of carrion was spreading, making the air simply unbreathable... They dismounted right there, as the animals refused to go any further...

The priest took a rosary, a glass of holy water and other items from his saddlebag... Juvêncio took a machete... by the sheen, it should have been silver... and put it on his waist. Duarte did not understand, at first, what his colleague's intention would be... and probably if he did, he would try to prevent it, although he was aware that he would hardly succeed in his attempt...

The priest approached the misshapen mass that once was Manoel... his smell was unbearable... crucifix in one hand, missionary in the other, beginning the litany. Everyone accompanied the chant, in that sleepy and boring rhythm... Juvêncio accompanied the priest, holding the rosary beads. In addition to Padre, Juvêncio, Duarte and Juca, three more caboclos were invited to accompany the small entourage... (according to Padre, it was necessary for the entourage to have seven members, as seven was a mystical number and would make it possible to overcome the forces of the bad that perhaps they tried to overlap in that place)... the creature protected itself as it could from the sun's rays and it was possible to see how much they hurt it. Even being covered with the thick blanket that Juca had offered him, he was now raw, because his skin had deteriorated. The creature's look of pain and despair was heartbreaking... Duarte felt sorry for the situation of the one who had once been Tiana's Mané... but neither the priest nor Juvêncio seemed to sympathize with the creature's situation . They were already close to the end of the Rosary. Juvencio, looking up, decided to hurry the priest, although he knew that one cannot hurry or interrupt a prayer. But time was short, and in extreme cases.... The priest looked at the horizon and nodded, agreeing with what Juvêncio had said without saying a single word... it was afternoon, and they didn't want to that the night would surprise them with that creature at their side. For the time being, she was motionless, harmless... up to a point, at least... but when night fell and the thirst for blood took over that being, the fight would be terrible, even with all the blessed trappings that were with the group. The priest hurriedly finished the prayers of the Rosary, gave the creature Extreme Unction and left the way, leaving Juvêncio free to act, who in a quick and precise gesture, drew his machete, making it flash across the sky, delivering an accurate and deadly blow to the creature's neck, which fell lifeless at the Punisher's feet... the gesture took all the members of the group by surprise, and some of them felt sick in front of such a dantesque scene.

The sun began to hide behind the mountains. The first rays of moonlight (if moonlight has rays, of course) began to bathe the earth... and the dark blood that oozed in the place where the creature's head used to be began to boil... and the body began to swell. to decompose with such rapidity that the men could not believe what they were seeing. In a few minutes, only the bones were exposed on the floor... and before they disappeared too, Juvêncio and the priest tried to collect them and put them in a box, which was prepared just for that. The last body part to be collected was the head, which was kept in another box. So they put the two boxes on the priest's horse, got back on the horse and returned to the village, stopping first at the Cemetery, where the boxes were buried, in two distant pits...

Juvêncio accompanied the priest to the church, Duarte and the other members of the group, still in shock over the scene they had witnessed, headed for Venda do Seu Malaquias and tried to forget the images by drinking some cachaça. Probably no one really managed to forget, but none of the five said anything about what happened... Duarte spent the night sleepless, because every time he tried to close his eyes to rest, the scene of the execution of the strange being that Manoel had transformed into appeared in his mind... and so it went all night, until dawn and Duarte went to the police station. He was still thinking when the door to the police station opened and Juvêncio entered. He sat down across from Duarte, made a cigarette, lit it and started smoking. For a long time he remained silent, but at a given moment he decided to talk to his colleague...

- Are you still scared of yesterday's scene?

- And it wasn't supposed to be? You killed Manoel in cold blood...

- Sorry, Duarte, but that creature was no longer the person you knew.

- How not? I talked to him...

-While he was alive. Have you forgotten that Juca said that he shot that being at close range and nothing happened to him?

Duarte nodded nervously... Yes, Juca had said that he had shot the man who was Manoel and nothing had happened to the creature...

- Seu Vicente, what was that?

- What's that, Duarte?

- What Mané became...

- Ah... well, it's a long story...

- I think you can tell me, no?

- Well... this town is infested with forces from beyond...

-  Huh? Do you really believe that?

- You should believe it, too... After all, you saw me taking out a vampire...

- Are you going to tell me that...

-Yes... the boy was attacked by the Woman in White, as Juca said... and, for some reason, she didn't kill him... she preferred to transform him into her equal...

- You mean that...

-Yes, Duarte... luckily for us, he hadn't completely transformed, otherwise it wouldn't be as easy to get rid of him as it was... the human part of him, which still existed, let us end his suffering. But if the transformation had been completed...

- Have you done this before?

- Yes... but the best thing you can do is forget what you saw... and just remember how to act if there is ever a need...

- When I remember the terrified look of that creature...

- It's like I told you, Duarte... that poor guy was still half human... we did him a favor... because if the transformation was complete....