WALKÜREN - THE THREE MARIES Chapter Thirty-Four

 WALKÜREN - THE THREE MARIES

Chapter Thirty-Four

Doctor Carneiro was all excited. After all, it had been a few days since he had needed to fix a corpse so he could hand it over to his family. He was almost feeling like a normal doctor again. No torn bodies. And the death toll in the region was pathetically zero. At the moment his biggest concern was visiting families and seeing how their health was going.

Of course he still had his shift at the Morgue... but it was a quick stop in the morning. Marieta was also very excited. After all, since she stopped appearing dead bodies around the city, she was able to learn more about how to care for... living people.

They were visiting one of the several farms located around the village. Everything normal, apparently. Marieta, euphoric, examined one of the family's children. It was the first time the doctor had let her take the initiative. Of course he was by her side, ready to guide her if he needed it. But he left her at ease, as she needed to be sure that her pupil had learned everything he had taught.

When they were about to leave, one of the boys in the house made a comment that worried the doctor... the boy commented that the previous afternoon the sky had turned a different color... the sunset was bluish red! And at night the animals in the pasture became very agitated. Why is the doctor concerned? Because that was how the first wave of deaths in the region began. Based on the sun's height in the sky, it must have been around three o'clock in the afternoon, more or less. Carneiro had no doubts. He played straight to the city. He was silent the entire time. Marieta respected his silence. She knew that, when the time was right, the doctor would explain the reason for her concern...

About an hour later the two arrived in the city. After leaving the buggy in the stable and asking the groom to take care of his animal, Dr. Carneiro headed to the police station. He wanted to talk to the delegate as soon as possible.

Upon entering the police station, he noticed that Santana was attracting the attention of a resident, who was being released at that time. In this case, the man had gotten drunk the night before and ended up getting involved in a fight, where he got the worst of it. He just didn't get hit anymore because Santana was passing by the bar and intervened right away. As, in a way, the fight was not the opponent's fault, the police chief thought it best to take Ditão (that was the name of the drunk citizen) to jail, to cure his drunkenness and his injuries. As for the drinking... Ditão spent the whole day sleeping in the cell. The police chief didn't care about that... at least there the boy wouldn't get into trouble. As for the injuries, Doctor Carneiro could fix them, since they were superficial cuts...

When he saw the doctor's worried face, he felt the urgency he had to talk. Doctor Carneiro asked his assistant to take care of the boy and, while the two went to the infirmary, the other sat in silence for a few minutes...

- Aries, what happened? Why that face, man?

The doctor remained silent.

- If you don't say anything, I won't know what's bothering you...

The doctor got up, crossed his hands behind his back, walked around the room for a while, always with that look of concern. Finally, he turned to his colleague…

- It's going to start all over again, Santana...

- What are you going to start, man of God?

- The deaths, Santana... soon we will receive more corpses...

Santana almost jumped out of her chair...

- Like this? Like you...

- The signs, Santana... the signs were seen again...

- Signs?!... Are you going crazy, boy?

- No... well, I wanted to be... but...

- Let's do this... sit down! Then calm down and tell me everything, from the beginning...

Carneiro did as his colleague and friend asked. He sat down, took a glass of water from the jug that was on the table, and drank all the liquid. He remained silent for a few more minutes, as if he were meditating. And finally he started talking...

- Remember those strange phenomena that appeared in the sky, just before the attacks started?

- The different sky... the agitated animals...

- So it is...

- I haven't seen anything like that around here...

- He went to the Ourofino bands...

- But this farm is almost outside of Pinhal...

- I know... but it's still under our jurisdiction...

- AND...?

- And the residents of the region saw the signs in the sky... and the animals became agitated at night... exactly like last time...

- Hell... so we have less than four days to try and prepare for what's to come...

- What's next, delegate?

It was Juvêncio, entering Santana's office. The two men directed their gaze towards him. As always, he was dressed in black, with a red scarf tied around his neck. He had his belt on, where his two revolvers were a little low, to make it easier to draw if necessary...

- Welcome, Juvêncio... we were going to call you, really... you saved the soles of my boots...

- I'm glad I helped... but were you really talking about...?

- Please sit down. I think you need to hear this story...

Juvêncio sat and listened to Santana and Carneiro recount the stories of the first time things started to go off the rails in Pinhal. He listened attentively, without interrupting his interlocutors. At the end...

- And why didn't you tell me this before?

- Tell what? That one beautiful afternoon the sky took on a strange color? That for a few days the animals seemed crazy, they were so excited?

- Yes. It may not seem like it, but that would be very important to me...

- But... what does that have to do with...

- Doctor, if I know that there is a supernatural sign announcing what is going to happen, I have a better chance of preventing the events from happening...

- When you arrived, the deaths were already occurring.

- Yes, but did anyone bother to tell me how they started?

Everyone was silent for a few moments. Juvêncio spoke again...

- Guys, we are not facing a normal situation. You know that these deaths have a mysticism to them. So, please, you have to tell me even what you think doesn't matter... because, suddenly, what you think doesn't mean anything could be the key to solving the problem...

- Okay... so... do you know what to do?

- Unfortunately, no... I don't have the help I need at the moment.

- Like this?

- Some time ago I faced a situation similar to this... of course there were many differences, but basically there were points in common. And I had help from a group of people. In this group there was a trio of girls who were crucial in resolving everything. Too bad I don't know where to find them... they would be of great help around here...