Returning to Himmelsburg wasn't easy. There were wounds and memories I wished I could erase, but my vampiric nature prevented me from doing so. The death of my first love, my wife Marie, my daughter Lucero, my mentor Mr. Klein, and my friend Ralph were like daggers in my heart, making me bleed with every memory, every recollection of those fateful days when I first encountered vampires, none other than Anastasia and Od, the ones responsible for their deaths.
For Nacho, it wasn't easy either, as it reminded him of the death of our family and the horrendous actions in which Anastasia participated, leading to the destruction of our hometown. But we had to turn the page; we both needed to turn the page.
As we visited the place where Lucero and Marie lay, Nacho looked towards another tombstone, immediately adjacent to theirs.
"Look, cousin, there."
I had overlooked it, but there it was, my face with my name and last name, situated right next to them.
"Rest in peace. Gonzalo Garcia Morales. Beloved husband, father, and hero. April 13, 1984, September 13, 2005."
"Ugh, it gives me chills to see your tombstone, surely there's one of mine and Tomás's around somewhere back in our homeland," Nacho said, rubbing his arms, clearly disturbed.
"Tell me about it, it's not common to see your own tombstone," I replied, equally disturbed.
Seeing my tombstone, I reflected that something in me had clearly died that day, my humanity. Now I am a vampire, an undead, an anomaly of nature, a kind of cursed being that preys on the living, and as if Nacho were reading my mind, he says:
"You died that day, I died the day Amalia found me after the motorcycle accident. Now we're nothing but bloodsuckers, creatures reanimated from what once was a human being. I'm a monster, cousin. What the hell are we? Why would nature create something like this?"
I paused, and squatting down, looking at my tombstone, I replied:
"That's why we're here. Maybe we won't find all the answers, maybe it's too late for us, but when we find the cure, we can at least save those who come after us. Something is brewing, Nacho, I can feel it. We are protagonists of something big that is happening right under our noses, and we are nothing more than tools of God in it."
Nacho never used to think about religion; in fact, he was a staunch defender of anarchist ideology, while Tomás never worried about such things and simply enjoyed the here and now, saying that the ignorant were happier than the wise.
I was more skeptical originally, but the Lord's revelation was so clear that I could no longer ignore it. I have faith that God does not leave things to chance, and my destiny is His call, my mission, my pilgrimage.
"How beautiful the castle on the hill over there is. You never sent us a good picture. It looks much better than in the postcards you used to send!" Nacho exclaimed as he turned around and saw the ruins.
At that moment, I remembered the main reason we had come, which was my reunion with Mrs. Schneider and answers about the Order of the Knights Templar, and perhaps the more exact location of the original substance or patient zero, the origin of the poison.
"Oh! Right." I stopped as we ran towards her house.
"What?" Said Nacho.
"Everyone thinks I'm dead, surely she does too. What do I do?" I asked him.
"Cousin. If the lady knows anything about vampires, she probably won't think you're a ghost, although a vampire can be just as terrifying!" He smiled.
Resigned and with no more ideas, we headed towards the place, and we were greeted by a young girl, who immediately smiled upon seeing us.
"Guten Tag," she said with a radiant smile, seeming to blush a little upon seeing us.
Nacho looked at me and nudged me in the arm; I had forgotten that he had no idea about German, so I had to use English. I also thought that perhaps using another language would make us less suspicious and they wouldn't recognize me.
"Good day!" I said. "Is Mrs..."
I paused for a moment and saw what was written above "National Library of Himmelsburg." Something was not right, but I asked anyway.
"Schneider?"
The girl looked at me a little confused and said to us:
"Mrs. Schneider passed away several months ago from a heart failure, but you can enter the library; this was her residence. Here, we founded a library in her honor for all the contributions she made to our town and its history."
The girl ushered us in, and we heard another woman who seemed a bit annoyed.
"Wilhelmina! Tell them we've already closed..."
Upon seeing us face to face, the woman seemed a little frightened. She was very well-groomed, made-up, and well-dressed. It seemed like she was getting ready to go out.
"Good morning, gentlemen. What can I do for you?"
I could immediately notice how they seemed to blush and their pupils dilated. I could also notice the change in their scents, and Nacho seemed to really enjoy the situation; I was getting really uncomfortable.
"Well," I said. "If you were about to close, we could come another..."
The woman interrupted me and said, also looking at the other girl who was sitting at the entrance, looking at us and resting her face on her hand:
"No! No, it's no problem at all. We would love for you to take a tour; it seems you've come from very far away, and we still have some time for one last visit."
I put my hands in my pocket and asked her:
"Miss, how much is the entrance fee?"
There, I realized that I had really messed up. At that moment, I realized that I didn't have money to pay the entrance fee. I was a complete idiot.
Nacho, watching as I searched my pockets for some money and rolling his eyes, approached the woman and, with his hands in his pockets, said to her in an exaggerated Latino accent:
"Oh, excuse me, miss, but we were robbed while we were touring the forest. We're backpackers, and I love adventure. You see, my cousin here is a guy who loves books and is very cultured. I advised him to go camping more often, to get some fresh air. But since he has no experience in this, the robbers tricked him by selling him a notebook with the cover of a very famous book, and while he was looking at it, they took his wallet with all our documents and money. Unfortunately, I wasn't there at the time; we need to be more alert. Right, cousin?"
After finishing his grand speech, he winked at the woman and glanced at the girl behind the counter with a smile, laughing slightly, then he put his hand in my hair and tousled it, leaving it more disheveled than usual. Both girls laughed along with him, obviously to indulge his silly joke.
"Oh," said the woman, whom I now realized must be the owner of the now library.
"But that's awful! Do you have somewhere to sleep? Are you hurt? Your hands are very cold; you must have been very cold during this season. Himmelsburg is very cold at this time." She finishes saying while wrapping her hands around mine and then seeming to try to console me with a stroke on my cheek.
"That's very true!" Nacho replied. "We're not really prepared for such temperatures! Unfortunately, we come from a much... hotter place." He finished, rubbing his arms as if he were cold.
I cringed when he emphasized the word "hotter." What on earth is this guy planning?
"Look," said the woman, very excitedly, after staring into my eyes and then giving Nacho a warm smile. "Right here, we have a small room where you could spend the night; there's no problem at all. I practically live here, and I would love to host you before you continue your journey. There's absolutely no problem; the philosophy in this town is to welcome foreigners; we're very hospitable people."
"Thank you so much, miss!" Nacho said, simulating a kind of bow, then taking her hand and kissing it as a gesture of gratitude. The woman started to laugh nervously and blush even more.
"I'm sorry, sir, I didn't expect that kind of greeting; it's not common around here!" She said while waving her hands towards her face.
"I'm sorry if I offended you; it's the way gentlemen greet ladies in my homeland, miss." Nacho was really enjoying the whole show he was putting on.
"What a shameless guy!" I thought. "He really knows how to use his vampiric charms."
I could see Nacho's pupils dilating too, and he was staring intently at the library owner. I began to fear that he might slip up in front of me, and I wouldn't know what to do.
"Nacho," I said. "Can we talk?"
"Sure," he replied. "Excuse us, ladies, just a moment, okay?" he said, winking again.
As we listened to both women whispering about who we were and our looks, I said to Nacho:
"What the hell are you doing? I don't want a slip-up, please, cousin. I couldn't..."
He looked at me seriously and said:
"Never. We came here for your books. The more distracted they are with our charm, the less they'll think of us, and the less they'll suspect. Remember, you used to live here, and we shouldn't give them time to think and connect the dots. I promised to the memory of our family that I won't harm anyone else, especially innocent people like them. We've spilled too much blood. They shouldn't recognize us, so be careful what you say."
"Alright. But you're playing with fire, cousin, be careful," I warned him.
"I've had practice in this, don't worry," he said, giving me a slight punch on the shoulder and smiling slightly.
Finally, we entered the library, and the librarian said:
"Well, you wanted to see the books we have. What interests you? Literature? History?"
Nacho sat in a chair, crossing his arms, and said:
"In fact, my cousin is the one who wants to check out the books; I'm just here to accompany him. Isn't that right, cousin?"
"Yes, um, actually, I'd like to check out the history section," I said, forcing a smile.
The library assistant was resting her head on one of her arms, with both arms crossed on the table. She was looking at both me and Nacho with a certain fascination. The librarian had her arms crossed, and although she seemed to have been prepared to leave, whatever it was, she had surely canceled it. Both of them were looking at each other with indecision.
"Are you going or am I?" the librarian asked her assistant.
The moment was very, very awkward; neither seemed to decide where to go or with whom to go.
"Um... I can go check alone... if..." I suggested.
"No!" They both replied at the same time. Nacho was relishing the situation, and I wished the earth would swallow me up whole.
Finally, the assistant stood up and decided to accompany me, while the librarian stayed to whisper whatever it was with Nacho.
"Hello... what would you like to see?" she said to me while nervously smiling. I tried to look away and thanked all the training I had gone through; I felt like I could keep my bloodlust under control, and I trusted that Nacho would too, as he seemed much more confident than I was.
The girl seemed to try to follow my gaze, and finally, with no other choice, I met her gaze and with a smile pointed towards the history section, and we began to gather several books.
I saw her hands trembling a bit, and she dropped a book, which I managed to catch in the air.
"Oops, wow, you have really good reflexes," she commented.
"Um... yeah, it's a habit, when one is clumsy, you can see the patterns, I don't know if you understand," I said.
"Of course, I understand," she said.
I gathered the books; there were quite a few, and I glanced at Nacho and the librarian, who seemed to sigh with every word and laugh at all his jokes. I opened one of the books, and the assistant sat in front of me, staring at me intently, she asked:
"Do you wear any perfume?"
"Um... no," I said. "I mean, I wear deodorant, and I bathe regularly." I said something quite stupid.
"Oh!" She chuckled. "Am I bothering you? If you want, I can bring you a coffee. Or maybe I should just leave so you can read in peace," she asked.
"No, thank you, I don't want coffee. I'm fine," I said. I paused for a moment, thinking, and then looking at Nacho, I replied.
"You can stay; maybe I'll need your help to interpret some older books."
She smiled and said, "I'm delighted to help you. Mrs. Schneider taught me a lot about linguistics, and I was her student for several years. The owner of this place is her niece. She doesn't know much about books, but she knows about the business. In fact, she was going to a meeting today, but it seems she preferred to stay and chat with your cousin." She chuckled a bit, clearly finding the situation quite amusing.
"What's your name?" I asked her.
"Mina," she said.
"Gonzalo, nice to meet you," I shook her hand.
"Likewise!"
Realizing that I had given her my real name, I thought, "Idiot! Why did you give her your real name?" but it was too late.
I realized that there were many things to discuss, and I was only scratching the surface of this whole mess.