“Venom? You mean--?”
Mireya nodded, her expression darkening. “Yeah. It’s the reason why I became the best hunter...”
--
It began almost three years ago. I was already working as a freelancer, after two years at the New Jersey Police Department, when I realized being part of the Police would make working with the Stellae difficult. The duties of being an associate were conflicting with my work, and I was getting pulled time and time again as a field agent, eating through my vacations and free days. By then, my relationship with Mami had stretched almost to the limit.
It wasn’t like we didn’t talk, but we weren’t very chummy. She spent days and months here, at the Institute; days and months where I couldn’t see her. Oh, I talked to her occasionally, but it was mechanical. “How you’re doing?” “Swamped by work. You?” “Same. When you’re coming?” Sometimes, she said “Not yet”; sometimes, she said when. I knew she wasn’t happy with my decision to enter the police, or become an associate as a field agent; I wasn’t happy that she spent her time at work rather than at home. Vanessa barely knew her, and Papi already had troubles handling her. Teenage years. I think you can relate.
Two weeks before her death, she paid a visit home. Being with her felt like a chore. I asked her how long she’d stay; she said a couple of days – literally. We had dinner. She talked about her work; I talked about mine, but I knew very well to skip the field agent stuff. I wasn’t afraid to kiss and hug her, but it was customary...cold. I felt she was enamored of her work rather than us. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I thought she suspected it, though. That same day, we had a talk. It was very emotional. She said that perhaps we were distant, but she always had me in her heart.
I faced her. “If you have me on my heart, why don’t you spend more time here?” I told her Vanessa barely knew her, that she was rebellious, that she caused Papi a lot of trouble, and she looked at me with those sad eyes, telling me she wished she had more time, but there were a lot of people that needed her. I told her that we also needed her, and she said that was the reason she paid a visit every now and then; because she knew we needed her. I asked her to bring the Institute here, to...to delegate work to others, like Dr. Gus, but she said she had a duty to follow, and she couldn’t ignore it.
I was mad. I dared to tell her something I knew shattered her heart; I know, because it broke mine. “You’re away because you’re ashamed of me.”
I expected that haunting look of hers – that accusing look that made you speak the truth even if you didn’t want to. I expected her harsh words. But instead...she looked at me with tender, loving eyes and that beautiful smile I loved so much. And she only told me this.
“Mireyita? I can’t be ashamed of you, because you make me so proud.”
I thought she was lying. When I told her I wanted to enter the police, she didn’t like it. Said I could be hurt, that I’d face hardships... She had Papi tell me his work wasn’t a glamorous one, but I wanted to make a difference. Mami wanted me to be a doctor, like her; she often had me use her stethoscope and her coat when I was little, so I could play being as one, and she took me to the Institute as soon as it opened to show me what she did. And I heard everyone claiming, so proudly, that I’d follow on Mami’s footsteps, that I was just like Mami.
And then, I had my first brush with the supernatural. A patient that Mami was treating. Back then, I didn’t know what he was; all I remember was that he suddenly grabbed me by the neck, and claws appeared from his fingers, his hairs thickening and rising. I saw him, and his face twisted into something so terrifying, it sometimes gives me nightmares. His teeth all turned into fangs, his eyes became dog-like, and his jaw unhinged. A loup-garou; what you’d call a “werewolf”. That man wanted Mami to cure him from his “curse”, or else, he’d kill me. That was the day I saw Mami use her powers. She made that beast heel. And as soon as I was out of harm, she took me to her office and, with heavy breath, told me that there was more to this world than we could see.
That was the day I learned about her “real” job – to heal the cursed, the enchanted, the magically infirm. These were the people that needed her help; the Institute exists so that they didn’t need to rely on her, but some cases did need her help. And some cases were beyond her capabilities. Those had to be dealt with extreme caution.
Later on, I learned that she sometimes had to move to specific places – like the ettin nest in Olympia, remember? - to deal with these cases, or face creatures in order to search for cures. I knew this, but...I wanted her to be with us so much, I decided to ignore that. I thought that, if I joined the Stellae, if I became an associate – as I learned, later on, that only some people are born with the abilities that Mami could use – I could, perhaps, help her. Be with her.
Mami had doubts. Papi refused of course, but Mami said that I was already touched by the supernatural, and that perhaps learning with the Stellae would help. But, feeling so helpless as I did back then, and listening to Papi’s stories of bravery in the line of duty, I made my choice. As soon as I told Mami that I wanted to be in the field so she didn’t have to, she lost it. I never saw Mami as angry as she was that day.
But in the end, she accepted, with reserves. She said I would be trained as an associate, taught everything I needed to know. I learned a bit from everybody: a bit from John, a bit from Fyodor, more than enough from Rick, though he was the only one didn’t like the idea of me training with. But thanks to Rick’s teachings, I excelled in the police academy. Papi was ecstatic, though it was obvious he was worried.
Mami not so much, though she said that she was proud of my choices, of having such a brave and skilled daughter. She hugged me, and for the first time, it felt like that warm and loving mother I yearned for had returned. Then, she told me the news. She had to deal with a dangerous creature that was attacking a village – a basilisk. Kind of like a Komodo dragon, but far more dangerous. Tougher scales, razor-sharp claws that could tear through sheet metal, and a gaze that could leave you paralyzed. But, that wasn’t the most dangerous thing. Basilisks’ venom is probably the most dangerous venom in the entire world. There’s no cure for it; once you’re infected by it, you die a slow and terrible death. It’s like your entire body shuts down, little by little.
I told her I wanted to help. She refused, staring at me with those cold and steely eyes when she was angry. But I didn't back down. I started to prepare everything: my passport, my weapons, to gather information. But the morning, Mami was gone. She refused to tell even Papi where she was going.
I tried to intercept her, but the people here – Dr. Gus, specifically – claimed they didn’t know where she left. I used my investigative skills to figure out where she'd gone.
Five days later, I get the call. Mami is at the Institute. I ask her how she’s doing, if she’s well... the silence from the other side of the line, and the trembling voice of the caller say more than the words themselves.
Mami got bitten by the basilisk. She is dying.
I travel here, and I demand to see Mami, but the doctors refuse. Say I'm not cleared to get in, when they knew who I am. A day later I get a call from Dr. Gus. He allows me in, and there I see Mami for the last time.
I couldn’t bear seeing her that way. The venom had wasted her almost entirely. She was still as beautiful as usual, but I could see her pain. Her skin was developing gangrene, and regardless of the treatments, the venom refused to subside. Not even her own powers – her “prodigies” - could save her from that terrible fate. And what’s worse...they couldn’t capture the basilisk. No way to save her. All they could do was try their best.
I tell her that I should’ve gone with her; that I should’ve helped her, that if I was there, she wouldn’t be like this. I cursed myself for not being with her. And yet, struggling with her pain, she only managed to say these words.
“I’d rather be here in this bed, dying, than to see you dead. I’d rather be dead than living without you.”
That destroyed me. Even in her death-bed, she thought of everyone except herself. She died three days later. The venom had destroyed the last of her beauty. No service for her, no velatorio. Just a burial, away from her birthplace. And yet, there were so many people there, so many people that she touched, that I never knew of... Young and old, men and women, rich and poor; people that came only to give her one last show of respect.
And in her tomb, after everyone had left. I made a vow. I would find a way to stop that venom, one way or another. Find a pure sample, or hunt that damn creature myself. No one would suffer what Mami had to suffer.
That day, I took my job seriously. I became the best damn hunter I could ever be. Mami was proud of me. I would make sure I wouldn’t fail that trust she had on me.
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