«The Intervention» by Mateo García Elizondo

Second story in the Haunts collection
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PROLOGUE
I got off the bus in the Sierra Alta, a tiny town shrouded in mist and isolated from the other villages by vast fir and pine forests. The streets were deserted, so I went into a cantina and asked about lodging. The bartender said there was no tourism, which meant there were no hotels, except for a few by-the-hour motels on the highway. But, he said, I could try knocking on the door of Aurelio Carranza, who lived on the outskirts of town and might have a spare cot for rent. I thanked him and ordered a drink. A couple guys drinking beer at the next table asked where I was from and what my plans were. I said I was on my way to the coast and might stay at Aurelio Carranza’s place tonight. They urged me to be careful: Aurelio was a “very dangerous” man. When I asked why, one insinuated that he was a lunatic. According to the other, who rambled for a long time, people just don’t get that Aurelio Carranza is a “goddamn brujo.” I finished my beer, exchanged a few pleasantries, and left the cantina, following the bartender’s directions to the house of the so-called witchdoctor. A man with coppery skin and a sharp nose opened the door, then led me to a cabin at the back of his property. I stayed for several months, during which I witnessed a series of events I feel the need to put in writing. Some I saw with my own eyes, others were reported in the local papers, and still others I heard from Aurelio himself, or from people who came soliciting his services. I don’t doubt that they’re true, and I suspect they’ll hold some documentary or anthropological value for scholars of the region. But I leave any and all conclusions to the reader.

Translated by Robin Myers