Vampires of El Norte

Nena works with a lead curandero named Susana as the battle rages on. Many soldiers are wounded and some dead. She watches Néstor ride his horse into the battle and fears for him. The “Rinches” (American soldiers) run through their camp and shoot Susana. Nena frees herself from a man’s grip using her knife and thinks she sees figures on all fours, but she blinks and they are gone.

Two Yanquis ride toward her and Néstor pulls her back, shooting them both. They search each other for signs of injury, and he puts her on his horse to flee. She refuses to leave him, so he finds another horse and follows her. As they ride away, they see three figures bent down around Mexican soldiers. The figures are naked, gray, and bloody with no eyes. They have thin limbs but large bellies with claws like a vulture.

They keep moving, galloping away from gunfire and crossing the river. Nena begins to feel trapped in the water, but Néstor stays calm and reassuring. Néstor keeps saying “stay with me,” and Nena decides she will.

They stop to rest, and as soon as they dismount, they embrace. Néstor says they should stick together as long as those creatures are out there, and they acknowledge out loud that they were sucking blood like vampires. Nena tells him that the vampires cause the susto. Nena begins to feel ashamed that she ever thought she could help in battle, that she left her home unprotected in an attempt to gain her father’s approval, and that she failed.

Néstor tentatively asks if she believes him about what happened that night. She does not answer but says that she must return to Los Ojuelos.

Nena asks Néstor to explain what happened nine years ago. He freezes. All he can say is that he is sorry. They hear thunder and Néstor remembers some abandoned jacales they can use as shelter. He gives Nena some trousers and a shirt to wear, and he is transfixed by Nena in his clothes. As he cuts a rope to use as a belt, he notices the scar from the night she was bitten. Neither of them notices a figure tracking them from the riverbank.

They stay off the main road. Néstor cannot be seen abandoning the army, and Nena cannot be seen alone with a man as an unmarried woman. They also need to avoid the Yanquis. Néstor makes light conversation, referencing their shared childhood and memories. She mentions Beto’s stories and Néstor begins to fear that she has heard rumors and no longer thinks highly of him. He becomes scared and reverts to his flirty mask. Nena seems to enjoy talking about an alternate, impossible future where he teaches her to disobey. Néstor mentions a brothel and she asks how many women he has slept with. He answers honestly in hopes that Nena is attracted to him in the way that Celeste was, as a reprieve in their boring structured lives. Instead, she trots ahead of him and asks him not to speak to her.

They arrive at the jacal. Nena fetches firewood while Néstor unsaddles the horses. Her scar tingles in response to the feeling of being watched, but when she turns around she sees nothing. She hurries back to make the fire.

They begin to relax, and Nena admits that ever since Néstor left she has been so afraid to lose the love of her parents that she has been acting like the perfect child, but now she is tired of it. He tells her to try to be mean to him for practice, and he responds flirtatiously to all of her efforts. Finally, she says that her father would never let a vaquero pursue his daughter. They both become hurt and defensive, Néstor insulting Nena for being cowardly and Nena insulting Néstor for having no sense of responsibility. Nena sees a shadowy figure approach Néstor from behind. Néstor shoots the Rinche, but he doesn’t fall. Instead, his neck falls backward, open, and a monster crawls out of his body.

Néstor shoots at the vampire, but it does not stop. Nena remembers Abuela’s stories that say the only way to kill a vampire is to behead it. As Néstor fights with the vampire and is thrown across the patio, Nena picks up a machete and a burning piece of wood. She gets its attention and then swings the machete, aiming right above a metal collar it wears. It does not go all the way through, but the vampire turns to dust anyway. Nena carries Néstor inside, where she discovers that his shoulder is dislocated.

Néstor barely registers reality because of the pain he is in, but Nena patiently guides him through the procedure of setting his shoulder back into place. He is distracted by her hands on his skin and her closeness to him. She distracts him by whispering about being alone with him and then sets his shoulder. She then uses alcohol to clean his cuts and goes to check on the horses. He reflects on how happy he is to be near her. When Nena comes back, she pours salt along the threshold. She sits down next to Néstor and rests her head on his. She apologizes for her words from earlier. He takes her braid in his hand and tells her that he still dreams of her. Then he lets himself weep as she touches his leg for comfort. She tells him to sleep and he does, comforted by the fact that whatever awaits them the next day, they will be together.