The Vampire from Transilvania

I was awakened by a nagging pain in my neck. I tried to roll over onto my back, but the first time I tried to get comfortable, my muscles cramped up so badly that I groaned and howled and froze waiting for the pain to subside enough for me to lie down. I’d fallen asleep on the armrest. Shit! I jerked up like scalded. My muscles cramped up even more, my eyes flashed and I felt dizzy. A blinding white light shone through the windows behind me. I found myself on the couch in the living room, where I turned to be by pure accident, thinking I was a good Samaritan. It was here, yes, this very spot where I’d dragged the bleeding Romanian. Confused and disoriented, I looked around in search. Strangely enough, there was no one on the floor: not in front of the fireplace, not in the corner, not by the couch — nowhere. Where is he? From the kitchen came the whistle of a boiling kettle. Ignoring the dizziness, I hurried to the noise. I was slightly staggered when I found myself in the kitchen doorway. It was dangerous to go any farther, unless I wanted to bloody my nose if tripped, so I gladly rested my shoulder against the jamb. In the light of day I could finally look over the kitchen I’d stormed into the day before; a real wood-burning stove next to a gas stove, bulky wooden cupboards decorated with carvings, a large rectangular table in the middle covered with a tablecloth — there was a lot to see, but my attention was not on the details of the interior. I stared dumbfounded at the owner of the house. Romanian who had been about to join the angels in the snow yesterday, and then poured blood on the living room floor was making tea as if nothing happened, deftly measuring the space with his steps. I was at a loss for with surprise stupidly watching the cozy fiddling. Vlad turned around and, not at all impressed by my appearance, set the teapot and cups on the table. ‘Good morning.’ he greeted me. ‘Have a seat.’ To say I was puzzled was to say nothing. All I could do was shuffle my way to the chair and try not to sit past the seat. ‘How… How are you feeling? ’ ‘Fine, thank you. Since I partially owe this to you, I want to thank you for help yesterday.’ Honestly, I let his words pass over my ears, still having trouble believing my eyes — he did seem to be okay. ‘I thought you were dead.’ I confessed. ‘As you can see, I’m alive.’ Vlad snorted lazily and sat down at the table. ‘Help yourself.’ A cup was slid toward me. ‘How’s your leg? Let me have a look at it.’ Not that I was worried, seeing how fresh the Romanian was, but I wanted to look at the wound out of curiosity. Maybe the cold and fright made my imagination play tricks on me, assuring that the cut was much deeper than it really was? ‘No need.’ A slight irritation slid across his face, and I bit my tongue, suddenly remembering that I was in someone else’s house. I jumped up and rushed back into the living room, grabbing the phone I’d left by the couch. Oh, no! The it went flat! Not only had I fallen asleep and forgotten about the Romanian, but I hadn’t let my aunt know I was late. ‘Excuse me…’ I reappeared in front of the table. Vlad looked up, waiting to see what I was going to say, but he didn’t stop pouring his tea. ‘Uh, I’ll go to my car and get a charger. My phone’s dead.’ I shook my cell phone in the air for some reason. ‘Can I charge it at your place? ’ ‘Where exactly? ’ The question was a little puzzling. ‘Anywhere. I don’t care.’ Vlad curved his lips in a condescending smile. ‘I meant there are no sockets in the house.’ ‘But how do you use your phone? ’ I couldn’t figure it out. ‘I don’t use it.’ ‘But I…’ What can I say? And I couldn’t seem to find the switches to turn on the lights yesterday; the lack of electricity explained a lot, even if it was hard to believe. ‘I have to go. The family will be worried.’ Vlad continued to look at me as if nothing happened. It made me feel uncomfortable; it was time to leave the house of the ‘hospitable’ host. ‘Okay. Goodbye.’ I mumbled, not waiting for an answer. I turned around and hurried out the door. ‘You’re not going anywhere.’ he said, nailing me in place with the words. The stranger’s words made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I looked around warily. Had I taken a wrong turn after all, and found myself in the lair of a lone homicidal maniac hiding his nauseating tendencies in the middle of nowhere? Well, if to look closely, the pallor, the dark eyes with deep shadows coupled with the black clothes (though now the Romanian was wearing jeans and a light sweater) fit the right image. I was seriously uncomfortable. Calm, it was as if he knew I couldn’t escape. ‘For now at least.’ he took a sip from his cup and continued. ‘You didn’t switch off headlights and your accumulator died overnight.’ I don’t know which part of the sentence shocked me more: the part about not being able to start the car and apparently recharge the battery in a place bypassed by the benefits of civilization, or the part that claimed as if I’d spent the night here. I stood in the hallway for a full minute. Just don’t panic, Alex. Keep cool. ‘You don’t have a car, do you? ’ I decided to confirm my suspicion just in case. Vlad shook his head negatively. ‘Can I have some tea? ’ He waved his hand, inviting me back to the table. Falling onto the chair, I tried to think thoroughly about my situation. The thoughts of a maniac were replaced by the most plausible and more frightening ones: aunt Tasha must have already informed the police and contacted mom and dad. What, one asked, could they think if a barely-adult daughter doesn’t make contact after spending the night in an unknown location? My only option was to groan. They must be on their way to the airport by now. I feel like this was my first and last solo vacation. In the entire life. ‘How far is it from here to the nearest village? ’ ‘About 20 kilometers.’ ‘Is there a phone booth or a gas station? Maybe there’s some way to make a call? ’ The hope in my voice melted with every word at the sight of the man’s poker face. ‘No.’ That was the end of the inglorious adventures of my second day in the land of my dream. There was no more time to think about my goal, no more vampires for me. ‘But in ten hours the accumulator will be recharged and you can drive back.’ ‘Why were you silent from the start?! ’ I was outraged, jumping up when the meaning of his words finally reached me. ‘I wasn’t silent, I was socializing.’ He replied nonchalantly, making me grit my teeth. ‘So you have a generator? ’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Can’t you do it any faster? ’ ‘No.’ ‘Is there any way to connect the phone? ’ ‘No.’ ‘Great! ’ I couldn’t take it anymore, putting all my anger at the jerk’s indifference into one word. If I’d felt sorry for him there on the road, now I’d gladly leave him to waddle back to his house for the rest of eternity. He could at least have pretended to sympathize. More than that, he was smiling seeing me angry. ‘What’s so funny? ‘Nothing.’ I narrowed my eyes and promised myself that if I got the chance to kick the creep off the porch, I’d take it. ‘I don’t understand why you’re so emotional.’ All I could do was stare. What was there not clear? ‘I’m actually a teenager.’ He gave me a look. ‘I mean, I’m of legal age, but I’m only eighteen and I haven’t been home overnight and my phone is dead. Do you think my parents are going to pat me on the back for that? ’ ‘Teenagers of eighteen often don’t sleep at home. Is it worth panicking over one night? ’ I had to admit somewhere he was right. ‘Perhaps. But if your daughter is in a foreign country for only a couple of days, that’s enough reason to worry.’ Vlad shook his head probably recognizing my rightness. ‘American? ’ I nodded and we were silent for a while. ‘I thought tourists preferred the summer season.’ ‘It doesn’t matter, it’s not like I’m at a seaside resort.’ I dismissed it. ‘You’re right.’ he agreed again. ‘So the cold doesn’t scare you.’ ‘You think I haven’t seen winter? I’m from Anchorage.’ ‘A beautiful place.’ ‘Have you been there? ’ The unexpected fact distracted me a little from the sad thoughts about whether my father would whip me, as in my childhood, returning to a long-passed stage. ‘Long ago.’ Vlad replied. ‘Have you had a chance to see anything in Romania yet? ’ He changed the subject, but the question seemed quite natural, so I found answered: ‘Not much at all.’ ‘What kind of things? ’ I hesitated a few seconds, but I told the truth, deciding it wasn’t worth lying about such a small matter: ‘Bran and Paenari.’ I flinched and nearly knocked over my tea when the Romanian laughed: ‘A vampire seeker? ’ Warmth immediately warmed the cheeks. ‘So what, is that forbidden? ’ ‘No, of course not. It’s just that I think you’ve past the age of believing in fairy tales.’ ‘When it seems, you must be christened,’ I remembered my grandmother’s favorite saying. He raised an eyebrow. ‘What if I’m a vampire. I’ll put a holly cross on myself and turn to ashes.’ Vlad leaned on the table and narrowed his eyes as if he was trying to scare me. I instinctively receded in my chair. ‘It doesn’t make you scatter into ashes. Rather you should hiss and run away.’ ‘Do you think vampires are cats? ’ ‘No, but they must feel pain.’ ‘Fairy tales.’ He pulled rhetorically. ‘They’re not fairy tales at all! ’ I wouldn’t argue with my aunt and her family, in fact, I wouldn’t even bring up the subject, but this Romanian, who is responsible for all my misfortunes, could bite his tongue out of gratitude for saving his life, or be more understanding to other people’s interests! ‘There is no smoke without fire.’ I came out with another masterpiece of folk art, which, by the way, I sincerely believed in. ‘Why is everyone so insistent on denying the existence of vampires? ’ ‘There is no proof of their existence.’ ‘There are thousands of them! Hundreds of thousands! How can you turn a blind eye to the countless references to creatures that feed… Unconventionally? ’ Somehow the word 'blood' smelled like a natural yarn and I chose not to say it out loud. ‘Nonsense of unbridled imagination.’ ‘Not at all. Troy too was considered a pure fiction until Schliemann dug it up in the late nineteenth century! ’ Vlad’s eyebrows raised a little. He must be thinking I’m an idiot for having a divergent opinion. ‘As far as I know, no one has ever dug up vampires. Nor have I ever met one.’ ‘Not dug up because they don’t die the way normal humans do.’ ‘Dissolve into ashes? ’ The cretin seemed to be amused by the conversation. ‘No.’ ‘Turn to stone? ’ ‘Nonsense.’ ‘Then what? ’ ‘How should I know, I haven’t found them yet.’ I blurted out, angry that I didn’t know the answer to that question. ‘So you’re going to find them? ’ Vlad cheered up again, his caddy moved unpleasantly up and down. That’s it. I thought, feeling the heat on the neck. I’m going to, unless, of course, my parents send me home on the first flight home. Vlad shook his head at my last words. Probably thought I was a complete idiot. Why though did I care about the opinion of an unfamiliar Romanian. We didn’t speak again silently finishing the tea. I went back to the living room, not to give him any more reason to mock at my expense. The flames in the fireplace crackled pleasantly as the wind whistled outside the window. It was a bit odd to be in some stranger’s home, in the middle od nowhere, and yet feel so at peace, considering that I risked losing my own skin if I went back. The time passed, the clock ticking away. Finally, tired of lying down, I decided to go for a walk around the yard. Talking to Vlad or asking him to show me the house was out of the question. The owner was nowhere to be seen; he must have gone upstairs. Glancing at the steps leading up to the second floor, I quietly stepped out into the hallway, put on my boots and jacket, and slipped silently outside. He wouldn’t be offended if I walked around for a while, I hope, but I didn’t want to have to explain where I went and why. After wandering around for about ten minutes, I regretted not coming here a little sooner; it was incredibly picturesque. The old bluish spruce trees, short but fluffy, barely rose to the roof of the house. Their furry snow-covered paws touched so closely that I didn’t immediately find a passage to slip out of the tight ring and peer deeper into the forest. My efforts were not in vain. Behind the low spruce trees towered their older sisters, but so slender and tall that I stared upward for a long time, trying to determine how high the tops went into the sky. Tired of cocking my head, I set off to wander farther. I had to make a little effort to look around. The snow was up to my knees and I could barely move my feet. I was even sweating a little when my eye caught sight of the stonework. As I got closer, I realized I had hit a wall. In places, the masonry was crumbling, sagging down a good meter. I decided to walk along and see how far it stretched. I don’t know how long I walked, but something struck me along the way. In two places, instead of sagging and going down in ruined gaps, the wall was heaving. H-m, what kind of strange architectural masterpiece is this? I pondered as I wandered forward. A low noise caught my ear. The rhythmic cooing increased as I approached something. Arch! I reached the archway; the same one I’d left my car behind. My old Accent found itself around the corner. The hood was raised, wires stretching from inside, connecting to a small red generator. Walking over to the car, I stroked its body with my hand as if I were encouraging an old mare, and said out loud: ‘Just a little more and then home.’ ‘I think it’s another five hours.’ Sounded behind me. The voice made me flinch in fright. ‘It’s not very polite to sneak up on me from behind.’ I snapped at Vlad, annoyed that I didn’t heard him approach. ‘I just walked over.’ My tone didn’t move him in the slightest. ‘You shouldn’t walk around too long or your parents will still have to treat you.’ ‘We don’t get colds in Alaska.’ I said proudly. It wasn’t true, of course, but in my defense, I can definitely say that I rarely get sick. Vlad raised his eyebrow again; it looked like I was annoying him after all. ‘You’re probably all snowmen out there, and yet you’d better get back inside.’ ‘Why? ’ ‘There are wolves in the grounds. I wouldn’t want my gratitude to be repaid by returning your bones in a closed coffin to your homeland.’ That was a response I admittedly hadn’t expected. Besides, Vlad was looking at me like he was going to help the wolves clean the meat off my bones. The thoughts of the maniac returned. Not that I was timid, but considering I was almost lost in a godforsaken place and alone with a stranger, I still bit my tongue, and under the Romanian’s heavy gaze, I staggered back toward the house. I shouldn’t have panicked. He’s hardly a maniac. Otherwise he could have tried to snap my neck ten times already and dump me in some dark basement or maybe bury the corpse under the snow instead of charging my car battery. He must have just been annoyed by my company; he didn’t seem to appreciate it. I glanced to the side to look at Vlad. A fluffy rim on my hood made it seem as if I was wandering alone. The snow beneath my soles crunched so deafeningly that I couldn’t hear his footsteps. ‘That wall…’ I nodded sideways when he caught my gaze and it was uncomfortable to remain silent, ‘…does it go all the way around the house? ’ Vlad looked at me calmly, as if he wasn’t listening to what I was saying, but thinking about something of his own. ‘Yes.’ he finally answered. I wanted to throw something at him. ‘It seemed to me that it wasn’t just a wall, but old ruins, some kind ofancient constraction. But if I was right, how big did it have to be? ’ I slowed my step a little and got in line with Vlad peering into his face. No, I’m not just going to leave you alone since you can’t even take a walk with me, and if you think about it for a second, I may have saved your life. I don’t know if he got my mute message, but apparently realizing that I can play a stare down too and won’t let go so easily, he replied: ‘You’re right. What you saw was the rubble of the outer wall of the tower.’ ‘What kind of tower was it? I don’t recall any other large structures in this place, other than Poenari? ’ ‘Historians disagree on the exact name.’ I guess, that was all I could count on. ‘And what is known for certain? ’ Another incredibly long look. ‘Nothing.’ He was lying! He just won’t tell me anything! I clenched my fists, hiding my hands in my sleeves like I was freezing. ‘It’s amazing that a historical site is allowed to be inhabited, and to have a dwelling built.’ He didn’t add anything. ‘You’re not very nice to your guests.’ Couldn’t hold, I said that, and felt no remorse. More than that, I lifted my chin and looked straight into Vlad’s face; I wasn’t ashamed of myself. ‘To the sensible ones, I’m very nice.’ He directly insulted me! I stopped in surprise. ‘And with those who do not listen and hear, I have no pleasure in maintaining a conversation.’ ‘What are you implying? ’ I was genuinely indignant. ‘I’ve already asked you to address by my first name, but you don’t seem very attentive to what I’m saying…’ We stared at each other, and he added: ‘Since I’m not a vampire.’