The Vampire from Transilvania

There was a barely perceptible coldness from the window. It was warm in the carriage, but if you nestled closer to the glass, you could feel the breath of winter kissing the forested hills. A light morning haze hung over the blurred outlines of the fir trees, behind which, as from behind a crooked fence, the first rays of the sun slowely bloomed. Many of the passengers were still dozing to the measured clatter of the wheels, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the mysterious scenery. Ten hours to the capital, a flight to Bucharest, then a bus to the Bucharest Nord Gara A train station, and my two-hour and thirty-minute ride to Brasov, a small Romanian town in southern Transylvania, was coming to an end. ‘Alex’ a woman in a ragged sheepskin coat and a lilac knitted hat waved at me, greeting on the platform, with her husband. Aunt Tasha reminded me a little of my mother. She was short, dark-haired and smiling, and she had met a gruff Romanian student, uncle Grigor, at the Mechanical Engineering Department about twenty years ago. They married right after graduation and moved to Romania, to the tiny village of Taliu, twenty kilometers from Brasov, where they both took jobs as engineers in a factory. My uncle is still working there, and my aunt, after the birth of twins, has become more involved in the household. ‘I’m so glad to see you, Alex! ’ she grabbed me in a wrap, choking slightly. ‘Hi! ’ I mumbled into the sleeve of my aunt’s sheepskin coat, casting an uncertain glance at uncle Grigor’s pale face. The stooped man frozen to my aunt’s right nodded briefly, expressing joy at my arrival. Not a single line on his face wavered. We left the train station and found an old Honda in the parking lot. My uncle threw my suitcase in the trunk while my aunt and I settled into the tobacco-smelling interior. ‘Auntie, what about the car’ I stammered before uncle Grigor got in. For some reason, his perpetually grim face made me feel insecure, as if I were taking my nonsense to a busy man who had enough to do without me. ‘I remember, Alex. We’re going to stop by one place. Grisha (that’s for Grigor) says there are good cars there for a reasonable price.’ We drove through the old streets of Brasov. I was so absorbed in contemplating the old european building style that I didn’t immediately notice where we were going. The colorful houses of the past centuries were replaced by equally colorful slums; the kind of places my mother told me to stay away from. The car slowed down at a sign with a bright red car. I climbed out, looking around suspiciously. ‘You pick a car, but don’t show interest,’ my uncle instructed me as he closed the doors of Honda. ‘When you decide, give me a sign. I’ll do the haggling.’ I didn’t argue. I would have got out of here as soon as possible, but there was no choice, and I followed my uncle. The uncle came out to meet us and from the doorstep began to praise a modest pack of a dozen cars. They didn’t look very attractive: shabby, with worn bumpers and faded windows, they didn’t look much like what I’d imagined. It looked more like an orderly scrap yard. I glanced questioningly at my aunt, hoping she would understand, but she only smiled encouragingly as we made our way around the tin corpses for the fifth time. Well, it looks like I really don’t stand a chance of escaping the decades-old rusting foulness. My choice was a green Hyundai Accent, the cleanest car of all. The uncle arranged to rent the car for forty-three lei. It was about twelve dollars; much cheaper than I had expected, and I cheered up a little. We rented the car for a week. I’d wanted it for longer, after all, I was going to stay in Taliu for a month, but my uncle whispered that he could always stop by after work and extend the lease. If the car didn’t behave too well, we could exchange it without too much trouble and without offending the local mechanics, and we could drop some money for the inconvenience. I just nodded. It wasn’t that I didn’t like my uncle’s reasoning, I just wasn’t very good at trickery, but I wasn’t in any hurry to give away the money I’d earned in two years. Some of the part-time jobs were downright creepy. A little episode with handing out flyers came to mind. At first glance the job seemed easy, but after standing in the pouring rain for a week, I decidedly reconsidered some of my views, and since then I’ve always skipped the ‘street promoter’ ads with a sense of incredible relief. So I opted not to put my five cents in this conversation, and saved it for a rainy day. ‘Follow us. If anything, signal.’ My uncle ordered and opened the driver’s door of the Accent for me. It was time to try out some fresh driving skills. Four-month course I’ve finished recently and got my license, including international, almost just before I left. The thing is, I immediately signed up for lessons so that I could get my license in time to fulfill the plan I’d been nurturing for two years. So, I concentrated and sat behind the wheel, diligently remembering everything the instructor had taught me. The drive from Brasov to the village where my aunt and uncle lived was uneventful. I felt exhausted from the strain and was relieved to let go of the steering wheel. But I was terribly proud of myself: not a single broken rule and almost no blunders. Taliu was home to a little over three thousand people. Most of the older members of the families worked in nearby towns. Children went to the local school, and teenagers, starting at fourteen, usually chose the school where their parents worked. Sooner or later they had to move to the cities, either to study or to work. The wooden buildings of one-story houses looked well-maintained. Stone houses were less common. High fences completely hid the yards, leaving only the frosted branches of bare tops to be seen. Thanks to my mother’s regular Skype conversations with my aunt, this place seemed familiar, as if I’d been here in my childhood and returned again after a long absence. ‘Come on in, Alex. Make yourself at home,’ Aunt Tasha let me into the house from the cool corridor that looked like a separate annex, with a pantry and cellar lurking in the back. The twins came at me out of nowhere. Kostin and Yasha were both fifteen, but they were as tall as me, being three years younger. ‘Hi! ‘ I smiled friendly in response to the interested looks of the boys; it was the first time they had seen their distant relative. ‘Mom sent you all presents.’ From the huge suitcase I started taking out bulky bundles and bags. I carried it all silently and without question, knowing that I would fill the empty space with souvenirs. My mother and I were thanked, and then taken to a small room that I would occupy for the rest of the winter school break. It was nothing special: a bed, a table, a chair, and a closet, but the view outside the window was marvelous. The snow-covered steppe and dark streaks of millet were in stark contrast to the typical cityscape. From the excitement and quiet joy that overwhelmed me, I was ready to run outside to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. It felt good to stop myself; I’d have time to get to know everything better, but for now I decided to unpack, looking forward to embarking on my own adventure, which had already begun. At dinner, the whole family gathered around the table. I was treated to thick soup and homemade bread, dried roast beef, and garlic. I prudently declined the latter, embarrassed to scare the family away with my breath. ‘Afraid all the vampires will run away from you? ’ Yasha asked, squelching a chuckle. I blushed slightly. ‘Behave yourself,’ my aunt pressed her lips together angrily. ‘But you said yourself, ma, that she came to catch vampires,’ Kostin cut in, unafraid of his mother’s anger. Uncle Grigor paid no attention to us, staring mesmerized over his wife’s shoulder as a soccer match played on the television. ‘I didn’t say anything like that.’ Aunt Tasha simmered, embarrassed that the teenagers had given her away. ‘I told the family, Alex, that you really wanted to see Bran and other places associated with the legends of the bloodsuckers. ‘That’s what I said! ’Kostin frowned, glaring resentfully from under his overgrown bangs with eyes as dark as his father’s. Maybe it was just a play on light, but Kostin’s eyes were already showing the same shadows under his eyes as uncle Grigor’s, who had been clutching his spoon tightly for several minutes and hadn’t moved once in all that time. At that moment I thought that at least I had found one Transylvanian vampire. ‘Yes, I’m gonna see the castle and a lot of other places,’ I agreed, and trying to lighten the mood, I started listing the names of the places I was planning to visit. It seemed that I had managed to surprise my family with my knowledge of the beauty and sights of Romania. I didn’t forget to mention important dates to cement the success. The guys didn’t make fun of me anymore, throwing in one last quip about how I wasn’t one of those stupid girls who’d watched Twilight. All I had to do was snort indignantly at such a comparison and go back to my room. Closing the door, I made sure no one would suddenly enter, and then pulled my favorite first volume of the famous saga from the bottom of my suitcase. Alas, to my own shame, that was exactly the kind of crazy girl I was. Only in my case it was much worse; I really idolized Stephenie Meyer and truly believed in the existence of vampires. When I started reading the first volume, my life changed forever. I’d reread books and rewatched movies hundreds of times, knew entire dialogues by heart. I was a respected member of the fan community and read themed fics. I grew up and my obsession grew with me. I searched for literature and references to the actual historical facts of vampires, which many idiots ignorantly called legends and fairy tales. Who in their right mind would make up nonsense about toothy, blood-eating humans? And if these eyewitnesses were out of their minds, then wasn’t it strange that similar claims were appearing in different parts of the world? Moreover, it happened both in the same time period and in different eras. It was never clear to me why such a thing would be made up. Didn’t people have other, more important things to do? The only conclusion I could come to was that it was true, that vampires did exist. And it was up to me to find them. Where was I supposed to do it, if not in Transylvania? The fact that my mother’s relatives lived near the castle of the famous Count Dracula was another sign that convinced me that I was on the right path. Two years ago I finally decided that I would come here no matter what it cost me. I saved up my money and made an itinerary. I planned my trip in minute detail and didn’t even wait until summer. The only thing that was a little embarrassing was the ridicule of people who thought vampires were nothing more than a fairy tale, and unfortunately, there was no way I could ignore the ignoramuses. So it was easier not to show my fascination. Why should the uninitiated know about that? I lovingly stroked the cover, unwilling to part with my favorite book at such an important moment. The pair of actors who played Bella and Edward looked at me with mystical eyes. ‘Soon,’ I promised myself.