Elixir of Flesh

by Joseph Kranak

  * * *

  In Terem that morning Cezar began his day by ascending the stairs to the wall walk and following it around the circumference of the wall. As he walked, he passed from overlooking the city of Terem, which took up the majority of the area within the wall, to overlooking the convent, which occupied a corner in the south. The buildings on the southern edge of Terem formed a dense cluster of stone houses, built side-by-side, one after the other. The backsides of these houses formed a continuous barrier, which transversed the area within the wall. The garden and the nun’s quarters and the back of the church all stood just to the other side of this division. The only connection between these two separate segments within the walls of Terem was the wall walk, the continuous walkway at the top of the wall.

  Thus, as Cezar walked along this wall walk, he overlooked the lively, prosperous city of Terem, saw it come to end, and then began to see the quieter and more modest monastery of Terem. The convent itself was, in its more subdued way, a lively community, and there below him many persons moved in several directions, the nuns in their habits and the young novices similarly attired, while a smattering of servants and slaves hastened to their duties.

  He saw Sister Oana speaking in what appeared to be a reprimanding tone to one of these servants, and he called out to her, “Sister Oana! Could I speak with you?”

  Sister Oana dismissed the servant when she saw the solider and approached the wall. Multiple body-lengths above her head, Cezar leaned over and looked down on her.

  “I came here to tell you that I saw something last night,” Cezar said.

  Sister Oana hastily indicated for him to be quiet and looked around to make sure no one had heard them. She led Cezar to the small gap between the church and the wall, where it was out of the way and she would be less likely to be overheard.

  Cezar hovered above her atop the wall. In a quieter tone, speaking downwards to Sister Oana, Cezar said, “You said you wanted us to look for a novice, about fourteen years old trying to sneak out.”

  “Yes,” Sister Oana nodded.

  “Last night a sentry saw someone entering the novitiate. She was small, so I’m guessing it may have been the girl in question.”

  Sister Oana moved a bit closer to Cezar, and she asked him, somewhat perplexed, “You saw Madalina entering the novitiate? You mean, through her bedroom window?”

  “No, through the front door, of course. He saw her crossing the courtyard and entering the novitiate through that door,” he said, pointing across the courtyard to the door leading into the hallway of the novitiate, “He didn’t get a good look at who it was. It was just a brief flash of movement: a little figure in a dark cloak. I couldn’t tell you for sure if it was the girl you’re looking for.”

  “Did she leave the convent?” Sister Oana asked, “Did she come from outside the wall?”

  “I told you all he saw,” Cezar replied with a shrug, “It’s possible.”

  “Thank you Cezar,” Sister Oana replied, “You continue to keep watch for her. I am sure this is not the last time she’ll try to sneak out.”

  As she walked away towards the novitiate, she confessed to herself that she wasn’t quite sure how to deal with the situation. Madalina was not leaving through the window, meaning she’d found another way out of her room, probably some way to unlock her door from the inside. Sister Oana herself would have to be more vigilant in keeping an eye on Madalina, since clearly Madalina’s roommates were not up to it.

  As Sister Oana contemplated these things, Madalina sat on the grass beneath the plum tree in the Sisters’ garden with the other novices. Around the edges of the garden, flowers bloomed, and, in the center, a small pond ringed with stones glinted with sunshine fragmented by ripples. In front of the novices, Sister Elisabeta sat on a rock, looking over them and reading from the Book of Psalms.

  Madalina sat alone and while Sister Elisabeta read, she glanced over the faces of her companions, including her three roommates. It would have to among these three girls that she would choose her prey for Vad, but which one she couldn’t decide.

  “Which one has been meanest to me? Which one has done the most to make my life here unpleasant?” Madalina thought to herself. She considered taking Mirela, who was in a certain sense the leader of the group, but she was tempted to take Nicoleta as revenge for telling on her to the other girls last night. But on the other hand, Dorina was a bit smaller in size, and thus easier for Madalina to carry.

  “If only they knew what power I wield over them right now,” Madalina thought, “Would they mistreat me as they have before? Would they repent of all the times they ostracized me and teased me? Would they be kind to me for once?”

  She remembered the many embarrassments she’d experienced at the hands of these three girls and only regretted that she could only pick one. She remembered once when they captured a spider and put it in her sheets just before bedtime; when they’d poured water on her bed in the morning and tried to persuade everyone that she’d wet her bed; the multiple times when they’d hidden her cassock while she slept, so that she couldn’t be properly attired for Matins.

  After finishing up her reading, Sister Elisabeta closed the bible and said to the girls, “Now one of you had asked me if I could talk about where vampires come from.” The girls looked at one another inquisitively, and Sister Elisabeta asked, “No, it wasn’t any of you? Well, maybe it was one of the Sisters who asked me to tell you about it,” thinking to herself.

  “No matter,” Sister Elisabeta finally said, “We will talk about it anyway, since I think it is instructive. It is not usually an important part of your theological education, but I think it is an illuminating example of the ways that evil operates in this world.

  “We know that vampires were not created on or before the sixth day because when God surveyed his creation on that day, he declared that it was good. This means that the vampires, like other abominations, such as the giants, were created after the sixth day. The giants, the Bible tells us, were created in the time before Noah from the union of wicked women and fallen angels, and they were all killed in the flood. The same fate would’ve ended the vampires, had they existed then. Thus, they must have been created much later. Their creation is only obliquely alluded to in the Bible. How many of you know the story of Ahab, the king of Israel and the husband of Jezebel?”

  Some hands were raised and Sister Elisabeta called on a girl, asking, “What do you know about Jezebel?”

  One of the older novices said, “She married Ahab and persuaded him to worship Baal, and kill the true prophets, but she was stopped by Elijah.”

  “Yes, very good,” Sister Elisabeta said, “She led her husband and the people of Israel into wickedness by switching from the worship of the true God, to that of pagan demons such as Baal and Asherah and, the even more wicked, Moloch, who was worshipped by sacrificing children by fire in Topheth. Ahab raised many statues to these pagan demons in many cities, including in Samaria. Ultimately, he died in battle at Ramothgilead.

  “When he died, he was shot by an arrow and bled into his chariot. After his death, they decided to clean his chariot, so they took it to the pool of Samaria to wash off the blood, which drained into and polluted this pool. In this pool, the prostitutes also washed, such that they washed in the sinful blood of Ahab. And these prostitutes became infected with that blood, as they were prone to such infection from living an immoral life. These prostitutes infected the men who came to them in sin, and those wicked who were infected, infected yet others, until vampires became a scourge upon the earth, which will not be wiped away until the second coming of our Lord, when He will wipe away all sin from the earth.

  “Are there any questions?”

  “Yes, Sister,” Dorina said raising her hand, “Are all vampires evil?”

  “I’m afraid so, Dorina,” Sister Elisabeta sighed, the idea that there was any evil in the world clearly upsetting her, “What they do is wicked in the eyes of the Lord.”

&nb
sp; “But any of us could become infected,” Madalina couldn’t help objecting, “It happens to people by accident.”

  “There are no accidents, Madalina,” Sister Elisabeta replied, “Everything is according to God’s plan. But should any of you ever, God forbid, become infected, then you must remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples: ‘And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell.’ Likewise, if you should ever become a vampire then it would be better for you to starve and enter the afterlife pure than to sin by staining your lips with human blood.” Sister Elisabeta spoke severely and in an ominous tone that chilled the young novices.

  “So, if we become a vampire, we should kill ourselves?” Dorina interrupted, quite confused.

  “No, dear, that would be a sin,” Sister Elisabeta admonished, in a nonetheless pleasant tone, “For your body belongs to God, and it is an affront to God for you to destroy it.”

  She tried to soften up these dark discussions and raise their spirits with a smile, saying, “But you shouldn’t worry because I don’t believe that God would ever permit that fate to befall a virtuous person. Vampirism is a disease of the sinful, and so long as you are good, God will protect you from it.”

  “I heard they eat livestock too,” Mirela spoke up, “Though they don’t prefer it.”

  “Well, if that’s true, then that’s what you would have to do” Sister Elisabeta conceded.

  “Would it be a sin to drink the blood of other vampires?” Madalina asked.

  “I would think it might be. Though it is no different than consuming vampire wares” Sister Elisabeta replied, vacillating, “But this is all idle talk. None of you will have to worry about, since this will not befall any of you, so long as you remain virtuous.”

  Sister Elisabeta told them more about the second coming and the infectiousness of sin, and concluded with a prayer. When she finished her lesson and the novices dispersed for further prayer, Madalina approached Elisabeta and said, “Sister I have a question I was hoping you could answer for me.”

  “Not about drinking vampire blood, I hope,” Sister Elisabeta said, “It is a difficult question, and I am afraid I cannot answer it.”

  “No. I was wondering if you knew why my parents left me here at this monastery.”

  “You sound as if you regret that you were put here,” Sister Elisabeta consoled, “I think you underestimate the value of being in a place of peace and isolation. Out beyond the walls of this convent the world is in turmoil, with many people fighting for power. And members of your family are at the center of it.”

  “Really?” Madalina asked, suddenly interested, “What are they doing?”

  Sister Elisabeta hesitated, thinking about it for a moment, before she said, “Your father has been fighting in wars with the Ottomans, and some of your relatives have been leaders of Ardeal vying for power. But there has been much change of power and it’s not for us to keep track of all these conflicts and intrigue. Which is the reason why your parents put you here, to save you from all of this turmoil and danger and live in peace and virtue.”

  “Your parents left you here as a sacrifice to God,” Sister Oana interrupted them, “They saw giving you to our monastery as penance for their numerous sins. That’s the real reason they did it.”

  They turned to see Sister Oana approaching them through the garden. Sister Elisabeta tried to interrupt and say something at this point, but Sister Oana cut her off, “Fortunately, this has presented an opportunity, as Sister Elisabeta said, for us to bring you to the virtue that so escaped your family. And we will teach you virtue. So long as you listen to us and cooperate.”

  Now standing next to Madalina, Sister Oana reached down and raised Madalina’s chin so that she was looking directly into the Sister’s eyes. Sister Elisabeta again tried to intervene, but Sister Oana raised her hand to hold her back. “You didn’t try to sneak out again last night?” Sister Oana asked, while looking directly into Madalina’s eyes.

  “No,” Madalina said without hesitating or breaking eye contact, “I didn’t sneak out last night.” She then turned her head to be released from Sister Oana’s grip and lowered her eyes in meekness.

  “Good. If that’s true, then we might be having a good influence on you,” Sister Oana said with an attempt to mimic the sweat and pleasant smile of Sister Elisabeta, “But, we are still watching you closely, to make sure you do nothing you shouldn’t.”

  Madalina said, in a quiet and meek way, “Yes, Sister.”

  “You may go now,” Sister Oana said, and Madalina began to dash off. But she stopped herself before she left, wrapping herself around Sister Elisabeta and giving her a warm hug.

  Sister Elisabeta squealed with joy, “Oh my! What is that for?”

  “I just wanted to thank you for everything and for being really nice to me,” Madalina said.

  Sister Oana looked at Madalina suspiciously, but Madalina ignored her, letting go of Sister Elisabeta and running off to attend service.

  Madalina took special opportunity to watch the sunset after she finished the evening meal. She stood out in the courtyard and could just see over the wall the pink and purple clouds that were spread across the sky while the sun disappeared over the horizon. “This might be the last time I’ll see you,” she quietly said to it. This rather dismal thought was almost enough to make her want to give up the whole thing.

  She reflected on how she’d probably never see again anything in this convent, the church, the novitiate, the gardens, the plants and trees and all those people she knew. This was the only home she’d known since she was barely old enough to remember. She couldn’t remember the castle she’d grown up in, and the long journey to this place. She only had heard about such events from others. Every memory she had was in this convent, and she would be seeing it no more after this night.

  That evening, after the Compline service, Madalina returned to her room and found her three roommates there ahead of her. The three girls stood, waiting for her and watched her intently as she walked into the room.

  “Are you going to sneak out again and get us all into trouble? Mirela asked, in an inquisitional tone.

  “No,” Madalina said, avoiding their looks and moving to her bed to change into her nightclothes.”

  “Don’t bother lying to us,” Mirela continued.

  “I guarantee you won’t have to worry about me anymore after tonight,” Madalina said.

  The girls didn’t say anything, waiting for Madalina, who was now changed into her nightclothes, to step into bed and lie down. Once she lay on her back, the girls closed in, swarming around her in a body.

  “We’re not going to take any chances,” Mirela said, while the three of them restrained Madalina, who squirmed and struggled. They took her blanket and wrapped it around her tightly, like a rolled up parchment, such that her arms were pinned to her side and her legs were held together.

  Mirela asked the other girls, “Did you find a rope or something to hold her?”

  Nicoleta pulled out a few pins and said, “Only this.” They affixed several pins to the fabric of the blanket so that the wrap wouldn’t unravel.

  “I think this should hold,” Dorina said, tugging a little at the sheets.

  “You should be able to sleep fine like this. It’s not too tight is it? Not uncomfortable?” Mirela asked, with feigned concern on her face, “Don’t worry we’ll let you out for Midnight Office and Matins. We wouldn’t want you to get in trouble.”

  Madalina tried to push outward with her arms but the sheet wrapped around her held firm. The sheet was wrapped around her multiple times, and she didn’t possess the strength to tear the fabric.

  As the girls watched her squirm futilely they became more confident the restraints would hold. They retired to their beds and relaxed, wishing each other a good night. Slowly they fell asleep while Madalina lay awake, unable to sleep or move.