by M. K. ROZE
me, so I figured why I’d use it.
Mom elbowed him. “I’m sorry, honey. Your father is a
jerk today.”
“Mom, he’s fine.”
⁓
⁓
Dad looked back at me and winked. “I was kidding. You
know that, right?”
I got up and plucked his ear. “You better be.”
He laughed. “I deserve that.”
“Yes, you did,” I said followed by a yawn.
I sat back down and placed my feet on the opposite seat.
When a creepy old man stared my way from across the aisle,
I put my sweater over my face. Within seconds, images of
the crazy woman from my dream returned. I grabbed my
phone, took a selfie, and texted Kaylee. Also, Liam, a
childhood friend who lived next door.
Hey, I’m here in Romania.
I sent my picture to Kaylee, then Liam.
Kaylee responded right away with a picture of her cute
baby face and her huge smile.
I miss you! Hurry back, please.
I chuckled and replied.
You’re something else. Love you, Sis. Oh,
and I love the blue hair. It matches your
pretty eyes.
Ever since we met in the sixth grade, we called each
other sisters because she had no siblings, like me.
When Liam didn’t respond, I was certain he was still
mad at me because I couldn’t go on a camping trip with him.
The woman from my dream was still in the back of my
mind. Trying to ignore it, I put my earbuds in and watched
Ariana Grande videos on YouTube to distract myself.
After passing out, a deafening screech woke me and my
parents up as the train pulled to a stop.
“Hey,” I said. “We’re in Brasov.”
When we gathered our luggage and got off the train, a
crowd of people rushed in front of me, separating us.
⁓ ⁓
“Mom. Dad. Wait up!” I shouted.
They didn’t hear me and kept walking. Beyond them, a
tall, black man, wearing a long brown trench coat and
sunglasses, was rushing toward me. He slammed into me,
knocking my water bottle out of my hand. It felt like he was
wearing body armor under his jacket.
“Hey, slow down!” I yelled.
He stood there as I bent down to pick up the bottle.
I glared up at him. “May I help you?”
He bowed before me like I was a queen. “Divinity, you
must come with me,” he said with an English accent.
My heart skipped a beat as I looked at the gold body
armor peeking out of his jacket. “Why are you calling me
that? Who are you?”
He ignored me and grabbed my arm.
“Let me go, you freak!” I got out of his grip and ran
through the crowd to my parents.
“Did you guys see a black man pass you? He’s like seven
feet tall. And ... and he’s the only weirdo wearing a coat in
the middle of July.”
“No,” Dad said.
Mom shook her head.
“Mom, he bowed before me, then called me Divinity,
just like that woman did from my dreams.”
“I’m sure you misunderstood him, honey,” Mom
replied.
“He tried to kidnap me too.”
“He did what?” Dad said. He let go of his suitcase and
raced over to find him.
“Bret!” Mom yelled out, but Dad kept charging through
the crowd.
⁓
⁓
“Are you sure he tried to kidnap you?”
“Yeah, he grabbed my arm.”
Mom wrapped her arm around me. “Viata, are you
certain you’re not letting the dream you had earlier scare
you?”
“No, I’m not. I’m telling you the truth. He acted as if he
knew me. And he was wearing gold body armor under his
jacket too.”
Mom squinted at me like I was crazy.
Dad came back out of breath. “I didn’t see him.”
“Stay near us. There are a lot of freaks out there,” Mom
said.
“Yup, it’s true,” Dad replied. “Jules and I see it every
day in the courtroom. You will, too, when you become a
lawyer.”
“Maybe I should become a shrink instead for people like
him.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Dad said.
As we continued to the front of the train station, I kept
glancing over my shoulder to see whether the creepy man
was behind me, but there was no sign of him. I didn’t
understand why someone in real life would call me the same
name from a dream I had. I thought about the armor he had
on, and I concluded he wore it in case he got shot from trying
to kidnap someone in broad daylight. Like he did me.
We got into another taxi. “Where would you like to go?”
the female driver asked.
“Dracula’s Bed and Breakfast Inn, please.”
“Dad, you can’t be serious. Are you guys fascinated with
vampires?”
“Uh, no. Why?” Dad replied.
⁓ ⁓
“Um, Dracula? You know that he’s fake, right?”
Mom laughed.
“How do you know that for sure?” Dad’s face was
serious.
My eyebrows raised. “Someone with too much time on
their hands created him to scare people.”
Dad put his hand on my knee. “Calm down. I was
kidding. You’re the one who said you wanted it to be a
surprise.”
I looked past Mom. “Well, I regret it now,” I joked.
“Why there?”
“It’s where your mother and I met, so we always stayed
there in the past.”
“That’s romantic, but you still could’ve picked a better
place.”
“You’ll love it,” he said.
“Sure, I will. So, how long does it take to get to the
bloodsucker’s inn?”
Mom shook her head smiling.
Dad chuckled. “Without traffic, it’s only ten minutes,
but at this rate, it will take at least an hour.”
“Cool.”
Out in the countryside, we passed several farms with
horses and cows that were surrounded by picturesque green
mountains. Their imposing presence transfixed me.
We sat in the cab for almost an hour because of the
bumper-to-bumper traffic. I still couldn’t help but think of
why the strange man called me Divinity, so I looked up the
name on the internet and found nothing but desserts. In the
end, I shrugged it off. I must have heard him wrong.
⁓
⁓
After a long climb along a narrow road winding up the
side of a mountain, we pulled up in front of the hotel. My
first sight of the impressive structure took my breath away.
I opened the door and hurried out of the taxi while
Mom got out and helped Dad unload our bags. As I was
looking at the gorgeous mountains, a slow breeze carried the
smell of fresh pine across my face. I stepped closer and
looked up at the tall tower that sat on top of the roof.
“Hurry up,” I said, feeling like a little kid again.
“Go inside and look around,” Mom said. “We’ll be there
in a minute.”
She didn’t have to tell me twice. I pushed open the front
double doors and walked inside. It was dim with a musty
smell, and my parents’ favorite composer, Mozart, was
playing in the background.
I walked down the short hallway to an open room. My
smile went ear to ear as I admired the huge stones on the
fireplace, and the red velvet antique chairs that sat in front
of it. Above that was a red and black crystal chandelier with
amber lights flickering in it. When I looked to my right, there
was a wooden staircase with a brass handrail and rustic
sconces that lined the stone walls.
I walked around the corner, and a tall woman with long
blonde hair stood at the front desk, looking down at the
computer. My parents came in, dragging their bags.
“This place is amazing,” I said.
“Told ya,” Dad replied.
“Bret, it looks the same, doesn’t it?” Mom looked all
around.
He winked and nudged Mom with his elbow. “Yes, it
does. We’ve had some great times here, haven’t we?”
⁓ ⁓
“Ew, get a room, you two,” I joked.
They laughed and walked over to the desk.
“Welcome to Dracula’s Bed and Breakfast Inn. Do you
have a reservation?” the clerk asked with an American
accent.
“Yes, we do,” Mom replied. “It’s under Mr. and Mrs.
Vandell.”
I looked at her name badge. “Melissa, are you from
Long Island?”
“Yes, how did you guess?”
“My hairstylist is from there. Do you live here now?”
She kept typing. “Yes.”
“Really?” Mom replied. “How long have you been
here?”
“Nine years now. This is where my husband was born.”
“That’s amazing,” I said. “I was born here too. Mom
decided to go into labor here while on vacation.”
Melissa looked up. “Is that so?”
“Yes.” Mom cleared her throat and looked at Dad.
Dad interrupted us. “Okay, ladies, it’s getting late. Let’s
get to our rooms, take a hot shower, and eat before
everything closes. We can chat later.”
Melissa handed my mother two room keys. Mom
dropped one into my hand.
“Thanks,” I said.
I followed my parents, pulling Dad’s light suitcase up
the old curved stairs. Our rooms were next door to one
another.
“See you in a little while,” Dad said.
⁓
⁓
I didn’t respond because I was too busy trying to open
the door. When the lock turned, the door swung open. I
grabbed my suitcase and stepped inside.
“Wow, this place is beautiful.” I spun around.
“I guess that means she likes it,” Mom said through the
thin walls.
I walked over to the stone fireplace in front of the king-
size canopy bed and couldn’t stop smiling. I continued into
the large stone bathroom with gold marble counters and a
matching two-person Jacuzzi tub. I walked back out, opened
the large French doors and stepped out onto the small
balcony.
With a few more steps, I peeked over the railing at the
ancient village of Brasov. Beyond that, a towering, eerie
stone castle perched on top of a hill surrounded by hundreds
of trees. The moon rising behind the castle cast long
shadows.
I ran to my parents’ room, eager to find out what that
spine-chilling castle was. In response to my loud knocking,
the door of my parents’ room swung open.
“Do you miss us already?” Dad mocked.
“Funny.” I slipped past him and into the room.
Their balcony was somewhat more extensive than mine,
but I wasn’t going to complain. I walked over to it, opened
the French doors, and stepped out.
Mom followed me. “The Carpathian Mountains are
gorgeous, aren’t they?”
“Yes, they are.” I pointed across the hills. “What castle
is that?”
“That’s Bran Castle.”
“Who lives there?”
⁓ ⁓
“Your dad can explain it better than me. Bret, come
here, please.”
When he appeared, he was holding a brochure. “Yes,
Jules?”
“Tell Viata about Bran Castle.”
“I’ll tell you the basics, but you’ll have to wait until we
go there to find out more.” Dad stood behind me, gazing
over my shoulder toward it. “That, my dear, was supposed
to have been Dracula’s castle.”
“Cool,” I replied.
Dad squeezed my shoulders. “I want to suck your
blood,” he said in a creepy dark voice.
I flinched and pulled away from his grasp. “Ew, that was
just weird.”
Mom grabbed Dad’s hand and yanked him away from
me. “Come on, now. Don’t freak her out.”
“Mom, it’s alright. I know vampires are a myth.” I
looked at Dad. “I’m going to get you back.” I playfully
smacked his chest and walked inside.
“Go take a shower, hon,” Mom said. “We’re going out
to dinner soon.”
“Good, I’m starving.” I shut the door.
That night, we had dinner at a fancy restaurant a block
from the hotel. It was beautiful inside, with stone walls and
old paintings that dated back to the 1500s. The high-top
tables were mahogany with matching chairs. The restaurant
was cozy with an old antique smell, but the aroma of the food
overpowered it. The menu was printed in Romanian and
English. The smoked ham hock and cabbage I ordered was
delicious.
⁓
⁓
When we finished eating, we walked back to the inn and
said goodnight to each other. Wiped out, I staggered over to
the red velvet chaise next to the fireplace and sat down. The
Jacuzzi was looking pretty good to me, but I was too
exhausted to move.
After a while, I started to drift off, so I got up and
climbed into bed without changing into pajamas.
As I lay there, growling came from outside the window.
I gasped and sat up in bed, wondering what it was.
⁓ ⁓
omeone knocked on the door, waking me up from
a deep sleep. “Who is it?” I called out.
“It’s Dad. Are you ready to see the hospital where
you were born?”
A yawn escaped my mouth as I was stretching. “Yes. I’ll
meet you in the lobby.”
My back still ached from the long flight, so I tried to
crack it by slithering down the edge of the bed. It worked. I
put on black shorts with a pink tank top and met my parents
downstairs.
We had breakfast in the inn. I had excellent scrambled
eggs and croissants with homemade jam. After we ate, we
walked out front and took a bus into the village. It was
packed, leaving me having to sit on Mom’s lap. We got a lot
of looks. The bus brought us only so far, and we had to walk
the last mile to the hospital.
“Did you guys hear something growling las
t night?” I
asked as we walked down the isolated road.
“Yes, we did,” Mom replied. “It was probably a wolf or
something.”
“I don’t know what it was, but it kept me up half the
night.”
Dad put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into
him. “You’ll have plenty of time to sleep when you’re dead.”
I smiled and pushed him away. “Not funny.”
Mom pointed toward an old white building that looked
abandoned. “Viata, that’s where you were born.”
I glanced at its cracked exterior with broken windows
and debris scattered everywhere. “What a perfect place to
have a Halloween baby.”
Mom laughed. “Why would you say that?”
“Because it looks haunted.”
Dad chuckled. “It didn’t look like that seventeen years
ago.”
I stepped back and took a few photos of it. “Hey, Mom,
where are the pictures of me when you had me here? I don’t
remember you ever showing me them.”
When Mom didn’t reply, I turned around to face her,
and she was looking at Dad while twirling her wedding ring.
“What’s ... wrong?” I asked.
She turned her head my way. “Don’t be upset, but I left
them in the attic in our old house. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. Just call the new owners and get them back.”
“We tried, but they said they threw everything out,”
Mom replied with tears in her eyes.
⁓
⁓
“Great, now I don’t have any baby pictures to show my
children one day. Thanks a lot.” I shook my head and walked
away.
We took the same bus back into town. But that time,
there were tons of seats. Mom and Dad wanted to talk, so
they sat a few seats behind me. When I glanced back, they
were hugging each other.
Mom caught me staring, and she smiled at me. I grinned
and looked out the window at the mountains. I was still upset
about her forgetting my baby pictures, but I knew that it
wasn’t the end of the world, so I forgave her.
At the next stop, we got off the bus and walked toward
the Biserica Neagra, also known as the Black Church. As we
walked through the main square of Piata Sfatului, the
Catholic church peeked out from behind the colorful