There was room service, a five-star restaurant and bar inside of her hotel she stayed in, and she was only ten blocks away from her hotel. She walked straight back over there, without having to make any stops along the way, even though the shopping district did catch her eye as she passed by some designer brand boutiques, European shoe stores, and exquisite lingerie shops.
Once she was in the hotel she decided to go to her room and order in a platter of a smoked salmon appetizer and some chicken souvlaki off the menu, with a bottle of cabernet franc. The wait time was an hour, so she called her mother back home in Texas, an eight-hour difference from Romania. It was 7 PM here, meaning it was 11 AM back home, to what she really considered home, her beloved Texas and not god-forsaken San Diego. She had important ties to the city, as it was her last duty station here before she received her DD-214 after ten years of honorable service. Her mom on the other line was happy to hear from her daughter, whom she hadn’t seen in almost a month.
“Hey mija, how was your flight over there?” her mom lovingly answered the phone.
Hearing her mom’s voice quickly dissolved all her worries and her stresses, and always left her feeling so much better every time they spoke.
“It was alright mom, though I think I’m still a little jet-lagged from the trip, but this place isn’t as scary as I thought. Everyone at least understands English or I can understand them because we speak Spanish too. Food is amazing here, there is lots of sightseeing to do,”
“Any of those hot vampire guys around?” her mom inquired mischievously.
“Ha, no mom, not all Romanians are vampires, that’s racist,” she laughed, over the phone. Regina laid flat on her bed as she carried on with her mother.
They spoke about how getting out of the military was, how her ex-husband was, how is Texas, when are you visiting, how about I fly you to Romania, when do you start your job, have you found a place to live yet? Her doorbell to her room rung, which meant her food was here. She walked over to open the door with her phone squeezed between her ear and shoulder, thanking the hotel staffer who delivered her meal on a rolling cart. It was covered in a white cloth with two silver dome platters on top. She told her mother that she would call back later, so she could proceed to eat.
Under the silver lid awaited thinly sliced salmon, seared on the sides and seasoned with lemon pepper with a side of caper cream cheese, and a plate of grilled chicken, pita bread, fries and tzatziki sauce. It was beautifully presented with that unnecessary decorative kale, and tasted as heavenly as it smelled as well, after a long day out in town and the mountains. Regina finished her food and poured a glass of wine, browsing for places to rent out with an immediate move-in date, which was fortunately common in Bucharest. There was an Air Force base about 50 miles from the city, so for all she knew, Americans probably resided heavily here as well. She put in a couple of quick applications to rent out a room at several townhouses and mansions near the outskirts toward the Transylvanian Alps, near her future job location. After half an hour of internet browsing, she poured another glass of wine and ran the bathtub with three handfuls of lavender Epsom salts. The next day was going to be a house hunting day, and with some luck, she would hopefully be moved in somewhere by the next week.
She left her phone on the bed and took the bottle of wine with her to the tub, where she undressed and then soaked her body in hot, lavender-scented water, that relaxed her muscles in conjunction with the effects of the wine. The strange, lucid dream from earlier crept into her thoughts again as she closed her eyes and relaxed in the bathtub. Just what was the explanation for a type of dream like that and why was she able to feel everything just too tangibly? She silently debated finding a psychic or metaphysical workshop out in town within the next few days as she often did in California, the land of all holistic healing measures. It would be a shock to not find it in old Eastern Europe, where many of it originated.
The next day, she received an email to her phone in response to a rental application, for a spare bedroom in a mansion near the mountains. The sender asked her for a picture of herself and a good call back number, which she regarded with a bit of uneasiness. What if this person wasn’t who they said they were and were some serial killer on the prowl for foreign women? Nah, my imagination is too wild lately, time to go get some coffee and check out the property later
It was blustery outside, even for it being almost summer, it was overcast again, with a slight drizzle today. Such a difference from being back home in Texas! Regina brushed her medium length hair, so black it was almost blue, threw on a red peacoat on top of her sweater and dark jeans, and black boots, and went out into town for coffee and breakfast at her usual café, which she figured out the name of, Roxana’s Bistro.
A few sips into her coffee, and her phone rings, much to her surprise, a number from Texas that she assumed was a bill collector or one of her friends trying to get in touch with her. She reluctantly answers.
“Hello, Regina Brighton speaking,”
“Misses Brighton, good morning,” a voice of an old man replied through the line, “you submitted a rental application for a spare room on Bulevardul Nicolae 435, yes?”
A Texas number calling for a rental application in Bucharest made no absolute sense.
“Uh, yes sir this is she, I mean, yes I did submit an application last night, is that room still available?”
“Yes, ma’am it is, you are welcome to stop by later to look at it and see if it is to your liking. I’m toward the Alps, just ask your driver to take you to the Meytros Estates district just to give you a general idea. My name is Magnus Marlboro,”
Regina took a quick sip of coffee, “Like the cigarettes?”
“Yep, like the cigarettes. I will see you at one?”
“Yes, one sounds perfect,”
She couldn’t help to think that the man sounded very southern accented, and why on earth did he have a Texas number in a foreign country? The only reason she could come up with was that he was a very rich man that retired here, or he was a veteran that decided to stay here, or a savvy combination of both.
Around 12:30, she requested an Uber taxi from her phone, and she was taken down the main highway that ran in the middle of the city for about a minute or so before the car exited onto a cobblestone street, then turned left onto a gated residential area. Houses of old architecture with beautiful dome roofs painted in blue and gold made up the neighborhood, each property fenced off from one another, trimmed hedges lining the doorways, and an island of grass and pine trees dividing the cul-de-sac. She read the sign, as the car turned into the right side of the cul-de-sac, Blvd. Nicolae.
The silver Jetta dropped her off in front of a house that was three stories tall, decorated in vines, and a three car garage off to the side, separate from the house, with a black Jaguar parked on the driveway out in the open. Over the tile porch of the house, there was an old wooden swing that could seat two people suspended on rope, and there had to be even more to the house than she could see from behind the gate. There was a buzzer button and an electronic keypad and sensor device beside the black gate, and she instinctively pressed the buzzer, waiting only a few seconds before a tall, old man with an American military haircut stepped out of the house, wearing flannel plaid pajama pants and a blue terry robe, with suede slippers. He had a cigar in his mouth and walked toward the gate. At least his last name suited his smoking habit.
He took his time walking toward her, walking as if he suffered a hip ailment of some sort given by his limping. The house was grandiose, made of brick and stone, and when Magnus finally did open the gate for her to enter, there was more than met the eye. Beds of red and white roses with blooms the size of fists, three black cats that sat at the end of the porch with the swing, several cherub statues that served as bird baths, and towards the aft right portion of the vast garden, past lush trimmed hedges, she saw a tombstone. It gave her the slightest goosebumps
as she was already apprehensive about moving in with strangers.
“Calm yourself Regina, give this old man a chance. He isn’t a last resort,” she said quietly to herself in her mind. The old man looked amusingly at her and could sense her nervousness.
“Don’t worry about that tombstone, we have a small cemetery in the back,” assured the old man, making light of such a somber subject. Regina raised a brow at the left field statement.
“Relatives I’m assuming?”
“Oh no, that tombstone was already here when my wife and I purchased the property back in the 70’s.” The elderly man had no Romanian accent, and spoke crystal clear American English.
“You’re not from here are you?” Regina asked the man as she followed him inside the mansion, taking in the creepy magnificence of her surroundings.
At the threshold she was about to remove her shoes until the man told her not to mind. She was astonished at the unmarred classical beauty and infrastructure of the mansion. There were two red carpeted staircases on each opposite end of the house of at least 30 flights leading to the upstairs second floor, and two shorter flights on the respective sides leading to the third level. The main lobby of the house contained the living room consisting of a black leather sofa, a glass and gold coffee table, a mini library and a Steinway piano in the right corner, where sliding glass doors next to the piano area led to the outside, hidden behind diaphanous white curtains of lace. The floor was made of checkered black and white marble tile.
“Please take a seat young lady,” the man told her, not answering her question right away, and seeming rather standoffish toward Regina. She was afraid she might have offended him, but she still sat down on the supple leather sofa. He sat across from her on a loveseat, and then gleamed her a smile.
“To answer your question, I’m not originally from here, I’m an Air Force veteran, and I decided to retire here shortly after I met my wife, Ophelia. I saw your area code I called earlier. We’re from the same place young lady, I enlisted out of Poteet, Texas,”
Another Texan in a foreign country immediately brought a lot of relief for Regina to hear, and for a split second she thought that this happenstance couldn’t just be purely coincidental, but then again in 2018, anything was possible now.
He offered her a cup of coffee which she politely declined, and he learned that she too was a Navy veteran and she briefly explained her life story to Magnus, while he open-heartedly listened to her every word. They ended up speaking for two hours, while it began to rain outside. Shortly after, an elderly woman with a completely white halo of hair, wearing a black fur overcoat and reeking of Chanel No.5, walked inside the house and hung her coat on the door hook. She was slim and petite, in a black cardigan and long black and gold brocade skirt.
“Oh, you must be Miss Regina,” the woman said, in a thick local accent.
She joined the pair and shook Regina’s small cold hand, “Pleased to meet you dear, I am Ophelia, I’m his wife,” the old woman said gesturing her head at Magnus.
Ophelia was very well dressed and chic for her age, donning leopard print loafers and a diamond necklace with an emerald pendant. She had an all-knowing demeanor about her, and a suspicious calmness. Her face was powdered, and her cheeks were rosy with a bright pink rouge, and her demure lips were hot pink with lipstick.
“I knew you would be stopping by madame,” she stated, giving a wink.
Regina was slightly puzzled at her remark. “You two must have received my application right away,”
“That, and I just know when we will receive a tenant. We haven’t had a tenant in decades!” Ophelia said enthusiastically.
“Ophelia, my love,” gestured Magnus, pleading his wife to not speak furthermore as their future tenant looked at them both, nervously.
“She bluffs, and she bluffs plenty my dear. Say, why don’t you stay for dinner, and we can discuss moving you in by tomorrow?”
“Wow so sudden, isn’t it too soon for all of us to agree to?” Regina cautiously annotated to them. As exciting as the idea was, it also scared her in a slight way.
Magnus gave her a tour of the mansion, most of the house was still decorated in Victorian era tapestry and artwork, as well as antique but well-kept furniture. For this house being at least 50 years old, if not, way older, it was very clean, tidy and maintained. The second level were where the bedrooms were. Magnus and Ophelia’s were to the left side of the hall, a full sized bathroom with a tub in between, a bedroom turned study room in the first right, and another bedroom to the far right. Magnus led her to the far-right bedroom. This room had a luxurious charm to it, basically the room Regina would have always wanted, with a canopy bed with pink satin sheets, a white dresser and chair, a sofa and coffee table, and a full sized bathroom and walk in closet. This place was about the size of the studio apartment she had once lived in, at North Park, San Diego.
“This place is breathtaking,” she stated in awe of its beauty.
“This will be your bedroom young lady, get used to it,” a cheery Magnus said to her. She almost couldn’t believe this unexpected generosity and miracle.
“It’s so lovely, I almost feel bad about moving into such a beautiful house, I have almost nothing to my name except what I have in the bank,”
Magnus took her hands gently.
“Listen dear, you think I’m some old man from those Hollywood movies who lures young girls like yourself here. That isn’t the case,”
“Oh no Mr. Magnus, I can assure you that isn’t what I’m thinking at all!”
Magnus maintained his serene composure as he went on.
“I can understand where you’re coming from and I don’t take it personally. You came here escaping how bad your life got, and your asshole of an ex-husband and you came to a country by yourself that you don’t know, to start over. I was in your shoes, believe me, I’m a veteran, and I know how the transition to the big scary civilian world can be, though it isn’t as scary. You are a very brave young lady. My wife and I would love if you stayed. It has been just us since our son moved to Norway,”
“Why did he move all the way to Norway?”
“Due to a government job, but I highly suspect a woman. He’s secretive,”
“Ah, men will be men,” she sighed.
The old man invited Regina out to the garden by the tombstone for a cigarette and a beer, as they sat on stone benches, looking onward as the night began to fall, bringing about a thickening fog out on the street. The three cats from earlier surrounded them as they conversed about the military life, and by dinner time, Regina suffered from tension no more. Due to the dense fog, the couple offered her to stay overnight and insisted that it was too perilous to roam outside after dark by herself. After a bit of persuasion, she did stay, took a relaxing hot bath, slipped into a warm terry nightgown, and slept until the morning. She had gone back to the hotel to check out and gather her belongings from her room, before catching a coffee break and a taxi ride back.
“435 Nicolae Blvd,” she told the male driver, a black-haired young man, as she climbed into the passenger of a silver BMW 3 series.
“Ah, the famous Meytros Estates, ancient property,” said the driver.
Regina pondered on her driver’s comment before she hassled him with a few questions regarding the neighborhood, fumbling her fingers on the strap of her Vuitton.
“What do you mean by ancient property if you don’t mind me asking,”
“Oh, you’re not from here, you’re an American,” the driver almost sneered with a tenderly snide tone, “Meytros Estates, otherwise known to everyone as the Vampire Estates. Dhampir, Vlad Dracul Tepes, Bram Stoker, Mina, any of those names familiar to you?”
“Yes,” Regina replied dryly, “from Stoker’s well-known novel,”
“Rumor has it that the estates were built on a vampire civilization,”
She had to try n
ot to let out a laugh, “Vampires don’t exist, how’s that possible,”
“Well, they are rumors, and remember, anything is possible. Anything that can be formed into art exists to the creator. Life imitates art,”
“Very philosophical for 8 in the morning,” Regina commented, smiling back at the driver. The conversation was still a bit unnerving for her, as she was still a bit shaken up from the lavender incident the day before. She could not shake off the fresh image and phantom feeling within of the pale skinned, blonde man that then bit her. There had to be some energy vortex in this region that provoked the strangest of dreams. It hadn’t been even a week, and this was yet something else to add on her list of concerns. Who was this man and was he in fact a vampire? Fiction depicted these creatures as able to invade dreams and hypnotize their victims. Great, now I’m being stalked by the undead and my ex-husband. The driver mentioned the name Tepes, and it provoked the same visceral uneasiness within her. She silently denied nor pushed the conversation any further, and kept telling herself, “It’s jet lag, vampires don’t exist.”
The driver dropped her off at the front of the gate of her new home, and she rung the buzzer before a freshly woke Magnus came out, in different pajama pants, but the same suede slippers that looked like driving moccasins with Sherpa on the inside. He led Regina into the house, taking up her bags except her purse and train case full of toiletries and makeup.
She spent the early part of the day settling in, cleaning her new bedroom down with a broom, swab, and wet cloths, and bleach. Carefully, she put away her belongings very neatly, only leaving her phone and charger by her nightstand. Ophelia left a brand-new set of sheets and a duvet at the foot of her bed, which was very much in her taste. They were lovely gold and violet satin sheets, bed skirt, pillow covers, two memory foam pillows, and a matching duvet with gold ruffles down the middle. Later, the couple had to leave to run some errands in town but left a full tray in the oven of steak medallions and portobello ravioli, and let Regina eat as much as she desired to, so long as she kept tidy and cleaned off her used dishes. After eating a light portion, she went back up to her room for a brief nap, as she had the evening planned to go do some clothes shopping for her new job she would begin in a week.
The Dhampir Dimension Page 5