The small campus she needed was located on the northwestern edge of the city, about ten more miles according to the map the rental agent had given her.
Fifteen minutes and a couple of wrong turns later, Pita pulled into the faculty parking lot near the administration building of the small university.
The campus lay pocketed between the forest to the north and the mountains to the south and east. Contrary to the sparseness of vegetation in the city, the campus grounds thrived with greenery and life. The buildings coursed low to the ground, one-story affairs, and plain though the landscaping kept attention away from the simple architecture.
Pita entered the administrative building and approached the receptionist.
“How may I help you?” She asked, showing a very white smile in contrast with her dark face and almost black hair and eyes. Her English was perfect, with only a slight accent.
“Hi. I’m Pita Sedgwick. I’m here to see Professor Zoë. Tomas Stepes told me the Professor would be expecting me.”
“One moment, please.” The girl depressed the intercom button on her phone and dialed some numbers with a neatly manicured index finger. “You have a visitor, Professor.” She listened then said, “Pita Sedgwick referred by Tomas Stepes.”
She hung up the phone, smiled up at Pita, then stood. “Follow me, please.”
Chapter Twenty-nine
Pita followed the receptionist the short distance to a closed door. The young girl rapped then opened it. Inside the office an academic atmosphere permeated the decor: dark wood paneling, leather wing chairs in deep burgundy and a large heavy maple desk, behind which a small man with dark rimmed glasses and sparse longish salt and pepper hair sat peering at them. He stood and walked around the massive desk that only served to dwarf him further. His smoky grey suit was old fashioned and hung on his slight frame, though his clip on red bow tie lent a jaunty air to the somber outfit. He smiled, showing slightly bucked teeth.
“Hello, Miss Sedgwick,” he said as he approached. “It is a pleasure to meet you at last.”
“Hello, Professor Zoë.” Pita met his outstretched hand, and he gave her a limp handshake.
“I am sorry to hear about your parents. Your father and I became quite friendly when he was here. Though it was for only a short term, we enjoyed each other’s company.” He indicated one of the wing chairs in front of the desk. “Please have a seat.”
“Thank you,” Pita sat and the headmaster circled back around his desk and took his seat. “Tomas has told you that I have something for you, then.”
“Yes, sir. He mentioned that my father had given you something for me if I ever found myself in Romania.” She shifted in the chair and crossed her legs. “I’m not sure why my father would have anticipated my coming here.”
“I’m not sure, my dear. I do, however, know your parents were thrilled to have been able to adopt you. Your father was here in a research capacity. I can’t even tell you how the adoption came about.”
Disappointment slid over her. “Oh…I was hoping you had some idea of who they adopted me from.”
“No, I am sorry.” He frowned, then opened a desk drawer and pulled out a small heavy manila envelope. “This is what your father left with me more than thirty-two years ago.”
Pita took the envelope from him with a trembling hand and tried to imagine what it contained. She turned it over in her hands. Her name, scrawled across the face, with her father’s neat handwriting, brought a quiver of melancholy. She gently wiped a finger across the script, wishing he were still alive, but knowing that she’d been given this last chance of communication with her father, to read about details of her birth never verbalized during his life, but that he felt important enough to write down for her future use. It all seemed so unreal, yet here she was living the plot of a mystery, and she was the heroine. A soft hrrmpf from Professor Zoë interrupted her thoughts.
“Thank you.” Pita said placing the six by four inch envelope in her handbag.
“Professor? Have you any idea where Tomas may have gone? You saw him yesterday, so I thought perhaps he may have mentioned something.”
“No, I can not say Tomas mentioned anything to me. Is something wrong?”
The professor’s show of disinterest seemed to sharpen at Pita’s question, and she swore his frame straightened a couple of inches at the notion of possible trouble. Unease curled a cold fist around Pita’s insides as she realized her question might have been a mistake. She didn’t know this man or his motives, and he was the last person who Tomas had contacted. But again, she mentally chided, you are being a bit dramatic.
“No not really, we just haven’t heard from him since he called us about your meeting last night and mentioned you knew my father, though he may have just stayed here in the city for the night.”
Pita stood and thanked him for his time and turned to leave when he said, “I have no idea what’s in the envelope, but if I can be of any other assistance to you in your quest, please feel free to call on me.”
He stood, came around the desk and shook Pita’s hand in parting then turned, dismissing her.
“Thank you.” She said to his back and left the office closing the door quietly behind her.
The receptionist looked up from her desk as Pita passed and smiled. She smiled in return then took her leave.
Back in the car, she held the envelope in her lap and stared at her name once again. Her father’s hand. The script blurred as her eyes filled and her throat tightened. She inhaled a deep breath, then blew it out slowly. Blinking several times to clear unshed tears, she turned the envelope over several times then slipped it back into her handbag and inserted the key in the ignition. Excitement to see what the envelope contained, raced through her, but she knew she couldn’t open it now. Not here. She wanted to get back to Dorina’s. Back to someplace private—someplace she could explore her emotions, alone.
She turned the key and the little car hummed to life. Backtracking the way she’d come, she began the trek home to Dorina’s house.
While she drove, she wondered at the curious way Professor Zoë had rose at the question of Tomas’ whereabouts. Why would he assume that trouble had found Tomas? This worried her. It was almost as if he had anticipated something had happened.
She shook the uncomfortable feeling that the professor knew more than he was saying, and turned her concentration to driving. Perhaps Tomas would be home when she got there and all of her worry would be for naught.
****
As Pita neared the house, she saw a familiar car parked in front. A shiver of pleasure and hope ran through her, and she whispered an enthusiastic “yes!”
Pita pulled the rental car into the tiny driveway at the side of the house and made a hasty exit. She bolted up the steps and in the front door.
At the clunk of the door shutting, Dorina called out to her.
“Pita? We are in kitchen. Come!” The lift in her voice told Pita that happy news awaited her.
She hurried down the hall toward the kitchen. Her heart did a couple of flips as she neared the doorway and heard the voices of the occupants talking amicably. A smile painted her lips and relief covered her cheeks in a warm flush.
“Pita?” Dorina called.
“I’m right here.”
And in she went with a lightened heart.
Chapter 30
“Tomas! You’re okay.” She sighed, marching over to give him a thorough hug.
“Of course I am fine.” He chuckled. “I just got tied up with issue at work then I decide to stay in the city. It was late when I finish, and I do not phone because I do not want to awaken you or Mama. When I tried to return this morning, car do not start. I had to take to service, and I get caught at station for long time. I am sorry to not have taken you to see Professor.”
“Oh, Tomas I’m sorry for all the troubles you’ve had. No worries about the appointment. I handled it.” She smiled then slapped his arm playfully. “The hell with waking us. Next time, call. You h
ad us beside ourselves with worry.” Then she turned, a wide grin on her face, “Niko.”
He stood, walked over and pulled her into his arms. “Hi,” he said then bent down and kissed her softly. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered into her hair.
“Me, too.” She answered nuzzling into the place where his neck and shoulder met. She breathed in his scent, faint musk and pine forest now familiar to her, tinged with the oil paints he worked into his artwork.
The familiar buzz ran through her body, and she had the sensation of a tug deep within. Only this time, lust tinged the waking entity within her. Her breath caught and her heart hammered in her chest as desire surged through her core. She stepped back, suddenly conscious of Dorina and Tomas.
“So, all my favorite people are safe and here with me in the same room. Shall we find out what it is my father left for me then?” She grinned and patted her shoulder bag for emphasis.
Dorina grinned in anticipation and took Pita’s hands into hers. “I make tea and you take boys into parlor. We all get comfortable and then you see what your papa leave for you, yes?” She smiled.
“Yes.” Pita said giving Dorina’s hands a squeeze. “Good idea.”
Dorina busied herself with the tea preparation, confirmed by the clink of china and sound of water running in the kitchen as Pita, Tomas, and Niko moved into the hallway leading back to the front of the house.
“So how did you two end up together?” Pita asked.
“I called after you’d left for the campus. Dorina told me that she’d heard from Tomas. He’d stayed in the city. I was on my way here, so I picked him up.”
Tomas nodded at Niko’s explanation then added, “I work rest of week so I return to city with Niko.”
They settled in the parlor. Niko and Pita on the sofa, Tomas in a wing chair across from them.
“Well this has all worked out nicely,” she said. Digging into her purse, she retrieved the manila envelope, then set the handbag on the floor by her feet.
“You have package from your papa?” Tomas commented glancing toward the envelope. “I am glad.” But before Pita could respond he continued, “I not mean to worry you and Mama. I am sorry. And I not mean to…how you American’s say…stand you up to see the professor.” He apologized again.
“Oh Tomas, if it weren’t for all the weird things going on lately it probably wouldn’t have been such a big deal. Please don’t worry about it.” She leaned back. Niko wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. She sighed and relaxed into his embrace. “The professor was kind, but odd. After all we talked about earlier, I feared I’d betrayed some trust or had given the man information that I shouldn’t have when I’d asked if you’d mentioned anything about staying in the city last night.” She turned towards Tomas. “It seemed to perk him up a bit at the possibility of bad news”
“He is eccentric and a gossip, but he is of no harm. Do not bother with it further.” Tomas swatted the air brushing the subject aside, then turned to Niko, directing a question that jarred Pita. “Niko, when will you take Pita to cabin?”
Her head snapped from Tomas to gaze at Niko. Her eyes wide with the question left unasked.
He gave her shoulder a squeeze and said, “We should leave no later than tomorrow. The full moon is in two days, and I want her settled in and safe before she goes through the shift.” He turned to face her and explained. “Tomas knows what you are, Pita. We are of the same pard or pack. We can sense others who can shift. He knew before you even landed in Romania.” Niko glanced back over to Tomas and continued. “There is to be a gathering in two months time, earlier if we can manage it. We will reunite with the others of our pack.”
“Sooo…” it came out in a very long “o.” Pita stiffened and pulled out of Niko’s embrace. “You all knew? Who else knows? Sasha? Her parents… Everyone but me?” Anger ignited like a flash fire and consumed her as it would dry kindling.
“It is not like you think.” Tomas said. “When Niko finally found you, he tell me. Sasha, I cannot answer for, but my mother had no idea until you had episode the other day. That she is familiar with.” He smiled. “Remember my father and I, we both shift. Also, mama does not know about the cabin. She think you and Niko go to see his family like you tell her. We not worry her.”
“Oh.” Pita stared into her lap. “I didn’t mean to jump down anyone’s throat, but this is just becoming so bizarre. And I will admit I’m a bit afraid of this…uh…shifting thing.”
“Don’t worry; I will be with you through it all.” Niko gathered her back to him and caressed her arm. “You will not be alone at any time.”
“How long does the shift last?”
“The entire night of the full moon. You will shift the first few times involuntarily until you learn how to control the morph. Sometimes newbies shift several nights in a row at first.”
Pita opened her mouth to ask another question, but they heard Dorina advancing from the kitchen and quickly changed the subject.
Tomas broke in, “Pita you will love the Northern mountains. Transylvania is beautiful and how you say, eerie? At the same time. Dracula’s castle still stands. You know secret?” He asked smiling.
“What?” Pita caught him winking at Dorina, who nodded and smiled.
“You tell her, Mama. She will not believe if I tell.” He chuckled.
“Okay, I tell.” Dorina spoke as she poured tea for all. “Deep in the mountains you find the Castle Dracula, but that not his born name. It is Vlad Tepes, the Impaler. He became Dracula later, the drinker of blood. We are of the Tepes bloodline but we have added ‘s’ to name so we not let all know this.”
“You’re kidding. You are related to Dracula? I have seen the historical accounts of the man but… Wow! You are really a descendant? That’s incredible.” Pita wrenched forward in her excitement, getting a chuckle from Niko.
“We don’t… ah…make known to people.” Tomas laughed. “So we keep as our secret, okay?”
“Sure, of course, though I really don’t see who I would blab to,” she giggled. “I’m a stranger in a foreign land, remember?”
They all laughed and Niko added with a nod, “She’s got a point. I think your secret is safe with us.”
They all busied themselves with their tea preparation for a few minutes. Pita picked hers up to take a careful sip of the spicy, sweet liquid when Tomas spoke drawing all eyes to him. “Well, Pita, will you show us what your father has left you?”
“Yes, of course. I have it right here.” She placed the teacup carefully on the table and picked up the envelope, feeling her stomach suddenly jitter with nerves. Pita worked at opening the envelope with shaky fingers. Her stomach did a subtle flip. Her mind sculpted images of the parents she so dearly missed; the childhood full of happiness and love; the people who gave her everything within their means to assure she grew knowing a loving, want-free life.
She recalled mornings entering the kitchen rubbing sleepy eyes to have her father smile up at her from the newspaper and say “Good morning, Glory.” Pita remembered how child-like her mother became during the holidays and how together they would create a Winter Wonderland chock full of twinkling lights, garlands, mistletoe hung from the eves and the most beautiful trees ever created. She could almost smell the chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven.
Tears threatened, though she stifled them, concentrating on carefully running a finger along the glued lip of the envelope. Pita worked the paper apart and turned the contents out into her lap.
She found it contained several sheets of paper folded neatly in half, slightly yellowed by the passage of time. Attached to the folded papers was a smaller white envelope. It looked like something a jeweler would use. Pita detached the smaller envelope, opened the papers, and gently flattened them upon her lap. Sucking in a deep breath to still her thunderous heart, she closed her eyes a moment to gather herself. As if he sensed her heavy emotions, Niko rubbed her back and squeezed her shoulder.
Pita glanced up to
find everyone watching her. “It’s a letter written in my father’s hand.” She picked the smaller envelope up again and squeezed it between her index and thumb to scrutinize its contents. “I’m not sure what’s in here. Whatever it is seems to be wrapped in paper.”
She gently pried the lip of the small envelope open, pulled the yellowed tissue paper out, and proceeded to unwrap the item.
A small tarnished silver key dropped into her palm. She turned the tiny key in her hand. “No clue. Maybe a safety deposit box or a lock box?”
“I’m guessing you’ll find the answer to that somewhere in that letter.” Niko nodded toward the papers in her lap.
Shaking her head, Pita couldn’t speak. The sudden heaviness in her chest choked her and traitorous tears slid from her eyes. She rubbed her cheeks in quick succession embarrassed at the obvious failure to curb the sudden avalanche of emotion that assaulted her. “I’m sorry. This is more difficult than I thought it would be. I miss them so much.”
Niko gave her a supportive hug and stood. “I think you may want some privacy to read your father’s final words. And you need to get some rest; we’ve got a big day tomorrow.” He turned to Tomas. “You ready to head back?”
“Yes. I get my things.”
Tomas bent and gave Dorina a peck on the cheek. “I see you end of week, Mama.”
Dorina stroked his face and smiled. “Be careful, my son. You have good week.”
“I will Mama.” Tomas turned to Pita, “May your news be only good,” indicating the letter.
She laid the folded letter and the small envelope on the table, relieved by the distraction of the men leaving. It would give her needed time to collect her emotions. Niko took Pita’s hands and helped her up from the sofa.
Dorina stood as well. “What time will you leave?”
Curse Of The Marhime Page 13