Once Upon A Midnight

by Stephanie Rowe

  Meghan tried to process this information. Her eyes widened.

  “Yes, my child, human once more. But I must have my own end first.” Magdalena stood up. “I need to die. Please, understand.” She beseeched her.

  Standing, Meghan searched the old woman’s eyes for any hint or clue she might not be telling the truth, but all she saw was weariness. If this was true, then Mark could become human, but he would have to kill to do it, and what would that cost his own soul?

  “I see you thinking. Yes, he would be killing another, but Petrescu is outside of the eye of God without his soul. His death would not be a stain upon your lover’s own soul.”

  “If that’s all true, then he needs to know.” She didn’t know why, but she did not want to reveal she could mentally communicate with Mark, even though she couldn’t seem to find him at the moment. Something was blocking her attempts and she suspected it was the old woman. But why?

  Madgalena’s eyes shifted. “He will know when the time comes. We will all be present.”

  Meghan noticed the shift. “How did you know where to find me?”

  The wind began to pick up outside gusting into the recesses of the cave. The fire flickered in the pit. Darkness was settling in, but there was a darkness inside the cave that had the hair on Meghan’s neck standing up as goosebumps popped up all over her skin.

  The old woman stepped closer. “I harbor his soul. I am connected to the soul’s source at all times. I know what he feels, hears, and sees. I’ve known of your reappearance since he first became aware of it.” She smiled, but it was not pleasant to behold. “And he is aware of me. He will know where to meet us. I’ve already sent the message. This will end, finally, where it all began.”

  Her heart was pounding in her chest. “When?”

  “Soon.”

  Now Meghan could confirm that the woman was shielding them somehow from the outside world because she all but admitted to communicating with Petrescu in basically the same way she, herself, could communicate with Mark. The dangerous old woman was orchestrating her own death or so she said. Still, something wasn’t right.

  “You traded your own soul for that ring, did you not?”

  “I was tricked!” Magdalena shouted. “The one who gave me the ring did not tell me the details of our bargain until he was dying …by my hand! Yes, I felt something had happened. I felt then as if my essence had been ripped from my body, painfully. He said I would be giving myself as a gift to save him from damnation, that it was an unselfish act…of love.” She whispered the last two words.

  It hit Meghan then. “You loved him. He was your love.”

  “And he betrayed me. Damned me.”

  The two women stared at each other. Young woman and old crone. Understanding flowed between them. Meghan reached out and took Magdalena’s frail, wrinkled hand. “You have lived all these centuries alone because the man you loved betrayed you. You know the pain of betrayal twice over because Petrescu failed to follow through and end your life. I get it. I’m so sorry, Magdalena.”

  Old eyes looked down at Meghan’s hand on hers. She was clearly uncomfortable with being touched. She tried to pull her hand away, but the younger woman’s gripped tightened just enough to hold on. Meghan leaned down and hugged her.

  “No one should be left alone.”

  A sound disturbed the quiet. It began as a sharp intake of breath, and rolled into a deep, hoarse sob. Magdalena’s frail body shuddered with pain. Centuries’ worth of tears slowly poured out of her eyes and rolled down her face getting lost in the rivulets of wrinkles wrought by time.

  “Sssh. You’re not alone anymore.” Meghan pulled back a bit and looked at her. “Did you know that Mihaela was Lovarya? If I really was her, and you were the village shaman, then that makes us family. I am your family, Magdalena. You’re not alone.” She wiped away tears even as moisture blurred her own eyes.

  The old woman continued to cry, but she no longer pushed Meghan away. She held on tight letting her loneliness and pain wash away. “I am so sorry, child. I have helped doom you to this.”

  They stayed that way for what seemed an eternity, two women holding onto one another while the wind howled, and the moon rose in the night sky. Finally, they separated. Magdalena held Meghan’s hands, sniffing back the last of her tears. “The time is almost upon us, and now I don’t know what to do. I do not want to put you in danger.”

  “I know what to do. We’re going to find your peace. We’re going to end this, and I am going to be there to hold your hand until the end.” Meghan smoothed the old woman’s hair back. “Once peace has found you, I will make sure Petrescu never gets to enjoy his full power. You’re sure that Mark can kill him?”

  “Oh, yes. He has access to my power, and it is far more than that of what Petrescu will enjoy with the ring. I have no doubt your Strigoi will be successful. Fate has brought you back, but not for that dog. Fate has brought you back for your chance—for his chance …to love.” She looked bemused by the thought. “There is no love in Petrescu. To love, one must have a soul.”

  “Then it’s decided. I’m ready whenever you are.” The two woman locked hands, and in a blink, they were gone. Outside, the wind continued to blow, moaning its sorrow to a cold and starless sky.

  Chapter Fourteen

  THE VAN ROLLED to a stop a block down from Petrescu’s home. As they were about to get out, Cosmin stopped Mark.

  “Wait! What’s that?” He pointed to the house.

  The garage door ascended. Tail lights glowed red as the car inside began to back out.

  “Where is he going?” Mark asked out loud.

  “We will follow him.” Adina patted Mark on his knee. “Magdalena will waste no time. Wherever he goes, it is where we need to be.”

  Mark looked at her like she’d lost her mind. The plan was to secure Petrescu and ransom him to Magdalena. If he failed in even one step of their carefully laid out plan, Meghan could die. He wasn’t going to let that happen.

  “I’m sorry, but that’s not good enough.” With a speed their eyes couldn’t capture, Mark flung open the door and ran out.

  “What the hell?” Cosmin’s neck swiveled around looking right and left, and then back at Mark’s empty seat.

  He pulled the door closed. Adina spit out a curse. “Impatient man! He is going to get her killed!”

  Only Stefan remained calm. “I would have done the same thing,” he muttered.

  “What are you talking about, Stefan?” Cosmin stared at him with one eyebrow raised.

  He turned to look at his cousin. “If it were Ilana, I would have done the same thing. He loves her, or had you not noticed?” He threw looks at them all.

  Cosmin countered. “If we deviate from the plan, Meghan could die.”

  “If he prevents Petrescu from going to meet the old witch, she could still die!” Adina shouted.

  Everyone looked ahead as the car backed out into the street. A mist formed and seeped into the window on the passenger side.

  “I take it that was him?” Cosmin asked. No one answered, and they turned to Adina.

  She shook her head. “It is possible. I have heard stories…” She watched as the car began to rock.

  Inside the other vehicle, Petre Petrescu blinked rapidly as smoke filled his car. He reached to unroll the window further and felt a hand grab his neck. He tried to scream as his eyes took in the slowly solidifying form of Marku Anghelescu.

  “What? Aren’t you happy to see me, gypsy?” Mark grinned evilly at the man, but the grimace disappeared quickly. “Where are you going, Petrescu?”

  Petre began to fight. He tugged and clawed at the hand around his neck to no avail. Mark punched him in the face with his free hand.

  “Answer me!”

  Petrescu’s hand gripped the arm at his neck. Mark glanced down catching site of the ring.

  “That is a rather womanly ring you have there. I had no idea you were so dainty, Petre. Let me have a closer look.” Mark pulled the hand away whil
e maintain the grip on his neck. Petrescu struggled, panic written all over his face. The vampire held the hand up to the light. He studied the ring. “It is rather nice. Perhaps I should take it as a gift…” He let the worlds trail off as the man’s struggles renewed.

  Petrescu managed to squeak out “No!”

  “What’s that? You’re talking now? Good. Tell me where to find Meghan.” Mark eased his grip just enough so Petrescu could talk.

  “You fool! If you don’t let me go, the old woman will kill her. She already warned me.”

  “Magdalena. Yes, I know about her. Is that where you go now?”

  Petrescu nodded.

  “Then drive. And if you make one false move, I will kill you myself.” The threat was very real.

  “And you will lose Meghan!” Petre tried to gain leverage.

  Mark glared at him, still applying the choke hold. “If Meghan dies, she will be reborn, but as I understand things, you won’t, and I will thoroughly enjoy ripping your body apart.”

  Petrescu’s eyes widened. It was clear he was surprised that Anghelescu knew this, and seemed willing to let it happen.

  “I’m going to release your neck, gypsy. You will drive to wherever it is you are supposed to go. When we get there, I will be taking Meghan. Whatever your business with the old witch, that is on you.” He deliberately withheld very important information, namely that he knew exactly what Petrescu’s business was, and that he would not live to see it completed. Mark sent a silent message to Adina.

  Follow us!

  Inside the van, Adina gasped. The message was received loud and clear. She was surprised no one else heard it. She reached out and smacked Stefan on the back of his head. “Drive! Follow them!”

  Nearly an hour passed as one dark Audi and one brightly-colored hippie van wound through the mountain passes near Mark’s home. He looked around and then realized where they were heading; the ruins to the east of his house. Eight-hundred years ago, that was the site where the Lovarya camped each year. It was where Petrescu’s and Mihaela’s people lived. It was where Magdalena had lived as the respected clan shaman, and where it all began. All the original players would be back in the same spot, standing on the same soil where the evil bargain was struck. That is where it would all end.

  “I suppose it has a sense of completion,” said Mark. The ruins were of stone homes that came long after Mihaela’s time, and still, they were ancient, slowly being consumed by the earth and eaten alive by all its flora and fauna.

  It was very dark. A chilling wind whipped through the leaves in the trees, and the moon shone overhead offering the only light available outside of car headlights. It didn’t matter to Mark who could see as well in the dark as humans did in daylight. “Park over there.” He pointed to a dirt path halfway overgrown with weeds.

  “She is going to kill us all, Anghelescu! She told me to come alone.” The anger in his voice didn’t faze Mark.

  “Get out of the car, Petrescu.” Mark waited until the man opened his door and stepped out before joining him. He looked back and didn’t see the van, but he sensed them. They were a short way back. He detected their footsteps with his sensitive hearing. Good. The plan was once again back on. Kill Petrescu, and then offer his own life, what little there was of it, in exchange for Meghan’s. He hoped it would be enough to appease the witch for what he was about to snatch away…her one chance at death.

  Petre looked around. He was agitated and angry. He twisted the ring around his finger glancing around the crumbling buildings searching for Magdalena and Meghan. He knew if he completed the pact, his soul would be lost forever. To date, he’d lived in a sort of limbo, without his soul, but with a slim chance of getting it back. The old woman had betrayed him when Anghelescu didn’t die. He had not forgotten, and now the man was here once again to take away his prize.

  The trees rustled as the wind grew stronger. It blew debris up from the ground flinging it around them. Mark stood stalwart while Petrescu tried to shield his face. It died down as suddenly as it began, and standing in the middle of the cluster of deteriorating stone homes were two women, one tall, strong, and beautiful, and one shorter, hunched, and frail.

  “I see you brought company,” the aged voice stated.

  “I had no choice,” Petrescu glanced at Mark, glaring at him. “He invited himself.”

  Magdalena laughed. “Of course he did. It is as it should be.”

  Meghan’s eyes found Mark’s. Joy sprang up in her heart. She tried to mentally communicate, but she could not get through. She tossed a frustrated look at the old woman.

  “So what is it you want, Strigoi?” she addressed Anghelescu, clearly amused.

  “I’m here for her, to secure her safety.” He continued to look at Meghan.

  “Ah, yes. Love. But you cannot secure her safety. Only he can save her.” She pointed at Petre.

  Petrescu sneered. “And only if I complete the pact. Only if I kill you. Well, you wicked old hag, you can plainly see you went back on your word.” He pointed at Mark.

  Magdalena nodded. “Because I knew you could not be trusted.”

  Petre growled and leapt forward. Mark saw him go for the old woman and moved fast up behind him. He reached for Petrescu’s neck intent on snapping it. The world froze.

  Mark tried to move, but his limbs would not obey. Petrescu was standing midstep unmoving. He rolled his eyes and saw Meghan still standing across from them with her mouth halfway open as if she was trying to shout. Only the old woman moved. She ambled over to Mark slowly, a smug smile on her wrinkled face. When she reached his side, she lifted her hand and patted his arm.

  “Be at peace, vampire. I am not going to harm you. But it is time for my end, and I cannot let you take that from me.” She stood on her tip-toes stretching her short body as far as she could manage, and whispered strange words in his ear. He understood, but as soon as he did, his consciousness faded out. Everything stopped.

  “Mark, no!” Meghan yelled.

  Mark hesitated, standing still. Meghan was shaking her head at him, telling him to hold back. What? Why? Petrescu walked ahead of him unharmed. He came to a stop in front of the woman.

  He watched in astonishment as his love wrapped her arms around Magdalena, holding her tight. She leaned down and spoke low in her ear, but Mark heard her.

  “I’m not going to leave you. It’s okay.” She kissed the old woman’s cheek.

  Petrescu’s face showed his surprise and confusion.

  Magdalena smiled. “Do it now. I am ready”

  Petre’s hands reached out on their own volition even though his mind was screaming ‘Don’t do it! You will lose your soul forever!’ His hands gripped the old woman’s head and twisted hard to the right. Her frail neck snapped and her body slumped to the ground. She lay there, broken, with a smile on her face.

  Petrescu, now free from a compulsion he never saw happen, threw back his head and howled “No!”

  Mark’s feet rushed forward and his fangs extended even has his eyes glowed amber in the darkness. He descended upon Petrescu like a swarm, and sank his teeth into the man’s neck. Petre reached back and tried to pry him off, but it was too late. The vampire’s teeth drained him of life even as his fingers loosened the ring from his grasping hand. As soon as it was separated from Petrescu, his body slumped to the ground. Mark pulled away and stood back watching as the body of his nemesis aged, dried up, cracking the skin into a million pieces that shrank and flew up into the wind like ash, blowing away. Within moments, Petre Petrescu was no more.

  Meghan stood in shock, her mouth working, but no words escaping.

  Adina, Cosmin, and Stefan, came out from the shadows. Mark turned on them, and then stopped, realizing the vampire was visible by the horror on their faces. He struggled to force it back down inside. Meghan had seen him like this. She’d seen his monster, and he couldn’t undo it.

  He backed away, fearing he might still hurt her or one of the gypsies. Blood-red tears streamed from his dark
eyes. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened.”

  Adina pulled her shawl tight and strode toward him. He continued to back away. “No, dear lady. Please don’t get too close.” He turned his face away even as he stumbled backwards.

  “Give it to me, Anghelescu. Hand over the ring. It must be destroyed.”

  Mark looked at it. It was still in his hand. He handed it over to Adina and turned away. “My chance, it’s over. She should never have seen that. She won’t be able to forgive me.”

  Adina held the ring, shaking her head sadly. “You were supposed to kill him first. Now the pact is complete. I cannot speak for Meghan. She may not be able to accept you like this. What can you really offer her anyhow?” Adina spoke only the harsh truth, but her eyes conveyed sympathy.

  Mark felt unbelievable pain in his chest. He couldn’t look at Meghan who stood ten feet away staring at him in horror.

  “Tell her goodbye. Tell her…I tried, and I will always love her. Tell her to be happy.” Mark risked one last look at Meghan before turning and taking to the sky.

  The men crossed themselves as they watched the vampire fly away. Cosmin pulled himself together and wrapped his arm around Meghan leading her away from the old woman’s body which was decomposing rapidly. Soon, there would be no evidence at all that two people had come to violent ends within the ruins.