Once Upon A Midnight

by Stephanie Rowe

  Adina placed the ring atop the remains of a stone wall bordering one of the ancient domiciles. She stood back and began chanting. The ring lit up, and the glow grew brighter. Heat poured out from its core, and the stone set within the gold exploded. The metal melted seeping into the stone. Absorbed back into a natural element, the longevity ring was destroyed.

  Exhaustion showed on her face. “Let’s go home.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  MEGHAN CRIED ALL the way back to the compound. Words would not form. Magdalena had promised her Mark would turn back human once Petre was dead, but what she witnessed was not human. She’d trusted the old hag, had offered her compassion, and even held onto her until the end. She felt betrayed. She felt angry, and her heart was broken. He’d left without a word. Just flew off. Flew off!

  When they arrived back at the house, an angry and anxious Dana came running out, Sorin on her heels, to greet them.

  “Meghan! Oh my goodness.” She hugged her friend, and helped her inside throwing looks back at her grandmother. Her eyes said ‘We’ll talk later’ even as they roamed her grandmother assessing that she was okay.

  “What happened?” Sorin ran to his brother’s side.

  “Magdalena is dead, so is Petrescu.” Cosmin sounded tired. They all were. No one had slept, and each had witnessed things no person should ever have to see.

  Stefan was greeted by Ilana who hugged him so tight, he could barely breathe. “Where is Alexandru?”

  “He’s asleep,” she said. “He tried to stay up, but I made him go lie down. He was out as soon as his head hit the pillow, poor thing.”

  “I need to see him. Just need to hold him. Come with me.” He tugged her hand and they disappeared inside.

  Sorin looked back at the empty van. “And the vampire?”

  “He is still a vampire. I do not think we will be seeing him again.” Adina spoke low, not wanting Meghan to hear her words. If the girl knew there was any chance at all that Anghelescu could have become human again, and that somehow, they had all failed to make that happen, she would be more devastated than she was already. She didn’t need that burden on her heart. “Do not say anything to Meghan.”

  Sorin nodded.

  “Let’s just get inside, get cleaned up, and try and get some rest. All I want is to be with my wife and children.” Cosmin helped his grandmother inside and up to her room.

  Everyone found their way to their beds. Dana led Meghan up the stairs. She helped her undress, and even bathed her after filling the tub with hot water. She dried her friend afterwards and slipped a warm, flannel nightgown over her head.

  “Come, Ilana prepared you some soup.” Dana walked the sad, silent woman to their room. Inside, Ilana had left a tray with a hot bowl of chicken soup and a glass of juice.

  Meghan tried to eat. Her stomach was growling, but her heart wasn’t in it. She managed only a few spoons-full and some sips of the cool orange juice before laying down on the bed. Her eyes felt dry and scratchy from all the tears, and her body was numb. She closed them as Dana pulled the cover up over her. In a moment, she was sound asleep.

  ###

  Stefan loaded up the van. Ilana and Alexandru climbed into the front, and Dana and Meghan into the back. It had been an emotional goodbye with Adina.

  “Thank you for helping save me.”

  Adina cupped Meghan’s cheek and smiled. “You are welcome, my child. You’re one of us now. We are your family.” The old woman hugged her fiercely. A chuckle bubbled up out of her small frame. “I do remember what it was like to be in love. My Julien swept me off my feet, and I would not trade one single moment we shared for the world.” She leaned back and looked at the younger woman. “Someday, you will find that love, and even then, you will not regret your short time with Anghelescu. I was wrong. He was not a bad man, merely the victim of another man’s twisted vengeance. He did love you. He told me so himself, but he did not need to. I saw it in his actions. Remember that, Meghan. A man is only as worthy as his actions, and your vampire’s actions showed the very depths of his love for you, and the goodness of his heart.”

  Moisture sprang into Meghan’s eyes blurring her vision. She sniffed and tried to smile. “Thank you, Adina. Thank you for not telling me I was so wrong.”

  “Love is never wrong.” Aged fingers pinched her cheek. “Now it is time to get back to school. You and Dana will take care of each other, yes?”

  “Yes we will. She’s my sister now.” Meghan grinned at her friend.

  “Let’s go already!” Stefan shouted from the van. He shook his head. “Women!”

  Ilana reached out and smacked him on the back of his head. “Hush, husband. You love us, admit it.”

  Cosmin and Anamaria, Sorin, their parents Marius and Renee, and the rest of the clan stood outside waving goodbye. Meghan climbed into the back of the van followed by Dana. She still couldn’t get over the change in her friend. Dana seemed to have grown into herself nearly overnight. And the white streak of hair tucked back into her bun still amazed her. There was such a confidence about her now that Meghan knew the staff and students would not fail to notice.

  Stefan cranked the engine, and they pulled out of the driveway heading back to the city center and to the university. For Meghan, it felt like going back to another world, one without Mark, without the man her heart silently cried for.

  “What is it, Meghan?” Dana was watching her friend’s face noting the faraway look in her eyes.

  “I just don’t understand, Dana.”

  “Understand what?”

  “She seemed so sincere. I believed her.” Meghan looked down at her hands resting in her lap.

  “What do you mean? Believed her about what?”

  Meghan continued to look down twiddling her thumbs. “She said Mark was the weapon she made to destroy Petre, that she never trusted him to follow through so when she helped him with his revenge, it was her own revenge she was plotting. She said she transferred some of her own power into Mark and that when he succeeded in killing Petrescu, he would be human again. But that didn’t happen. I saw him afterwards. So did Stefan. He was anything but human.”

  Dana remained quiet.

  “Dana?” Meghan looked up.

  “What did you see?”

  Meghan shuddered. “Mark killed Petrescu. He bit him.” She stopped and tried to gather her thoughts. “It was crazy, like something out of a movie. He pulled the ring off of Petre’s finger, and his body just dried up and blew away.” Horror settled into her eyes.

  “So your vampire did not actually kill him, it was the removal of the ring?”

  “I suppose so.”

  “Was this before or after Magdalena’s death?” Dana continued to question her friend. They had not spoken of the incident trying not to dredge up the horrible events.

  “After. Mark was with Petrescu when we arrived. Petrescu came to Magdalena. It was then that he killed her. I stayed with her, Dana. She was a sad old woman, you know.”

  Dana sat up and turned facing Meghan. “You mean to tell me that your vampire just let Petrescu walk over and kill the old woman? He did nothing to stop him?”

  Meghan shook her head, concerned by the confusion in her friend’s eyes. “No, why?”

  “Why?” Dana reached over the seat and smacked Stefan on the back of his head.

  “Ow!” he reached back to rub the spot.

  “Turn the van around. We must go back!”

  Ilana stared at her, alarmed. Stefan began to protest, but Dana was not having it. “Do as I tell you. Turn around and go back!”

  “Dana, what’s going on?” Meghan’s voice rose.

  “Why did you not tell me this, cousin?” Dana ignored Meghan and berated Stefan.

  He shrugged, glancing over his shoulder at her as he cranked the wheel to make a U-turn. “What? Why does it matter?”

  Meghan tried to keep up with the flow of conversation going back and forth between English and Romanian.

  Dana rattled off her an
swer so quickly, it was difficult for Meghan to comprehend. “Because, fool, that was not our plan! There is no way Anghelescu would have simply stood by and let Petrescu kill the old woman. It would complete the pact. Why did he not kill Petrescu first?”

  “I do not know!” Stefan shouted. “We were not close enough to interfere. He did stand there. We all saw him, but did not understand what was happening. The Strigoi did not strike until after Petrescu snapped the old witch’s neck.”

  “Dana, what does this mean?” Ilana asked, worried.

  “It means the old woman had you all spelled.” Dana looked at Meghan once more. “She told you that if Mark killed Petrescu, he would no longer be vampire?”

  “That’s what she said, and I believed her. She told her story, of how she came into possession of the ring. She was betrayed by the man she loved. Dana, I saw the truth in her eyes. She lived all these long years with the pain of that betrayal. That was why she didn’t trust Petrescu, why she made sure he would die. Come to think of it, I believe she may have been trying to not only protect me from him, but to protect anyone else from ever being tricked into trading their soul to him.”

  “I am right! I know it.” Dana slapped her knee. “Hurry, Stefan!” She was smiling.

  ###

  Dreams plagued Mark’s rest. He tossed and turned as visions of each death he ever brought about ran through past his inner eye. He felt all of their terror, pain, and even sorrow over the lives they lost at the bite of his fangs. He was tormented. Sweat poured from his body as whimpers of apology tried unsuccessfully to burst from his lips. The sleep paralysis would not let it happen keeping him trapped within its tight hold. Meghan’s face was the last one to appear, and with it, came calm. Love flowed through him mingled with the pain of regret at having to let her go.

  Tears squeezed out of his closed eyes. Awareness of the wetness on his cheeks made Mark reach up to wipe the moisture away. He cracked his lids and glared at his fingers in the dark expecting to find them covered in blood. He couldn’t see. It was too dark.

  “What the hell?” He reached over for the remote control on his nightstand. Finding it, he hit the button for the lamp over his bed. Light flooded the enclosed area of the bed blinding him momentarily. When his eyes adjusted, he looked at his hands again. They were clean. Mark blinked and rubbed his eyes again. Still, his fingers came away wet…and clean. He got up throwing his feet over the side of the bed. He sat there wondering why the blinds had yet to open. Has something happened to my timer? He stood up, naked, and pushed the plush red velvet bed curtains aside. His eyes searched for the old, bronze clock on the mantle above the slate-stone fireplace.

  “That can’t be right!” He walked to the clock. Mark picked it up and held it to his ear. The tick-tock, tick-tock sound assured him it was still wound up. It was still working, but the clock read 11:42…a.m.

  He turned and headed for his desk. Pulling open the computer, he eyed the time. 11:43 a.m. “What in the world?” He stepped back in shock. If both clocks were correct, there was no way he should be awake. A chill ran over his skin as discomfort crept up from the bottoms of his feet. They hurt in a strange way. Mark looked down and didn’t see anything different about them than from any day before, but he still kept shuffling from one foot to the other. They were uncomfortable. They were…cold? His brow pulled low over his eyes. The feeling of the cold stone on the bottom of his feet was both foreign and somehow familiar. He hadn’t experienced cold in eight-hundred years. Another feeling hit his bladder, and between the chill on his skin and the urgency demanding his immediate attention, he turned and made his way quickly to the bathroom where he utilized the commode for probably the first time ever…for this purpose anyway, and not the once a day flush he gave the toilet to keep the pipes flowing. He’d had the bathroom modernized over the years, updated periodically, for no particular reason other than his insane need to at least appear human. Now he stood before the porcelain throne in the thoroughly normal stance of a man taking a morning piss. It seemed to go on forever, and it was the most oddly pleasurable feeling. When his bladder was finally empty, Mark leaned forward, one hand on the wall, smiling. What just happened?

  He flushed away the dark yellow urine. Stepping back, he moved back into the bedroom and jumped. Something moved to his right. He spun around ready to take down what his eyes caught, and mind perceived as a very large intruder and came face to face with…himself! There was no intruder. Mark stared in wide-eyed shock at a reflection he had not seen in so long he almost didn’t recognize his own face.

  “Dear God!” He moved closer peering at the tall, muscular, hardened man he had become. His hair was on the long side. His eyes held fear and wonder. He looked exactly as he had the very last night of his human life. He reached out and touched the image.

  Spinning, he ran to the windows, and hitting the manual switch on the wall, stood off to the side out of the way of the light slowly seeping into his room as the metal shades rolled back. He peeked around, careful not to let the light touch him, and with the caution of one who did not wish to get burned, stuck his finger out to the very edge of the light. Nothing happened. It didn’t hurt. He extended the finger further until the tip was fully in direct line of the rays. It did not burn. Mark edged his whole hand in front of the window. He waited, expecting it to burst into flames, but nothing happened. It just felt…warm, nice. Taking a deep breath…Breath!...he stepped fully into the sunlight. Warmth enveloped him, but he did not catch fire. Not even a hint of smoke. He laughed.

  “It worked!” Tears fell from his eyes catching on his long lashes. Laughter bubbled up out of him. He dropped to his knees as emotions overwhelmed him. “Meghan. Dear God, I must find her!” He got up and turned in circles unsure what to do first. “Calm down, Anghelescu! Just…shower,” he snapped his fingers. “Yes, shower first.”

  Mark ran for the shower where he reveled in the heat and steam. He took far longer than he meant to simply because it was the first time he actually felt the water on his skin. He finished up, dried himself, and chose clothing. Once he was dressed, he grabbed up his wallet and searched for his keys. He didn’t drive often, but he did own a car. He just usually either rode Dracula or flew.

  “Dracula!” Mark kept to a schedule usually, but he’d barely had time to check on the stallion when he got home, and he was certainly in no mood after what happened thinking all had failed. He walked to the stable across from the house. Dracula heard him and lifted his head, snorting in surprise.

  Mark grinned. “Hey, boy! He rubbed the horse’s nose who snuffled his hand smelling him. He whinnied as if trying to say ‘You smell different’. “I know, but it’s a good thing, I promise.” He opened the stall letting the animal out. Mark led him to the side door that opened to the fenced-in field. He loaded a fresh bale of hay into the outside feeder and turned on the hose to fill the water trough. After he made sure the animal was eating, he mucked out the stall and laid down fresh hay. He knew he could leave the stallion out as long as he left the door open so Dracula could come back to his stall if he felt like it. All he needed to do was close the main door of the stable. “Okay, boy. I’ll be out for a bit. I need to go find her. You understand. I’ll be back later, okay?”

  Dracula seemed to nod as he vocalized his permission for Mark to leave.

  He headed for the garage and jumped into his old German BMW. It was a vanity purchase, but he liked the older models. He put a lot of money into keeping it up. The silver exterior shone, and the dark gray leather interior was kept clean and supple, pristine. He started the engine, and with a happy shout, backed out before speeding off down the road. He headed straight for the Veleru compound hoping she was still there.

  ###

  “Grandmamma, I know I am right!” Dana sat across from Adina who shook her head.

  “But we all saw him, Dana. He was most definitely still vampire. I, too, thought it might work, but only if we could have prevented the pact from being completed.”

>   Meghan jumped in. “But that isn’t how Magdalena explained it.”

  Dana took it up from there. “It is just like when he was made vampire. It was a process. It took a full day before he transformed into Strigoi. It makes sense it would take time to transform back to human.”

  Adina huffed. “We have no way of knowing if what you think is true. Do you even know where he lives?” She addressed Meghan who shook her head.

  “No, but he said this all used to be his family’s land. He still lives in the area so it would seem he is somewhere close by. That’s what he said. Do you have a phone book?”

  Adina raised an eyebrow. “A phone listing…for a vampire?”

  Meghan sighed. “I know. It was a longshot.”

  Cosmin walked in wiping dust from his face. He’d been out in the small winery where they processed the grapes grown on the land.

  “Someone is coming,’ he said.

  “What? Who?” Stefan and Ilana asked simultaneously.

  Cosmin folded his handkerchief. “I do not know. Too far down the road yet, but it is a car.”

  Sorin headed for the front door and stood staring out. “It’s a silver car.” He looked back inside. “Anyone know someone who drives a…BMW?”

  “No.” Adina stood. Dana and Meghan followed as she made her way to Sorin. They spilled out onto the front porch watching the vehicle speed up the driveway.

  The car pulled into the circular drive and slid to a stop kicking up dust. The dark tinted windows hid the identity of the driver.

  Everyone waited to see who it was. The door opened and the driver stepped out.

  There he stood, tall, strong, and devastatingly handsome in the sunshine. He wore blue jeans, black boots, and a cream-colored, cable-knit sweater. The wind gently lifted his dark chestnut hair sifting through it like a lover’s fingers. A tentative smile spread across his lips as his eyes sought out the woman he loved.