by M. K. ROZE
I opened the door and leaped out of the taxi.
Mom got out and helped Dad unload our bags.
As I was looking at the gorgeous mountains, a slow breeze blew across my face with the smell of fresh pine. I stepped closer and looked up at the tall tower that sat on top of the roof. It resembled a small white castle.
“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 door and walked inside. It was dim with a musty smell, and my parent’s 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. 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 said, looking all around.
He winked and nudged Mom with his elbow. “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 to check in.
“Welcome to Dracula’s Bed and Breakfast. Do you have a reservation?” the clerk said 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 in Brasov 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 and smiled. “Is that so?”
“Yes,” Mom said and cleared her throat.
Dad interrupted us. “Okay, ladies, it’s getting late. Let’s get to our room, 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 smiled and spun around.
“I guess that means she likes it,” Mom said through the thin walls.
As I walked toward the balcony, the slanted ceiling made it seem like I was getting taller. It was cool. I continued over to the stone fireplace in front of the king-size canopy bed.
My face hurt from smiling so much as I explored the rest of the suite. The bathroom was modern with a huge Jacuzzi tub. I rushed out of the restroom, opened the French doors, and stepped out onto the balcony. It overlooked the ancient village of Brasov with a towering, eerie stone castle perched imposingly on top of a hill, surrounded by hundreds of trees. The moon rising behind the castle cast long shadows.
Curious, I immediately 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 asked.
“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 said and 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. You’re going to frighten her.”
“Mom, I’m not scared.” I looked at Dad. “I’m going to get you back.” I playfully smacked his chest and walked inside.
“Go take a shower and relax, hon,” Mom said. “We’re going out to dinner soon.”
“Good, I’m starving.” I slowly 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, English, and other languages. I couldn’t wait to taste the smoked ham hock and cabbage I ordered.
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 lazy to move.
After a while, I started to drift off, so I got up and climbed into bed without changing into pajamas.
CHAPTER TWO
BRAN CASTLE
Someone 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 slithered down the edge of the bed, trying to crack it. It worked. I got dressed, wearing black shorts and a pink tank top and met my parents’ downstairs.
We had breakfast in the inn. They 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 extra mile to the hospital.
Mom pointed toward an old white building that looked abandoned. “Viata, that’s where you were born on New Year’s Day, at 12:01 in the morning.”
“You should’ve pushed me out sooner,” I said as I looked at the exterior. It was cracked, and the windows were broken with debris scattered everywhere.
Dad chuckled.
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.
She was looking at Dad.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
She turned to me. “Don’t be upset, but I left them 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 squinted at her and walked away.
We took the same bus back into town. 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.
We got off the bus and walked toward the Biserica Neagra, also known as the Black Church. It’s a Catholic church in the center of Brasov. While walking there, Mom told me that it was built over six hundred years ago.
“There it is,” Dad said, pointing ahead.
“That’s extremely gothic looking,” I said. “Who’s the statue of the boy leaning forward on top of the pillar supposed to be?”
“Hmm. I don’t know. Do you know, Jules?”
“Yes, one of the most famous legends I’ve read said that he was the son of a priest, and he always disobeyed his father’s rules. Because he was wicked, his dad made him stay in the upstairs room as punishment. One night there was a fire, and the boy was trapped inside and died. Out of guilt, his father made a statue of him trying to escape.”
“Aw, that’s so sad,” I replied, looking up at him.
“Wait, there’s more,” Mom said. “The other legend read that when the boy was helping with construction, a man asked him to make sure the wall was straight. The boy did as he asked and leaned over the wall to look. When he did, he lost his balance and fell to his death.”
I covered my mouth and gasped. “That’s horrible.”
“I know, honey,” she said, rubbing my back.
“Godspeed, little one,” Dad said, as he looked up at the little boy.
We continued inside, and my mouth fell open as I looked at the high Cathedral ceilings. I approached a massive gold organ that sat in front of the church. It took my breath away.
“Mom, does the organ work?”
“Yes, and it’s one of the biggest organs in Europe. It was built in 1839.”
“It’s beautiful. I love all the gold. How many pipes are on that thing?”
“At least four thousand,” Dad said.
While my parents sat on a pew up front, I wandered around taking pictures of all the fifteenth-century murals. A portrait of a woman wearing a black gown caught my eye, so I took a few pictures of her too. I couldn’t stop staring at her. Where have I seen you before? History class?
I couldn’t remember. I shrugged it off and looked at some more portraits.
After another hour, we left because we were tired. At the inn, I stopped in front of my room’s door.
Mom and Dad hugged me. “Try to get some rest,” Mom said.
“Oh, I will.” I opened the door and went straight into the bathroom. I filled the Jacuzzi up with hot water and emptied the entire bottle of soap in it, creating bubbles that went on the floor. Before getting in, I took a picture of my mess and sent it to Kaylee.
When she didn’t respond, I put some relaxing music on and got in. After the water got cold, I got out, lay on the bed and fell asleep.
At noon, I awoke to the gorgeous sun peeking out from behind the mountains. Feeling refreshed, I got up and walked toward the balcony window to look outside. The view was so beautiful—I decided I could live there forever.
After I got dressed, I walked to my parent’s room and knocked on their door. “Come on,” I called out, “let’s go drink some blood for lunch.”
Mom opened the door with a black mask on her face. “Really, Viata, must you? That’s gross.” Her face was all puckered up like she had eaten a lemon. Guess my joke worked.
“Kidding, Mom. But seriously, I’m hungry. Where’s Dad?”
“He went downstairs.”
“Oh. I’m going down to find him.”
“All right. Tell him I’m still upset because he didn’t set the alarm.”
I sprinted down the stairs and found Dad at the desk, talking to a man.
“Good morning,” I said.
Dad turned to me. “Hey, you’re finally up.”
“If you didn’t forget to set the alarm, I would’ve gotten up earlier.”
“Did you lose your phone?”
I smiled. “No, but you must have.”
He shook his head. “You’re such a wise ass.”
“I get that from you.”
Mom came down soon afterward. “Are you guys ready to get a bite to eat? And I don’t mean blood, either,” she added, looking my way with a mock frown.
I laughed.
Dad raised his eyebrows. He was clueless.
“Mom, one can’t eat blood, but one can drink it,” I said, as casual as I could.
She stopped gagging. “You’re right. I wanted to make sure you’re as smart as you are a jokester.”
“You can thank Dad for that.”
When we got done eating lunch, we went to Mount Tampa and took an antique cable car up to the top of the mountain. My ears started to clog, then popped. When I got the courage to look down, the top of the trees were beneath us. It was so steep I sat back down and closed my eyes as we climbed thirty-three hundred feet.
“You’re missing out,” Mom said.
“I don’t care. Are we almost to the top yet?”
“Yes,” Dad said.
Finally, we reached the top and got off.
“I’m not going on that again.”
They laughed. “That’s fine, we’ll hike back down,” Dad said. “It will be adventurous.”
We walked the narrow path for ten minutes until we reached the Brasov sign. It looked like the Hollywood sign in California. Some people were brave enough to climb down the steep hill so they could take a selfie with the Brasov sign behind them.
As I observed the town below, I lost my balance, so I sat on the grass for a while.
“Are you all right?” Mom asked.
I nodded.
“We’re going to take a few photos. Are you okay here alone?” Dad asked.
“Yes, I’m fine. Go ahead.”
I felt much safer sitting but felt like an idiot too.
After a while, I got up enough courage and strolled over to the edge, admiring the town of Brasov. All the houses clustered together, and the sky seemed like it went on for miles. It was a marvelous view but too high for me.
My parents approached me. “Let’s get going,” Dad said. “The sun is about to go down.”
“Okay,” I replied.
As we were hiking down the steep mountain, it got dark. After another ten minutes of walking, the light poles turned on. I sighed with relief and put my phone away.
Dad stopped. “I think I see something. I’m going to go check it out.”
“Dad, get back here,” I whispered.
“Bret, don’t be stupid,” Mom said and stood behind me.
Dad ignored us and walked down the hill, disappearing behind a large tree.
“I can’t believe I married an idiot,” Mom mumbled.
“Don’t move an inch,” Dad shouted.
My heart jumped into my throat, and I backed up into Mom.
A low growl came from the direction where Dad was.
Mom grasped my shoulders tightly.
Seconds later, a black leopard with a mane around its neck, walked out from behind the big tree. It was twice its size and had emerald green eyes.
I held my breath as I watched its every move.
The leopard stared into my eyes as it walked up to me. It was as tall as I was.
“Don’t move,” Mom mumbled between her teeth.
The leopard rubbed its head gently against my face.
I held my breath and stood frozen without blinking.
Mom gasped and stepped back.
Dad came from out behind the tree. “Hey,” he shouted.
The leopard turned around, charged toward Dad and leaped over his head.
Dad fell to the ground and looked up to see where it went.
Within seconds, it climbed to the top of the tree and looked down at me.
“Bret, are you all right?” Mom shouted.
The leopard jumped tree to tree then vanished.
When I didn’t see it anymore, I sobbed and fell to my knees unable to believe what I just saw.
Mom grabbed me. “Come on. We have to go,” she urged.
Dad came rushing over to us with scratches all over his face and arms. “Are you all right? What the hell was that thing?”
I shook my head in a daze.
“Are you guys okay?” a male ranger yelled out as he ran up the hill toward us.
“Get us out of here!” Dad yelled.
“What’s wrong?” the ranger asked.
We all rushed over to him.
“A huge black leopard was about to eat us!” Dad shouted.
The ranger stopped in his tracks and shook his head. “We don’t have leopards in Romania, but we do have a lynx. Maybe that’s what you saw.”
“No,” Mom said. “I’m not sure what it was, but I do know it wasn’t a lynx.”
“Miss are you okay?” the ranger asked.
I nodded, unable to speak. I was still in shock because I had never seen a leopard that size or with a mane before.
“Do you have a tranquilizer gun?” Dad asked the ranger as he looked up in the trees.
“Yes, I do. Come with me. We need to get out of here.”
After another half hour of walking, we finally arrived at the base of Tampa without seeing the leopard again.
The ranger asked us if we were sure that we saw a leopard and not someone’s pet.
We all took turns yelling at him.
He walked away and started talking to other rangers.
“I don’t understand why it rubbed against your face like that,” Mom said. “I thought we were dead.”
I was a lot calmer but lost for words.
“Let’s go,” Dad said.
At the inn, I took a long hot bath and told myself that I would never go into the woods again.
I lay in bed snuggled securely under the soft linen sheets, with the white down pillow propped beneath my head. I turned to my side and directed my eyes toward the window, gazing off into the shadows.