December was near an end and the animal attacks had risen. People were afraid their villages would be next. Some talked to gypsies, like Esmeralda and others turned to religion for salvation. Unforeseen animal attacks could not be possible so they wouldn't stop until they had reasonable answers. They lived in a time where vampires, witches and magic existed therefore the only explanation would be vampires. This began to make sense to everyone and soon enough so called 'hunters' gathered to get rid of the cause.
By the month more and more people would make a visit to Esmeralda's small tent home seeking desperate help such as getting rid of symptoms and most often asking for help with the huntings. Esmeralda did not agree with the hunters. Their law was that anyone seen doing anything suspicious were immediately considered not human. Most of the people the hunters have killed were innocent lives. For this, Esmeralda would often be tempted to misguide anyone who wanted to get rid of the bloodsuckers to keep her admirer safe.
It was a gloomy evening and a storm seemed to be approaching. Mostly everyone seemed to be inside their homes. As Esmeralda was rearranging her knick knacks she turned around and saw a man holding a pocket watch.
"Oh! You startled me. Can I help you?" asked Esmeralda from a distance away from the man. She looked at the man puzzled and he looked at the pocket watch. He looked back up to her and then to his pocket watch again.
"Nessun…grazie," (No...thank you) he said in his native language which Esmeralda completely understood. The man turned around and walked away.
Esmeralda then continued to clean up. Since no one would be coming in anymore Esmeralda decided to read her future. She knew that it was not good luck for a gypsy to read their own future but she was desperate to know an answer. She flipped through her tarot cards to find something unpleasant. She couldn't believe the nonsense so she looked through her crystal ball. What she saw wasn't pretty. Esmeralda, her child and her mysterious admirer were in danger. Believing the only way to save her loved ones was to not let them worry at all so once again she never said anything. She would try to change the prediction herself so nobody would get hurt.
Weeks have passed since Esmeralda's prediction and so far she has done a good job in keeping it to herself, though she has grown tense. She couldn't figure out exactly when her prediction might come true. Today was no different; it was her daughter's 3rd year of birth. She loved her daughter so much as any mother would but also because even as a child they were so much alike. For example, they both like to rest during the day and live life at night, they can't stay in the same place too long and they are both outgoing. The only difference Esmeralda could find between her and her daughter where the color of her eyes. It seems that her daughter inherited Herald's brown eyes but slightly lighter. This, no one could resist. Every time someone would visit Esmeralda and accidentally come upon her daughter they couldn't look away from the girl's dazzling eyes.
Midnight was approaching and the mysterious stranger would soon be coming to join Esmeralda celebrate her daughter's birthday. She was getting her daughter ready when she heard some noises outside her home. She ignored them thinking it must've been the winter wind. It was 11:23 p.m when Esmeralda thought about finally telling her admirer how she felt about him because she never knew when the day her prediction would come true. So she went through her drawers and grabbed a piece of paper, a quill and some ink.
After she was done she folded the letter and sealed it inside an envelope. She placed the letter on the table near her crystal ball. It was now 11:48 and she walked to the back of their small tent home where her daughter was playing with tarot cards. Once again she heard a rustling noise this time followed by faint whispers. She grabbed her daughter and wrapped her in many sheets and blankets.
"Hush il mio caro," (Hush my dear) she whispered to her child in Italian as she hid her in a basket, ran to get the letter and placed it in the blankets with her daughter.
Then she ran to the front of the tent where she was greeted by three men adorned with garlic necklaces and pendants. The man in the middle held a lit torch in one hand and a pocket watch in the other.
"Voi…" (You...) said Esmeralda confused.
It was the same man that came to her home earlier. The man smiled as he looked at the pocket watch and then back to Esmeralda. He then simply nodded his head signaling the other men and they walked towards her. She turned from the man in the middle to the other men who began rummaging through her home.