Chapter 2: Old Friends
"C'mon, Lorena, we're going to be late for meeting up with Rae," Elinor called for me from under my bedroom window. I was in my old room, and it was almost like watching a movie.
A younger me stood by her bed, brushing her semi-long hair. She was in a dress that, at one point, I'd dubbed my favorite. It was the color of the night sky with tiny, white flowers dotting the skirt. Mini me yelled back to Elinor, "Okay, I'll be down in a minute."
She ran down the stairs and, like a ghost, I followed her. The house looked just the same as it had always looked: pristine. My mom had always made sure of that. She hated having a house that was unclean. She treated it like a fatal disease. Had to be taken care of right away or it would worsen. In the dream, she and my dad were at the dining room table, eating breakfast.
Little me ran past them with very little regard for the commonplace setting. "Lorena," my mom had yelled after me, "at least eat a slice of toast."
"I don't have time, Mom," the younger version of me said. "I'm meeting with Elinor."
I woke up with a salty liquid covering my face that could only be tears. Another dream of the mother I'd lost years ago. A happy one, but another nonetheless. Opening my eyes, I saw my dad with his head tipped forward in his seat, snoring. It would be comical if not for the fact that I was still terrified of this trip to the devil's paradise.
A glance out of my window revealed that the sun was just cresting over the horizon. Like a giant ball it sat on the clouds waiting for a good kick to send it flying into the sky. Hues of orange, red, and pink shaded the sky, revealing a morning secret that no one could tell anyone. Yet, everyone knew about it anyway.
Stretching my arms above my head and accidentally bumping them on a luggage duct – ouch – I righted myself in my seat and took out the fragile piece of paper with the number on it that I might need later. For some strange reason, I found myself staring at Aaron's messy handwriting: both of his A's looked like a leaning version of the Eifel Tower, his "O" looked like a messed up pizza complete with crumpled dough, his "n" looked like a normal N though.
I stuffed it back in my pocket, patting it to flatten the paper. No way was I calling him at this hour. So, I took out the book I rummaged through my bag for something to keep me occupied and took out a notebook with my favorite pen inside. Instead of black or blue, it scrawled with a silvery color that reminded me of star dust.
And I started organizing kindergarten-like drawings on a page writing my two friends names in a random spot. Then I began drawing three stick figures that were supposed to be us but in no way looked like the people they were meant to portray. With a giggle, I guided the pen across the page to create their hairstyles and mine.
"Wha? Huh?" I heard someone say. Glancing up, I saw my father blinking his eyes open with drool dripping from his mouth. "When did you get up, Lorena?"
"A minute ago," I replied without looking up. Despite being on a plane, I still wanted to go home and never come back to the place we would be landing in in minutes. Only thing I had to look forward to was seeing my two best friends in the world.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are now landing in the province of Transylvania," the flight attendant said over the intercom. "Please buckle your seatbelts and prepare to land."
Dad and I both strapped ourselves in. Soon I would be back in the country where my mother "died." Even though we never found a body. Even though no one ever saw what happened.
I shook my head. Worrying about it at that moment wasn't going to help anything. So I grabbed onto the arms of my chair and held on for dear life.
Flying was a lot less tame than I remembered. It must've been years since I'd flown to anywhere, but I didn't remember being shoved back in my seat by the wind. Or hearing my ears pop not one or twice but three times. Very loudly.
And, I certainly didn't remember wanting to kiss the ground right after I landed.
But that was precisely what I did. I literally knelt on the ground and planted a small-as-an-ant kiss on the concrete. And, of course, realized what I was doing and scrubbed my tongue with my nails, gouging it so that I could get the horrible taste out of my mouth.
As I stood up, my father gave me a look that said "what was that?" and I didn't answer him. Because I honestly had no idea why I did that. So I grinned at him like I did. He, in turn, shook his head. "We need to find a flower shop," he said, "once we get into town. Then we'll eat breakfast somewhere. 'Sound good?"
I nodded my head yes, and we began walking through the terminal. People sat around in the waiting area either reading or occupying themselves with some electronic device. Ipads, Ipods, and cellphones were aplenty. Their faces glowed blue with the screens in front of their faces.
Taking out my cellphone, I added Aaron's number to my Contacts and closed it. I'd call him after I woke up the next time. Stashing it in my pocket, I strode toward the entrance. My dad walked in front of me, scanning the place for something I couldn't be sure of. Wolves? Birds? Moths? Who knew with this place? God, I wanted to go home already.
But, deciding to act mature, I kept my mouth shut. Complaining about being there wasn't going to fix anything, because we already put our money into getting the plane ticket. My dad would freak if he ended up throwing almost two thousand dollars down a laundry chute full of paper shredders.
"Are you excited that you'll be able to see them again?" he asked.
"What?" I asked, not having a clue who he was talking about. Who would I know there?
"Elinor and Raemundo," he said with a chuckle. "You forgot?"
"Oh yeah," I said, then covered it up with, "I remembered."
"Well, are you?"
"Of course I am," I said, trying to play it cool. "Why would I not be? They're my best friends whom I haven't seen in years." Should have at least tried to contact them, I thought. Why didn't I? Is there something I'm forgetting? With a shake of my head, I dismissed the thought. My worries should have been with finding flowers for my "dead" mother.
Her favorite type of flower was the Pheasant's Eye. She always said that they smelled like home to her. At that time, I'd just nodded not quite sure what she was referring to as I was barely in first grade. But now they were very important since she no longer picked them out for herself to put in the garden we tended to every time we visited Tetea and Bunica. He kept it for her even after she left home to fight in a defense group for Romania.
The town was not a lively as I remembered. In fact, one might describe it as a ghost town, because no one walked the streets with briefcases or cars running to work. No lights were on in the houses, that I could see. One person slept on a street corner, their torn clothes barely keeping them warm. I pitied them.
"Well…" my dad started, turning to me, "maybe we should go to our place first before we do anything. No need to get used to the time difference right away, right?"
I nodded, completely put off by the lack of activity. Where was everyone?
But, yanking my luggage along, I stared up at the rising morning and let out a yawn that was wide enough to swallow awakening birds. Tiredness crept through me like a worm through a long tunnel, squishing my energy as if it had never been gained from sleep. It was way too early for us to be wandering in the middle of our home country, a strange country, that was said to be haunted by malevolent forces.
Tetea's and Bunica's home was on top of a large hill, and to wake myself, I dashed up it. My feet crunched the grass like green snow, with very little care about if I was smashing weeds on my way. The brown-paneled house rose to meet my rushed pace. On the porch stood my grandparents with their arms stretched out to envelope Dad and I.
So when I finally made it there, I rushed both of them, very nearly knocking them over. Then I gave them both hugs that would crush the bodies of frail old folks but barely fazed mine. Each of them had a strength that could only come from a great deal of laborious tasks. I squeezed them to within an inch of their deaths.
"Oh look how you've grown, Lorena," Bunica said, pinching my cheeks as I pulled away from her. "But so skinny–" she tisked "–We'll have to fix that now won't we?" a glint in her eye told me that was nonnegotiable.
With an unsuppressed giggle, I turned to tetea. "I suppose it's asking too much for you to abandon the notion of your mother still being out there, correct?" he said, all business-like. Used to it, I gave a short nod. He was never good with the affection thing, but I knew he loved me just as much as my grandma. "Well, that figures. Just don't get into anything you shouldn't."
"Oh, I'll make sure she doesn't," Dad said as he finally crested the hilltop and gave them each a hug and a kiss on each cheek.
With what-I-hoped-to-be a barely registered roll of my eyes, I put down my suitcase and asked Bunica, "Do you know if Raemundo or Elinor–"
The front door opening cut me off. Out stepped a girl with frizzy red hair in a ponytail. Little blonde streaks colored her bangs. One bang almost covered one of her brown eyes. Dressed in jeans as well as a T-shirt that was much too big to fit her, she looked almost exactly as I remembered her.
"Lor," she exclaimed, tackling me in a hug that nearly sent us both tumbling down the hill. Wrapping my arms around her, I thanked the gods that I hadn't taken that particular trip that morning. Letting me go, she let her arms hang at her sides. "I've missed you so much. We have a lot of catching up to do. Rae's upstairs asleep so we'll have a few hours until he gets up. So we'll be able to talk about your staying in America and your trip to your mother's grave that I'm of course going to coming with you on. I mean, she was like a mother to–"
Laughing at her rambling, I put a hand over her mouth to stop her. "Okay, Ellie," I said. "Slow down. We'll talk about all of this upstairs."
"Oooh. I can't wait to show you your room we're both staying in. It's so cool and has so many books to read. Your grandma stocked it for you once your dad told her you were coming," she said, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the house.
Realizing she wasn't about to loosen her grip, I grabbed my suitcase and let her drag me up to the room that used to be mine. The staircase was still lined with pictures of Tetea and Bunica as well as my dad and me. Any pictures of my mother they'd taken off the wall and stored in the attic above my old room.
Elinor began babbling about things like her dog, Fluffles, had puppies and was keeping them in the backyard. She also mentioned that Raemundo became even more serious after I left. That he was no longer the happy person I'd once known him to be. He was no fun, she said with a pout in her voice.
That kind of made me pause. He was always the mischievous one of the group. The one who got in the most trouble in a short amount of time. Always pulling meaninglessly funny pranks on the most unsuspecting people. One time he filled a balloon filled with red food coloring and threw it on Elinor, convincing her it was actually blood. One of the most hilarious experiences I'd ever had, as Ellie claimed for a week that there was a vampire in her room.
"All right, surată," she started, "here we are." With a press, she opened the door and revealed my very red bedroom.
Crimson splattered the walls, covering them in what would make a crazy person think to be blood. I'd had this weird fascination with the color when I was younger. Red dresses hung in the closet beside my cherry wood wardrobe and bookshelf which had, just as Elinor had said, more books than what I'd left behind. Drawn to the leather-bound blessings, I floated over to the bookshelf and looked at the types. Some of them involved vampires, others involved more practical creatures that actually existed: dinosaurs, mammals, and insects. Books about wars fought and won around the world and books simply made to entertain.
"Impressive, huh?" Elinor's voice piped up behind me. "She knows how much you like to study so she stocked it with plenty of books."
"I'll have to thank her later," I murmured, distracted by the lovely reading material. Definitely would be taking some of those books with me when I finished with that place. No way was I letting them collect dust.
With a yawn, I went over to my bed and collapsed on it, clawing at the red, flowered quilt with my hands. Elinor bounced on the foot of my bed, crossing her legs in front of her with her head tilted to the side. "You're tired?" she said, a note of confusion tinting her voice.
"Yeah," I said. "The switching of time zones, you know. I'll get used to it. Just keep me awake for now."
"I can do that," she said excitedly. "I'm really good with doing that, actually. I once kept Rae up for three days straight without him resting even a day. We stayed the night at some haunted place filled with ghosts–"
"If it were haunted, mentioning ghosts would be redundant–"
"–and possibly other creatures like vampires–"
"–that do not exist."
A pillow came at my head, and I chuckled. Elinor had the pouting face on again and was using it at its fullest. "All right, all right," I said. "I'll stop being a know-it-all."
With a grin, she continued, "It turned out that some kid was going around in the mansion scaring people and playing it off as if he were a ghost. Dressing up all in white. Pouring flour over his head. Even went as far as to get white contacts. He begged us not to turn him in, and get this, he gave us a hundred bucks each to not tell anyone that he was the ghost! Cool, huh?"
"Yeah," I said with a small smile. When Elinor went off like that was all you could really do.
The grin on her face quickly grew into a frown. "I found something that I think you might like to have," she said, "but it's in the attic, so we'll have to wait until Rae wakes from the dead." Her characteristic giggle followed. It sounded like a cross between a witch's cackle and a little kid's laugh. Always made me chuckle.
"What is it?" I asked, not chuckling, then. Whatever this was, if Elinor stopped being her usual self it had to be serious.
Steps sounded on the stairs so she gestured with a hand for me to come closer. I sat up and leaned in so she could whisper it in my ear. "You mother's diary," she said, as quietly as possible.
That surprised me. I'd never known my mother to keep something as trivial as a diary. She just didn't seem like the kind of person to do it. "Really?" I said. "From when?"
"Well, judging from the date, I would say that she was about your age when she started logging in it. I didn't look inside, because I figured you and I could both go through it," she said, the smallest smile appearing on her face.
Leaning away, I thought about it. A diary that my mom kept. One that she wrote her most personal thoughts in. Maybe it would have clues about where she went that night. Then I would know a direction to head to find her.
"You're thinking about doing something naughty, aren't you?" she asked in her normal voice. "If you do, can I come? It's been ages since we've gotten into trouble over anything. And Rae can tag along as well. Just so long as he doesn't nag at us to stop what we're doing. Hey, how about we go to that strange castle across–"
"No," I said, too sharply and much too quickly. Taking a breath, I restarted. "It's a bad idea."
"Awe… why not? You said it yourself: vampires don't exist," she said, doing an interpretation of me with this mockingly serious expression on her face. "Even though your last name is Belmont-"
"Girls, come down to breakfast," Bunica called from the stairs.
Deciding I would thank my grandmother later, I jumped off the bed and practically flew down the stairs. I almost trampled Grandma as I rushed to the table and pulled out a chair to sit in. Glasses filled with orange juice stood around the table next to plates with neatly folded napkins as well as a fork and a spoon. Sometimes tetea's business-like attitude went too far, but right then it felt like I was eating at a fancy restaurant.
In the center of the table was a combination of cheese, ham, and a loaf of bread that looked more like a baguette. My grandparents were already seated, grandpa at the head of the table and grandma next to him on the right. Dad was plucking at a piece of ham with his fork while scooping slices onto his plate.
"It looks so good," I said, licking my lips.
"Oh, yes it does!" Elinor said from behind me. She shoved me out of the way on the way to her plate at the last chair to the right.
"I need one of you two to go wake up Raemundo," my grandma said as she wiped her hands off with a dish towel.
"I'll do it," I said.
"He'll be surprised," Elinor giggled as she grabbed a plate off of the table.
So I jogged up the stairs to the room right next to my old one. Prying open the door that should have fallen off its hinges by now, I climbed the stairs leading into the finished attic where someone was sawing logs with their nasal passages. Rae always snored the loudest out of all of us. Even me, and I could sleep an entire day without waking once.
Spread out on a twin with his mouth hanging open was Rae. Intent on scaring the lights out of him, I crept over to the head of his bed and yelled, "boo!"
The effect was instantaneous. He jolted up with a shout and tumbled out of the other side of the bed. "Ow…" he trailed off as his head hit the hard wood. "What was that for, El?" he asked, not looking at me. As soon as he noticed he wasn't talking to Elinor, though, his mouth dropped to the floor and his eyes became giant saucers. "I must be seeing things. It couldn't really be you."
"It is," I said with a smile. "In the flesh. Sorry I haven't written or called or paid you guys a–" he cut me off by jumping up and giving me a hug. It was a hug that would make bears jealous.
"I can't believe you've come back," he said, stepping away from me.
"Me neither," I said, "but I wanted to see you guys again."
Rae had changed a lot since the last time I'd seen him. Gone was his skinny, barely exercised form. In its place stood a body builder with black hair and dark purple eyes. The eye color was a trait passed down through his family for generations.
Making the bed, he said, "I'm glad you're here. Elinor has held out on me all summer. She said that somebody was coming, but I never expected you to be the person."
"Well, my grandma and grandpa are waiting downstairs for us to start eating breakfast so let's not keep them waiting," I said, beginning to descend the stairs.
As soon as we made it down the last of the stairs, we noticed that everyone was having a conversation involving a memory. Sounded like something that my grandfather did when he was younger, but I couldn't be sure. We took a seat on either side of Elinor after making our plates.
"I shee you're finally up, shleepyhead," Elinor said through a mouthful of ham and cheese. With a swallow, she added, "You stayed up so late researching yesterday that I figured you would sleep all the way through the day."
I took a bite of the bread by itself and drowned it with orange juice. Then I said, "Researching what?"
"Just something I wanted to know about," Rae said, tiptoeing around the subject.
I raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything more about it. Instead, I focused on the breakfast that would have been considered lunch in America. Devoured the ham, then the cheese, and finally the bread. After that, I swallowed my orange juice and cleaned up with the napkin the silverware was wrapped in.
"Thank you for the meal," I said. Checking my watch I saw that it was almost nine AM. Four o'clock in the morning at home. Not a decent time to call someone. "I'm going to step outside for a bit. Better yet–" I turned to my dad "–I'll run into town to get moms' flowers."
"All right," he said. "Be careful not to talk to strangers."
Before I walked out the door, I turned back to them and said, "Dad, you've drilled that into my head since I lived here. Don't worry."
And, without another word, I walked down the hill. Bunica's bellflowers were in full bloom and brushed the exposed skin from my leggings. Saying hello to me, I assumed. I took in their scents and let a sigh drift from my lips. Such a peaceful place. Why was I so afraid to come back?
I pressed my skirt down in a badly-practiced curtsy and practically dashed down the hill. Then I passed trees that nearly touched the sky and bushes that barely hung to the ground. Thorns pricked at my legs making me wince, but I didn't stop. With a yip, I reached the bottom and rushed through trees that acted like guards for the bridge ahead. Was getting too close to that castle.
Taking my "vampire hunter" hat out of my bag, I pulled it over my head and tipped it down like I was a character from some cartoon. Then I stared at the place that always gave me hives. It was a beautiful citadel with sand-colored bricks and darker-than-dark shingles on the coned towers.
Shivering, I turned to the path on the left side of me that I figured led to the city and ran away from the terrifying-looking place. As I walked through the woods and onto the sidewalk, it felt almost like someone was waiting to jump out at me from every shadow. But that couldn't be right. It wasn't physically possible to hide inside shadows.
The flower shop was just down the street. A little place that translated in English to "Flowers for the Thoughtful." It was one of my mother's favorite places to go when we were having our mother-daughter days. She would pluck a bellflower, pay for it, and stick it in my hair.
So I waited at the street corner, tapping my foot impatiently. The little white man on the traffic signal had not made his appearance, and I didn't want to be in that part of the city any longer than I had to be.
The red hand finally disappeared, and the little walking man waved his hand at me to go. I bolted across the street to the first of many shops. Several more dotted both sides, calling for me to buy something from them. By running past them, I politely declined the summons without even glancing in their direction.
Dodging people on their way to their places of work, I ran 'til I reached my destination, not even being my usual polite self. People made sounds of indignation in their native tongue as I slid past them. Well, I had places to be and needed to get there and back fast. No time to say sorry a million times.
As soon as I came to my destination, I walked in and started looking around at the flowers. Flowers of white, pink, red, purple, and blue greeted me with their leafy arms stretched at their sides in a wave.
"See anything you like?"
With a turn, I noticed a short man with a receding hairline and kind brown eyes. "Yes, I'm looking for a bouquet of pheasants' eyes for my mother," I told him, drawing on a smile.
"We should have them right next to the daffodils," he said.
"How much are they?" I asked, taking out my wallet.
"Just twenty two euros," he said as he started picking out blooms from the pheasants' eyes.
A moment later, he came back and I placed the euros in his hand, then put the flowers up to my nose and sniffed. They smelled like my mother's hair. I stroked the petals, imagining I was playing with her hair just like I had when I was little. Softly, I began to hum a melody to myself while still stroking the petals. It was one she'd tucked me into bed with every night that put me right to sleep.
A jab to my shoulder brought me back to the present, shattering the memory as if it were nothing more than a reflection of what used to be. Trying to reclaim my memory, I turned to face the shopkeeper. "Excuse me," he started, "but are you related to Cathlene Belmont? You look an awful lot like her."
"You knew my mother? And, yeah, I'm related to her," I said, realizing a bit too late that it could be a trap. Whoever made my mom go missing could be anywhere.
"Why, yes. I did. She used to come into this shop all the time to pick up a bouquet of the same nature as yours. Say, do you know what happened to her?"
She's missing, I thought. "She's dead," I said flatly, "and I'm done with this conversation."
Clutching the flowers to my chest, I bolted out of the shop, determined to get home. My lungs weighed a ton from running just recently, but I forced them to keep functioning. Heart felt just as heavy, but I willed it to keep pumping blood. Breath came in short gasps that came every couple of seconds. It almost felt like I was being chased, but that couldn't be possible. No one knew me there.
Yeah right. And, I was a storyteller surrounded by gremlins.
Sensing someone was behind me, I stopped, turned, and glanced around me. People walked on their merry way without a care, completely oblivious to my being there. I turned back and ran into something. Hard. With a cry, I stumbled backwards and fell onto the sidewalk. "Ow," I said, squinting my eyes shut for a moment. As soon as I remembered why I was on the ground, I opened my eyes and looked up.
Standing there was a guy that looked only a little older than me. His hair, a golden blond that matched his eyes, rushed down his back in waves like people running from a demon. For all I knew, that guy was a demon.
"I'm sorry for startling you, miss," he said flatly but politely, "but I noticed that you were running and wondered what from."
"Just heading home," I said, standing up, though he offered a hand to help me. "I was heading home, at least, until you started stalking me."
He continued as though I'd never spoken. "I see you've got some flowers there. Are they for your mother's grave?"
If I had a sword, it would have been pointed at his throat. "What do you mean "my mother's grave?" How do you know she's dead?" I demanded, narrowing my eyes.
"When a Belmont dies," he said, "everyone here knows. Your family is famous, in case you haven't noticed."
"I don't have time for this," I said. "I need to get home in time so that my dad and I can go to my mom's grave. Who are you, anyway?"
"Alucard Tepes," he said, flinging out a hand for me to shake.
Awkwardly, I took my hand from my side and shook his hand. He gripped it tightly but let go as soon as I tugged. "It's nice to meet you," I said, equally polite but not as flat. "Mine is Lorena Bellemore. My family swore off the name Belmont shortly after we left Romania."
He nodded, as if confirming something to himself. "I'd be careful about putting that name in the open," he said mysteriously. "People tend to have… mixed reactions when they hear it."
"Thanks, bud," I said with a snap, "but I can take care of myself. I know when to tell people who I am and when not to." Though I had no idea why I was telling this complete stranger anything.
"Take my warning or not," he said coldly. "I care not. But I'd advise that you heed my words."
"I'll keep that in mind," I said. "See you around."
In a blink, he was gone as fast as he'd come, leaving a mill of questions running through my head.