Author's Note: Greetings everyone! Before I begin this chapter I want to thank a long time reader for emailing me, and giving me some advice. My only advice right now is to keep reading and provide some critical reviews, if you have the time.

I'm waiting in my cold cell,
when the bell begins to chime.
Reflecting on my past life,
and it doesn't have much time.
'Cause at five o'clock,
they take me to the gallows pole.
The sands of time for me are running low—

"Hallowed Be Thy Name"—Iron Maiden

Lost Story

Chapter III

The following afternoon, Adrian returned home, after a visit with Richter. In his hand were a series of writings that belonged to Wadim. As was his custom, Adrian prepared to read the works in his study. But when he entered, Adrian noticed that the green carpet had sunk under the knees of Lysander and Alcander, who played beneath the portrait of Lisa Tepes—whose eyes looked down on the children—that Adrian had taken during one of his last missions from Castle Dracula.

"Double, double, toil and trouble," Adrian said, with a smile. He often liked to refer to his sons, with this passage from Shakespeare's Macbeth.

The boys ceased to play with their blocks, and with a smile, turned to their father.

"Hewwo, Daddy," Alcander said.

Adrian maintained his smile. "Hello, Cander, Sander, have you been good boys today?"

"Yeah!" Sander replied, with a nod.

Adrian returned the nod and continued to smile. "That's good."

"Daddy?" continued Lysander.

"Yes, Sander?"

"Will you read that story about The Man of Stone again?"

"I'd be more than happy to read the story about The Man of Stone again, but right now I have to read this." Adrian showed his sons the writings.

"What's that?" asked Alcander, while he pointed.

"That, Cander, are some writings that I received from your Uncle Richter earlier today. They're extremely boring—not as fun as, The Man of Stone—but Daddy has to read them anyway."

"What're they about?" asked Lysander.

"Someone else's thoughts." Adrian placed the writings on an unoccupied portion of his desk. Adrian's desk was loaded enough with the works of Shakespeare and a book on the United States of America—that was forbidden by the Russian Government. After placing the works on his desk, he scooped up his sons, and sat in his desk chair. "Tell you what. Give Daddy an hour, and then he'll read you The Man of Stone."

"An howr?" responded Alcander.

"How long's an hour?" asked Lysander.

Adrian returned his sons to the floor. "That's about as long as you two playing with Mommy and your toys. So run along and do that. Then I'll be ready to read to you."

Alcander happily toddled out of the study, either to find Maria or some more toys.

Lysander prepared to follow his younger brother, but his father stopped him.

"Lysander?"

"Yes?"

"Take your brother to Mommy, and tell her that he needs changing."

"All right," Lysander said, and as he left the room, he called to his younger brother.

With his children out of the room, Adrian turned to the works of Wadim. Adrian discovered that Wadim was a very proficient writer, which made him declare that Wadim was worthy of his birth name, 'wise one' or 'knowing one.' But as Adrian continued to read Wadim's works, there were times that he would stop, and look at the portrait of his mother.

Adrian finished one of Wadim's works, and prepared to start on another, until a smooth arm found its way around Adrian's neck. The arm's owner, Maria, kissed her husband's cheek.

"Any trouble with Cander?" Adrian asked.

"No more than usual," Maria replied, while she took her other arm and ran her fingers through Adrian's hair. "He's a pretty good boy, when I change his diapers."

Adrian patted his wife's hand. "Where is double, double, toil and trouble right now?"

"In Sander's room—Cander wanted to join his older brother on the rocking horse, after I finished changing him."

Adrian nodded, while he wrapped an arm around Maria, and pulled her close. Adrian patted her rear, and reminisced about the joy he had last night with Maria, after their children went to bed.

Maria smiled—thinking of that same joy, and prepared to sit on Adrian's lap, but the works on Adrian's desk caught her eye. "What's this?" she asked, while she grabbed one of the pages.

"Richter gave me those a little over an hour ago. They're Wadim Carol's writings. He gave them to Richter yesterday. You know that he was executed today?"

Maria sighed and nodded. "Yes, I know…Did he make a good confession with Richter?"

Adrian shook his head. "Richter said a confession never had the chance to take place. And he was shocked, because he thought people would be trying to reconcile themselves to God, if they knew the hour of their death drew near."

"Wadim didn't confess?"

Again, Adrian shook his head. "No, Richter said he was defiant until the end. The only thing he requested was a razor and some lather to shave himself."

Maria sadly nodded. "I see."

"I haven't talked about this much with you, but you knew him, didn't you?"

Again, Maria nodded. "Yes, we were around the same age."

Adrian motioned Maria to sit in his lap. "What kind of person was he?"

Maria placed her chin between her thumb and first finger, and with her free hand rapped her fingers on Adrian's desk. "When we were teenagers, we were learning theology under Father Miceadu. I can remember that Wadim asked many questions, and when asked a question he was one of the first to answer. But at the same time, I think he was rather shy. I remember smiling at him in class, because he was rather handsome, and I can remember that he gave me a shy smile back. But one thing I could tell about him was that, I think he saw the world in black and white."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I think that Wadim saw the world as a place where if you follow the teachings of the Church, God will reward you; and if you don't, God will punish you."

Adrian nodded. "I kind of sensed that in his writings. In one of them, he talks about Voltaire…"

"Yes, I heard that Wadim became interested in Voltaire's writings, when he visited Paris a few years ago." Maria readjusted herself on Adrian's lap. "That's also about the time, when I saw changes in him."

Adrian nodded. "Yes, well, anyway, he mentions Voltaire. And while he said Voltaire was right on some ideas, he was no theologian."

"What I don't understand is, why was he comparing theology from someone who was raised a Catholic?"

"Catholicism and Orthodoxy are not much different, Maria."

"They're different enough."

Adrian pulled his wife closer. "Anyway, throughout this document, Wadim asks questions that many people don't want to answer. Such as, 'Why do the innocent suffer?' Richter told me, he kept asking him yesterday, if it was fair when children die. Basically, the standard answer of 'that's just the way the world is,' or 'this is God's will' no longer satisfied him…I have to confess that while I read Wadim's works, I stopped to look at my mother."

"How come?"

"Because she died without committing a crime, so I can understand Wadim—but because of my mother, I can't follow the same path as him."

"Because of your mother?"

Adrian nodded. "My mother taught me never to hate people—there are good and bad ones in this world. My mother also taught me the traditional Christian teaching about how God became man. Therefore, unlike my father, I could never hate God."

Maria nodded, while she ran her fingers along Adrian's thigh. "What does Wadim say about God?"

"He's not sure what do think about Him. He believes that God exists, that's for certain, but I don't think he views Him as just. In some ways, I think that Wadim believes he has been betrayed by everything he was taught about God."

"What does Wadim say about Jesus?"

"He mentions Him here and there. I don't think he has any problem calling Jesus, God's Son or God, but I think he just doesn't understand how someone could follow Christ's teachings and not be rewarded. One theme that appears over and over again in this document is that those who follow Christ appear to get shitted on, over those who don't. To him, God should be more just. The traditional Christian answers simply no longer work for him."

"…Now that I think about it, I wonder if he didn't have feelings like this, when I last saw him."

"When was that?"

"Sometime after Lysander was born. I was carrying Sander, and I saw him one day. I went over and said hello to him. He said hello back to me, but he seemed as though he didn't want to talk too much. I can remember him looking down at Sander, with this look." Maria gestured to her eyes. "I can't describe it, but it was this look of pain. And then Wadim asked me who he was. And when I told him he was my son, and asked if he was cute, Wadim just gave me a general nod and said, 'yeah.' It was a far cry from how I saw him, a little over a year before that. I met him not too longer after I had received my annulment on my marriage to Michael. Wadim chatted with me, and he seemed happy." Maria giggled. "He even tried to flirt with me, even though he wasn't very good."

A moment after Maria finished her sentence, the youngest members of the Tepes family entered the study.

"Daddy," Lysander began, "is it an hour yet?"

Adrian smiled. "I believe that it is." Adrian motioned Maria off his lap. "You'll have to excuse me, I have a reading appointment to keep with my boys."

Maria smiled. "Of course!" Maria maintained her smile, and gave her husband a quick kiss. Then she individually lifted her sons, kissed them, and placed them on Adrian's lap.