CHAPTER 7
Andrei arrived a rainy night, in his shiny black limousine, which was covered in mud and dust because of the constant rain. He was not, however, alone. With him in the car, one could see a female head with bushy curly hair, the color of fire.
Gomez and Morticia excitedly welcomed Andrei. After greeting them warmly, he opened the door from the right side and tended his hand to the red-haired woman, to help her out. Her lily-white hand with the painted jet-black pointy claws grabbed his, and before their eyes appeared a figure reminiscent of a medieval witch. Her skin was bright white with a pinkish tinge. Her eyes were the color of polished emerald, which was in stark contrast to the fiery hue of the bush of her hair. Her face was otherworldly attractive, with the deadly sauciness of a sorceress. Her black dress with the big collar had many patches, and she was also wearing a black cape that was creeping on the wet soil.
Gomez smiled widely and approached her with his arms open.
"My dear cousin Alina!" he exclaimed.
Alina smiled creepily, showing off her yellowed teeth, and stretched out her arms to embrace her cousin.
"I came, my dear Gomez, because I couldn't miss the chance to see you again after a whole decade!"
"Alina! You can't imagine how glad I am that you came! Let me introduce to you my wife, Morticia. "
Morticia shook the hand of her husband's redhead cousin.
"Oh, Alina!" she said. "Gomez has talked to me about you!"
After a while, they all sat around the oblong oak table and were served ciorba de burta from a large cauldron that Gomez had brought. Andrei also brought one of his best wines from the cellar, a 1958 Merlot. While enjoying dinner, Gomez decided to share Morticia's idea with them.
"My beloved cousins! I have a suggestion to make. Do you remember how my good uncle Corneliu and my good aunt Miruna, your late parents, organized séances to communicate with the spirit of Dracula? "
Alina's eyes shone.
"How could we forget those nights, Gomez? The wind screamed, the thunder made the ground tremble, the lightnings were ripping the black veil of darkness ... Those were the happiest memories of my childhood!" she said nostalgically.
Gomez smiled widely.
"My one and only wife", he continued, "this masterpiece of nature, this divine creature, had a wonderful idea. I talked to her about that time and she proposed that we do a séance, all together, now that you have come! "
Andrei and Alina were thrilled by the idea. It didn't take them long to start discussing about what they needed for the operation, intoxicated by their enthusiasm.
Gomez, proud of his beloved, grabbed her hand and kissed it passionately. Ignoring their dinner guests, he continued to kiss her arm all the way up to the shoulder. From there he continued kissing her neck, cheek and finally her mouth. Alina granted them another creepy smile.
"You are such a beautiful couple!" she exclaimed. "You remind me of the first years when I had married my dear Dragomir. Now we have a little girl, Miruna - I gave her the name of my late mother."
"What a pity that you haven't brought them with you!" said Gomez.
"Some other time!" she promised.
Andrei offered to take them on a tour in the tower of Vlad Dracula. Gomez remembered that he had last been there when he was a child.
"Oh, Gomez, the area has now evolved! Many tourist and souvenir shops have sprung, and they have done maintenance work on the tower... It can now be admired in all its glory!" Andrei informed him.
Indeed, the next morning, everyone got ready, entered the black limousine and started for the tower of Dracula. The macabre image of the black-clad gang made passersby turn and fix their gaze upon them, others with surprise, others with disgust and some even with admiration. After all, that was the land of Dracula.
The exterior of the tower seemed truly grand and imposing. It was built on a high steep hill and around it there was a verdant plain. The building was white, with roofs made of red tiles. Around the main tower there were smaller towers that reached up to the sky like minarets. One could even distinguish several small windows with bars, some of which were equipped with cannons.
A grumpy clerk sold them tickets and led them inside the tower through a small entrance that could fit only one person at a time. There, he left them to return to his post. It was quite early in the morning and there were no other tourists. Guided by Andrei, they climbed several narrow steep stone staircases without any handrails and went through corridors that looked like burrows. In the countless rooms of the tower, they admired the luxurious furniture and cutlery, and also a torturing device, a wooden chair with nails all over it. Leaving the inner paved courtyard behind, they climbed another staircase and found the count's personal office. They held their breath and felt a shiver down their spines, as they were standing where that great pioneer had stood.
When they came out again, Morticia looked excited. The group went to a nearby restaurant where they had lunch. Meanwhile, the sky was getting darker. By the evening, the rain was falling again interminably. Lightning lit up the night and thunder cracked the stillness of it. Gomez hugged his beloved.
"I know what you're thinking, querida" he whispered as she was staring out the window. "Séance weather."
Indeed, the thunder grew stronger as the four of them sat around a round table and Alina, with her glass sphere, recited the appropriate incantations and magic words, the same as those her mother had once been saying. At the call of the Dracula's name, the table turned over and the sphere was shattered as it fell with a bang on the floor.
All were left speechless. Suddenly, through the crack of the heavy oak door, a shadow appeared. As he was approaching them, his characteristics began to loom. He was a tall man with snow-white skin, long black hair, a tufted mustache and a long crooked nose. He was wearing a heavy garment, made of luxurious, blood-red velvet and a hat of the same fabric adorned with precious gems and a large white tassel. His shoulders were covered by a gray fur and a long scimitar was fastened on his belt.
Dracula - because that's who he was - looked at the room around him and seemed to recognize it. His intangible figure moved toward them. Gomez nudged Andrei and, with a look, encouraged him to talk.
"Great Count Vladimir Dracula! Welcome back to the house of your dear friends, the Addams clan!" Andrei said in Romanian.
The threatening look in Dracula's face changed at once.
"Addams!" he said. "But of course! Emilian Addams, my good friend and partner! Are you his descendants?"
"Yes, my Count!" Alina replied enthusiastically. "We are very honored to meet you!"
They all stood there in an awkward silence. Suddenly, Gomez goggled his eyes as he got an idea.
"Andrei", he said, "what does our family do when we host an honored guest?"
Andrei's eyes shone.
"But of course!" he cried. "The Mamushka!"
Dracula revealed his pointy white teeth in a creepy smile. He recalled the Mamushka.
"But, Gomez," Alina remarked, "there is no music!"
"Not to worry, dear sister! Mother's balalaika and father's violin are still kept in the storeroom!" said Andrei.
"Alright, I'll play the balalaika," said Alina. "But the violin?"
Morticia took a step forward.
"It would be a shame," she said, "for all these years of violin practice to be wasted."
Gomez could not contain himself.
"Cara mia" he whispered as he was kissing her, "how many hidden talents do you have?"
Indeed, they made the spirit of Dracula sit in a majestic chair and, as Alina started to caress the strings of the balalaika and Morticia began to gently pass the bow she was holding between her lily-white fingers over the violin, Gomez and Andrei stood facing each other and took their positions. But before starting, Andrei turned to Vlad and said excitedly:
"Taught to us by our Cossack cousins, the Mamushka has been an Addams family tradition since God knows when. We danced the Mamushka while Nero fiddled. We danced the Mamushka at Waterloo. We danced the Mamushka for Jack the Ripper. And now, Vlad Dracula, this Mamushka is for you!"
Soon, the two of them surrendered to a crazy dance. They were jumping uncontrollably, performed somersaults in mid air, wriggling as if they were demon possessed, in the sounds of the Mamushka. Suddenly, they took four swords from somewhere and, both with one in each hand, engaged in a dance duel with incomparable skill. There were a few times when a move nearly cut them into slices, like the moment when Gomez threw one of the swords in the air and, after following an elliptical orbit, the sword landed in Andrei's wide open mouth and submerged in his throat.
As the two cousins were dancing the traditional honorary dance of their family, Vlad's malicious eyes were gleaming. Their recherche guest appeared to be flattered.
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