Author's Note: This chapter has certainly been a long time coming. When I last updated this story, it was nearly Christmas. I have had the rough draft of this chapter available since January, but I never had the time to sit down and write on it. For those, who have been enjoying this story, I hope that this chapter was 'worth the wait.'

Fragments of Memories

Chapter XIII

The air was clean in the Village of Brookline, as it was draped in white. And while the scenery pleased Christian and Lysander, they were more pleased that the snow reflected no church and no school. Or so they thought.

While the boys played near the Renard home, Adrian and Sebastian stepped outside. The men smiled, but Adrian said, "You need to go inside, and get dressed more properly."

"Get dressed more properly?!" said Lysander.

Adrian nodded with a smirk.

Christian frowned. "Let me guess, we're going to church?"

Sebastian chuckled. "You're a smart one, Christian. Yes, we will be attending mass this morning. Your uncle and I are going to get the horse and buggy ready, and then we'll be getting dressed more properly ourselves."

The boys observed each other in stunned silence. Eventually, Christian said, "Is Dad celebrating mass?"

"I'm sure he is, but in his parish. He left early this morning for Warakiya," replied Sebastian. "We'll be attending our parish in Brookline, and Father Constantine will be celebrating the mass."

As Adrian and Sebastian moved closer to the stable, Lysander called out, "Cander can't be dressed, can he?"

Adrian chuckled. "Oh, he's dressed, and so is Sidra. Your mother told me that she had some trouble diapering him, but that's not a bad thing, considering his age. In any case, you two need to get inside and get dressed for church."

While Adrian and Sebastian left the boys standing in the snow, Lysander sighed. "Church is so boring."

"Well, at least it's only an hour. We can make the best of it."

"An hour that we'll never get back."

Christian chuckled.

On a cold Sunday morning, before the start of Lent, the Belmont and Tepes families joined the Renards for mass at the Church of St. John Chrysostom. After mass, Maria requested a moment with her mother. The two stood in the church's nave.

"Mom," began Maria, "did you hear of an incident that took place in Jova at the beginning of this month?"

"I believe so. Something to do with a daughter of the Marquis clan."

"Yes, a daughter of the Marquis clan was killed outside of Jova."

"Good Lord!"

Maria nodded. "Indeed. Adrian and Richter are going with a member of the Marquis clan, and a friend of his, to investigate the circumstances behind the young woman's death."

"That's interesting that a member of the Marquis clan would be assisting Richter."

"True, but this is an extraordinary circumstance."

"An extraordinary circumstance?"

Maria came closer to her mother and whispered, "Strigoi."

Dymphna gasped, and made the Sign of the Cross.

Again, Maria nodded. "I've faced such things before, as you are aware."

"Tragically, yes."

"I already told my husband that I am going with him. I feel obligated to."

"Why do you feel obligated to go with Adrian?"

Maria turned to the iconostasis. She knew that she had to tell her mother the truth, but not the entire truth. "I'm worried that those monsters might hurt my boys. Part of the reason why I requested that we visited you last night was to hear of a story that I thought that I had heard before." Maria returned to her mother and added, "About a monster which attacked one of our ancestors. I had that experience happen to me, and it happened to one of my sons."

"And I don't need to be reminded of it."

"Neither do I, but I'm certainly not going to let it happen again."

Dymphna nodded. "I understand, Maria, but on the subject of those boys, who is going to look after them?"

"…Would you?"

"Look after them?"

"Yes, help Lysander with his lessons. Get Alcander potty trained, which I don't think will take too much trouble, since he has already told me how he doesn't want to wear a diaper."

Dymphna chuckled. "It's hard to say 'no,' since the last comment made me laugh."

Maria smiled. "Thank you, Mother. Oh! And, Mother."

"Yes?"

"You mentioned last night how the crucifix that was given to Cosmina is still in our family."

"Yes, that's correct."

"Do you have it?"

"Yes, I received it from my grandfather."

"May I borrow it?"

"Borrow it?"

Maria nodded. "I may need it on this journey."

Dymphna turned to the iconostasis. "Well, considering the circumstances that you are in, yes, you may take it." Dymphna returned to her daughter and added, "It might do you some good."

"Thank you. I realize that it might take you some time to find it, so, if I could leave the boys with you, I could travel home with Adrian, and then come back with some of the boys' belongings."

"All right. I'll take Sander and Cander home with me."

"Thank you."

The following morning, with snow still on the ground, Adrian and Maria left their home in Warakiya for the Belmont Estate. Maria greeted her sister, niece, and nephew, before she joined her husband in the chapel. Richter was surprised by Maria's presence, but, as Maria stated to her husband, she was going. After a brief mass, the party left the Belmont Estate for Brother Martin's hermitage.

The interior of a Christian hermit's home is small. Brother Martin's master room and bedroom shared the same space. The kitchen, however, was in a separate location, as Brother Martin prepared breakfast for his guests.

"Brother Martin," began Adrian, as he entered the hermitage with Richter and Maria, "I am not for certain, if you have met my wife before, but here she is."

Brother Martin smiled, as he shook Maria's hand. "I have heard of Father Belmont's sister-in-law before, but I do not believe that I have ever seen her. Quite a beautiful lady, I must say."

Maria blushed. "Thank you."

"When I am usually in Warakiya, I am often at the Belmont Estate. Most of my worldly matters are conducted in Jova. I take it that you are here to see your husband off? If so, is Mistress Belmont here as well?"

Maria smiled. "No, Brother, I am here to accompany my husband and brother-in-law."

Brother Martin gasped. "What?!"

Maria chuckled. "I am not some 'damsel in distress,' Brother Martin. I have faced danger before."

"It's true, Brother," said Richter. "She has faced Dracula before."

"And defeated him," added Maria. "I do not fear the journey ahead of me."

Adrian smiled at the conversation, but then stated, "I do not see Cyril and Alexis. Have they arrived?"

"Not yet, but they should…"

A knock on the front door of the hermitage ended Brother Martin's sentence. The old hermit smiled. "Somehow, I think that must be your companions."

Indeed, as Brother Martin opened his front door, Cyril and Alexis were present. "Good morning, you two. Please come in."

"Good morning, Brother Martin," Cyril said, as he entered the hermitage with Alexis. "Cold this morning, but the food that you are preparing smells wonderful."

Cyril and Alexis removed their coats. But as they did so, Cyril noticed Maria. "Who is this?"

"This is my wife, Maria," answered Adrian.

Cyril and Alexis were confused by Maria's presence, and Brother Martin could guess why. "She will be accompanying you."

"What?!" said Cyril.

"Huh?" added Alexis.

Maria chuckled. "You heard the hermit correctly."

Richter smiled. "You will find that my sister-in-law is no stranger to danger." Richter turned to his sister-in-law and added, "Maria, how old were you, when you were first in the ruins that we will be going to?"

"12 but they weren't ruins then." Maria rubbed a thumb over the corpus on the cross that had been given to her ancestor and added, "Nor were they ruins the two other times that I was at that location."

Cyril and Alexis were stunned, but Maria smirked. "You know, gentlemen, there are worse things in the world, than what we are going to face."

"And what's that?" asked Cyril.

"Childbirth."

A chuckle came from those present. Even Cyril, known for his seriousness, had to chuckle at Maria's comment.

"Well, everyone," began Brother Martin, "I believe that we should have breakfast. You'll have quite a journey ahead of you."

Near dusk, the party arrived at the Village of Ganoria. Looking at the sign for the village, Cyril made the comment, "I have to say, what a stupid name for a village. I've seen this village on a map before, and every time I laugh. I realize the village is pronounced 'Gan-oria,' but every time I see it, I want to say 'Gonorrhea.'"

The party laughed.

"Adrian and I spent the night at this village a number of years ago," said Maria. "And when I saw the name of this village on a map, I remembered thinking the same thing too."

"Makes me wonder, who would come up with such a name?" added Cyril.

"The villagers," replied Richter. "Chances are they wanted to play a joke on some ecclesiastical authority."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, sometimes you have a bishop or priest, who complains about the sexual activity in a particular area. Whether or not the complaint is true, the residents find the actions of the Church official funny, and they decide to name an area in a way that sounds similar to the particular official's charge. In this case, the residents decided to name a village that sounds similar to a sexual disease."

Alexis smirked. "Interesting."

Richter returned the smirk. "It happens quite often. I'm sure that it happens just as often among Catholics, as it does among those who are Orthodox…It's probably true among those who are Protestant as well."

"In any case," added Adrian, "the Sun is setting. Let us make our way to the inn."

As the wind 'howled' outside Ganoria's inn, Maria curled up next to her husband. "How do you think the boys are?"

"I'm sure that they are fine, but I am a little worried about Sander."

"Why Sander?"

"He's away from his friends. Riff is obviously away, and he doesn't have any friends in Brookline, at least to the best of my knowledge."

"I didn't think about that. But hopefully, we won't be gone too long."

"This isn't a vacation that we are on, you know?"

"Yes, I'm aware of that."

Adrian ran some fingers through his wife's golden locks. "Maria?"

"Yes?"

"Why did you come with me, and leave our boys behind? We could potentially be killed in this."

"…When Magnus confronted me at the park, I felt threatened."

"Threatened?"

Maria nodded. "He didn't say anything to me particularly, but a potential threat to you threatens all of us—you, me, Lysander, and Alcander. Plus, it reminded me of that day—when we got Sander and Riff back from the castle—you told me to leave you behind, and raise Sander to be a man. But, I couldn't leave you behind."

"No, you couldn't," Adrian said with a smile, as he continued to run his fingers through his wife's hair. "And two women and a priest defeated my father."

"A young girl also defeated your father, when she was 12."

"Very true." Adrian placed his hands on Maria's lower back and started to smirk. "You know, all this talk about the past has made me think of something."

"What's that?"

"About six years ago, it was, that you convinced me to come away from the castle ruins."

"That would sound about right. I mentioned earlier how we spent the night in this village, and, obviously, we stayed at this inn."

"I think that we stayed in this very room."

Maria looked at her husband in awe. "What?! Really?!"

Adrian chuckled. "And that's not all."

"What else?"

Adrian grinned. "We made love for the first time."

Maria gasped, and then she giggled.

Adrian smirked. "Do you think that a little bit of sex before all these monsters would be all right?"

"Oh, probably."

An hour after dawn, the party assembled in the inn's tavern for a light breakfast. After the meal, Maria left to pay the party's fare, while Cyril and Alexis went to secure the party's horses and wagon. Adrian and Richter, however, remained in the tavern with a cup of hot chocolate.

"How long do you think it will be, until we reach the castle ruins?" asked Richter.

Adrian rapped his fingers against his coffee mug. "I hate to say it, but depending on the weather and road conditions, probably near dusk."

Richter took a sip of his hot chocolate. "That's not what I wanted to hear."

"Indeed, but I remember how long it took Maria and I to make the journey from the castle ruins to this village. And we had more light back then too."

"Later in the year?"

"It was near the end of Summer and approaching Fall."

Richter took another drink. "I would prefer not to battle these two individuals at their strongest."

"Which is why we will need to wait until the following day, before we proceed to the ruins."

"Yes. Lydmil and Magnus can be active during the day, but they will not be as strong."

"Then we'll need to find some place to spend the night."

Richter rapped his fingers. "I know of a place where we might be able to stay for free."

"And where is that?"

"The Convent of Sts. Mary and Martha."

"A nunnery?"

Richter nodded. "When I had my first experience at the castle 16 years ago, one of the individuals that I rescued was a sister named Tera. At the time I rescued her, Tera was a novice. But when the previous abbess passed away, Tera was chosen to be her successor, due to her experiences at the castle."

Adrian sipped his hot chocolate. "Would be interesting. Not everyone can say that they spent the night in a convent."

Richter finished his drink. "Spending the night in a convent is quite a bit different from spending the night at an inn. One thing that I do ask is that you try not to engage in sexual relations with so many sisters present," Richter added with a smirk.

"Huh?"

Richter maintained his smirk. "I heard you last night, Tepes. Your room was across from mine. Cyril and Alexis had their rooms across the hall, so I doubt that they heard anything."

Adrian blushed, as he turned to the hallway and the inn's front desk. Maria was receiving the party's receipt.

"Were you trying to increase your brood, Tepes?"

Adrian grinned. "Well, with two boys, it might be nice to have a daughter."