Chapter 3: A Deal With The Devil's Servant
Miruna remained in the realm of her dreams for quite some time. She tossed and turned trying violently to free herself from the confinement of sleep. In her mind, she wandered aimlessly through a fog. It was misting through a forest much like the one she had ridden through to arrive here in Vaseria. She groaned every now and then and called out to the prince. The man did not appear again or give her any sign that he was there. Finally, Miruna saw a burning bright light up ahead. She raced towards it and collided with something. Pain gripped her as she opened her spinning eyes. She moaned and sat up as quickly as her body would allow. The room suddenly felt very cool. She was still dressed and under the covers of a large bed, but she was drenched with sweat. She felt as if there were sacks of flour attatched to every limb as she tried to move. She slowly climbed out of the bed and began to assess what had just happened. Her memory returned after a moment. Miruna felt strength return to her as well. She walked quickly out of the room and began to look for Anna and Van Helsing. A loud shout and gunshot came from the armoury downstairs. Miruna shouted and raced to follow the sounds. As she did, Van Helsing flew past her and out towards the front door.
"Stay here or else, little girl!", he warned as he dashed outside. Miruna felt shock and anger fighting for their place at the front of her mind. A moment later, Anna ran past.
"Stay here, Miruna. I will kill him!", Anna said.
Miruna wondered whether Anna had just now been talking about Draculea or Van Helsing, she seemed to have reason to be furious with either. Miruna thought for a moment about what to do next. She had come quite a long way to simply stay behind and not do anything, but then again she was also set completely off at the thought of facing a vampire. Resolve strengthened within her. She had to go and help. According to the letter and what she had heard both Anna and Van Helsing say, the Valerious family had suffered a great evil at the hands of the monster Draculea. She could not just sit back and let more of this continue. She raced out the doors and tried to determine which direction her cousin had set off in. She noticed a set of several different footprints, each leading in a different direction. She saw that all of them seemed to lead in the same general area; out into the village itself. Miruna breathed deeply into the freezing night air and began to head after her cousin and the hunter. The night was extremely cold and very dark. It was like every setting in her nightmares had stemmed from a typical night here. She felt more than just cold shivering through her. There was much to be afraid of at this hour and place, but Miruna was not about to let that hinder her from any good she could do for her family here. Miruna walked, slowly following the sets of footprints that were large enough to be Van Helsing's. She noted that these led into the bushes occasionally and sometimes darted quickly behind a building or into an alley. Typical signs of someone on the hunt, she thought. Miruna followed them into town. She heard another gunshot and ran to see about it. As she arrived in the alley where the shot had been fired, she noticed Van Helsing holding Anna by the throat against a wall. She growled and flew at him, grabbing him from behind around the neck once more. Van Helsing snarled and reached behind him, tossing her to the ground.
"It is no wonder that the numbers in your family are so small! Your women are impossible from girlhood up!", he shouted. "I told you to stay back at the fortress!"
"I heard you.", Miruna grumbled as she stood up. Van siezed her by the shoulder. "Let go of me!"
"Stop attacking my family!", Anna yelled and grabbed Miruna away from him. "That goes for the wolfman as well.", she said sadly.
"I know. It's a little obvious that he's your brother, you didn't try to kill him yourself back at the fortress.", Van said. "He's not human anymore, you can't protect him."
"He's still my brother, that hasn't changed!", Anna cried.
"Then your family can be guilty of any innocent blood he sheds altogether!", Van shouted back.
"Is forgiveness so foreign to you? Has the yoke of the priests and their rituals robbed you of your own morals?", Anna said fighting back tears. Miruna held onto her tightly. From what she understood, there was a wolfman on the loose and it was physically her other cousin that was supposed to have died a little while ago. If Van Helsing was to be believed, then the young man was no longer connected to her family in any way. He was a monster through and through. Miruna saw monsters repeatedly in her dreams. She found it very hard to believe that anyone could simply become one. True some people seemed to be just as cold and ruthless as any harpy or goblin from stories past, but that didn't mean that these people actually lost their humanity in being so. She sighed and looked at the two of them standing over her in turn. Anna was older than Miruna by about three years, but it still felt like Miruna was a toddler by comparison to the experienced princess.
"We could follow him. Everyone deserves a chance to be redeemed. As long as a human heart beats within them, then there is still hope.", Miruna said. The two looked down at her. Van looked skeptical and wary, and Anna nodded in agreement. "Let's get after him as quickly as possible."
"We will go after him. You go back and tell Carl to keep watch for anything unusual.", Van instructed. Miruna looked at him in confusion. He sighed heavily. "Go back and tell the friar to keep doing his research, but to keep watch out for any attacks on the fortress. If the wolfman comes back to town I think he will simply keep going home."
Miruna opened her mouth to argue, but Anna covered her mouth quickly. She looked deeply into Miruna's eyes. "Do as he says, Miruna. You were almost lost once to a werewolf, the curse may be following you.", Anna warned. Miruna's eyes widened in realization. The monster she kept seeing in her dreams; it was a wolfman, a werewolf, it was from this village! She said nothing before bolting back to the fortress. She had to look through the family archives. Her father had said that he had been born in this region. Perhaps records of her early life were here as well. Carl, the timid friar that was currently sitting in the corner desk of the archives, looked over at her.
"Oh my! What are you doing up here?", he exclaimed.
"I need to find a recent record of the Valerious family. Say, in the past fifty years.", she said quickly. "And Van Helsing says to keep an eye out in case my cousin, I mean, the wolfman returns."
"Oh, well, alright.", Carl muttered and fished through the stack of books and documents in front of him. "Ah! Here we are. The Valerious family tree and personal journal of Christobel Sibiu Valerious. Would this help?"
"That's my father's name!", she shouted happily. She grabbed the large book away from him and raced out of the room. She hurried back into the drawing room. There was better lighting here. "Aha! Born in Vaseria, Transylvania in 1852 on the fifteenth of November.", she read aloud. Miruna began pouring over the journal entries. Entries of her father's personal life did not begin until the sixth of January in 1872, his twentieth birthday. The entry told her that he was betrothed to a beautiful woman named Tosca Corvinus. She was a most lovely Hungarian noblewoman. Details of her beauty and charm were given. He spoke of his role as a nobleman in Transylvania and among the Romany. Romany? Miruna had only heard that term used when using a proper description of gypsies. She studied it more carefully. It was true, her father was describing himself as a gyspy prince! Miruna felt a cold chill go down her spine. The thought of the prince from the village and her dream came to her, but that man was most definitely not her father in any sense. She continued reading. The last few lines were the most intriguing.
"Today is the four-hundred and tenth year after the murder of Prince Draculea. The choovini believe that he will try to rise against the clan and slay us all at once. I have a plan. I have learned the way to destroy him! The venom of the wolfman is the only way to destroy his powers and kill him! The choovini tell me that he can always be resurrected by virgin blood and the spell, 'Blood for blood, breath for breath. cursed in life, rise from death.'; that is his curse. He will never be truly able to die! I will make a great barter with him. I will swear to prevent the family from knowing how to destroy him every few centuries if he will promise safety to myself and my wife. It is brilliant! I shall stand in the greatest clearing of the eastern woods and call for him!"
Miruna read the words over and over again, trying to use the rationality that her father had at this point. If Prince Draculea could not ever permanently die, then why would he be afraid of someone knowing how to destroy him? She thought about this for a moment. She could think of only one person with the knowledge to answer this. She climbed back up the stairs and went quietly into the archives. She looked at the friar who was once again engulfed in a book.
"Carl?", she asked. She wasn't sure if that was his name, but she had remembered hearing Van Helsing refer to him as such. He looked up for a moment.
"Yes?"
"If a vampire is never truly able to die, say that even if they are destroyed they will be brought back, why would they be afriad of being destroyed even if they knew that they would live again?", she asked. Carl stared at her for a moment and then closed the book.
"Ah, yes. Well that's interesting you see, because according to myth a vampire simply waits in a terrible part of purgatory until the devil finds use for them. I suppose that even if they are able to resurrect, the thought of even a moment in hell is enough to make them careful about staying as alive as is possible for them.", he explained. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't think Draculea wants to kill all of my family simply for a land dispute or grudge. I think it's because they know how to send him back to hell, even if only temporarily.", Miruna explained.
"Right, well, I'll take that into consideration.", Carl said as he opened the book and began reading and muttering to himself again. Miruna shook her head and walked back down to the drawing room. She began to pace back and forth again. Curiosity soon got the better of her. She sat down and took the book back into her lap. She was almost afriad to continue. What if her father had sold his own soul to get this information? What if he had been the one to doom the Valerious to their constant state of fear? She read further.
"I have done it! Drauclea is in my service and I in his! My wife and any of our children will have the Count's protection. I feel such power in simply thinking about this. I will be invincible among my family! Voris always brags of his successful hunts, now he will be second to the one that is above being hunted in the first place! Tosca is with child! I pray for a son. Draculea has promised that he will do everything in his power to protect her, lest he incur my wrath."
Miruna frowned again. Her father seemed a little power-mad. He had blackmailed the world's most powerful vampire and wasn't even careful enough not to write about it. Anyone could have stolen this journal and read about this. She read on. In the next few entries over the years, she read about the birth of her brothers and a peaceful life that her family shared before her birth in Transylvania. After her brothers had been born, Draculea visited with her father and mother regularly. It was as if they had become well-aquainted diplomats. Miruna found these entries (which averaged to be about two per month over the course of several years) to be amusing and encouraging. Her father and mother were living a wonderful life here in Transylvania, why had he left? What had happened to her mother? She came accross a entry that gave her a slight chill. She read the passage carefully.
"Tosca is with child once more. The midwife says this will be a daughter. Voris has demanded that I take Nicolae and Norvescu on the hunts with us from now on. They are only seven, but if Voris suspects something is keeping me and my family from our duties as Valerious, then I could lose much. I would lose my family's safety, our home, possibly our lives, and most of all Vladislaus would be lost. I have discovered that to undo the Count's evil is not to kill him, but instead to redeem him. I am not certain how to go about doing this, but I will find a way. If not solely for his sake, then for Tosca and mine. He has been a dearer friend and comfort to us than anyone else."
This was the last passage written before her birth. It was strange to think deeply about one's immediate family before one's exsistance. She read the next passage just as carefully, but this passage had been written some four months after the last.
"Voris has accused me of betraying the family. Tosca is no longer under the aid of the choovini with our child. The kris have decided to keep us under watch until they are certain that I have not tried to break the laws of the clan. I am afraid for Vladislaus, but Tosca is determined to keep our ties with him strong. I hope for our family's sake that he does not reveal anything either. Much is at stake. I hope the world is more peaceful for our little girl."
Miruna felt tears in her eyes. Her father hadn't abandoned the family here, not really. They had turned their backs on him. And for what? Because of suspicion? There was no mention of any current horrors committed by Draculea in the clips of documents in this journal. Official documents detailing needs for the villagers. Murders or missing peoples weren't mentioned by her father or the other five men that were repeatedly signing their names to the papers. What was so wrong about her father recieving aid from Draculea, even if he was nosferatu, and he was harming no one? Miruna frowned and sighed again. She heard a noise behind her. She turned and looked at the enormous mirror in the wall behind her. It was inlayed with beautiful silver blessings in every language spoken in Europe. She turned back to the book when she was satisfied that there was nothing in the room with her uninvited or unseen. She turned the page and felt a sharp pain in her chest. This was the passage that was written on her birthdate, the fifteenth of February in 1880. She held her breath as she read.
"As I was out at the hunt today, Tosca gave birth to our daughter. The choovini were not there to deliver her. I had feared this would happen. But God granted us a miracle, as my wife screamed for help; the count heard her cries and entered through the mirror he has used many times to visit us. He delivered the girl and aided my wife until I returned. Tosca is doing quite well for such a difficult birth and so is our daughter. I gave Vladislaus the privelege of naming her. He told me that he has not had such peace in his heart for four centuries; so she is named 'Miruna' the peaceful one. I fear that she will not be welcomed since she was not delivered by the wisewomen. The villagers grow restless, they hear of a new man coming to live in the next castle in the mountains. He is a strange and modern doctor, but the Count assures me that he is presiding over the man's activities here. All will be well."
Miruna thought about this for a moment. She ignored it and continued to read. The next few passages that detailed the next few months spanned her early childhood. Her head began to ache a little at thinking about this. She grasped her head as nausea began to wash over her. She had to calm down. Why on earth was she getting so worked up over scribbled words in her father's journal? The next few passages would answer all her questions about the past, but it wasn't going to cause an overwhelming change in her, was it? She inhaled again, very slowly and turned the page. These two pages were stained with tears and the words were written askew. She felt a sharp pain twisting inside her.
"Tosca is dead. She and Miruna were in the forest. Miruna is just now only six. She is only a baby, really. Tosca was gathering herbs in the forest. She always loved the wild arnica. A werewolf attacked them. Miruna was bitten, but Draculea was able to arrive in time to get her to safety and cure the wound with a seerum he has perfected. He controls the beasts. Why did this one attack my family? Why wasn't he there to save Tosca as well? He promised his protection. The family is convinced that Miruna is cursed for surviving the attack, though they do not know she was bitten. I am not safe here; my children are not safe here. We must leave. Draculea has promised to set up an official position for me in Bucharest, but I am never to return here and neither are the children. I lost everything but my little ones. I leave Transylvania with such sadness, but I will be strong for them. I must be strong for them."
Miruna felt a lump a rise in her throat. She felt as though she had just lost a dear friend. She didn't remeber her mother, but she felt as though she had just lost her all over again. She began to cry softly. As the tears flowed out of her soft eyes, memories began rushing back to her. Wave after wave of happy memory hit her like a typhon slamming into a schooner. Almost as quickly as the memories flooded back, she felt the sting of their loss. The nightmare that had vaguely repeated in her mind over and over again, now played out once more in crystal clear colour and sound before her. Miruna felt her body convulse in fear, anger, despair, and pain. She crumpled to the floor, dropping the book. She felt someone take her by the shoulders. She groaned as they sat her up.
"Oh my goodness! Are you alright?", Carl exclaimed. Miruna looked up at him, eyes still spinning. She moaned and tried to form words. He patted her shoulder. "Good, just stay here. I have to get out a warning to the village!"
Miruna's conscious came back to her at the word 'warning'. She suddenly heard noises from outside. Beating wings, shrieking, and scarmbling; like a flock of small animals rushing towards them. The sounds were getting louder. Miruna got up slowly and headed for the door. She felt something between euphoria and depression hanging on either side of her. Perhaps she was cursed. She had to render the aid that was not afforded to her mother to this village. Something had gone wrong in Transylvania after her father left. Something that definitely had Draculea behind it.