Chapter 1
Joseph awoke with a gasp as he sat upright in his seat. His head hurt and his body ached. For a moment, he had completely forgotten where he was and what had happened. But slowly, it all came back to him. He had been traveling by plane above the forests of Romania when the engine lost power, before crashing into the sea of trees below. It was a small raggedy plane, the only one he could afford. So it wasn't really that much of a surprise that something like this had happened, but that didn't change how bad of a situation he was in right now.
As he slowly got up, he winced in pain as clutched his side. Something was broken for sure. But without a doctor, he didn't know what. He couldn't let that stop him from moving though. He had to get out of here and find help. But first he wanted to check on the people who were in the plane with him. He slowly made his way to the cockpit to check on the two pilots to see if they were okay. Unfortunately they weren't as lucky as him. The pilot was crushed by the metal in front of him when the plane crashed into the tree it was currently pressed against, and his co-pilot had been impaled through the chest by a branch.
Dammit Joseph thought as he slowly turned around and made his way out of the wreckage. He was alone, and could only rely on his own instincts to survive.
Reaching back into the plane, he grabbed his backpack, the only baggage he had brought with him, as well as his trusty katana, his symbol of his time in Japan where his life began anew. He also grabbed anything he knew could be useful, including the plane's first aid kit, and some premium bungee cords.
He was ready to start moving, or at least as ready as he could be, but he still had no idea where to go. As he looked around him, he spotted a hill about a hundred feet in front of him. It wasn't much, but it should be able to give him at least a decent vantage point to see the surrounding areas. So he began to hike towards it, all while thanking god his legs weren't broken, but his other injuries didn't exactly make walking pleasant.
Eventually though he made his way to the top. And as he scanned the surrounding areas, all he could see at first was nothing but trees as far as the eye could see. He was expecting this, but was hoping that this wouldn't be the case. However as he got to about three quarters of a full turn around, his eyes caught something he wasn't expecting. There was a large stone castle off in the distance. And beneath that, there was what looked like a small village. Joseph was pleasantly surprised, but also confused by the sight.
Wait. he thought. There weren't any villages on the maps anywhere in this area. So what is one doing out here?
He pondered this for a moment but then realized he should really be heading towards it rather than thinking about it. So that's exactly what he did. As fast as his injured body would allow, he began walking towards this unexpected sign of civilization, hoping he would get there before dark.
…..
Joseph had been walking for about an hour now and he was finally starting to get close to the huge castle he had spotted earlier. And not a moment too soon as the sun had just started to begin to set, taking its warmth with it. He shuddered as the cold began to creep along his body, which gave him even more motivation to move forward.
He didn't know exactly what he would find there. Hell, he didn't even know if the occupants spoke English. His pilots were certainly on and off with that. But regardless, he knew he had to get there and seek help. It certainly beat spending the night out alone in the Romanian wilderness with the cold and god knows what else. But his day was about to take another unexpected turn as his trek was interrupted by a bloodcurdling scream coming from his right.
Joseph jerked his head towards it, startled by what he had heard. At first he hesitated, but he had learned over the years to trust his instincts and right now, they were saying that someone needed help.
"Is someone there?" he called out while taking a few steps in the direction he heard the scream. There wasn't a response, and he began to feel uneasy. This was just like those horror movies he watched where someone followed a scream into the woods, only to be met with a gruesome end. He couldn't help but feel this was happening to him, but he decided to give the situation the benefit of the doubt just in case someone really was in trouble.
"Hey, is anyone out there? Do you need help?" he called out.
This turned out to be the right decision as a few seconds later, he heard another scream followed by rustling in the brush before someone came bursting out and tackled him to the ground. Joseph moaned in pain from the impact, but he quickly looked up at the person. It was a girl that looked about his age, early to mid twenties, with medium length brunette hair, and a strange tattoo on her forehead. She was wearing a strange black dress with a hood as well as a necklace, and she was holding what looked like a sickle in her hand. Before Joseph could process what he was looking at, the girl shouted at him.
"Help me! It's right behind-"
But she didn't get to finish her sentence as she was pulled with force off of Joseph before her screams continued. Joseph quickly sat up and was greeted to a horrifying sight. The girl was on the ground, and pinning her down was an enormous brown bear. It had her right thigh in its mouth and was shaking her violently back and forth, easily throwing the sickle from the girl's hand, while tearing her skin and muscle in the process. In addition, it was also using its claws to rake across her body, cutting her like a hot knife through butter. The girl's screams were something that made his blood run cold. He had never heard anyone scream like that before. It was a mix of pain and pure terror.
Suddenly Joseph completely forgot about his injuries as he rose to his feet and rushed the brown bear, unsheathing his katana in the process.
"Get off of her!" he yelled as he swung the blade down, slicing the bear's side and drawing blood.
The beast roared in pain as it quickly got off the girl and swung its paw at Joseph, but he was fast enough to duck out of the way and put some distance between himself and his opponent. He felt no pain anymore, his adrenaline was fueling his body at this point. This girl needed his help and he was going to everything in his power to do so. He quickly got into a fighting stance while the bear stared at him with rage in its eyes.
The huge predator charged at Joseph with full speed while emitting a roar that could probably be heard from miles. Most people would be terrified at such a sight, but Joseph stayed calm. He knew that if he panicked he was as good as dead. He waited for just the right moment. And when the bear was almost upon him, he dodged to the left, while at the same time bringing the katana down on its neck, decapitating it.
Just as quickly as it started, it was over. Joseph stared down for a moment at the bear's now lifeless body, almost in disbelief at what had just happened, but it was only for a moment as he quickly put his sword back into its sheath and made his way to the girl who was still lying in the ground.
Her injuries were horrific, way worse than anything he had sustained in the plane crash. Her body was covered with deep claw marks as well as a couple bites on her right shoulder, but the bite on her leg was by far the worst. It was so deep, Joseph could actually see bone, and blood was pouring out at an alarming rate. Strangely it seems to be darker than blood should usually look, but he didn't pay any mind to that. He quickly threw off his backpack and got out the first aid kit as well as the bungee cords.
Thankfully the bungee cords were relatively long as Joseph was able to wrap one around the girl's leg before firmly tightening it to use as a tourniquet. The girl screamed in agony as he did this.
"I'm so sorry." He said "I have to try and stop the bleeding."
He then got to work using bandages and antiseptic from the first aid kit on the wound. It wasn't much, but it would have to do for now. Slowly, he picked up the girl in his arms.
"You're going to be okay. I promise." He assured her.
"Castle..." She said weakly
"Huh?"
"Take me…to the castle. It's…my home."
Joseph quickly nodded before full on sprinting towards the structure, not caring for any pain he felt. He had started the day needing help, but now someone needed it far more than he did. And as he ran, he prayed he would be able to make it in time and save this girl.
….
After what felt like forever, Joseph finally made it to the front entrance of the castle with the girl in his arms. The whole time he was talking to her, trying desperately to keep her awake. She didn't say much, but Joseph was able to learn a few things. The girl's name was Cassandra Dimitrescu, and she lived at the castle with her mother, Alcina, and her two sisters, Bela and Daniela. Apparently her mother also owned a winery, but he didn't pay too much mind to that part. He just wanted her to keep talking, because that meant she was awake.
Since he was holding Cassandra in his arms, Joseph knocked at the front door with his foot.
"Hello?" he shouted. "Alcina Dimitrescu? Please open up! Your daughter is hurt and she needs help!"
He waited for a moment, but nothing happened. So he banged on the door again.
"Alcina Dimitrescu! Your daughter needs help! Please!"
He was about the bang on the door a third time when it finally swung open. On the other side was a girl that looked similar to Cassandra, but she had an overall different face as well as blonde hair.
Must be one of her sisters Joseph thought.
The girl's eyes widened in horror as she almost threw herself at Cassandra.
"Oh my god! Cassie, what happened to you?!" She shouted with a panicked voice as she checked her sister's injuries. Strangely, she seemed to be looking over her like a doctor would. Was she a doctor herself? After a moment, she turned to Joseph with a look of rage in her eyes that somehow put the bear's to shame.
"What did you do to her?!" She growled.
Now Joseph's eyes widened in horror.
"No, I didn't do anything! I-"
Before he could finish, Cassandra weakly grabbed the blonde's arm before almost whispering.
"Bela…he didn't hurt me. He…helped me."
So this is Bela. Joseph though.
Bela paused for a moment before her anger quickly subsided, and she turned back to the stranger at her door.
"Bring her inside. Follow me." She said.
Joseph didn't need to be told twice to do that. He quickly came inside and followed Bela through the corridors. He had no idea where he was going. All he knew was that he needed to follow the blonde in front of him. They went through a pair of double doors revealing a large room that had a staircase to the right, and a large set of stone double doors on the left. There was some kind of writing on it but Joseph couldn't tell what it said. He didn't pay any mind to that though as it wasn't important right now.
Bela quickly ran forward through another door in front of her with Joseph close behind her. They passed through another hallway, through what looked like a sitting room, and then finally entered a large bedroom, with an equally large bed in it.
"Put her down here." Bela said. Joseph quickly obeyed.
Once he did, the blonde quickly began to assess her sister's injuries, but the more she looked, the more she looked horrified and sickened.
"What the hell happened to her?" She said with a shake in her voice.
"She was attacked by a brown bear." Joseph replied "I was able to kill it before it dragged her off."
Bela looked up at her guest with a look of surprise.
"You managed to kill a brown bear by yourself?"
Joseph motioned to the katana sheathed and strapped to his waist.
"Well, I had this to give me an advantage. Honestly it's more dangerous than any gun, but explanations will have to wait. We need to help Cassndra."
Bela nodded in agreement.
"Get a fire going and make sure to have some hot coals. I'll be right back." she said. Before Joseph could ask where she was going, the blonde had already taken off.
Jeez. She's fast. He thought. He quickly made his way to the fireplace and grabbed the lighter fluid and lighter that was sitting on the shelf above it. Thankfully it didn't take him long to get a fire going. There was also a pair of clamps to hold coals hanging on the wall. Good. He was going to need them.
Before long, the door behind him opened again. Joseph turned around to see Bela again accompanied by two other people. One of them was another girl with the same black dress as Cassandra and Bela, but this one had yet another different face as well as red hair. Daniela no doubt. The other person however made Joseph freeze in place out of confusion and shock.
She was wearing a white dress with what looked to be a Victorian hat, and her skin was just as pale as the other girls. But what made Joseph freeze in place was that she was way taller than he was, about 8 feet or more. Joseph was dumbfounded. How the hell could someone be that tall? She put even basketball players to shame, but he didn't have time to think much of it as the woman ran to the bedside with a speed that made him jump.
"Cassandra! Oh baby, I told you it was dangerous to hunt at this time of year! Why didn't you listen?" She sobbed. She was quickly growing hysterical. Joseph knew right then and there who this was. This was Cassandra's mother, Alcina. Any mother would be hysterical like this if their child was badly hurt. Bela walked over and put her hand on Alcina's shoulder.
"This won't help, mother." She said. "We need to do what we can to help Cassie until Aunt Donna gets here"
The blonde noticed Joseph looking confused and knew what he was thinking.
"My Aunt Donna knows a lot more about medicine than I do. She will definitely help. Daniela, I need you to help me hold Cassie down. We're going to have to cauterize her wound."
Daniela was clearly just as upset as her mother as she had tears streaming down her face.
"O-of course Bela. Just g-give me a moment." she said as she took a few deep breaths to mentally prepare herself.
Alcina was giving a look of disbelief and horror at Bela's proposed idea before Joseph spoke up.
"We have to do this, Miss Dimitrescu. It's the only way we can stop the bleeding, and we have to do it quickly. That tourniquet has been on her leg long enough already."
The woman stared at him for a moment before reluctantly nodding her head.
"Do whatever you have to do to save my daughter."
Joseph smiled and nodded his head as well.
"Your daughter is not going to die tonight. You have my word."