Dark Ages, 1457. The movement in and out of the castle in the next few days had been harsh. Vlad didn’t stop for one minute and his men came and went at all times. I spent my days alone if it wasn’t for Liana. He would join me for dinner, and our nights were full of passion until the morning came, and I’d wake up alone. And he didn’t let me in fully into his world. He put me in some sort of limbo and it was maddening.“Vlad? What’s going on?” I had to ask one night while we were having our dinner. “You seemed to prepare for a war.” I was already growing to know his ways, and when he got himself in a heavy silence he was pondering on what to say to me and I wouldn’t get the whole truth out of him. “Your left eye is twitching…” I said, my eyes in slits. “Watch it, Vlad. I want the truth!”“Liz, I rebuilt this castle because as you can see, it’s not big and it’s on top of this precipice almost impossible to suffer an attack.” He stood up and extended his hand to me. “Come, I want to show
Dark Ages, 1457.The following week was the hardest, and I’ve learned one more of his traits, stubbornness! The wound on his rib cage got infected, and we had to deal with his excessive-high fever. The wounds were healing, but barely closed. When pain beat at him he had to rest, but nothing, and no one could hold him in bed. The cut on his ribs bled a lot. It was a complicated place. Liana and I waited for him to settle for a nap, and we strapped him to bed. I didn’t know what else to do to keep this man quiet for some time, and all hell broke loose when he woke up and realized what I had done.“What do you mean by this, Alizandra?” His glaring could roast me on the spot such it was the anger there. I wasn’t sure anymore, if what I had done was the best approach for the situation. “Untie me, woman or…” I didn’t let him finish, as my words came out before I thought of them.“Or what? You don’t listen to me. You can’t keep moving around, you won’t heal, Vlad!” And it was right there, tha
Dark Ages, Spring 1459.Albu’s betrayal took us by surprise, and after that fateful day, where he tried to take me down, I had to go on a few expeditions; I had to hunt him down and also the ones who helped him plot against me. So, I left for a month or more at a time; it was a hard feature leaving her behind; she was my haven, the one who kept my demons at bay, but I couldn’t take a chance in bringing her with me, as she asked many times. I found a distraught Alizandra when I got back from one of these campaigns. And she was having night terrors, something she had never had before. Worry ate at me. Maybe my demons had found their way to her, I didn’t know, but something was wrong, very wrong.“Wake up, draga mea,” I said, gathering her in my arms. “Wake up.” I kissed all over her face, trying to appease her distress. She was swimming in sweat and her breathing was difficult. Then those lavenders fixed on me, glinting with unshed tears, and that itself crushed my heart. “What’s wrong,
Dark Ages, 1460.“I am who I am, Alizandra, I can’t let go. They forged me in blood and death, and I know no other way!” He didn’t listen to me, and something broke inside my chest. I still had my night terrors and also did he, but as long as we slept in each other’s arms we could keep them at bay, but I hadn’t been able to shed them away, and my eyes always carried a haunted expression. Our souls were intertwined for all eternity, that was a fact, and it didn’t matter what would happen to us, we would always be together. He asked me not to sneak out anymore, but to take Liana with me when I wished to walk around the village, but not even that appeased me anymore. I preferred staying by the courtyard garden or praying in the chapel. So I kept my promise because he was the one breaking all of them.I knew everything that would go on around me. Most of the Transylvanian settlers were Germans, they were hardworking people, and they were great in the makings of firearms, like cannons, and
Dark Ages, 1461-2.Lord, she was beautiful! I loved those lavenders, and by God’s justice to those eyes she smelled floral, lavender just like the color in them, but as soon as she stared at me something had changed. They were dead, and that made me fall on my knees right there in the middle of the room. I killed her soul together with mine, and for that, I would never forgive myself. She observed me without saying a word, a terrorizing silence. “What can I do to bring back the light in your eyes?” There was nothing else I could do to remedy the situation, but beg for her absolution.“Nothing,” she said in a blunt retort, a spear piercing my heart. “You’ve made your choice, and I hope it served you well.” There was no more passion in her voice, only disgust. “Sometimes I ask God why would he give me this burden? He knows who I am, he knows how bloody my life has been, so why did he give you to me? You don’t deserve any of this.”She sighed and considered my words for some time. “It
New York, 2018.Two days ago I got a call from my boss and they handed me a mission. This time the orders came straight from the head of the agency and something didn’t add up. My sixth sense screamed in my head, not to take it, but it wasn’t an option. I was glad when I saw many stars above my head. They would work as my sight once I turned off my headlights and became a ghost. Yes, I could get in and out of places and retrieve stuff, and no one would know I was there.I’ve always been in love with bikes as far as I can remember. They meant the freedom I didn’t have, and I swore to myself that when the time came I’d have my own, and here I was on my ride. The gentle vibration slipping into my body and the smooth sound she’d make, like a kitten, purring and rubbing between my legs soothed my broken soul, and every time I got on her we became one. I jammed the throttle and put more miles behind me.Life had been harsh from day one, I was born a little unique from the conventional, and p
New York, 2018.The odor of rotting flesh made its way up to my nose again, as I knew right away I’d be in one of my nightmares. Chills would crawl all over my skin and I’d break out in a sweat, once I started hearing the screams and moans of dying people, making me shiver in agony to see all those decayed corpses falling around me. In the middle of those flying debris and dust there he was, dominating the battlefield, undaunted and powerful, staring straight at me with those forest green eyes, behind all that I saw the weight of the world, and his decisions heavy on his shoulders. I didn’t know who he was, and I was sure he gave me the creeps with such intense gaze upon me, but also something else I didn’t know how to explain as my soul longed for him somehow. How many times in the middle of my nightmares he took me in his arms appeasing my distress, and it felt so right! How did you explain longing for a person who is a figment of your crazy mind? A barbarian, for Christ’s sake! Gos
New York, 2018.“Help!” Only a thread from afar, making its way through the haziness on my slumber. “God, it’s too much!” A whisper, barely there, anguished, tormented, then pain. Horrible and excruciating pain ripping through my insides, tearing everything in its path.There was only one time I felt this kind of pain, and it was when Liz died in my arms. I was so consumed by guilt and hatred, the devil in me rose to the surface and I spared nothing or anyone on my path.I snapped my eyes opened as one more jolt of electricity coursed through me, frying my flesh. Baring my fangs, I hissed as my body heated to a searing point and convulsed. What was wrong with me? Late punishment for my evil deeds?“Please… Stop!” The yell was stronger this time, and another wave washed over my skin. Each of my muscles cramped in such a terrible way I swore they were being reaped open or something, the agony too much! When I thought death would welcome me, my body relaxed, leaving me painting and gaspin