There Is No Me Beyond You

~8~

Lucas showed our tickets to the driver before we walked down the aisle of the near empty bus, then sat in the back seats, trying to avoid any curious looks.

A guide and a couple more tourists entered a few minutes later. The doors of the old vehicle closed with a loud hiss and it started to move immediately.

I was torn. Half of me was yearning to stand up, run to the driver, make him stop the bus and let me go back to Aurora. The other half urged me to scream at him to drive faster, to take me to Vlad as soon as possible.

So I did nothing, just inhaled shakily, closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against the cool, vibrating glass of the window.

"You should take your jacket off," Lucas said. "It's a long journey, you'll be cold once we get outside again."

Thank goodness for Lucas. I looked at him, smiled, and removed my jacket, then took my book from its pocket, afraid that it would fall out. As I put it on my lap it opened in the place where I had stuffed several pictures of Aurora between two of its pages. I closed it again quickly and pressed my palms over it, keeping it safely shut.

Lucas brought one of his hands over mine, and I observed it absentmindedly, revelling in the reassuring touch and warmth of his large palm against my cold skin.

"Samara..." he started, choosing his words carefully, "I can't say I agree with this decision, but I do understand you. You'd never forgive yourself if... Whatever. So, you can't afford to fall apart right now, you'll have time for that later, if you really have to. Today, in a few hours, you'll need all your strength and courage, and concentration. We will have to be careful, or this will all go wrong."

I looked up at him, nodding while dabbing at the corners of my eyes, prickling with unshed tears, with the sleeve of my jumper. He was right. I made my decision alone, no one pushed me into it, and now I had to make sure that this whole thing, this crazy, dangerous adventure would not be useless. For Vlad's sake, and Aurora's, and Lucas', who was risking everything for me...

I smiled and concentrated on the words of the guide reaching us through the loudspeakers of the bus, letting them distract me.

There won't be any guide in the ruin of the Poenari Citadel, the real Dracula castle, the young woman, whose English was as heavily accented as Alina's, confirmed Stoker's words. So, we were to hear as much of the castle's history now, during our three and a half hours' long journey through the forests of Transylvania.

We would reach the citadel perched on a steep precipice of rock, towering high above the river Arges, at around three o'clock in the afternoon. If we manage to climb the one thousand four hundred and eighty concrete steps leading to it, of course, the woman laughed cheerily. The remains of once imposing medieval castelul are in quite a poor state, she rattled on, after the landslides caused by the three most recent earthquakes of the last century.

There is not much to see, really, but... the guide paused mysteriously, there is plenty to feel. The ancient ruin is supposed to be haunted and we are very lucky to be allowed to visit it on Halloween. People who had been crazy enough to spend a night on the castle hill, among the crumbling walls before, claim to have smelled rotten flowers... They felt being watched constantly and found bite marks on their necks the day after...

Here the guide laughed again and I stopped listening.

Settling more comfortably on my seat I leaned my head on Lucas' shoulder and looked out of the window, into the thin veil of mist separating the bus from the infinite forest lining the road on both sides.

"Here's the plan," Lucas whispered, taking my jacket and spreading it over me like a blanket. "When we get off the bus, we let the others go first, there's no rush. We don't want to be noticed as the first ones at the top. We'll take our time and once we're alone, we'll find the arch Uncle told us about. We, especially you, Samara, as you might recognize some of them, must watch out for anyone from the other side."