Drained : The Virgin & The Count [Dracula 2020 BBC Fanfic]

CHAPTER I

CHAPTER I
A Descent Into Shadows

The old man's voice was a cold fog from the sudden shift of temperature. "No one dares travel in evenings, not especially during the season with entities of the darkness lurking in the break of day," he said, almost huffing. We followed him as he led us down the path.

Earlier, we had been asked to walk the rest of the way towards our destination. The caleche's driver had told us that his horses would not dare go any further up the mountains. As if they were resisting something else besides the steep height. We were left to walk with our bags, walking close with one another as my father carried a gaslit lamp in hand. It didn't take us ten minutes to find a man on these roads to guide us through the darkness.

With humane sympathy, he had offered us his farmhouse to stay for the night. This old man walked with a good lamp in hand as well. With his lamp and my father's, we could see the roads better now. We resumed walking for another ten minutes.

Luciana had been muttering words under her breath. Our clothes were never meant for taking long walks, despite the purposes of good leisure. "For how long must we go on?" she sighed, intending her words to be heard by everyone.

"Hush, mind your step now, or you'll trip on your feet," I whispered, tugging her elbow slightly. "Hold yourself together, dear. We are almost there," Father replied reassuringly, patting her shoulder now. She nodded in reply. I couldn't help but roll my eyes behind them. For we all knew that this would go on for another twenty minutes. There were no signs of anyone living in the area, not even a little farm in sight.

"What is your business here in Transylvania?" he asked, glancing at all of us. A very strong accent showed in between his long processed words. Mother glanced at Father, nonverbally asking permission to share the business that brought us here. With Father nodding back at her, Mother seemed to be constructing a reply now.

"Mother replied, nodding her head now. A few nods came from behind her, agreeing with our mother. 'It is a family matter. We are going to visit my Papa's land,' she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

'Your Papa's land, out of all places yet in this part of the country?' he asked, scoffing in disbelief. 'Even the horses would not even want to go here. What more if... people?' I replied, looking at the old man now. He glanced at me shortly, understanding my remark.

'No... eh... It is that- why a lovely family- go to this lonely and too cold place?' he asked, sounding sincere despite the broken English. He reiterated his earlier remarks, perhaps realizing now how blunt he may have sounded earlier. My father and the man continued talking, it was a rapid exchange of foreign words. Father knows Hungarian, perhaps that must be it. I was not able to catch every single word of it, but I do know that they mentioned people, a ruler, and some battles.

Higher and higher we climbed, the winds blew whistling between rocks and boulders. The moon found its way to help us see through the gloomy night. The agreeable exchange of the gentlemen was halted as a ring of wolves appeared in a blink of an eye. The eyes of the wolves showed brute and savage hunger, bending their furred legs in a synchronized manner, readying themselves to pounce on each one of us.

The old man, with lamp in hand, motioned right in front of us with arms wide open. With gritted teeth, he was shouting to the wolves, hurriedly    spoken in the Romany language. I am certain that I identified the language correctly. My first guess would be that he is warding the wolves with a prayer.

"roagă-te domnului. fugi pentru viețile tale!"
(Pray to the God, Run for your Lives!)

But as soon as he pulled father by the shoulder, whispering in his face in pure exasperation with a quick mention of 'Domnului' which meant God and 'Fugi' which meant run. That is when I realized that it was no prayer. He was begging, but not to us, he was begging for the wolves to spare us.

Instinctively father grabbed the lamp, hastily presenting it to the ring of savage wolves as if it were some deadly weapon.  "Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!"This action did not seem to create an effect, not even the slightest reaction until a blue flame appeared out of nowhere, flickering in the distance between us and the growling pack. Us, women, slowly stepped out feet backwards. Not making our gestures any noticeable as my eyes are fixated on mother and sister's.

The flame is warm, and it burns just like any other flame would. We did not notice the freezing cold until we felt the great warmth that the blue flame is giving us now. The wolves gilded their feet backwards fleeing, which now leaves us alone with this magic fire. A sigh escaped from everyone at the realization that we escaped danger.

"Salvador, what is it?" Mother whispered as she moved to follow father's as he took a closer look. The blue flame flickered as soon as we went nearer and nearer to its dancing shapes. Before any of our instincts took control, it disappeared. Its disappearance has given us this sense of awareness that we are lost in the middle of a mountain. Everything just seemed to be in grim silence. Which told me that we were lost in a trance for a short while.