Lost in the Castle

~18~

I shook my head and swallowed with some difficulty before answering, my mouth suddenly dry, "I thought you were immortal." And couldn't be hurt, at least not easily. I wished I had paid more attention when reading vampire novels. But I had just never believed that a wooden stake ran through a heart, crucifixes or fire could kill a vampire. Better, I had never believed in vampires.

"Where exactly did your father go?" I was definitely beginning to worry now; coldness that had nothing to do with the frosty weather started to seep through my body, chilling me to the bones.

"He is in the village, Samara, and absolutely safe. You mustn't worry about him, silly." The smile reached his eyes this time; whatever he saw in my face amused him.

I looked away from him to compose my features; I didn't want him to laugh at me.

"Hey, I'm sorry," he said after a while, resting one of his hands on both of mine, clasped so tightly around the reins of my horse that they were starting to hurt. I had left my gloves somewhere in my chamber with my other coat, and now my hands were freezing, even Junior's normally cold hand felt warmer than mine. "I suppose you are afraid, but please, trust me, he'll be back tonight."

"And we might even meet him in Bran," I said hopefully, realising that we were headed towards the village ourselves. Soon, we would pass the spot where in my time the hotel where I stayed would stand...

Thinking about what had happened to me was still too confusing. I didn't understand any of it yet, but I didn't want to think about it right now. Aren't there a bit too many things you simply refuse to think about? my subconscious questioned.

"I didn't say he was in Bran." Junior's voice pulled me back to my current here and now. "They went to Sighisoara."

"What?" That's a good ninety kilometres away, my mind informed me promptly.

Sighisoara was not close, I knew that perfectly well. We-- Lia, Anne and myself-- wanted to visit the small medieval town during our Halloween trip, but were told by a friendly and helpful receptionist of our hotel that we would need to stay at least one more day to do so. And whereas Lia could afford one more day of holiday, both me and Anne were supposed to be back at work on Saturday... Stop!!! Wherever I was supposed to be on Saturday, the third of November, twenty-eighteen, did not matter at all right now.

"He will never be back tonight; it must take at least one full day to get so far on horseback!" I insisted.

"You are right. On a horse, it would take a long time. Running is much faster," he said, gauging my reaction, his lips twitching with a suppressed smile.

"What..." I repeated, too stunned to find anything more proper to say.

I kept forgetting. They were vampires. Suddenly, I thought that even if some of them looked nearly as human as me, for them, it was only an act. A simple pretence. Or maybe it was hard work, an ordeal some of them put themselves through but still... They were only doing it for the sake of the humans around them. Who knows how they were when left on their own, among others of their kind? Those like Radu and Jusztyna.... I had already noticed that they were all stronger and much faster, they didn't really need to eat or sleep, they didn't mind the sunshine more than me, they did not seem to feel cold... What else was there? Did I really want to know?

Junior was watching me so intently that for a moment, I was sure he was reading my thoughts.

"If Father is not back tonight, Ioan and the Guard will follow him tomorrow," he promised. I felt he did not want to tell me anything more about the matter. Not unless I asked directly, and I couldn't. Not yet. So much for being brave.