Rachel propped her hands against the glove compartment, trying to keep steady. "This road is killing me!" Twist after turn and pot hole after pot hole. They'd be better off in a tractor. "Can't you at least avoid some of the holes?"
"Trust me, the ones I'm not hitting are deeper." Daniel chuckled. "Where's your sense of adventure, Rach?"
"Oh, let me see. I left it in Târgovişte, on top of that useless tower."
She wasn't exactly being fair – the tower had been pretty cool, as well as the ruins of Vlad's old residence, but they'd found nothing. Not even a mild trace of paranormal activity or a lonesome vampire. They hadn't felt a single vampire since arriving in Romania, and Rachel was starting to feel rusty. Maybe Vlad wasn't here after all. Maybe he resided in a mansion in Beverly Hills.
"Any more ruins you want to check out?"
"As far as I know, Bran Castle isn't a ruin. So we might find something there. Hopefully, Vlad."
"So, how far is it?" Rachel stifled a yawn. She hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night, and the traveling had her yearning for a place to rest before driving into Vlad's potential hideout.
"Less than a hundred kilometers from our position. But I think we should rest, so we're stopping in Câmpulung for the night." Daniel rubbed one eye. "We're almost there anyway."
"I'd like you to ask for my opinion, too."
"Fine." Daniel sounded annoyed. "Is it okay if we stop in Câmpulung for the night? Mom?"
"You don't have to be a jerk about it." She looked out the window pointedly.
Both their tempers had bubbled just beneath the surface all day. Rachel could tell he was almost as pissed as she was about their current situation, even if they'd avoided touching. But they'd both tried and managed to keep everything civil, even friendly.
The building to her right caught her attention. "What's this?" It appeared to be a factory except for the space rocket-launcher look-alike in the middle of the courtyard.
"That's a cement factory. The launcher is a cooling tower. We're close now."
Rachel analyzed the buildings as they drove past the factory, toward a roundabout. When she finally got bored, she looked beyond it. A thin strip of road led to their right, like a winding snake, and got lost between a hill and a half devoured chalk mountain. The breath hitched in her throat. That hill looked awfully familiar. She closed her eyes and tried to remember where she'd seen it before. The image flashed behind her eyelids: her and Daniel, him with his arms around her, sitting on top of a hill. That hill. How could it be real?
"Whoa!" Daniel braked abruptly.
The seatbelt cut into Rachel's shoulder as it stopped her from bashing her head against the windshield. Her eyes popped open, all thoughts of hills and dreams out of her mind. "Are you crazy?"
"Can't you sense that?" Daniel's voice shook.
"Sense what?" She didn't even get the entire sentence out before he was out of the car, gazing around like a maniac.
She climbed out and marched toward him. Halfway there, she felt it too: the cold creeping under her skin, settling in the core of her very bones. Smoky hands seemed to wrap around her neck, restricting air access. Her heart beat erratically and she actually felt fear, despair.
"What's going on?" Her question came out as a whisper.
"I have no idea." Daniel returned to the car, glancing over his shoulder. "I've never sensed anything like this before. Let's get to town and see if it's worse there."
Rachel nodded and climbed back inside. She stared behind and, for the first time, noticed the church-tower structure rising on top of her dream-hill.
Daniel reentered traffic and sped through a village. The road was still winding, but pothole free. The further away they got from the place they'd stopped, the better Rachel felt. The fear dissolved, and she could breathe properly again.
They drove down a hill, toward a traffic light. Before them, the sun set behind a forested hill, leaving behind a bloody sky. The area was beautiful. A river flowed, cutting the town in two almost equal sections, and the still snow-covered mountain peaks rose towards the sky in the distance. The town itself was a mixture of old houses and modern buildings. The architecture of some of the structures was amazing, with carefully carved balconies and decorations.
Daniel stopped the car in front of a rectangular, five story hotel. Across the street, there was a bakery. The delicious aroma of cheese pâtés drifted into the car. With the unsettling feeling gone, Rachel's mouth watered and her stomach rumbled. She hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.
"You're hungry, aren't you?" Daniel unlatched his seatbelt and opened the door. "I'll get the rooms. Go get some pâtés."
Rachel hopped out of the car, invigorated by the idea of food. "You mean get a room."
Before she realized what was going on, Daniel stood in front of her, so close she could feel the heat radiating off his body. She took half a step back and butted against the car.
His face hovered mere inches from hers. "You want to share a room?"
Rachel frowned. Why did he even ask? It wasn't like in Bucharest they... Oh. In Bucharest, she was doing him a favor. He'd asked her. Now, she'd brought it up. "Do you want to share?"
He rested his hands against the car, trapping her between his arms, and leaned even closer. "No fair. I asked you first." His voice came out as a raspy whisper.
Electric current shot down Rachel's spine. Her fingers curled, and the hairs on her neck stood on end as the rush travelled through her. The way he looked now, with those inky eyes filled with hunger, his strong arms encasing her, the smallest smile tugging on the corner of his mouth... How could she resist him? She raised a shaky hand and placed it on his cheek. What do you think?
"Damn it. Why does this have to be so hard? Why can't I want the right thing?" His nose touched hers and his body pressed against her. He shut his eyes, moving closer toward her. "I shouldn't...you...we..." His mouth covered hers and the surroundings disappeared.
Powerful heat swept through Rachel, it was like catching fire, as if liquid sunshine ran through her veins. Passion poured from Daniel as his arms wrapped around her. Again, they were standing in the middle of the forest, water flowing nearby, birds singing, but even that paled in the face of her feelings. Images zoomed through her mind, but she couldn't make sense of any of them. All she knew was they made her happier than she'd ever been before.
Daniel suddenly pulled back, and it felt like someone threw a bucket of cold water on her.
"Sorry, kinda got lost back there." He tried to smile. "I didn't mean to—"
"It's okay." Rachel sidestepped him, trying to calm her heart. "Fine. Forget it ever happened." That's what he wanted, anyway. Exactly like the first time. She just wished he wouldn't be such an exceptionally good kisser. Then, maybe she could push him back.
"No, it's not fine. And I don't want to forget it ever happened."
Rachel froze with one foot in midair. She did a pirouette on her grounded leg and almost toppled over. Daniel had a frown on his face and his fists clenched.
"I'm not using you. I swear I'm not. And I can't believe you would let me use you."
Rachel's mouth fell open. He was mad at her? "Then what's up with you?"
"I just don't want to—" He bit his lip. God, she wanted to kiss him again. "My head is a mess, and I have a feeling I'm fucking this up horribly. It's so..." He paused, searching for the words.
"Let's not talk about it now, okay?" He was right, it was confusing, and she didn't need that now.
They still had a lot of work to do. She wanted to hear everything from him, not wrench it out. If she eventually had to, she'd rather it was after they offed Vlad.
He breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Rach."
"Go get a room and I'll get the food."
"I'm not sure that's exactly safe." He shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Oh, she couldn't miss this. "What's not safe?" she asked innocently. She tried not to giggle.
"You and me sharing a— Oh, you're yanking my chain." He smirked. "Fine, have it your way. I'll get a room."
Rachel bit the back of her hand, trying to keep the laughter back, but failed. "What could you do to me anyway?"
"Bad things. Evil things no one has ever done to you before. Don't underestimate me." He had already headed toward the hotel.
Rachel returned to her quest of filling their stomachs, her mind twisting his words around. The simple thought of what he implied turned her on waaay too much and she didn't think they should move on. Not before she figured out what this thing between them was, because she could hardly call it a relationship. So she was more than grateful when she discovered the two single beds in the room.
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"What exactly are we expecting to find?" Rachel asked, pulling her knees to her chest.
"God, it's amazing how small you are. You could sleep in that seat." Daniel winked and turned his gaze back to the road. "I'm hoping to find some freaky wishing troll that would tell us where Vlad is. I don't know."
Rachel wrapped her arms around her knees and squeezed. As they came closer to the outskirts of Câmpulung, cold slowly made its way through her veins. She got the sudden impulse to yell at Daniel to go back.
The hill in her thoughts loomed ahead, the tower the only strange item in an otherwise familiar image. The sight of it calmed her nerves.
"Do you know anything about that building?" She nodded toward the hill.
"That's a mausoleum. It was built after World War One, and there's an ossuary inside. Apparently, these hills were quite an important battlefield. Offered great tactical advantage."
Daniel pulled over in the same spot they'd stopped the previous evening and got out of the car.
Rachel grabbed the door handle and squeezed. She didn't want outside. She wanted as far away from that place as possible. Hey! You're a Hunter. Pull yourself together! Maybe you'll have to kill this thing. She took calming breaths, mentally preparing for the worst.
Daniel walked around as though searching for a signal, then finally got back behind the wheel and swerved left before reaching the roundabout. This street was narrower, lined with houses and full of dung. A metal plate read Nămăieşti.
"We're in a different village altogether here," Daniel whispered.
"Really? Wow, they're close."
He stomped on the brake pedal, and the car stopped with a jolt. Rachel's knuckles turned white on the door handle. Daniel's grip on the wheel had tightened too, as he looked out the window to his left.
"Don't yank the wheel off." Her voice came out shaky.
Daniel unlatched his seatbelt and hurried out of the car. Rachel took a steadying breath, then hopped out too. Her white sneakers landed in a pile of cow crap. She swore under her breath, but didn't even have the energy to get angry properly. She took another deep, calming breath, trying to shield herself against the nauseating feeling of despair.
"It's coming from up there," Daniel whispered, nodding forward.
Rachel focused on the road leading up a steep hill. She made for the car, but Daniel crossed the street and rushed off on foot, barely keeping within range of normal-human speed. She charged after him. She didn't want to be alone – it felt like someone was watching her.
The road turned a sharp left and led to some wooden gates. Daniel pushed them open and walked through. Some fifteen feet after the gates, they turned a sharp right, and found themselves in front of a church entrance. Only there was no church beyond it. The entrance led directly into the mountain, as if it were a fancy entrance into a cave.
To their left was a white, long, two story house. Rachel glanced at the dark windows. The entire plateau looked deserted and a bit creepy. She rubbed her arms. Apart from the cold, it felt like smoke surrounded her, and invisible hands grasped her neck again, making it hard to breathe.
"It's a monastery." Daniel strode to the entrance of the church and stopped in front of it, to read a sign. Candles flickered inside the church. "This is interesting." Daniel walked back to her. "There's supposed to be a miracle-maker representation of the virgin inside."
"You think that's emitting the creepy aura?" Rachel flinched and looked over her shoulder. She could've sworn someone touched her.
"Church and God are good things. They couldn't be the cause of this smothering air." He wrapped one arm around her shoulders. "I think it's the floating smoke."
She looked back at him, frowning. "Floating smoke?"
"You can't see it?"
A woman's croaky voice made Rachel's heart take a dive into her stomach. Daniel jumped and the two of them turned toward the door of the house. A small, hunched figure draped in black stood in a doorway. She spoke again, in Romanian, pointing at Daniel. He nodded and answered.
"Come on Rach, we might be on to something here." He took her hand and pulled her inside the house, after the old woman. Rachel followed, glad to be out of the open.
The room was empty except for a long, rough wooden table complete with benches, and a loam hob in one corner. The old woman wearing nun habits shuffled toward the corner, banging a gnarled stick on the stone floor. She sat at the end of the table and looked up at them. Her eyes were milky. The only source of light was the stub of a candle, resting in the middle of the table.
"Stah-tzi joss," the nun said.
Daniel thanked her and the two of them took seats on the other side of the table. The woman said something else and Rachel started to get annoyed. She wished Daniel would've managed to teach her Romanian. As though reading her mind, the nun turned her blind eyes to her and said something to Daniel.
"Good point." He took Rachel's hand. Why didn't I think of this?
Rachel stared at him blankly. What do you mean?
You can hear my thoughts. You should be able to understand her, no problem.
Rachel nodded and tightened her grip on his hand, preparing for what would follow.
"Does the lady understand now?"
Rachel jumped so violently, her butt actually left the bench. She couldn't hear sounds coming from the outside world, she knew that, yet the old woman's voice sounded clearly from inside Daniel's head. Not to mention she spoke perfect English.
"Yeah, we're good," Daniel answered. His voice seemed to come from the outside, not resound inside her head like it used to. Freaky!
"Max said you would come," the old woman croaked.
How did Max know we would end up here? Rachel asked. Daniel repeated the question to the woman.
"Max had a gift. He knew things before they happened." The nun grinned, revealing a couple of missing teeth.
Daniel turned to stare at Rachel. He'd obviously had no idea about this.
"He said he would send someone to finish what he couldn't." The old woman continued as though not sensing their confusion. "This day was foretold."
Rachel waited, but the woman didn't elaborate. She nudged Daniel. Ask her about the vibe!
Yes, boss. He asked.
"What you are sensing, are the wraiths. There are many of them around."
"Wraiths?" Daniel frowned. "I've never sensed wraiths before. Unless... A single wraith's aura is—"
The woman nodded. "Barely distinguishable. Your senses must be far more evolved to sense just one of them, child. But here, there are plenty."
What are wraiths? Rachel asked.
"They are messengers," the woman answered. "And spies. Invisible creatures."
For who?
"For who pays the most. They rarely have allegiances. You see, wraiths have no spine." The old woman gave a chuckle which sounded more as if someone was scratching a metal board with a nail.
This kinda explained how Vlad and the Hunters found them. You knew wraiths existed? Rachel squeezed Daniel's hand.
Remember when I mentioned not telling you things I never found useful? Know, don't use thing. Sorry. He turned back to the nun. "What can you tell us about Vlad? Or about what Max saw?"
The nun got up and headed for the hob. She produced a kettle and took water from a pail. "I'm making some tea. It will be a long story."
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Aaaand... now it got creepy and weird because why not? Thanks for reading another chapter of Hunters. Hope you had fun! Leave a comment or vote in case you enjoyed it. And thank you for your support!