Inflaming the Vampire's Stone Heart

Chapter Seven

The next day I woke up, got out of the bed, and stretched. That was the first time I have slept that well in two weeks, having not gotten one good night’s worth of sleep at all on the train. It is so nice to have a bed again. I heard chickens rummaging around a very quiet village outside. I made my way towards the window and pulled open the white linen drape. There were a few of the villagers, dressed in slightly more modern clothing, though still very dated. A couple of chickens were kicking up dirt. Just like the room at the inn, it looked like country charm was the right way to define this place. A few people were moving around and clearing the wooden tables from the night before. 

One of them looked up at me. A short little woman who was thin and older. I waved down to her. She only frowned, which I thought was unusual, and continued with collecting empty pewter cups that held the mulled wine the evening before. I guess the warm welcome from the night before has worn off. I opened my bag inside the room. There were my jeans and black top in that, which would be much more comfortable than the costume dress. I walked over and checked my mobile was still on full charge. 

Having nothing else to wear, I just put on my own jeans and top followed by my two-inch black ancle high boots. I hope that wearing my own clothes after the festival would not insult anyone in the village. I don’t put on makeup, even though I still have some items that I could have used. I doubt anyone here wears makeup anyway, I think remembering that naturally beautiful young blond, Christina, the night before. Instead, a take out my perfume. Wild Bulgarian rose is as a single and powerful scent as it is costly. I do not wear it often because I can’t afford it. I place a single dab on my wrist and lift it to smell. I will never forget how intoxicating it is to me. My favorite scent in the world. I could never tire of it. 

I stashed a few notes and coins into my jean pocket in case I find something fun to buy, and jumped down the stairs in a spin excited to see the village. Grigori was downstairs making breakfast.

I glanced at two figures to my side in a dining area. They were seated at one of three offered wooden tables. The two girls that were with Robert the night before had also checked into The Red Rose inn, just like I thought. Great, I don’t really want to stick around to run into him again as he is obviously also staying at the only inn in the village. I would much rather take a walk and look around this gorgeous town and maybe hunt for a souvenir to purchase and take home.  

“Good morning.” I said with a yawn towards Grigori. 

“Good morning, Miss. Did you sleep alright? Would you like some breakfast?” Grigori asked me. 

I was still taken aback by his polite congenial tone of voice. His sheer size could probably take on a bull. It was a laughable comparison. I liked him. 

“Yeah, I was out like a light. How about my friends, have any of that crew risen yet?” I asked. 

I was not really one for being formal and lacked the etiquette that was required here. I could speak elegantly if I wanted to, and was probably going to have to tonight. I was highly educated but it’s not like I would speak that way around my friends such as Julia. They would find me even more boring if I did.  

“They arrived back rather late I am afraid miss. No, they have not risen.” 

I laughed a little as he used my own chosen phrase, like they were the dead right now and they probably felt like it too. It seemed oddly appropriate. I bet those three have hangovers after how much they all drank last night, especially Carl. I wonder if he has any burn marks from the fire-pit he was so close to tumbling into last night. 

“Thanks for the offer but I am not really hungry. Ok, if I just steal an apple?” I asked looking at a bowel of fruit with apples, nectarines and a single orange. 

“Please, help yourself.” He said with a simple gesture of his arm. 

I walked to the front door, green apple in hand. 

“Can you do me a favor?” I asked as I made my way to the entrance. “Once they are alive again can you tell them that I went for a walk?”

“Of course. Be careful madam. There are dangerous beasts in the forest on the brink of the village border.”

“What like bears or something?”

“Yes mam. And other beasts that are… dangerous.” He stated slowly. 

Other beasts? I thought to myself, making my way through the front entrance of the inn with a crunch of the apple. I am not going to get lost in the forest. I know that there are dangerous animals up here in the middle of nowhere. I have only heard that there are wild wolves, bears, oxen and even boar in the forests of Romania. I wonder if Grigori was now referring to anyone of those. 

The inn was nearly at the beginning of the entrance of the village with a dirt road heading upward to what I think I see is a circular center and beyond. I decided to head towards the other end along this main road. Not at all wanting to risk whatever dangers there were in the forest, I was intent to stick to this the prime area and stay in the barrier of the village. After several houses the apple was finished to the core and I was in what I thought was the center. Just as I had spotted, there was a circular water fountain. I walked over. A little girl with dark hair was holding a small toy doll. She was cute. 

“Hello.” I said smiling down to her. 

She looked at me and then stood and ran off. 

“Wow, warm welcome was definitely gone from the night before. Cold treatment it is.” I whispered under my breath and tossed the apple core into a brown paper bag that was used to clean up the night before. 

The fountain was beautiful. A five-trellis level piece was supported by three gargoyles. They looked like beasts of the devil. Sharp teeth, round faces, and small pointy ears were hideous and yet made the fountain all the more lovely as water delicately fell from each trellis. In front of it was an old church, that looked like it was hardly used. Behind the church I could spot a cemetery enclosed by a wooden fence not higher than my waist. 

A large wooden post was built into the center of the area next to it. Nailed against it was a pamphlet still hanging about the date of the full moon festival. I walked over and thought that pamphlet actually looked like an ancient piece of parchment. A hand-drawn formation of the moon colored in a dark yellow and white had the date written across it in cursive. 

The rest of the walk through the village up the road was much livelier. The night before had been completely cleaned up now. Even the smoke and ash from the fire pit was raked away. 

There was a bakery offering fresh bread on a stall outside. The smell of fresh rising yeast had my stomach growling. A metal smith, the size of Grigori though much younger, was clanking against a hammer metal making horseshoes. He stopped and eyed me as I walked by. I thought about stopping to say hello and introduce myself, but his hazel-brown stare in my direction is almost frightening, so I decide against it. 

A small clothing shop had a dress maker who I could see was measuring one of the servers for another suit from the night before. I thought about how many servers I had seen last night. There were at least twenty. I assumed that they were villagers who opted to serve at the festival. Now looking at that servant who is having his vest mended, it seems like he is permanently dressed in such a way. I think, that he must serve Lark where ever he lives. 

I noticed down the street that there were several wine barrels used to dye garments an array of colors. Everyone was busy with daily chores. Nicolae was right. This place somehow managed to survive completely off the grid. I wonder how often anyone would have to travel back beyond the forest by carriage in order to get necessary supplies such as medicine or something like that. And speaking of which, where was Nicolae? I do not remember seeing him since he dropped us all off here. Maybe he returned back to his house in Bucharest. Which raises another concern. How were we getting back tomorrow after dinner tonight? He had promised he would return us. That carriage was the only way to get here and I have not seen it since. I make a mental note to ask Grigori, the inn-keeper or even Alina, about that later on. 

Most of the houses and buildings here are lined next to each other along the single road, or a few houses in, except one pathway that leads to a different structure. Hedges down a second road lead to a stone manor larger than any of the other quant houses. It is beautiful. I wonder if it is Lark’s home, or perhaps whatever municipal was in charge of this village. I see Christina, the girl from the night before, is outside shutting the door and now heading towards the main road with a basket of clothes in her hand. So, it was her home. 

The last shop before more housing has me heading towards it with a grin. A florist. I have always loved gardening and was keen to see what arrangement of flowers would grow in these gloomy cold forests. I could see many baskets full of different floral arrangements, plants, and dried herbs all available to peruse. 

To my surprise I saw an array of different colored pansies, bunches of edelweiss, and wildflowers of the most brilliant colors from the darkest purple to the most brilliant yellow. I picked up a small red bouquet of wild flowers I have no idea of the name of and noted that it was wrapped with a single black ribbon. How perfect, I thought to myself. 

“Good morning, madam. You are English?” A woman asked me. 

A thin woman had old wise eyes beyond her wrinkled features. Her brown hair lined with grey was so long it must have taken years to grow now resting over the entire length of her stomach in lines of strictly brushed perfection. I must say I am surprised everyone in this village seems very well educated to be able to speak English. Everyone I have met to this point speaks my language fluently with ease. 

“Yes.” I offered my hand. “Laura.” 

“Fay.” She gave her name and took my hand. 

Her delicate white wrinkled wrist was so gentle as she gave me a single wave of a handshake. Unlike the rest of the village, which was darkly cold to me this morning as if trying to ignore that I was even present, Fay was the first after Grigori to offer any form of a morning greeting. 

“Do you wish to buy this bunch of flowers?” She asked as I took another breath of their scent. 

“Yes please. How much are they?”

“No charge.” 

“What?” I asked looking up. 

“I can see that you enjoy their scent in as much as their beauty. You may have them. It is a gift.” She offered with a true smile. 

“Thank you, Fay.” I said happy to carry them along with me. 

“You don’t have prices listed on anything?” I asked looking at a larger bunch of wild yellow flowers. 

“I am afraid the village is set against monetary exchanges.”

“What?” I asked.

 Fay was educated alright but did I actually understand what she was telling me. There were no transactions that took place here with the use of money?

“We barter and exchange for our purchases. Everything in the village is made with a trade.” 

No wonder they did not need visitors like us tourists to come to such events like the full moon festival. They did not need the economy. If not money, what could my friends and I possibly offer to this place? I understood immediately. We were only outside visitors here. No wonder so many were unwelcoming to me. Maybe we were just viewed as intruders like Dorian Lark made me feel the night before. 

I looked up as the village road seemed to end, and yet continue at a much narrower line towards the base of the mountain turning around a corner in another direction heading upward. There was a pathway up the mountain. It may not have been travelled often, but it was markable. 

“What is that way?” I asked. 

“Lord Lark’s castle half way up the mountain path.” Fay informed me. “It is a very dangerous road. It reaches up and then descends very rapidly to a lakeside.” 

“Oh…” I asked my curiosity peaking at the mention of an actual castle with a lake hidden away in some mountain valley. 

“It is not wise to travel there without invitation. Lord Lark likes his privacy.” Fay warned. 

As Fay made that comment I heard laughing. I turned to my side and noticed that there were three women, all around the same age in their early twenties looking at me. I knew I was the butt of their joke. I don’t care why. I just thought it was unhospitable and rude. I might not be from this village but they did not need to treat me like a complete stranger. 

I noticed Christina was one of them, and the only one not laughing as she looked at the ground with embarrassment in the way her two friends acted. The second was a plump little thing covering her mouth to whisper another statement to the third. The third was beautiful in the group of three. She was pretty, but not nearly as alluring as Christina. She had brown hair that was tied up into a braided design. Light white ivory skin was pleasant enough. She held herself as the leader of the group because of her looks, that was clear and only confirmed that she was vain as well. The way that they seem to be whispering about me reminds me of childish games and bullying at school. It was simply immature and I feel sorry for them, not offended like I probably should. 

“Fay, can I ask. How is that everyone here is fluent in English?” 

“We all take the same classes at the school here when we are younger. English is the second language that we all learn.”

Interesting. 

“Thank you for the flowers, Fay.”

I looked back towards the road of the village and saw that there were three figures emerging from The Red Rose inn. Those three were not my three friends. Robert and his two companions were set to look around the village as well this morning. I am sure that my friends are probably still asleep and I want to avoid Robert at all costs. Being cornered by him in the village is not something that I would like to experience without the potential for help from Carl or Eddy. 

Fay gave a single nod and continued to make another arrangement. I decided I wanted to look at the castle she spoke of so I continued up the path. Fay said that it wasn’t wise to go there without an invitation. What harm was there in only looking at the exterior? That means I do not have to go in the other direction as those three are decidedly heading my way. As I made my way towards the path the three girls walked up to Fay. She seemed slightly discontent as they began to ask her questions, no doubt about what we just discussed. I decided the best course of action was just to ignore them.