by Dani Hoots
He grinned. “Fine, I will see what I can do.”
I tried to keep up a smile, but I had heard what Madam Sonia had said to the others. She didn’t think she could heal him, but I would give it everything to try and help. That was why I went to the town and got the lemons. I didn’t care how long he had been sick, nor did I care that both his father and mother had suffered the same illness years ago and died when Jack was just a child. I wouldn’t give up.
“I’m going to go put these in some vinegar with garlic and ginger and bring you the medicine, all right?”
He nod his head and I left his tent to find the rest of the ingredients I needed. Fortunately, we were never in short supply of apple cider vinegar, garlic, honey, or ginger. Madam Sonia had tried a similar concoction once before, but I think adding some lemon juice could do the trick in helping Jack feel better. It had worked for Emilie, a young girl, when she got very sick last winter. Therefore, it should work for Jack, right? I had to try, at least. He was my closest friend after all.
I snuck through the camp, not wanting to get caught with the items I had stolen from the nearby town. There weren’t too many people in our camp, about forty altogether, so it was easy to sneak around when you knew everyone’s schedule. If I was seen with the lemons, people would suspect something and tell Madam Sonia of it right away. I made my way through the traffic of other people as they went about their day weaving clothes, feeding animals, and cooking meals. I grabbed all the other items I needed to make the concoction. It was easy, I found myself becoming a master at such sleight of hand tricks. Madam Sonia would not be pleased, but I always did it to help someone. I couldn’t just let someone suffer when I knew I had the resources to help.
I found a place behind some tents where no one could see me as I began to make the concoction. I started to chop up the garlic and onion into smaller pieces.
“Where did you get those lemons?” I heard Madam Sonia’s voice explode from behind me. I turned around to find her hands on her hips and one of her dark black eyebrows raised.
I gulped as I jumped up, almost knocking the garlic and ginger off the board and onto the ground. Her dark green eyes stared down at me in an accusatory fashion as she awaited my confession to my thievery. I looked down at my feet, trying to think of a good defense, but I knew I couldn’t lie to her. “I went to town yesterday and bought some.”
“Bought? Or do you mean steal?” she tapped her foot, awaiting my answer, as if I were just a child.
“I bought them...” I began, then sighed, knowing I couldn’t lie to her, “with someone else’s money.”
“Amalia!”
“I couldn’t let him suffer, mama,” I responded quickly. “I just couldn’t.”
She pursed her lips. “You care for him a lot, don’t you?”
I turned my head away from her, ashamed of my feelings. I didn’t know why that was, but I just couldn’t admit my feelings for him. We were both young and I knew that, but I felt as if I knew he was the one for me.
“My sweet Amalia,” she wrapped her arms around me. The scent of jasmine came off of her, always making me feel calm when she was around, as long as I wasn’t in trouble of course. “You don’t have to lie to me. I can see it in your eyes that you love him. But you can’t be going to town alone and stealing things. That is not our camp’s way. By stealing, you put all of us in jeopardy. You know how the cities feel about us, we cannot be found, okay?”
I nodded my head slowly, a few tears dropping out of my eyes. I wiped them away, not wanting to appear weak, but truthfully I was scared for his life. I didn’t know it was even possible to care for someone else, as much as I did for Jack. And I was sure he felt the same about me, though that might just be wishful thinking. Studying medicine and spells made me feel like I was the only one who could help him, that if he died it would be my fault, even though I wasn’t allowed to perform powerful spells on my own yet. A couple more tears rolled down my cheek.
“That’s a good girl. And don’t worry, I will try my best to heal him, but if the spirits don’t want him to live, there isn’t much I can do about it. You understand?
I nodded again, sniffling away my worry. She stroked my back, hoping to give me some comfort.
“Now, finish up the concoction you are making and give it to him, but next time come to me before doing something so reckless. Once you are done with that, come to me so we can start your chores for the day.”
“Yes, mama,” I said as I knelt down and finished chopping up the garlic and ginger. She left to go check on the rest of the camp. Being the daughter of the lead Shuvani in the tribe had both its perks and disadvantages. It meant that I wouldn’t get away with anything and that people looked to me to be the next Shuvani. Although I loved learning about herbs and the practice of medicine from her, I didn’t know if I would ever be ready to lead the camp. Mama believed in me, but the problem was I didn’t believe in myself.
Once I finished chopping and squeezing the juice out of the lemons, I brought the ingredients to a boil and let the concoction simmer for a while. I added a little cayenne pepper as well.
I let it cool a bit and the brought the warm concoction to Jack’s tent. I could hear him having a coughing fit as I approached his tent.
“Are you all right?” I asked as I entered his tent.
He coughed a few more times. “Can’t seem to get rid of this cough.”
I set the concoction down and helped him sit up with the pillows. “This should help with the cough as well.” I handed him the cup and he took a sip.
Nodding in agreement, “It does help, thank you.”
I smiled, relieved that the medicine at least did something. “It’s not a problem, Jack. I just hope it will help you feel better.”
I started to leave when he grabbed my wrist. “I mean it, Amalia, you have been a great friend. Thank you.”
Holding his hand for a moment, I pretended in my mind that he was better, that this would be a happy moment in my life. I wanted to pretend we were both healthy and that I could tell him how I felt. Instead I found myself worrying about his life and whether or not we would have a happy life together.
“If you need anything, just let me know,” I said as I left him in his tent.
After my time with Jack, I found Madam Sonia and helped with the camp’s garden and cooking. We had grown all kinds of herbs and vegetables in hopes that we could make this our home without being discovered by someone in the nearest city. It was quite far away, at least a half day’s travel as I had found out, and it was out of the way of any roads leading into town. I doubted anyone from the town would ever find us this time.
After working in the garden and helping start work preparing the evening’s dinner, Madam Sonia gave me my daily lesson on apothecary and we went over the health and spiritual properties[1] of each herb she had. She also told me more stories and legends, so that I may be able to retell the tales of our ancestors.
Today, she told me the story of my great-great grandmother and how she battled a powerful strigoi to keep our camp safe. My heart skipped a beat.
“A strigoi?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yes, one of the most powerful in all the land. It was a long time ago, the story has been passed down many generations. Your great-great grandmother was a very powerful woman, she was the one who learned all the methods of apothecary and different spells that I teach you today. She brought our camp to this land, fighting many guards and knights to be here. But, one night, they found out that the land was haunted by a vicious strigoi who thought he ruled the land. Your great-great grandmother would not give up her right to be here though, and knew she was the one who had to stop it.”
“But weren’t strigoi once humans just like us?” I asked.
“Yes, this strigoi was once a powerful ruler of the land, but his kingdom was overthrown and both him, his son, and a lot of those in the castle were slaughtered and never given a proper burial. He, along with many of the other, became a str
igoi and caused a lot of chaos for many villages and camps in the area. He created even more creatures like himself and it was a time of great turmoil.”
“What happened?”
“Well, your great-great grandmother searched around for more priestesses like her so that together they could overcome this evil. She knew that there was power in numbers and decided that they must cast a banishing spell upon the castle that the strigoi lived, so that the strigoi could never hurt another human again. They mustered up all the power that they had combined, casted a circle, and called upon the spirits to put an end to the strigoi’s evil.”
I listened to the story, wide-eyed, my heart racing, wondering what was going to happen next. “Did they succeed?”
Madam Sonia chuckled. “We are here, aren’t we? Yes, with the power of the spirits, they succeeded in banishing the strigoi from the land. Your great-great grandmother was revered throughout all the land, and many of the people in our camp now are descendants of people from other camps, wanting to follow her guidance and show their loyalty to her.”
“Are the strigoi still around?” I mustered up the strength to ask the question that had been in my mind since she started telling the story.
She shook her head. “No, they haven’t been seen for over a century,” she smiled gently. “Don’t worry, it is just a legend, but one we must remember, in order to understand the power that we carry.”
Even though I was sure she was right, I couldn’t help but replay the nightmare I had the night before. I had heard of strigoi before, but I never knew that one of my ancestors had been the one to defeat them. Was that what the strigoi meant by revenge before he bit me? I thought about telling Madam Sonia, but I figured I didn’t want to worry her. It was probably all just part of a really bad dream anyways.
We finished up our lesson and I helped other people in the camp get ready for dinner. The hunting group brought back two deer, which would feed our camp for a couple of weeks. I was thankful to the spirits that they were able to find something this late in the season. If we were lucky, they would find something else next week as well and we could preserve it with some salt. Then we would be good through the winter. Hunting for game during the winter could be very hard, so the hunters of our camp needed to be very attentive to the needs of the camp.
Once the stew was ready, I took two bowls to Jack, one for me and one for him. Normally, Madam Sonia would take him dinner, but she was busy talking to some people and I thought I could enjoy his company over dinner. I knew how lonely he got, when having to remain cooped up in his tent all day.
“Who’s ready for supper?” I asked as I opened the tent flap.
He smiled and coughed. “I didn’t expect to see you again today.”
“What, you don’t think I would come visit my best friend?”
Laughing, Jack sat up. “You have plenty of other friends to visit. You shouldn’t spend so much time here; you could catch whatever I have.”
I shook my head. “I would have already caught it. Don’t worry; I took all the necessary precautions. I know my medicine.”
He took the bowl and started sipping some of the stew. “You don’t have to stay here, go join the rest of the camp.”
“No, I will stay here. You are all alone here; I would feel horrible if I left you here without anyone to talk to.”
“Go, I insist. I don’t want you to stay here when I know you could be with the rest of the camp having a good time. Please, for me?” He looked at me with his sad red eyes. Although I didn’t want to leave him there, since he was the only one I wanted to be with out of all the people in the camp, I did as he asked. I couldn’t say no to him, not when he seemed to want me to leave so badly.
I nodded and left him alone. As I closed the flap of the tent, I could hear him start coughing again. I wondered if that was why he wanted me to leave, because he couldn’t keep up a happy face. His condition was getting worse and he didn’t want me to see. I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I had really hoped the lemons would help. They still could, I knew, but my heart felt like it was going to be torn apart by sadness. I couldn’t lose him, I just couldn’t.
Night came and the moon was full, the peak of the mother moon. I looked up at it and recalled the dream I had the night before and wondered whether or not it was real. I knew it couldn’t have been, especially since I had woken up here in the camp. If the strigoi had actually bitten me, I would have been dead.
Or worse, I would have been made into one of them.
It was silly to even think about it, to consider that any of it had actually happened. My great-great grandmother was probably a very strong woman, I didn’t deny that, especially if she was anything like my mother, but I couldn’t believe that she went against such mythical beings. There was no way that they could have really existed, could there? There was no castle in the woods; there was no man with a violin. It had all just been a dream.
The sound of a violin playing had been haunting my nightmares for a long time now; it was no surprise that I had a nightmare such as that one on such a majestic night as the night before. The first night of the full moon, the beginning of the fall season, and the fear of getting caught with lemons probably led me to have that nightmare. It wasn’t like I had never had nightmares about creatures like that before, though those usually featured werewolves and ghouls, but this time it had seemed different. This time everything that happened in that nightmare was much clearer.
As I started to clean up for the night, a smell came wafting over to me, filling my lungs. I breathed it in and let it out slowly. It was outstanding, a beautiful scent filling me with bliss almost. Whatever it was, I wanted it.
I followed the smell through the camp, trying to find out where it originated from. Whatever it was, it smelt as sweet as fruit on a new summer’s day, as fresh as lavender in a field, and it made my mouth water like specially prepared sweets. I wondered who could have been preparing such a lovely meal, especially since most people had already retired for the night.
Coming upon one of the tents, I lifted the flap to find the deer that had been killed that day to be hanging up. I watched as their hanging bodies dripped blood into the bowls beneath.
Blood.
That couldn’t be what I was smelling, could it? No, it wasn’t possible. Blood didn’t smell like this, it was revolting. Death could never smell so sweet.
The strigoi.
Shaking my head, I tried to get the thoughts out of my head. No, it wasn’t possible. That didn’t happen last night. It wasn’t possible.
Or was it?
My heart began to race and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. There was no way I could have been bitten by that creature. There was no way I would have survived the day, at least that isn’t how the legend went. My mind was racing with all the possibilities, but I couldn’t think of any other reason why the smell was coming onto me like this. I glanced back down at the dripping blood. Maybe it wasn’t the blood that smelled so good, maybe it was something else.
I glanced around. There was nothing in here but dead animals. I gulped when I realized that the stench of death was no longer a horrifying smell, but actually the source of the pleasing scent I was breathing in. It smelt more like life now than it did death. The thought made me nauseous, but I had to know if a true, monstrous change of some kind was taking place within me.
Holding out my hand, I let the drops from the deer’s bleeding carcass fall into my palm. I slowly raised my hand to my mouth and drank the red nectar.
It was exactly what I had smelled. And it was wonderful. It tasted sweeter than candy and was more satisfying than any evening meal served up in this camp. Nothing that I had ever eaten could ever compare to this delicious liquid. The metallic taste on top of the freshness of the blood...
I stepped back from the carcass. What was I doing? Blood didn’t taste like that; it all had to have been a dream, yet this incident proved that it might not have been a nightmare. The rational side of my brain, thou
gh, insisted on the fact that I couldn’t have been bit by the strigoi, creatures like that weren’t real. My great-great grandmother didn’t actually fight them; it was just a legend to keep the unity of the camp. The strigoi were just a figment of people’s imagination. Yet, I glanced down at the bowl of blood, and I knew I had to have more to satisfy the thirst.
Without thinking, I grabbed the bowl of blood and gulped down the liquid. It felt smooth as it slowly went down my throat and satisfied the hunger I never knew I had. I forgot everything around me and indulged in the moment, caring only for the liquid that stained my mouth with a red stain that would never leave my lips. I felt like I was in a daze, completely out of control. I just couldn’t help myself.
Stepping back, I forced myself out of the trance. What was I doing? It was wrong and sickening. I knew I had to get out of here before this progressed even more. I had to figure out what was going on.
I stumbled out of the tent, looking for something that could help me. I didn’t know what that was, but I knew I had to find it. I needed to find someone I could trust, someone who could figure out what was wrong with me. I couldn’t go to Madam Sonia in fear of what she might do to me. I was a strigoi now; she would want to destroy me. I was something that the entire camp dreaded. Everyone feared that the strigoi were fated to return someday, except for me. That ignorance was probably what led me to where I was now. But I knew I had to find someone to help me out with figuring all of this bizarre stuff out. There weren’t many in the camp that I trusted enough to tell them such a secret and know that they would try to help me to the best of their ability, without disturbing the peace of the camp.
Except for Jack.
Everything seemed to be in tunnel vision as I made my way to his tent. All I remembered was looking down at my feet as the moon shined down on me. Leaves and branches crunched as I stepped on them. Arriving at his tent, I stepped in.
