The Seducer: A Gone From Daylight Inspired Story - 41. William Harker’s Journal: Entry 41

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Wednesday, February 14, 1990 - Valentine’s Day

Yes, it’s been nearly a month since I last wrote about anything.

There’s not been much to tell. The cycle, night after night, has not changed very much.

In many ways, Vlad’s life as a vampire is pretty mundane. The only thing that is different is that he has been having to hunt more often to keep us both in a supply of blood. His elixir that he gives me is quite ‘expensive’ to him from what Vlad has explained and he has to hunt for two now rather than just himself. He talks as if I’m a baby and he’s a mother! Perhaps, in a way, that’s what he is, now.

I have yet to be given my Third Bite and so I am not fully turned yet. I’ve asked why the delay and wouldn’t it be better for Vlad if he simply finishes the process so that I can learn to hunt on my own!

He simply says that ‘it is not yet time’… whatever that means! I find it hard to be patient. I live in a twilight existence right now. I feel like I’m between two worlds or, maybe, two states of being is a better way to describe it. I’m not yet a vampire, but I’m not wholly human anymore either.

I feel stronger than I have ever felt in my life and I’m more than ready to take the Third Bite and finally fully become who I am already becoming! It’s too late to back out now and Vlad can’t just change his mind and…leave me like this!

Can he?

In any case, I’m still waiting and wait I will continue to do so until ‘the time is right’, I guess…I hope.

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Well, that was a big surprise and I’ve been craving one of those for a while now! Things have been downright boring around here for the past month!

We’re going to Romania and our flight is tomorrow night! A private flight too in a special jet that’s sun-proofed! It’s to be Vlad’s Valentine’s gift for me! He sprung that on me just a few minutes ago! I can’t tell you how excited I am! I’ve never been out of the country before and I’ve learned so much about Romania from Vlad that I can’t wait to see it for myself!

Vlad thinks my Romanian, though still fairly ‘primitive’ in his words, is good enough to get by there. So, off we go! I’ll be packing as soon as I write this down! I even have a passport now! Somehow, Vlad got it done by mail! I always thought you had to visit an office or something to get one!

I asked him if we’ll be staying in Bucharest, but he said ‘no’ to that. We’ll be landing there, but moving on to a town in Walachia/Transylvania called Bran. He has timed everything meticulously so that when we reach Romania we’ll be able to travel by night to the town. The flight will be over fourteen hours (!) plus a stop-over for refueling, so we’ll need the sun-proofed plane.

I asked Vlad how he managed a customized private jet and all he would say is that he has ‘gonnections’, hehehe!

Anyway, on to Romania! Maybe, this will be the ‘right time and place’ for me to be given the Third and last bite! Wow! To be reborn in Transylvania itself! I couldn’t ask for a better place to finally become a vampire now could I?

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Friday, February 16, 1990

…and as soon as that, we’re here in Romania!

The flight was long but surprisingly comfortable. It was unlike any other flight I’d ever been on. No cramped seats with everyone practically sitting on one another. Seating was arranged more like living spaces than a plane. Seats were arranged around a table that could fold away if you wanted to stretch out. The seats were also wonderfully padded so they were quite comfy! There was an actual BED in the back cabin of the small jet! Vlad rested his ‘Death Sleep’ there with me on the bed with him. I didn’t snuggle with him…he goes cold and it is pretty weird snuggling up to what basically feels like a corpse! It gave me a bit of a passing doubt about what I was becoming facing that. Soon, that would be me during the day sleeping like one of the Dead!

A sad little drawback about the plane was not being able to look out any windows as there were none. I’d never been on a passenger jet with no windows before. It was a bit weird and slightly claustrophobic, to be honest. But, I was glad that the sun was totally blocked from us while we were flying during the daytime part of our flight. That said, I did miss being able to look out of the windows and seeing the tops of the clouds.

I also was sad that our stopover was in Paris and we couldn’t leave the plane because it was still daylight when we landed. We were only there for a short time and it was two hours before sunset when we landed. So, no sightseeing, unfortunately.

We arrived in Bucharest a little over two hours later. The sun had already set and it was early evening. Vlad awoke and his first order to me was to get my winter coat from the luggage. I was glad to have done that because it was snowing lightly as we disembarked! I’d only seen snow a couple of times in my life when we would go as a family to Lake Tahoe during winter. It was snowing quite a bit in Bucharest and pretty cold. Strangely, Vlad was comfortable in just a plain suit and tie, his customary apparel. The cold didn’t seem to bother him at all. Another vampire trait, I suppose.

I guessed that we’d travel from Bucharest to Bran by car and I’d get to see a bit of the city as we drove through. I was wrong about that. We went from a plane to a waiting helicopter! I have to wonder…how rich is Vlad anyway?

I’d never flown in a helicopter before so I admitted to Vlad that I was a bit nervous. He reassured me that it was perfectly safe and that he knew the pilot personally. Vlad had arranged a helicopter because he couldn’t guarantee that we’d reach Bran by car before sunrise. The road to Bran was a long and difficult one and we’d be on it too long, Vlad had said.

So, the nighttime helicopter flight was actually quite fun! Again, there wasn’t any sightseeing because the airport is just north of Bucharest proper, but the sensation of flying in a helicopter is really different from being on a plane. The world below us was pitch darkness except for little sporadic lights here and there. When we approached the mountain passes through the Carpathians, I could see the moon-glow on the snowcapped mountains. Things got a little bumpy going through those passes with the winds and things, but we made it. On the other side, we were virtually on top of the little town of Bran. The helicopter set down in a clearing behind a great house that looked like a cross between a castle and an Italian villa. It had turrets with what looked like tiles and the place seemed to glow in the moonlight. All the windows were dark so, obviously, no one was home.

“Welcome to my house, William. It is called Casa Întunecată…the Dark House. I did not name it…the villagers did. It is one of the reasons I come here rarely. The people of Bran are…aware of me and thus they beware of me.” Vlad said with a strange grimness I hadn’t seen before.

“I will have to range far to hunt for us here. The people of Bran are quite defensive against me. No doubt they are already stringing the garlic and wolf’s bane in their houses to ward against me since seeing the helicopter land here. They know I’m now in residence and they will be fearful of my coming.” Vlad spoke in almost a whisper.

“Garlic and wolf’s bane actually work?” I asked not thinking Vlad was serious.

“Not really. What does work against me is that these people might pass information to my enemies here. The Vampyre of this part of the world are very competitive. While we stay here, I want no disturbances from any of them.” Vlad warned and that caused me to be suddenly uncomfortable about being here.

“If you have enemies here then why did you bring us here?” I asked.

“Here…you will join me forever. Here…I will show you things that you could not imagine even in your wildest fantasies!” Vlad turned to me and smiled almost conspiratorially.

“This has been my home for two hundred years and there is a reason for that. One I will show you…after.” Vlad said, caressing my cheek.

Now, of course, I’m terribly curious about what else Vlad has in store for me beyond just becoming a vampire with the Third Bite. I notice Vlad likes to do that…create little mysteries that keep me coming back for more. Little tastes of knowledge that keep me curious.

Maybe, this little game is a lesson. Always keep reaching for the mysteries because they are what keep someone going. Perhaps, that’s Vlad’s secret to not going crazy through all these centuries in darkness. He is always searching for the next mystery to unravel. Maybe, that’s what I am. Another enigma to unwrap…though I think it’s more than that.

I think he may be out of mysteries and longs to have someone new to share what he’s learned. I remember my little cousin. He was only five where I was ten and I had the most fun showing him things that I liked to do. I taught him how to play, basically. In teaching him things, I got to relive the wonder of learning things myself when I was his age. It was like what I knew was new again.

Is that what I am to Vlad? Am I still the student he has chosen to teach his secrets to?

I must be that, but more to him. He has said it himself. He has waited for my coming for a very long time. Now that I am here, he has something he has missed for far too long…

…someone to love and be loved in return.

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Sunday, February 18, 1990

This old mansion is a little unnerving!

I’ve been spending quite a few nights alone in this old place and I swear it’s haunted! Weird things go on all through the night. Candles going out by themselves from strange winds that blow through the house. Note: this is not a drafty house! There’s rhythmic knocking and bumping like someone is trying to get my attention.

I see shadows where there shouldn’t be any too! It’s like somebody standing there casting a shadow, but nobody is there to cast it! They appear and disappear so quickly that I think I’ve imagined seeing them. But, I swear to you that they are there!

Now…for the first time…I’ve been hearing strange whispers like someone talking a few rooms down, but also in the very room I’m in at the time! This is happening with more frequency.

I don’t know why ghosts should bother me now that I know there are living vampires in the world! No doubt, there’s probably werewolves too! But, there’s something about the idea of a lost soul wandering in these halls that disturbs me. Someone there that I can’t see, but is there all the same.

In any case, I suppose the ghost keeps me company. This is a lonely place when Vlad is away. His domestic staff come by day and never stay when the sun goes down. They make sure to leave before sunset without fail. I suppose they know what Vlad is and what they figure I may be too. They work here because Vlad pays well, but they must think they value their lives more than money if paid extra to tend to us while we are awake at night.

There it is again…that whispering. I call out to it now, telling it to come out from the shadows and present itself to me. But, it never does.

She never does, because I’m sure that the whispers I hear come from a feminine voice.

I hope Vlad returns from his hunting trip soon and then turns me completely. I can’t imagine a ghost spooking me as a full fledged vampire! I’d be scarier than a ghost! I’d have fangs!

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Monday, February 19, 1990

“I am Iosefina.“ That’s what I heard right in my ear that woke me out of a nap!

I was resting in one of Vlad’s big wing chairs next to the fireplace when I must have fallen asleep. Next thing I knew I was wide awake with this ‘Iosefina’ talking to me!

“Where are you…?” I asked knowing full well I’d probably not get an answer or an appearance.

I was wrong!

“I am here with you. Here in this room. My favourite room,” said the disembodied voice.

I felt a chill in the air around me that the fire couldn’t touch and I saw my breath become a vapor from my mouth.

Before my eyes I saw the shadow of a lady in a dress appear in the wavy light cast by the fire in the room. Then I saw a white vapor appear before my eyes and condense into something more solid looking. The transparent fuzzy image of a beautiful young lady with long black hair and an old fashioned dress from the 19th century appeared! The dress was white, but stained dark red with what was obviously blood!

“You are new to this old house…my old house. Did he bring you here?” the beautiful apparition asked in a Romanian accent that was not thick, but very apparent.

“If by him you mean Vlad then yes…yes he did.” I answered, still wondering if I wasn’t dreaming all this.

“Vlad Dracula…since his coming, there has been Death here. You are fading into Death even now, young William. I can see your soul!” Iosefina said cryptically.

She moved toward me, but I held my courage and did not move. She didn’t seem threatening and she was only a wispy apparition. What harm could she do to a half-vampire like me?

“You do not fear Death when you see it? I am the dead, but I see it now…you are long on your way to becoming one of the Undead! He has chosen his partner in immortality. His new prince. You may wish you could have followed me here into the shadows once he has worked his Dark Trick upon you.” Iosefina intoned with a dreadful certainty.

“It’s by my choice, Iosefina. I choose this ‘undeath’ as you call it. Vlad is everything to me now and I’ll join him forever once he has given me the Third and final bite!” I told the ghost defiantly.

“Then his seduction is complete and more the fool you. Beware this immortality you crave, young William. It is a state that many regard a curse. Be sure of your choices. Unlike myself…you still have a choice. I bid you a good night.” and with that Iosefina vanished as if she was never there and the room returned to its pleasant warmth.

Again with the warnings about wanting to live forever! It sure beats the alternative! Why would anyone choose death when they could live without ever having to fear it again?

Why indeed?