VROLOK Read Online Free Page B

sure.
    “The children are asleep in the other room,” answered Sorin, Dragen’s father.
    “It’s happened again,” Alexei continued.
    “God help us,” whispered Dragen’s mother, Dacia, under her breath.
    “Is it any one from the village?” Sorin asked.
    “No, two Gypsies, but this time there is a survivor.”
    “A survivor?”
    “Yes, a small boy.”
    “Does he know anything? What did he say happened to him!” asked Sorin in desperation.
    “Isabella found him. He has been knocked unconscious. He has not said anything yet.”
    “Did Isabella see anything?” Dacia asked, worried that the little girl might be robbed of her innocence too soon.
    “No…we’ll see if the boy knows anything when he wakes up.” Alexei gestured towards Sorin. “Come on, we have to go and bury them.”
    Dacia lighted a pair of torches and gave them to the two men. Sorin picked up two shovels and both he and Alexei started to walk towards the woods.
    “What do you think is doing this, Alexei?” Sorin asked. “How many bodies have we found this year?”
    “This will make ten.”
    “Why do we bury them?”
    “Do you think the murders will stop if we don’t bury them? This has been happening for nearly forty years?”
    “But we are helping whoever it is to cover their tracks,” Alexei sighed.
    “We bury the bodies so that the children are not robbed of their childhood. They will learn soon enough about death and despair. Why should they start now?”
    “They say it’s Vlad,” Sorin continued.
    “They say it’s a lot of things,” Alexei answered. “I don’t believe it is. How could it be? If he’s alive he must be in his seventies by now. Besides, if he lives anywhere I doubt he lives there.” Alexei pointed towards the castle. “I have not seen a lighted candle shining down from that place in forty years.”
    “Then what is it…wolves?”
    “If it were wolves there would be signs of a struggle, claw marks, teeth marks, something. I really don’t know what it is, but when I was younger and in the army I met many well-travelled men, some from as far away as India and China. They had seen many strange things. Some told me about large birds that would swoop down at night and drink the blood of animals while they slept. Sometimes they even attacked men. Maybe that’s the explanation.”
    The two men soon found the bodies. They buried them and left a small cross and garland of roses to mark the grave. They returned home and would not talk about what they had just done until they had to do it again.
    When Alexei entered his home all was quiet. Dragen, Katya and Isabella had fallen asleep waiting for his return. Katya was sleeping on Isabella’s bed. Isabella had fallen asleep watching over the little boy she had found. She was curled up in a chair beside her grandfather’s bed.
    Isabella’s grandfather sat down on the bed beside the boy. This movement caused the boy to stir and open his eyes.
    “Ah, so you’re awake,” Alexei whispered. The boy lay frozen, still, as if he was afraid to move. He lay there motionless just staring up at Alexei. “Do you understand what I am saying?” The boy opened his mouth and tried to speak but he could not make any sound. “Do you remember what happened?” The child shook his head in response. “Do you remember anything from your life before this?” The boy again shook his head and tears welled up in his eyes.
    Alexei squeezed the boy’s hand to reassure him. “Well you can stay here with me.” The boy looked over at the little girl sleeping in the chair beside him. “That’s my granddaughter. Do you think she is pretty?” The orphan nodded. “Let me give you some advice, don’t ever tell her—she knows it already. Her name is Isabella. You can call her Bella. I think she would like that.” Alexei leaned over and pushed the hair out of the boy’s eyes so he could look at him. “We shall have to give you a name until you start to remember.” Alexei paused