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“Let’s drink to our reunion,” said Gabriel as he raised his glass.
I cheered with him and downed the glass, taking Gabriel by surprise.
“I never knew you loved champagne so much,” he said.
“I don’t, but my nerves are killing me. I left my husband in the fifteen Century, and now hundreds of years later, he stands in front of me looking just the same. I need answers, or I’ll go crazy,” I said.
“Your meals are here,” the server said and placed the burger and fries in front of me.
“Let’s eat first, and then everything will be clear,” said Gabriel.
“You must be doing this on purpose.” I looked at him inquisitively.
But before he answered me, he looked at the server for a few seconds. The man bowed and left without saying a word. “Not quite. But I would prefer to see you well-fed before I tell you everything,” Gabriel said.
“Fine,” I said and shoved half a burger in my mouth.
Taken aback, Gabriel chuckled at my childish behavior, but I didn’t care. I needed answers now. After the second half, plus the fries, I felt drained, the food coma calming some of my worries.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying your meal,” he said, cheering his champagne glass and sipping from it.
“Let’s get straight to the chase. What are you? Did you actually live so long? Or did you find another way to travel through time?”
“When I couldn’t grab your hand, misery spread through my body faster than a deadly disease. Months after, I still didn’t know what to do with myself. I questioned my existence and my will to live. The loss of you hurt more than the loss of me. How could I not hold you close again? To never see your sweet smile? Or feel your tender caresses? I didn’t want to experience the glacial sensation of your lost embrace. I said to myself, if death were to meet me sooner rather than later here on the land of our ancestors, then so be it. Because there could never be me without you in any epoch. No amount of time would heal my loss. Thus, death would be the merciful way out.”
I swallowed shallowly, overwhelmed by the pain he had to endure.
“Months had passed, but death didn’t plan to take me anytime soon. I brawled with anyone willing to throw a punch, leaped from cliffs into rivers, slept wherever I could, and starved myself into nonexistence. But as much as humans fear death’s coming, the same fear envelops those who wish for its arrival. In the end, someone took pity and shared an ancestral secret with me. Given my intense will to live for you, there was a way to get to you, though, in hindsight, it came at a steep price. Thus, through a harsh ritual, I became what you see today,” said Gabriel.
“What?” I asked, still unable to comprehend what he meant.
“A vampire,” he said.
Chapter 3
Ilooked once more into his eyes and saw another silver streak passing through. I couldn’t believe what he was saying. We all knew vampires didn’t exist. Most of the time, when Wallachian people talked about vampires, they usually meantstrigoi. Andstrigoiwere rogue brutes with limited mental capabilities. Whatever I saw in front of me was a much-elevated version of whatever I saw back in the Wallachian woods.
“Are you telling me you’re astrigoi?”
“Yes and no. I am part of their genus. But I’m also the most superior specimen.”
“Superior specimen?” I echoed his words.
“Besides keeping my intelligence, I have gained additional supernatural powers, and most importantly, I am immortal,” he answered the questions I had in my mind but didn’t know how to verbalize.
“Unless you don’t drink human blood or get stabbed by a wooden stake?” I asked.
“Any blood would suffice. But no, I remain alive even if I don’t drink blood for a thousand years. I simply become weaker and slowly dry out. Also, the wooden stake feels more like a toothpick to me. If you wish to impose some damage on my body, the silver-coated stake would usually do the trick. But again, it won’t kill me.”
“Then, is there a way for you to die?”
“No, unless I decide to die. The powers kept within my body protect me from dying.”
“Then you are truly immortal.”
“Becoming an unnatural being was never in my plans. The disdain I harbored before becoming one still plagued my soul even when I decided to take the plunge. But I couldn’t let go of…” He lowered his head.
I knew what he wanted to say. He meant he couldn’t let go of us and of never being together again. “You did this for me.” I extended my hand toward his.
