Sister Oana moved a bit closer to Cezar who was hovering above her atop the wall and she asked him, somewhat perplexed, “You saw Madalina entering the novitiate? You mean, through her bedroom window?”
“No, through the front door, of course. I saw her crossing the courtyard and entering the novitiate through that door,” he said, pointing across the courtyard to the door leading into the hallway of the novitiate, “I didn’t get a good look at who it was. It was just a brief flash of movement: a little figure in a dark cloak. I couldn’t tell you for sure if it was the girl you’re looking for.”
“Did she leave the convent?” Sister Oana asked, “Did she come from outside the wall?”
“I told you all I saw,” Cezar replied with a shrug, “It’s possible.”
“Thank you Cezar,” Sister Oana replied, “You continue to keep watch for her. I am sure this is not the last time she’ll try to sneak out.”
As she walked away, she confessed to herself that she wasn’t quite sure how to deal with the situation. She reflected on what she knew as she approached the novitiate: Madalina was not leaving through the window, meaning she’d found another way out of her room, probably some way to unlock her door from the inside, and Sister Oana herself would have to be more vigilant in keeping and eye on Madalina, since clearly Madalina’s roommates were not up to it.
As Sister Oana contemplated these things, Madalina sat on the grass beneath the plum tree in the Sisters’ garden with the other novices. Around the edges of the garden, flowers bloomed, and, in the center, a small pond ringed with stones glinted with sunshine fragmented by ripples. In front of the novices, Sister Elisabeta sat on a rock, looking over them and read from the Book of Psalms.
Madalina sat alone and while Sister Elisabeta read, she glanced over the faces of her companions, including her three roommates. It would have to among these three girls that she would have to chose her prey for Sim, but which one she couldn’t decide. “Which one has been meanest to me? Which one has done the most to make my life here unpleasant?” Madalina thought to herself. She considered exempting Nicoleta, since she had, so far, not told anyone about seeing her out of bed last night. She considered taking Mirela, who was in a certain sense the leader of the group. But on the other hand, Dorina was a bit smaller in size, and thus easier for Madalina to carry.
“If only they knew what power I wield over them right now,” Madalina thought, “Would they mistreat me as they have before? Would they repent of all the times they ostracized me and teased me? Would they be kind to me for once?” As she remembered the many embarrassments she’d experienced at the hands of these three girls, she only regretted that she could only pick one. She remembered once when they captured a spider and put it in her sheets just before bedtime; when they’d put water on her bed in the morning and tried to persuade everyone that she’d wet her bed; the multiple times when they’d hidden her cassock while she slept so she couldn’t be properly attired for Matins.
After finishing up her reading, Sister Elisabeta closed the bible and said to the girls, “Now one of you had asked me if I could talk about where vampires come from.” The girls looked at one another inquisitively, and Sister Elisabeta asked, “No, it wasn’t any of you? Well, maybe it was one of the Sisters who asked me to tell you about it,” thinking to herself.
“No matter,” Sister Elisabeta finally said, “We will talk about it anyway, since I think it is instructive. It is not usually an important part of you theological education, but I think it is an instructive example of the ways that evil operates in this world. But before we begin, are there are questions?”
“Yes, sister,” Dorina said raising her hand, “Are all vampires evil?”
“I’m afraid so, Dorina,” Sister Elisabeta sighed, the idea that there was any evil in the world clearly upsetting her, “What they do is wicked in the eyes of the Lord.”
“But any of us could become infected,” Madalina couldn’t help saying, “It happens to people by accident.”
“If any of you should ever become infected, God forbid, then you must remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples: ‘And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell.’ Likewise, if you should ever become a vampire then it would be better for you to starve and enter the afterlife pure than to sin by staining your lips with human blood.” Sister Elisabeta spoke severely and in an ominous tone that chilled the young novices.
“So, if we become a vampire, we should kill ourselves?” Dorina interrupted, quite confused.
“No, dear, that would be a sin,” Sister Elisabeta admonished, in a nonetheless pleasant tone, “For your body belongs to God, and it is an affront to God for you to destroy it.” She then tried to soften up these dark discussions and raised their spirits with a smile, saying, “But you shouldn’t worry because I don’t believe that God would ever permit that fate to befall a virtuous person. Vampirism is a disease of the sinful, and so long as you are good, God will protect you from it.”
“I heard they eat livestock too,” Mirela spoke up, “That’s what some of the farmer’s say.”
“Well, if that’s true, then that’s what you may have to do” Sister Elisabeta conceded, “But this is all idle talk. None of you will have to worry about, since this will not befall any of you, so long as you remain virtuous. Now, let me to return to talking about the origin of the vampires.”
<-- Go to
Part 29 Go to
Part 31 -->
You can see what's been written so far collected
here.
Sister Oana moved a bit closer to Cezar who was hovering above her atop the wall and she asked him, somewhat perplexed, “You saw Madalina entering the novitiate? You mean, through her bedroom window?”
“No, through the front door, of course. I saw her crossing the courtyard and entering the novitiate through that door,” he said, pointing across the courtyard to the door leading into the hallway of the novitiate, “I didn’t get a good look at who it was. It was just a brief flash of movement: a little figure in a dark cloak. I couldn’t tell you for sure if it was the girl you’re looking for.”
“Did she leave the convent?” Sister Oana asked, “Did she come from outside the wall?”
“I told you all I saw,” Cezar replied with a shrug, “It’s possible.”
“Thank you Cezar,” Sister Oana replied, “You continue to keep watch for her. I am sure this is not the last time she’ll try to sneak out.”
As she walked away, she confessed to herself that she wasn’t quite sure how to deal with the situation. She reflected on what she knew as she approached the novitiate: Madalina was not leaving through the window, meaning she’d found another way out of her room, probably some way to unlock her door from the inside, and Sister Oana herself would have to be more vigilant in keeping and eye on Madalina, since clearly Madalina’s roommates were not up to it.
As Sister Oana contemplated these things, Madalina sat on the grass beneath the plum tree in the Sisters’ garden with the other novices. Around the edges of the garden, flowers bloomed, and, in the center, a small pond ringed with stones glinted with sunshine fragmented by ripples. In front of the novices, Sister Elisabeta sat on a rock, looking over them and read from the Book of Psalms.
Madalina sat alone and while Sister Elisabeta read, she glanced over the faces of her companions, including her three roommates. It would have to among these three girls that she would have to chose her prey for Sim, but which one she couldn’t decide. “Which one has been meanest to me? Which one has done the most to make my life here unpleasant?” Madalina thought to herself. She considered exempting Nicoleta, since she had, so far, not told anyone about seeing her out of bed last night. She considered taking Mirela, who was in a certain sense the leader of the group. But on the other hand, Dorina was a bit smaller in size, and thus easier for Madalina to carry.
“If only they knew what power I wield over them right now,” Madalina thought, “Would they mistreat me as they have before? Would they repent of all the times they ostracized me and teased me? Would they be kind to me for once?” As she remembered the many embarrassments she’d experienced at the hands of these three girls, she only regretted that she could only pick one. She remembered once when they captured a spider and put it in her sheets just before bedtime; when they’d put water on her bed in the morning and tried to persuade everyone that she’d wet her bed; the multiple times when they’d hidden her cassock while she slept so she couldn’t be properly attired for Matins.
After finishing up her reading, Sister Elisabeta closed the bible and said to the girls, “Now one of you had asked me if I could talk about where vampires come from.” The girls looked at one another inquisitively, and Sister Elisabeta asked, “No, it wasn’t any of you? Well, maybe it was one of the Sisters who asked me to tell you about it,” thinking to herself.
“No matter,” Sister Elisabeta finally said, “We will talk about it anyway, since I think it is instructive. It is not usually an important part of you theological education, but I think it is an instructive example of the ways that evil operates in this world. But before we begin, are there are questions?”
“Yes, sister,” Dorina said raising her hand, “Are all vampires evil?”
“I’m afraid so, Dorina,” Sister Elisabeta sighed, the idea that there was any evil in the world clearly upsetting her, “What they do is wicked in the eyes of the Lord.”
“But any of us could become infected,” Madalina couldn’t help saying, “It happens to people by accident.”
“If any of you should ever become infected, God forbid, then you must remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ to his disciples: ‘And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell.’ Likewise, if you should ever become a vampire then it would be better for you to starve and enter the afterlife pure than to sin by staining your lips with human blood.” Sister Elisabeta spoke severely and in an ominous tone that chilled the young novices.
“So, if we become a vampire, we should kill ourselves?” Dorina interrupted, quite confused.
“No, dear, that would be a sin,” Sister Elisabeta admonished, in a nonetheless pleasant tone, “For your body belongs to God, and it is an affront to God for you to destroy it.” She then tried to soften up these dark discussions and raised their spirits with a smile, saying, “But you shouldn’t worry because I don’t believe that God would ever permit that fate to befall a virtuous person. Vampirism is a disease of the sinful, and so long as you are good, God will protect you from it.”
“I heard they eat livestock too,” Mirela spoke up, “That’s what some of the farmer’s say.”
“Well, if that’s true, then that’s what you may have to do” Sister Elisabeta conceded, “But this is all idle talk. None of you will have to worry about, since this will not befall any of you, so long as you remain virtuous. Now, let me to return to talking about the origin of the vampires.”
<-- Go to
Part 29 Go to
Part 31 -->
You can see what's been written so far collected
here.
Vampire Wares pt 30
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