Dark Night of the Varcolac
In the dark stillness of the Romania forest, the quiet snap of a twig was the only warning the professor received before the attack came. The warning allowed him just enough time to react. He raised his pistol, managing to fire a single errant shot before the snarling beast slammed into him.
In the darkness, he was not sure what was attacking him. As he tumbled to the ground with the thing snapping at him, his first thoughts were it appeared to be smaller than a bear, but yet too big to be a wolf.
A small part of him fervently hoped it was the legendary Varcolac, or the wolf demon, as it was known in Romanian folklore. Then again, maybe it was a sadly misplaced hope to be attacked by such a mythical creature as, after all, they did not actually exist--unless, of course, they did.
Regardless of what was attacking him, he was now involved in a life and death tussle with the damnable thing. Roger's blood was up, allowing him to fight back with every ounce of strength his forty-four year old body could muster. Fortunately, he was in good shape and was able to push the big, hairy creature off him and away as they toppled to the ground.
After hitting the ground, he reared back and slammed his foot into the thing's midsection, causing it to let out an angry snarl, before he jumped to his feet and raised the pistol. Blindly, he squeezed off three quick rounds aimed in the general direction of his attacker.
Roger assumed he missed the critter entirely with his three wild shots. If he had hit his mark surely the thing would have let out a dreadful snarl or, at the very least, some sort of whine, but apparently the three rapid shots were fair warning enough to cause his attacker to turn tail and go crashing off into the underbrush.
The professor let out a deep sigh as he plopped down on the ground. There was a searing pain in his left calf. Gingerly he pulled up the left leg of his rugged hunting pants to try and assess the damage. He got it up just far enough to see his calf was bleeding profusely.
"Goddamn thing must have bit me when I kicked it," he mumbled under his breath. "Wonder if I am going to turn into some kind of werewolf later on," he added with a chuckle. At the time it seemed funny, him becoming a werewolf. Perhaps, if the professor would have known the implications of his bitten leg, he might not have been so quick to laugh.
After smoothing his pant leg back in his place, he lifted up his shirt. The infernal beast marked him up good as there was a nasty looking pair of claw marks running across the length of his chest and down across his abdomen.
Making his way back to the jeep, it was parked in a nearby clearing, the professor applied a makeshift bandage from its first aid kit to his leg, before hightailing it out of there. Next time he ventured into this dark part of the forest he would be armed with something with a bit more pop to it-- like a 12 gauge shotgun perhaps.
Pulling up into the short driveway of the small rented house they were staying at in the tiny village of Rasinari, Romania, Roger hoped his daughter would be in bed by now. It was nearly midnight so maybe he might be in luck as Katie, bless her kind heart, was quite the over protective little hen with him.
Roger actually loved the way his daughter fawned over him, although it left him feeling guilty at times. It seemed between taking care of him, working as his part time assistant on the new book he was writing, and maintaining her grades in the online college courses she was taking, the shy eighteen year old Katie was left with precious little time to enjoy any kind of a social life.
God knows the girl should have had a social life. She was pretty enough. Light, golden brown hair, soft blue eyes, a nearly flawless complexion, accented by a dazzling smile when she was happy.
Katie, with her luscious tan and a lithe little body, stood out among the overabundance of plain and chubby, pale skinned farmers' daughters which populated her age group in this small Romania village. Her saintly beauty was matched with an incredibly shy and demure personality inspired by her overprotective late mother.
They had called Rasinari home now for going on nearly three months after moving from there San Diego. The move was the professor's idea saying how he needed a bit more of a realistic atmosphere to write his current book.
Apparently, San Diego's beaches and sunny climate was not conducive to writing a comprehensive history of Eastern European's mythical monsters. He half expected Katie, freshly graduated from high school then, to balk at their move, but to his surprise, she actually seemed excited about visiting the not so exotic Romania.
The professor carefully unlocked the front door before slipping noiselessly into the house. So far, so good; the house was quiet and dark. Limping over to the sofa, the professor plopped down with a heavy sigh.
He sat there for a brief moment or two waiting to see if Katie was going to come out. When she didn't, grunting in pain, he made his way gingerly down the hallway toward the bathroom at the end of the hallway opposite of Katie's room.
Almost as soon as he entered the hallway, he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. He tried to fight it, but with what seemed like an enormously loud bang in the silent house, he crashed heavily against the wall.
Seconds later, as he sank slowly to the floor, he watched the light in Katie's bedroom come on. It was the last thing he remembered before slipping into unconsciousness.
His eyes flickered open. He was sitting on the bare wooden hallway floor slumped against the wall. "W-what happened?" he managed to mumble.
"I found you out here. Passed out. What happened, Daddy?" Katie hovered over him looking especially worried. A flush of shame hit him as all he could think of as he sat there--staring at his daughter--was how sexy she could look, if only she would be brave enough to show off even a little bit.
She was wearing her usual sleeping attire-- an oversized white cotton sleep shirt adorned with dozens of little tiny rainbows. The shirt, although cute enough as it was, did nothing at all to accent the blossoming curves of her youthful body. Her shoulder length blond hair was messed up a bit as if she been sleeping.
"Later, I will fill you in, but for now, just help your daddy to his feet, princess."
She resisted the urge to smile. "Princess". It was a pet nickname for her; one he hadn't used in years. "I will try," she whispered.
It took a minute, but with her help he finally managed to gain his feet. He felt another wave of dizziness come over him, and if it wasn't for the wall on one side, and her on the other, he most likely would have tumbled over again.
"Help me into my bedroom, sweetie."
Leaning heavily on his daughter, the professor just barely managed to stagger to the doorway of what passed as the small house's master bedroom before having to pause.
"Are you alright, Daddy? You aren't going to pass out again are you?"
"No, no, just help me over to the bed," he replied.
After reaching the bed, he plopped down heavily on the edge of it.
"Here let me pull back the covers so you can lay down," his angel of a daughter told him.
She started to turn back the covers before he stopped her. "Honey, didn't you just put fresh sheets on both our beds yesterday."
"Uh-hum. Why?"
"Yeah, well, you had better turn on the lamp there and take a good look at your father first."
Reaching over, she clicked on the lamp on the nearby nightstand casting a small pool of light inside the otherwise dark bedroom.
Turning to look at him she let out a small gasp. None of what she was observing now had been evident in the dark hallway earlier. "Jesus, your shirt is torn and filthy and your pants, the left leg looks like it's soaked in blood. God, I think we need to get you to a hospital."
"Honey, we are not in America anymore. This little village doesn't have a hospital or even an after-hours clinic for that matter. I already checked. The nearest place to go for medical care is a good forty five minute drive, and I'm in no condition to drive. Maybe tomorrow."
"Promise if I think you need to go somewhere tomorrow to get looked at you will go."
