The Girl of Dracula by Dorina Stanciu

Author:Dorina Stanciu [Stanciu, Dorina]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Horror
ISBN: 9781466330337
Amazon: 1466330333
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2012-03-14T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

Alex was determined not to waste a single second from his time with Adelina. As he parked behind the building at his grandmother’s apartment in Hippodrome Quarters, he hopped that using the back entrance they would not encounter anyone they knew.

But as they stepped into the hallway, Alex deplored his choice. Mr. and Mrs. Dinescu were coming down the stairs hand in hand.

“Oh, dear children,” Mr. Dinescu exclaimed happily. “What a joy to bump into you two!”

His exultant remark caused Alex and Adelina to experience a certain amount of guilt, as momentarily, their joy to see the dear old couple was not in the least at Mr. Dinescu’s level of enjoyment. They greeted politely, and Alex helped Mrs. Dinescu descend the last couple of steps. She looked frail, weaker today.

“We are on our way to buy some groceries, on the fact that we feel devastatingly malnourished,” Mr. Dinescu announced melodramatically.

“Leave the children alone! Don’t bother them, when they may have important things to attend to. Allez mes enfants! L’amour e douce, la jeunesse passe plus vite!” Mrs. Dinescu interrupted her husband, sending Alex an evocative glance.

“Just a couple of minutes,” Mr. Dinescu insisted, “to resolve the malnourishment case. I don’t want to give you the wrong impression that poverty has struck us right in the last years of our lives.” He took a more comfortable position leaning on the railings, and he went on without the slightest shadow of pressure.

“Last week, we went to see the preacher at The Birth of Our Lord Cathedral for our confessions. That is what old people do. They clean their souls of sins, afraid that the last moment might surprise them at odds with God. And the priest gave us a whole week of fasting before our confessions. No meat, no fish, no eggs, no milk, no cheese, no honey, no wine, no… Nothing! And I can tell you that there isn’t another more challenging Christian fasting in the entire world than the Christian Orthodox fasting! It is a self-imposed monk-living style, only you’re in your own home, and you can watch television. Oh, but mind you! You have to practice abstinence from the sins of swearing and judging people, including the dirtiest politician. Because, otherwise, you would have to add more sins on your confession list. And then, more sins result in more penance. You wouldn’t want that now, would you?” The old professor drew a long breath, and then, to Alex and Adelina’s desperation, he resumed his speech.

“Let’s get back to our primordial problem! For an entire week we’ve been nibbling on green parsley, celery, carrots, beets, and other roots. Sometimes I almost believed that we metamorphosed into herbivores. This morning, at 7 AM, as the priest had scheduled us, we showed up at the main entrance of the church. Hand in hand, ready to confess, our faces pious and our souls immaculate after a whole week of cruel fasting. And not in the least, with our bellies profoundly unhappy, singing a dissonant duet in an aggravating allegro rhythm maddening to your senses.

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