It was a recurring dream. Radu had the dream every few months, every year for too many years. He wasn’t sure about time anymore. He spent most of what he had locked away. It was so hard to know what time it was as he lay for years in the dark. His body felt more like the rock ledge that he lay on than the body of a living being. The dream meant that the long sleep was coming to an end. He would need to feed again soon.

She was still young and beautiful in the dream. “Radu,” Nevasta teased as she moved away from him. The moon was high in the sky, and the streets of the small village were empty. Nevasta had a sparkle in her eye, and it was guiding Radu’s way as he ran after her. She was dodging in and out of alleys, staying just ahead of him.

Radu remembered this night well. They had been living in Jgheaburi for fifty years. The people there knew who Radu was, and they helped him to keep his secret. They were the reason that he and Nevasta could build a life together. The couple had spent their first 350 years on the run. Moving from place to place, trying to avoid other vampires, and being discovered by humans.

Nevasta was the reason that Radu had given up the crown. He would’ve had to eventually anyway, but as soon as he met her, Radu knew that he didn’t want to waste another moment as king. Even if they had an eternity together, he knew that it wouldn’t be long enough.

“Do you regret not being king?” Nevasta would ask sometimes. She was always worried that Radu would grow to resent her for what he’d done. She didn’t want to be the reason that he gave up the throne.

“If I could go back, I wouldn’t change a thing,” was always his answer. That was the answer that he gave one night when she asked the question once again.

“Are you sure?” Nevasta asked. Radu had lost sight of her, but he knew she was close. He had watched her walk down this alley.

“You’re the only one for me,” Radu said. Nevasta launched herself at him and took him right to the ground. He smiled as he looked up at her. They kissed, but her lips pulled back suddenly, and Radu’s eyes opened to see a vampire standing over them. He was holding Nevasta’s head in his hands. Radu sprang to his feet and attacked the dark one.

Radu’s enemy hadn’t come alone. Radu found himself drastically outnumbered. He knew that he couldn’t let himself be taken. The evil vampire wanted a very powerful weapon that he could use to wake his dark master.

The dream ended as Radu ran away. It hurt him to leave the body of his beloved behind. He could still feel the pain now, hundreds of years later. He woke sobbing, and rolled up into a sitting position. A cloud of dust rose up as he did; Radu could still feel it settling all over his skin. He could already hear the monks shuffling through the tunnel to his cell.

The monks pushed the heavy rock away from the door, and led the sacrifice into the room. It was a tribute for the service his master had provided them with thousands of years ago. Their brown robes were dusty from the walk through the crumbling walls of the footpath that led back to Radu’s chamber. The chamber was very deep in the mountain.

The room was sealed from the outside. The monastery was built into the side of a cliff. Carved out of the stone, Radu knew that if he tried to get out he might cause a crack that dropped the room down on top of him. He wouldn’t die, but he would suffer for millennia waiting for something to happen to the cliff. Only the monks knew that the vampire was in there.

“Radu the dark,” the high senior member of the monks, Brother Vladimir, said as he gave the vampire the chain. “This is Katrina, she has agreed to be your sacrifice.”

“Right, agreed, that’s why I’m on a chain,” Katrina sneered as she shot an angry look at the monks. Radu smiled warmly to the sacrifice, and gave a tug on the chain. He patted the ledge beside him. Katrina could feel the pressure on the other end of the chain. She didn’t want to upset the powerful beast. “Okay, don’t hurt me.”

Radu waved the monks away, and they all went and stood outside the door. The slam of the rock sealing off the room sent Katrina into a panic. “What are you going to do to me?” She thought for a second about grabbing the big wooden torch that the monks had left in a holder by the entrance.

“What do they call you?” His voice was deep and soothing. Katrina looked from the old man to the torch, but then she turned back to Radu.

“Me?” Katrina asked, and Radu looked on either side of her, and then scanned the room. “All right, I get it. I’m the only one in here. Ah, Trin…I guess. I like Kat, but no one calls me that.”

“Kat,” Radu said as he stood up and shook some of the dirt off himself.

“How long have you been in here?” Kat asked as she wiped the dusty air away from her face. She could see the specks landing on the bright white robes that the monks had dressed her in.

“What year is it?” Radu asked. He laughed to himself when he heard the year. “1998, then I have been in this chamber for the last 215 years. I locked myself away from the world. We don’t need any more monsters running around.”

“What are you?” Kat asked. She had been staring intently at the shaggy hair, and the flaking, stony skin of the ancient creature. Radu beckoned with two fingers for her to walk with him. She hesitated for a moment and then went to the wall he was standing in front of. He held the torch up so that Kat could see a dusty tapestry that hung on the wall.

“Have you heard the legend of Unul Vechy?” Radu asked. Kat shook her head. It wasn’t a story that many were familiar with anymore. “Balaur the Dread had been destroying villages and castles all across Europe and the people prayed for a savior. An angel to save them. Unul Vechy was an angel of sorts, and he did slay the dragon. Balaur fell from the skies and Europe was saved.”

“That was you?” Kat breathed the words as she looked up at the woven image of the dragon. She recognized the shape of the fallen dragon. She didn’t know where, but she had seen that shape before.

“That was my master,” Radu shrugged as if he needed to apologize for not being the dragon slayer. “Unul was not of this world, and he needed to drink human blood to live on this plane. He couldn’t stand to continually feed off of humans.”

“Didn’t the monks bring him sacrifices?” Kat scowled.

“Yes, but catching people wasn’t the problem,” Radu grunted. He quickly moved from Kat’s side to the door, and he put back the torch. “My master didn’t want to hurt anyone. He was an angel after all.”

“So, where do you come into all of this?” Kat moved over to look at the other tapestries that hung high on the walls of the chamber. Her eyesight was adjusting the longer she stayed in the dark cavern cell.

“Balaur was not of this world either,” Radu sighed. “There needed to be a person to take on the job of ensuring that the dragon was not brought back to life.”

“Who would want to do that?”

“His name was Solomon,” Radu felt a pang as he said the name out loud. He hadn’t mentioned the name in hundreds of years. He burned with rage for Solomon, he had seen his face in dreams, and there was something about saying the name that stung Radu deep down in his soul. “He was the first human to become a vampire.”

“Your master turned him,” Kat guessed. She was looking at a tapestry that she had seen in a textbook somewhere. It was about the formation of Wallachia. Kat couldn’t understand how any of these tapestries fit into the story that she was being told. The one with the dragon made sense.

“No, he impaled himself on the fang of the dragon,” Radu said as he followed Kat around the room. She was young, and he could feel her heart beating through her skin. The smell of her blood was driving Radu wild. He could feel his fangs twitching.

“That sounds gruesome.”

“Every story about the dark one is gruesome,” Radu murmured. “I was created by my master to keep the secrets of reanimating Balaur safe.”

“What’s wrong?” Kat said as she turned to see Radu’s eyes. She could see the pain behind them. She reached for his hand and he led her back to the ledge. “What happened that you sealed yourself away?”

“My life ended suddenly one night,” Radu groaned. “I have to be here on Earth, but there is no joy left for me.”

Kat looked up at a painting that hung over the ledge. It was a picture of a young woman with long blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. She was dressed in a deep purple gown. The crown on her head looked like something out of a Disney movie. Kat knew that she was the reason that the flaky-skinned monster was locked away. “Solomon did this?”

“Yes,” Radu nodded as he pulled himself together.

“Is that a map of central Europe?” Kat asked as she looked at the map. She could see the Carpathian Mountains zigzagging through all the different countries before they ended with a thin strip headed out to the Black Sea. She grabbed the torch, and went back to the tapestry with the slain dragon on it.

“It’s him,” Radu said as he watched Kat’s mind whirring. She didn’t say anything for a long time, and then she sat back down on the ledge. “Balaur was larger than any foe man had ever faced, but killing him unleashed a plague upon this planet that has been more destructive than Balaur would’ve ever been.”

“Do you mean Solomon?”

“Vampires, witches, werewolves,” Radu was scanning the ancient tapestries as he spoke. It had been a while since he had looked at them. “Magic wasn’t present on this plane until Balaur landed, and the fight to stop him only invited more magic, and it was magic that ruined so many lives.”

“Wow,” Katrina gasped as she let the story wash over her. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt so wrapped up in the mystical power of the cave and the tapestries. She could now see past the flaky crumbling skin, and see the handsome face that hid behind it.

Radu moved closer to Kat and he put an arm around her. Kat tried to close her eyes tight, and just get it over with but she hesitated and pulled away from him. He let her move away from him, watching the nervousness in her face. “I just need to know,” Kat tried to get her breathing under control. “I just need to know if you’re going to kill me?”

“I will not hurt you any more than is necessary to sustain my life,” Radu promised as he moved closer to Kat. He didn’t like hurting women. He always tried his best to make sure they were comfortable before drawing their blood. “You will walk out of here under your own power, and you will remember nothing of your time here.”

“But I want to,” Kat said as she pulled away again, looking at him. “I’m glad that you’re going to let me live, but I want to remember this as well.”

“I have already promised this to the brothers,” Radu said, shaking his head. “I have to wipe the memories of the girls they bring here. I have no choice.”

“But what about all of the stuff that you just told me?” Kat frowned. “I want to remember this story, and these pictures. I want to remember all of this. I was kidnapped by freaky monks, and trapped in a cavern with a vampire, and it’s still the best date I’ve had in months. You can’t take this from me.”

“Unfortunately, I can my dear. I have to.” Radu smiled as he took her hand. Kat let herself be led over to the ledge. Radu pulled her back against his body, and Kat let herself sink back into his arms. The teeth sank into her neck and Kat gasped.

“She was excellent,” Radu said as he let the brothers into the room. He knew that they would be eager to get Kat out of the room. The monks had a great distaste for the work. Radu didn’t take offense to this, he didn’t like drinking the blood of their sacrifices either. Radu much preferred the taste of a willing donor. That is why he took his time with each girl.

“Of course heesh shays jat, the auld c-shamer,” Kat slurred her words, delirious as the junior monks led her down the rocky corridor that led to the outer chambers.

“She seems a little more animated than normal,” Vladimir remarked as he watched the girl amble off.

“She took to things a little differently,” Radu admitted. “I wouldn’t think too much of it. Make sure the next time to test them for alcohol. Did you find her at a tavern?” Radu didn’t wait for an answer from the monk. “Because alcohol in the system can have this effect.”

“We’ll check next time. Sorry about that.

Radu nodded and moved back into his room. He laid back down on his ledge, as they slid the rock back into place with a slam. This time a bar was placed around the boulder to lodge it into the structure of the monastery. For the next few years Radu would fight the urge to leave his cell. His hunger for blood was harder to ignore when he had just been fed. He could feel the heartbeats of the monks as they left the cavern. Radu closed his eyes to the sound. He needed rest.