Chapter 18: Chapter 18

PRESENT

CHAPTER 12: THE MYSTERIOUS CALLER

DIANA

I was left bewildered by Gualtiero’s sudden disappearance at the café earlier. I came up with several reasons in my head why he would have run off that way. Like, maybe someone texted him with some kind of emergency, or he suddenly remembered that he’d left the stove on at home. These are valid excuses to leave a coffee date (was it a date?) so abruptly.

The one that didn’t make sense to me was how he disappeared so quickly. It felt like he was there one second and literally gone the next. Sure, I’d been momentarily distracted by the waitress’ accident, but that was only for a few seconds. How did he leave so quickly and quietly? I tried to send him a message asking if everything was okay, but I kept getting a notification that said, “not delivered.”

Gualtiero had also mentioned twice that he tried calling me and I hadn’t responded, but I’d never seen any missed calls from him. What the hell was going on with my phone? I spent about twenty minutes going through my settings, but nothing seemed amiss. I sighed and tossed the phone onto my bed in frustration. I guess I’d have to take it to the store tomorrow and see if a professional has better luck fixing it.

I can’t lie though, my heart aches thinking about having to wait until tomorrow to speak to Gualtiero again, to hear that he is okay despite whatever happened to make him leave our date so soon. Yes, date. I have decided to call it a date, not only for lack of a better word for it, but because I realized that I want it to be a date.

I may not have known Gualtiero too well yet, but my heart is filled with so much longing for him. And although he is gorgeous, my longing has very little to do with his looks. There is just something about him that made my stomach feel like there were fireworks going off inside of it. That makes my heartbeat faster than a hummingbird’s. Something about his presence ignites my soul in a way that nothing ever had before, and I don’t want to deny it to myself any longer. I am done holding back when it comes to Gualtiero.

I suddenly felt a different kind of longing and ache in my chest. I miss my mother. She was always the one I turned to when it came to boys. She would give me advice or share her excitement with me when I’d get asked to the school dance. We would go on mother-daughter dates and laugh about the things going on in our lives. She would dream about someday throwing me a beautiful wedding. It was the first time I’d thought about that since my parents died. How I’d never get to introduce my future husband to my family or get walked down the aisle by my father.

I grabbed Iosif’s journal and hugged it to my chest, thinking about how it belonged to them. In that moment I really just wanted to feel close to my parents. I wiped the tears that creeped onto my face and opened the journal. Perhaps now was as good of a time as ever to finish up the last few pages.

Over the next half hour or so, I momentarily forgot the world around me and got transported into the 1800s with Iosif Michea. He wrote so cleverly about the process of vampire hunting and his discovery of an herb that if consumed, weakened a vampire’s strength and made them possible to overcome. His tales of fighting and staking vampires until they were nothing but dust were enthralling and I found myself oddly invigorated by this reading experience.

Iosif’s writing was so vivid that I felt like I was there, hunting vampires alongside him. His success at ridding the world of another one of these gruesome monsters felt like my own and I found myself cheering for him hard, as if vampire hunting was a sport and he was my favorite player. I was wholeheartedly rooting for his cause. To destroy the vampires and seek some justice to what happened to his loved ones at that engagement party.

He named three of the victims: Lady Ralu, Theodosia and…Gualtiero. It amused me to see his name written upon these pages, but then he is of Romanian origin, so I supposed it is not an uncommon name there.

I was saddened to reach the last page of the journal. It didn’t exactly feel finished, so I was left disappointed and wanting more. I thought back to the article I’d read about Iosif and his mysterious death by an animal attack and wondered if he was killed during a hunt. I immediately laughed at myself for having such a thought.

Don’t be ridiculous, Diana. Vampires have to be real in order for there to be an actual hunt. The journal is a work of fiction, dummy!

I was barely finished laughing at myself when my phone began to ring. My heart leapt out of my chest wondering if it was Gualtiero and the phone glitch had cleared up. Upon looking at the screen however, I could see that it was a phone number I didn’t recognize. It had a foreign area code. It’s probably a spam call, I thought, rolling my eyes, yet still felt compelled to answer it.

“Hello?”

“Diana…” breathed the heavily accented voice of an older woman.

“Um, yeah? Who is this?” I replied.

“Mae,” she simply replied.

“Mae? I don’t know anyone named Mae. I think you’ve got the wrong Diana,” I said, my finger hovering over the end call button.

I hesitated, hearing the old woman’s cackling laughter on the other end of the line.

“I have not made any mistake, Diana Aguero. We have been waiting a long time for you to complete the first task and now it is finished.”

First task? What is this lady talking about?

“I really don’t know what you mean,” I said.

“The journal, my sweet. You have read Iosif’s journal,” the woman said through giddy laughter.

I froze and felt every hair on my body stand on end.

“Now you must come to Romania. You must come and complete your—”

I hung up the phone before she could finish what she was saying and quickly dropped it onto the mattress, as if it were burning my hand. What the hell was that? Who was that creepy woman and how did she know that I had been reading Iosif’s journal? Was I being stalked? Or was that some sort of prank? But no one knew I had been reading that journal except Gualtiero and he wouldn’t have pulled a prank on me like that, would he?

I wasn’t about to accuse him, anyway. Not after I already accused him of killing Roman and of being a player. Still, I wished I could speak to him. As someone else with Romanian background, perhaps he could offer some insight on that weird phone call. Maybe it was some unhinged relative of his that he talked to about our day at the library.

I immediately cringed at my own line of thinking. What makes you think he’s telling his family about you? said a nagging voice in my head. I sighed and picked up my phone, cursing it out loud as I tried dialing Gualtiero again and again, but having the call drop each time.

“What is wrong with you? You’ll take calls from creepy old weirdos, but you won’t let me call my….” I trailed off, not bringing myself to say the word “boyfriend.” After all, that was not what he was. At least he hadn’t asked me to be his girlfriend. And he probably never would if I couldn’t get my stupid phone to work so I could speak to him regularly.

I decided to ask Anastasia if I could borrow her phone for a little bit to see if I could get through to him. Even if he didn’t have any clue what my phone call was about, I would still like to know that he is okay, and he did not leave the café so abruptly due to something serious. I headed down the hall to Anastasia’s room and raised my hand to knock, but stopped, hearing her voice coming from inside. It sounded like she was currently using the phone and I decided I should probably ask her later instead.

I turned to go back to my room but overheard something that made me pause.

“I just can’t stop thinking about Gualtiero, mom,” I heard Anastasia say through the door. I am usually not an eavesdropper, but I had to stop and listen to this.

“I knew from the moment I saw him that he was the one,” she continued.

I was shocked, frozen still. Anastasia had feelings for Gualtiero? I felt like I was going to be sick.

Anastasia paused, apparently listening to whatever her mother was saying on the other end, then responded, “Well…not yet, if I’m being honest but I’m working on it. Honestly, I think it’s Diana getting in our way. She seems infatuated with him. And I don’t blame her, he is gorgeous,” she sighed dreamily. “But he is mine and I’ll do anything to protect him. I’ve already made up some story about how he has a girlfriend, and I took her phone and blocked his number from it when she was sleeping. I’m not sure how long that will work for before she figures it out, but at least it might keep them from talking so much for now…”

I’d heard enough. I turned on my heels and marched back to my room, not caring if she heard me or not. How could Anastasia do this to me? She was supposed to be my best friend. I mean, feelings could not be helped. To have feelings for Gualtiero is one thing, but to actively try and sabotage my chances of getting to know him better just so she can have a better shot at him? That is not something that a real friend does.

I looked around at my room. My room that was situated in her house and I just felt so conflicted. On one hand, there was truly a lot that I owed to Anastasia, but that did not mean that she could betray me and mess with my life in such cruel ways. I was beginning to cry tears of rage and decided to calm myself down. Tears would not solve anything; they would not make the situation any better.

I took a few deep breaths, decided to make myself a hot and comforting cup of tea and call Gualtiero. To keep my mind occupied while I waited for the kettle to whistle, I browsed social media on my phone. Everyone from school seemed to be talking about Oliver being attacked in a way similar to Roman, except that he lived, evidenced by a selfie that he himself posted from his hospital bed. I could see an illuminated light that said “online” on Oliver’s profile and decided to message him.

Hey Oliver, I just heard about what happened. I’m so sorry! Are you okay?

It only took a few seconds before I noticed he was typing back.

How’s it going, Diana? I’m good. The doctors have me all doped up, so I don’t feel anything lmao it’s going to leave a nasty scar I think, but at least I have a badass survival story to impress the ladies with Are you messaging because you’re impressed?

I rolled my eyes at this. Wasn’t he dating Zari? Not that she is the most loyal girlfriend ever, but still. I could never understand why someone would have a significant other and still be so openly gross about hooking up with other people.

No, Oliver, I’m really just messaging to see if you’re okay. Don’t make me regret it. What kind of animal attacked you, do you think it is the same kind that attacked Roman?

Oh yeah, you’re playing shy because you’ve been occupied with Walter lately I should back up off his girl, I guess. He did save my life by bringing me into the hospital. Letting him have you is the least I could do lmao. I actually don’t remember anything about the attack. I kind of just woke up here already bandaged.

Wait, Gualtiero was the one who brought Oliver to the hospital? I had so many questions, but I decided it was better left asking Gualtiero directly rather than continue to entertain Oliver’s cringey attempts at flirting. I sent one last message before hurrying upstairs with my tea.

Oh okay. Well, feel better Oliver!

I could see him typing more but I exited the chat without bothering to read it. I got to my room, thankful that I hadn’t run into Anastasia on the way and immediately unblocked Gualtiero’s number from my phone and called it.

“Hello?” he answered, his voice smooth like velvet.

“Hey!” I said, hoping I didn’t sound too enthusiastic. “I finally figured out what was wrong with my phone. I’m sorry I hadn’t been receiving your calls or messages in the past few days.”

“It is quite all right, Diana,” he said. “I am very pleased to hear from you.”

“I’m pleased to hear from you too,” I replied, unable to stop the smile that was spreading across my face. It was incredible how I could be having a horrible night but hearing his voice would instantly make everything better. “Are you okay? You really disappeared on me earlier, I was worried that something was wrong.”

“I did not wish to worry you, Diana. I apologize. As it happens, I became ill suddenly and had to run off. I did not want you to see me in that state.”

“Oh, is that why you left your coffee untouched? You should have said something!” I frowned, feeling bad that he was out with me while not feeling well. “Are you feeling better?”

“Yes, quite better, thank you,” he said.

“I’m glad. I heard from Oliver just now. He was apparently attacked by a wild animal. He says that you’re the one that brought him to the hospital?”

He paused momentarily, then answered. “Ah, yes. I encountered him on my way home. He was quite wounded, so I took him to get help.”

“That was very kind of you, Gualtiero, especially…you know, after what happened at the party.”

He remained silent for a moment. “How are you, Diana? You look a bit disturbed.”

“What?” I asked in surprise, walking over to my window and peering out. “How do you know what I look like?”

“I meant sound. You sound a bit disturbed,” he said with a slight laugh. “I’m sorry, it is quite late, I must be tired.”

He had a point, it was late. I didn’t realize until that point that perhaps it was rude of me to call at such hours. I should have messaged to ask if he was awake first. Maybe I woke him up. After all, he was a busy med school student. God knows what time he got up and started his day. I shut my blinds and climbed into my bed.

“I hope I didn’t wake you,” I said apologetically.

“Not at all,” he said, sounding amused for some reason I couldn’t quite place.

“What makes you think I’m disturbed?” I asked.

“Something in your voice sounds…different,” he said. “What happened, Diana?”

It was really impressive and a bit heartwarming how he could tell just from the sound of my voice that something was going on with me. However, I didn’t feel like talking about Anastasia, not yet. So, I decided to bring up something else.

“I received a strange phone call from Romania earlier from a ‘Mae,’” I confessed.

“Your grandmother?” he asked.

“No. I don’t have – wait how did you know she was old? She sounded very old,” I said.

“Mae is a term of endearment for grandmother in Romanian, so I figured…” he said.

“Oh, that makes sense. I don’t speak a lick of Romanian, so I didn’t know. Anyway, I don’t have any living grandparents, so no. She is not my grandmother.”

“Then perhaps she is another relative. You said you still have a few in Romania?”

That thought had not occurred to me. Could it be that this old woman was one of the relatives I had visited years ago? But if so, why didn’t she say so? And how did she know that I had read the journal? Maybe it was coincidence that I had just finished reading it. The journal could be a family heirloom for all I knew, and she might have known that my parents had entrusted me with it after their death. She might have made the assumption that I already read it. She also might have sounded weirder than she was if she didn’t speak English so well. Sometimes things get lost in translation when going from one language to another.

“I suppose that is a possibility…” I said, suddenly feeling a bit foolish for hanging up on the old woman instead of asking more about who she was and why she was calling.

Gualtiero never made me feel foolish though. He was so easy to talk to. So honest and interesting and addictive. We ended up talking all night long about almost every topic under the sun. He somehow had something to say about everything. He was so well read, so cultured. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t share an opinion on. He was more amazing than I had even thought possible.

I don’t know what time it was when I fell asleep, but eventually I did. I slipped into a dream where I was running, running after Gualtiero, but when I reached him and he turned around, I didn’t see Gualtiero at all, but an ugly, gruesome monster with sharp fangs and a devilish glare. I was not afraid though. I was just as ruthless, just as bloodthirsty for it as it was for me. I pulled out a wooden stake and plunged it right through its cold, lifeless heart. Instead of turning to dust, it turned into an old woman with a thick Romanian accent.

“Come to Romania, Diana… come and meet your destiny….” she whispered.

I woke up startled, something that had been happening often lately. I felt something hard resting against my ear and realized that I had fallen asleep still on the phone with Gualtiero. I blushed, hoping I hadn’t done something embarrassing like snore or talk in my sleep, but the line was disconnected. He did, however, leave a text message for me right before sunrise.

It was lovely speaking and resting with you. I must attend university now. Have a good day, Diana.

My heart was bursting with happiness. It felt like a dream, waking up to a message from him that sounded like he was as happy to spend the night with me as I was with him. I messaged back a quick reply, wishing him a good day in school as well and began checking my notifications from when I was asleep. An e-mail caught my eye. It was a confirmation code for an airline ticket.

What the hell? I never bought any airline ticket. I stared at it in confusion wondering if it could be some clever type of spam, but when I clicked it open, I found a very real looking boarding pass with my name on it for a flight that was set to leave for Romania late that night. The old woman’s words from my dream echoed inside of my head. Come to Romania. Come and meet your destiny.

I got chills all over my body and closed the e-mail knowing right away that it was her who bought me that ticket. It was Mae. But who was she and what did she want? And more importantly, why was I feeling like it wouldn’t be such a crazy idea to go? It was almost like an invisible string was tugging towards my closet and telling me to pack my stuff for the flight.

To my relief, I resisted that odd urge and went downstairs to make some coffee and inevitably face Anastasia. It was not something that I was looking forward to doing, but I couldn’t exactly go on living in her house and avoid her forever. She was doing homework on her laptop when I walked into the kitchen.

“Well, someone slept in,” she said with a smirk. “Long night?”

“You could say that, I suppose,” I said, pouring myself a cup of coffee with my back to her. “I spent it talking to Gualtiero on the phone.”

I turned around, finally facing her.

“After I undid your handiwork and unblocked him, of course,” I said.

She was shocked that I knew, but she did a good job not showing it on her face. “I don’t know what you mean, Di, I—”

“Don’t even bother lying, Anastasia. I overheard you talking to your mom.”

She stared at me for a moment and then shut her laptop, letting out a long breath. “Okay, fine. It’s true. I did block Gualtiero from your phone.”

“You also lied to me about him having a girlfriend.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Why!” I shouted. “You’re my best friend, how could you…” I was so upset at how unapologetic she actually looked and sounded that I couldn’t even finish my sentence. Was she even sorry?

“I didn’t mean to hurt you, Diana,” she finally said. “You have to know that. I mean, okay, yeah, I did some things behind your back, but I have always been your friend.”

“Friends don’t do stuff like this,” I said, running my fingers through my hair in a frustrated manner. “Can you just tell me why?”

“You’ll never understand,” she said. I waited for more, but it didn’t come.

“Really, that’s all you’ll say to me, that I will never understand?”

She shrugged. “You’re my best friend. I really never intended to hurt you. It’s just…you don’t know Gualtiero.”

I laughed at that. “I don’t know Gualtiero? I knew him before you did, and I think I know him way better. You really have some nerve.”

I turned around, heading back towards the stairs.

“Diana, where are you going? Let’s talk about this.”

“I’m going to pack my suitcase. I’m leaving the country.”

“What?!”

“I really need some space from you, Anastasia. Maybe we can talk about this sometime, but right now is really not the time.”

“Diana!”

She called after me, but I didn’t turn back anymore. I went right up to my room and began packing my suitcase. I don’t know what would await me in Romania or if going is a wise decision or not, but something is compelling me to go and at the same time, the energy in my home is compelling me to leave. When I finished packing, I grabbed my phone and sent a message to Gualtiero asking if he could drive me to the airport tonight. I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye to him and I felt like I owed him an explanation as to where I was going. I didn’t want him to think I wasn’t interested in him just because I was going on a trip.

At half past seven I received a response from him that he would be glad to take me anywhere I needed to go and by 8PM I was out the door, ready for whatever the rest of the night would bring.