PAST Excerpt from Iosif Michea’s journal: How To Destroy A Vampire We had significant progress today. We succeeded in destroying vampires. Finally! It is not easy to trick these monsters as Sef Andrei once thought. Sef Andrei is the head of our village, and like me, he also lost his loved ones at the engagement party. His wife, Ralu, and only daughter, my beloved Theodosia, both brutally lost their lives in the bloodbath. It took a while for me to even have a new sense of purpose after my Theodosia was brutally decapitated. I vowed never to show mercy upon these hideous creatures. Sef Andrei fell ill the day of the attack against the vampires, so thankfully, his life was spared. But he had never forgotten his loss, and together we embarked unto the world of the unknown and discovered vital information about vampires. I noted all the observations I found about them in an earlier entry, but this one is about our first small success as a community of vampire hunters. Many years ago, the other hunters in our village took on a mission of destroying vampires even if it cost them their lives. I was badly hurt from hunting at that time and could not go with them. I remember they had torches and wooden stakes with them to prepare for the onslaught but not one of them came back alive. The next day, Sef Andrei and the other older men found all of them brutally slaughtered like meat, each one drained of blood from their system. I was very upset upon hearing this news but it made me even more determined to destroy the entire vampire race. We thought they would be weakened by fire, because their skin is ice cold. We thought fire and wooden stake were good enough weapons, but we were mistaken. The monsters were tougher than we thought. By sundown, as a routine, some of them gather together like a pack, pretending to be locals. But there is always no mistaking how beastly they really look; most especially having those hideous fangs they try so hard to hide through glamor. But they are not fooling me. Two vampires, probably a couple, went to Sef Andrei’s hut where I also currently reside. The vampires were very deceptive. They pretended to be lost and asked for directions on how to get into the city of Tomis. I have just come from a trip to a nearby town to procure as much vervain plants as the villagers would be needing. I found out from my research that vervain can weaken or wound a vampire enough to be easily captured or killed. I noticed right away that both the male and the female vampires had no reflection when they passed by the huge oval mirror Sef Andrei owns. He welcomed them warmly and served them tea as he gave them the directions they asked for. They were seated quietly by the chief’s table. “You are a good man,” the woman said. “Thank you for your accurate direction.” Sef Andrei nodded. His pretense was so convincing I started to wonder if he actually realized what they were. They had no reflection, for the love of God! “Thank you for the tea but we are in a hurry,” said the man, his porcelain skin glowing. His facial expression seemed to be contradicting what he was saying for he seemed to be scowling rather than feeling all the gratitude. Ah, it must be the blood. He must be smelling my blood and Sef Andrei’s. He and the female vampire shared a knowing look. I prayed to the heavens for our plan to succeed. I closed my eyes and heard a snarl almost immediately. Sef Andrei fell from his seat, terrified. The male went straight at Sef Andrei and hastily sank his teeth into his neck, as deep as he could. “No!” I yelped. The female vampire smirked at me upon hearing my scream of terror. She sank her teeth into my neck. I felt a pricking pain. Just when I thought I was going to pass out and perish, she suddenly stopped sucking my blood dry. “Poison! They poisoned us!” she snarled, falling to the floor, frail. From my peripheral vision, I saw the male vampire also writhing in pain, vomiting blood. It worked! The monsters really repelled our blood full of vervain which we already ingested earlier this morning, making sure to add it to our food and drinks. “The stake! Iosif, hurry up and get the stake! We need to destroy them at their weakest!” Sef Andrei ordered me with such an urgency in his voice. As if pulled from a trance, I suddenly moved as quickly as I could to get two wooden stakes we have prepared especially for this occasion. “Weak humans!” the male vampire seethed. “You are not going to destroy us. We are going to outlive you and your entire race!” “Please, please, help me, I am in pain,” the female vampire cried. I came towards her, determined to destroy her upon hearing her pleas. I staked her through the heart without hesitation. She made a gurgling sound but I did not stop there. With my bare hands, I pulled her heart out of her chest. I have since learned that a vampire has a heart inside their bodies, although the heart does not beat. Fresh blood gushed out of her body. A few seconds later, she was an ugly, rotting corpse. The male vampire tried to escape but gone was his speed for the vervain had truly made him too weak. Sef Andrei easily staked him in the back. He fell, not quite destroyed yet, but I made sure to finish the job. I staked him through the heart and crumpled his heart in my fist. This time, the beast perished helplessly. I could feel rage springing from within me. I wanted to decapitate both of their heads but I saw it was no longer necessary. Their bodies turned to dust and they were gone forever. I was speechless for a second, letting the astounding discovery set in. I came upon a realization that vampires are not invincible. There is hope for us humans to outpower these vicious creatures. “Your discovery of vervain plant’s usefulness is exemplary, Iosif. You should lead the vampire hunters. You are our rightful leader. I am older but you are wiser beyond your years. Under your leadership, we are going to destroy the entire vampire population,” Sef Andrei spoke, with evident reverence in his voice. “It was for everyone they have ever murdered. It was for Lady Ralu, Theodosia, Gualtiero and all the other humans they have mercilessly preyed upon and killed,” I replied. The other vampire hunters heard of our success and were overjoyed with the news. We drank whiskey that night to celebrate the victory. “To Sef Iosif!” Sef Andrei proclaimed. “Sef Iosif! Sef Iosif: the cleverest vampire hunter that ever existed!” seconded another. I did not notice that I fell asleep shortly after the celebration. I suppose I might have drunk a little too much. It was the happiest I have been in a long while. I thought happiness would elude me for eternity, but the mission had given me a new motivation to survive to defend the human race against these blood-sucking predators. I got up from my seat groggily, and I wobbled as I walked slowly, trying to steady myself and keep my balance, but clearly failing. Something strange happened that was probably brought about by my intoxication with alcohol. I saw what looked like a ghost of someone I once knew standing by the window. Someone I would recognize from anywhere. He was with someone I could not take a good look at but it was definitely a young woman. I called him by his name. Surely it must have been a trick of my own brain. He was my best friend that perished in 1821. It was not possible. Unfortunately, as quickly as my mind conjured up his image, he was gone. I passed out cold on the floor as soon as his image disappeared. I tried to find my dead best friend for years, but as expected, it was not possible anymore. He was long gone. But for him and everyone else we have lost to the vampires, I will continue to lead the vampire hunters and through this journal, which I hope to pass to the next generations of vampire hunters, I am optimistic to a future world in which the vampires would cease to exist.