Chapter 4

A Spark of Hope

The morning was only slightly brighter than the evening due to the heavy fog that had rolled in. When the young strangers awoke they discovered that the gypsies were all gone except for Iulian and a single vardo and horse.

"Woah.", Rebecca mumbled, stumbling to her feet. "Where did everybody go?"

"Kansas?", Anthony replied.

Iulian smiled. "We have moved to another camp site further north near the river.", he answered. "I have stayed to help you find the road to the village."

Anthony was trying to get his bearings while Rebecca staggered towards the vardo, trying to remember how much she had to drink last night.

"I wonder if there are Uruk-hai here?", Richard asked Ryan.

Ryan rubbed his eyes. "I'm more worried about Balrogs.", he replied.

"Hope they're as cool as Peter Jackson's...", Richard answered back.

Kevin awoke with a start. His panic faded as he remembered what had happened and where he was, but it didn't fade very much.

Travis held his head and groaned. "What was in that stuff we drank?", he asked no one in particular.

Iulian offered his guests some bread and dried meat. "There is not enough room for everyone to ride.", he said apologetically. "But I will move slowly."

Rebecca didn't feel like walking so she climbed up into the vardo. The inside of the vardo was packed with stuff, rolled tents, camp stoves, etc. There was only enough room for Rebecca to sit inside. Richard looked down the path and decided that riding was the better option. He hopped up onto the vardo next to Iulian. The others walked along side.

Tall shapes loomed out of the dense fog that surrounded everything. The muddy ground underfoot gave way to slick, wet cobblestones. Soon the tall shapes became recognizable as the dwellings of a village. The windows of each house stared out as pools of black nothingness. No sound cut the silence except for a single mournful sobbing that echoed through the streets from a distance.

"I hope that we don't find Irene here.", Rebecca muttered, looking around at the bleak scenery.

Iulian stopped his horse. "This is as far as I can take you.", he said. "I must follow another path to find my people."

Rebecca frowned and hesitantly stepped down out of the vardo.

Richard climbed down and started whining. "My feet hurt. My neck hurts from sleeping on the ground.", he moaned. "I need Mountain Dew."

The gypsy turned his cart back the way he came. "Be careful my friends. Barovia can be a dangerous place.", Iulian warned. "I suggest you do not travel at night in the future. May the blessings of the Vistani be with you."

"Goodbye.", Rebecca said waving as Iulian rode off. "And if you ever get to Kansas look us up."

Then Rebecca turned back around. From what she and her friends could see of the village, most of the homes and stores appeared abandoned. Many of the walls were scarred by claw marks. They suddenly felt very alone.

Kevin looked at the claw marks on the nearest building. "I don't like this.", he said, echoing everyone's sentiments.

Rebecca checked her rifle again and put it back on her shoulder. "Come on.", she said. "No one's going to mess with us."

"There's no one here to mess with us.", Richard replied, but pulled his machete out anyway.

Travis looked around. "Go where?", he asked.

"Let's go get breakfast.", Rebecca said.

Travis rubbed his ample stomach. "That sounds like a very good idea.", he replied.

Anthony looked up the street, trying to spot signs of occupation in the nearby buildings. He saw the flicker of candle light from the windows of a few of the buildings and pointed it out to the others. In the small space between two of the unoccupied buildings Rebecca saw someone lying face down on the ground.

"Hey look. They have homeless people here.", Rebecca said pointing to the figure.

Ryan looked over to where she was pointing. "There are too many peopleless homes here for my comfort.", he said.

Travis and Anthony went over to investigate the narrow alley. Rebecca watched from afar, with her rifle aimed in their direction.

"I gotcha covered.", Rebecca said, looking around.

Anthony reached the fallen man. The man was dressed in the clothing of a peasant. There was a savage wound on his neck and right shoulder area that looked like it had been caused by some wild animal, but oddly enough there was no blood. Anthony put his fingers to the uninjured side of the man's neck and checked for a pulse, but he was too optimistic. The man was dead.

As Anthony looked over the body he noticed a folded and sealed envelope crumpled up in the man's weathered hand. He took the envelope and did a cursory check for other items that might have given a clue to the identity of the body. All that he found was a small pouch of gold coins. Anthony weighed the morality of robbing corpses with the futility of trying to use dollars and decided that necessity overrode nicety. He took the pouch and walked back to the others.

"Remember 'An American Werewolf in London'?", Richard whispered to Ryan.

"If you see Lon Chaney, shoot him.", Ryan said to Rebecca.

"Dick Cheney, too.", Richard added. "Hey! That's right. There's no Secret Service here. Kill George Bush!"

Richard listened for black helicopters after his remark.

"Let me see that.", Ryan asked Anthony, pointing to the letter. Anthony handed it to him. It was sealed with wax. The imprint was a stylized 'I'.

Ryan broke the wax seal and looked at the letter. "My Romanian is a little rusty but...", he said clearing his throat. He slowly read the letter aloud. "Hail thee of might and valor: I, the Burgomaster of Barovia, send you honor with despair."

Ryan looked at the others and then continued, "My adopted daughter, the fair Ireena, has been these past nights bitten by a creature calling its race 'vampyr'. For over four hundred years, he has drained this land of the lifeblood of its people. Now, my dear Ireena languishes and will soon die from an unholy wound caused by this vile beast. Yet I fear, too, that the creature has some more cunning plan in mind. He has become too powerful to be fought any longer. So I say to you, give us up for dead and encircle this land with the symbols of good. Let holy men call upon their power that the evil one may be contained within the walls of weeping Barovia. Leave our sorrows to our graves, and save the world from this evil fate of ours. There is much wealth entrapped in this community. Return for your reward after we are all departed for a better life. Kolyan Indrirovich, Burgomaster."

"Ireena?", Richard wondered out loud. "Irene."

Rebecca couldn't believe what she heard. She looked at the letter herself, but the letter was written in a language didn't understand.

"Okay, ha ha Ryan.", Rebecca said. "What does it really say?"

Ryan wasn't laughing. "It says just what I said it says. Whatever's happened here, this town's leader was trying to get word out.", he replied, looking over at the body in the alley. "Looks like his messenger didn't make it that far."

"You're telling us that there are vampires running around here?", Rebecca said in disbelief.

"Jinkies!", Richard erupted. "Too bad we misplaced the Mystery Machine, Scoob!"

"Who knows what's really going on.", Ryan replied. I'm just telling you what's written here."

"Okay, this is officially fucked up.", Rebecca said sharply.

Kevin scowled. "Rebecca.", he said admonishingly.

"Okay, okay.", Rebecca started thinking out loud. "So Irene's alive and some joker who's pretending to be a vampire is, well, being a total perv."

"Sounds like a couple of the guys you dated in high school.", Ryan interjected.

Rebecca flipped Ryan the finger.

"So what are we waiting for?", Rebecca said. "Let's go shoot the fucker."

Kevin sighed in exasperation.

"I don't think bullets can kill a vampire.", Travis spoke up.

Richard scoffed. "I don't think she watches 'Buffy.'", he added.

"Any guesses as to what passes for a holy symbol hereabouts.", Anthony said, glancing at Kevin.

"There are more things in Heaven and Earth...", Kevin began.

"So you guys think that we're up against a real vampire?", Rebecca mocked. "Yeeeaah, right."

Anthony turned towards Rebecca. "Yesterday I didn't believe you could drive off a road in Kansas and end up in medieval Europe.", he said. "Today, things are…different."

"Okay. So maybe it's real.", Rebecca replied, rolling with the changes. "So lets get some wooden stakes and shit and nail the perv."

Kevin cringed again at Rebecca's profanity. Ryan held up his hands. "Look, why don't we ask around here for some more info first.", he said, trying to inject some sanity into the conversation. "I don't buy the vampire bit either, yet. I'll believe it when I see it, but something weird is going down in this town."

"You're supposed to know about freaky shi...stuff like this.", Travis asked Richard. "What do we need?"

"Breakfast.", Rebecca answered.

Travis looked around confused. "Vampires are allergic to bacon?", he said.

Anthony bit his tongue to keep himself from laughing. Rebecca stared at Travis.
 
"You could breathe whiskey-breath at them, Becky.", Richard said.

Rebecca stopped staring at Travis and instead stared at Richard.

Richard turned his head towards Travis. "Supposedly they can't handle silver, wooden stakes, and garlic. They don't cast reflections, can't cross running water...", he looked at Travis innocently. "What?"

Travis echoed Richard, "What?"

"So we eat, and then get some gear.", Rebecca interrupted.

Ryan laid on the sarcasm. "Right.", he sneered. "Can't fight evil on an empty stomach."

"I like that!", Richard perked up. Then he pulled out his notepad and pen and wrote it down.

Rebecca pursed her lips. "Okay, you guys can stay here and take notes while Travis and I go find some food.", she said as she crossed her arms.

"We could also try to find this 'burgomaster' guy.", Anthony interjected.

"I guess he owns the local Burger King or something.", Rebecca said cluelessly.


The group approached the village square. Sparse light from a building to one side leaked out from behind heavy curtains. The sign over the door creaked on its hinges, it read "Bildrath's Mercantile" according to Ryan's best guess. To the right a wide shaft of light thrust into the main square, its brightness like a solid pillar in the heavy fog. Above the gaping doorway spilling the light a sign hung precariously askew proclaiming the building to be the "Blood on the Vine Tavern".

"I wonder if...be-be-beheading...kills vampires?", Richard wondered out loud. Then he turned to Ryan. "I just realized. I'm a Watcher, like on Buffy! You know, the advisor, the librarian. Becky must be Faith."

Richard snort-laughed and kept walking.

"You're a watcher, like, a peeping Tom.", Rebecca fired back.

"The Internet makes it easy. Did you know I could see you through the monitor on your computer?", Richard said, hoping that Rebecca would believe it.

"In your dreams.", Rebecca moaned. "You are such a perv."

"Hintai forever, baby.", Richard cheered, waggling his eyebrows.

"I am so glad that I don't know what that means.", Rebecca replied.

Richard kept taunting her. "Did you know that a guy in Japan would pay five-hundred dollars for your panties, right now?"

Ryan looked sidelong at Richard. "Now I know why we geeks have such a bad reputation.", he sighed.

"Yeah...but we earn it!", Richard replied.

"Ok, can I smack him now. Please?", Travis asked Rebecca.

"Germans would pay five-thousand dollars to watch that.", Richard chirped.

"And they'd still be closer than you'll ever get.", Rebecca sneered.

"There are many, many things more important than getting laid.", Richard rebutted. "I made an Excel spreadsheet of the list, once..."

Travis muzzled Richard and pulled him into the tavern.

A blazing fire in the hearth gave scant warmth to the few huddled souls within. The silence was broken only by the occasional sip of weak wine. The barkeep was at the bar, cleaning glasses. There were three men at a table to the left and one man sitting mysteriously in shadows to the right. The barkeep looked up when the youths entered but went back to cleaning the glasses, one after another.

Rebecca approached the barkeep. "Whatcha got that's good to eat?", she asked.

The man looked up from his task and said in broken English, "Bacon and bread. That all we have."

"Okay, umm, I'll have bacon and bread then.", Rebecca replied and turned to the others. "How about you guys? Bacon and bread?"

"I'll have bread and bacon.", Richard replied.

Travis frowned. "If that's all they got, then yeah.", he said.

"Bacon and bread with a side of bacon, please.", Ryan said smirking.

Rebecca smiled and turned back to the bartender. "Six orders of bacon and bread then.", she said, but he had already gone to prepare their food.

They all took seats at one of the many empty tables. Richard wondered what the bacon must be like in a dingy hole like the tavern he found himself in.

"Maybe someone knows who this burger master guy is.", Rebecca began.

The lone man in the shadowed corner looked up at Rebecca's statement.

Ryan sighed. He looked at Rebecca and talked down to her as if she was a little girl, "Listen it's 'Burgomaster' The principal magistrate, comparable to a mayor, of a city or town."

"Stuff it, Ryan.", Travis shot back, annoyed by Ryan's tone.

The group was silent for a while. Soon the barkeep brought out two trays, one with bacon and one with bread. He set them on the table and droned, "Two gold."

Anthony dug around in his pocket for the coins. He pulled out two of them and handed them to the barkeep.

Rebecca cleared her throat. "Do you know the Burger, ahem, Burgomaster?", she asked.

The barkeep slipped the coins into his apron and nodded toward the man in the corner. "Talk to him.", he said and went back to cleaning his mugs.

Anthony whispered to Richard, "Wow, that much gold would buy a really good meal back home."

"Must be a Republican in office.", Richard replied.

Rebecca looked over at the creepy guy in the corner while taking a few bites of her bacon and bread. The man's face was haggard and drawn. His black hair was matted to his forehead. Overall he looked like he had seen better days. He stood up and approached the table where Rebecca was sitting. She could smell alcohol on his breath.

In decent English the man said, "My name is Ismark. You seek Burgomaster?"

"Yes.", Rebecca replied warily.

"He will not speak to you.", Ismark said.

Rebecca gave him a look like, "you've got to be kidding".

"He will not speak to you because he is dead.", Ismark added.

Rebecca looked around at the others.

Kevin looked at the man. "There's something more, isn't there?", he said.

Ismark slumped down into an empty chair. "He was my father.", the man began. "Three days ago he died. His heart could not bear the strain of life in this damned place."

"We found a message for him.", Rebecca said.

Ryan slid the letter across the table to Ismark. Ismark looked at it and nodded. "This is my father's writing.", he said. "It weighs heavy on my heart to know that word of our peril did not reach the right ears."

"You knew Irene?", Rebecca asked.

"My sister is named Ireena.", Ismark began. "When our father was here, with help of the holy symbol Brother Donovan lent us, we were able to protect her from that Devil, Strahd. That evil man must have stolen it. Now we have no defense against his minions. Every night is a losing struggle. Soon he'll come for her, I know it.", Ismark finished and rested his head in his hands.

"She's here?", Rebecca asked, getting excited.

Ismark nodded. "She stays in our home at all hours now.", he said, his voice full of despair. "It is the only place she is even remotely safe."

"Can we see her?", Rebecca said, rising out of her chair. The others' eyes lit up as well.

Ismark looked at the clothing and weapons of the young strangers around him. "You don't look like any of Strahd's spies.", he said thoughtfully. "Why do you wish to see her?"

"We're old friends.", Rebecca bubbled. "We go way back. To Kansas."

"What is 'Kansas'?", Ismark asked.

"A distant land.", Richard added. "We have traveled a great distance to see her."

"She never talked about it?", Rebecca said, her smile fading.

Ismark shook his head. "Ireena does not remember her childhood. The only life she knows is here.", he said as the smile disappeared from Rebecca's face. "If you are friends then I would ask for your help. Strahd is obsessed with my sister. He will come for her. Please, you must help kill him."

The barkeep and the three men at the other table glanced around with fearful looks on their faces before returning to their business.

Rebecca looked around her. "Well, yeah, we'll help.", she replied. "That's why we're here."

Kevin nodded. "We'll do everything we can.", he added.

Ismark stood up. "Come. I will take you to her.", he replied as a look of hope crossed his face.

"Just like D&D!", Richard whispered to Ryan. "Darn. I didn't bring my dice."

"And here I left my vorpal blade in my other suit.", Ryan whispered back to Richard.

"Better hope we don't meet a frumious bandersnatch!", Richard replied.

"Guys, shut up. This is for real.", Rebecca hissed.

Richard looked at Rebecca. "You're not my boss.", he shot back.

Rebecca stood up. "Like anyone would hire you."

Ismark looked at his new friends with a doubting eye, but he kept his misgivings to himself.


A weary-looking mansion squatted behind a rusting iron fence. The iron gates were twisted and torn. The right gate lay cast aside while the left swung crazily in the wind. The stuttering squeal and clang of the gate repeated with mindless precision. Weeds choked the grounds and pressed menacingly upon the house itself, yet against the walls, the growth had been trodden down to form a path all about the dwelling. Deep claw marks had stripped the once-beautiful finish off the walls. Great black mottling told of fires that had assailed the walls. Not a pane nor shard of glass stood in any window. All the windows were barred with heavy planking, each plank marked with stains of an evil omen.

"What's with all the claw marks?", Rebecca asked.

Ismark looked back at her. "Wolves."

"Fer real?", Rebecca replied.

"They come in the night.", Ismark said quietly. "Anyone in the streets is dragged off. We've lost so many."

Richard swallowed audibly.

Ismark knocked on the heavy wooden door in an irregular pattern. A lovely, feminine voice called out from inside. In Romanian the two spoke briefly.

Ryan translated for the others, "Umm. 'What's the password' That sort of thing."

A number of locks and bolts were soon opened from inside. The door opened slowly. On the other side was a vision of breathtaking beauty. Flowing auburn hair framed an angel's face before cascading down her shoulders. Her dress was simple but she wore it with surprising elegance. And even though it had been ten years since they had seen her, her old friends each saw in the woman small hints of the girl they once knew.