EXTRACT FOR
Vampire Romance
(Nina Moon)
Story 1 - Of Love and Bloodline
As
Julie walked down the cobble stone street she turned her face upwards towards
the sun and soaked in his hot rays. "Bettie! Stop sulking in the shadows! Come
and enjoy the Hungarian sun with me!" Erzsebet rolled her eyes at the sound of
her friend's voice shouting to her, and continued to walk close to the building
where she was being shielded from the devilish licking of the sun's hot tongue.
Julia and Erzsebet had grown up together in Buda, Nebraska, a city with a very
large population of Hungarian descended citizens. Julia and Erzsebet both came
from Hungarian families and were given Hungarian names. Julia and been
fortunate enough to be graced with her name, Julia, which she further
Americanized into the nickname Julie. Erzsebet on the other hand, was given a
much more traditional name which only shortened into Bettie, a nickname much to
plain to capture all the facets of Erzsebet's dynamic personality. The two friends
were currently in Hungary visiting the city of their ancestors, Budapest. Well,
Erzsebet was there to visit the city of her ancestors. Julie was more interested
in the Hungarian bars and men. Erzsebet knew Julie wouldn't be much interested
in the architecture, museums, and culture of the city but she needed a travel
partner and Julie was the most convenient person to go with her. Julie
and Erzsebet finally arrived at the home of the generous Hungarian family that
had allowed the pair to stay at their home for a cheaper rate than a Budapest
hotel, and a cleaner environment than the hostels in the city. As they walked
through the door they were met with the smell of a traditional homemade
Hungarian meal being prepared. As they joined the family to eat dinner, the two
women discussed possible plans for their evening. "It's our last night here and we have got to
spend it out partying!" Julie says cheerfully. Erzsebet
sighed at her friend's suggestion. "Julie I really wanted to try and find
Erzsebet's grave before we leave." Erzsebet
was named after her great-great-great grandmother, who was raised and died in Budapest.
Erzsebet had always felt a strong connection for her namesake, and she often wore
one of her great-great-great grandmother's lockets around her neck, a pretty
antique piece with an inscription on the back that read, "To my darling Erzsy,
love Lazie". Lazie was Erzsebet's great-great-great grandfather. Stories about
the pair had been passed down through the generations of Erzsebet's family. Erzsebet's
mother would tell her about how Lazie was of noble birth and fell for Erzsy the
moment he saw her, but prideful Erzse wanted nothing to do with him. That,
however, did not deter Lazie and he relentlessly continued to woo her until one
day Erzse had no choice but to surrender her heart to him. Legendary family
tales say no two had ever been more in love than them, and those tales caused Erzsebet
to often dream of finding a man like Lazie, a strong man that would see her
worth and work to win her over, but so far no luck in that department. "Bettie,"
Julie chimes, interrupting Erzsebet's reverie.
" how 'bout we go to the club for a bit, and when we get bored we can try
to find your granny's old bones." Julie's disrespectful attitude bothered
Erzsebet. Julie knew how important this trip was to Erzsebet but she was obviously
too self-centered to care. "Whatever."
Erzsebet muttered. Julie, of course, takes the guttural noise as compliance. "Great!
I'm going to start packing so I don't have to do it in the morning. Let's leave
around |