As
Julie walked down the cobble stone street she turned her face upwards towards
the sun and soaked in its hot rays. "Bette! 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 or Bette, nicknames
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 all the single women. Erzsebet knew Julie
wouldn't be much interested in the architecture, museums, and culture of the
city but she needed a traveling 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.
The circumstance of her great-great-great grandmother's death has always been
ambiguous at best through various tales her elder relatives told, and she was
always suspicious and curious as to what might have really happened. Erzsebet had always felt a strong connection
to 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 is eternal, Calli". Calli was the
shortened name for Callidora, and through some clandestine chats with various
family members, Erzsebet's learned that Callidora was the great love of her
great-great-great grandmother. Apparently her great-great-great grandfather was
aware of this love affair between his wife and her female lover, yet in vampire
families, which Erzsebet has always strongly suspected her family was a part
of, this is neither forbidden nor taboo, and in fact, it has always been quite
acceptable. Stories about the pair tell of how Callidora was of noble birth and
fell for Erzsy the moment she saw her, but prideful Erzsy wanted nothing to do
with her. She was devoted to her husband. That, however, did not deter
Callidora and she relentlessly continued to woo her until one day Erzsy had no
choice but to surrender her heart to the beautiful temptress. Some of the
legendary tales say no two had ever been more in love than them, and those
tales caused Erzsebet to often dream of finding a woman like Callidora, a
strong, beautiful woman that would see her worth and work to win her over, but
so far no luck in that department.
"Bette,"
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 7pm so we can grab
some dessert before the club." Julie suggested to Erzsebet.
Several
hours later, Erzsebet and Julie are at the club that Julie raved so much about.
Sitting on a couch, sipping a martini, Erzsebet scans the room, people
watching, and is highly unimpressed with what she sees, rapidly growing bored
of the ceaseless "unst, unst, unst," of the music. Julie was off with some exotic Hungarian
nympho on the dance floor, grinding holes into their pants. A few brave guys
attempted approaching Erzsebet but her icy stares scared each of them off as
soon as they mustered up the courage to start walking towards her. Now that a
few of them got shot down, none of the other curious ogling men were up to the
challenge of trying to interest and seduce Erzsebet, but that did not stop them
from window shopping. Erzsebet was a very attractive brunette, about 5'7" tall.
Her long-sleeved, knee-length, lace dress did not show much skin but hugged
seductively onto her curves, showcasing her bulging breasts and round behind.
Her dark hair was styled big and bouncing, framing her most charming and
captivating feature, her eyes. Erzsebet's eyes smoldered with powerful mystery,
desire and thirst, and the men who were lingering around Erzsebet obviously
longed to know about this mysterious beauty, but were also somehow equally
afraid to find out. This saved her the need to explain to the salivating
mongrels that she preferred the attention and affections of women. Erzsebet had never been the most popular, her
withdrawn nature had kept most people away often leaving them wondering what
was hidden behind her dark eyes. Only people like Julie, who had known Erzsebet
for a long time and who were oblivious to her attempts to push people away,
stuck around.
It
was getting late and it was obvious that her friend Julie was too drunk, and
too into the girl she was dancing with, to want to leave to go to an abandoned
cemetery anytime soon. Erzsebet sighed. Julie had been her friend for a long
time but that did not make her a very good one.
She stood up and scanned the room one last time to find a reason to
stay. "Fuck it," she thought and walked out the door and into the night.