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 7pm so we can grab some dessert before the club." Julie informs 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 is off with some charming Hungarian horn dog 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 longed to know about this mysterious beauty, but were also somehow equally afraid to find out. 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 guy 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.

 

The night air felt like home to Erzsebet, who had always preferred the dark. She caught a cab but instead of heading back to the house where her and her friend had been staying, she decided to visit her great-great-great grandmother's grave. "I can't leave without seeing her, it's why I came," she thought. After a short drive the cab pulled up to the graveyard. Erzsebet got out and paid the cabbie.

 

"Would you like me to wait?" the man asked.

 

"No, I think I'll be awhile." Erzsebet knew that she had to be up early in the morning, but she also suffered from severe insomnia and knew that the lack of sleep wouldn't bother her. The cemetery was not very big and was thankfully well lit by a full moon, making it easy to read the names on the gravestones. Many of them, however, were quite weather worn making it hard to see the names and dates of the people buried beneath them. Erzsebet spent many minutes searching throughout the graveyard trying to find her grandmother's grave, and she found herself getting discouraged and emotionally riled. She had always felt out of place and uncomfortable with herself, and she thought that maybe finding her namesake would help her gain a sense of who she was. Erzsebet was about to give up when she spied a group of weeping willow trees in the far corner of the cemetery. Something about the way their branches danced in the breeze called Erzsebet over to them. She walked over to the three sister willows and pulled aside some of their branches, which were occluding a gravestone in a seemingly protective way. Beloved Erzsebet Marie Kovak Born: February 28, 1740 Died: May 17, 1815. Erzsebet gently knelt beside the tombstone. "Finally," she breathed with relief and gratitude. She laid a hand on the gravestone and wished she could see her grandmother's face. Erzsebet Kovak was the last of Erzsebet's family to live and die in Hungary. She grimly thought about Erzsy's children, who were the first of the family to move out of Hungary. Erzsebet's children did not willingly move from Budapest, however. The grisly truth was that her four children were run out of town after being caught enjoying a cannibalistic feast. The children were 19, 17, 14 and 10 years old. They fled town, made their way across Europe, taking care of each other, and eventually ended up in America. This gruesome story was not one that Erzsebet's family was proud of. In fact, Erzsebet only heard it once when she asked her grandmother about her Hungarian ancestors. Erzsebet was unsure about her feelings towards her cannibalistic relatives. Part of her was repulsed by their actions while another part of her longed to understand them and validate that they were even true. As Erzsebet silently pondered the cascade of thoughts and emotions that flooded forth, she began to feel calmed, as if her great-great-great grandmother were there right alongside her reassuring and soothing her angst.

 

"You have her eyes." Erzsebet jumped to her feet at the sound of a male voice coming from the shadows of a nearby tree, and a man stepped into the bright moon light in front of her. "Her eyes burned just like that." He looked like a man but had an otherworldly aura about him. He was tall, about six feet and dressed in pants and a tight waistcoat which complimented his broad shoulders. His hair was a deep chestnut color and styled handsomely. His face was masculine, strong, and striking. "Don't be afraid," the strange man said softly to Erzsebet, whose body stood frozen. She was overwhelmed with fear and a strong sense of curiosity about the handsome gentlemen before her, and who he was comparing her too.

 

"Who are you?" Erzsebet managed to whisper hoarsely.

 

"I am a friend," the man replied.

 

"I mean, what is your name?"

 

"My name is Lazlo, Erzsebet."

 

Erzsebet took a startled step backwards. "How do you know my name?" she demanded.

 

"A lucky guess," he replied while taking a step forward. One of the man's arms reached outward and his fingers boldly, yet gingerly, picked up the locket that rested against Erzsebet chest to inspect it. As his fingertips brushed against her skin, Erzsebet's body trembled with an unexplainable rush of excitement. Lazlo flipped the locket over, his eyes looking as if he was expecting there to be an inscription on the backside. After studying it for the briefest of moments, he placed the locket again against her chest and took a step backwards. They stood in silence for a moment. Lazlo turned towards Erzsy's grave and stood with his hands clasped behind his back while Erzsebet took the moment to observe his face. His strong nose and chin gave him a look of nobility and his gaze was intense, filled with what Erzsebet thought looked to be passion. The way he presented himself, made Erzsebet feel that he was a very intelligent, well-mannered gentleman. Altogether, the strange man appeared to be an ethereal creature with an allure that Erzsebet had never encountered before. Lazlo continued to gaze at Erzsy's headstone with great sadness, and he seemed to miss the woman whose name was inscribed upon it. Although Erzsebet knew that it was impossible, before she let her brain know what she was doing she asked Lazlo, "You knew her?"

 

Lazlo turned slightly and gave a small sad smile, "Yes. Yes I did." He turned back towards the tombstone and gave a barely audible sigh and then fully turned so that he faced Erzsebet again, and offered her his arm. Erzsebet could not help feeling incredibly flattered that such a man would make a gesture like that to her, so she immediately took it. As Lazlo started guiding her out of the cemetery however, Erzsebet's senses started to set in. Who or what was this man? Why was she trusting a complete stranger to guide her to who knows where in the middle of the night, from a cemetery, in Hungary?

 

Erzsebet's fears however were both mixed and stifled by her awe of this enchanting, handsome man. Erzsebet began to feel anxious, she suddenly seemed incapable of speech and her body began to feel shaky. Lazlo was something that she had never encountered before and she felt a strange and desperate need in her body to please him. They approached a row of trees and passed through a gap in between two of them, and when they emerged on the other side, Erzsebet was awestruck by the site of an enormous castle towering over them, reaching high into the moonlit sky. Lazlo looked down at her and smiled widely, which made Erzsebet aware of her dropped jaw. She quickly snapped her mouth closed, looked down and blushed slightly embarrassed. "At least it's dark. He probably can't tell I'm red." She thought to herself. Lazlo, with his free hand, softly raised her chin and looked down into her eyes, as he brushed a piece of hair behind her ear.