Page 58 of Bitten By Hope

“That could be a possibility.”

“We should pay them a visit,” I said.

“I believe they should be at the manor,” Gabriel said and grabbed my hand to follow him.

“Wait. You want to visit them uninvited?”

“I am their son. I believe I’m allowed.” He turned to me and smiled radiantly.

At the Stoica manor, quietude reigned. The last time we met, Gabriel and I bid our farewells to his parents, so they definitely weren’t expecting us. We walked through the gates and were welcomed by a servant who bowed hurriedly, surprised by our presence.

“We would like to speak to my parents. Are they home?” Gabriel asked.

“Yes, my lord. They’re inside with a guest.”

We entered the house and found ourselves in the middle of a heightened debate between Lady Stoica and the sage we last saw at the Stoica household. “I’m telling you, my son is not coming back. He left for the Hungarian kingdom with his wife. Why would he return just because of a dream?”

“Hello, Mother,” Gabriel said.

Lady Stoica almost fainted at the sight of her son. “It’s true then.” Her eyes began welling up.

“What is true, Mother?” Gabriel asked.

“My dream,” Lord Stoica said.

“The same one you had before?” asked Gabriel.

“No, a different one,” Lord Stoica muttered. “In this one, it is I who dies.”

“One prophecy has been fulfilled,” the Sage said and looked at me. “Now it’s time for Gabriel and Petra to assume their roles.”

“Wait, how do you know about all of this?” I asked.

“Fates work in mysterious ways, but they always have the answers. Though you were predestined for the roles you have been given, the choice still lies within your grasp. Even if that choice means death.”

“You mean Gabriel is going to die if he doesn’t become a…avampyr?” Lady Stoica asked.

Gabriel and I felt exposed like a window. How did they know all of this?

“My dream gave us all the knowledge we needed,” said Lord Stoica. “It starts with the same fire pit where you fell. The silver flames engulfed you, but you refused to take my hand. Then I realized in order to save you. I needed to jump. My fatherly duty burned deeper in me than those flames. Once inside the pit, I covered you with my cape and tried to pull you out. But you turned to me, and out of nowhere, you turned into a beastly creature with silver eyes and fangs. You looked at me with pleading sadness and said, ‘Father, save my daughter.’ Then I woke up.”

“The Sage is telling us that the creature with silver eyes and fangs is avampyr,” Lady Stoica explained. “Are you planning to become one?” She looked at Gabriel.

We both lowered our heads while I struggled to swallow the knots in my throat. I didn’t imagine opening such a conversation with his parents, but Gabriel proved more courageous and said, “It is true, Father and Mother. It is the fate I must bear.”

Lady Stoica took a seat, fearing she might faint. “Why is this happening to us? We are losing our oldest son to The Other Realm.”

“Lady Stoica, you must understand your son will be the first of his kind,” said the Sage pridefully.

“I do not care of such trifle things. I wanted my son to live a normal life.”

“Some are destined for far greater things than life itself,” the Sage said.

“I agree,” Lord Stoica said.

“Father, the dream is true. We have a daughter in a different Realm, and the only way she can live is by sacrificing someone of my own blood,” said Gabriel.

“I did not doubt the dream’s truthfulness which is why I will be the one to be sacrificed,” said Lord Stoica.

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