The Devil's Daughter by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 12

Morning arrived as the village, once again, came out to witness the previous nights' carnage. The darkness offered only a dim glance of the pillaging of Father James' grave. Now, in the light of the morning sun the full extent of the assault could be seen, as the dead priests' remains lay scattered throughout the small burial ground. The curious pushed their way to the front of the crowd, only to retreat in horror and sick at having seen exactly what they had hoped to see, but at the cost of a mornings' meal as they pushed their way back away from the grave.

Ileana had had enough of the crowds' ghoulish behavior and repeatedly ordered everyone away. “Have some respect!” she yelled. “This man was our priest, a man of God! Now, all of you, go!” Most had quickly become embarrassed, realizing what Father James had done for them, while those who stood gawking at the priests' shredded remains were pushed away by the few who volunteered to clean the mess of flesh and blood from the sacred ground of the cemetery. Having retrieved a few shovels, those with the strongest stomachs scooped up the half-eaten entrails, tossing them back into the gaping hole that was once a place of quiet repose. Many took an occasional pause, walking a few yards away to compose themselves and briefly escape the foul odor of decomposing flesh. But within an hour, the grim job was finished, save for one or two teeth that had gone unnoticed and were later discovered by accident and quickly disposed of. However, the village had been thrown into a panic, and its people, no longer feeling safe, demanded a solution. This prompted a meeting of the village elders who chose the church as the place to conduct the business of deciphering what it was that had ransacked the priests' final resting place, and what would be done to eliminate it.

The entire village turned out, filling the church to capacity. Parents were especially terrified as children possess no defense against the monstrous things that lurk in the night. This was not the boogeyman, or the fictitious beast laying beneath a child's bed. This had clawed its way into a grave and consumed most of its contents. Their folklore and superstitions had failed them, and many had begun to believe that God had abandoned them as well, leaving them as victims of a far more dangerous predator than they could ever have imagined.

After a brief discussion amongst the elders, the first of many questions were asked.

“Now, who saw this creature?”

As the oldest member of the community, Ileana was allowed to speak first. The crowd was silent, except for one voice. Nelu, holding his rifle, stepped forward. He had seen the creature and heard it as it ripped open the wooden coffin lid. However, due to the heavy darkness that had blanketed the village, Nelu was more than a bit foggy about what he had actually seen. He remembered it being dark and nearly formless against the night. But there was one thing he did remember. As it ran off, it changed form and bolted through the village as a wolf, disappearing into the woods. Now, one of the villages' more skilled hunters spoke.

“Which way did it run?”

Nelu raised a hand and pointed down through the center of the village.

“Then that's where we start,” the hunter said. “Wait!” one woman yelled.

She was in her early twenties and asked the one question that was on everyone else's minds. “What if you can't find this thing?! What if it comes for our children?”

A dull roar rose amongst those in attendance as people expressed their fears, as well as their doubts about whether the thing they would soon be chasing could even be found, much less killed.

Meanwhile, Anca and Nelu stood in the back, each holding Alina by the hand. Her behavior had become so erratic that they feared she might become difficult to manage, and stood at the church doors in the event a hasty exit was needed. But as the meeting continued, with arguments being tossed back and forth, and emotions running high, a smile appeared on Alina's face. No one noticed until her smile turned to an almost silent giggle, as those near the back of the church turned to her with anger etched on their faces. Anca quietly scolded her but was unable to silence her daughters' disrespect. An old woman standing next to them had quickly reached the limit of her patience, even though Alina was merely a child. Leaning towards Anca, she whispered her frustration in her ear.

“For God's sake, the grave of our priest has been fouled. Please keep your daughter quiet, or take her home.” Alina was quickly losing control as she brought her hands to her face, and bending forward, broke into silent laughter. Mortified by her behavior, Anca and Nelu took her hands and left the church in a state of deep frustration. The meeting continued with comments and suspicions circulating amongst the crowd. But it was quickly called to order as the elders asked for suggestions on how to deal with the crisis that had made its way to the doorstep of their village. Again, one of the hunters, a broad-shouldered man with the reputation of showing great courage in the face of danger, spoke up.

“Let us kill this thing and we will return with its head!” The crowd cheered as the small group of hunters stepped forward, basking in the glory of their skill and courage. They would never be able to predict how difficult their chase would be, how intelligent their prey truly was and who would not return.

Amongst the chaos of questions and panic, one woman stood with a question no one had thought to ask. “What is this thing we're after?”

Now, Ileana interrupted, providing an answer to the woman's question.

“I believe it is the Grozavie.”

The crowd fell silent as she continued to describe what most had never been told.

“It is a creature of the mountains. I was told stories of it when I was a little girl. It was said to dig up graves, consuming the dead flesh within. It drags off children and babies into the woods, leaving behind bits of flesh and bone. I don't remember much else. Like I said, the stories were told to me when I was very young.” The other elders had heard the stories as well but with the growth of the church, many of the old stories had been relegated to the fading memories of the elderly. A young mother, standing near the center, spoke up with tears in her eyes. She had been there when Father James' tattered remains had been discovered and fearing for the lives of her children, expressed her disbelieve. “But it's just a story, right? There's no such thing, is there?” Ileana began to wonder if reflecting on a childhood tale may have been ill-timed, or perhaps, not to be mentioned at all and while a few discounted it as an ancient ghost story, others saw it as the only explanation for the grisly scene that now lay beneath the loose soil of the burial ground. “Of course, it's just a story,” someone else said. “If it were real, we would have seen it before.” Soon, fear and paranoia led to anger as the crowd struggled for a solution.

“Never mind the story!” a young father yelled. “We have to kill it! We have to go out into the mountains, find it and bring back its head!”

Emotions escalated as the crowds' demands grew louder. In desperation for calm, one of the elders stood and at the top of his voice, called for silence.

“Are you people out of your minds?!” He pointed off in the direction of Anca and Nelu's house. “Nelu said he saw a wolf and if that's what he saw, then that's what we'll hunt!”

“No!” yelled an older man. “Nelu said he saw something that turned into a wolf. I have hunted for this village almost all my life and I have never seen an animal that could do such a thing!”

Now another man, armed with his rifle, stood and made his thoughts known as well.

“Nelu was right!” he said. “I trust him with my life. What this is, it is not of God and it must be killed before it attacks the living!”

A wave of angry panic swept through the congregational hall as paranoia regained its foothold on the people of Gura Haith and from the front of the crowd, a middle-aged man spoke up.

“And what about that child?! She stood at the grave and laughed as we buried our priest! I would bet the whole of Gods' creation that she had something to do with it!” Deeply disturbed by his accusation, Ileana bolted up from her seat.

“She is just a little girl! She is innocent of any of this! Her actions are those of a child lost for who knows how long, wandering the cold mountains, half-starved!” Raising a hand, she pointed the man out. “Your accusation is shameful and the words of a coward! A small child is no threat to this village. So, if you are half the man you think you are, then arm yourself and hunt this thing down!”

The crowd fell silent as Ileana sat, and seeing the sudden calm in the room she leaned forward and continued to address the crowd.

“Hunting parties will be organized. We ask that all of you be vigilant and under no circumstances is Nelu's family to be harassed. One odd child is not cause for alarm. We must not divide ourselves over suspicion but stand together against what we know to be true. Now, if there are no more remarks...”

Everyone had fallen silent while a few remained as angry as they were determined to bring peace back to their village, regardless of the cost. Others saw the shame in their behavior and came to believe that Alina, very likely, had nothing to do with the vandalizing of the priests' grave.

Ileana sat, her face still marred by the anger she felt at the accusations leveled by those bent on paranoid revenge. “Good,” she continued.

Taking advantage of a moment of sanity, she took the opportunity to begin organizing the village in an attempt to keep the people occupied, and with the rest of the elders in agreement, she sternly dismissed the still tense crowd back to their homes. However, despite the truce that had been accomplished, the elders would meet in secret to discuss what everyone suspected – that the small girl they had rescued from the mountains may have brought something with her that many thought had invaded their village. Superstition was one thing, and almost always resided in the dark corners and drafty hallways of the mind. However, this seemed to be real and had been witnessed by sane, reliable eyes. Understandably, the people of the village were terrified, and calm would be difficult to maintain, being achieved only through clear-headedness. At least, this was what the elders told them.