The Devil's Daughter by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 15

It was mid-morning when the church bell rang and like wolves to the kill, the people of the village, stopping in their daily routine, drew towards their house of worship. The elders sat at a table facing the doors of the congregational hall as the people filed in with unemotional faces. Ileana was chosen to speak on behalf of the elders and as the crowd, once again, filled the church, she allowed a long silence, wanting to be certain that she had everyone's attention. As others did, she noticed Anca and Nelu standing at the back of the hall. Both held Alina by the hand so as avoid any unforeseen problems. They nearly decided against attending but in a last-minute change of mind, Nelu strongly insisted, saying that as lifelong residents of Gura Haith, they had every right to be there, especially if their daughter was to be the topic of conversation.

After a long pause, Ileana began the meeting. “I'm glad to see all of you. Before I begin, I would ask that you be silent and listen. After that, everyone will get a chance to speak, but we must be orderly. Is that understood?”

Following her request, the crowd waited silently.

“Now after some discussion, we believe that Alina, daughter of Anca and Nelu is, no doubt, disturbed by what must have been a terrible experience. God knows how she survived in those mountains, but we must not look upon her with suspicion. She is only a child. How many of you would tolerate such treatment of your own children?” Many in the crowd looked away, letting their heads drop slightly in an expression of guilt and embarrassment. “That's what I thought,” she said. “As for the creature that disturbed the grave of Father James, we do not believe that there is a connection. Perhaps, it was simply coincidence, but we must avoid superstitious ramblings or we will be ruined. Not by this creature but by ourselves. If we let ourselves be ruled by fear, then we will become an easy target for whatever this thing is.” She motioned towards Alina, who stood with her parents near the doors of the hall.

“As for this child, she deserves nothing less than God's mercy and our care. We have always cared for our own and this will not change because of one child with a wounded soul. I am ashamed to be speaking to any of you about this. Your treatment of her is intolerable and not at all Christian! This is not at all what we believe! This is not who we are!” Ileana let a moment pass, allowing the people to react and when their guilty silence had gone unchanged, she continued.

“As for the creature seen by Nelu, hunting parties will be organized today and whatever this is, it will be killed. Now, are there any questions?”

Again, the crowd was silent.

“There are things to be done, and the day will grow late soon enough.”

With these last words, the crowd receded and made an orderly exit from the church. However, as the doors opened, Ileana Stood and called out to Anca. “Can I see you a moment? And please, bring Alina.”

Nelu, knowing nothing of his wife's previous conversation with the elder, gave her a concerned look. “It's alright,” she whispered. “Plan the hunt.”

As the church emptied, Anca made her way to the front and holding Alina by the hand, stood nervously in front of Ileana. The memory of their visit to the elders' house was still clear in her mind, yet her compassionate words did little to ease her nerves. Now, with the two of them in front of her, Ileana first looked down at Alina, who stood clinging to her mothers' skirt.

“Hello, Alina,” she said.

This time, her voice was kind and free of the fear she had previously felt at the small child's playful howl. She had come to believe that she been startled and overreacted at the sight of Alina doing what children do, in spite of her tendency to be non-verbal. This, she thought, was due in part, to the fact that she rarely entertained guests, much less, children. She also considered that, perhaps, she was more affected by the stories and superstitions of the village than she thought. But now, it was time to make amends.

“Anca,” she began. “I am so sorry for how I acted. You came to me for help and I treated you and your daughter quite badly. Perhaps, I was a bit startled. Can you forgive a foolish old woman?”

Anca was stunned. With the entire village seemingly against her family, the last thing she expected was an apology – from anyone. The fact that it came from one of the elders gave her hope that everyone else might put their judgments aside and begin to see Alina as the child she was.

“Thank you,” Anca replied.

Her eyes teared up as she reached for Ileana's outstretched hand.

“Of course,” she continued. “How could I not? I just wish everyone else could be as understanding.” Ileana nodded with a gentle smile. “We will get there, I promise.”

She looked down again at Alina, who still stood grasping her mothers' skirt and waved playfully. But at that moment, as Alina's eyes stared into her, a low, growling voice suddenly roared into her mind. Unable to ignore it, the elderly woman was forced to hear every word. “Old woman, your words mean nothing! You know what waits in those mountains, watching from the trees. You have always known, even before my arrival and you will stand as the last witness to what I have brought to this village. But I will be certain to let you live.” The words left Ileana's mind as quickly as they had entered and as her senses began to spin, Anca gently took her by the arm.

“Oh, thank you,” Ileana began. “I'm fine. It's getting so an old woman can barely stay on her feet. Perhaps, I just need to slow down a bit.”

Anca quickly helped the elderly woman to a chair, but as Ileana settled into it, she glanced at Alina, who stood next to her mother, grinning as her piercing eyes bore a noticeable anger. In fact, the small girl was playing a gratifying game with Ileana's mind, while at the same time, delivering a terrifying portent of the villages' future.

Now, Ileana realized what had entered their village, a curse as old as the stories handed down to her over the decades. But having just convinced everyone that Alina was nothing more than a child, she felt helpless to change their minds, to warn them. Even if she could, what then? The only clear solution was either exiling her back to the mountains or killing her, thus keeping the village safe from whatever Alina truly was. But it also occurred to her that it was unlikely that anyone would be able to look into this child's eyes and end her life, even in the most merciful way. To feel paranoia or hate is one thing but executing the object of ones' hate is another thing entirely.

Ileana collected her senses and waving Anca off, assured her that she would recover fully.

“Just let me sit a while,” she said. “I'll be fine. Why don't you go home now?”

Anca looked at her with continued concern. “Are you sure?” she asked. “I can stay with you as long as you want.”

Glancing down at Alina, Ileana saw the same odd grin on her face and quickly felt the need to distance herself from both of them.

“No,” she began. “I just need to sit for a while.” Nodding her understanding, Anca turned to Alina and directing her back towards the doors, led her out of the church. But as they walked through the doors, Aizic approached Ileana, inquiring into her sudden bout of weakness. Grabbing him by the sleeve of his shirt, she spoke to him in an urgent, fearful tone. “Aizic,” she began. “I was wrong. This child is cursed. She has brought something terrible to this village.” Aizic calmly consoled her, reminding her of what they had decided, as well as what she had just told the entire village. “I know...I know,” she continued. “We made a terrible mistake and now everyone could die.” Her eyes teared up as Aizic tried to understand what she was talking about.

“I don't know what you mean,” he said. Standing closer to her, he held her hand as she described what she had just experienced, the voice that had forced its way into her mind. Realizing that Ileana was the oldest member of the village, he began to suspect that her mind may have become the victim of old age. However, giving all the patience she deserved, Aizic sat next to her and listened as she continued.

“That child,” she said. “Something in her spoke to me. I knew it before she arrived. It was just a feeling but I should have listened to it. We can't stop it now. It's too late.” Aizic was still unable to understand Ileana's panicked ramblings and gently prompted her for a clearer answer. “I still don't understand.”

She tried to clear the anxiety from her mind and grasping Aizic's wrist, reflected back on a story from her childhood. “The Grozavie,” she said. “It's here and this child brought it with her.”

There was roughly ten years difference between them, but Aizic was old enough to remember it. However, like all the other stories he had heard in his youth, he knew that they were just stories and not to be mingled with the real world. “But Ileana,” he began. “It's just a story. Our mothers told it to us, their mothers told it to them. It's just a story.” Ileana was growing frustrated at Aizic's suspicions that she may be succumbing to madness and revealed something that she knew was impossible.

“Then why does that little girl know its name?” Sitting up in his chair, Aizic's voice took on an urgent tone. “How is that possible? She must have heard the story.”

“No...no,” Ileana replied. “That story isn't told anymore. Only the oldest of the village still remember.” Knowing that Alina was unable to speak, the elder was curious to know how Ileana could know this and pressed her further.

“Because her mother told me that she had whispered it once while staring out through her window, during the night.” Aizic looked at her in amazement. “But she cannot speak.”

Ileana glanced at the doors of the church as the last of the crowd was leaving.

“A few days ago,” she began. “Anca brought her to my home, asking questions about the story. As I explained it, Alina crawled out wearing a wolf skin. She stopped in front of me and started howling. Aizic, this is much more than a child, whose mind has been broken by the mountains. I swear to you she has brought something to this village and we both know what it is.”

Aizic sat back in his chair with a lost expression. He knew the story as well as Ileana did and the idea of such a horrific creature stalking the village terrified him beyond his ability to think.

“So, what do we do?” he asked.

Having anticipated his question, Ileana gave him a determined response, outlining what had already been set into motion.

“We do what we are already doing. We send the hunters out. Let them kill it and we will be done with this. And tell no one. We do not want to cause a panic. I will tell Sabin of this later. We will continue to meet at night, but we must keep this quiet.”

Aizic agreed with the need for secrecy and understanding the damage rumors can cause, whether they are true or not.