The Devil's Daughter by Clifford Beck - HTML preview

Chapter 7

It was early when Anca and Nelu woke. Nelu stoked the fire to warm the house, while Anca went into Alina's room. Her night had been restless after finding their daughter standing at the window. It seems a mothers' concern is never-ending. But if the previous night was not terrifying enough, that morning would bring something that every parent feared, and moments after entering Alina's room, Anca let out a panicked scream. Nelu, quickly getting up from the fire, ran to his wife's side and immediately noticed the absence of their daughter.

“Where is she?!” he yelled.

Anca was near-catatonic, her mind blank as a continuous steam of tears ran down her face.

“Anca, where is Alina?!”

By this time, Anca had fallen to her knees and grasping the blanket from Alina's bed, clutched it tightly.

Seeing no use for any further questions, Nelu ran out of the house and began his search, determined to find their daughter but after circling the house, he found no sign of her. Now assuming the worse, he ran toward the tree line and stood, staring into the forest. On any other day, the wind would be tossed down the slopes, pushed through the woods, and fill the village with a cool breeze. But on that day, there would be no such comfort. The trees had lost their beauty and stood menacingly before Nelu as if daring him to enter. However, there was no point in yelling for a child who could not speak, and Nelu, knowing the odds of finding Alina would be better with more eyes in the woods, ran to the church. Once there, he threw the door open, ran to the room below the bell tower, and grasping the rope, rang out an alarm, bringing out the entire village.

He begged for their help, and although he knew how some felt about Alina, many kind-hearted people would step forward, while the rest quietly slipped back into their homes. Father James was also quick to volunteer, despite his suspicions. Whatever she was, Alina was still a little girl and in mountains surrounding Gura Haith, she could quickly become a target for wolves or the frigid mountain air.

With the sun still not yet fully over the horizon, those who had volunteered fanned out into the woods. Some carried Bibles, yet all carried oil lamps or torches. Although they had offered out of religious principles, a small handful silently hoped to find the small girl dead, disemboweled by the predators of the mountains. As traumatic as it would be, many would breathe a sigh of relief, being rid of the thing that seemed to have invaded their village. But in spite of their fruitless search, it was Father James who finally stumbled upon Alina. She stood in the shadow of a mountain overhang, giggling. Her face, hands, and clothes were covered with a heavy layer of warm, steaming blood, and near her feet lay the fresh carcass of a large wolf, its body was torn open, with many of its organs having been consumed. Both shocked and terrified, Father James dropped to his knees, grasped his crucifix, and began reciting the Lords' prayer. But the power of the almighty would not be enough to help him, and he broke out into a cold sweat as Alina slowly approached him. As she neared him, his eyes began to tear up with the fear that his life was about to be taken by something truly evil.

Finally, face to face, Alina whispered to him in a playful voice.

“Why are you afraid, Father?” she began. “You are a man of God. Why should you be afraid?” She stepped in closer and putting her bloody hands on the sides of his face, leaned in, and softly kissed him on the lips.

“There,” she continued. “Doesn't a kiss from the lips of an innocent child ease your fear?"

Father James began to feel his consciousness begin to wane as he held up his Bible, using it as a shield against the dark force standing in front of him. With the sweet voice of playful innocence, Alina continued to terrorize the priest. “It is not me you fear, but what comes crawling out of the darkness. The day is coming soon when your God will abandon you. Even He will recoil with horror at what is about to overrun your beloved home. But your death will be merciful, far kinder than what is about to befall your flock.”

Father James stared into her eyes, terrified not only by the bloody sight standing before him but by what seemed like a prophecy, delivered by the lips of the devil himself. Amused by his reaction, Alina giggled at the priests' expense, but looking away, his eyes glanced down at the wolf’s open carcass, only to find it had disappeared. With his hands trembling, he looked back to Alina and was startled to see her face and clothes free of the blood that had only moments ago covered her almost completely.

Getting to his feet, Father James back away and tripping over an exposed root, dropped his Bible. “What are you?!” he yelled. “What do you want from us?!” Alina cocked her head to one side and grinned amusingly. “I never said I wanted anything,” she replied. Moments later, Father James was again, startled as a wolf appeared only a few feet away, barking and snarling. His fear was compounded by the sudden realization that this was the same creature that had lain on the ground, disemboweled, at Alina's feet.

“Grozavie,” she whispered.

The animal quieted immediately and turning back, timidly walked to Alina's side, and putting an arm around its neck, whispered in its ear.

“Not yet.”

Father James was both fascinated and terrified at how a small girl could so easily be in command of such a cunning, vicious predator, and becoming overwhelmed with fear, panicked, and ran back through the woods.

Returning to the village, Father James was met by those who had also searched for Alina. The blood on the sides of his face had vanished, replaced by his own, streaming from his nose and mouth, as well as an open gash on one side of his forehead. In his haste to run from the terror he had discovered, Father James had tripped over several rocks and roots. Breathless from panic, he stumbled up to the crowd, collapsed to the cool earth, and falsely claimed that he, also, was unable to find Alina, unwilling to admit his lack of courage in the face of something that stood as a test of his faith.

Anca was inconsolable and near collapse as several women tried their best to keep her on her feet. Onlookers watched in fearful curiosity as Father James was briefly questioned as to how he had become so bruised and bloody. “There was a wolf,” he began.

This was only a half-truth. The rest would be a closely held secret, kept from everyone but God. The priest was not so much concerned about His judgment but did not want to be seen by his flock as a coward.

“I didn't know what to do, so I just started running. I guess I fell a couple of times.”

Most believed him. After all, why would a priest lie? But those who spent their time hunting to feed the village were well aware that wolves rarely roam in daylight, and knew immediately that Father James was being less than truthful.

As Father James continued his lie, the attention of one of the elders was suddenly drawn to the edge of the woods. There, standing next to a large pine tree was Alina. Considering that she seemed to have been out for a good part of the night, her clothes were surprisingly clean and her demeanor was calm, yet distant. The elder pointed and calling out to her, turned everyone's attention in that direction. Running ahead of the crowd, Anca cried with relief at seeing her daughter alive and unharmed. She knelt in front of Alina, inspecting her for injuries. “Where have you been?” she began. Throwing her arms around the small child, she pulled her in and held her close.

“I thought I would die without you.” As was typical, Alina did not speak a word but with the crowd looking on, she merely smiled, knowing what the people of Gura Haith could not. Father James, however, knew the reason for Alina's oddly pleasant smile and as they made eye contact, the priest, his face still running with blood, felt a heaviness in his chest that quickly turned to intense pain. Those closest to him grabbed him as he crumbled to the ground. Moments later, the priest was dead. Alina had kept her promise, but he had become a liability and as long as he was alive, there was the chance he would expose her for the evil she was. In Alina's dark mind, Father James had to die.

The village ran up, and getting down on one knee, grasped the dead priests' wrist. In the absence of a pulse, the doctor was left helpless and when a solution was not forthcoming, he stood with the silent crowd as the priests' lifeless body let out a final, gurgling breath. Alina had been found, but the villages' priest would not be so easily recovered. Anca, having also seen the priest fall, rushed Alina into the house, not wanting her to witness the ugliness of death. She had no idea what her daughter truly was and blinded by maternal love, Anca would never question the innocence she had mistakenly ascribed to her. Although she did realize that Alina was somewhat disturbed, she had quickly attributed it to her isolated journey in the mountains and believed it to be something she would never recover from.