The Past & the Present (Completed)

Chapter Three: The Village

When we first arrived to Romania I was still coming down off of a sedative high. Everything was blurry and dark and that was in the middle of the day.

At the hotel the man and woman running the place looked at us like we were the most bizarre things they'd ever seen. None of us spoke Romanian, Connor and Louis were close and it was broken at best.

When Niamh signed her exasperation to me and I signed back someone finally understood. Apparently their child was mute and though the sign was also broken it was closer than English to Romanian. It was enough to settle their nerves and get us two rooms and three beds.

"We're a few short," Louis remarks, "And some of us are a bit tall."

Louis' family was from Brazil. He was the first person in his family to attend college since before the world wars. His major was in geology or paleontology. He couldn't decide, something to do with things that existed long ago. Anywho, his heritage also meant that he was quite tall. Laying down his head touching the headboard his feet dangled off the end of the bed.

"Bein' short ain't so bad now eh?" Connor laughed, glancing at Niamh who was also on the shorter side of average.

"Well, good news is it's Emily sized."

The boys carefully dumped me on the bed and everyone looked down at me. It was kind of an eerie.

"So who wants to babysit Emily until she can see straight again?"

"Not me," Maria said first, "I sat up when she was so sick from the brownies."

The infamous brownie incident was when we learned of my severe allergy to mirajuana. Instead of taking me to the hospital or a clinic like responsible friends they took me to the bathroom. A nursing student gave me something to make me vomit and kept several epipens handy. Maria was my only female friend at the time so she was the one sitting in the girl's communal bathroom on the floor with me for several hours.

"I'll stay," Niamh volunteered, "The rest of ye better watch tha brother o' mine. No bahs! No pubbs!"

"I know I know!"

Quentin and Niamh stayed, and one of them fell asleep. With me taking up half the bed Quentin found the most uncomfortable way to curl around me, and we fell asleep that way. Waking up would be amazing if it wasn't for the cold and the snoring. Still, Quenton smelled nice. Like rain and fresh dirt. And he was warm curled around my back with his arm slung over my waist.

When we finally managed to get everyone awake and sentient breakfast was a grueling experience. The food would've been fine if I made it but since it came from a home made kitchen behind the bar no one was keen on touching it. Niamh and Connor and I ate fine. We had eaten far worse. But the others are more accustomed to their own family cooked meals.

Even the professor looks at the vegetable soup and beef broth with understandable apprehension.

"We'll, uh, be familiarizing ourselves with the people and the area around here. Once we've garnered some trust and gotten more comfortable we'll begin our research," Professor Garr said. He lost a lot of weight, not that he had much to lose as a stork of a man. "Not to mention we'll get a better hold of the language."

"So what I'm hearing is, keep Emily away from the locals," Andrew said. Of course he always said mean jokes like that with a smile on his face. What he said was true, I'm not a good people-person. Inadvertently I always manage to anger someone for some reason.

Everyone laughed, even me. Andrew was generally a leader. He was the bright mind that would eventually shape the world. It would just be a matter of time, granted if he did I guess I'll never know.

Mornings were difficult without coffee. Every morning Maria and I woke up first. She complained bitterly about the cold and bundled deeper into her hoodies and sweats, tucking against whoever was closest for warmth.

Once everyone had woken up and gone through our now very limited morning routine and breakfast we'd go out into the village.

It took several days before the villagers finally realized we intended to stick around for awhile. As it so happened, plenty of them spoke English. But that was hardly the first barrier.

Men didn't like talking to Louis or Andrew or Connor, nevermind Quentin. They were clean shaven and soft by comparison. None of the boys drank partially because the brew was home made rot gut and partially because we didn't have the money for it. We only planned enough for the very basics and kept a bit for emergencies hoping we wouldn't need it.

It was Andrew who eventually broke the barrier. Each morning he would go and work with the men and help with whatever they were doing. Talking over work was easier. Nothing was said that would help our studies, but we all figured anything here would be a very gradual process.

Women are rarely seen. The only time they venture beyond their houses are for the most basic necessities and they scurry back to the safety of their meager homes.

An old woman stopped Maria, taking her by the arm.

"You mustn't be seen by mother Miranda."

"Who is mother Miranda?" Maria frowned, more frightened than anything.

I quickly took up the chance, "You have a convent near here?"

"You should go back inside, it's not safe."

"Why isn't it safe?" I pressed but the old woman glared at me.

It was eventually discovered that the villagers couldn't determine if I was a boy or a girl and decided I was somewhere in the middle which made them uncomfortable so they refused to speak to me.

"Wear a skirt," Louis suggested over dinner.

"You wear a skirt," I shot back with a laugh, "You don't want to see me in a skirt. I haven't shaved in a month. They won't believe I'm a girl anyway."

"Walk around in your bra," Connor laughed, "Could they tell then?"

Quentin elbowed him, "Not cool man."

"That's okay Quentin, I could just as easily say if Connor grew his hair out and wore his underwear they might mistake him for a woman as easily as they mistake me for a man."

"Oi! I've got chest hair!"

"Not if I shave it." Niamh, Maria, and I all grinned like goblins.

Suddenly there was a terrible howling, shrieking sound. Then more. Like coyotes there were hundreds of them. Villagers ran with their guns and farm tools. We followed but by the time we arrived the villagers were already walking back, muttering about another missing livestock.

"Let's check it out."

Louis went without waiting and I would never leave my friends alone. Quentin would see them safely back to the inn. He was sweet, but a coward. He would make sure they went with him.

Louis and Connor and I found it. The weird tracks on the ground and the blood from whatever livestock was killed. It looked like the predator had attacked with the intent to let its prey bleed out. So why drag it off?

"Something is unnatural about this. Go back," I grabbed a sleeve of either of them.

Connor chuckled but his voice was quiet and he kept watch around us, "You sound like the locals."