Peter Rakoczy: The Music of My Life

Chapter 28: Questions and Answers

Although he was sitting down, Peter felt like someone had pulled the rug from under him. As a native Transylvanian, he was aware of the local lore about vampires or strigoi, as Romanian peasants referred to them. However, he never believed they were anything but stories that people made up to scare children or to explain phenomena they could not understand. He looked incredulously at Nicolae, who just called himself a vampire like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"So you are both vampires," Peter said. It was more a statement than a question.

"Yes. That is correct," Nicolae replied.

"Are you going to kill me?" It was the first question that popped into Peter's head.

Nicolae and Viktor exchanged glances.

"We haven't decided yet," Nicolae answered. "It depends on what you plan to do with this knowledge."

Peter ran a hand through his hair. "I obviously haven't given it much thought yet... but I don't think anyone would believe me even if I swore it was the absolute truth."

"You're probably right about that," Viktor remarked.

"So... you say you are immortal," Peter said. "How old are you?" He looked at Nicolae.

"I became a vampire when I was twenty-five years old. As it happens, that was exactly twenty-five years ago. Once you turn, you stop to physically age."

"So you look twenty-five, but you should be fifty," Peter did the math quickly.

"Yes... something like that," Nicolae answered.

"What about you?" Peter turned toward Viktor.

"I've lost track of how old I am," Viktor replied. "I've lived in Transylvania for several hundred years... and in other places before that, for much longer."

"And nobody figured out what you were?" Peter was incredulous.

"The ones who did either joined me... or perished," Viktor answered.

Peter sat quietly for a while. It would take him some time to process this information.

"Why are you trusting me with all of this?" Peter asked Nicolae.

"Because you're a Rakoczy," Nicolae said. "I've known your family for a long time, Peter," he continued. "In fact, Judith was a close childhood friend of mine. For a short while there was even talk of a possible union between us... but things turned out quite differently, as you can plainly see."

Peter's eyes widened as Nicolae's true identity dawned on him. "You're Nicolae Roman," he exclaimed.

Nicolae nodded. "I was... twenty-five years ago."

"That's why you suddenly disappeared," Peter murmured. "You didn't die... exactly. You became a vampire."

"The boy catches on quickly," Viktor said sarcastically.

"Unfortunately, after I transformed, I couldn't return to my own home without raising a lot of questions that frankly I wasn't prepared to answer," Nicolae said wistfully. "And my human parents passed away within a short time." Nicolae turned away, hiding a pain he obviously still felt.

"But now... enough time has passed by that you can call yourself Nicolae Bartholy, Viktor's adoptive son." Peter remarked. "Many of the people who knew you as Nicolae Roman are dead and have been replaced by a new generation."

"To be honest... I probably should've stayed away longer," Nicolae said. "But I could no longer fight the longing I had for my native land." He paced around the room as he spoke. "I had to come back, sooner rather than later."