The Half-Blood Princess, Mihaela Bogdan [good books to read for young adults .TXT] 📗

a mindless zombie. The shy girl thing was just an act, how blind I was not to notice that earlier!?
  If Valentina becomes a pure vampire, then she will use her hypnotic powers on me again and I will be her victim. And what’s worse, I will have to live in the middle class for the rest of my life and all because Valentina turned out to be a vampire instead of a rich girl. Damn it! Damn you, Valentina for destroying my hopes in becoming a wealthy man! DAMN YOU!
  Now I have to get my hands dirty working common jobs for years, in order to make myself wealthy. NO! Don’t you even think about this, Amen! You are too important and handsome to damage your body working all day on the fields or with farm animals.
  After you get even with this two faced hybrid, you can look for other wealthy girls to fool them around.
  As I entered my house, father was praying in his bedroom. I excused myself for the rushed entry and told him every word spoken by that bloody hybrid and that two faced traitor Linda.
  For the first time in my life, I saw father being proud of me and praising me:
  -Well done, my son! You are indeed a priest’s son! You made me very proud.
  -Thank you father. So what are we going to do about those demons?
  -For now let us rest. As you heard, their event is tomorrow at midnight, right?
  -Yes.
  -In the morning we will announce the town people about the invasion of those demons. We will form an army of strong men and women and shall charge to the castle. With God’s guidance we will get there before midnight. Until then, we both need to get some sleep.
  That night a had a nightmare: I was a poor old farmer working on a field. After I done my work, I returned home where an old woman, surrounded by many children was waiting for me. I asked her who she was and she told me that she was my wife. And to my horror, all those children were ours as well.
  I woke up trembling and sweating more abundant than last night. In that moment, I swore to myself that I will never become a common farmer, no matter what. XVII/17

(This chapter it is not recommended for the weak ones and those under the age of 12! It contains violence and bloody scenes. Linda, Valentina’s human friend, will be burned alive on a wood pole after the town people beat her without mercy. The events are presented from Linda’s point of view. To the readers under the age of 12 that are too stubborn to follow my warning, don’t say I didn’t prevent you!)

  Daniel came to my restaurant the next morning, after the night when I said goodbye to dear Valentina. He wanted to talk about Valentina’s first victim problem:
  -Linda, you know that if Miss Valentina kidnaps a human from this town, the locals will come to the castle and Master Dracula’s secret will be revealed.
  -So who do you think we shall choose, without causing any suspicion? I asked.
  Without a sound, he took me by the waist and gave me the biggest and passionate kiss we ever had in years. After he let go of me, I saw his eyes full of tears.
  -Why are you crying?
  -Linda, my love, I am afraid this is our last kiss. After tonight you may never see me again.
  -What do you mean? I had a hunch that I would not like the answer. It proved that I was right.
  -I will volunteer in being Miss Valentina’s first victim.
  My world collapsed. I felt on the floor trembling, with tears in my eyes and repeating words like I have gone mad:
  -No, no, not you, no, no, not you...
  -Linda, please understand! If I am the victim, then nobody will notice my absence and this way the vampires will be safe. Don’t you see that I am the perfect man for this?!
  -I will miss you! I will feel your absence! AM I NOBODY TO YOU?!
  -You are the most important person in my life! This is the reason why I am sacrificing myself. I am the one who told you about vampires in the first place and since that day I lived with the fear that you will suffer because of me. If I die, you will be safe. I am doing this for us. Maybe this seems all crazy to you now, but one day, I hope you’ll prove me right.
  -I know, Daniel! I know ... . My crying was so strong that I could not speak any more.
  Daniel picked me up from the floor, gave me a big hug whispering in my ear to be strong and he then departed from me and my life for good. After he left I stood there like a statue. Was it all true or it was just a nightmare?
  The cruel reality hit me when the church’s bell announced the entire town that it was Sunday and everyone must go to pray and hear the priest’s lecture. Before leaving, I splashed some water on my face, so that nobody would know that I had cried.
  "Father God, please give Daniel a quick and painless death. This is all I can ask you to do for him."
  The church’s front yard was full of people. By the look of it, I could guess that every person in town young and old, rich and poor was present. It wasn’t enough space for me there, therefore I decided to stand outside the gates with few older women.
  It was a strange thing this Sunday. Usually, the priest let people inside the church. Now, they were standing in front of it because the doors were closed. I thought my cousin, the priest, is losing his mind because of his illness. He should have gone to doctor Ion when I told him to. But no! Nobody listens to Linda!
  Soon it will be too late for him. By the time he will realize that I was right, he will be as good as dead. God forbid my dark assumption.
  The clock tower beat seven times. After the last striking ended, the front doors of the church opened and the priest, along with Amen, came outside.
  -My Christians! I have an awful announcement to make. The Devil sent his servants to do us harm. Thanks to The Lord, my son Amen had the courage and determination to reveal their true faces.
  The people began to whisper and I became nervous because I didn’t know what bad things might happen. Amen always brings bad news to his poor father, no wonder he got sick. Even though he is my second grade nephew, I still don’t like him. He was a bad seed since he was a baby.
  -People, please, make silence. My father and your priest need silence to continue! Amen shouted to shut the noise.
  -As I said, I know who the Devil’s servants are. Count Vladimir Dracula, as many of you are aware, comes out of his castle few times during the night. Nobody asked themselves why he never comes out during the day? If you have not, then prepare yourselves for what will come: HE IS A VAMPIRE! A BLOOD-SUCKING DEMON!
  The crowd began to whisper more nervously and scared. I was stoned. How could they discover the truth about Dracula? Daniel told this only to me. Wait a minute, of course. Amen, who else? And I thought he had feelings for Valentina.
  -It is true! Amen shouted to make himself heard. He has a hybrid daughter and tonight he will gather more vampires to witness her transformation into a pure vampire. She will kill and drink the blood of an innocent human like us. Some of you noticed, few days ago, Dracula’s butler with a black haired woman, dressed in white and red! That woman’s name is Valentina and she is the Count’s daughter!
  Oh, no! It was bad. I turned around and tried to head for The Black Forest and search the secret path leading to the castle. I must tell the vampires and Daniel to leave somewhere safe but Amen shouted:
  -And the restaurant’s owner, Linda is the butler’s secret lover! Both of them knew that there are vampires in the castle, but they kept all a secret. What’s worse is that they are their allies!
  I could felt on my being the countless eyes of the crowd stare at me with hostility. Then the priest shouted:
  -She is on the vampires side! She is a treacherous, therefore she must die in pain, in order to receive God’s forgiveness for her terrible sins.
  I made a step back, trying to run away, but the angry crowd caught me and tied me up by the arms and legs.
  -She must suffer like Jesus did, if she desires to enter the gates of Heaven! The priest’s voice sounded behind the mob of angry people. Instead of helping his only cousin, he cares more about his useless job.
  After they finish tying me up, the women and children began throwing stones at me shouting:

*
  "-Perish, evil witch!
  -Burn in Hell!
  -Vampire lover, take this!"

*
  But the pain was nothing compared to what the men were about to do to me. Tying me and throwing stones at me wasn’t enough for them, so the men near me begin beating me with their fists on my face and kicking me hard in the stomach and chest. They also were cursing me:

*
  "-You evil slut!
  -Because of you the vampires suck the blood of the innocent!
  -This is what you deserve for betraying your own kind!"

*
  -I have betrayed my own kind?! What a joke, what about the priest, who turned his back on his relative because of his snitching son?! These were the only words I could spread out, before my mouth became full of my blood.
  After they finished beating me, I felt my body heavy and full of bruises and eventually I collapsed in a pool of blood. I got scared at the blood that I have lost. My body was so weakened and covered in blood that I couldn’t move a muscle. Soon my eyes closed and I got unconscious!
  When I woke up, I found myself tied up against a wooden pole. Some men were placing logs and planks around me. They done quickly and the priest came near the pile of wood that surrounded me.
  -Now good Christians, let us pray for this poor unfortunate soul!
  He opened the Bible and began reading a prey for those who die by the hands of their neighbors. At the