The sky was still a deep indigo when the three young men stirred from their sleep. The air carried a chill, and the village lay silent, wrapped in the quiet of predawn. Vasile and Mihai Dumitru quietly crept through their modest home, careful not to wake anyone except their mother, who sat by the hearth, clutching a shawl around her shoulders. Her lined face was shadowed with worry as she watched her sons prepare for their journey.

  Vasile, ever the more confident of the two brothers, broke the silence first. "Mother, we’re going on an adventure today," he said, trying to sound casual but failing to mask the tension in his voice. "We’ll be back by evening."

  Their mother’s eyes widened, her hands trembling slightly as she clutched the edges of her shawl tighter. "An adventure? Vasile, Mihai, you know better than to leave the village! There are… things out there. Evil things that roam beyond the safety of these walls. What if—"

  "Mother," Mihai interrupted gently, stepping forward. His voice was soft, meant to reassure. "We’ll be careful. We’re taking Nicolae with us, and we’ll stick together the entire time. Nothing will happen to us."

  She shook her head, tears glistening in her eyes. "I don’t know what I’ll do if something happens to you boys. Your father would—"

  Vasile placed a hand on her shoulder, his usual carefree smile dimmed but still present. "We’ll be fine, Mother. We promise. It’s just for the day."

  Unable to argue further, their mother rose to her feet, wrapping them both in a tight embrace. "Be cautious. Please, my boys, come back to me."

  They kissed her cheeks, murmured their goodbyes, and left the house. As they walked toward the meeting place, the heaviness of her words hung in the air between them. For all their outward confidence, a gnawing sense of unease nestled in their hearts.

  Across the village, a similar scene was unfolding in the Stanescu household. Nicolae was lacing up his worn boots when his mother’s voice broke the quiet.

  "Nicolae, where are you going so early?" she asked, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed, a look of concern etched on her face.

  Nicolae hesitated, then replied, "I’m going with Vasile and Mihai. Just… an adventure for the day. We’ll be back by evening."

  His mother frowned, stepping closer. "An adventure? You shouldn’t be leaving the village, Nicolae. It’s not safe out there. You’ve heard the stories."

  "I know, Mother," he said, trying to sound reassuring. "But we’ll be careful. It’s nothing dangerous, I swear."

  She sighed, brushing a strand of hair from his forehead. "Promise me you’ll come back. I can’t bear to lose you too."

  Nicolae’s chest tightened at her words, but he nodded firmly. "I promise."

  With a quick embrace, he slipped out the door, joining the Dumitru brothers near Lord Albescu’s stables.

  The three young men gathered in the dim light near the stable. Their Lord was nowhere to be seen, but as promised, he had left a couple of rucksacks leaning against the wooden wall of the stable. Inside, they found provisions: a loaf of dark bread, a hunk of cheese, a small pouch of dried meat, and a flask of water in each rucksack. Vasile slung one rucksack over his shoulder, and Nicolae took the other.

  They exchanged silent glances, their faces reflecting a mix of determination and trepidation.

  "Let’s get moving," Vasile whispered, his voice cutting through the stillness. "We don’t want anyone to see us."

  They moved eastward, keeping to the shadows of the village huts. The early morning air bit at their skin, crisp and sharp, while the first threads of pale light stretched over the horizon. They walked in tense silence, ears straining for any sound that might hint at a pursuer. As the village receded into the dimness behind them, its familiar safety faded with it. Ahead lay the unknown—a place so near yet cloaked in dread, a place no one dared to tread.

  Vasile was the oldest, at seventeen. He was tall, with a lanky build, dark hair, and brown eyes. He had a rather carefree and jovial nature, often joking to lighten the mood. Mihai, at fifteen, was similar in build to his brother but a few inches shorter. He shared the same dark hair and brown eyes but had a more serious demeanor. Mihai was the most intelligent of the three, the problem solver who often kept Vasile out of trouble—or helped him get out of the trouble his sharp tongue caused. Nicolae, also fifteen, was a stocky-built farm boy who looked as if he could pull a plow by himself. He was the same height as Mihai and the most trusting of the three. Nicolae was more of a follower, often lacking original ideas of his own, but his loyalty to Vasile and Mihai was unshakable.

  The three boys were inseparable, their bond forged through years of shared experiences. When time allowed, which wasn’t often due to the work load, they would go fishing together in the streams that meandered through the farmland worked by the villagers of Moreni. Today, however, their usual carefree camaraderie was replaced by a solemn determination as they embarked on a journey removed from their idyllic fishing trips. All three wore warm peasant clothes suited for the cooler fall weather, their modest garb blending into the muted colors of the predawn world.

  The three young men continued east, keeping close to the edges of the fields where the land began to slope toward the forest. The sun was just beginning to rise, its golden light spreading across the horizon and casting long shadows over the dew-drenched grass. The crisp morning air carried a faint scent of damp earth and the decay of fallen leaves.

  As they reached the edge of the forest, a dilapidated wooden shack came into view. Its walls leaned precariously to one side, and the roof had partially collapsed, leaving a gaping hole through which the pale light of dawn filtered. The structure was ancient, its original purpose long forgotten, but its existence was strange enough to make the boys hesitate for a moment before approaching.

  They circled around the back of the shack, where they found what appeared to be a well-trodden goat path leading deeper into the forest. It seemed oddly out of place, considering they had never seen wild goats in the farmland surrounding Moreni.

  Vasile tilted his head, staring down the path. "What do you think uses this?" he asked, his voice low but curious. "I’ve never seen any wild goats around here."

  Mihai, ever the cautious one, narrowed his eyes. "Who’s to say it’s goats at all? You’ve heard the stories about Dracula’s men coming through these parts, haven’t you?"

  The three of them exchanged uneasy glances. They all knew of villagers disappearing in the night, of children being dragged away to some dark and terrible fate. It wasn’t difficult to imagine that this path, so unnervingly well-kept, might be used by something far worse than wild animals.

  The forest that lay before them seemed darker and more foreboding than the others surrounding Moreni. Its twisted trees, gnarled and bare from the fall season, looked like outstretched hands clawing at the sky. Even the evergreens, which usually stood strong and straight, seemed malformed, their crooked branches swaying in the breeze like skeletal fingers.

  A sudden gust of wind rustled through the forest, making the dry, skeletal branches tremble and sway. The movement cast shadows that danced unnervingly across the boys’ faces.

  Vasile gave a nervous chuckle, though his tone lacked its usual carefree edge. "Would you look at that? It’s like the trees are alive or something."

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  Mihai shot him a sharp look. "That’s not funny, Vasile."

  Nicolae nodded, his voice tense. "Yeah, cut it out. You’re going to jinx us."

  Vasile turned to them, his expression serious. "I’m not joking."

  For a moment, the three stood in silence, staring into the shifting forest. There was an unspoken understanding between them—this wasn’t like the usual adventures they took on the streams or fields of Moreni. This was something different, something darker.

  Mihai bent down and broke off a sturdy branch from a fallen tree. Without a word, the other boys followed suit, each choosing a heavy branch to use as a club. If wolves or something worse were to appear, they wanted to be prepared.

  The early morning shadows stretched long and distorted, making it difficult to follow Petru’s suggestion to use shadows for measuring time. Mihai raised his eyes to the sun, which was still low on the horizon but visible through the tangled branches. He extended his arm, holding it parallel to the ground, and pointed.

  "When the sun rises another hand’s breadth above the level of my arm," he said, "we’ll stop and turn back if we haven’t found Darva? by then."

  The other two boys nodded, trusting Mihai’s logic. With their makeshift clubs in hand and the sun as their guide, they pressed forward down the goat path, their unease growing with every step into the foreboding forest.

  Walking along, they moved steadily but hunched low, the path wasn’t cleared for a man’s height. Mihai, trailing just behind Vasile, muttered a complaint when a branch Vasile had pushed aside snapped back into his face.

  "Watch it, Vasile!" Mihai hissed, rubbing his cheek. Vasile glanced back with a sheepish grin but didn’t reply.

  The boys continued on, stopping briefly whenever strange noises caught their attention—a distant wolf’s howl, the sudden snarl of a wildcat just off the path. At one point, an owl hooted from a tree above them, its large yellow eyes glaring down as if observing their every move.

  "Do you think it’s one of his agents?" Mihai asked, his voice low and wary.

  "Whose agents?" Nicolae asked, glancing nervously at the owl.

  "The Dark Lord’s," Mihai replied, his tone serious. "What if it’s watching our every step?"

  Nicolae shivered. "They watch everything we do," he said solemnly. Vasile, unusually quiet, nodded in agreement.

  They moved on, the forest growing thicker and darker as they followed the goat path. Suddenly, a crashing sound erupted through the underbrush, and a large goat darted across the path, bleating loudly. Nicolae let out a shriek, startled by the sudden movement.

  After the goat had run off further in the forest, Vasile burst out laughing. "You squealed like a girl, Nicolae!" he said, clutching his sides.

  Mihai, though also startled, turned to Nicolae with a smirk. "Honestly, you scared me more than the goat did."

  Flustered, Nicolae defended himself. "You were scared too!"

  "Yes," Vasile admitted, still chuckling, "but we didn’t squeal."

  The brothers laughed again, and Nicolae looked dejected until Mihai patted him on the shoulder. "Alright, I’ll admit it—I almost shat my pants," Mihai said with a grin.

  Further on, the forest continued its strange and unnerving nature. The twisted trees seemed to lean in, their gnarled branches reaching out as though trying to ensnare the boys. Though the occasional bend and twist of the path forced them to adjust their direction, it led largely eastward, guiding them deeper into the wilderness. The air was damp and carried the faint scent of rotting leaves, making every breath feel heavier.

  As they trudged along, Nicolae broke the silence, his voice cutting through the quiet. “Vasile, how come you haven’t taken a wife yet? You’re seventeen—it’s past time, isn’t it?”

  Vasile glanced back at him with a smirk. “What are you, my nagging mother? Maybe you’re the one who should find a wife, Nicolae. You’re old enough too, you know. So is Mihai.”

  Mihai rolled his eyes but grinned slightly. “We’re not the ones always sneaking glances at Ana Radu when she walks by the well.”

  “Oh, Ana Radu,” Nicolae chimed in, his voice dripping with teasing. “With her long hair and pretty smile. Vasile, you’ve got good taste!”

  Vasile turned red but grinned through it. “If you must know, Ana’s not so bad. But let’s not forget Emilia Stan, Nicolae. I saw you tripping over yourself to carry her basket last week.”

  Nicolae laughed nervously, his face flushing. “She’s kind! And she bakes the best bread in the village. Can’t blame me for appreciating that.”

  “Kind and bakes bread,” Mihai said, shaking his head in mock disapproval. “That’s all it takes for you, isn’t it?”

  “Well, what about you, Mihai?” Vasile asked, glancing over his shoulder. “Don’t think we haven’t noticed you getting tongue-tied every time Ilinca, Nicolae’s little sister looks your way.”

  Mihai groaned, swatting at a low-hanging branch as they passed. “Ilinca is… she’s just very clever. And she has a nice laugh,” he admitted reluctantly.

  “A clever wife to solve all your problems for you?” Vasile teased.

  Nicolae chuckled. “And you’d take Ana just for her hair and smile? Don’t forget she’d boss you around, Vasile.”

  The boys burst into laughter, their voices echoing through the quiet forest. The tension of the path eased for a moment as they each imagined simpler lives, talking of the girls from their village and what they admired most.

  For a time, the dark trees seemed less threatening, and the path felt less foreboding. They were, after all, still boys in many ways—dreaming of future lives, without giving thought to the overhanging shadows cast from Dracula and his every deed.

  The three of them, after less than two hours of walking, emerged from the tight, claustrophobic path into an unexpected opening. Though the clearing was still overgrown with wild grasses and twisted roots, it was clear that they had entered a place once touched by human hands.

  The remains of simple stone foundations and broken walls rose from the ground like jagged teeth. Some stones were cracked and covered in moss, while others were sunken and half-buried in the soil, as though the earth itself was trying to reclaim them. The boys moved cautiously, their eyes scanning every shadowed corner.

  The further they walked, the more the space opened, revealing larger and more defined ruins. What appeared to be the remnants of a village square stretched before them, with faint outlines of streets and scattered rubble hinting at what had once been homes or workshops. Yet no sound accompanied their exploration—no rustling of leaves, no chirping of birds, not even the hum of insects.

  As the sun broke through the canopy above, its rays illuminated a structure at the center of the ruins. It was a round building, larger than the others, parts of its walls collapsed outward, leaving jagged stone and piles of debris lying in patches around the perimeter. The ceiling remained almost entirely intact, curving over the ruined walls like a watchful eye.

  Vasile took a step forward, squinting as he surveyed the structure. “What do you think this was?” he asked, his voice low, as though speaking louder might disturb something unseen.

  Mihai didn’t answer immediately. His eyes darted around the clearing, his expression growing darker. Finally, he stopped, gripping his branch tightly. “Do you hear that?” he asked.

  Nicolae frowned, tilting his head. “Hear what?”

  Mihai glanced back at him, his face pale. “Exactly. Nothing. No birds. No wind. No animals. Just… nothing.”

  Now that he mentioned it, the silence pressed in on all of them like a physical weight. The boys exchanged uneasy glances. Even their footsteps, which had crunched softly on the gravel and leaves moments before, seemed unreasonably loud.

  Nicolae shivered, gripping his makeshift club. “Maybe this place is cursed,” he muttered, his voice loud but spoken barely above a whisper.

  “Cursed? It’s just an old ruin,” Vasile said, forcing a chuckle that echoed and died in the still air. “But... yes, I feel it too.”

  “This is wrong,” Mihai whispered, his voice tight with unease. He stepped closer to the round building, his eyes narrowing as he studied its form. “Why does this one building look so much better than the others, like it was rebuilt? That doesn’t make sense.”

  Nicolae didn’t follow him. He stayed back, looking around nervously. “I don’t like this. It feels…like we’re being watched.”

  Vasile sighed but didn’t dismiss the feeling. He couldn’t shake the prickling sensation on the back of his neck, as if unseen eyes were tracking their every move.

  The sunlight shining into the clearing should have been comforting, but it only seemed to highlight the desolation of the place. The bright beams cast long, jagged shadows from the broken stones and collapsed walls, giving the impression of a fractured world caught between light and darkness.

  There the three young men stood, engulfed in the eerie, unnatural silence of the ruins—a chapel that seemed profoundly wrong. In the absence of sound, every breath they drew felt deafening, resounding unnaturally in their ears. They exchanged uneasy glances, the weight of dread settling over them.

  Mihai broke the stillness, his soft haunting words echoed into the town. "So, this is Darva?."