I always have the same dream, a dream where time stands still. People never grow old, and the sunshine never fades.
Because there, I can hear Mама's voice again.
Mother: My, look how long your hair has grown, Rubuska.
Mother: Sit up for a moment so I can comb it for you. My hair was just like yours when I was a girl. I do worry when I comb Nikola's, though. His hair's like your father's, all curly at the root.
Young Rubuska: Come on, Mама, please keep telling the story! "In the light of the blood moon, they rise ..."
Mother: "In the light of the blood moon, they rise and stride under the veil of night."
Mother: "Freely, they live, without fear of death."
Mother: "For through blood they live forevermore."
Young Rubuska: Through blood they live ...
Young Rubuska: Amazing! What about me, Mама? What about me?
Mother: You, well, you are our dearest Rubuska, one of the youngest vampires in the family.
Mother: Seasons changed, years passed, and you've spent 214 years, four months, and two days in a deep, deep sleep.
Mother: Now, the people suffering from the war cry out, "Rubuska! Awaken! Open up your scarlet eyes and help us!"
Young Rubuska: Hmm, ah! Is that blood I smell?
Young Rubuska: Now, the great vampire Rubuska has awoken from her endless sleep.
Young Rubuska: Does anyone dare hurt my family? Never fear, Mама. Rubuska's here to bite their necks and suck their blood.
Mother: Hah hah, you silly thing.
Mother: Have you forgotten? As vampires, we're not afraid of anything. Not even ...
Mother: ... death ...
Mother: Run, Buska, RUN!
Young Rubuska: Mама! No, no, I, no, no ...
Mother: Buska, RUN!
COMBAT
I ran and ran, away from the gunshots, away from another burning village.
I ran into the mountains. They protected me—hid my escape. Then I went to the cemetery.
Young Rubuska: No, no one's following.
Young Rubuska: They can't find me anymore, hahaha.
I found an old coffin, cast aside, forgotten, just there, abandoned by the whole world.
I huddled up inside it, and I lived there. Lived with the worms.
Young Rubuska: It smells like them.
Young Rubuska: Like my "family."
Mама once said that, in this land, the dead never truly die.
She said that our bodies merged with the earth, our blood seeping into the dirt and nourishing the tangled roots of the trees.
And ever so quietly, we'd day by day become one with the world.
So, I wasn't afraid—didn't struggle anymore. I closed my eyes—let the smell wash over me—and a warmth grew in my heart.
Young Rubuska: Dad ... Mама ...
We were together again.
Together again.
Together again, together again.
Rubuska: ...!
She awakens from a dream.
Rubuska: panting J-Just a dream.
Rubuska: deep breath Just a dream.
Rubuska takes a deep breath, swallowing her tangled emotions.
She looks around. The room is empty.
Rubuska: Can't remember the last time I had a good night's sleep.
Rubuska: Huh, I must have slept longer than I thought. Oh, but that means we'll be getting to the checkpoint soon.
Rubuska: Aima's gone too. Wait. That means I've got a chance to get out of here.
She takes no time to pick the lock again, peeking out like a wary cat.
Rubuska: Yes! No one outside, either.
But before she steps out, she notices her dirty hands, a poor contrast with her fine new dress.
Covered in dust from all her scrambling, she tries to pull down her sleeve, then hesitates, afraid to stain the fine fabric.
Rubuska: Oh, I'd better change.
Rubuska: Just have to put this all back, and ...
Her new clothes are left folded on the sofa. After a pause, she sets her hat beside them.
Rubuska: This is the most expensive thing I own. Take it as my gift.
Rubuska: Bye-bye, princess.
The young vampire slips through the carriages.
Most passengers remain asleep. The night is freeing, yet oddly lonely.
Rubuska: Hmm. Quiet.
Rubuska: Nobody's around now. Then I can have some fun by myself.
She lifts her flute, letting notes keep her company.
Rubuska: Just like the old days.
A soft tone escapes, low and sweet.
Rubuska: Right, here I am in carriage one.
Rubuska: Carriage number two.
One note falls, another rises.
She drifts lightly through the carriage like a passing breeze.
Rubuska: Eleven ...
Rubuska: Huh?
Rubuska: Shouldn't there be twelve carriages? Ten for passengers, plus the brake van and the staff compartment. Yeah.
Rubuska: Then how did this extra carriage get here?
A new carriage, one she's never seen before, rattles in the dark.
But the train stretches long, and in the night it almost feels endless.
Verity: Hmm. What a pretty song. I could almost applaud.
A voice cuts coldly from the shadows.
Rubuska: Oh, you're that lady from before.
Rubuska: I'm counting how many carriages there are. This helps me with it.
Verity: An interesting little game. From your hometown, I presume?
She shakes her head.
Rubuska: No, I came up with it myself.
Rubuska: My hometown's big, you see—so big you couldn't even imagine it.
Climb one mountain, and another rises. Cross one river, and another follows.
The sky stretches endless and gray, a road without end.
Rubuska: Lucky for me, my mother gave me this kaval.
Rubuska: So, I used it to name every mountain and river by giving them each their own note.
She grips her flute with pride.
Rubuska: And now I never get lost!
Verity: Are you certain?
The editor looks up from her scratchy notes, her eyes alight with interest.
Verity: I've heard the carriages on this train can multiply. Even if you played the entirety of Bach's Mass in B Minor, you'd never count them all.
Verity: Go ahead if you don't believe me. You'll see soon enough.
Verity offers a wistful smile.
Rubuska: Oh. What?
She looks down the corridor.
The carriage sways lazily, as if beckoning her forward.
Moonlight peeks through the clouds, pale and cold, shrouding the scene like a white burial sheet, hiding all secrets beneath it.
And there, in a carriage that never was, in that place that shouldn't even have existed, blood-red eyes blinked in the darkness.
And the blood of those sorry passengers trickled, sweet and warm, into the throats of the red-eyed monsters.
Rubuska: ...
Rubuska: Uh, ma'am, I think we'd better stick together.
She steps back in fear, turning to find nothing there.
Just an old iron door, swaying by itself, its hinges groaning, creak ... creak ...
Rubuska: Ma'am?
Rubuska: ...
The girl has no choice but to face the darkness before her.
Rubuska: C-Come on now. You're Rubuska! The blood-sucking vampire! You're not scared of ... tremble ... anything.
She takes a deep breath and takes a brave leap.
A heavy copper lock clamps the front door of the carriage, glinting coldly under the moonlight.
Rubuska: Oh. Locked again?
Rubuska: Fine, then I'll just unlock this one too.
Rubuska: Open sesame!
Just one push, and she could slip inside.
Rubuska freezes. Holding her breath, she presses against the door, catching faint sounds from within.
"On one such night, a group of passengers awoke to the sound of crying. They followed it. Then the crying turned to bawling, and the bawling to wailing, until they reached it—"
"A door that wasn't there before."
Fear creeps over her. She turns to leave when a sharp gust throws the door wide open.
Rubuska: ...!
The ancient groan of the door could wake anyone—or anything—long asleep.
Slowly, she lifts her head to face the darkness.
Rubuska: Ahh!
Eyes flicker in the dark, like ghostly flames gathering in the night.
Rubuska: Ugh, ahh! Mmff.
Before she can scream, a hand clamps her mouth, dragging her into the eclipsing shadows.