A Forest of Wolves by Chelsea Luna

I pointed at his large blade. “And when your daughter-in-law rises, what will you do to her?”
    â€œI’ll behead her and rebury her corpse. May God rest her soul.” Anton gazed up at the sky.
    His response was so definite. Brutal. But, in his mind, he was doing it out of love and protection. It was hard to understand. I looked up at the sky, too, to clear my head.
    Millions of stars filled the sky. The sight made me feel insignificant and I remembered the night I brought Marc to King Rudolf’s Astronomy Tower. The king had recently received the viewing instrument from an Italian man named Galileo. The mechanism allowed one to see the stars in greater detail.
    Marc and I had operated the instrument on a circular platform in which the tower opened up to the sky. I would never forget how the thousands upon thousands of stars glittered like diamonds in a sea of absolute blackness. They sparkled with varying degrees of brightness and I swore I could touch them with an outstretched hand. Now, here in the graveyard, the feeling was the same—the stars were so close and I was overwhelmed by the vastness of it all.
    â€œAre you all right, Mila?”
    The memory faded. “I’m fine.”
    â€œMy daughter-in-law will rise soon and it’s not going to be safe when she does,” Anton said. “You should go back now. Lock your door and hang garlic from the doorknob. Tomorrow, have Marc paint the doorway with goat’s blood.”
    I stood. “I’m sorry again for your loss.”
    â€œThank you.” He scratched his beard. “Mila?”
    â€œYes?”
    â€œYou seem like a nice girl, but remember, you’re a long way from Prague Castle. Life is different out here. It’s not safe. And the Crown isn’t the only thing you should be worried about.”

Chapter Five
    W hen I returned from the graveyard, Marc wasn’t back from his meeting at Igor’s. I had forgotten to stop by the well to retrieve my bucket, so I still had no water for soup. After listening to Anton’s stories, I wasn’t going outside in the dark alone.
    I closed the door behind me and lit the lantern on the table. The small flame flickered, creating shadows on the wall. I sat on the edge of the bed for a long moment with my eyes glued to the window. I couldn’t see outside—it was pitch black—but was something out there? Was someone watching me?
    Anton’s stories were nonsense of course, but I couldn’t deny the fact that I was scared. What if they were true? What if vampires were real? Was it so outrageous to consider that such things existed? I’d been sheltered in the castle for seventeen years. Maybe believing in the supernatural was normal.
    No, I was being silly.
    Nevertheless, I retrieved garlic from the shelf. I had nothing to string it with so I peeled half of it and rubbed it all over the door handle and frame. When I was done, I set the half-used bulb on the ground in the doorframe.
    I hoped no one was watching me.
    I closed the door and crawled into bed with the lantern lit. It took forever to fall asleep, and when I finally did, I had nightmares about Kladno being assaulted by a Royal Army of vampires.
    Marc came home in the middle of the night. He blew out the lantern and slipped into bed beside me. I slept better with him next to me despite the room now being in total darkness. I didn’t tell him about my trip to the graveyard.
    I fell back asleep, but a sharp knock woke us up not long after that. I opened my eyes; it was barely dawn.
    â€œDo we have to answer it?” I asked. “Can you not be the leader of the rebellion for one morning?”
    â€œIt might be important.”
    â€œOr it’s your Uncle Igor again, with his latest theory about my being a spy for the Crown.”
    Marc kissed my nose. “You have to admit, the man is persistent.”
    â€œAnd crazy?”
    â€œI can’t argue with that.” Marc