Throughout centuries, there have always been beliefs and legends about mythological or supernatural beings, without having answers, merely the beliefs that have been transmitted from generation to generation.
This story began in a small village located in Borsec, Romania. In this small and abandoned town, during the cold nights, there was always a rumored sighting of a "mysterious man, wearing clothes that aren’t from this time", with a cold countenance; And in his gaze there was power and some people who saw him said he had the look of an "evil" being, people said this mysterious man looks like he was looking for something or perhaps someone.
Much was said about one family in particular, “the Blacks”. They were a small family of farmers, who were the main suppliers of foods such as meat and vegetables, as well as fruits.
The wife in this family oversaw the family administration, and the husband oversaw the crops and the quality of the vegetables, fruits, and meats that they distributed.
The Blacks were alone for a long time, it was rumored that was Mr. Black’s wife who did not want to have children, she was a greedy and vain woman, that's what the people in the villa said. It was believed that the marriage was in crisis, but she did not want to lose what they had, since her husband was the owner of the land and everything there that was the livelihood of the family, she agreed to have a child, with the condition that she would be the owner of that land.
Shortly after, they welcomed a beautiful boy that they called “Ion Black”, this child had beautiful ebony black hair, like his mother's, and beautiful green eyes, the same tone as the precious stones called Emeralds, as his father. His skin was very white, it looked delicate, a thin complexion for a child his age. He was a child loved by his father, despite the coldness of his mother towards him, he was always a smiling child.
He accompanied his father to see the crops, from there he learned little by little about his father's work; His father let him help him with the easiest tasks, Ion always felt very helpful when his father allowed him to do something at the farm.
One afternoon, while Ion was playing in the front garden, and the sun was shining at its highest point, Ion began to feel ill. Some reddish spots began to appear on his skin and on his face, you could clearly see the color of his veins and on every part of his body exposed to the sun you could see quite serious burns; Ion was feverish, by the redness of the spots it could be seen that was something very bad, he wanted to call his father but he lost consciousness.
His father took him in his arms, got on his horse and took him to the town doctor. The doctor diagnosed him with a strange disease, they called it "Photosensitivity" a not to common illness triggered by sunlight, his body burned when exposed, producing toxic damage, it was as if his very body was killing him; Even exposing himself to moonlight if it was a slight glow also caused damage to his skin.
The doctors indicated to both parents that he could not be exposed to any type of light. When Ion reached adolescence, at the age of 12; By order of his mother, he began working on the farm late at night, wearing long-sleeved shirts and a large hat to prevent the moonlight from hurting him, he did it to help at home.
This was how it all started...
8 years passed by and one day, after Ion has reached his 20’s he couldn’t get up from bed, his illness had been getting worse since then.
His mother was in a bad mood all the time, because Ion could no longer help on the farm. With the help that Ion did at night, the Black Farm had reached a high level of production, they had even begun to take products to other nearby villages.
It was evident that not getting enough rest and being exposed to the moonlight had taken a heavy toll on Ion. His father did not leave him for any moment, the families that lived in the village loved him very much; but the rumors that he would die soon were already heard everywhere.
Without the strength in his body to get up, that beautiful smile that always accompanied Ion disappeared, he could not feed himself, he could not move without help; The paleness of his skin was now more evident. The neighbors said that he looked like "a child of the snow", since his skin was so white.
Things on the farm began to decline and all the money they had built was running out, they never stopped being one of the wealthy families, however Ion's father managed to find alternative medications to treat his illness; There were days when Ion had "bright days", that's what his father said, because he could smile and he could take the cutlery he needed to eat.
But just as there were bright days, there were also the worst days. Those days were when Ion lost consciousness and did not respond to anything his father did, the fever was hight and was the causing him to have convulsions. In desperation, Mr. Black put Ion in cold water baths to try to control his temperature. The worst thing was that the fevers always were worse at nigh. His father, with the help of one of his neighbors, took Ion to the lake on the property, to be able to give him these baths; he couldn’t do it alone because Ion grew taller and bigger, so he was heavy for only one person to carry him.
One night, Ion woke up and started talking as normal, he smiled as always, and they were able to have a conversation as they used to have when working at night; that was the last day. When Mr. Black saw Ion smile, he never thought that would be the last time he sees him like that; After that, the fever didn't let him wake up again. The town doctor tells his father that the only thing left was to try giving him some peace and to say his last goodbyes, that perhaps Ion could still hear them and peacefully go.
One of these awful nights, after Mr. Black's cleaning routine for Ion, he felt the despair of losing his son.
- What have I failed in? What am I paying? Why my son... why him?, if he has not experienced anything in his life other than this illness! Why you son? Why wasn't me? Why do you suffer all this?, if you were always desired with a lot of love!!
Mr. Black left his son wrapped up, that night for some reason it was colder than usual, it was the middle of summer, so it was strange that it was a cold night. He went out to the porch of the house in the middle of the clearing, it was almost midnight and he sat down to smoke his tobacco, in a rocking chair that he himself had built for Ion, being there in complete darkness his mind was blank. He felt a piece of paper in his jacket pocket, took it out and remembering that it was a letter from his wife, she had abandoned them since Ion could no longer recover, when he opened it and shined his candle on it, he read the letter.
"Sorin, I am writing this letter to you because checking my luggage I could see that the property documents of the farm are not yet in my name, that was the deal when I gave you that child that you wanted so much. I need you to transfer them and as soon as possible, vacate the farm taking your things and those of your son.
- Ailén Black."
- Damn you, you didn't even ask about your son's health... you are simply interested in this land and the money. -
A soft whisper was heard near the porch where Mr. Black was, he stopped the rocking chair to remain completely silent and the whisper was heard again.
- Who is there? -
Complete silence. Mr. Black got up and, taking a few steps towards where the stairs were, he was preparing to go down from the porch, he was then able to notice the silhouette of someone in the darkness. There was no moon that night, so the only light that could be seen was that of the candlelight that he carried.
- W-Who are you? -
- The smell of death comes from your house -
- I - I said, who are you? -
- I am a simple traveler who passed by here, someone who felt the aroma of illness and death. -
- Go away, you are a trespasser on private property -
This man was silent for a moment and took a step forward... the wind blew strongly, and his clothes moved.
- I am not a stranger; they have seen me on other occasions-
- see you? Who has seen you? -
He no longer responded to Mr. Black, and then decided to walk towards the porch. Mr. Black then took his shotgun and pointed it at him.
- I told you once, get off my property!
Even in silence, this man took another step and at that moment a cloud cleared the moon, and it shone light towards where this man was; The clothes he was wearing were definitely different, he had a long hat, a kind of jacket and pants adorned by the gold chain of a pocket watch, his eyes could not be seen, but the smile on his lips was strange, we could say that was malevolent.
- I can’t go now that you have seen me. -
He raised one of his hands, a black glove was clearly visible, and he raised the brim of his hat slightly and had some kind of crystals over his eyes, they were black. Then he smiled and looking up you could see his eyes; they were strange, and his gaze was very heavy, it was evil.
- What do you want here? -
- I know your son is very sick. -
- You may have heard it from the people of the Villa. -
- I can help him -
- Help him? How do you plan to do that? -
- Let me see him. -
- Do you want me to let you into my house so you can see my sick son? -
Mr. Black, still pointing his shotgun at him, watched him.
- what's your name? -
-Vlad-
- Okay, Vlad. -
Mr. Black lowered the shotgun and invited him into his house.
When Vlad finally approached, Mr. Black could notice that he was definitely a strange man, thin in build and much taller than he imagined, he had a strange smell and when he was next to him he could feel how his body reacted, it caused him chills.
- Are you sure you can help him? -
Vlad nodded.
They went inside the house; Ion was in his room. He guided Vlad through the house till they were in Ion’s room.
- This is his room, his name is Ion, Come in.-
The eyes of this man called Vlad, that were covered by those dark crystals directed his sight to Ion's bed; he removed a little bit those dark crystals and Mr. Black could see how his eyes opened in astonishment.
- He’s the one… -
Vlad muttered.
Vlad went inside the room, Ion was there. He looked like he was sleeping, Ion’s lips that looked red at some time, now have no color at all. Big eye bags marking the sleepless nights he had been through and how the illness is taking his life off him.
Vlad got closer to Ion.
- the aroma of his blood smells different, it has changed; His skin looks like snow and his lips are now pale. -
Vlad took a few steps to get a little closer to Ion, he was still standing next to Ion’s bed. He took his right hand out of his coat; He was wearing black gloves.
- he looks quite calm, despite being in a lot of pain, these blisters on his arms look dry... -
- He has a disease that began to slowly killing him... "Phototoxicity" the sun's rays poison him, what do you mean by “despite being in a lot of pain?” -
- Maybe you can't perceive it, but all these injuries, the fever and not being able to get up hurt him; but in its unconscious state you cannot perceive it. It's normal that you didn't notice it, after all you are nothing more than a simple human. -
- Do you mean that my son
is suffering? -
Vlad remained silent; Mr. Black had understood well what he was referring to.
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