CHAPTER II: SUFFERING’S CURSE BROKEN
Neuer Platz was a large square, located in the center of Klagenfurt city, popularly known among the locals and tourists for its elegant medieval structures and architecture dating back to almost 700 years old. Before becoming a city, the town of Klagenfurt was already plagued by strange rumors of inexplicable events and peculiar sightings that had been taking place, all apparently beginning with the legend that the town was built on top of a swamp which was inhabited by a creature identified as a dragon, hence bringing about the existence of the city's iconic structure that is the Dragon Fountain. The Dragon is a long heraldic emblem of this mystery filled city.
Alexei relished taking walks through the city's pathways. He always felt a sense of nostalgia especially when strolling past the prehistoric Hochosterwitz Castle which had been for centuries owned by the House of Khevenhűller, a well-respected family of nobilities who were considered esteemed among the classes of Carinthian aristocrats. The melancholic passages through the city lead Alexei to an old square known as Alter Platz, a locality famous for its numerous Renaissance buildings. As leisurely as his dawdling through the streets may seem but he was very definite on the actual purpose of his business here. He instinctively made his way down a stone walkway which lead him to a tailoring boutique at the end of the street. The boutique looked terribly dreary on the exterior with a barely-hanging outdated signboard that was half decorated with dim neon lights and in the front, being displayed at the boutique's showcase windows were three deplorably clothed mannequins.
As Alexei came closer to approaching the boutique's front door, the surrounding atmosphere suddenly changed from a dull ambience to a sinister vibe. His eyes were sharp to catch a glance of a pacing figure at the boutique's upper floor room window. The doors to the boutique were locked and there seemed to be no one inside. Alexei knocked hard on the door for a couple of times before hearing footsteps hurriedly running down the wooden staircase. A middle-aged woman dressed in a simple pastel blue cotton gown, wearing a floral patterned sewing apron came quickly to the door and undid the locks. Her facial expression was full of fear and misery with deep wrinkly furrows lining her freckled forehead and cheeks. Her hands trembled as she struggled to undo the door locks.
"Forgive my clumsiness young man… I hadn't been expecting you for at least another two more days…" said the woman, finally opening the boutique's vintage door for Alexei to enter. "I wasn't even sure you would agree to come and see her…" she added while peering outside her store, inspecting left and right, possibly checking to see if there were any probable customers or simply to make sure that no strange individuals were observing them from the hidden corners of the street. "I see you have remembered to follow my instructions well," said Alexei while running his fingers through the palmate shaped leaves of a potted silver-gray wormwood sage found inside her store. The woman had kept a few pots of the pungent smelling herb inside her boutique as a repellant against blood-thirsty werewolves that were frequently prowling around outside her store for reasons only best known to her and Alexei.
"Is Hannah awake in her room?" asked Alexei as he riveted his eyes to the woman's cicatrix ridden hands. He noticed that there were some fresh scratch wounds on her upper forearms which he hadn't seen the last time he came over to visit her. Realizing that Alexei could sense that something or someone had injured her, she tried frantically to conceal her open wounds by pulling her folded cotton sleeves over them. "Uhm…yes… she's becoming increasingly restless especially in the nights… she hasn't slept in weeks the poor girl…" she answered in a muffled voice as though choking on her own words as a result of forcefully restraining her tears.
Alexei understood very well of the excruciating sorrow that the woman carried in her aching heart. "Which mother could possibly endure watching this kind of suffering being inflicted on their child, and no mother should have to… no… never again", were the silent convictions that were being voiced in his conscience. "You should really get that cleaned up… I meant your apron… it seems to have taken some spatter…" he commented while subtly pointing to the pocket on her sewing apron which seemed to have been stained by what looked like blotches of red blood. "Ah…Oh…uhm…it's probably because of this thing here", she nervously said as she pulled out a 5 inch-long seam ripper from the apron pocket. "I must've pricked my fingers while trying to pick open the seams on one of the dresses I was sewing shortly before you arrived," was the excuse she gave attempting to evade Alexei's suspicious observations of what might have truly taken place.
This didn't surprise Alexei at all as he was quite seasoned with situations of this sort, having witnessed them on countless occasions throughout his abnormally long lifespan. "I'm going upstairs to see Hannah now. Whatever happens…no matter what you hear…don't ever come upstairs until I ask you to…do you understand?" asked Alexei in a serious tone of voice. Upon hearing this, the woman's face turned wretchedly pale. Clenching the bottom of her apron with both hands, she raised her shoulders and gave out a loud sigh as she unwillingly nodded her head in acquiescence to Alexei's orders.
Making his way up the spiral wooden staircase, Alexei could sense a dense ominous aura emanating from one of the rooms in the boutique's upper floor. Standing right on top of the stairs, his eyes were fixed intently on the door of a particular room at the far end of the hallway. The hickory wooden floor right in front of the door was terribly smirched with what seemed like blotches of dried blood along with darkened circular singe marks similar to the scorching caused by the sprinkling of exorcised holy water. The bottom rail of the door was heavily laced with a thick line of blessed salt which seemed to have been set there repeatedly from the looks of some of the hardened and crystallized salt grains.
Alexei traced his fingers along the splits and ruptures found on the wooden door's panels and mullions while observing that some of the door's hinges were almost breaking loose. "Her strength is growing immensely and soon… nothing will be able to stop her from escaping… I must act swiftly before it's too late!" were Alexei's incisive thoughts as his ears receptively picked up the sounds of distinctive growling and hissing coming from behind the door. Taking a deep breath, he placed a firm grip on the door knob and opened the door …
Hannah Anatoli was an only child born to Anatoli Filip and Lavera Gabrijel in the small town of Arriach, north-west of Klagenfurt city. Orphaned at the age of two after her parents perished in a horrific automobile collision, Hannah was adopted by her mother's sister, Brina Gabrijel and they moved to Klagenfurt city in the mid-1960s where her Aunt Brina made a living by tailoring and designing clothing wear for mid-sized fashion enterprises before finally being able to open her very own boutique in the locality of the city.
Hannah was a cheerful and bubbly girl, full of life and spunk. She had a close knitted bond with her Aunt Brina who was the closest paragon to a mother that she could possibly ever have and Aunt Brina too was never stingy in her giving of maternal love, lavishing Hannah with abundant attention and filial affection just as if Hannah were her own daughter. Alexei knew Hannah since she was 9 years old, being her Sunday school catechism teacher for a few years at the Klagenfurt Cathedral. Those where the early years when Alexei had joined the lay Christian Catholic missionaries who travelled to far away and secluded parts of Europe, offering their services either as healthcare volunteers or charity providers. When he wasn't doing missionary work, he would assist at the cathedral as a substitute teacher for Sunday school classes. Hannah had always had a crush on Alexei and was particularly fond of him especially on days when he would walk into her class spotting a handsomely grown moustache and beard alongside neatly trimmed sideburns, leaving free his shoulder length hair which he would otherwise usually tie up in a ponytail.
Alexei didn't teach for very long at the cathedral as one day he suddenly decided that he needed to make an urgent trip to a city called Vladivostok, located in the far eastern region of Russia and was gone for months without any news of his whereabouts. Not being able to see or meet him became a demotivating factor for Hannah in attending Sunday classes but for the sake of her Aunt Brina, she continued on until finally receiving her sacrament of Confirmation. She gradually became more and more disinterested in participating in religious services or masses held at church as she deliberately made herself increasingly preoccupied with helping her aunt at the boutique to design their own line of fashion clothing and spent most of her leisure time hanging out with folly friends, going to late night raves and clubhouse parties.
It was while carousing at one of the popularly sought after night clubs that Hannah chanced upon an ill-fated acquaintance with Tomir, a young unruly lass who was highly possessive in nature and incredibly haughty, deeming himself as a heavenly gift to womankind. Hannah's repeated spurning of Tomir's amorous advances infuriated him especially when she would purposely refuse him in public, making a spectacle of him for all his rowdy companions to see. The humiliation of not being able to subjugate a woman to himself somewhat bruised his over-inflated ego but there was more to Tomir's exasperation than just mere rejection, a darker revelation to his baleful intentions in getting his way and what he wants.
In the world of Lycanthropes, one can either be born a pure blooded werewolf, a descendant from the finest progeny of Lycanthrope ancestry or one can be turned into a Lycan by a number of unnatural circumstances such as by being attacked and bitten by a fully transformed werewolf or by being cursed to unwillingly metamorphose into one either from having been forcefully made to consume the blood of a highbred werewolf or from the treacherous consequence of the evil supernatural doings of a witch's dark craft, which in both cases, the curse can only be undone or broken if the source and conjurer of the curse – either the highbred Lycanthrope who shared its blood or the witch who cast the sorcery – was eliminated.
Lel being the heir from the first generation of Alpha ancestors and also being the highest ranking Lycan in the hierarchy of the Lycanthrope kingdom was extremely obstinate when it came to the purity of his very own bloodline, making certain that all his begotten offspring were solely pure breeds as he considered mixed breeds of Lycans with vampires or humans an utter abomination, a disgraceful befouling of the superior werewolf bloodline, particularly mixed breeds of human descent as he regarded mortals as disgusting, pathetic and weak creatures, however the existence of Alexei and the hidden prophecy which foretold of his birth challenged the very core of Lel's single-minded principles even to the extent of spawning Lel's hidden fears and insecurities with regards to his position in the Lycan High Council. In order to preserve his powerful and uncontested ruling among the werewolves, Lel would instigate his male offspring to instill fear among the lower ranking Lycans by spreading threats and intimidating them. In his ruthless pursuit for dominance, he would even mercilessly grant them assent to inflict harm on those who expressed disagreement towards Lel's despotic authority and savage conduct.
Tomir was Lel's favorite male heir, born to his Luna consort or Alpha female partner named Verene who was equally as ruthless and sadistic as Lel. Tomir was being carefully groomed in anticipation of him ascending to the highest order of leadership in the Lycan High Council and since he was his father's preferred son, he was allowed to indulge in all things perverted and corrupt from the extortion of money and distribution of ketamines to trafficking women to his many male werewolf counterparts. Ultimately, both he and his father's main goal was to distort the morality of mankind and to lead them into utter destruction but the arrogance and self-conceit of evil doers oftentimes will lead to the very cause of their own downfall and the tool that will initiate this motion of self-ruin would of course be their succumbing to their own temptations and in Tomir's case, he was unable to resist the temptation of enticing women.
On a particular night when the moon seemed to be in full blossom, Hannah together with two of her girlfriends were completely inebriated as they tossed themselves out of the nightclub, trying to balance themselves on their spike heels as they clumsily strolled down the pavement leading towards their respective homes. They were so preoccupied with all the joking and chortling that they were oblivious to the organized movement that was taking place in the background, encircling them from all directions to make sure that any chances for escape were inconceivable.
It all happened in a flash of a moment, so swiftly that not a single scream or the sound of a tussle was heard. Hannah felt paralyzed, her limbs were crippled by excruciating pain as she gasped desperately for air from Tomir gripping her throat with his razor-sharp claws, choking her just enough to weaken her from putting up a fight. All Hannah could see with her muzzy eyes was a large fur-coated beast crouching over her, pinning her down. It breathed heavily into her ears as it growled and began sniffing her trembling body. In all anguish, she tried to move her arms and legs but Tomir being the cunning bestial hunter that he is, had slit both her hamstrings and under arm muscles to immobilize his victim. She was terribly traumatized as she helplessly watched both her friends being brutally ripped apart and disemboweled by Tomir's Lycanthrope henchmen. They took great pleasure from killing those young women, each one incessantly guzzling and devouring their fresh warm blood and tender red flesh.
Tomir however had other plans in mind for keeping Hannah alive. His vindictive nature sought to punish Hannah for her non-submission to him. He was determined not only to bring her life to ruination but also to wreck the lives of those closest and loved by her. By using his right index claw, Tomir pricked the palm of his furry left hand and trickled his blood into Hannah's mouth forcing her to swallow every drop. "With this you shall be become a creature of the night, a beast alike to us yet submissive only to me… you will be unable to resist me as your will now be intertwined with mine… you shall be one of many my servants, a useful paramour for satisfying my flaming erotic desires and you shall also subject yourself to my father's needs, attending to his licentious appetite whenever he wishes." As he whispered this repeatedly into her ears, Hannah fell into the werewolf's curse and into Tomir's evil control.
As the days went by, she was no longer herself, exhibiting strange behaviors and having animalistic inclinations. She was slowly turning into a subordinate Lycanthrope. Gradually losing her humanity, she seemed to no longer live for herself but was like an animal on a leash waiting for its master to return.
The metamorphosis of a human into a Lycanthrope is an agonizing process that entirely alters the physical and mental state of the mortal being and in Hannah's case, it was tremendously torturous as once the blood of a highbred Lycan enters the human body, it rapidly permeates each cell initiating an accelerated transmutation, changing normal cells to adopt canine cell like characteristics with unique inter-reversible cellular functions allowing a fully transformed werewolf to revert back into human form and vice versa at will.
Alexei knew he had to be quick in his thinking and actions. A single mistake or a careless move could spoil everything that he had planned from the very beginning. The atmosphere in Hannah's room was dark and eerie. Her bed sheets were covered with both fresh and dry blood stains and scattered desquamated skin. Clumps of hair could be seen all over the floor forming a trail leading to her bathroom. The bathroom light was flickering wildly and Alexei could hear the sounds of Hannah's uncontrollable grunting and retching getting louder and louder. The initial transformation process of a human into a Lycanthrope is quite intermittent, causing a variety of physical changes such as gastrointestinal disturbances as the human gut is no longer accustomed to digesting and absorbing normal cooked nutriment but rather more of raw sustenance.
Hannah's bed posts were covered with scratches and sizeable puncture marks seemingly caused by the rigorous biting of canine-like fangs, with some of its wood exposing it's worn down inner layers embedded with particles of dislodged claws still stuck in the wood grain fibers. The leather restrainers tied to the posts that were supposedly used to confine her from leaving the room were all chewed up and ripped to shreds. The disturbing sight of the dirtied floor around her bed stands, made filthy by the remnants of rotten half-eaten or regurgitated bones and flesh of rats and young leverets was nauseating to see. Looking at the state of things, Alexei thought to himself, "So this is what Brina has been feeding Hannah all this while…"
He deducted that the fresh scratches he had earlier noticed on Brina's forearms were probably caused by Hannah's aggressive snatching of the raw food from her hands and in order to prevent Hannah from forwardly attacking her, Brina had no choice but to use the sharp seam ripper to hurt Hannah, deterring the semi-mutated young werewolf for charging towards her.
All of a sudden, the light in the bathroom where Hannah was in shattered and the entire room became of complete darkness with only a glimmer of moonlight shining through her broad spring line glass window. Alexei could hear the winds rustling against the outer walls of Hannah's room. He slowly sat down on the floor in kneeling position, waiting patiently for Hannah to make her move. Even though his body remained stock-still but his vigilant eyes were expeditiously scanning the room as his werewolf sharp vision captured and followed the motions of a slender shadow-like figure, erratically pacing around until it finally came to a settle, standing upside down from the ceiling, directly in front of Alexei about a meter away from where he was sitting. With its long unkempt hair hanging down and head slightly tilted, it stared menacingly at Alexei with bright green glowing eyes as it snarled in a low intimidating tone.
"It's been many years hasn't it… Hannah", greeted Alexei of the upside down standing shadow figure. Hannah gave out a loud growl and shouted "Why have you come here, oh Chosen One, prophesized defender of the mortal race?! Have you come to vanquish me as how you have callously done with so many of our kind?!" Alexei knew very well that the words that were thrown at him were not of Hannah's own thoughts or emotions but of her subconscious mind which was being controlled by a rather powerful foe. He was aware that in order for him to be able to save Hannah, he would have to attack her relentlessly when she is in the most aggressive stage of her transmutation. Any chance of breaking a werewolf's curse could only be possible when attempted at the very moment when a transforming Lycanthrope reaches the height of its blood-thirsty urge and is about to carry out its assault on a victim.
Within seconds, Alexei had already transformed himself into a vigorous well-built werewolf. His temperament and stance substantially reflected his immense experience of years of being engaged in combative werewolf battles. His strikes on Hannah were swift and calculated, giving her no room to retaliate. He knew that he had to injure her just enough to break the blood-thirsty cravings that were coursing through her veins. Blow after blow, Alexei intensified his attacks and Hannah in return, attempted desperately to forge ambushes on him but to no avail. After being continuously bombarded and quite seriously wounded, Hannah fell to the ground, panting profusely. Her weakened werewolf limbs were trembling in fear and pain. It perturbed Alexei to treat Hannah in such a savage manner but he had to harden his heart in order to help Hannah to break free from the werewolf's curse.
Mustering up whatever strength she had left, Hannah got up and began to run aimlessly, desperately trying to find a way out either by crashing through her room door or through one of the room's windows but whenever she approached any of these exits, an invisible barrier seemed to keep pushing her away. She didn't realize that when Alexei first entered her room while she was preoccupied in the bathroom, he had already begun to quickly lace the linings of her room door, windows and walls, and along the corners of her room floor with exorcised holy water and salt. Unable to find an escape, she began to howl loudly, calling out for help. In a disgruntled voice, she yelled "Master! Don't leave me here to die in this way!.... Master Tomir!... I beg of you! Please save me! I will do whatever you ask of me!… Please! Just save me!"
Quickly grabbing her, Alexei pinned her down onto the floor and using the thick sharp claw on his left thumb he pricked his middle left finger and trickled his blood into Hannah's mouth. Hannah didn't resist. Overcome by her blood-thirsty urges, she profusely drank his blood, not knowing that the blood that Alexei was so willingly sharing was no ordinary werewolf blood. For a few moments, Hannah felt high in ecstasy, thrilled from the feeling of having her animalistic cravings satisfied until her eyes fixed on the drops of blood that was speedily dripping from his middle finger. To her horror she found that the blood was unusual, magenta purple in color and its viscosity lighter than the thickness of any ordinary human, vampire or werewolf blood, yet its sweetness was irresistibly compelling.
Leaning towards her head, Alexei whispered into her pointy right ear in a deep adjuring voice, "Hannah Anatoli!... Remember who you are!... By the healing grace that has been bestowed unto me by the omnipotent Creator of both heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible, and of all creatures mortal and supernatural, I command you to reject whatever evil that is flowing in your veins!" As soon as he had finished saying these words, her pupils immensely dilated and her entire body went into a violent convulsion forcing her to expel large volumes of agglutinated mass which looked like black clumps of old blood. This was all of Tomir's putrefied blood being purged from Hannah's body ridding her of the werewolf's curse that he had forcefully laid upon her.
Hannah's body slowly started to regress to her normal human physique. She was unconscious and looked frail, breathing heavily from exhaustion and her skin was pale from the many months of malnourishment. Alexei looked at her with a loving and pitiful gaze. Even after all these years, in his eyes, this grown up young woman was still the same lovable little child he came to know so fondly. He looked towards her room's glass window and slowly rising to his feet, he walked towards it and ripped the thick laced curtain that hung from its frame and wrapped the curtain around her as all the blankets, mattress and bed sheets seemed to be soiled and filthy. As he carried her and placed her onto a rocking chair near her bed, his ears instinctively picked up the faint sound of a strange movement coming from outside of her glass window. He had well prepared himself for what was to come for this is what he was anticipating from the very beginning, the decisive prime moment which he has been eagerly waiting for.
Like a raging hurricane, Tomir and two of his werewolf henchmen came crashing into the room, shattering the broad glass window into bits and pieces. Giving a loud enraged howl, Tomir signaled his henchmen to attack Alexei while he attempted to retrieve Hannah and take her away to his lair but he underestimated Alexei's speed and sharpness in forging calculated onslaughts. It was as though an invisible force weaved between the henchmen and Tomir; just like a ghost passing through walls, Alexei moved incredibly swiftly from one henchmen to another while simultaneously biting open their throats and lacerating their blood vessels, ripping out their still-beating hearts from their chest before charging towards Tomir. Like flies dropping unto the floor did Tomir's henchmen fall dead to the ground. Tomir's eyes widened in fear but before he could even strike, Alexei already seized him by the throat and slapped him hard, then pressed him forcefully against the wall.
Enduring life's many hardships alongside engaging in countless fierce some battles with rival Lycanthropes, vampires and ghouls had built Alexei's enormous physique and stature, in fact, Tomir's size was no match to that of Alexei and this was probably due to the fact that Tomir had only been hunting mortals and left the much stronger opponents to his father for handling.
Tomir struggled greatly to strike a blow on Alexei but he couldn't even lay a claw on him as Alexei had slit both of Tomir's hamstrings and underarm muscles, precisely as how Tomir had previously done to Hannah. With a low growling tone, Alexei said, "So Tomir, son of Lel… How does it feel now to be helpless and weak??... To be mercilessly hunted instead of being the hunter?!" Alexei's words infuriated Tomir. He snarled and growled at Alexei while shouting, "You disgusting half breed!!... How dare you manhandle me?!... My father will have your head for this treachery!!" Tomir's words didn't perturb Alexei one bit for he knew these were the ramblings of an arrogant, self-conceited coward who was shamelessly trying to display his superficial dominance in a pathetic attempt to cast fear into Alexei's heart, thinking that by mentioning the name of Lel, Alexei would release him out of utter trepidation but Alexei was unbothered by whatever nonsensical threats Tomir was making.
"For decades, you and your ruthless father have preyed on young mortals, enslaving them and turning them against their loved ones!... There is absolutely no reparation that can possibly be done to mitigate the evil that the both of you have unleashed into this world!... Only by annihilating both of you shall many mortals be saved from damnation and many more be liberated from the vile curse of suffering inflicted upon them!" Saying this, Alexei shredded Tomir into innumerable pieces until nothing recognizable was left of him. As brutal as it may seem, Alexei resorted to committing this savage act not for his own gratification but for the intent of sending a clear and serious message to Lel that his reign of tyranny and the dominion of evil werewolves over mortals was soon coming to an end.
A sudden calmness and serenity could be felt in Hannah's room and the entire boutique. The dull and sinister vibe that once lingered in and about the boutique quickly vanished. It was already morning and after so many months of being concealed in darkness, finally the gentle beam of the early rising sun permeated Hannah's room with its warm golden light. Half conscious, Hannah opened her eyes. Her blurry vision slowly began to focus on a tall figure that was sitting beside her, holding her left hand tightly. Her pupils dilated in delight to see that it was Alexei who was accompanying her. With a gentle and feeble voice she said "I can't believe that you're here… This must be a dream…" Alexei took her left hand and placed it on his right cheek and said, "You see… this is not a dream… I am indeed here with you and never once have I ever forgotten you, my dear young Hannah…" Hearing his affirming words, Hannah's eyes started to fill up with tears. In a loud voice while crying, she said "Do you know how much I missed you??... Where have you been all these years?!" Giving her a rueful smile, Alexei gently carried her head and placed it on his chest. "Forgive me dear child… for not making haste in my coming to see you… forgive me." Hannah clung onto him tightly and continued to weep.
From outside of Hannah's room, the sound of stomping footsteps could be heard rushing up the stairs. It was her Aunt Brina, who came dashing through her room door. Her eyes could not believe what she was seeing before her. The sight of her Hannah restored to her human form filled Brina with immense happiness. She rushed to Hannah and hugged her closely as she wept in much awaited relief. Alexei explained to the both of them that they were no longer safe staying at Klagenfurt as Lel would surely come searching for his son Tomir, tracing his werewolf scent to the boutique.
He helped them to quickly pack some clothing and basic necessities and he instructed them to leave their double-storey shop lot at once and head to a protected shelter in a secret location which only he knew. Before they began their journey, Alexei handed them a few sachets of dried wolfs bane flowers. He directed them to scatter the small portions of the potpourri like mixture in whichever places they may stop to rest during the course of their journey to expunge their human scent from lingering behind and to ward off any werewolves that may possibly be trying to trail them. Wolfs bane or otherwise known as the monkhood plant, is extremely toxic to humans and more so to werewolves especially when directly ingested. It can cause external scalding wounds to werewolves when touched and if ingested can cause death by severe cardiac arrest and blood poisoning. The only way a werewolf can be cured from the toxicities of this potent herb is by treating the beast with ashes made from the burning of the same strain of wolfs bane that was used to poison the werewolf in the first place.
While Brina was arranging the luggage into their car, Hannah walked up to Alexei; with her eyes squinting from the bright sunlight and an affectionate smile on her face, she said "Tell me how you do it??" For a moment, Alexei was caught by off guard, clueless as to what she meant by that question. "How I do what??" he asked her. "How you look exactly the same after all these years?! No wrinkles! Not a single gray on you!... I remember the first time I met you… It was July of 1970 and I was nine years old. A bunch of us were sitting in our Sunday School classroom, eagerly waiting to meet our new substitute teacher…we thought our new teacher would be Mrs. Leida, the old lady who was singing in the church choir and then you walked in! All us girls couldn't take our eyes of you!" she said with a naughty smirk on her face. Alexei blushed and said "Well, I'm glad you were paying such close attention during my catechism classes…"
Even though he knew that Hannah was just making banter but in reality he was aware that he couldn't fool this now grown up 21-year-old intelligent young woman. Her memories of the time when she was transforming in and out of the Lycanthrope phase may be distorted and mostly vague but he realized that Hannah understood who and what he truly was. Hannah gave him a long, big hug before running off to join her Aunt Brina in the car. As Alexei waved good bye to them, a joyous feeling stirred in his heart for he knew for certain that from here onwards Hannah would be safe, leading a normal and unperturbed life.
Wherever he went from then on, he would keep in touch with her by occasionally sending a short telegrams which she would promptly reply in return. Months passed by and he was glad to hear that Hannah and Brina were doing extremely well in life, especially Hannah who in renewed faith returned back to attending masses and services at church. She even followed Alexei's footsteps and started teaching catechism to young church going children and joined the Christian Catholic lay missionaries who travelled to poor, impoverished countries helping communities in need.
She had written letters to him, attaching photographs of her experiences and newly found good friends. In one letter particularly, she had written this… "Strangely, my memories of when I was changing into a beast remain vague and unclear yet the sufferings that came from that misfortune have somewhat changed my spirit. I look at life now in a new light of grace and mercy and I've begun to cherish my faith in God even more as the days go by.
In many instances, one can be tempted and swayed by anger and frustration to turn away from believing in the existence of goodness especially when inflicted by tremendous injustice and suffering but what an immeasurable blessing it is when that very suffering converts us into strong individuals, firm in faith and endearing in steadfast virtues… I thank God for having met you dear Alexei. I believe that He had a saving purpose for bringing you into my life…
Throughout my tormented days in that place of supernatural darkness… I was still desperately hoping that God would send someone to save me and restore me to freedom and that's when you miraculously came along… by your heroic loving-kindness and goodness, my suffering's curse has finally been broken."
~ The most beautiful act of faith is the one made in darkness, in sacrifice, and in extreme effort ~
St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina