“And the great dragon, the serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, was cast down to the earth; and with him were his angels cast down.”
I’ve always been drawn to the occult, to legends and stories of demons and spirits that can’t find peace. I’m not a religious person, I don’t believe in miracles, but I do believe that evil exists on this earth. And when I say that, I don’t mean the evil that man has wrought, but that evil in its purest form, the rot that slowly causes a rift in our souls, devouring violently, until there is nothing left but depravity and death.
The passion for the supernatural was carved out of summer holidays spent with her grandparents in Neamt. Who doesn’t know, Neamt is the blessed land of the country, a land marked by monasteries, churches, and people who still have faith and fear of God in their souls. Holidays and Sundays were the days when my grandmother dressed me as beautifully and elegantly as possible, the scrapes on my knees and the dust gathered during the days of playing on the village streets were very carefully cleaned and washed, and with the greatest madness she carried my little hand to the monastery near our house, the Petru Voda monastery. The services were very beautiful, at least so she said, I don’t remember because I was too busy playing and running around in the churchyard with other children from our village, who were brought by their grandparents or parents.
The memories in my head are vague, but I have never forgotten that night: that demonic snarl and echoing voice have stuck in my head, and no matter how hard I tried to block them out, I couldn’t get rid of them. I don’t remember what month it was, I don’t remember the day of the week or the hour, but I do remember waiting for my grandmother on the pew in front of the church. It was already dark, and I was getting sleepy and hungry, it had been a hot day, and my body was numb with fatigue. A man sat down next to me, the memory of his face is unclear, but I remember the discomfort his presence created. A feeling of fear and nausea flooded my whole body, and my nostrils were filled with a sweet, rotten smell. I looked timidly at him, fearfully, then I saw: that scowl described above, an otherworldly scowl, a devilish smile, the fixed, lifeless stare and the words that echoed in my soul like an echo, “Boy, why are you looking, haven’t you seen the devil before?”
I don’t know what happened next, I just know that I screamed until my lungs hurt, and then all I remember are those terrifying screams coming from the church, the words spat out in a language I didn’t understand, and fear, that feeling of intensity I had never felt before. In that moment, time dilates, seconds seem like hours, your heart pumps blood through your veins at a crazy pace, your skin tightens so much it hurts, and your whole body feels like it’s freezing. I lost the images again, I don’t know how I got home to my bed, I only know that night my grandmother slept with me and I also know that I woke up during the night because I had been pooping in bed.
Currently, I am 33 years old and I am trying to make my mark in the world of journalism. I would like to write about the supernatural, to investigate it in as much detail as possible, to try to understand whether what I saw 26 years ago was real or can be explained scientifically. At the time, the villagers said it was demonic possession, now my colleagues tell me it was just a mental illness. Whatever it was, articles about Romanian celebrity celebrities don’t help me fulfill my vocation as a journalist, so I started my own blog where I can consult with other paranormal enthusiasts and write about what really interests me.
I had just cracked open a beer and had just started writing an article when I get a very strange email:
“Hi Alex,
I’ve been following your blog for a long time and wanted to share with you a strange happening in the small town where I live.
In the last month, more and more people hear women’s voices and children’s screams coming from the forest. Do you think you could pay us a visit, investigate this phenomenon?
Sorry to bother you,
Vlad - a big fan”
It sounded interesting, so I figured I’d give it a shot, and if it was a bad joke, I hadn’t taken a vacation in a long time anyway. That evening I booked 2 weeks of leave, and the next day I hit the road.
After six hours of driving we finally reached our destination. The town was beautiful, a small mountain town, very clean and well maintained. In the centre we saw a small pub which seemed to be the heart of the town, the meeting place of the locals. I parked the car on the street next to it and chose to rest and eat something there. The lady who served me with the best stew, and at the end, on the house, with an extraordinarily delicious apple pie, told me that she had not heard of those events that Vlad had related to me in the mail. It was evening, so the pub was full of locals, who in turn hadn’t heard any rumours about Vlad’s story. I got terribly angry when I understood that it was a bad joke, then I calmed down and told myself that this place is perfect for a holiday, besides, I will have two weeks at my disposal in which I will be able to write quietly on the blog. I got a room at I think, the only hostel in this small town, and I chose to spend my two weeks of holiday there, to visit the town, meet the locals, rest and write.
The next day I woke up and drank my coffee at “Forest”, the pub I had frequented the night before. Mrs. Aneta, I had learned her name later, served me with a plate full of sausages, delicious juicy tomatoes, and an omelette seasoned with green onions and filled with cow’s cheese. Then she served me her famous apple pie. I wanted to pay for it, but she wouldn’t even hear of it, she told me that I seemed like a good person and that they don’t have many tourists in town anyway, and that she hoped I would blog about their little town and that maybe they would have more visitors in the future. I thanked them for the wonderful service and delicious food, then we set off down the narrow streets of the town. There wasn’t much to visit, but I wanted to see what wonders the town had to offer.
After three hours, I had already visited everything that could be visited in that small town, but I had not ventured into the forest behind it. I decided to have lunch at the Forest, then visit the forest, maybe find a local kind enough to be my guide.
I had a delicious tomato soup, accompanied by an absolutely delicious baked chicken, and at the end I asked Mrs. Aneta if she knew any local willing to be my guide. She called her niece who was more than happy to accompany me.
Andreea is 26 years old and had just finished medicine. Her parents died in a car accident when she was 2 years old, so she was raised by Mrs Aneta. Being on holiday, she chose to spend time with her grandmother. She told me that she is afraid that after her residency she won’t have enough time to see her grandmother, so she takes advantage of every moment she can visit her.
How did you agree to join me?
Can’t you see how boring this town is?! Nothing interesting has happened or is happening around here, I need a breath of fresh air, I mean a stranger like you. She said laughing.
I joked with her on various topics, told her about my passion for the paranormal, my experience at the Petru Voda manastrea and how stupid I was when I fell for Vlad’s joke. I could talk to her about anything, I felt at ease, I felt great in her presence, but what I didn’t tell her was that I didn’t regret being tricked because otherwise I wouldn’t have met her. Although we both lived in Bucharest, we would most likely never have met if Vlad had not sent me that email. Destiny wanted us to meet 400 km away from where we live.
- What’s that glowing tree bark?
- Maybe the spirit that calls people at night. I said laughing, the joke Andreea laughed at too. It’s just a mirror, I said as I lifted her out of her hole.
- Hmmm, it looks very old, said Andreea as she analyzed it very carefully. Look at the details! The frame seems to be made of bronze, and the engraved angels, wow, it must be more than 100 years old by the looks of it.
- We could donate it to a museum, but I didn’t even get to finish the sentence before Andreea let out a high-pitched scream and dropped the mirror from her hand, the glass shattering into a thousand tiny pieces.
- What the hell?
- What happened?
- He got very angry.
When he gave me a high five, I freaked out. If at first I didn’t believe her, the burn in my palm convinced me she wasn’t kidding. We both blamed the incident on the heat outside, though it made no sense, and chose to forget the incident and head back to town.
That night, the heat was increasingly unbearable, and for a small mountain town, where the temperature should have been more pleasant and the air cooler, July was taking its toll. As I couldn’t fall asleep, I went out on the balcony to smoke a cigarette. As I followed the deserted street in front of the guesthouse and sniffed the fresh mountain air, I heard footsteps in the distance. When I took a closer look, only in a white nightgown and barefoot, a skinny little girl with long blond hair slicked back was walking briskly towards the forest path. I shouted after her, but she seemed in a trance. Although my cry had broken the silence of the night, she had not heard me and continued on her way.
I quickly put out the cigarette, hastily pulled on a pair of pants, didn’t even lock the door behind me and ran out after it. I had to run to catch up with her. When she finally stopped, I couldn’t even catch my breath because I was stunned by what I saw. In front of the tree where I had found the mirror, she got down on her knees and began to utter the following words in Latin: “Ille, antichristus, veritatem interpretabitur, et mendacium declarabit quia ego sum, et qui venturus est ad vos salutem. “ From what I understand, it would translate like this: “He, the antichrist, will rake up the truth and declare the lie that he is I and that he comes to bring you salvation. “ After he finished, he lay down on the ground and fell asleep. After I recovered from my shock, I took her in my arms and went out of the forest with her. I was walking with her to the hospital when a police car stopped in front of me. After I explained to them what it was all about, they told me that they didn’t believe my story since this kid had been paralyzed from the arm down since she was a baby. After leaving her in the care of her parents, they took me to the station where they interrogated me all night.
The next day I was released after the whole town was buzzing about the miracle that took place. Apparently after waking up, Maria, that was the young lady’s name, had started walking. The whole town was shocked, and the only explanation they had was that God and the Blessed Virgin had worked a miracle and given this pure soul a new chance at life.
Finally, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to hit the world of journalism with this story. As soon as I came into possession of the phone confiscated by the police, I called my boss to inform him of the incident I had witnessed. Delighted by the prime time opportunity, he gave me permission to spend as much time as I needed in this small town and investigate the story.
That day, the whole town gathered in front of the church. As I turned on my camera, Maria confidently stepped in front of the people and in a warm voice, addressed the ecstatic crowd:
“Last night the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to me. She guided my steps and told me that for the gift I had received, I was chosen by God to convey His word to all His children. We are sinners, but He loves us, and out of His great love He will guide us to salvation and save us from the fires of hell, but it is up to us and our choices. Brethren, are you ready to receive salvation and to receive God into our souls? “
The crowd exclaims in chorus: “We receive God into our souls!”.
Then Mary looked to the Church and commanded, “David, pass on to us! “. At that moment a pale boy, dressed in a white suit, with neatly trimmed hair, stepped out of the Church. He reminded me of the days when my grandmother used to dress me nicely and comb my hair with great care to go to the services at the Petru Voda monastery. When I saw him, I thought he was just a sick child, probably weakened by some cold, dragged by force by his parents to participate in the “circus” that took place in this town. The crowd fell to their knees and began to cry, and a woman was heard screaming: “David, my baby, my God, it’s a miracle!”. I was trying to understand what was going on when Mary uttered: “Anna, Daniel, you have been punished by the Heavenly Father for your sins, He has taken your child from you, but He has sent Him back to you and given you a new chance, enjoy it!”
At that moment, I felt my heart stop, I understood: David was so beautifully dressed for his last journey. But how? I’m an open-minded person, but the resurrection of a man?! That’s not possible.
I immediately went to the morgue to talk to the coroner who had been in charge of David’s autopsy.
- Are you sure he’s not clinically dead?
- What do you see written on this box? And it points me to the little label attached to a metal box.
When I read it, I couldn’t believe it; in bold, thick, printed letters it said: “organ: heart - patient David Lazar; male; age 5 years, 4 months”
His parents asked me to keep his heart, they wanted to cremate it and keep the ashes as a memento in two lockets. I’m a scientist, I don’t believe in miracles, I believe in facts, in hard evidence, but this little boy died. And I can’t understand how he passed among us today. As for Maria’s condition, I’m a coroner, but I have access to all patient records and I’m telling you it’s medically impossible that this girl walks.
We had barely emerged from the hospital yard when, like a foreboding of doom, huge, dark, threatening clouds darkened the sky on the horizon. A flash of lightning lit up the city, and immediately a loud thunderclap shook the silence. Then the lightning became more and more frequent, followed by thunder that seemed to want to catch one another in its wake. A fiery hour of drops, wind and thunder raged. Hearing could no longer distinguish: is it the roar of rain, or an uninterrupted thunder? The landscape seemed prophetic, as if from the Bible. I tried to ignore my thoughts and ran as fast as I could towards Forest.
This storm foretells evil, I tell you! Mrs. Aneta exclaims as she serves me hot chicken soup. My nostrils were flooded with the warm steam and the delicious smell of chicken and fluffy shrimp, it was as if I could taste them just by savouring the smell, but my body did not warm up. A feeling of uneasiness kept me restless.
Why do you say that?
Everything that goes on in town, boy! I tell you, the road to hell is paved with the best of intentions. He tidies up his apron with a puff and heads for the kitchen.
Hi Alex! I heard Andreea behind me.
Hey, Andreea! I didn’t see you at church today.
I don’t know, I had a funny feeling, but rest assured, I’m aware of everything going on in the city.
You don’t believe in miracles?
Honestly, no, and all the events of late… he sighed and stopped talking.
What happened?
Look around you, what do you see?
Nothing
Exactly, nothing. The pub should be full by now, but there’s no one.
Maybe the storm … I tried to justify the situation.
Probably…
After almost an hour, the storm stopped. I thought a walk would do Andrea good again, so I suggested she join me. When we came out of the pub, the scenery before our eyes looked biblical: trees toppled, cars destroyed by hail, pavements and streets were flooded with leaves and branches of trees. I pulled out my phone to take a picture when I noticed there was no signal. Andreea followed me and noticed the same thing. I had the strange feeling that we were stuck in this small town. I tried to calm down and looked for my car, my heart pounding in my chest at the thought that it had been destroyed like the rest. Luckily, the area where I had parked it had been spared the wreckage. We got in the car with the thought of leaving the city and finding the nearest area with a signal to call my boss and tell him about the day’s events. Near the exit, several police cars were blocking the road.
Officer Aaron, I’m gonna have to ask you to go back to town. The river running through this area has flooded the road and unfortunately, the exit is blocked.
Is there another way out?
No, sorry, this is the only road that connects to the city.
We turned the car around and headed into town. Still the feeling of uneasiness didn’t give me peace, and Andreea seemed to feel the same. Although neither of us verbalized our thoughts, the tension in the air could be felt.
Arriving in town, we stopped by the church because the crowd was gathered. Like a wolf in front of the flock, this comparison had come to mind, Mary spoke: “Alexander, Andreea, you’re just in time. God has a message for all of us. He is very angry.” At these words, the crowd stirred. “He has given us joy this day, he has shown us his love by saving David from the merciless clutches of death and what has been your reward? Sin. You have angered the Lord and the Lord has punished us. Today’s storm is just the beginning, if you do not show gratitude to the Father and continue to sin, He will continue to punish us. “ From the crowd, a familiar voice was heard, when I turned around, Mrs. Aneta, extremely angry, said to Mary: “Can God tell us how we have sinned?” At that moment, Andreea, who had been beside me all this time, ran to her grandmother to reassure her. Maria stared at her and said: “The place you are leading is a place of sin and lust”, then she turned her back and left for the Church.
That night, I had the strangest dream. Mary was talking to people, but her smile turned into a devilish grin. Then the sweet, rotten smell. I awoke to the sound of banging on the door. When I opened it, there in front of me was Andreea. Her face was disfigured with fear and I could barely understand her.
Re, quick, grandma, town
Andreea, calm down, breathe. What’s wrong?
Grandma, come on!
The more we ran towards the church, the louder and louder a woman screamed. When we arrived, a flaming shrine loomed before our eyes, and the screaming could be heard from the flames. At that moment, Andreea pulled out a pained hoar and collapsed in my arms. I hadn’t had a chance to react in any way when my nostrils were flooded with the smell of burning meat, like when someone has left a chicken in the oven too long. When I realized what was happening and shook myself awake, I left Andreea on the grass and ran towards the scream that was now becoming increasingly muffled. Suddenly, a sharp pain flooded my head, then darkness.
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I felt was a terrible headache and my mouth and throat were dry. In front of me was the town priest.
You have to help us, he whispered.
Where are they?
You’re in the rectory.
Where’s Andreea? I jumped up and down
Relax, Andreea’s fine, she’s sedated, she’s asleep in the next room.
I struggled out of bed, gulped down a full glass of water, then looked at the priest and asked:
Was last night a nightmare or reality?
Unfortunately, reality. And at the words he made the sign of the cross.
Mrs. Aneta?
Yes, they set fire to it last night, as innocent women were punished in the past when accused of witchcraft. Son, the town’s gone mad, and I tell you, it’s not God’s hand here. Every soul in this town has a guaranteed ticket to hell. I didn’t know what was going on until I heard the bustle outside the church and the screams of the late lady; then she crossed herself again. I tried to stop them, to explain that it was not Christian to kill a soul, but they didn’t listen, they all seemed possessed. And Mary, at the utterance of this name, closed her eyes in horror, Mary stood still in front of them and scolded them, saying that this is God’s will and that only through fire can sin be extirpated and our souls saved.
Father, the only solution is to try to get out of the city, to notify the authorities, but the city is blocked, we have no signal.
Or stop Maria, but people are already lost. I’ll think of a solution.
After Andreea woke up, I took her with me and we left for the hostel. All the way she didn’t say a word. Her face was disfigured with pain and she was trembling incessantly. We went to the pharmacy where we bought some sedatives, then when we arrived at the hostel, after they had taken effect, she fell asleep. At the thought of sleeping at least seven, eight hours, I left the room and went to the church, I wanted to find Maria, to talk to her. There was no one in front of the church, so I thought maybe she was inside. I opened the heavy wooden door that had creaked open and stepped inside. As there was no one there, I went to the altar. When I opened the door, I was struck by that sweet, rotten smell, and then I was struck by the image that flashed before my eyes: hanging from the wooden beam was the priest. The swollen, lifeless face was to haunt my nights from now on. On the table beside him was a note that read: “I am a sinner, a liar, and a lunatic. The weight of my sins pressed too heavily on my soul, so I chose to end my suffering. Please forgive me!”. Since the phone signal had not yet returned, I ran from the church to the police station and alerted them to what I had seen.
After two days, the funeral took place. Funerals are sad, but even sadder was when I noticed it was just me, his wife and the undertaker present. The people of the town refused to attend because they felt that the priest had brought misfortune upon them by the sin he had committed, that of committing suicide. I was disgusted with them, a few days ago they had set fire to an innocent man, and now they were judging the priest for his deed. But one thought was troubling me, why did the priest take his own life? After the funeral, his wife invited me to have lunch with her, in memory of her late husband. After we ate, I asked her to let me into his office, perhaps I could find some explanation for his actions. She allowed me and directed me to the office.
The office was a spacious, clean and very well kept room. The walls were covered with shelves full of books and icons. In front of an imposing stone fireplace was a massive oak table. On it, a laptop. I surprised myself by praying that it wasn’t password protected. To my delight, it wasn’t. The desktop was neat and tidy, containing only a few folders with religious names. But I was pleasantly surprised to notice that there were several cameras in the church and that I had access to the recordings. The recording of the fateful day showed the priest standing in the church as Mary entered. Unfortunately, the sound was not audible, but I was content with just the images. When it passed by the cameras, the image started to get distorted. The priest looked nervous as he spoke to her, then he left the church room stepping into the altar, and Maria followed him. There were no cameras in the altar, but after a few minutes Mary left the altar and headed for the exit. Before she exited, she stopped in place. Instinctively, I brought my eyes to the monitor. I jumped back from my chair, and my body froze. It stared into the camera and smiled: that devilish smile, that smile I had seen at the Petru Voda monastery as a child, that grin I had seen in my dreams. Then he put his finger to his lips, making a sign of silence, and left the church. After a few minutes, the cameras caught me entering. The only explanation was that it had killed the priest.