The Tale of the Moon and Sun (A Klaus Fanfiction)

Chapter 6: Cunoştinţe

The National Library of Romania was an enormous building. Its design resembled the one of the newer buildings in Bucharest. The structure was fairly recent, it had been built on the year 2011 but not surprisingly it was my first time there. Right beside the library I noticed a beautiful water mirror, you could see children playing in it, splashing their feet and smiling. It was a hot summer day and everyone was outside enjoying themselves.

As I approached the structure I looked around for Klaus but either he was inside or running late. I stood there for a moment waiting, but then the sun became too bright and the heat too unbearable so I took it upon myself to step inside. As I stepped into the building my jaw dropped at its beauty. It wasn't your typical old stuffy library. This one was really spacious and sunlight flooded through every window. It was more modern than expected and many bookshelves filled with books old and new lined the hallway. At the end of the hall there was a staircase and an elevator that led up to the other floors. I had no idea if Klaus was already here so I resolved to stay on the ground floor and browse for a while.

The books on the shelves were all very beautiful yet I didn't pay much attention to the tittles or what they were about. I was simply waiting for Klaus to appear and give me some sort of explanation as to why we were here. A few minutes passed and I lost myself to my thoughts. As I absently walked along the aisles I felt someone lurking behind me. Turning around I snapped out of my day dreaming and saw no one. I rolled my eyes, it was probably just an annoying kid playing tricks on me. But as I turned around my eyes met a pair of blue ones making me jump yet I managed to suppress a scream.

"I didn't think you'd show up." Klaus said with a huge smirk plastered onto his face.

"You scared me." I placed a hand on my chest and took a deep breath.

"Yes I noticed." He responded. "Shall we get going?" He lent me his arm for me to take. Today he was dressed in all black making his skin seem very fair.

"Aren't you hot in those clothes?" I asked but as soon as the words left my mouth I regretted them. Judging by the smile on his face he'd taken them the wrong way.

"How nice of you to notice." For some reason I smiled as well and rolled my eyes at him. He simply grinned even further.

"I didn't mean it like that." I muttered, trying to seem annoyed but failing.

Klaus led me down the aisles not responding. His mocking face was answer enough.

"Where are we going exactly?" I asked.

Arriving at the elevator doors Klaus pressed the arrow going up and the doors opened for us immediately. "To the historical archives clearly."

"Oh yes. I almost forgot how fascinated you are by Romanian history." I jested. "It shouldn't even surprise me." I added and grinned.

Klaus rolled his eyes at me and smiled. The elevator made its way up to the last floor in the blink of an eye. This section was more quiet, the furniture and decorations were older, darker. Just how you'd expect a library to look on the inside. The silence on this floor was unbearable, downstairs there were children, teens and there was not much problem speaking out loud. But here I only saw a couple of people, half of them more than sixty years old. Both Klaus and I made our way over to the front desk in which a tired looking old woman sat, drumming her nails against the hardwood.

"Can I help you?" She asked.

I stood back an let Klaus do all the talking. "I need to see everything you have on Vlad Tepes 'The Impaler'." His voice was authoritative and the lady looked at both of us baffled.

"Everything? I'm afraid I can't do that sir. Some of those document need a special authorization from the Minister of Culture in order for me to release them." This time her voice was filled with surprise and a hint of fear.

"Yes you can." Was the only thing Klaus said. I noticed she stared at him with her aged eyes and for a moment she seemed absent. As Klaus said the words she seemed to be transported to a place far from reality.

Then to my surprise she smiled. "Yes well, go ahead and take a seat and I'll bring everything we have."

My jaw dropped in disbelief. Either Klaus had admirable persuasion skills or he'd done something to her. But the second scenario seemed highly unlikely, there was just no way I would've seen it. Before I could say something or think anything else of it, Klaus took my arm and led me over to an empty table. I tried saying something but was abruptly interrupted by a huge stack of documents being dropped on the table with a loud bang.

"Thank you love." Was all Klaus said before the lady headed back to her desk.

I stared at the documents and then back at Klaus. He was already studying them carefully not even noticing I was practically gawking.

"So you brought me here to watch you read?"My gaze was fixed on Klaus and my lips formed a flat line representing my clear annoyance.

Klaus chuckled and tore himself away from the seemingly fascinating document he'd been reading. "Yes." He replied with a laugh.

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously?"

Klaus went back to his reading and took a few minutes to respond. "Seeing that you're a native Romanian that doesn't like the history of her own country I took it upon myself to enlighten you." He scoffed not even bothering to look at me making my blood boil.

"I never said I hated history. In fact I happen to know a few things about Vlad The Impaler." I raised an eyebrow and finally got him to look up.

"Do you now?" In his voice I perceived a challenge.

I grinned in satisfaction. "Vlad Tepes was the second son of Vlad Dracul. It's said his father traded him to the Ottomans when he was but a boy but that's not certain. In 1448 he became prince of Wallachia. He was known for being a cruel and bloodthirsty man. It was said he'd impale his victims and expose them on the front lawn of his castle. Lastly he was beheaded in 1476." After my brief lesson on Romanian history Klaus raised an eyebrow, seemingly impressed.

"You know your history. But all you just said is common knowledge. The reason I'm here is to find new information. And what better place to do so than here." He eyed the whole room in awe.

"Why are you so interested in all of this?" I asked.

Klaus inhaled deeply and his eyes gazed eagerly, like the ones of a child who's discovered his own toes. "Well love, I happen to find The Impaler to be a fascinating figure."

My lips grimaced, now I knew for sure Klaus wasn't in his right mind. "Oh, I see." Was the only thing I said.

"There's a legend you know? It was said The Impaler's head and body were reunited but the burial place is yet to be settled upon, since no one seems to be able to find it. There's theories yes, but nothing solid." He said as he looked through a few maps.

"Well whatever the world knows is in here." I said.

Klaus looked up at me. "I'm hoping there's something new. Besides the burial place it's said that he can be awakened yet I do not know how. Or if he already is." His lips turned into a horrifying grin.

I scooted back a little. Somehow this endeavor was filled with darkness. "So you want to wake up The Impaler?" I asked in a mocking tone.

"I just want to find him. Call it morbid curiosity." He replied as he continued reading. "Last week I was tracking someone who might know something about the curse placed upon him. Last I heard this person was in Estonia. But I couldn't find them."

"My mother just got back from there. And she knows a great deal about history. You should meet with her, maybe she could be of use to you." I offered.

Klaus looked up from the map he'd been studying. In that moment I could sense a great evil around us and he smiled. A smile so twisted I wanted to erase from my memory.

"I'd love that." Was all he said before he stood up. "Care to join me for dinner?" He offered a hand to help me up. As I touched him I was filled with a mixture of negative emotions.

"Um sure. Why not?" I said a little uncertain.

"Shall we then?" He escorted me outside and we both walked together into the cool summer night.