The Wicked and the Haunted

The Wicked

I was born in a part of Bulgaria but my family moved from Bulgaria to Germany in 1938. It wasn't the wisest decision to make but we were Gypsies and we were born this way. I was almost sixteen years old in the fall of 1941. The Germans and the Hungarians hadn't caught us yet, but it was only a matter of time before they did. We had witnessed Jews and Gypsies being loaded onto trains and taken from their homes and villages. At the time we didn't know where they were being taken but we weren't stupid and we knew that it couldn't be a good place. We even helped a few Gypsies escape but they were caught and shot dead, so we were never given away. It was on the day of October 30, of 1941 they caught up with us. Our horses were shot out from under us and my mother was killed along with my little sister. My father was dragged away from their bodies and I sat weeping, hanging on to the reins of my favorite horse that was still alive. His name was Dongo. He was fast and he was black as night. My favorite horse he was and I had had him since he was a colt, I had raised and broke him myself. When I saw the German soldiers start to point a gun at him I stepped in the way. "Please don't shoot. He is a good horse and would make someone a great pet. Please let him live, take him and let your children ride him. Just please don't kill him," I begged them. Three soldiers laughed at me and the one with the gun raised it even higher over my head to aim at Dongo's head. I brought his head down behind my back and it angered one of the soldiers. I moved to his side and as the soldier neared me Dongo snorted and pawed at the ground.

It was his warning and the soldier realized that he was protecting me. "How sweet! The horse is trying to protect her!" he cried out making everyone else laugh. I mounted Dongo and suddenly like a lightning bolt a man appeared at my side on a solid white horse. He was a very good looking man but he was unusual from the German and Hungarian soldiers. His hair wasn't golden and his eyes weren't the light blue. "Took after my mother's side," he said glancing at me. I could see white teeth and somehow I felt safe with this man but then after I saw his eyes looking fully into my face I saw the lust in them and I hated him. "Shoot me dead," I growled at him. "Fiesty! A fireball at that!" he said making the other men around him nod. "Maybe it's just in the Gypsy genes," he said laughing. The soldier that had tried to kill my horse earlier was laughing too. "What is your name fireball?" he asked turning to look at me full in the face. I looked at him right back and without flinching I said, "My name is Luna of the Animals." He sat straight up in his saddle then and he looked at me with lust. "What do they call you for short?" he asked. "Luna of he Animals," I answered back making him mad. "Look at me in the face when you address me and you will answer me with the truth," he growled. I could see that he was angered by the answer that he got. "Luna," I whispered looking at his face. He sat silent at my boldness and then he looked at the other men. "She is not to be touched or harmed in any way! If I hear that you have I'll kill you myself!" he said loud enough for them all to hear. I could see the fear in their faces. "What about her horse sir?" one soldier asked. "Kill it," he said turning his own horse around. "An eye for an eye," I growled out.

He turned around and looked at me. Everyone had stopped to stare at us. It was like we were arguing amongst each other silently. "Very well. Let the horse remain at her side. They both shall be well taken care of and in the morning they board the train with me. Let her horse stay beside mine and she will stay beside me," he ordered. I sat on my horse and then I saw a soldier coming toward me with a rope in his hand. As he got closer I could see that it was a whip. "If you dare raise that against my horse I'll destroy you," I growled. He stopped and looked at my face with eyes like night. They were literally black. I smiled at him and I said, "Make sure you keep your distance from me because I will kill you. I'm not like a regular Gypsy." He watched as I turned my horse and he trotted on after the guy that was leading the Germans that were on the horses out of the camp. I never looked back at the dead bodies of my mother and baby sister, of my father that had been shot to death after attacking a German soldier. I had saw the white horse come up beside me. "So Luna, would you like to know my name?" he asked in a deep voice. "Devil," I answered before Dongo picked up the speed a little more. The white horse slowed a little and the man was wanting her to go faster but she had got the message that I had given loud and clear. "Your horse listens better in her thoughts to me than she does to your kicking heels," I said over my shoulder. "Beautiful mare by the way," I said before taking off like the wind. I had passed the other soldiers and now Dongo was running like his life depended on it. "Better stop and come back because they are pulling the guns," I heard a voice say in my head. I slowed Dongo down and turned him back to the soldiers. The lowered their guns at the command of the devil and I returned to his side. We rode in silence and just before we dismounted our horses to set camp up he asked me, "How old are you?" I inhaled and looked at his face. "I'm fifteen, I'll be sixteen in a few weeks," I said. He looked at me and then he said, "Do you know why they call me the Devil?" he asked. "Because you have no soul, and what little you have in you is all dark and black," I answered him.

I dismounted Dongo and pulled his saddle off and his bridle. He was free. "You can't just do that," he said. I smiled and I turned to walk toward the little tent that I had set up for me and Dongo followed me. They all watched me as I went into my tent and Dongo laid down at the front of the flap, covering the front. "That horse protects her," the devil said looking at the scene in front of him. "You'll follow me like that won't you?" he asked his own mare. He took her saddle off and then her bridle. She stood there for a moment and then she walked over beside Dongo and laid down making another barrier in front of me. "They both protect her," he said. The other horses that were around started to make their way over and lay down even with saddle and bridle on. "Luna of the Animals, she lives up to her name," he said.