The Great Secret of the Vampire Evgeni Kravosmuchkov Bulgaranov

author: Hecate

Evgeni Bulgaranov was a descendant of a large and old vampire family, but ever since he had thought of "growing spiritually," he was not at all proud of it.

Ten years ago, when he had gone down to the nearby town to eat, he saw two men arguing quite heatedly and decided that this was the perfect dinner. But when he got closer to them, he unintentionally overheard their conversation, and that turned out to be a big mistake. How many times had his mother told him not to listen to people's talk. "People, Gencho," said Mama Vbesina, "are constantly talking about various things, and nothing good ever comes of it. Stay away, dear, and don't listen to them while you're eating." And now he ignored Mama Vbesina's words and listened to a conversation about spiritual growth. "If people can do it, then I can do it too. I'll start growing spiritually," thought Gencho, and began to eat, satisfied with the decision he had made.

When he got home, on the deserted ridge high in the mountain, Gencho turned over the entire library in search of a book about spiritual growth. But he never found anything. The good thing about Gencho was that he never gave up and in fact that was the reason for taking this brave or reckless, depending on the point of view, decision. “I will go to Natsupondri the Great. He is a great and powerful magician and he will tell me how to grow spiritually” – Gencho told himself and impatiently waited for the coming of night. When it came, Gencho spread his wings and headed for the high snowy mountain, where the powerful magician lived on the peak of “Silver Spark”.

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In the middle of the night, Gencho was in front of the entrance to the cave where the great magician lived. He nervously shifted from foot to foot and gathered the courage to enter inside. The class of magicians was an implacable enemy of vampires. They had been at enmity since time immemorial, and there was no longer a living magician or vampire who could say what the reason was. Gencho stood in front of the cave entrance and was dying of fear, but he was convinced of one thing - if you want to make your wishes come true, you must overcome your fears. He wanted this "spiritual growth" so much that he was ready to take the risk and suffer the consequences. The vampire took a few steps into the cave and stopped.

There was clearly a fire burning at the bottom of the cave, because the interior was illuminated. But Gencho could not see the magician, because a huge rock was in his way. The great magician felt the presence of the uninvited guest. He shouted, and the echo made his voice terrible:

"Who are you and what do you want?" asked Natsupondri the Great.

"I am Gencho and I want to grow spiritually," said the vampire, sparing the magician the fact that he was a vampire. He may have been reckless, but he was not crazy.

– Eh?! Well, grow up then.

– I don't know how. Could you give me some advice?

“Start changing yourself,” said Natsupondri and went deep into the cave, busy with his great deeds.

Gencho didn't quite understand what exactly the magician told him, but that was the moment he decided to become a vegetarian and thus began his "spiritual growth."

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  Gencho had been growing for a whole year when one day he saw her…. Gentle and graceful, her movements seemed so refined, so aristocratic. She moved in the sky with indescribable grace… Heck’s broom. Again charged with some task, she was in a hurry to complete it and did not notice the vampire who had fallen on her. This became possible only when the vampire and a bat collided head-on and caused a huge commotion. Heck’s broom came to the rescue, but there were no victims of the air accident. The little bat had damaged his navigation system, which he had just taken from a major repair, and now he had to return to the service station. He was angry, but there was nothing else he could do.

Then the Broom turned to the vampire, looked into his big black eyes, and held her breath. She felt her twigs bristle and her handle turn brown from the unfamiliar feeling.

“Are you okay?” she asked in a raspy voice that sounded to the vampire’s ears like the tinkling of a honey bell.

"Yes," Gencho said, stuttering.

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Gencho was in love. For three days he had been walking around as if he had been poisoned by male-killing mushrooms, and his head seemed to be full of helium. His mother began to worry; whenever she looked at him, he always had a stupid smile on his face that did not bode well.

… to be continued

© 2023 Iliana Dechkova