Why would a man break the oath he took when he became a Freemason, you might ask? Well, things have gotten pretty scary before the lockdown and I need to leave my testimonies somewhere for the world to know what is really happening.

I am sure that you, reader, have heard a lot of conspiracies about the Freemasons, how they rule the world (this one is true actually), or how they have clear proof of the existence of extraterrestrial life, or how they sacrifice goats in the darkened light of their temples for the One they worship blindly, and the one that I like the most is when they run naked in the forests as part of some deluded rituals. Most of these are, of course, false claims thrown by the media in our faces just so that we can stay occupied with imbecile discussions. However, what I have to tell you is much worse, I have seen and heard things unimaginable and in some cases unbearable for the human mind…

I will not get into Masonic history, how and why it appeared, what was its initial purpose and all those other things because you can find that online (although some of it has been a little altered just to make them look good).

I will start my story with the Initiation Ritual (I will not tell everything about it, if someone has a question, you can send me a DM and I will gladly answer), what happened before and after that, how I was accepted and the sheer terror that I went through in my first visit at the Temple. I will not tell you where I am from because I can easily be found if I tell which Masonic Lodge I am part of and from what country (although I am located in the South-Eastern Central part of Europe).

For the time being I will tell you about the start of my journey and if there are people here who are interested in hearing more, I will tell you more (for example the story of when I ran across a rather odd version of the Bible and the Crucifixion of Jesus, or the real story of the 27 Club, the actual ritual you have to perform when you want to have money, fame and talent in music, but you have to give a certain something in return to a certain someone, or I can tell you about the moment when I was really scared when a SPECIAL guest was invited into our Lodge to give a Masonic lecture about… well, I will tell you some other time).

The main reason I got into Freemasonry was because one of my teachers at the Academy of Sciences I currently do research in is a Freemason and he took a liking in me and asked after 2 years of gaining each other’s trust, if I would like to be a part of an organization who has the sole purpose of bettering the world and the individual…

You must excuse me if some of this text sounds wrong, because English is not my main language, but I will try my best to feed your curiosities with the proper using of this beautiful language.

I then asked him if this is an NGO or a research group so that I know whom I am speaking to and what my conduct and behavior should be when I went there. He said it directly: “No, son. This is a Masonic Lodge I am talking about. You will learn new things, things that not everyone can learn or know because they must remain hidden to prying eyes. We are looking to bring in a few bright young people, such as yourself, because we are beginning to grow old and weary and we cannot do our duties properly… I mean, son, look at me, I am 92 years old, I could die tomorrow, I need someone to take my place and who can that someone be other than my best student in this whole Academy?”

“Professor, thank you for the kind words and I have to say that you have my full attention and my curiosity is really big in this moment. But at the same time, I have heard throughout my life all these crazy stories about the Freemasons… so I don’t know what to say…”

“Ah, I’m sure you heard about the fact that we are Satanists or that we can talk to the Devil, am I right? Or maybe we can talk to the dead as well. Imagine if I could talk to Einstein right now, or to Marie Curie, Nikola Tesla… or Tartini, Beethoven and all the greats of classical music. That would be wonderful, but it is impossible. Do I look like a Satanist to you? Do I look like a bad person or do I sound crazy when I speak, do I pretend that I know the secrets of Alchemy? No son, I am just a normal person, a man of science who happens to believe in God as well. I am very well known in my field and very respected, but that is because of the 70+ years of hard work and dedication that I put in. What do you say, son? Do you want to find extraordinary knowledge?”

I pondered for a bit and then I exclaimed: “Alright, Professor! I accept your invitation for mainly two reasons, first one being that I have a lot of admiration and respect for you and I am really humbled by the fact you see me as your successor and the other one is that I always try to improve myself and learn new things.”

“Son, you just made a life changing decision. Someone will call you next week to ask for your personal details and they will tell you everything about the meeting.”

“Very good, professor. See you next week.”

I went home without very much thinking about this and I just went to my normal stuff, reading and writing articles, publishing a few of them, finishing some work, the usual thing.

The following week came and I was called by a gentleman and we met for a discussion and he told me to be in a certain place at exactly 3:33 PM the next day, no earlier or later than that. This was in 2015. I went there, I was greeted by my teacher, he took me upstairs in a tiled room where he placed a black cloth over my eyes and then he took me to a dimly lighted small room, also known as the Chamber of Reflection where I stayed for an hour.

However, this was not a normal Chamber of Reflection, nor did I reflect too much. It was only later that I found out that this Lodge was one of the Special Lodges only know by the Elite of Freemasonry in The Grand Lodge of the country (in my country there are only there such Lodges with 9 members each).

As I was sitting on the chair in the Chamber of Reflection, a small figure erected from a dark corner of the room. The upper body was that of a really ugly man, with a very large beard, black eyes, pointy nose and ears and very yellow teeth. What startled me was that he was standing on two legs that looked like they were his and not his at the same time because they were goat legs. My quick judgement said it was just a costume for the theatrics of the Initiation so I went along with it. He asked me the following three questions (written on a piece of very old paper) for which I had to answer yes in order to go on with the Ritual:

1. Do you believe in the One and Only True Great Architect of the Universe?

2. Do you wish to receive His knowledge through our Ancient ways?

3. Do you swear to serve the Freemasons for your whole life from here on out?

Then he produced a small needle, punctured one of my fingers with it and asked me to sign that piece of paper with my finger on what was a representation of the Eye of Providence drawn under those questions. I signed it, the little man exited the room and five minutes later my teacher came and took me to my next part of the initiation.

I entered the Temple, again blindfolded, I did some not so cool things, like breaking stone with a hammer, drinking some sweet and sour liquids. I was half naked in my upper left part of the body with the chest and shoulder showing. Next I feel something really cold, it was the tip of something metallic, I figured again that it was part of the Ritual (maybe a sword? I thought). Alright, I said, I love theatrics.

But then something really scary happened. The Master of the Lodge recited the following: “Oh, He with many names, accept your newest humble servant in our brotherhood. Our Master Who art in fiery light and Who is free in spirit, accept this new apprentice within our ranks. Apprentice, say this three times with all of us: Hail Jah-Baal-On! Hail Jah-Baal-On! Hail Jah-Baal-On! You are now reborn, Apprentice!

Forever through the Square and Compasses and our three Eternal Lights!”

At this point my heart was pounding and then they took the blindfold off and what I saw was that everyone’s swords were raised, making a circle around me with just a small opening. And then it happened, out of a corner someone came towards me running through that opening, enraged and ready to attack me. It was clearly a gimmick, as the person was dressed like a goat with long horns. It stopped right in front of me, saw me shaking in fear, and a deep voice came from behind the mask saying: “SOLVE ET COAGULA IN LUX ET TENEBRAE.”

Everyone chanted again and I chanted with them… The figured went back to a corner, everyone started clapping and they started to shake my hand one by one, greeting me “Welcome brother.” “Oh, brother, you were really scared.”, “Don’t worry, this is all part of the Initiation.”, “Welcome, brother.”

My teacher told me afterwards that all these experiences I had here represent both good and evil parts of life and I was reborn anew, a better person, a Freemason and my journey is only starting.

“You will see the wonders of the world, son.”

Since some of you enjoyed the first entry in these series and were eager to see new material come to life, I decided to tell you the story about my Chernobyl visit which took place exactly four years ago (on the day the disaster turned exactly 30 years old).

Before I start, I must tell you that this was an accident, it was not provoked by anyone 100% (I have seen authentic documents provided by high-grade military intelligence officers in Ukraine). They did try to cover it up, like the Soviets did back in the day (nothing is the State’s fault and all that stuff), but when Gorbaciov realized that he could not contain the disaster, he and the Party decided to let the news out. You all know the story, some of you probably read the Nobel Prize award winning book ‘Voices from Chernobyl’ by the Belarusian author Svetlana Alexievich, or even saw the great series that aired on the TV (although some gruesome details were not included in the show), so I will not go into the actual disaster story.

However, I would like for everyone to hold a moment of silence for all the brave men and women who lost their lives in that disaster, all the medical staff, the firefighters and the scientist who were capable to contain the disaster on the 4th of May 1986.

Today marks 34 years since that disaster. Let us never forget.

So let me get started with today’s story. I will get back to my Initiation Ritual and what happened after I was made Apprentice at a later stage of this stories. I will not tell them in chronological order because I want you, reader, to be surprised every single time I tell you about my experiences as a Freemason.

Back in 2016, the Lodge that I am still a part of, received an invitation to join the meeting of our brothers in Ukraine, most specifically the Pripyat Grand Lodge which was to be held exactly on April 26th 2016. Of course, the Master and the rest of us were a bit confused because we have never been to that part of Ukraine before and we were a bit scared because we might get irradiated, might get sick, might get eaten by mutants and things like that.

After our usual meeting at the Temple, the Master called his counterpart in Ukraine to see exactly what this was about. Suffice to say that we all agreed to go because we did not felt only obliged, but it was a sign of respect not to refuse the invitation.

About a week later we had three cars come pick us up at the Temple and with the trip being just a bit over 17 hours, we stopped and slept the night at one of our brothers’ hotel in Moldova and the next day we were near the city of Pripyat where we were greeted by our brothers with handshakes and Triple Fraternal Accolades. We got acquainted and they actually prepared a tour for us to visit the surroundings of Chernobyl where we saw Reactor 4 and the DUGA-1 and then we went on to have a typical Soviet lunch like they used to have when the USSR was still a thing. Then we went to visit The Ghost Town and we stopped nearby the Red Forest. We were all equipped with dosimeters and hazmat suits of course. While we were nearing the Red Forest, our Ukrainian brothers told us that we will go somewhere to have our meeting and then we will go and sleep in a secret hotel that only the Masons know about.

After this, military personnel pulled in front of us and escorted us to an underground bunker near the Red Forest. We descended to the -3 floor of the facility where we had the meeting. Our Master had a speech and vice-versa. After the meeting ended, we went on having our normal brotherly banquet. However, this is where things starting getting strange. The food was nothing like I have ever seen before, the wine had multiple colors at the same time, there were some sauteed mushrooms that were a phosphorescent green (similar to Hygrocybe virescens), the meats were very tasty even though they were looking really overcooked (on the inside they were very tender), the potatoes were turquoise and the fish were a very pale pink with crimson tails… and me I was sitting over there thinking: “Is this real food or are they joking? Are we supposed to eat the damned rainbow in here?”

But the most interesting thing was the tea they served at the end. The hot tea was smelling like hot summer mornings, then changing to the smell of petrichor, then to the freezing smell of snow. It was like all seasons were trapped in that cup of tea.

We were of course a little bit scared to eat the food, but our Brothers told us there is nothing to be worried about as this is some ultra rare foods only 333 people in the world know of its existence. After we finished the Master of the Pripyat Lodge raised his glass: “Drink this final glass of wine my brothers and let me lead you to see the greatest secret of Chernobyl. You will now meet Vovkulaka.”

Then we went to the -5 floor where… there was just a cage. Inside it there was a man. “Help me, please! They got me trapped in here!” Of course I was absolutely outraged and I whispered to my professor: What is this non-sense, professor? Why do they torment a man like that?” and even though I whispered the Master heard me and said: “You know I speak your language, right? I know how this looks like, but I can assure you that shortly something that will change the way you see this man will happen.”

Then he started chanting some Latin phrases and he threw some liquid on the man and then… claws started growing out of the tips of his fingers, hair growing everywhere, his clothes were slowly tearing apart. The man seemed to be turning in something else, something not of this world, something unholy, evil and unnatural. Soon razor like teeth started erecting from his mouth, his eyes turning a dark shade of crimson red. His metamorphosis was complete and the man was no longer a man, but a huge, monstrous type of wolf.

“Mortals, one day I will escape this prison and I will kill you all. Mark my words. You had me confined for the last 400 years, since that day were I tore apart your lands. I will escape someday; I will end this world in blood and fire.”

I was absolutely petrified. I stood still for the next 10 minutes or so. My teacher was as calm as they come, meaning that this was something usual for him and I was left wondering how many horrors are in this world, what things exists here, what darkness lives on this earth with us?

The Master took out another liquid, threw it on the creature and it started shrieking, letting out sounds not of this world. After that it turned to that man again and we left. Still in shock I asked, almost crying: “What was that?! Why you don’t just kill it???”

The Master looking disapprovingly at me said that this was an 850 years old werewolf and since his capture, the Masons have been trying relentlessly to alter his mind, using certain substances (which I know nothing about) and make more creatures like this, eventually turning them into armies for future wars. Yes, I know that we have all this technology now and we could make robots and whatnot but these guys have a lot of secrets. If they kept him for so long, it must be very valuable to have them. Maybe immortality, who knows?

After this we… sort of fainted and woke up next morning in a hotel which did not look like a hotel, but like an apartment building that felt like it was constantly moving (no I wasn’t hungover).

On the table in my room, I found a note saying that they wish us a great trip back home, thanking us for accepting the invitation and hoping that we can meet again, sooner rather than later. Also there was a bottle of that tea wrapped as a present. To this day, I never opened it.

Until next time, stay safe and take care, reader.

Today’s story will take us back to 2018, when we had our international meeting which is taking place every five years. By now I was used with the all the weird stuff going on inside our Temple and of course outside of it, where the secrets of the world lay dormant for the normal people, but not for us Freemasons.

Our meeting two years ago took place in a very beautiful hotel in Prague, the Czech Republic. This was one of those that are filled with history, where the walls and chandeliers have seen extravagant parties taking place and people in really expensive clothing attending and drinking the finest and rarest of drinks.

I have met a lot of powerful Freemasons at that banquet, people very well known in the world, some of them running multi-million dollar companies. I have learned a lot of things that they do research on, things I could not even imagine existed and of course I was left in awe with the topics of certain discussions at that party.

I was accompanied by my mentor, The Professor, who decided in 2014, as you well know, to “show me the wonders of the world”. Too bad that we have different views on what that means.

Usually, at banquets like these, nothing out of the ordinary really happens, it’s mainly just a bunch of people in black suits talking about various scientific topics, improvements in certain industries or the evolution of technology in the coming years.

But at the end of the party, my mentor took me outside the hotel to have a talk:

“Son, let’s go out for a bit, there is something I need to tell you.”

“Of course, Professor.”

“Son, tomorrow at midnight there is a place where we will go and from our Lodge it is just the two of us and the Master. There will be some very powerful and influential people at this meeting.”

“What is it this time, Professor? Vampires, Czech monsters, the Dark God of Czech beer, what?”

“Haha, you’re very funny.” said he, ironically. “No, we will have this meeting in a church 200 km from Prague in the village of Lukova. And as I understood from one of our brothers that flew in from the United Kingdom, this church is a bit different from the rest of the churches in this country. Why, I do not know, I guess we will see tomorrow night what is going to happen.”

“OK, Professor. I understand and I won’t ask any more questions. Sometimes I like to inquire a lot about things because I am a very curious person, as you know.”

“Be careful son, curiosity killed the cat.”

“But satisfaction brought it back, Professor.”

The party ended and we went to sleep. We woke up the next day and went for a walk in the beautiful city of Prague. By the way, reader, I have to tell you that the Czechs have, without a single shade of doubt, the best beer in Europe. We went to see the St. Vitus Cathedral, the Charles Bridge, the Astronomical Clock, the Kinsky Palace, the Prague Castle and the Old Town Square. These were the wonders of the world for me. We, of course, got to see the hidden parts of each and every location, parts that the public was not allowed to see, because of course, that’s how things are supposed to be, in the opinion of the Freemasons.

Then we went back to the hotel, changed in our usual black suit, black tie attire, took our aprons and gloves and we went outside the hotel at about 9:00 PM to meet the driver who would take us to the church.

We got there at around 11:30 PM, that left us with 30 minutes of free time in which a Brother from the Czech Republic told us the story of the church.

The Saint George’s Church was built in 1352, but in 1968 the roof collapsed during a funeral, so it was very much abandoned up until an artist decided to make things more interesting in 2014 by adding moldings of people on top of which he placed some sheets to make them look like ghosts praying.

Brother Hynek went on: “Dear brothers, let’s go inside. But before that, there is a table here at the entrance. Please, each and every one of you take one of these metal blocks and keep it with you until the meeting is finished. Welcome to the Church of Ghosts.”

The Master, the Professor and I looked at each other wondering what these were for. We proceeded on taking the metals, which were weighing roughly 500 grams each and they where, of course, triangle shaped.

We went inside and we were a little startled by the silhouettes standing still in the darkness. Then our Czech Brothers rapidly lighted some candles and we got to sit down next to the figures. I was a bit uneasy because I don’t really like being alone in a church at night, even more when the church is old and creepy and filled with moldings that resemble people.

The master of the Prague Lodge started. “Dear brothers, welcome to one of the most exquisite meeting places for people like us. I hope you all had a great time at the party yesterday and got to see our beautiful capital city. Please place each of your metals in the lap of the molding next to you and leave it there until we finish this meeting.”

Then, of course, we started having speeches. After half an hour or so after midnight, all the candles went out and a cold wind started to blow inside the church, the floor was creaking and a very thick fog started raising from under it.

Then I felt something moving besides me. I turned and at my right side the head of the ghost was turned towards me, staring at me with its non-existent eyes. I screamed “Aaah!” and then a voice from out of time began:

“Brothers, dear brothers, do not be afraid. We come in peace, we are the Freemasons of the Grand Lodge from Beyond Time. We have been here for many many aeons, silently watching you to see if you are doing your jobs properly and we could not be prouder than we are right now. Greetings to everyone who came from different parts of the world, we are very happy that you are with us tonight.”

Then another one started: “Brothers, you will experience something tonight that you never experienced before. Please place your hands on our foreheads and let us take you to a journey of magick throughout time.”

Thing is that the voices were speaking in the Czech language, a language I know nothing about but, curiously enough, I was understanding it perfectly at that certain place and time.

I placed my hand on the ghost’s forehead and at that point I felt like I was enlightened and filled with secret knowledge. With my eyes closed I could see through different historical periods, I was in a forest where strange animals were living, then I was transported under sea to see populations of humanoids living free, their technological advancements not like anything I have ever seen before, I have seen kings and queens, empires falling, kingdoms of long forgotten dead gods, ruins of cities in the sky, strange civilizations visiting our planet… But then everything stopped and a man with a white hood on his head, a large staff in his hand and a grey beard stood in front of me in a tent in the desert.

“Hello, traveler. Give me your hand.”

I did so, without even questioning him. Then he took out a very strange object, it was like a red hot stone, almost like a coal but not quite, and placed it my hand. I squeezed it and when I opened my hand all that was left was a red light floating around in my palm. I looked at him with big inquiring eyes and then he took out from a bag in his pocket a very odd powder.

The he placed the powder inside the red floating light and with his scepter smashed it yelling: “TRIA PRIMA!” and a large explosion took place, it knocked me over but it did not hurt me.

I awakened some minutes (well at least for me) later in the church with my hand extended. In my hand there was the metal block, but its color has changed, it was… golden.

Of course I could not believe my eyes, my mind was already buzzing with all that I have seen in my short journey.

“Brothers, VIVAT ALCHIMIA. This is our gift to you. Please be careful on your future journeys and take this gold home with you as a way to always remember your experience here tonight. So long, dear Brothers.”

I checked my watch, it said 6:30 AM (???). I looked at the gold triangle, on it was the representation of the exact same ball of light I held in the palm of my hand.

Sun came up in the sky, everything was back to normal.

We went back to Prague, none of us saying anything for the next few hours, we just sat frozen and bewildered with magical gold in our hands.

Not only the wonders of the world, but the riches of the world.

I used to be one of those people who did not believe in the supernatural, monsters, demons, vampires and all the things that should not be.

However, for the past 6 years, I have been constantly proven wrong and I was shown by forces beyond my reach and understanding that we are not alone, we were never alone and we will never be alone. I have seen things that can churn your stomach, that can make your heart stop beating or even question your existence.

This time I will tell you about one of my vacations that I will never forget and that I wish I could take back. But as you may well know from the stories you have read so far, strange things seem to follow me since I have become a Freemason. No matter what happened, I always managed to stay lucid and keep my composure until the very end of these strange occurrences.

For us, Freemasons, summers are usually off, we do not have any kind of official gatherings, however we do meet like friends in the White Meetings, as we call them, we just eat foods and drink wine, like normal people. I have had many of those, some of them really pleasant because you get to talk to some good people about great things, but there also are evil people there as well so it is kind of a battle of the forces of good and evil. Some of the them want evil to reign supreme, and some just want to destroy every vile thing that the Freemasons stand for. Their Temple of Lies will fall one day and their False God will burn in the purging fires of all that should protect us.

Last summer, before this whole crazy pandemic happened (I also have a story on this as well, it will come at a later stage, I do not want to scare more than you are right now, reader), we were invited by some Freemasons friends to spend a few days on a lovely property just a bit outside of the city of Cluj-Napoca in Romania, a very beautiful city indeed, great food, great people and you should visit if you have the chance.

Most of us have regular 9 to 5 jobs, of course, so we decided we should spend a weekend there, booked a flight and we got there in about an hour on a Friday night. The property was filled with one room little houses, so that all Brothers could relax and rest good. We went in, we made ourselves comfortable, changed to a casual attire and went outside to socialize.

The property was placed in the heart of nature, far away from inquiring eyes. It was surrounded by a thick forest called Hoia, its trees were very oddly bent like they have seen the horrors of the world, and behind it a river was rapidly streaming away into the silence of the night…

I am a really big fan of barbecues so it was my idea to not go to a restaurant in the city, instead we should have a nice BBQ done at the property by ourselves, because it would give us a better vibe, given the whole rustic scenery. Everyone agreed and we proceeded on lighting the thing up.

After a few hours or so, when we were almost ending our small party, we heard screaming voices echoing from the woods, unaware of the dangers we we will face later on; so me and four other Brothers took our flashlights and decided to go and see where the screaming was coming from. I was scared to see what terrors the night will bring upon us because the things we faced in the past were absolutely horrifying.

As we delved deeper into the forest, after what seemed and felt like almost an eternity, not knowing what fate we will have, we were starting to get closer to the source of the screaming. As we were approaching, we started seeing the river and on its edge there was a woman wearing a white dress that seemed to be made of clouds, almost vaporous.

Then she turned… her face was the whitest white I have ever seen, her eyes were so dark that they could have looked straight into your soul, leaving you petrified, a statue. The most scaring part was that on her face was what appeared to be some sort of black blood dripping down from her eyes. She started coming at us hastily, so we started running but… when we turned around another four women were standing mid-air, floating and watching down on us, almost like they were the hunter and we were the hunted. The creatures of the night needed to feed.

I know some of the Eastern European legends and so given that we were in Romania I remember hearing stories about the so-called ‘iele’, which were spirits of tormented women who only wanted to prey on men, making them go absolutely insane. The legend says that you must not speak to them nor say their name. And so, they started singing and dancing in circles around us… two brothers started crying in absolute fear and the rest of us were mesmerized by them…

Then, like touched by grace, I snapped out of it and yelled: “Do not look at them and close your eyes!” Said and done. Except for one of our Brothers….

His gaze could not turn away from the the spirits and then one came close to him:

“Would you come with us, handsome? She said, slowly caressing his face.

“Yes…. I want to…” he said, not even finishing his sentence. They raised him up the air and then they disappeared with them in the depths of the dark forest.

“Nooooo!” I yelled. “Brothers, snap out of it, we have to go after him.”

We started running like madmen, not knowing where we were going or what fate awaited us. We started searching, looking for houses in the forest, for lights, for a single trace of our Brother. And before we knew it, morning came. The first rays of sun shining shyly, almost afraid to enter the forest.

After our searches came to no avail, we found our way back to the houses and decided to rest for a couple of hours before going back to the woods. We were severely dehydrated and frightened to our very bones. As we were approaching the property, the rest of our Brothers were outside waiting.

“Hey, guys! We’re back, you will not believe what happened to us.” we yelled collectively, almost running out of breath.”

They all stepped aside, revealing our lost Brother sitting in a chair, with his head lowered and… his physical appearance was changed, his hair turned white, he looked like he lost 20 pounds, and he was almost a vegetable, could not speak, all he was doing was to mumble incoherently.

“We told them what happened, they were in shock, but they also knew what horrors live with us in places where we, humans, should not go and they understood the grave situation we were in.”

We all decided to stay a few more days. We called the ambulance, we invented a story about how he woke up like that because we obviously could not say the real story and then they took him to the local psychiatric hospital for tests, where he still is confined to this very day.

After a few days passed, the doctor called one of us and the diagnosis was… severe schizophrenia combined with dementia. The doctor told us that our Brother always has hallucinations about five women that try to take him away from the hospital.

Some other times he starts dancing by himself in the padded room.

Brother, I am sorry we could not save you. Truly sorry.

In our private library, we have millions of documents and tomes from throughout different times in history, since the beginning of man. Superb poems, prose, ancient scrolls describing amazing events that happened in history, some of them not even known by man. I was mostly interested in finding writings about the Eastern European folklore, although many of the experiences that I have had in the past made me realize that many legends were in fact as real as the moon hanging lifeless in the night sky.

As I was looking for something to feed my mind with, a strange brown leather sort of like journal fell down from one of the shelves. I went to pick it up and I noticed that it was a normal journal about village life in Wallachia in the 15th century.

However, some pages described something horrible.

November 30th 1437 A.D.

The Black Hill Village, Wallachia

The Diary of Janosz Chira

It is now three weeks since I have seen my brother, I do not know what happened to him, how or why he disappeared. I found a small pool of blood in his room the morning following his disappearance and since then something has changed in the village, something evil was beginning to make its presence known. The air was changing, it was starting to feel very heavy at night, a mysterious mist was slowly enshrouding the city under the dead eyes of the moon.

People started disappearing regularly almost every week, their screams echoing in the night. Doors were bolted shut, garlic was hanging outside every house now, and slowly, the village was turning into a graveyard.

I decided to hold a meeting with the rest of my companions at the Lodge of Eternal Light so that we see if we can discover what is going on and if it can be stopped, the evil cut clean at its root.

“Brothers, I have called you here tonight to put an end to this insanity. Something is taking away the village folk and it is our duty to make sure that this has an end. Has any of you seen anything out of the ordinary lately besides the obvious screams and bad omens floating around in the village? Brother John, you may speak.”

“Yes sir, last night as I was doing my nocturnal round on the streets I felt some presence walking behind me when I was turning corners, its steps doubling mine. Every time I turned no one was there. So I started running to see if it still follows me and I heard its footsteps running after me. I turned my head for a second, and when I turned it forward again, an unnatural shape was standing in front me and it said to me:

“Mortal, I will eat your soul and drink your life right here and now.”

Standing in fear I started praying to God, while the thin silhouette was laughing mockingly as tears were falling down my cheeks.

“Do you think your petty God will help you, do you think a faceless cruel God cares for a pest like you humans, who know only to kill each other in meaningless violent and endless wars? Your God is dead and Heaven is burning.”

“Then how are you still alive, John? How did the creature look like?” I asked.

“My only salvation was this little bottle of holy water which I threw in the face of the creature and this silver cross I got out and pointed it like a weapon towards him and he started shrieking and hissing covering his eyes at the sight of the cross. Sir, the creature was thin, very pale, its eyes an evil shade of red, he had claws and its mouth was bloody. His teeth were sharp and he was bald. He was a living dead, a creature risen from the grave in the night, only to consume human flesh and blood. This was a thing of evil, sir. A Strigoi. We must find where it sleeps and kill it, sir, and we must do it quickly or there will be more deaths.”

“I understand. Thank you, John.”

Everyone of us in the room stood aghast at the hearing of such troublesome news. We never experienced anything like this and we were not prepared for a battle like this. We heard about the strigoi from the elders of the village, but we did not take it as true, only as a story. We knew we needed stakes, torches, silver crosses, holy water and cloves of garlic. Now I knew my brother was killed by this vile sickening monster and I swore to avenge him even it meant that I had to give away my own life.

The plan was to trap the monster in the village square, so we drew a large circle with a flammable material, so that we can light it up by shooting an arrow from the roof. Two of our brothers offered themselves as bait for the Strigoi.

Night came and our brothers waited in the middle of the circle, looking like they were repairing something as to not give away the plan. We had men standing on top of roofs ready to show the arrows, while I was waiting patiently in a corner ready for attack.

In the silence of a night that seemed eternal, a figure appeared behind one of our brothers in the circle, enraged with madness. Before an arrow was shot, our brother was ripped to shreds. The other one tried to fight the demon, but before raising his sword, rivers of blood started flowing from his neck with the Strigoi feeding and yelling like a demented beast.

His hunger blinded him and he realized very late that he was trapped. I rushed inside the fiery circle, I threw holy water on him, vapors rising from where the water touched him, I placed the silver cross on his head, and as he was turning and screaming, I wanted to kill him with my silver knife, but as I tried putting it through its head, the creature raised its hand and blocked it, the blade going right through, blood started coming down.

He saw a small opening in the circle and made a run for it, slowly vanishing in the night, leaving a bloody trail behind. I yelled at my men to follow the trail, with me leading them. Five hours later, tired and with almost no energy left in us, we arrived at the entrance of a cave. The sun came up in the morning sky and as we entered the cave, we saw the shape of a coffin.

“We found its resting place. Men, take the coffin out and take the lid off!” I yelled.

Inside the creature lay dormant, not being aware that it was nearing its end. Its hideous apparition, the vile aura surrounding him, the miasma coming out from inside the coffin made us all retch.

As I was preparing to put my knife through its head, I noticed a piece of paper. I took it out and started reading it:

“If you are reading this, then I am probably nearing an end that I have been waiting for the past 120 years of relentlessly haunting and hunting in these lands. I was turned to a Strigoi against my will and I wish I can take back all the destruction and suffering I have brought unto this world. My name was Simion, but now I have no name, the living dead bear no names.”

As I turned the paper, on the back of it the following was written:

“The silent songs of death now echo through this freezing crypt,

I only wish to rest now, so please end me in my sleep.

I am the living dead and I cannot stop the urge to kill,

Because my hunger makes me do things far beyond my will.

Now leave me here to rot forever, dead and torn apart

Just turn my head backwards and impale my broken heart.”