Who: Vlad What: A narrative Where: P3 When: After the garlic & holy water gifts Warnings: None
Ever since he had discovered the garlic wreaths, Vlad had put his work to the side and focused on discovering why Emil would be driven to do such a thing. There had to have been some significance, some reason behind it - he wouldn't have done it unless he thought it would be useful against him somehow.
Google, Vlad soon realized, was a very useful tool.
He had gone for the obvious approach: he merely typed in 'garlic on doors' and clicked search. He clicked on the very first link that appeared, which led to some sort of natural remedy site. The first paragraph proved to be useful, and there was one line in particular that caught his attention:
"Balkans rubbed garlic on doorknobs and window frames to discourage vampires from haunting them, and they hung garlic on doors and windows so that nobody would take milk from their cows and the families would be safe from witches."
He continued to scroll down the page, noting that numerous sites said the same thing: garlic was thought to protect against all sorts of evil spirits, but he began to notice that the word vampire appeared again and again. Vlad was familiar with vampire mythology, of course; in Romania they were often referred to as 'strigoi' or 'moroi'. There were countless ways to ward them off, and even more tales and legends concerning how they came to be. He had never paid much attention to said superstitions, and the society he had grown up in and the people he'd been surrounded by never mentioned them.
Garlic, hung on every door. Every door but his.
Vlad didn't consider the matter further until he was returning from walking Cain and Abel, and happened to catch a glimpse of something hanging from P4's doorknob. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was a vial of holy water.
Searching the internet for the worlds 'holy water' alone proved to yield broad results, so he decided to narrow it down. He wasn't positive, but since there was no holy water on his door, he had a feeling that once again he was the only one excluded from these gifts - or whatever they were.
He typed 'garlic and holy water' into the search engine, and almost every link on the page had to do with vampires.
"Why do vampires fear garlic and holy water and..."
"Apotropaics - mundane or sacred items able to ward off revenants - such as garlic or holy water are common in vampire folklore."
In fact, the second link on the page led to the Wikipedia article on Vampires. After a moment's hesitation, Vlad chose not to click it - instead, he slammed the laptop shut with enough force to cause Cain and Abel to whimper in the next room. He strode out of the room he called his office and into the living room, pacing back and forth. The dogs must have sensed his frustration, for they all but cowered on the ground, ears against their head, watching him warily.
Perhaps the connection with vampires was merely a coincidence. After all, garlic and holy water were used to ward of evil, not exclusively vampires - and Vlad had murdered Emil's wife and children, not to mention countless others. It made sense that the man would see him as evil.
"But those are myths," he hissed, stopping only for a moment before continuing to pace. "Folklore... legend... they are not facts. Why would he think they would have any effect on me... unless..." Unless the man had truly become insane. Only someone who had lost every bit of rational sense would believe that garlic and some water supposedly 'blessed' would keep a murderer away. That must be it, then. Emil had truly lost his mind and resorted to such foolish methods in an attempt to stop him.
Yet, there was still something that refused to let him believe that and move on. As much as he tried to ignore it; to cling to his reason, there was a voice in the back of his mind that assured him this was far from over.