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dontworrystanmurphy · 1 year ago

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@rc-appreciationweeks

Description: Capitalising on the "Belovakia" in Love, Sin & Evil, I wrote a little fanfic where the cast reads some of the local, horror-like folktales :) those, of course actually are tales from Slovakia.

Disclaimer: every tale, except for the last one, is from the collection of folktales Slovenské prostonárodne povesti (Simple National Slovak Tales) collected by Pavol Dobšinský. Additionally, the complete tales aren't described either as considered them too gruesome for the average tumblr user 😅 however, for those curious, above I have linked the collection (which has 3 parts) so someone can access it and use a translator to read it.

Trigger warning: okay, so some of the tales I chose from the collection are pretty gruesome. Trigger warnings include: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, brief mentions of Cannibalism, Murder (Filicide, Patricide, Homicide) please read with caution and/or skip the italicised parts of the text

The night was surprisingly warm as Mina and the other five geology students in her year walked back to the small campus area where they would stay the night before continuing their trip to Virzhkovice.

The six of them, alongside their professor, had arrived in the capital of Belovakia the previous night, and they had spent it meeting and attending special lectures the department of geology and palaeontology of the local university had prepared for them.

Mina had enjoyed that day and found most of the lectures quite interesting. The geological structure of Belovakia was very complex, but so much information at once was, for most of them, too much for one day. Courtney had been on her phone for most of the day, and Johnny almost fell asleep during one lecture.

Afterwards, the local geology students were tasked to show them around the city. That, of course, in classic student fashion, ended with them all in a club. That didn't go without the usual shade Europeans threw at Americans either, but soon enough the remaining ice melted, and both groups got along greatly, including Sue who spent most of the time with the local goths, and Johnny found someone who, let's say, shared some of his hobbies. Only Tony was a bit standoffish, which led to the geology students teasing him.

Mina sighed in relief once she arrived in the room that had been assigned to her, and which she had to share with Sue and Courtney. Tiredly, she put off her shoes and lay down on her bed. Courtney was babbling about how great the evening had been, with a few complaints about the boring classes thrown in between. Sue, meanwhile, unpacked her black backpack. Mina ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes.

"Oh, what's that?" Courtney asked suddenly.

Mina opened her eyes and following where Courtney was looking, saw Sue who had just pulled out a thick book.

"It's a book of Belovakian folktales," Sue replied. "Nat gave it to me, claiming many of these were horror stories."

"Nat?" Mina repeated sheepishly.

"Nataša, one of the local girls," Sue elaborated with an eye-roll.

Courtney meanwhile moved closer to Sue to get a better view. "Well, I am curious how scary these tales are. Oh! I got an idea! What if we read them to each other? We could call the guys too."

Sue narrowed her eyes. Mina already expected her and Courtney to get into another argument, but instead, after a moment of consideration said, "Sick. Let's do it."

"Yay!"

"Aren't you two tired?" Mina asked helplessly. She had had enough for one day and simply wanted to sleep.

"Nah, I slept during the geochemistry lecture," Courtney replied.

"Of course you did," Sue mumbled and rolled her eyes.

And so, in less than half an hour, their group assembled on the floor of the room, ready to read the supposedly scary stories. Mina sat between Sue and Johnny, leaning against her bed. In the middle of their circle was a bowl of popcorn, and a few candles were lit to set up a fitting atmosphere.

Sue had that book in her lap and was currently looking at the table of contents. On those pages were marked a few chapters highlighted with a blood-red marker.

"Have you chosen one yet?" Courtney asked.

"Hush, I have just opened the book," Sue snapped.

"Be patient, Courtney," Tony told her.

"I am surprised it has been translated into English," Chad commented.

"Yeah, neat," Johnny agreed.

"Okay, I got one," Sue declared. "It's called The Werewolf."

She opened the book on the page where the tale began, but as her eyes scanned the first page, she paled a little. "Okay, this is too hardcore even for me. You all better brace yourselves."

The group exchanged glances. What could be so terrible that even Sue was concerned?

The answer showed itself once she began:

Once upon a time, in a dark mountain lived a werewolf, and he had three daughters. Once, when famine struck, the werewolf was alone with his oldest daughter...

Oh no...

Mina palled when her initial thought was confirmed. The werewolf murdered and devoured two of his daughters. Only the youngest managed to run away and was, thankfully, found by a group of hunters and saved.

"Well, that friend of yours wasn't kidding," Courtney commented. "Those are terrifying. Who thought this was a good idea to tell kids?"

"Actually," Johnny chimed in, "fairytales used to be for all age groups, it's just that in modern times they are considered for children only."

Tony, albeit a bit surprised, nodded in agreement. "He is right."

"Anyway, now it's my turn!" Courtney declared and took the book away from Sue. "Phew, it's really heavy... Well, let's see... okay! This one is called About the Beautiful Ibronka."

"No wonder you chose that," Sue said under her breath.

Once in a village, the girls gathered to spin flax in a marginal house. All of them had boyfriends, except for the beautiful Ibronka. The others teased her for this, some saying she could weave one from straw. Angered, Ibronka said, "If only someone came, even if he was the devil!"

And here it was! The same night a handsome young man arrived and started to hang out with Ibronka. From that day on, he came every evening, bringing sweets and candles as gifts.

Ibronka was beyond happy but soon grew concerned. He never would tell her who he was, or where he came from, and every night after spinning flax he would disappear without a trace.

She asked a crone for advice, and she told her to attach an end of the thread to his clothes and follow the thread.

Ibronka did as advised, and as she followed the thread, it led her to the cemetery. She came to the ossuary, and through the keyhole peeked inside. There, she saw the young man making candles from the bones and sweets from rotten flesh…

Courtney stopped, and blinked a few times, processing the information. "Okay, what's up

with all the gruesomeness and cannibalism?"

"That it's evil..?" Chad guessed.

She sighed and decided to continue. The tale continued with Ibronka fleeing the cemetery, and in the following days, the devil would haunt her, threatening to kill her family if she didn't tell him what she saw. But Ibronka kept quiet, and one by one, members of her family died. When she was the last one, Ibronka instructed her friends how to bury her - to not take her through the threshold but underneath it, and then bury her where the horse pulling the wagon with her coffin would stop. The following day, she died and they buried her at the crossroads, where the horse had stood still. On her grave, a flower bloomed. Ibronka was freed from this curse later when someone picked the flower and broke the curse.

"Be careful what you wish for, eh?" Chad summed up.

The group continued reading a story each. Many had the same motif - curses and breaking them. Chad read a tale where the main character broke a curse laid upon a kingdom by fighting horrors inside a cursed mansion each night. Tony picked one where a boy liberated a kingdom turned into a mountain by cutting down three oak trees, and when he burned them, he had to fight monsters trying to extinguish the fire for seven days. Only Johnny decided to pick one without curses - about a boy who with the help of a few animal companions slay a dragon and save a princess.

"And now you, Mina!" Johnny said and put the book into her lap.

She yawned. "Do I have to?"

"Of course!"

"Yes!"

"We all did!"

"It's only fair."

"If I had to, so do you."

Sighing, she flipped through the pages. She noticed the book had pretty illustrations. Mina was almost at the end of it when she noticed under the title of one: Submitted by Štefan Rosina from Virzhkovice.

"Aha!" Mina declared. "Look, this one is from Virzhkovice."

"Oh? I haven't even noticed," Sue said surprised.

"Read that one!" Chad and Johnny both requested.

Smiling, Mina began to read.

Once upon a time, there lived a girl named Mirena. She lived in a small cottage with her family. They were poor but good, loving people, and she was a happy, smart girl.

When she grew up, Mirena went to work at the castle of the count. She worked hard so she could support her family. Her hard work was noticed by the old countess, who decided to reward her with additional groschen in her monthly pay.

Overjoyed, Mirena went on the same day back home.

However, that night didn't abide by the Lord's law, as it was December 13th, when Lucia had her name day*. The castle was far up in the mountains, and the forests were said to be full of ghosts and beasts, so when Mirena descended into the valley, she was met with many obstacles. Hags and vampires were out looking for blood, and spirits were dancing in the meadows, ready to lure unfortunate travelers into their doom. Will-o'-the-wisps shone through the forest.

But Mirena steadfastly continued, ignoring calls and clutching her rosary. When she was out of the woods, the last landmark she had to cross was the cemetery before she arrived home. She followed the fence when she saw another beast - one that had a goat's hooves and horns. Mirena quickly walked past and didn't dare to look back. Behind her loud, terrifying rumbles echoed, and she knew the devil was following her. Mirena knew she couldn't look back. She all but ran back to her home.

A year passed, and Mirena continued to work at the castle. That summer, the count's child had returned from school in faraway lands. They were bewitched by Mirena's beauty and, soon when they started to talk, by her wit too. Their relationship quickly blossomed into love, and the count's heir asked Mirena to marry them. However, Mirena was worried and denied them, as she was just a poor peasant and was afraid of the old count. Her fears were justified. When the old count found out about his heir's affection for a maid, he arranged a cruel plan.

He tasked Mirena to go fetch herbs into the forest and gave her a deerskin cloak, which was enchanted to make the wearer make the weaver look like a deer. Then the old count took his child to hunt and led them straight to the meadow where he had sent poor Mirena earlier. Indeed, the heir had unknowingly killed their love, and as they went to collect their catch, the enchanted cloak fell off Mirena's shoulders.

Heartbroken and beyond furious, the heir raised their hands against their father and decapitated him. Thus, a terrible curse befell them for spilling the blood of both their beloved and their father. Others say they cursed themselves. Cursed to forever be neither alive nor dead, to never know absolution.

*According to Belovakian beliefs, from the time of December 13th until Christmas Eve, the forces of evil are the strongest. As the proverb goes: "From Lucia till Christmas, every night has its might." The same belief is to be found in the neighbouring countries.

Mina looked at the page and swallowed, her throat dry from reading. On top of that, her tiredness now caused a throbbing headache. God, she was tired.

"Well, that was sad," Courtney stated.

"At least no one was eating other people," Sue said and took her book back.

Mina felt Tony's gaze on her for whatever reason. Then he said, "Well, this was fun. Thanks for the invite."

"What's the time?" Chad asked, and then looked at his wristwatch. "Oh god, almost two in the morning."

"Collins will kill us if we oversleep," Johnny said worriedly.

They all bid goodnight to each other and went to sleep. However, Mina's dreams were that night filled with dark forests, devils, and castles high in the mountains.

Little did she know what the future would bring.

#romance club #halloweekend #RCHalloweekend #RCBeforeMidnight #rcappreciationweeks

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