The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels

by Travis Luedke

  Chapter 24

  WALLACHIA. THE FOREST IN THE FOOTHILLS

  OF THE CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS.

  JANUARY 1, 1500. MOMENTS LATER.

  Dracula and Ilona checked their flight when they heard Varkal scream, a sound that echoed like a gong in their ears. Already, they caught the scent of his wound on the breeze. Angry, they turned back to find him lying on his back on the forest floor.

  He looked up and groaned, blood oozing steadily from his arm. When he saw his father’s glare, he turned his head away.

  “This is not the time,” Dracula said, his anger simmering beneath the surface.

  Ilona did not mask hers so well and hissed at him to show her displeasure. “You are a fool. Why could you not fly over the trees?”

  Dracula could see the wound was a bad one. He ripped away his son’s vest to check the extent of the injury.

  Varkal winced when he touched it.

  “I have a mind to tear the limb off,” he said, showing no sympathy. He turned to Ilona. “I must transfuse him.”

  “The wound shall heal itself,” she argued.

  “Yes,” he agreed, “but we cannot wait. I want him with me this night.”

  “Let him suffer. He needs a lesson taught him.”

  “On any other night, I would.”

  He cut his wrist and offered it to his son. Varkal looked up at him before putting it to his mouth. The taste was rich and sweet and far better than any he had tried since the night his father had turned him. He drank as though he had not done in a long time.

  “Enough,” Dracula said. “You have all you need.”

  Varkal did not want to let go and so his father snatched his arm away. Already he felt a drain on his strength. There were times he cursed the night he brought Varkal into the fold. This felt like one of those.

  “The wound should heal at once,” he said. “Make haste if you wish to feed.”

  He ran his tongue over his own wrist to seal the incision he had made.

  Andrei stood by the campfire and looked to the forest, where he sensed Dracula drawing ever closer. His six sons stood all around in a circle, feeling the need to protect him. With their swords drawn, they waited. Soon the one their father called his brother would approach them from the trees.

  The three vampires continued their journey on foot. The strong smell of fresh blood filtered through to them. It made Varkal ache. He had a thirst so strong it would take two good men to satisfy it.

  Ilona sensed it in him. “Keep your calm,” she said. “Let us see what we have first before you wreak havoc.”

  “What Ilona says rings true,” Dracula said to his son. “I smell a lot of blood there.”

  The gypsies watched them emerge from the trees. The strangers had the airs of nobility with their fine clothes and posture. That much they saw right away. They did notice one of the group had torn the sleeve on his upper left arm. There were blood stains around the tear, and it made them curious as to why.

  Andrei stood firm while his sons touched the hilts of their swords. They braced themselves in case the need arose to have to defend their loved ones.

  “Good night, sir,” Andrei said to Dracula. “And a pleasant New Year to you all.”

  “It is that,” Varkal agreed, smiling and eyeing his supper.

  Andrei’s sons focused on the vampire at once and could sense the evil in him. The black aura that emanated from him was an offence to them all.

  “To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?” Andrei asked them.

  “We were out for a ride,” Dracula began.

  “We stopped to water the horses,” Ilona cut in. “That awful sound spooked them and they bolted.”

  None of them believed her. Who rides in a forest this late at night?

  Dracula shot her a quick glance and took up the story. “We heard laughter from the forest. In that we are a fair way from home, we decided to follow its source.”

  “That led us to you,” Ilona said, feigning a smile.

  “We would be grateful of the warmth of your fire. And the sharing of some New Year cheer.”

  Andrei motioned to them with his hand to join him. “You are welcome here. Sit with me and enjoy the warmth of the fire.” He stopped and pointed at Varkal. “What happened to him?”

  Dracula looked at his son. “He suffered a fall when the horses bolted and tore his shirt, but all is well. I can compensate you for your trouble for the sharing of your fire.”

  “There is no need,” Andrei said, his smile and the confidence behind it unnerving Dracula a little. “I am pleased that you are here.”

  Varkal eyed the others. “Then why are your friends poised to strike us down?”

  “Be at ease, boys,” Andrei said to them. He turned to Varkal. “Forgive my sons. They are not accustomed to seeing strangers at such a late hour.”

  “Pay him no heed,” Ilona said. “He is still vexed after falling from his horse.”

  “I assure you, he is not offended,” Dracula said. “As a parent, I appreciate the desire to protect loved ones.”

  “Are you hungry?” Andrei asked. “Would you like to share some food?”

  “No, we are fine. A little thirsty perhaps, but it can keep. The warmth of your fire is what is needed most.”

  Varkal remained on his feet. He cast his eye over the tents and wagons, where a young woman caught his eye. She was the wife of one of the men facing him.

  Her husband noticed his eye wander. “Why do you not sit?” he asked.

  Varkal gave him a look that offered no hint of friendliness. “I prefer to stand. I am stiff after my fall.”

  Ilona glanced at him, and then back to the elder. She smiled as he took a seat opposite them on the other side of the fire.

  A quiet moment passed. The two men gazed into each other’s eyes for the very first time. Andrei had known of his brother for very many years. Dracula, on the other hand, had sensed him in his mortal life, but knew nothing of him.

  They breathed life in the very same moment in the cold winter of 1431. The great Vlad Dracul had sired them both. Dracula went on to become a famed and feared ruler after his father. Andrei stayed with the people to whom his mother had belonged. From the time of their births, their paths were destined to cross.

  Something passed between them in that moment. Dracula sensed a connection he had not known was there, and it made him uneasy. The man sat opposite him did not break his gaze. He felt Andrei’s eyes cutting into him, which added to his feeling of uncertainty. In any situation such as this, where someone looked him straight in the eye, he would have a hypnotic effect over them. This was not the case here. He tried to scan the other man, and it alarmed him when he could not.

  Ilona and Varkal sensed his concern. With their thoughts, they reached out to him for direction. He did not respond. This situation had left him more than confused.

  For the first time, the three of them sensed they might be amidst something with the power to hurt them. It worried Varkal most of all. The sons of the elder did not seem to fear him. They looked at him as though they knew what he was and were poised to attack. He moved toward the fire, taking a position close to his father.

  Andrei knew he was in the presence of great evil. Sat only a few feet away, he faced his opposite. He and Dracula were twin souls. His very existence was borne out of the need for a balance to that evil. Even before his birth, the Powers of Light knew it was coming. It was why they gave Andrei to the world. They bestowed on him the purest soul and the power to bring Dracula down.

  He looked deep into Dracula’s black heart. Beyond that, he caught a glimpse of the blackest soul. He read the uncertainty in his mind. It is well that you fear me, he thought. He smiled at his brother to let him know he did not fear him.

  Dracula tried again to scan his mind. The defences there were too strong for even him to breach. He had to stop as the effort hurt his eyes. However, he did not break their gaze. “Who are you?”

  Andrei remembered some
of the events of years past. On the two occasions the Dark Side had learned of his whereabouts, they sent their legions to kill him. Twice, the Archangels had come to his rescue. He worried now that if he revealed all it might alert them to him again. But he knew it was time for Dracula to know. He had to make this beast aware that forces existed to keep him in check and eventually bring him down. This meeting had come about for a reason, and that was it.

  “I am the one with the power to kill you,” he said.

  The revelation startled Dracula and added to the tension in the other two. Ilona looked at Andrei, her false smile long gone.

  “Though I feel our time is a long way off,” Andrei added.

  Dracula forced a smile. He still had no idea of the identity of the elder. “What makes you believe you have such a power?”

  “We both know it, Vlad Dracula.”

  The stranger making mention of his name struck fear into his black heart. He maintained his resolve and disguised his fears well. The others urged him to leave. Their voices echoed through his mind, drowning out his own thoughts for a moment.

  “You know who I am,” Dracula said, nodding to himself. “You could at least extend the same courtesy to me.”

  Andrei continued to gaze into his eyes.

  “Who are you? I know you are compelled to tell me.”

  “I am your twin soul,” was the solemn reply.

  The horses in the camp grew restless. They pulled hard on their restraints in an attempt to break free. Andrei’s sons ignored them, remaining close to their father’s side. The women and children in the tents grew frightened. They knew something bad was in the air. Andrei kept his calm. He sat and waited, giving his brother time to ponder over an answer.

  When it did not come, he stood up. “You and I were born in the same breath. We came from the same seed.”

  “You are speaking in riddles,” Ilona said in a low growl.

  “We are the sons of Vlad Dracul,” he said. “We breathed life for the first time in the very same moment.”

  Dracula’s confusion was apparent to all. “How is that so?”

  Varkal grinned for the first time in a while. He looked at the one whose wife he had his eye on. “That would make you and I cousins.”

  “It is so,” Andrei said over him.

  He stood up and joined hands with his six sons. They formed a circle away from the fire near to the tents. The women huddled with their children inside them, watching their men join hands close by.

  “It had to be so,” Andrei went on. “In the great scheme of things, there has to be a balance to you. That is what I am.”

  Dracula stood up with Ilona at his side. He met Andrei’s eye again.

  “You are the living dead,” Andrei said. “And I am your opposite. I shall enter this world time and time again, till the day I destroy you. And I shall destroy you.”

  Andrei closed his eyes and bowed his head. The children began to cry one after another. They feared the dark and the cold. The women broke into prayer.

  The wind picked up strongly around the gypsies and threatened to pull them down. The skies opened above and rained down on the camp. Despite this, they stood firm. The women held their children tight and crouched down.

  The rain dowsed the fire and plunged the camp into darkness. Plumes of smoke rose into the air where the ashes hissed and spat. The three vampires stood together, a little unsure of themselves for the first time. Their thirst grew ever stronger with so much untouched blood to feast on.

  Dracula burned inside with hatred and anger. “Kill them all,” he said to the others. “Spare no one.”

  His words filtered through to Andrei. The elder gripped hard on the hands of his sons to either side. They did the same until all seven men formed a solid chain. The seven cleared their minds and thought as one. This they did just as the vampires set upon them.

  The force with which Dracula pounced on Andrei was enough to crush the spine of any man. This time, it did not happen. An invisible force repelled him and threw him back violently through the air. He hit a tree behind him so hard that it almost knocked him out cold.

  The same force drove Ilona and Varkal back too. They ended up tangled in the undergrowth at the edge of the clearing.

  The wind grew stronger still and rose up into a whirlwind around the tribe. Dracula eyed it with fear as he dusted himself down and gathered his senses. He attempted a second assault on Andrei without success. Dazed and confused, he sat on his rear and glared at the gypsies. They remained steadfast with their eyes closed.

  The rain pounded down all around them. Dracula got to his feet again. He felt both angry and bewildered. None of it made any sense to him.

  “Yes, Brother,” Andrei said, his voice amplified over the noise of the wind. “You are here for one reason alone this night. That is to know that I exist. Know your air of invincibility is with you no more. For I shall destroy you.”

  Dracula felt his heart pound. The one who called him brother could read his mind. He turned away to leave. Andrei called after him. His voice he could not escape.

  “I am the Keeper of the Seven Keys,” he told him. “I am to be reborn, as shall my children who stand around me. Our time shall come again, Vlad Dracula, when I shall seek you out. But for the now, get thee from my sight.”

  Chapter 25

  WALLACHIA. THE MAGLAK VILLAGE AT THE

  FOOT OF THE CARPATHIAN MOUNTAINS.

  JANUARY 1, 1500.

  The fierce men of the Maglak tribe were legends in battle. They had served as Dracula’s bodyguard from early in his reign. Their descent was a mix of the Szeklers of Hungary and Rom gypsies from India. This reflected in their dark skin.

  Those who survived Snagov retired from service. Dracula was dead. With him gone, they had no purpose. He was their master and through their loyalty to him, they would serve no other. They settled with their loved ones on the lands he had given them. These were set near to the foothills below his castle.

  The castle had been derelict for some time and no one had lived in it since Radu sacked it in 1462. Its outline still loomed high on the mountain. There to guard the mountain passes, it stood as a grim reminder of the tyrant who had built it.

  Many of them remembered the events of that night at Snagov. However, a lot of time had passed since then. Few of them were truly certain as to what had happened. No Maglak entered the chapel before he had emerged from it. Over time, the numbers of those who had been there diminished. It meant the story of Dracula’s death became more and more a legend.

  They heard, too, the story of Ilona Szilágy. Many said she walked with her husband by night. They thought the two were together in death to prey on the living. This saw the couple blamed for thousands of deaths across the country. Other stories spoke of a third. The Maglaks knew it to be true. The legends called them vampyr, or Nosferatu. That meant creature of the night.

  The Maglaks fell victim to them too. Many a member of the tribe had met death by the vampire bite. A lone vampire had preyed on them for a few years. He left their broken corpses to rot in the same spot where he had fed on them. The attacks had grown in number in recent months. They decided it was time to fight back.

  It all gave way to much fear and superstition. They resorted to varying means to protect themselves. Some of them hung crucifixes from their doors. Others did the same with cloves of garlic over their windows. They believed it the only way to ward off evil entities. When any of them went out after dark, they travelled in numbers and armed themselves. They ate holy bread and had a blessing with holy water.

  More legends rose up about the vampyr. People feared their victims would come back from the grave. The Maglaks had seen this happen with their own, some of their dead returning as the most hideous of beasts. For this reason, they cut the heads off the dead. They stuffed the mouths with garlic and buried them on holy ground.

  The people stayed well away from the castle. They believed the vampyr used it as a lair, for its remote location. Th
ese superstitions spread far and wide. In time, the whole of the Balkans adopted it as part of its folklore.

  The Maglaks retained their strong military traditions. The men laboured hard to pass on their skills. New infant males learned these from the time they could walk.

  Some others left the tribe. They gave their services to boyars in different areas of the country. More of them went farther afield to ply their trade.

  On the whole, they turned to agriculture as a means to survive. They built farms in the area where they had settled and tilled the land.

  The most senior one of them in Dracula’s regime led the tribe. He took on the role of vataf. It was an old gypsy word that meant tribal chief or leader. The vataf set up a Council as soon as he was in control. The Council was comprised of the five adult male members in his family. They met on the first day of each lunar month. The six of them decided any new laws and discussed the business of the tribe. It was they who agreed to a marriage between any two of their people. Despite this, the vataf remained the true authority. His word was final. It was this rigid format and ongoing military tradition that ensured they survived.

  The people led a humble life, and the vataf allowed them few luxuries. They kept their faith and lived by their strict religious codes. He did allow them to celebrate each of the religious feasts. Today was the New Year. More important than that, it was the first day of the new century.

  The soothsayers far and wide had preached their usual omens of doom. The Maglaks paid them no heed. They found life tough enough as it was. Today, the vataf allowed his people to relax and celebrate. He thought it would be good for them. The festivities carried on well after sunset. It was the first sound to greet Dracula’s ears when he awoke.

  The vataf smiled as he watched his people make merry. He knew he should allow it more often. They needed a release like this from time to time. The darkness was a concern for him, though. For that reason, all men who could bear arms, did so.

  Karul, the eldest man in the tribe, advised it was the son of Dracula who haunted them. The vataf knew Karul had a gift for seeing things. That was why he listened to him. The elder was rarely, if ever, wrong. Then he heard it, a scream that rang out in the hills above. The music stopped and, with it, his people stopped dancing.