“How the hell should I know? I did the same thing I did before when I made a wish. It’s not like I … oh” Leah doubled over the air knocked out of her.
“Leah!” Dana knelt down to help her roommate oblivious to the zombies who had started moving again.
“Brains!” one zombie cried. “Br…” the sound of the second zombie was covered up but the howling sound of wind sweeping through the woods and the whoosh as suddenly the girls were surrounded by a protective wreath of flame that caught each of the zombies and turned them all to ash.
Leah gasped for breath.
“Good Evening.” The dapper gentleman spoke in a thick local accent. His clothing reminded Leah of a bygone era of aristocracy. “It is difficult work calling on magic, is it not?”
Dana started laughing hysterically tears of relief flowing from her eyes.
“Dana, stop.” Leah said still trying to catch her breath.
“What? It is one of the actors we are safe now. Oh man, you had me going, Leah.”
“Yes, ladies, you are perfectly safe, my name is Vladimir. Come with me.”
Something felt very wrong. Leah reached into her blouse and pulled out her cross. “Hey Vlad, how do you like my jewelry?”
Vladimir hissed and his face twisted and contorted revealing his demonic nature. His fangs extended and his eyes, by the light of the full moon, appeared to turn completely black.
“Still think he’s an actor Dana? Run. Get out of here!”
“I’m not going anywhere without you,” Dana said.
“Oh, how sweet,” the vampire hissed. “I guess that means two meals for the price of one.”
Dana yanked the cross from Leah’s grip and tore the chain from her neck throwing it into the brush. Vladimir’s countenance returned to a handsome young man’s face.
“What the hell, Dana?”
There was no emotion at all in Dana’s face.
“Oh, no, Dana, wake up. Snap out of it, please.”
“Well at least one of you is pliant. I suppose that just means you can watch while I make a snack of your friend here.”
Leah tried to figure out where Dana had thrown the cross but she was afraid to take her eyes off the vampire.
“Time is ticking away, my little dessert, what will you do?”
Dana was walking slowly towards the vampire. Vladimir however had his eye on Leah. His smug and toothy smile dared her to make a move.
Leah felt paralyzed. She could not run and leave Dana there but she did not want to watch Dana be killed either.
“Such a pretty friend you have, witch.” Vladimir stroked Dana’s hair as she stood before him and offered herself to his will. He placed his fangs on her neck all the while watching Leah with a grin in his eyes.
Leah’s stomach started to give way. Her head was pounding. His fangs found purchase. The first drops of blood begin to run down Dana’s neck.
“You won’t be snacking on any of my boarders,” the hosteller’s voice shattered the silence.
Vladimir’s eyes went wide as he felt the power compel him to retreat from his meal.
“You may be powerful old woman but you can’t hold me forever. It would take three witches to destroy me and this one hardly knows her strength. She could not lift a finger against me. ” Even though he was bound, the smugness returned to his smile.
“Then perhaps, you should not have chosen here and now to corner these girls.”
“I’m not afraid of dead bodies. None of these was a witch. Besides, the bones of witches have no power”
“That is right abomination, magic lives in the spirit” a new voice spoke. “Dead things should stay dead, but ye would run about stealing the souls of others.”
“Great grandmother!” Leah snapped out of her fear. She felt a surge of power flow through her.
“A few more greats than that but I’ll take the compliment.” The ghostly young woman smiled. “Let the body be at rest, let the souls be free.”
The vampire once again took on its demonic countenance and snarled.
The woman who called herself Baba Yaga opened her hands to the night sky. “Let the body be at rest, let the souls be free.”
Vladimir began thrashing about struggling with each step he took towards Leah. Her vocal chords froze. This could not be happening. She did not have the power.
“Leah?” Dana started to rouse from her trance. Vladimir’s demonic face filled with an evil grin.
Leah yelled out, “Let the body be at rest.” The vampire lunged at her. “Let the souls be free!”
An explosion of faces contorted in fear and pain burst out of the vampire’s body leaving only a pile of ash behind.
“Leah?” Dana asked again.
“Yes, Dana.”
“I think I want to go home now.”
<<
Originally Published November 2010 in Monster Party from Living Dead Press
About the Author:
Wakefield Mahon is the other of the Sacred Stones series and has had stories published in various online and print magazines and a number of anthologies, including In Space No One Can Hear You Scream , The Spirit of Poe and State of Horror: Pennsylvania.
For more information or to find out where to purchase other books and anthologies, visit http://www.wakefieldmahon.com
Connect with Me Online
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/WakefieldMahon
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