Ring of Madness

by Royden Labrosse

  Vlad was walking slowly towards me. Step two, step three... And on his face, I read quite clearly the pleasure. A foolish woman dared to enter the field against him! That's funny! He will drink all the blood, and then either turn it or kill it. As the master commands. And hers is me? That's right! I wonder from when did I start reading minds? Probably from when I started to be hypnotized. Vlad stopped five steps away. And to test it, he ordered me to crawl back up to him. I crawled on my knees like a good girl, mercilessly swearing at myself with the last words of motherhood. The floor turned out to be very stiff and rough. And some filth was getting into my naked knees. That hurt! On the other hand, the pain helped keep me in control, so I was even glad to see her. Here we go, crawling. Come on, sadists, sadists! And no respect for human personality! But the next order was better. Get off your knees. I gladly climbed up and barely held on to not scratch them. But I had to stand still. What?!

  Oh, put pressure on him? That's easy, too. I obeyed. Vlad was head above me, and now my face was at the level of his neck.

  I only had a split second to think about it, and I used it better. My idea was simple and elegant. I jumped up, wrapped my legs around Vlad's waist, put my hands around his neck, grabbed my fingers on the neck, and with the acuity of a hungry vampire, I grabbed his teeth into his carotid artery. And she got him!

  The vampire screamed with a bad voice from surprise. Probably didn't bite him the first time, it was his. You bet there are no more fools like that. I squeezed my teeth harder and started gnawing a hole in his throat. It turned out bad, disgusting to hysterics, but the adrenaline was walking through the veins in a continuous liquid stream, but there was no choice. We just had to remember that people are originally predators, and imagine in his place a very large antelope. Or a cow.

  The vampire tried to pull me off, but I held on like a sticky patch. My body acted like a machine gun that obeyed someone else's cold and calm mind. As soon as the vampire ripped my legs off, I bent into his throat harder. Subconsciously, I felt the best way to turn my head so that he wouldn't get my teeth out, how to hold on, how to move in tact with my partner. If a vampire tried to pull his arms off, I would wrap my legs tighter again and squeeze my teeth even harder. I thought we were moving like we were in thick hot honey, but it didn't really take more than two seconds before something hot and salty that I unwittingly swallowed spilled into my mouth. Blood! I got it! And judging by the strength of the flow, I gnawed up the carotid artery! Too bad it got to the vampire, too. He grabbed me with one hand, had a completely brutal reception, and I flew away like a twig. Well, at least he didn't throw me out of the circle, you bastard. But a couple more centimeters, that's it. The brain was working quietly and coldly. What kind of damage do I have? Left arm. Either a fracture or a dislocation. Okay, everybody in the other world is being treated! It's a good thing I don't feel anything! Adrenaline saves! The top has turned into ribbons. It's a good thing vampires don't have claws, or I'd have fun. Couple of scratches, couple of bruises, a little dizzy. And the blood came out of the arm wound again, where I cut it for Daniel. I tried to clamp it, but where is it? Vlad was shattered a lot harder. I slit his throat almost halfway. I didn't expect it from myself! There was blood whipping from a hole in his neck. The carotid artery's ready. But he's alive. And now the vampire was walking slowly, staggeringly, towards me. Now there's no more games.

  Grey eyes are back in my head. A ruthless hand grabbed my shoulder, lifting it up on my feet. And I fell in again somewhere inside.

  That bitch dared to resist... Scoundrel... She hurt me... Best warrior... She could resist the power of my mind, could stay free... Now I'll come and kill her. I'll just destroy her, that's all. I'll rip my head off and drink the blood straight from the severed arteries. I'll bathe in it all to forget my shame forever. There'll be no more games, no more misfires. This girl's gonna die now!

  And I realized they were vampire thoughts. Somehow I was in his mind right now. More than that, I was him now. And I could... What can I do, God?

  What does a regular student have?

  What can I do against a scary and big killer?

  Just one thing. I can make him not want to kill me. And I dared to dive even deeper. Where I could see the most sacred thing - pictures of childhood and youth. I just swam in, pushed through his memories, like lifting curtains, and went deeper and deeper.

  I think the vampire was trying to resist me. I dared him out of the way, and I dived to the end.

  And I saw it.

  He became a vampire over five hundred years ago, then he was thirty. His family died of the plague. His house was burned down and he was hunted like a mad beast. Vlad was left all alone. In the woods, he was hunted like a mad beast. And Vlad became his faithful chain dog.

  But you were a good man. Kind and strong.

  You're not evil in the first place.

  I know from somewhere that I have time to talk about it, and I pull into a vampire's mind what he's long forgotten.

  Baby running to the river. The sun is shining brightly on the water. By the river - a boat, from which a grown man comes out.

  - Dad, Dad!

  A man picks up a child in his arms and throws it up. The boy laughs tinkling. He knows very well that Daddy will never drop it. I mean, he's the strongest...

  - Fedya!

  The mother prays by the icon.

  - Lord, protect and preserve my son... Help him, Lord Almighty... May he be a kind and happy man...

  Amazingly beautiful girl.

  - Annushka, my light, will you be my wife?

  - Yes, my love.

  A forest glade and bright sun. And the daisy wreath that the girl puts on his head. The wreath is big and falls to his shoulders. And Vlad, that is, once Fyodor, young and surprisingly cheerful, finds himself in a necklace made of daisies. He picks up the girl in his arms and spins with her in the clearing.

  ...a little bundle they put on his hands... What do you do with it? He can hurt him... Fright, confusion, embarrassment... Baby crying from the bundle... And then they put the second bundle on his other hand...

  Anna is pale, but surprisingly beautiful, smiling. Black circles lie under her eyes, but her eyes shine with happiness.

  - We have a son and daughter, my dear... Twins...

  And everyone crosses out scary images.

  It's night.

  Blood.

  There's a fire.

  And the dead faces of women and children burned in their own homes. The house he built for his family. In which he dreamed of dying himself. He would have stepped into the fire, but he didn't have time.

  - There's another one alive...

  - Kill! He'll carry the plague on!

  And then there's an arrow stuck in a man's shoulder.

  And he runs. With hatred and a thirst for vengeance in his heart.

  I didn't know what I did next. But I knew that the vampire and I were just seeing the same thing.

  An amazingly beautiful woman stands on a glade flooded with sunlight. Next to her are two laughing children. A boy holding her right hand, a girl holding her left hand. And all three of them are watching the vampire closely. The glow in the eyes of the woman is replaced by tears. The first drop rolls down the white cheek.

  - What have you done to yourself, love?

  And I see Vlad. The way he is now. And me and him standing on the edge of the clearing. And a vampire with a moan rushes to a woman. The kids run towards her, she takes a step...

  And all four of them stumble onto a wall that seems to cross the meadow into two parts. And there's no way to get past it.

  And there's no way around it. It's just two different worlds.

  Ducky's voice is coming from somewhere.

  - You're mine! Obey! Kill!

  And I know what to do now. I walk up to the wall and I kneel down in front of a vampire. I don't know what's going on out there in the circle. It doesn't matter. What's important is what's going on in our minds. Although if I get kil
led here, I'm gonna die there too. But that doesn't scare me right now. There's peace and strange joy in my soul.

  - If you want, kill me. Here and now. In front of their eyes.

  The vampire is horrified to be detached from the wall and from me.

  - This is all you?! The witch!

  But the woman behind the wall is responsible for me.

  - It is. You love us. And she made a bridge out of your love and her power. I've been trying to dock you all these years, but you didn't hear me. You were all black... You're still in it. That's what's keeping us from going... Jane, can you help us?

  I wonder for a moment how she knows my name. But then understanding comes - she knows everything about me now. It's not like I'm lying to a vampire anymore. I don't lie a bit. I've really built a bridge for them. And the only thing that gets in the way of a vampire's wife and kids is his business. Everything he's done. He drank blood, fought, killed... He avenged the innocent for his pain. And his family was waiting for him in heaven, if you can call it that. They waited, watched what their loved one did to themselves, and tormented. I mean, they love him. And they accepted him for who he is. They still love him. And that opens the way. All that's left is the smallest thing. It's nothing.

  The vampire is looking at me with hope.

  I get up off my knees and take his hand.

  - I can't go in there. - I know that's true from somewhere. - But I can help you. Just give me your word you won't call for me. It's too early for me to go in there.

  The woman is smiling.

  - The people you love are there, she points us behind our backs. We turn around and see the hall in the fog. It turns out that the vampire and I are standing in the middle of a circle, measuring like whistles. He holds me by my shoulder, and I don't fight back. Outside the circle, you can see Duchka's purple. His face is distorted. He's shouting something at the vampire, but we can't hear anything. Mecislav stands like a golden statue. His experiences are only visible in the hands clenched in his fists. His fingernails are soaked in that there's blood between his right fist fingers. You can see Daniel's dead and pale face. It's distorted by fear and anger. For who? For who?

  It's like a woman read my mind.

  - He's weak, Jane. But his feelings are not a game. And you are not a toy to him. You'll still have time to figure it out. In the meantime, give us a hand.

  - Let me go - there, - I asked the vampire.

  Vlad obeyed in silence. Now he would have listened, even if I had ordered him to set himself on fire. There was such a vortex of emotion on his face that it was getting scary. Love, tenderness, guilt, the desire to be near so unexpectedly found relatives, fear, remorse ...

  And we see a vampire's hand - there, in a circle - stretching out. Jane in the circle falls to the floor. Its hand bumps into something thin. It pulls out this "something" - the aspen rods that surround the circle. Thin like that. Like matches. You can't move on anymore. The circle is over. There's only death outside of it. The rod breaks in a girl's hand. Two parts. A long wand, a short wand. Girl's figure bends in half, folds the sticks with a cross and pulls the top hard. The long strip of matter remains in her hand. And the girl wraps her around the sticks, giving them the shape of a cross.

  And the cross begins to shine with a warm golden glow. Tender, home...

  A warm path of rays lies under our feet and becomes a golden bridge over the wall. It's not that high. It's just a fence. Cross it, and we're already near Anna and the kids. I still don't know their names, but it doesn't matter. All it takes is one thing from me. To take my father to them. I take Vlad under my arm, and we try to step on the bridge together. I can do it easily, but a vampire can't lift his leg. The gray eyes beggingly look at me. Come up with something!

  And I clearly understand that after this meeting, he can't live like a vampire. Even if we both get out of the circle, he'll commit suicide immediately. And he'll never be around that woman again. For good, for bad, but a man can't pass if he doesn't fight to the end. Whatever the end is.

  And words come from somewhere.

  - God is love. Love is God. There are no crimes that a loving heart can't forgive.

  Through the Union of Love, You have called us to You, we are Your children, Your merciful Lord... The only commandment that no one can break is to love the world in which You live. Love your family and your children. Love those who have given you life and intelligence, and remember that love forgives all. Love and rejoice in what you can love, because love is God and God is love.

  I pulled the vampire's hand again. And he stepped on the bridge. The first step. The second step. The third step was even harder. But I kept going.

  - O Lord, our God, merciful, kind and loving, look at the earth of human hearts that has dried up with love, frozen with hatred, self-love and countless wickedness. I believe that one tear of yours is enough to save the poor man from the evil around him. He did not know what he was doing, for some are stronger and others weaker, for you did not create us equally, and in your mercy you gave us the most important thing, the freedom of will and the freedom of love.

  Where does it come from? It's not like I've never been a Christian. I've never been. I've never been a believer either. Although who says the God I address and the Christian God Father are the same?

  Two more steps. That leaves no more than ten. It's hard to walk, but I know it's all right. I'd rather lay out here every last drop of blood, but I can't separate them because of my weakness. It's enough to see Vlad and Anna's eyes glow with love. The way the children jump near the bridge. They must meet. So they can come back to earth together. One more step.

  - In Your great mercy hand, O my God, my soul and body, my feelings, my advice and thoughts, my deeds and my whole soul.

  Two more steps.

  - O Lord, accept him who has sinned through misunderstanding in your hand, protect him from the evil he has done in despair, forgive his many iniquities, correct evil and repentance, and protect him from the coming troubles and tribulations. Anyone who comes to you, let him find his way. And this road is love.

  Three more steps. That leaves three or four. What do I say?

  But God was loved, too. At least his mother. Christ or not Christ, it doesn't matter. What matters is that even God was loved by someone. Otherwise, it wasn't God, it was a cripple. Only the mentally handicapped create lonely gods. The lonely and the mad. And try not to go crazy yourself if you have a lonely eternity ahead of you!

  - Blessed Virgin Mary, what can I ask you to do? You see everything, you know yourself, look into his soul and give him what he asks. You, who have suffered, you will understand everything.

  Two more steps. The air condenses like a blanket. It repels, strangles, prohibits. Vlad barely holds his legs. Anna stands beside the bridge and draws her hand to him. And I know from somewhere that there is the shortest stretch of road left. One last effort, and permission will be granted.

  - I lead him, I stand, I wait for your response, o Mother of God. I ask nothing for myself, but I stand before you. Only my heart, a poor man's heart, exhausted in longing and pain, I throw it at Your feet. Look into it, and you will see no evil in me. I ask for him with my heart, with my soul... With the love that they carried in their hearts through the years, sorrows, malice and hatred, I ask for him. If a man's heart has not turned away from his beloved, do not turn away from him. For God is Love, and Love is God. Amen! - I spoke loudly.

  And the vampire came down from the bridge to the ground.

  I stayed where I was standing. I wasn't allowed in there yet. But one kind of happy family redeemed everything. My look fell back. I couldn't see the circle. And neither Vlad and I in it. Everything shone shone with a soft golden light - and the other vampires couldn't see anything, no matter how hard they tried. Only I could see through the golden veil, how the earth body of Vlad dissolved in the air. It's not burning, it's just dissolving. Forever. I hope they have more luck in their next life.

  It took forever or two
minutes before Vlad and Anna turned to me.

  - Jane, thank you.

  Three words, but that was enough. No ornate expression of gratitude could compare with the soft light poured out of their eyes. Together, finally together, after so many years. The children clung to their father's feet, afraid that he would disappear again. I could hardly straighten up, clinging to the railing, and smiled weakly, too.

  - I gotta go... goodbye.

  - Goodbye, Jane.

  It was the last time it flashed, and it went out. And I found myself kneeling down and clutching a cross of aspen chips with my hands. There was no trace of a vampire. Not even the ashes on the floor. Nothing. But I knew what was going on.

  The cross was shining with a bright silver light. And it definitely became... yes! Two twigs and a rag became one! It's like they're fused! What's going on? I slowly, wobbly, like a greenhouse rose in the wind, picked it up, pulled scraps of top off my back, wrapped a cross in them, and stuck a bundle in the remnants of pantyhose for lack of everything else. And all this with one hand. The other one was sick with no mercy. The glow had faded away completely. And it was only then that I circled the hall with my eyes. The vampires looked stunned and frightened. You bet! Don't be scared, it's a goose, I'm scared of myself! The goose looked like a log on his head. It's a powerless mixture of anger, hatred and fright. You should send him an air kiss or at least send him a pear, but there is no strength left. Nothing. I looked through Daniel's eyes. But I was the first to see Mieczysław, of course. The vampire quietly entered the circle and moved towards me.

  - How are you feeling?

  - Victory? - I moved my dried-up lips.

  - Yes.