by Amy Cross
Suddenly he noticed a light in the building, and moments later the front door opened. A woman greeted Kate, who promptly turned and beckoned for Mike to get out of the jeep. Sighing, Mike figured it was now or never, so he grabbed his backpack from the rear seat and finally hurried out, immediately stepping in a thick puddle of mud.
"You'll have to forgive my colleague," Kate said to the woman. "This is his first time on the road, so to speak."
Once they were inside, and while Kate was dealing with the process of checking in and paying the bill in advance, Mike removed his shoes and tried to wipe as much mud away as possible. The guest-house itself was an old wooden building, and it seemed kind of shabby. The walls were decorated with ugly paintings that showed ungainly wild animals standing in various unnatural poses, and Mike couldn't help but think that they must be the work of some local amateur. In fact, the whole building had a very provincial feel, coupled with a stale, fusty smell that made Mike think that he and Kate were probably the first visitors to step across the threshold for a long time.
Walking barefoot through to the little office, Mike found Kate filling in some forms.
"Sorry," he muttered. "It's very muddy outside."
The woman smiled politely, before turning to Kate and saying something in Bulgarian. With seemingly effortless ease, Kate replied, speaking the language fluently. Standing over by the door, Mike couldn't help but feel a little left out as the two women conversed for several minutes, their discussion sounding more and more heated. Eventually, the guest-house owner turned and hurried through to the next room.
"We're not very popular around here," Kate said, wandering over to an old wooden piano that stood in the corner of the room. Lifting the lid from the keys, she played a brief, simple tune.
"Because of the mud?"
"Because of what we're doing," she said, still playing the tune. "Word travels. It's not like British academics turn up in these parts every day. I guess people are kind of suspicious. They'd prefer it if things up at the castle were left undisturbed. The legend of the LeCompte family is pretty heavily engrained in local folklore. Most of it's garbage, of course, but there's probably a grain of truth in the whole thing. The LeComptes existed, but it's pretty crazy to think they could have been a bunch of raging vampires."
"I didn't know you played the piano," Mike replied hesitantly.
"I don't," Kate said, stepping away from the piano, as if she was embarrassed. "We had one when I was younger, that's all. I picked up a few tricks here and there."
"So..." Mike waited for her to continue. "Are we allowed to stay the night, or do we have to sleep in the jeep?"
"Don't worry," Kate replied. "She'll take our money. I told her we'd be gone in the morning."
"Since when did you speak Bulgarian?"
"I learned a few words over the years. You know how it is."
As the guest-house owner came back through with more forms, she made some barely audible comments to which Kate gave brief, monosyllabic replies. There was clearly some bad blood, and as Kate filled in a few boxes and signed the pieces of paper, she seemed slightly tense.
"People are superstitious about the castle," Kate continued, as she handed the forms to the woman. "They think the LeCompte family should be left well alone. No-one's been up to that castle for years, and there are certain superstitions floating around. They think abandoned castles should be left abandoned, and that if we go poking around up there, we might unleash..." She paused for a moment. "Well, God knows what. I don't think they know, either. It's just lots of vague doom and gloom."
"Maybe they're right," Mike replied uneasily.
"Don't start buying into the bullshit," Kate said with a smile as she was handed two keys by the woman. "We're in the middle of nowhere in a dark and unforgiving part of the country, and tomorrow morning we're heading up to an abandoned castle that's rumored to have once belonged to a family of vampires. In other words, we've already got enough going on without succumbing to bumps in the night and creepy thoughts." She handed Mike a key. "I can see it in your eyes. You're already starting to let the place get to you. Take my advice." She leaned closer. "Don't."
"I'm fine," Mike said, aware that he didn't sound too convincing. "I mean, sure, the place is kind of spooky -"
"That's exactly what I mean," Kate continued. "Don't even let those thoughts into your mind. These are primal fears, Mike. The kind of things that have been fucking with human heads since the dawn of time. We're better than that. We're smarter. More educated. But it's like Andrew Marlowe always told me... no matter how much we evolve, we've still got those prehistoric fears buried deep in our minds."
"How is Marlowe, by the way?" Mike asked. "Last I heard, he'd had a total breakdown."
"He's..." Kate paused. "Not doing too well, to be honest. I went to visit him a few weeks ago, and he's definitely taking a while to get over things. I didn't even tell him about Pettifer's heart attack. Anyway, I doubt the hospital would have let him out to go to the funeral." She paused. "But Marlowe's a good case in point. He's a smart guy, and a rational guy, but once the craziness got into his mind, it spread like rot. Don't be like him, Mike. It's just the two of us out here, and I need you to stay sane. If you go running off into the mountains, screaming about vampires, I might just abandon you. Got it?"
"So what time do we set out in the morning?" Mike asked after a moment, feeling a little intimidated by Kate's directness. He was feeling very much like the junior partner in this enterprise.
"First thing," she replied, taking a step back. "We should hit the road as soon as it gets light. The LeCompte castle is only a few miles away, but the roads are pretty twisty and I'd rather take things slow. If we're careful and don't end up hurtling down a ravine, we can be there by midday."
"Okay," Mike replied, "and then we come back down here for the night?"
"Nope," Kate said, smiling as she shook her head. "There's no point. Do you know how many hours we'd waste? I've got come camping supplies in the jeep. We're going to stay up there for a few nights."
"At the castle?"
"You got a problem with that?"
"Of course not," he said, determined not to let his fear show. "Sounds like fun. I've never stayed in an abandoned vampire castle before. I doubt many people have had such a great honor."
"Watch it," Kate said with a smile as she turned and headed to the door. "Let's not use the 'v' word, okay? We're not out here on some kind of ghost hunt. This is an academic expedition. Now let's find our rooms. We've got an early start."
Once she'd headed upstairs, Mike was left standing in the office. Moments later, the guest-house owner came through, fixing Mike with a suspicious scowl. Rather than trying to explain himself, Mike merely nodded politely before scurrying off to find his room. He'd been regretting his decision to come out to Bulgaria ever since he'd agreed while talking to Kate a week earlier, but he figured the best thing to do would be to just go along for the ride. After all, as long as the castle was abandoned, there was no reason to get too worked up.
Chapter Two
"So that's it, huh?" Mike said, standing by the jeep early the following morning. Staring at the distant mountains, he could just about make out a large, dark structure clinging to the side of the rocks.
"That's it," Kate replied, with a hint of a smile. "The LeComptes were a very powerful family around here back in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They built their new home to impress, and it worked. Stories of their barbarity and cruelty spread throughout the region. Their name might have died out over the years, but back then they were one of the most feared families in all of Europe. The locals were terrified, and you know what? They still are. It's been hundreds of years since the last of the LeComptes died, but people around here still don't like to hear the name. It's almost as if they expect them to suddenly come back one day. Why do you think that grand old building has been left to rot?"
Turning and looking back at the guest-house, Mike saw that the wo
man was watching them from the window. She looked scared, as if she feared that some great evil was about to be stirred. Mike smiled at her, and she quickly stepped out of sight.
"Superstition tends to linger," Kate continued. "It infects the mind of one generation and then it gets passed down to the next. Each person adds their own twist to the story, just to personalize it a little, and over time the tale adapts to fit the paranoia of each particular age. It's classic oral storytelling, except that this time the purpose isn't to entertain. It's all about fear. The stories that scare people around here today are, in most cases, descended from stories that were first told about the LeComptes hundreds of years ago."
"Who can blame them for being a bit jittery?" Mike asked, finding it hard to take his eyes off the distant, ominous castle, which dominated the landscape like a black smudge on the side of the mountain. Even now, knowing that the place was completely empty, Mike couldn't help but feel that there must be a pair of eyes somewhere in the dark building, watching over the land. In fact, it was impossible to believe that such a huge building could have been left empty for so many years. After a moment, he realized that Kate was staring at him.
"You're doing it, aren't you?" she said with a half-smile.
"What?"
"Stop it!"
"What?"
"You're letting your imagination run away with you! You're thinking about all the things that could be up there."
"I was just -"
"Get in the jeep," she said, smiling as she interrupted him. "We've got a long drive ahead."
Although the distance to the castle was barely four miles in a straight line, the road that led up the side of the mountain was torturous and twisty, with sheer drops for most of the way and very few barriers. It was clear that no-one had been out this far for many years, and all attempts to maintain the roads had been abandoned. Kate and Mike took turns at the wheel, and by midday they finally passed into the castle's shadow. Just after 1pm, the jeep came to the end of the road and the final few hundred meters had to be completed along a rocky outcrop that led, eventually, to a small open plain that jutted out in front of the building.
"Home sweet home," Kate said nervously, tapping the steering wheel. "You ready to go inside, or do you want to wait in the car?"
"I'm ready," Mike said, peering out at the building. Now that he was up close and could see it properly, he felt in awe of such a magnificent construction. Rising hundreds of meters into the air, the LeCompte castle was a grotesque and beautiful Gothic masterpiece, made from what appeared to be some kind of black stone. With gargoyles perched on every available surface, it was clear that the place was designed to instill fear and dread in the hearts of anyone who came near, and Mike couldn't deny that his heart-rate was a little higher than usual as he stared at the large stone steps that led to the main entrance. He knew it was irrational to be affected so strongly by a few architectural flourishes, but all the logic in the world wouldn't be enough to make him feel entirely at ease out here.
"And you're sure this place has been abandoned for centuries?" he asked eventually.
"I'm certain."
"How can you be so sure?" he continued, turning to her. "If it's been abandoned, that means no-one's been here, and if no-one's been here, how does anyone know that it's abandoned?"
"Come on," Kate said, smiling as she opened the door and stepped out of the jeep. "God, look at the view from up here. You'd think the locals would've taken the place over and turned it into some kind of resort. You know, this is exactly why superstition holds us back as a species. A gorgeous place like this, left to just sit here in isolation. It's a crime against history, Mike. We need to document the entire place." She turned to him. "The crazy thing is, we wouldn't even be here if Marlowe hadn't started looking at those bones. The world wouldn't have heard of the LeCompte family and their abandoned castle, and I'd never have been able to raise the funds for this expedition. This whole building could have gone unexplored for another century. It could have just been left to waste away."
"What a tragedy," Mike replied bitterly, stepping out of the jeep and wandering toward the base of the steps. "So what do we do now?" he asked. "Just walk right in?"
"You got a better plan?" Kate said, switching her camera on as she walked past him and started making her way up to the main entrance. She seemed so confident and self-assured, as if she enjoyed proving that she wasn't scared.
"What about animals?" Mike asked, hurrying after her. "I mean, just because humans have left this place alone, you can't be sure there aren't other things here. What about bears? What about... mountain lions?"
"I think we'll be okay," Kate replied with a smile as she stopped by the large wooden door. "If a mountain lion comes for you, Mike, I'll fight it off. Trust me, I'm tougher than I look." Reaching out, she took hold of a large, thick rope and gave it a pull. Sure enough, from deep within the castle, there was the sound of a bell ringing.
"Seriously?" Mike asked. "A bell?"
"I can't believe it still works," Kate said with a fascinated smile. "I guess that's what you get with good craftsmanship." With that, she pushed the door, and found that it was unlocked. "Help me," she said, and with Mike's assistance she was able to push the door all the way open to reveal the gloomy interior of the building. A large chamber decorated with dusty old paintings, it was like something from a horror movie, but it appeared that the entire place had been abandoned with all its furniture and fittings left intact. Dust floated through the air, picked out by beams of light that shone through the windows.
"It's like stepping back in time," Kate said, waving dust away from her face as she stepped forward.
"And you don't think -" Mike started to say, before there was a sudden, loud flapping sound nearby. To his horror, he turned and saw several bats flying straight down toward him, and he was barely able to duck in time before the creatures swooped past and headed out the door.
"You've got to be kidding me!" he shouted, as Kate laughed.
"Your expression!" she said, clearly finding the whole thing to be highly amusing. "God, Mike, you've gone totally pale."
"What are we gonna find next?" he replied. "Christopher fucking Lee walking down the stairs? This place is like some kind of movie set. It's as if someone dressed it up specifically to be a spooky old castle."
"Bats are common in this part of the world," Kate explained. "A place like this would be a perfect location for a nest. There are bound to be more of them around, but they won't attack. The myth of the angry, blood-sucking bat is just that. A myth."
"I'd rather not get rabies while we're out here," Mike replied ruefully.
"Look at the chandelier," Kate said, pointing up at a huge, magnificent creation that hung above them. "That's a hell of a lot of gold, and what's the white stuff? Bone?" Grinning, she turned to him. "Do you think these people were that crazy? A chandelier made with real human bones? Can you imagine the kind of people who'd want to have something like this in their home?"
"It's hard to believe no-one came and ransacked the place after the family died off," Mike replied.
"Everyone was too scared," Kate said, walking over to a large table and running a finger through the dust. "It must be hundreds of years since anyone even dared to come near the castle. The LeCompte's were part of a feudal system, so villagers were forced to come up and deliver tithes and other offerings, but apart from that they kept well clear of the place. The LeComptes ruled by fear, and all these years later, even though the family has disappeared, the fear remains. They just -"
Turning suddenly, she stared back at the open door.
"What?" Mike asked. He waited for a reply, but Kate seemed to be almost frozen in place, as if she expected someone to appear. "Kate?" Mike continued. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she replied, clearly a little shaken. "I just... I guess it was more bats, that's all."
"So how did they die out?" Mike asked, determined not to let her see that he was getting spooked by the p
lace. "If this family was so powerful, how come their castle has been deserted for so long?"
"I guess nothing lasts forever," Kate replied, with a hint of sadness in her voice. "Even the greatest of families has to fall eventually. The bloodline gets polluted, successive generations make costly mistakes... Whatever happened, it must have been quite sudden. Look at this place. If it wasn't for all the dust, you could be forgiven for thinking that someone still lives here. It's fabulous."
"That's not quite the word I'd use," Mike said as he walked over to the bottom of the large staircase that wound up into the heights of the building. "It's definitely huge, though. Where the hell do we begin? You'd need a full team to catalog this place. Even then, it'd take weeks."
"We'll split up."
"Are you serious?" he replied, turning to her.
"You've got your phone, haven't you?" she said with a smile. "What's wrong? Don't tell me you're scared. It's just an old, empty castle. There's no-one here. Just don't go into any areas that are too dark. You never know if there's a loose floor, or a steep drop. You've got your torch with you, right? I mean, the only actual danger is that you might accidentally walk into a door or something."
"Yeah," he said, trying to quickly come up with a reasonable excuse for them to stick together, "but..." He paused for a moment, aware that Kate could see right through him. "Fine," he said eventually, trying to sound confident. "You know what? Fuck it. We'll split up. You want to meet back here in, say, two hours? If we survive, I mean."
"Sounds like a plan," Kate replied. "But remember, if you get scared and you want to hold someone's hand -"
"I'll be fine," Mike said quickly, determined to prove her wrong. She was so certain that he'd got all caught up in the superstitious talk about the castle, it was as if she was starting to see him as some kind of amusing distraction. A child, even. "I'll take this direction," he continued, indicating a huge arched doorway that led through to what appeared to be some kind of hall. "I'll meet you right back here in two hours, and then we can work out where to go from there."