VROLOK

by Nolene-Patricia Dougan

  FOR MERCY HAS A HUMAN HEART

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  It had been twenty years since Isabella had put Nicolae on the boat to America. She had abandoned Katya’s family during this time and felt that she had to go back. She was incredibly lonely, but even so she was loathe to go back to the Carpathians. She never wanted to be close to Vlad ever again.

  Isabella knew Katalin would have been dead for a long time; therefore, Isabella entered the house not knowing who she would find there. It was night and the family which now occupied the place were all asleep. Isabella walked into the back room of the house and looked at the man and woman who were sleeping there. She remembered that Katalin had told her that she had had no daughters. Isabella placed her hand on the temple of the man lying with his arm draped over his wife. She wanted to see if this man had inherited any of his mother’s murderous instincts. She was relieved to find that the worst thing this man was guilty of was lusting over a woman that was not his wife. Isabella leaned down and whispered in the man’s ear.

  “Wake up.” He woke up instantly and looked at Isabella. “Follow me outside,” Isabella asked. The man got up without any resistance and followed the Vampire outside his home. Isabella could sense he was somewhat nervous but that he had known this day would eventually come and he had been prepared for it. “What’s your name?” Isabella asked.

  “Havel.”

  “Do you know who I am?”

  “Yes I do,” Havel answered.

  “Good.” Isabella looked up at the castle. “Is he up there?” Isabella asked.

  “No one has seen him for years,” Havel answered.

  “Are any bodies being found?” Isabella enquired.

  “No, not that I have seen, definitely not any Slovaks.” Isabella found this somewhat surprising but she was still pleased that no Slovaks were being killed. She knew they were useful to Vlad as guardians of Vampires and no doubt that was the only reason that Vlad was not killing them. It was certainly not through any loyalty to her.

  “Good.”

  “What do you want from me?” Havel asked.

  “Nothing that will tax you too much. I want the Slovaks to be loyal to Vampires, even him; and none of you will ever be harmed, I will make sure of it.”

  “We are loyal,” said Havel.

  “Good, continue to be.” Havel was trying to gather up the courage to tell Isabella what he needed to.

  “It is causing us some trouble…”

  “Trouble?” Isabella enquired.

  “Yes, the other people in this region accuse us of colluding with the Devil.”

  Isabella smiled. “I suppose you are.”

  “They curse our name; we are becoming alienated from the other settlers here.”

  “Would you prefer the alternative?” Isabella said.

  “No, of course not.”

  “Then what are you asking?”

  “I want you to visit us a little more often.”

  Isabella sighed. “I don’t want to come back here anymore than I have to. I have had enough of this place.”

  “Isabella, you owe it to us.” Isabella looked at the man who dared to confront her. There was nothing of his mother about him but he had a faint look of Katya that shone through in his defiance and Isabella smiled.

  “You dare to tell me what to do?” Isabella took a step towards him and Havel stepped back. His courage momentarily left him.

  “It was only a request,” Havel said nervously. “I am well aware that I can‘t tell you to do anything.” As Havel continued talking his voice was getting stronger, his conviction getting more resolute as he spoke. He was determined to stand up to the Vampire and say his piece. “We have given you so much and you have not given anything back to us.”

  “I have let you live,” Isabella said to test if he could be intimidated by her. She took another step towards him so that she was practically touching him. Havel stood his ground determined to have the courage of his convictions. “You certainly did not get your courage from your mother; she would have sold her kin to save herself.”

  “Please do not speak ill of my mother,” Havel said a nervous tremor echoing through out his voice.

  “You are quite right. I should not denounce her in front of you; she was your mother after all.”

  “Thank you.”

  Isabella shrugged as if she was completely nonchalant about his thanks. “Well, I have been put in my place,” Isabella said sarcastically. “I will visit you at least every two years,” she relented.

  “Thank you again.”

  Isabella nodded. The pair stood for a moment in silence; since they had come outside, Isabella had not been able to pull her gaze away from the castle.

  “I have decided I want a favour from you in return,” Isabella resumed.

  “What is it?” Isabella motioned up to the top of the woods. She wanted to see it one last time but she did not want to face that place alone.

  “Will you go up to the castle with me?” Isabella said, revealing a vulnerability that she had never revealed before.

  “I will.” Havel nodded. He was curious to see it himself and he would have never ventured up there with anyone other than Isabella, for he knew she would protect him.

  Isabella walked slowly up through the forest, towards the castle, with Havel at her side. The wind rustled through the trees; the icy nighttime breeze blew against her skin, as if even the very winds were telling her not to go back there. She went into the courtyard and remembered the first day she had come through these gates and saw the wolf. She remembered how innocent and naive she had been and asked herself if she had to do it all over again, would she? She smiled to herself, realising she probably would.

  “The first time I came here must be more than two hundred years ago,” she began. “Your ancestor Katya was with me. She warned me never to come back here, and she was, as always, right. I never should have come up here again. My life would have been so…different.”

  “And so much shorter,” Havel interrupted.

  “When you have lived the life that I have, you realise that time is the only thing that belongs to you, and it is an empty possession.”

  “I am not so sure. Having only another five, perhaps ten years left of my life, I think I would give a lot for another lifetime,” Havel answered. “I would like a little more time to see some of the things you have seen.” Isabella did not respond. She got up and walked through the stone archway. The door was lying open, and Isabella continued cautiously into the grand hall. She ran her hand over the armchair that sat in front of the fire; she had sat here so often, at first reading by herself and then with Vlad. It was now a cold and icy place. Dust and cobwebs had gathered in every corner. Vlad had not been here for years. Isabella looked up over the fireplace to see her portrait but it was missing. She wondered where it had gone; he had probably destroyed it she thought, as he had destroyed the picture of his wife.

  “Are there any rumours as to where he is?” Isabella asked. Her voice echoed through the empty hall.

  “None.”

  “No doubt he will turn up eventually,” Isabella responded.

  “Why did you leave him?”

  “He would not let me have any company but his own; he went to extreme lengths to ensure that I didn‘t have any other.”

  “Surely his company would be better than this total isolation?”

  “It probably would, but I am a stubborn woman.”

  “Surely it is not just stubbornness that keeps you away?”

  “You are right; the truth is he did something to me that I can never forgive him for even if I wanted to.”

  “What did he do?”

  “He killed my husband, and in doing that he didn‘t let me have a chance to see if Nicolae could have forgiven me for what I had done. I will never know if he could have learned to love me again.”

  “My mother told me you killed your husband.”

  “No, I tried to save him. Vlad killed him and now he
is trying to kill me; he sent a woman to kill me a few years ago.”

  “Has he made any other attempt?”

  “No, not yet, but I wait for him to finish what he started.” Wind rustled through the hallway and a door blew shut. Havel and Isabella were now standing in total darkness. The castle just stood as an empty relic; there was nothing here for Isabella anymore. “I have seen enough of this place,” Isabella said. Havel and Isabella left the castle.

  Isabella was true to her word and she visited Katya’s family every two years without fail and made sure they were content and safe from harm. Havel passed his duty on to Josef, his son. Josef passed the mantle to Rada, his daughter and Rada passed it on to Nadezhda, her daughter.

  Nadezhda was a young and pretty girl, full of joy. She touched the heart of everyone she encountered. Isabella, like the others who knew Nadezhda, was bewitched by her. Nadezhda looked upon Isabella with nothing but either sympathy or kindness. All the other members of Katya’s family, even Katya herself, had looked upon Isabella with a certain amount of fear and mistrust. Isabella always knew that none of them ever forgot what she was, but Nadezhda was different. She didn’t even act afraid of Isabella. She was as close to being a perfectly good person as Isabella had ever known. Isabella had never known her mother, Clara, but had always imagined that if she had known her, she would have been just like Nadezhda, seeing goodness in everyone and everything.

  Nadezhda had a young family and was loved deeply by her husband. Such a soul could only be deeply loved by anyone she knew. Isabella visited Nadezhda a little more often than any other member of Katya’s family. Nadezhda made her feel like part of this family and she enjoyed this feeling.

  One winter Isabella had decided to visit Nadezhda a month before she was expected. Nadezhda greeted Isabella with a smile and brought her into the house as usual. Nadezhda motioned for Isabella to sit down. Isabella sat on the seat and Nadezhda placed her young baby son on Isabella’s knee. Isabella was amazed at the trust Nadezhda placed in her. Isabella bounced the child on her lap and the child giggled to himself. Nadezhda watched Isabella and made an observation.

  “You are good with children,” Nadezhda commented. “You had child of your own, didn’t you?”

  “That was a long time ago,” Isabella answered.

  “I don’t think it was so very long ago in your eyes,” Nadezhda answered.

  “It was several life times ago and I only saw my son three times.”

  “That must have been awful for you, not seeing your own child.”

  “It was better than the alternative.”

  “Nonsense,” Nadezhda scolded. Nadezhda was incapable of seeing any maliciousness in anyone, especially not Isabella. There was a knock at the door and Nadezhda went to answer it. When she opened the door there was no one there.

  “That’s strange,” Nadezhda said.

  “Who was there?” Isabella asked.

  “No one,” Isabella listened. She heard whispering coming from outside. Two women were talking.

  “I am hungry,” said one.

  “So am I,” the other hissed.

  “Shut the door,” Isabella called out suddenly to Nadezhda. Nadezhda did as the Vampire asked, sensing the urgency in Isabella‘s voice.

  “What is wrong?” Nadezhda asked.

  “Be quiet,” Isabella said trying to listen to the pair out side.

  “Isabella, what is wrong?” Nadezhda asked again.

  “Take your child into the back room and don’t make a sound,” Isabella said firmly. Isabella continued to listen to the two whispering outside.

  “So hungry, come out of the house, come out of the house.” There was a hypnotic quality in these women’s voices that only Isabella could distinguish. Moments flew in complete silence. Isabella was getting increasingly nervous; she thought that Vlad had sent these creatures for her. If she went outside, would they be holding Dhampir’s blood, lying in wait to kill her? The silence was soon to be interrupted by a smash coming from the room that Nadezhda and her child occupied. Isabella shuddered; she now feared for Nadezhda.

  Isabella quickly ran into the other room; the shutter that was covering the window was flapping in the breeze. Isabella could hardly bring herself to look at the floor. She lowered her gaze and she saw the unthinkable. The baby was lying on the floor crying for his mother and there were two Vampires feeding on Nadezhda.

  “Get away from her,” Isabella shouted. The two Vampires looked up at Isabella, astounded that anyone was daring to tell them what to do. Isabella lunged at the demonic pair and dragged them both back by the hair. The two Vampires were clawing at Isabella trying to injure her. They felt Isabella’s strength and when she let go of them they ran from the house and back up to the castle. Nadezhda’s husband, who had heard the raucous and the baby crying from outside ran into his bedroom. Isabella was sitting beside Nadezhda, stunned by what had happened. Nadezhda’s husband lifted up his dying wife and looked at Isabella.

  “Did you do this?” he screamed at Isabella.

  “No, it was not Isabella,” Nadezhda said her breathing getting fainter, her life slowly ebbing away.

  “I can save her,” Isabella stated in desperation.

  “How?” Nadezhda’s husband asked.

  “By making her… like me.” Nadezhda’s husband looked at his dying wife and she shook her head.

  “No, she does not want that,” he said. Nadezhda let out one final gasp and shut her eyes forever. “No,” Nadezhda’s husband cried out. Isabella got up and left the room. As she was about to go out through the door Nadezhda’s husband asked.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To kill the Vampires who killed her,” Isabella said.

  “I am coming with you.”

  Isabella turned to face Nadezhda‘s distraught husband.

  “No. I will not be able to protect you from them. Think of your child—who will look after him?”

  “I don’t care; I have to avenge my wife. I can‘t just stay here and raise my son as if nothing has happened.”

  “I will avenge her for you; none of them will live through this night. Stay here and raise your son.” Nadezhda’s husband took hold of Isabella’s hand before she could leave.

  “You will show them no mercy?” he asked.

  “I will show them no mercy. For mercy has a human heart.”

  Isabella left the Nadezhda’s home. She ran up through the forest; as she grew close to the castle she heard voices, all female. Isabella ran through the courtyard and approached the solid wooden door. She threw out one fist against the door and it flew off its hinges, hitting the ground with a thud and then sliding across the stone floor until it came to an eventual stop.

  The Vampires inside the castle all heard the door slamming down against the stone floor. They quickly gathered in the hall to face Isabella. There must have been twenty of them, all hissing at Isabella like frightened cats. Isabella ran to fetch her grandfather’s sword which was standing by the fire. And there on top of the fireplace was what remained of the Dhampir’s blood. Isabella smashed the top off the bottle and poured the blood over the blade of the sword.

  The Vampires were circling her, they were not afraid yet. Isabella was ready for them. The Dhampir’s blood dripped off the edge of the blade. Isabella stood with her sword out in front of her.

  “You cannot harm us,” one of them hissed at Isabella.

  “We’ll see,” Isabella answered them. She spun round, and a few loose droplets of blood flew off the sword and hit some of the Vampires. It burnt their skin and they stepped back from Isabella; pain was a sensation they had not expected. One of them, a little braver than the others, tried to jump at Isabella. Isabella retaliated by striking out with the sword and she slashed through this Vampire from the waist to the shoulder and the body fell to the floor in two pieces.

  The others looked at their dead sister and were amazed. They began to get frightened now and some of them tried to run, but Isabella was too fast for
them. She swung the sword around above her head. Two of the Vampires’ heads fell to the ground. Isabella continued killing them with what seemed like little effort. The last one ran up the stairs and Isabella chased after her and caught her by the leg. The pursued Vampire fell to the ground and Isabella plunged the sword through her neck. She pulled the blade from the Vampire’s body with such a force that her head, now completely severed, rolled down the stairs.

  The last of these creatures was dead. Isabella, drenched in blood and exhausted, heard someone move behind her. She spun round with the intention of cutting whoever it was to ribbons but she stopped inches before the blade could strike their skin. Isabella froze as she caught sight of Vlad Dracula.

  “You hesitate. Believe me, I would not,” Vlad said.

  Isabella just stared at him, thoughts racing through her mind. It was as if she had just seen a ghost from her past; a chill ran up her spine. She was tempted to kill him; she was tempted to end it. Isabella drew back the sword and Vlad closed his eyes fully expecting Isabella’s next lunge to kill him. A few moments passed. Vlad felt the rush of air as Isabella spun around again. But then he heard a clatter as the sword struck the floor.

  He opened his eyes and saw she had gone. The sword with the Dhampir’s blood lay motionless on the stony floor. Vlad wiped the blade clean. There was no more blood to poison Vampires. No more Vampires could die; Isabella and Vlad were both safe from harm forever, or so he thought.

  S’IL Y A DANS TOUT LE MONDE CELUI HISTOIRE EXAMINÉE ELLE EST CELLE DES VAMPIRES

  IF THERE IS IN THE WORLD ONE ATTESTED STORY IT IS THAT OF THE VAMPIRES

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  After her confrontation with Vlad, Isabella left the Carpathians determined once again never to return. She started to travel again, always looking over her shoulder to see if Vlad or Leila was chasing her. She didn’t regret letting Vlad live but she suspected that he would follow her and when he caught up with her, he would not show her the same consideration that she had showed him. Isabella did not know who he was anymore; perhaps she never had, but she was now sure that she could not predict his actions and she had to be constantly on her guard.