“Anna, stay close to me,” Isabella whispered. Anna, who was now frightened, did what she was told.
“Who are you?” A voice echoed through out the darkened hall. Isabella could not pinpoint where it was coming from.
“My name is Isabella.”
“Isabella. He has talked of you,” the voice responded.
“I’m sure he has,” Isabella cynically responded.
“What do you want here?” the voice responded.
“Nothing. I just came for my grandfather’s sword.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes.”
“He misses you. Will you not wait till he comes back?”
“I will not and that information is of no relevance to me.”
“I know that is not true.”
“Who are you?” Isabella asked, and the other Vampire finally revealed herself. She appeared at the top of the stairs. She was a very young-looking girl; she must have been only sixteen, perhaps seventeen, when she was turned. She descended the stairs with so much grace she looked like she was floating down them. Her golden hair and blue eyes shimmered in the moonlight.
“She is beautiful,” Anna whispered, unable to contain her awe at this vision.
“Yes she is,” Isabella agreed. There was a ghostly quality to her as if she was not of this earth and never had been.
“I am Olya. I am a Vampire but not a very strong one. I was turned too late. I was dead when he changed me. I had been dead for just a few moments; I saw a light and I reached out towards it. I think I nearly touched heaven before I was yanked back from it into this dark world again.”
Isabella felt pity for this heavenly creature.
“I can end it for you—I can send you back towards that light,” Isabella stated.
“No, not yet, I believe I was brought back for a reason and I will not leave until that reason has presented itself.”
“You are brave,” Isabella stated.
“No not really.”
Isabella turned to leave.
“Will you ever come back to him?” Olya asked.
“Never. I can’t.”
“I see only blackness ahead for all us if you do not,” Olya answered.
“Blackness is not just our future, it is our present, as well.”
“This life is not so black for me and it need not be for you.”
“Do you have to feed?” Isabella asked.
“No, I don’t have to kill.”
“You are a wonderment; can I touch you? I want to see if you are really real.”
“You can.” As Isabella touched Olya’s hand an energy surged through her. She recognised it. It was the feeling she had felt when Nicolae, Charlotte and Vincente died. Isabella did not want to let go but Olya pulled back her hand. “You must let go—it exhausts me.”
Isabella let go, not wanting to cause Olya any pain.
“Isabella, if you don’t want to see him you should leave now, for he is near.”
“Thank you,” Isabella stated.
Isabella turned to leave and as she was just about to go out the door with Anna behind her, Olya called after her. “Try to forgive him, Isabella. He loves you and he knows he hurt you greatly, but he is truly penitent.”
Isabella smiled back at this angelic creature. “Do you know what your name means?”
“Yes, it means a holy one.”
Isabella looked at Olya. A serenity surrounded her. Isabella felt as if she had been touched by an angel. She shut the door behind her and left the castle. As she walked down through the woods with Anna to the village below she saw Vlad on a horse galloping up towards the castle. Each was struck still by the presence of the other. Vlad and Isabella gazed upon each other’s faces for the first time in half a century.
“Who is that?” Anna asked.
“No one,” Isabella answered. “Come on, Anna, I better make sure you get safely home.” The horse that was carrying Vlad veered away and galloped on. Isabella also journeyed on, neither one of them taking the time to glance back at the other.
Isabella made sure Anna was safely home and then left to look for Leila.
Vlad had held Leila back from Abraham the night she was wounded; he knew she was going to kill him. He should have stopped her months ago but his old nature made him reluctant. But Vlad knew that he must try to save Abraham, for if he did not Isabella would be hurt and he had hurt her enough. He watched with a firm grip on Leila that night. He was standing behind her. She had wanted to strike out at Abraham since he had arrived to meet Isabella. Leila knew by the way Isabella was looking at him that she felt great affection for him. She had been about to run towards Abraham when Vlad had wrenched her back.
“Where do you think you are going?” Vlad asked.
“Let me go,” Leila screamed.
“No,” Vlad shouted. “You have caused her enough harm.”
“Not nearly enough,” Leila screamed. Leila was struggling trying to get loose from his strong grip but it was useless.
“Stop struggling; it is pointless.” Vlad said, for he was much stronger than Leila.
“You can’t hold me forever.”
“Maybe not, but I can break your arms and legs. That should slow you down,”
Vlad had never been to close to Abraham. In fact that evening was the closest he had ever been. He was watching the pair and as Abraham stood to leave he turned directly towards Vlad. Vlad now facing him for the first time was amazed. He saw what he knew were his own son’s eyes staring back at him. Vlad started to laugh and let go of Leila.
“Go, Leila, try and kill him,” Vlad said. Leila pounced on Abraham and Vlad saw her shrink back when some of his blood splashed onto her skin. He saw the realisation on Isabella’s face as she discovered Abraham was a Dhampir. After a few minutes Leila stood and began to run away, but she did not get very far. Vlad stopped her.
“So for once you have felt what the Dhampir’s blood feels like.”
“Leave me alone,” Leila shouted.
“It is quite fitting that you have ended up this way—that scar will never heal.”
“Stop it, let me go!”
“I will let you go, but she won’t,” Vlad pointed to Isabella. “Now that she has a Dhampir’s blood she will be relentless in the pursuit of you.”
Isabella had turned the tables on Leila; she was now chasing her. She had easily tracked her down. Leila was not as cautious as Isabella was about covering her tracks. The path Leila took was littered with abandoned bodies. Leila’s scar was as prominent as it ever was. Isabella confronted Leila for what she hoped was the final time.
“Leila,” Isabella called out. Leila was chilled to the bone when she saw Isabella. She knew Vlad’s prediction was about to become true. Leila shrank back from her. She wanted to hold on to her pathetic existence, miserable though it was.
“Get away from me!” she yelled.
“You are finally scared of me,” Isabella said. Leila was by now running from Isabella. Isabella chased her and within seconds caught her. She had always been faster and stronger than Leila. Isabella tripped Leila and she fell onto the dirt.
“I am not afraid of you,” Leila said very nervously, jumping back onto her feet, trying to show Isabella that she still had some courage left. Isabella pulled Leila close to her so that she could see her own reflection in Isabella’s eyes.
“You should be, you should have always been.” Isabella placed a drop of the Dhampir’s blood in her eye. As soon as the blood touched Leila’s eye it was petrified and the skin that surrounded it hardened into a callus.
Leila wrestled free from Isabella’s grip and screamed out, “Are you going to torture me?”
“Should I torture you? Should I let you live, only to slowly and painfully take your life bit by bit?” Isabella lunged at Leila again and took another drop and placed in it in the other eye, blinding Leila completely.
“Why?” Leila shouted.
“You ask me why? You killed Charlotte, you tried
to kill Abraham and you killed Vilem, one of my kin.”
“You killed me,” Leila shouted back.
“I didn’t do a good enough job; I should have made sure I had finished you off.”
“Well, make sure you don’t make that mistake twice—finish me.” Leila was crawling around on the ground, feeling for Isabella. Isabella knew she did not want to grant Leila the peace that she had witnessed, which every other Vampire had gained when they had left this world.
“No, I am not going to kill you; I want you to suffer for what you have done. I will not grant you the serenity that comes with death.”
“If you leave me here I promise you I will feed on nothing but Slovaks for the rest of my days.”
“You will never feed on anything ever again!” Isabella clutched Leila’s jaw and poured some of the Dhampir’s blood into her mouth. Isabella pushed her jaw together. The quantity was not enough to kill her but her mouth started to burn, Leila squealed and that was to be the last sound she ever made. Isabella pushed her mouth shut again and her skin seared together. Isabella pushed her jaw up towards her nose, crushing her bones, fusing the bottom and lower part of her jaw together. Isabella turned from her, leaving Leila in agony. Leila grasped out for her trying to listen for an indication of where Isabella stepped but she couldn‘t find her. She was gone.
Isabella had left Leila blind, disfigured and unable to feed. She would now spend the rest of her existence in constant pain, she would age and she would die, but not for years.
Isabella did not know it yet, but she would come to regret letting Leila live.
RENFIELD
A SANE MAN FIGHTING FOR HIS SOUL
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Renfield watched as they carried the coffin down the street. The skies had opened and were weeping, quite fitting on this day. His daughter was in that wooden box, cold, still and lifeless. They said she died of natural causes but Renfield knew that not to be true. He had killed her, the same as if he had stabbed her through the heart. He had sold her in a marriage that he knew would suffocate her. Her husband had money and Renfield wanted money more than his daughter’s happiness. This was the result, a funeral. The sights seen on this day would haunt him forever. How could he face Saint Peter and plead for his soul when he had done this? His guilt-ridden tears were hidden in the rain.
Vlad was watching Isabella when she finally confronted Leila. He saw how strong she had become; Leila was no match for her. As he watched, he came upon the realisation that she did not need him, at least not any more. She did not need his protection; no one on this earth was a proper match for her, not even another Vampire. He wondered, was he capable of beating her? He doubted that he could now. Vlad turned his back on Isabella; he was filled with sadness. He now felt totally alone—he was no longer her distant guardian.
Isabella had had every intention of killing Leila, but on seeing her pathetic existence she had decided it would be a worse punishment to leave her alive. Isabella spent the subsequent years the same way that she had spent so many others, completely alone. But after two decades, she heard Anna calling her home.
Anna’s son was getting married when Isabella returned; a girl named Catherine was his bride. Neither Isabella nor Anna thought much of her but Anna‘s son was in love. Anna had changed in the years since Isabella had seen her last. She was not the young impetuous girl that had followed Isabella everywhere she went. Her second child had died of consumption and since then moroseness had penetrated her mind. She ached for the daughter that was no longer there.
Isabella was still very fond of her and she was possibly one of the only humans that could have any influence over the Vampire.
“There is a lot of activity going on up there,” Anna said, looking to the castle.
“What do you mean, activity?” Isabella asked.
“People have been coming and going.”
“People, what sort of people?”
“Some Slovaks and some Szgany Gypsies have been hired to work there and there is one other person who lives in the castle now, a foreigner.”
“A foreigner, from where?”
“England.”
“England, he always loved England; I wonder what he is planning. Do you know why the Englishman came here?”
“All I know is that he was a British solicitor. He told the innkeeper that he was here to finalise the paper work on the Count’s purchase of some property in England.”
“Purchasing property? Isabella said bemused. “We Vampires do not purchase property, we… acquire it,” Isabella said with a smile.
“Well that is what he is doing, according to all reports.”
“If Vlad wants to purchase property, he has to let him return home.”
“A coach came for him a few weeks ago, but he never got on it.”
“I think I will go up and talk to Olya and see what is happening. Have you seen her recently?” Isabella asked.
“No not at all.”
“That settles it. I want to check that she is all right. I will go up tonight.”
“Will you let me know what happens?” asked Anna.
“I will, I’ll be back before morning,” Isabella concluded.
Isabella walked through the forest up to the castle. All the torches that surrounded the castle were now lighted. These torches had not been seen for two hundred years, perhaps even longer. Isabella was puzzled by this. Vlad had no need of light. Was he trying to pass himself off as human in front of this Englishman? Isabella hesitated before she pushed open the heavy wooden door. She did not want to see him, but she wanted to see Olya. So she somewhat reluctantly continued and crossed the threshold. The entrance hall was empty, but Isabella could hear whispering coming from upstairs. She slowly ascended the staircase, apprehensive as to what she would find there. She opened the door to her old room to discover that Olya now occupied it.
“I knew you would come back,” Olya began softly.
“I am not staying,” Isabella said, not wanting to give Olya false hope.
“You should. The danger that I spoke of before is much closer now.” As Olya spoke, Isabella realised she felt it too. There was something…life felt finite again.
“I think you are right. I feel it, too, the end for all of us feels near,” Isabella answered.
“Then you must come home.”
“This is not my home; it hasn’t been for a very long time, no matter what happens I can never live here.”
“Isabella…” Olya began, she was trying to plead with her, but Isabella cut her off before she could continue.”
“No, never,” Isabella said firmly.
“Well will you do me one other favour?”
“Anything else.”
“Will you help me go outside? I rarely get to go out anymore. I want to feel the fresh air on my face.”
“Of course.” Isabella practically had to carry Olya outside, for she was very weak. The glow that had enveloped her had gone, and it had taken with it the serenity that radiated from her heart. Isabella did not know if she was dying or becoming like her.
“Why are the torches lighted at the gate?” Isabella asked when they were both outside.
“A man arrived a few weeks ago.”
“Yes, I know, an Englishman.”
“Renfield is his name.”
“Why is he here?”
“He is helping Vlad buy a house in England.”
“But why does he need to buy anything?”
“He wants to live in England respectably.”
“Respectably?” Isabella smirked as she spoke.
“Yes.”
“That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard, is he deluded? He is a Vampire; he cannot be respectable.”
“He is trying. He has stopped feeding.”
“Completely?”
“Yes.”
“What has affected this change in him?”
“I’m not sure. His visits to this place used to be rare─sometimes it would
be years between visits. Then twenty years ago he came home in a deep melancholy. He was inconsolable and didn’t leave this nebulous place not even for a moment, and then a few months ago he decided he wanted to leave forever.” Isabella stooped down and took a fistful of dirt in her hand.
“He will not leave forever. In life this is the land he fought for. He would have died for this land; it will never let him go.” As these words left her lips, the earth started to heat in her hand. Isabella unclasped her fingers and let it fall to the ground. As the sod hit the forest floor the heat spread throughout. Without realising it, Isabella had released a mighty power.
“Are you going to go with him?” Isabella asked Olya.
“No. Whatever extra life I was granted is soon to end,” Olya cried. Isabella was sorry for her. Isabella’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud banging coming from deep within the castle.
“Who else lives here now?”
“There are three other Vampires; they are vicious and malicious creatures. Renfield occupies the upper rooms.”
“I‘m going up to him,” Isabella stated. At this the wooden door at the entrance of the castle banged shut.
“Vlad is back,” Olya whispered.
Isabella was reluctant to go back inside. She did not want to occupy the same space as he did, but she felt she had to know what Vlad’s plan was. For, like Olya, she too now felt the darkness that was about to encapsulate them. Isabella crept silently up the second staircase to the higher chambers where Renfield was being held. She peered in through the gap between the hinges and the open door. For the first time Isabella was watching Vlad without his knowledge.
“Renfield,” Vlad began and Isabella listened, “I want you to return now to England, and send someone else to finish off your work here. A young man. I want to know a different man’s outlook on English living.” Isabella looked over at Renfield. He was anxious and scared. Vlad had obviously been torturing him. “Will you send me this man, if I let you go home?”
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