Tail of the Devil

by Danielle DeVor

  Mathias was left in that cell without food, blood, or water. He was forced to lick the mildew on the walls to get moisture down his throat. By the time Lilith returned, he was very weak.

  Stuart said that she opened the cell door with a crazed smile on her face. Mathias hoped that she would see the truth and let him go, but instead she threw him onto a stone slab that she erected on the other side of the enclosure. She then proceeded to torture him. While vampires are known for their marvelous capacity for healing, Lilith put it to the test on Mathias.

  At one point, she eviscerated him, and then went on to force him to pick up his own bowels and place them back inside his body. Over a period of months, she racked him, gouged out his eyes, ripped out his fingernails with tongs, sliced his wings to ribbons, and many other horrible things that Mathias refused to tell Stuart.

  According to Stuart, you could hear the screams for miles around, but anyone who tried to find the source of the screaming would become confused and simply walk away.

  When Mathias’ body tried to heal, his strength gradually decreased. No matter when Lilith arrived, she never brought food, never brought water. And the blood within him was depleting.

  Mathias, the greatest warrior the vampire world had ever known, was forced to live amongst and eat his own waste. He was starving to death for the second time in his life.

  After a while, Lilith did not torture him every day. Maybe she was gradually becoming less insane and what she had done to Mathias was starting to sink in. But I think that she wanted to drag out his pain for as long as she could. She broke him completely. The Mathias I had known was lost forever.

  Finally, Lestan convinced Lilith to let him see Mathias, under the ruse that he could tell if the “devil” was out of him. In her maddened state, she let her consort inside. What Lestan saw drove him to tears and, like a coward, he fled.

  The only thing I can say about Lestan is that after seeing what Lilith was capable of, he never stepped foot into her home again and renounced their union.

  And on top of it, Stuart said that Mathias knew he was a mess, and after the way Lestan had acted, he thought that no one would want to be around him. Lilith had made him hideous. And although his eyes had grown back, the starvation and the torture all but destroyed his sight. He could barely see what was close in front of him.

  At some length, always covering his work with scrapings of mildew, Mathias was slowly digging his way out. He had found a crack in the mortar, and if he broke off his nails so that they were sharp, he was able to dig into the stone. It took him weeks. But finally, he was able to push a stone out of the wall and dig his way into the earth.

  No one can imagine how long it took him. Stuart doesn’t honestly know. And perhaps, it was simply that Mathias wanted to see Stuart one last time before he died, but he managed to find his way back to Lilith’s home. He kept to the shadows and managed to stay hidden.

  Once he saw Lilith leave her home, probably on her way to that dreadful place, he crept into her garden and buried himself in the earth, underneath her prized rose bush. And that was where he stayed.

  Once Lilith found him gone from the cell she put him in, she sat and cried. Apparently, seeing the smears of blood on the wall and scraps of fingernails embedded into the stone where Mathias had clawed his way out had caused Lilith to snap out of the insane state she had been in. She was appalled at what she’d done. Lestan called Vlad and brought him to the cell. It took Lestan and Vlad to get her to leave that awful place. I kept her room ready at the house while watching Stuart. When Lestan and Vlad brought her in, we simply kept her locked in her room where she couldn’t hurt Stuart and so she wouldn’t hurt herself.

  At the time, we tried to let Stuart have as normal of a life as possible. He was then two, and into everything, so when he had an interest in playing in Lilith’s garden, we thought nothing of it.

  It turned out that Stuart knew Mathias was there. All Mathias could do was speak clumsily, but he told Stuart all types of stories— including how he’d ended up in the rose bush.

  And a few years later, it was Stuart who was there when Mathias died. He was then nothing more than a set of bones that could still move. As Stuart later told me, he held onto Mathias’ hand until it stopped moving. He carefully covered Mathias’ hand with more of the surrounding dirt and began to cry uncontrollably.

  At the time, we didn’t know why. And when Stuart was upset, he would always go sit under that rose bush.

  When Lilith finally recovered, she assumed that for Stuart, the rose bush was just his special place. I never even knew that my friend had died. And since she appeared to be recovered, her imprisonment ended.

  Stuart grew up to be angry at Lilith and Lestan; they both never got back together and passed the boy back and forth between them. This hurt Stuart more than they knew. Finally, in the midst of a fight between him and his mother, Stuart blurted out something that chilled Lilith to the bone, “If you’re such a wonderful mother, then how can you explain the body in the garden?”

  I saw Lilith’s eyes open wide and she asked him what he meant.

  It was then, at sixteen, that Stuart led myself, Lestan, Vlad, and Lilith out to that blasted rose bush. He dug around the base for a bit. He didn’t have to work hard because the bush had grown over time. Mathias’ bones were entwined in the roots of the bush, almost as if they had always been there.

  We were horrified. Lilith and the rest of us broke down. It was then that Vlad decided that the bush needed to be moved, so we had it moved to the grounds of the University. We had recently opened the school for vampire children in the wilds of Siberia, and it seemed fitting that Mathias’ final resting place be amongst the children he loved so much.

  In front of the bush is a small plaque declaring it the final resting place of Mathias.

  Chapter Six

  Mathias sat in silence. How in the hell could they let the Queen around kids when she was capable of stuff like that? He didn’t like the idea that he’d even seen the Queen, let alone been within feet of her. Now, it made sense why she stared at him when he first saw her. Like everyone else, she thought he was “Mathias” the bad-ass vamp warrior. Too bad, he was just a damn street kid.

  That evening, Nosferatu took him out near the outer wall to see the grave. The land the castle was on was just amazing. It looked almost like a story book. There were beds of flowers and lots of grass.

  The grave was away from all of the color. It was almost as if they wanted to memorialize the starkness of Mathias’ life by giving it its own place. It stood alone near the outer wall and it wasn’t like any grave Mathias had ever seen. Just as it was described in Nosferatu’s journal, the huge rose bush had bones buried within it. Over the years, with the growth of the bush, the skeleton had been broken apart. In some places, the bones seemed very white. In others, it was like animals had been gnawing on them.

  Maybe it was the remnants of the vampire blood that kept the bones around this long. Any human bones would have been gone a long time ago.

  The roses were blooming and were this weird color that wasn’t quite white. They had kind of a bluish cast to them. Mom would have liked them.

  Nosferatu pointed to a small brass plaque in front of the bush. It was written in Cyrillic. Mathias couldn’t read it, but he remembered his Dad reading Russian newspapers once in a while.

  “I know you can’t read it Mathias. Remind me to teach you Russian.” Nossy bent down and brushed invisible dust and grass from the plaque.

  Mathias crouched down.

  “It says: Here lies the resting place of Mathias, son of Wylde. He was a great warrior, great king, and great friend. We will miss him. Always.” Nossy looked at Mathias.

  Mathias looked back.

  Nossy reached into the bush and stroked what Mathias finally recognized as a leg bone. “I loved him very much.”

  Nossy started crying. The sobs made his chest heave.

  Mathias stepped back a little so he could give Nossy
some privacy. It was hard to see someone cry that hard, but there wasn’t really anything he could do. He didn’t know Nossy well enough to try to comfort him- not that he even knew how.

  He probably should have felt something about the grave, but he didn’t. It wasn’t as if he’d known Mathias or anything. But still, being out on the grounds was kind of peaceful. If he’d known the old vamp like Nossy had, then this place would have held a lot more meaning. As it was, it was just another tomb, nothing like how he would feel standing near his parent’s final resting place.

  Nossy wiped at the plaque a few more times, wiped his eyes with his sleeve, and walked back toward the castle. Mathias followed. Hope he calms down soon.

  * * * * *

  After arriving back at Vlad’s chambers, Nosferatu continued to sob. Mathias had no way of making him get a hold of himself. How do you calm down a vampire over a thousand years old, anyway?

  After a while, Mathias gave up and went into his room. He sat on his bed and stared at the wall. Everything was just so confusing. He wished his father was there, he’d always known what to do.

  * * * * *

  Finally, after he’d gotten himself in a better state of mind, Nosferatu decided that it was time for he and Vlad to have a serious talk. So, he picked up the telephone and called Tepes back to his rooms.

  Nossy stayed seated at Vlad’s desk. He liked sitting there; mostly because he knew it would irritate his friend. A few minutes passed. Then, Nossy could faintly hear footsteps coming down the hall. They were a little slow.

  The footsteps paused at the outer door. Nossy smiled to himself. He couldn’t wait to see the reaction. But, it was all ruined when Vlad came in looking so dour that Nossy thought that the elder vampire really needed a stiff drink.

  He got up out of Vlad’s office chair and walked around the desk. “He’s going to be okay, you know,” Nosferatu said.

  “I think I need to start worrying about more than just Mathias. Why are your eyes red?” Vlad asked.

  Nossy sighed. He figured that any signs of his outburst would have been gone by now. Oh, Well. “I took him to see the grave. It...affected me more than I thought it would.”

  Vlad nodded. “What am I to do about Mathias?” Nossy watched him slump down on the sofa and put his head in his hands. “I know better. He always was a proud man, and now that I’ve humiliated him, it’s not going to be so easy to win back his trust.”

  Nossy walked over to the sofa and watched Vlad for a minute. Then, he laughed. “Um, Vlad. I don’t think you had it to begin with.”

  Vlad rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Nossy. You are always there for me when I feel completely devastated.”

  It was time to liven things up a little. “You’re welcome!” Nossy sat down next to Vlad on the sofa. “So, you wanna see him?”

  Vlad nodded.

  * * * * *

  There was a knock at the door. Mathias paused. Wonder what he wants now?

  “Mathias?” Nosferatu said through the door.

  “Yeah?”

  “May I come in?”

  Mathias got up from the bed and opened the door. Nosferatu walked in. His mouth was in a definite frown. Last thing Mathias knew, he’d been bawling like a baby. What was this about? “What’s going on?”

  Nosferatu turned to him. “I’ve come to tell you that Master Tepes has requested to speak with you.”

  Okay, was he going to embarrass him again? Try to kill him? I don’t need this shit. “What for?”

  “I believe, Mathias, that he wishes to apologize.”

  Mathias thought for a few minutes. He knew he would have to face the man eventually, but he hadn’t imagined that it would be this soon. It had been a weird enough day with the grave and all. He took a deep breath. “All right, I’ll see him.”

  Mathias walked over to his bed and sat back down. He watched Nosferatu close the door. Why did everything have to be so damn complicated?

  * * * * *

  Nosferatu stepped out into the main chamber and closed Mathias’ door behind him. He had to handle this carefully; otherwise, things were going to be much worse than they already were. He smiled, hoping to put Vlad at ease. “The boy said he’d see you.”

  Vlad stood up and grinned like an overgrown schoolboy. “Really?”

  Nossy had to fight not to roll his eyes. “Good God, Vlad; are you five? Yes, really.”

  “When can I see him??”

  Nosferatu shoved Vlad toward Mathias’ door. “Go. I think I’ve dealt with enough of your foolishness to last me a lifetime.”

  Vlad stepped in front of the door and took a deep breath.

  * * * * *

  Nossy waved his hand and the door opened for Vlad, not allowing Vlad the time to knock on the door.

  “Hey!” Mathias said, storming out into the doorway of his room.

  “I see that you have not entirely abandoned your old tricks,” Vlad said to Nosferatu.

  Nosferatu pushed past him and threw himself down on a cushy but ornate sofa. “Well, if I didn’t do my tricks, you would be bored. I know you too well.”

  “What, are you turning this into a slumber party now?” Mathias asked.

  Nossy laughed. “No, I’m afraid not. I’m just here to make sure that Mr. Congeniality doesn’t screw up.”

  Vlad walked over to where Nosferatu was seated on the sofa and cuffed him on the back of the head.

  “The both of you are totally crazy.” Mathias said.

  Vlad cleared his throat. “I do believe that Nossy is far crazier than I am.”

  Mathias paused for a moment. “You aren’t mad anymore?”

  “No Mathias, I’m not mad.”

  Mathias stared at Tepes. The vampire had dark circles under his eyes. It looked as if the man hadn’t slept in several days. “You look like shit,” Mathias said.

  “How very astute of you to say. Do you mind if I sit down?” Tepes motioned toward a spot at the end of Mathias’ bed.

  Mathias nodded. “You vamp out in any way and I’m outta here.”

  Vlad sighed. “First, I would like, above all else, to apologize. I should not have overreacted.”

  “Yeah. Ya think?”

  “Mathias, I know that you are angry with me, but please hear me out.”

  Mathias glared at the vampire, but remained silent.

  “I know that change is not easy, Mathias. But you need to try to not take everything so personally. I am only trying to help you.”

  “You tried to kill me, and you’re telling me to not take it personally?”

  “Well,” Vlad said. “I wasn’t trying to kill you. If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it. There would have been no trying about it.”

  Mathias grunted and flopped down onto his bed.

  “Mathias?”

  “What?”

  “Are you listening to me?”

  Mathias looked up at Vlad. “It’s not like I have anything better to do. Since I got here, I’ve been locked in your rooms.”

  Vlad pushed Mathias’ wings out of the way and scratched his head. “It really hasn’t been that long.”

  “Oh yeah, bet you think I should be grateful for that tour of the facilities, huh? No, wait. I should thank you for making me piss myself.”

  “Mathias, again I apologize for that. It is difficult for me as well. In this world, our children are taught to act a certain way from the time that they are little. Your way of speech alone presents issues that I am not used to dealing with.”

  Mathias sat up. “So, I guess the idea is to make them into pompous assholes huh?”

  Vlad stood up and paced for a few moments. “Oh Mathias. I wish I could have gotten my hands on you before you got on the streets. Somehow, I don’t think you were always like this.”

  “The way I am isn’t my fault, is it? It’s not my fault my parents died, that my aunt and her spawn are seriously fucked, that I spent time in places that most of you people wouldn’t deign to go.”

  “Mathias, that isn’
t the way it is at all. I know what you must think, but please try to think of our world as simply old fashioned, not...prejudiced.”

  Mathias thought for a few minutes. It could be worse, he guessed. At least he wasn’t starving, and he didn’t have to worry about croaking just as long as he didn’t do anything to cause Tepes so go psychotic.

  “So, now that you’ve calmed down, would you be willing to try this again?” Tepes asked.

  “So what’s this I hear about a ‘fire monster’?”

  Tepes turned his head and glared at the pointy eared vamp. “You didn’t.”

  Nosferatu snickered.

  “Nosferatu!” Tepes stood up.

  Nosferatu promptly fell backwards on the sofa, laughing ridiculously. Sometimes the laughter was chittered and other times it was a guffaw loud enough to rattle the panes of glass in the windows. “It is not my fault that you do stupid things. You want the boy to know more about you, correct?”

  Tepes rolled his eyes. “You are so pedantic.”

  “And here I thought I was funny.”

  Mathias was trying not to laugh, but it was getting hard.

  Tepes walked over to Nosferatu and playfully smacked him on the arm.

  “What did you do that for?” Nosferatu asked.

  “Because you deserved it.”

  Nosferatu raised an eyebrow and poked Tepes in the leg with a fingernail.

  “Ow! Nossy. Enough.”

  Nosferatu smiled and his eyes grew dark. It was probably the most evil looking smile Mathias had ever seen. Mathias scooted back further onto the bed. It looked like things were about to get very interesting.

  Tepes nodded at Nosferatu. Nosferatu grinned and returned the nod.

  “Come,” Nosferatu said.

  Tepes tackled Nosferatu on the sofa.

  Mathias felt the breeze from the movement hit his face. “Holy shit!”

  The sofa literally split down the middle. Bits of stuffing floated through the air, sticking to the rest of the furniture, the wrestling vampires, and their wings. They flipped and flew through the air. Nosferatu slammed Tepes into the bookcase and it exploded into splinters and crushed books. They grabbed and jerked each other’s limbs so hard that for a while, Mathias thought he was going to see a bloodbath. Then, Nosferatu’s wing crashed down through the middle of the table that Mathias had been using to keep his homework. It was all happening so fast that he could barely keep up.