The Elixir

by George Willson

  He considered forcing the information from David, but the young man he had met so long ago had grown into an impertinent Fempiror who could more than hold his own against Karian. He also knew he could not outright challenge David since despite the outcome of their fight next to Poenari last August, he knew David would eventually win a duel by simply outlasting him. He had also considered both flooding Poenari with Mutations or using Voivode as leverage, but since he needed Voivode alive, that would never work either.

  He looked from Arefu to the castle perched atop mountain range to the Northeast. He knew as soon as the rain set in, David and Voivode would make a run for it. It was the most logical move they could make. What information he hoped to gain from this venture to Arefu did not materialize, and so he was still powerless to track them once they ran.

  With a sigh, he left the storage building only to be hit with a drop of water from the air. He quickly jumped back into the shelter of the storage building with the crates as the number of drops slowly increased. This was the moment David and Voivode had waited for, and it was the most dangerous time for his children. Instead of being there, however, he was now trapped with the crates.

  He cursed this condition that now kept him hostage. He looked back to where the castle would be through the growing curtain of rain and knew that at this time, David and Voivode would be making their departure.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  “Everything is ready to move now,” David said as he walked into Voivode’s room. “I have the coach loaded, the horses are hitched, and all we need is you, Harker, and his bags, which remained with him in his room.”

  “The crates will follow behind us, then?” Voivode asked.

  “With Harker’s help, we have secured them a place on a barge which will sail from Varna to London,” David assured him. “We should leave now to ensure we keep the rain long enough. In addition, if we keep the rain long enough, we may be able to simply take a train without worrying about the Mutations.”

  “You’re sure?” Voivode asked.

  “Yes,” David said. “We’ll go right across Europe and cross the channel at Calais. That way, Harker will get home quicker, we reach our destination quicker, and like I said, if the rain holds, we won’t have any help. If it does let up, we can continue onto the boat.”

  “Agreed,” Voivode said. “I will fetch Harker.”

  David followed Voivode as he walked out of his room and up the stairs to Harker. He decided to let Voivode handle their guest this last time before introducing himself formally to Harker once they reached either the train or the boat.

  Once Voivode was out of the room, David reached into his pocket and pulled out the picture he had stolen from Harker of his fiancée, Mina. He looked at her face once more, as he had many times since acquiring the picture, simply astounded by how much the young woman looked like his dear Beth. He knew this girl was not Beth, of course, but seeing someone who looked so similar helped him remember her.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  Voivode made his way to Harker’s room, and upon arrival, he knocked softly to announce himself. He was not certain how Harker would react to him anymore, but he hoped their guest would take the news of their departure well.

  “Come in,” Harker said flatly. As Voivode entered the room, Harker was closing the shutters to his window. As he turned to Voivode, Voivode could see that Harker’s eyes were wild and angry, which caused Voivode to take a pensive step away from him.

  “My friend, you are not looking well,” Voivode observed.

  “What of it?” Harker asked coldly.

  “I have come to tell you that with the coming of the rain, we are ready to go,” Voivode said. “If you wish, I can take your bags to the coach, and you may follow.”

  “I have no wish to go anywhere with you,” Harker said with a scoff, and he turned back to the shuttered window. Voivode was not sure how to respond since Harker was so determined only the day before even to venture into the darkness on his own.

  “Please, my friend,” Voivode started, but Harker rounded on him.

  “I am not your friend,” Harker insisted. “I don’t know what kind of place this is, or what is going on here, but I assure you that no friendship has been made here.” Again, Voivode was taken aback by this behavior, but wanted to forgive him for whatever misimpressions he may have received.

  “Mr. Harker,” Voivode said gently. “The coach is prepared, and we are ready to make our journey from here together to Essex. We are leaving as soon as we are on board, and you may even be able to find some sleep on our journey.”

  “I was not included in any such plans,” Harker said, turning away from Voivode again. “Therefore, I have no interest in them.”

  “I have repeatedly made you aware of our intentions,” Voivode said, but Harker interrupted again.

  “I arrived on my own,” Harker said, “and I would be well pleased to leave on my own.”

  “You were so set on leaving last night,” Voivode said. “What is it that changed your mind?” When Harker did not respond, Voivode continued. “I apologize, Mr. Harker, for any trouble you may have experienced at my castle, but everything we have done, we did in the interest of your safety. The fact that you are alive shows that we succeeded so far on that account. I cannot stress enough how dangerous this country is, which is the reason we are leaving it behind.”

  “I will be fine, sir,” Harker said shortly. “I thank you.”

  Uncertain as to how he should respond, Voivode took Harker’s bags and left him alone. As he walked away from Harker’s bedroom door, he heard Harker throw the latch to lock it. He walked down the stairs, and as soon as he paused in the foyer, David walked out of their room.

  “Where is Harker?” he asked.

  “The man refused to come with us,” Voivode said. “I cannot persuade him.”

  “We don’t have time for this,” David said angrily. “This rain won’t last forever, and if we leave him here, Karian will kill him.” He turned to run up the stairs to Harker’s room, but then, a pounding sounded through the castle that was not thunder. Moments later, they heard wood being splintered and saw several Mutations wander into the hall.

  “Oh no,” David breathed.

  “How did they get in?” Voivode asked.

  “Time and effort perhaps,” David suggested. “Or perhaps the rain caused them to need it more.” At the sight of David, the Mutations bared their teeth and moved into a predatory crouch.

  “Get to the coach,” David ordered, and Voivode complied without question. He ran through the hall, leaving Harker’s bags behind, toward the coach which waited out in the rain. He knew he would be safe outside and hoped David could drag their stubborn guest out with him when he came.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  David was angry. He was angry that Harker was being stubborn. He was angry that Mutations had broken in. And he was angry that all of it managed to happen at exactly the same time. He had to get to Harker’s room, drag the man with him whether he liked it or not, and make his way to the coach to get out of here.

  He slashed at the Mutations blocking the stairs, and predictably, they dodged his blows. This did not matter, however, as they also jumped out of his way allowing him to run up the stairs towards Harker’s room. They chased after him, and he also noted that more Mutations were finding their way into the castle via the same entrance the others had used. Ultimately, this was fine and even worked in their favor, as he had planned for this possibility.

  He entered the Harker’s ante room and closed the door behind him, even though he’d have to come out the same way. He had made every effort to reinforce the doors within the castle to withstand the strength of a Fempiror, so he knew he would be momentarily safe against them. He ran to Harker’s bedroom door and found it locked as well.

  He knocked on the door and called for Harker, but there was no answer. He took a key from his pocket and turned it in the lock. The door opened easily and David charged into the ro
om.

  It was empty.

  He found this extremely unlikely until he noticed the open window without the bars he had placed on it to keep the Mutations out. He was surprised the bars were gone, but as he approached the window, he noticed the well worn knife on the floor and figured Harker had spent his time trying to chip the bars loose so he could climb out.

  He reached the window and looked out into the torrential rain. He called Harker’s name once more, but there was no response. He looked all along the wall and thought he saw a dark shape clinging to the side, but could not be certain through the weather. He called out again, but the shape did not move.

  His head drenched, he stepped away from the window. He had no choice but to leave him here. He did not want to, but if the man did not want their help, there was nothing they could do for him. He had climbed out the window, and if he survived the descent, he would be protected for a time under the cover of rain, whether he knew it or not. David was not sure if he would ever know everything they had done wrong to encourage this sort of behavior, but with the Mutations flooding in, and the rain being as limited as it was, it was time to go.

  He ran back to the ante room, and opened the door. The Mutations were still there, of course, and he knew all he had to do was swing his sword at them to keep them at bay. There were so many that he occasionally hit one, but it disappeared so quickly into the throng that he was not certain if the blow was lethal or not. Keeping his sword moving in a series of circular swings all around him, the Mutations unwillingly gave him a wide enough berth for him to work his way to the main door, where it had remained open from when Voivode had gone outside.

  David emerged from the throng into the drenched out of doors. The Mutations gathered at the door behind him, but as David was standing out in the rain, they did not follow him, but only stared helplessly. David smiled and walked calmly away as he sheathed his sword, grateful for a break from the madness.

  He walked around to where the coach was stopped and walked to a covered area not connected to an interior door. He had constructed this area just in case something like this happened and this task needed to be done without Mutation interference. He noted that he never saw Karian in the chaos inside, but also figured that like any good general, Karian would be hanging back and letting his children do all the work.

  He looked at the string hanging down from a hole in the brickwork and considered what he was about to do. This was the final decision. Once done, there would be no coming back. Voivode was not happy about it, but he knew they had to make sure the Mutations could not stay here, and with them on the inside, this would ensure their destruction.

  He picked up the self-lighting torch he kept here for this one purpose and lit it. He held the flame to the end of the fuse which lit immediately and slowly made its way inside the castle. This task done, he ran to the coach.

  “Where is Harker?” Voivode asked frantically from inside the coach.

  “He wasn’t in his room,” David said. “We’ve done all we can. I hate to do this to him, but he’s left us with no choice. We have to go.”

  “David,” Voivode said gripping David’s hand before David can walk to the front of the horses. “Did you do it?”

  “It’s done,” David said meeting Voivode’s gaze. “We have a couple of minutes to get clear.” Voivode nodded, and he could catch the glint of a tear in the old man’s eyes as he sat back. David led the horse team through the downpour to the main front gate and opened them wide.

  He climbed aboard, flipped the switch to turn on the Levi-coils underneath the coach, and snapped the reigns. The horses took off in a swift gallop. He knew he had to get some distance between them and the castle before his final preparations came to fruition. If it all worked out the way he planned, their home would be reduced to its foundations within a few seconds.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  Harker hung quietly on the side of the castle as the man in black called out his name. He was certain this man was the one who brought him to the castle originally as well as the one who saved him from the demon women. But the man worked for Voivode, and as such, he was not to be trusted. Eventually, he gave up and left.

  Harker had thrown his shoes down before he climbed out the window in the hopes that his bare feet would give him some purchase on the wall. He was able to find enough hand holds, but the rain made an already dangerous descent deadly. He knew one misplaced hand or foot would spell his end as he would plummet to the ground below.

  The rain pelted him mercilessly as he struggled to find each precious outcropping, and he prayed his luck would hold out as he worked his way lower. He tried to find the ground several times, but the night combined with the rain made the ground invisible. It was if he were climbing down into an abyss with no discernible indication of a bottom. He just had to take the climb one rock at a time. After all, he just needed to support his weight long enough to find the next rock a little lower and little by little he would eventually touch down on the earth below.

  A crack of lightning struck the trees not too far from the castle and the subsequent thunder shook him to his core, and he clung desperately to the side of the castle hoping it would be only a few steps more.

  Slowly, the window of his prison drew further and further from him. A step here. A hand there. A momentary slip, but never a cause for concern. He ensured he always had three appendages firmly attached to the wall.

  Then the unthinkable happened. He dropped his foot to an outcropping that felt solid, but as soon as he moved his hand, the outcropping gave way. His other foot slipped. His other hand hold was not large enough to hold him up, and he fell.

  Fortunately, the fall was not far. While it felt like forever while he dropped, he figured it might have been ten feet at most, though that did not help his landing. He did the best he could, but the fall winded him. As he tried to catch his breath, he counted his blessings, for the breath he took on the ground meant he had escaped. He was alive.

  He rolled over and climbed to his feet while counting his blessings. He looked over the ground for his shoes, but was unable to locate them. He did not care. He would be fine. He was free.

  He ran into the trees for only a few seconds before a thunderous explosion sounded behind him. He turned to find the castle being ripped apart in a massive fireball. Chunks of the walls flew skyward as a series of explosions tore the old place right to its base.

  Words failed him. What had happened? Was this the plan all along? What could possibly have happened to lead the old man to destroy his home in such a fashion?

  He touched the bulge in his shirt of the one possession he had decided to bring with him: his diary. He hoped, perhaps someday, he might be able to look through the pages he had written and make some sense of all of this. One more explosion brought him to the present, and he turned away from the burning castle and escaped into the forest.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  Karian stared in speechless horror at the distant fire. With the rain coming down, most humans would simply dismiss what sounds reached them as thunder, but Karian knew what had happened. In preparation for their departure, David and Voivode had set explosives throughout the castle to level it and ensure that he and his Mutations would have no place to stay once they left.

  He also knew with the rain coming down, his children would have been inside, and it was likely that they were killed in the inferno or by the rain that would pour in once it was all done.

  Karian struggled with the onset of emotions triggered by the incredible loss. David had mercilessly killed his entire family in one move leaving him alone once more. This was easily as bad or worse than when Abraham Barber had done the same thing after tricking him many years before. They saw his children as abominations, but that did not mean they did not belong to someone. He wished now he had simply killed them, cure or not, and regretted not doing it sooner.

  He was determined now to follow them no matter what it took to do so. He turned to the crates that made
up the bulk of the room. These boxes would eventually find their way to Voivode and David, regardless of the path they took. He could survive a few days without a feeding, and once the boxes were loaded, he could get by on whatever was available.

  He resolved to stow away in one of them and wait. He knew how to be patient.

  * * * * * * * * * *

  The ride down the mountain at the speed he had driven the horses was dangerous, but they had made it. David had made his arrangements to meet with the purveyor of their possessions in Curtea de Argeş in order to minimize the risk of Karian discovering Arefu, and since the rain persisted, he knew they would be able to take the train from Curtea de Argeş right through France to Calais.

  As soon as they reached Curtea de Argeş, David switched off the Levi-coils for the last time and rode through town to let his contact know the shipment was ready for pickup before he went straight for the train station. Once they arrived, he opened the door for Voivode.

  “What is to become of the coach, then?” Voivode asked.

  “Wait for me inside,” David said. “I’ll take care of it.”

  Voivode nodded and walked toward the station. David reached under the coach and removed each of the four Levi-coils one at a time. He broke each one into pieces and tossed them aside, knowing that no one would be able to do anything with them. He finished this off by ripping the switch and wires from its place and throwing it aside as well. Now it all looked like little more than rubbish littering the side of the road.