Bathory's Secret: When All The Time In The World Is Not Enough (Affliction Vampires Book 1)

by Romina Nicolaides

  “Keep it. I want you to have them dressed, washed and fed and in the Library, ready to take lessons by 4:30 am. Don’t be late.”

  Half past four in the morning? How on earth would I get all those brats to cooperate and be in the Library by that time?

  “I have a lot of reading to do this evening but I want to attend to them before the sun comes up. Due to my sun intolerance they will have to readjust their bodies in order to be up at night and sleep during the day. I can’t have them running around uncontrolled or fraternizing with the staff so this is what we’re going to do,” she answered what hadn’t been asked.

  “Yes mistress,” Kati agreed. She wanted to ask if they’d be killed but the words wouldn’t form in her head nor could they leave her lips.

  Reluctantly at around three she went to their dorm and began to wake them.

  “What time is it?” Asked Margaréta, the girl with the black hair.

  “It’s quite early but the Countess wants to get started right away.”

  “No,” she said simply and hid in her covers.

  “Please get up, the Countess doesn’t like tardiness. Please you must listen!” She said in anxiety for their wellbeing.

  “No, it’s too early.”

  Changing tack she said, “Suit yourself, but I have to warn you that the gardeners come for their toilet just behind your barn at this time, and you won’t like the sounds they make." She was bluffing and hoped none of the old girls would betray her.

  “What sort of place is this?” Margaréta sat up in an instant. “We’re made to go to bed in a shoddy cold barn in the afternoon and then woken up in the middle of the night for lessons and told to move before the men come to shit? I’m getting up because I need to speak to the Countess, this is unacceptable!”

  “Whatever you think is best, young ma’am.”

  After breakfast she took them all to the Library where they sat in neat little rows waiting for the Countess. “Good morning ladies, how was your evening?” Asked the Countess rushing into the room in one of her finer daytime gowns. The admiration from the girls was obvious and they chattered amongst themselves about her. It was clear she carried a lot of authority amongst the nobility and they were in awe of her. Except for the girl with the black hair.

  “Good morning Your Grace, if you can call it morning, that is,” she said sarcastically.

  “Is there a problem Margaréta? I detect some discontent from you.”

  “If I may be so bold as to express some concern, Your Grace…” She stood up and held her hands in front of her. “I would like to say that the conditions in which we're staying are unacceptable, the timetable is harsh, the food is dreadful and this morning we were told that men defecate near our dormitory. From what I was led to believe we’re paying a lot of money to attend this Gynaeceum and we should be better treated. For one we should really sleep within the castle!"

  “In order to become a functioning member of the nobility like myself, my dear, you must experience all aspects of life. You might have been born with a silver spoon in your mouths but that doesn’t mean you cannot learn how to be well rounded, and that includes sleeping in a barn, waking up at the crack of dawn and doing work, a lot of hard manual work!” She shot a glare at the girl, and Kati could see a fine slither of green show around her pupil which gave her goose bumps. She inhaled deeply. “Let me remind you that your families have entrusted you in my absolute care for however long I see fit. Didn’t Oriana and the other girls that were here before Easter tell you about the wonderful lessons they received and how satisfied their parents were with their progress?”

  So that’s why she let them live? Kati had been wondering about this for some time. She looked at Oriana sitting obediently at the table listening to the Countess and she couldn’t bear to think of her friend hanging from her limbs, flayed for her organs and deprived of her blood.

  “Your education has been left entirely in my hands so you will do as you’re told if you want to benefit from the long history and pedigree that comes with the Báthory name. Otherwise you’ll be sent back to your homes disgraced and it will be the talk of the nobility that the fur merchant’s daughter was too stupid to be educated in the ways of a Lady! You might have money, my dears, but class and breeding is a whole other kettle of fish. If you cannot cope with the schedule then please feel free to leave before you waste any more of my precious time."

  “No, that’s not what I meant...” Margaréta was flustered, “I didn't mean to cause offense, Your Grace, please forgive me.” The girl was embarrassed and taken aback, but she was also clearly annoyed.

  “Now then, let us proceed. This morning we shall test your knowledge of Latin and history and then we shall contact your families. You all have paper and ink in front of you so after the first lesson you’ll write and tell them how well you're doing here at the castle. Leave your letters on the desk and Katalina will see that they are sent off. Now open your books to the first page. I need you to memorize the first chapter and we shall analyze it tomorrow after each and every one of you has recited it back to me flawlessly. I cannot stress enough how important self-composure and discipline is to a Lady. You need to be obedient as well as intelligent and you must know everything a castle needs to function properly before the need arises. You must also be able to keep up with intelligent conversation at Balls and royal gatherings and most importantly you must know everybody else’s business, particularly when they’re your guests. You must be aware of their likes and dislikes, any important events in their past, their weaknesses and their strengths. Are you all following me so far?” The girls nodded. Kati recoiled.

  At around 3:00 pm they were given a well-deserved break and served lunch in the Dining room. After they were done, Kati returned them to their dormitory.

  “Ladies, the Countess has instructed that you have your rest, as we’ll be meeting for more lessons later this evening. Please dedicate time only to doing your lessons and resting.” Kati’s instructions were greeted with some disgruntlement but eventually the girls complied. She locked them in as she’d been told and headed to her room to get some badly needed rest. She hadn’t eaten or slept properly in days and desperately needed some blood. She hoped to sneak away later and find something to feed on. At about 10:00 in the evening her hunger overcame her need to sleep so she went into the forest. She’d been looking around for a deer but saw a form she recognized as female downwind from where she stood. She rarely saw people out in these woods, especially women out by themselves, so she thought this was an excellent opportunity for a human meal. The woman, who was dressed in a large woolen cloak, was walking fast and didn’t hear Kati close in. A second later, Kati, who had approached from the back, bit into her neck and the woman instantly lost her senses. The image stream revealed a fine home, riches, horses, a striking young man and finally the Countess! Kati stopped drinking and fully pulled back the woman’s hood to reveal it was in fact Margaréta.

  “No! No, no, no, no, no! You stupid, stupid girl! Just one day of hardship and you escape?” Kati was beside herself. The spoiled little brat had somehow gotten out of the barn and was making her way home. Kati touched her neck to see if she was dead and she could still detect a faint pulse. A cold shiver passed over her when she realized she might have drunk enough to Afflict her, uncertain if she’d stopped in time. She didn’t have much experience with that so she thought it over and over in her mind trying to remember how much was too much. She was pacing up and down next to the unconscious girl, not quite certain what to do next. She didn’t know what the Countess intended to do with them. Maybe she would torture and kill them, in which case she’d be in trouble but not terribly so, or maybe she had run out of money and this was an easy way to supplement her income meaning that the girls had to remain alive and well. She kept shaking her head in disbelief. She sat on the ground trying to delay the inevitable but eventually she picked her up, put her over her shoulder and headed back to the castle. Uncertain of where to leave Margar�
�ta, she took her up to her room and gagged and tied her to the chair. With a racing heart she went to get the Countess.

  “You-did-WHAT?!” She enunciated every syllable in her rage.

  “It was an accident, mistress, I didn’t know it was her,” a contrite Kati was kneeling in front of the Countess in supplication but that didn't stop her from slapping the child across the face, “What have I told you about feeding on my own? Only I am allowed to kill people around here, do you hear me? You only eat what you’re given! She was going to be the last of my experiments, and now you’ve ruined her! Ruined her!” There was a slight tremor in her voice. “Take her out of your room and give her a guest room in the castle immediately. You better hope she doesn’t die! She needs to recover and you will see to it! Make sure that she becomes healthier than before or you’re next and it won’t be pretty!" Her threats were real, but her heart wasn’t in it today. Her mind seemed to be somewhere else, so Kati was relieved that the abuse was only verbal. When she returned to her room Margaréta was still unconscious. Kati checked for a pulse and gratefully found it. She moved her to a new room and lit a strong fire. She ordered some soup and sat by the bed and waited. The hours crawled and the patient slept unsoundly. In the morning the sun broke in through the window stinging Kati’s eyes and waking her. She jumped up to pull the curtains and the noise woke Margaréta. Kati breathed an immense sigh of relief at seeing her alive and approached the bed.

  “How do you feel?”

  “Where am I?” She asked looking around the room.

  “You’re in the castle, you were taken ill and we brought you in here.”

  “No I wasn’t, I was making my way back home, what have you done to me?”

  “Nothing, I found you passed out in the woods. I think something must have…bitten you, see?” Kati pointed to the marks on her neck. "I was out collecting firewood and found you unconscious. You’re very lucky, any longer and you might have died from the cold.” She was trying desperately to convince her considering it was late summer and not that cold yet.

  “Lies! You’ve done something to me, this place is very strange! I want to go home! You can keep the money, my family won’t mind, I just want to get back, please let me go!" She was sobbing now.

  “Don’t be such a cry baby. The Countess will personally see to it that you are escorted to your home when you’re better," she lied. “Right now there’s an epidemic of cholera going around and it wouldn’t be safe for you to travel in your compromised condition. Here, eat some soup, it’s beef and beet, you’ll like it.”

  “I don’t want it, I want to go home. Now!”

  “Suit yourself. I have work to do right now, but I’ll leave it here and come check on you later.” She left the room and locked Margaréta inside. She felt awful for lying to her and for what the future held for her. All the same, she had to get the other girls to class and she was already behind schedule. When she got to the barn the girls had already left for the day’s lessons. Kati cursed herself for not getting them to class before the sun rose. She knew that the Countess would have been even angrier with her failure despite the fact that she had the added task of keeping Margaréta alive. Multiple responsibilities meant nothing to her mistress. Braving the strong sun she went back inside and waited till the end of class to return the girls to their dormitory. By early afternoon they were commanded to go to sleep and Kati picked them up from Bianca and escorted them back.

  “Kati, where’s Margaréta? The other servant wouldn’t tell us,” asked Alena, a jeweler’s daughter, a chubby girl of only ten.

  “She’s feeling a little unwell and had to be sequestered into the castle lest she contaminate all of you too.”

  “She tried to escape last night, you know.”

  “I know that, and for her troubles she caught a chill. Let that be a lesson to all of you who feel home sick. No going home until the Countess says so. Besides, you need to appreciate what a great opportunity this is for you all to become real educated ladies,” she said caressing the child’s hair, her conscience weighing on her for what she was telling them. She wanted to tell them the truth, but knew that this might expedite their deaths as they would all panic and want to go home. “Now go in, do your homework and then straight to bed. There will be another early wake up call for you in the morning.”

  Before reaching the door Alena ran to her holding out a folded sheet of paper.

  “Kati could you please put this with the other mail you were going to send out today? It’s to my nurse.”

  “The Countess’s secretary has made sure that they’ve all gone out already but I’ll see if I can send this one tomorrow,” said Katalina taking the letter. A thought was forming in her head, what if I send for help with this in the morning?

  Kati returned to Margaréta’s room and peeked in through the door. The girl was sleeping so she locked the door and seized the chance to go do some chores. When she returned a while later though, the lock had been picked, Margaréta was nowhere to be found and her clothes and cloak were gone.

  Not again? How does she manage to pick every lock she comes across? I’m dead for certain this time.

  She touched the bed and it was still warm. “She can’t have left too long ago.”

  Kati’s heart was beating like crazy as she rushed down the secret stairs to make her way out. In her anxiety they felt never ending, almost as if they weren’t letting her go. At least she had escaped at night time again. She ran into the forest but the girl was nowhere to be found and she couldn’t pick up her scent at all.

  “Margaréta? Margaréta where are you? Please come back!” Kati was growing desperate now and didn’t care if anyone else heard her. Suddenly out of nowhere she saw the Countess gallop towards her on a powerful horse kicking up dust and leaves as it raced. She approached with significant speed and it seemed as if she was looking to mow Kati down.

  “Give me your hand,” she shouted as she approached and without stopping she pulled Kati onto the back of the horse. The girl had never been on one before so she landed somewhat ungracefully and tried to hold onto anything that was attached to it for dear life. After several minutes of riding east they reached a stream and in the middle of it was Margaréta trying unsuccessfully to cross to the other side. The stream was quite deep and powerful and her heavy clothing was soaking up water making it even harder for her. Wading the horse into the water the Countess grabbed the girl by the hair and dragged her to the shore. Exhausted, Margaréta fell to the ground and struggled to catch her breath. The Countess dismounted quickly as Kati tried to do the same, only with less grace.

  “I don’t like disobedience,” she stated walking circles around the girl. “I don’t like it in my staff, and I like it even less from my guests. Guests to which I am trying to impart the full breadth of my knowledge and breeding.” She pulled her up from her hair again and she shouted, “Do you hear me girl?” into her ears. To her credit Margaréta remained stoic, not answering the taunts, trying to maintain her composure. The Countess proceeded to tear off the girl’s clothing and tie her to the nearest tree.

  “You don’t run away from someone who gives you food and shelter and who’s trying to help you to improve your standing! Otherwise you're no better than the vermin servants you despise so much!” She was in a frenzy now. The girl was shivering naked and wet in the cool evening, her otherwise beautiful hair in clustered knots covered in dead leaves. The Countess struck her breasts with the riding crop and the wounds immediately swelled up. She approached slowly and languorously smelled Margareta’s skin before biting into her left shoulder without severing the surface, leaving the deep red outline of her jaws on the soft flesh. Margareta screamed dropping her cool façade.

  “Just let me go home, I don’t want to be taught. Please let me go,” she said starting to cry like they all did.

  “You know Katalina, the one thing I liked about you when I first turned you was that you never cried during torture.” She said this while circling the tree an
d never taking her eyes off Margaréta. “That girl over there might be otherwise useless as a maid but at least she has some guts!” She said pointing at Kati. “All you others always give up and cry like little babies no matter your pedigree, begging for your lives, pleading for the pain to stop. You know nothing of real pain……You’re all so disappointing.”

  She grabbed the girl’s face and kissed her, sinking her fangs into her lips and tongue until blood began to trickle from the sides and the girls eyes bulged as she was unable to scream in pain. When the Countess eventually came up for air Margaréta began to scream uncontrollably with whatever use of her tongue she had left. Losing patience Báthory slit her throat with her thumb claw, silencing her at once and lapping up the thick blanket of blood oozing and spurting from the gash. Turning to Kati covered in blood, she glared at her with the full intensity of her luminous green eyes, “Now clean that up and come back to the castle right away!” Kati nodded in agreement as the Countess mounted the horse again and headed back to Csejthe.

  Shivering with cold and shock, Kati was left in the forest to deal with Margaréta’s body. No one was immune to this woman’s rage. This vibrant girl, who only minutes earlier had been living and breathing, now hung limply from the tree with her throat cut. The blood seeping from the wound smelled so nice and inviting and in her hunger Kati timidly lapped up whatever the Countess had left behind. She untied her from the tree and took her deep into the forest where she knew wolves congregated. She said a brief prayer, left her on the ground outside their nest and retreated to a safe distance. She wrung out her skirt from the remaining water and remembered Alena’s letter. She fished it out of her pocket and was devastated to see nothing had remained of it but a pulpy mess. Defeated yet again, she made her way back to the castle to face the music. The Countess was at her desk writing.