The Bathory Curse

by Renee Lake

  “Get away from me,” she hissed, dropping her hand.

  “Are you running from me? Perhaps fleeing the situation?” He grabbed her hand, stroking her fingers through her black lace gloves, ignoring the rather feral growl Sabine was making on Nea’s other side.

  “Would it make you leave these people alone if I did?” Nea asked, jerking her hand back as the priest finished. She tossed the rose she was holding on top of the dark wooden casket that held Lucy’s body.

  “Perhaps at first. Now it may make me angry enough to hurt my new friends.”

  “That’s what I thought. I am needed in London and shall be back within the week.” Nea turned and linked an arm through Sabine’s as the first thud of dirt hitting the coffin reverberated through the cemetery. The wind off the sea was salty and cold, fitting for such a dreary and miserable day.

  “You had better be.” Costica stomped off to shake hands with the priest, thanking him for services. Nea was amazed at how well he affected his voice to sound thick and sorrowful.

  “It’s good of you to console Arthur; he is much changed now that Lucy is dead.” Jack came over to speak with both of them as they walked out of the cemetery, towards the main road and back home.

  “It is the least we can do,” Sabine murmured, Nea nudged her as she saw through Sabine’s veil her eyes roll back.

  “We will be sorry to miss you the next week, be safe in London; you must come to dinner at the Sanatorium once you are back in Whitby.” Jack was fussing with a handkerchief and dabbed his own eyes.

  “Of course, but could you do us a favor?” Nea smiled up at the young man, catching him off guard, he stumbled for a moment, cleared his throat and smiled.

  “Yes, anything.” He shook himself. Nea had used a hint of glamour magic to make him agreeable. She was very low in her magic levels and had worried it wouldn’t work.

  “Don’t let the professor do anything to Lucy’s body until we get back, it wouldn’t be right,” Nea pleaded, adding tears for a greater more sympathetic effect.

  “I don’t think you need to worry about that, Abraham says it will take at least a week or more for her to rise from the grave. You ladies shouldn’t concern yourself with such gruesome matters.”

  “With Mina gone we are Lucy’s only friends, we feel responsible, just promise us,” Sabine batted her eyes, Nea thought it might be overkill but Jack fell for it, blushing like a school boy.

  “My word ladies. I won’t let Abraham near Lucy’s corpse until after you return.”

  “Thank you Jack, we have to go, our carriage leaves within the hour.” Nea leaned up and brushed a kiss against the young man’s cheek and she and Sabine walked away.

  “I hate dirt and mud, next time we go on vacation we hit the beach.” Sabine muttered as they crossed the boundaries of the cemetery.

  “I agree and not an English beach, a tropical one.” Nea laughed. She couldn’t bear to glance back as the grave diggers filled in Lucy’s grave.

  Once home, Sabine left in seconds while Nea loaded into the coach, it would be too suspicious if they both disappeared and a coach was never seen going to or from the cottage. She hated mortal transport, but thankfully Whitby wasn’t too far from London.

  The trip was long and tiresome; bumping around a carriage caused foul tempers and a sore bottom. When she arrived home she wished she didn’t have to go back to Whitby, in fact she just wanted to sleep and not think about anything for a month or more.

  “Bunica!” Ruxandra exclaimed, helping her down from the coach, Nea embraced her beloved granddaughter.

  “How is everything? I got the telegram, but it only said to come home as soon as possible, not that there was an emergency.” Nea took off her shawl and gloves, handing them to Ruxandra.

  “It’s actually good news! But we felt you should be told in person!” Ruxandra was practically beaming as she put away Nea’s things. The house looked wonderful under Ruxandra’s attention, airy and light, there was the smell of baking bread and roast in the air and Nea wished again that she didn’t have to go back.

  Ruxandra led Nea into the library where Stasi and Mihail were waiting for her, Stasi was practically glowing while Mihail looked a bit sheepish and unsure.

  “Mother.” Mihail embraced her; she had been sending him letters so he knew all the Whitby gossip. Mihail had wanted her to come home permanently a month before.

  “I am so happy to see you both well,” Nea whispered, holding her son, with the briefest touch of her hand against his cheek she fed quickly, noting that he had mostly been eating other people’s anxiety and panic while she was gone, which was unlike her son on many levels.

  “We are concerned you won’t be thrilled with our news,” Mihail sighed, feeling better as the excess emotion leaked off him, fueling his mother’s magic. Nea frowned and them went over and kissed Stasi’s cheek.

  “If you deem it as good news than so shall I.” She savored Stasi’s feeding, her daughter was full of happiness and pride, Nea had noticed over the years that most Strigoi tended to feed off emotions they felt the most comfortable with or had the most experience in dealing with. It could be trying, carrying around more emotion than what you produced yourself.

  “You both have revived me greatly; I didn’t realize how low my own power base was until a few days ago,” Nea breathed a bit easier. Smiling at her daughter, she put an arm around her shoulders and turned towards Mihail, “now what is this good news?”

  “First off, you should know that Mihail and I have been in a relationship for several centuries,” Stasi began and stopped, horrified at her mother’s sudden burst of laughter.

  “I told you,” Ruxandra said, arms crossed, leaning against the door frame, watching everything, as usual.

  “You knew?” Mihail asked.

  “Of course; like you could actually hide it, but continue,” Nea settled down, waiting, a smile stretched across her face.

  “We are having a baby!” Stasi exclaimed. Her face fell as her mother froze, arm dropping away from her daughter.

  “What?” Nea asked, frozen, torn between joy and worry. Mihail quickly explained what had happened with Phoebe and how Stasi was almost four weeks pregnant. Nea walked over the window, collecting her thoughts before she spoke.

  “You are happy with this? This is what you want?” she asked, her reflection pale against the glass.

  “Yes, we are and we want you to be too,” Stasi said, walking over to Mihail and wrapping her arms around his waist.

  “This will help you too, Mother, the Titan admitted it, it shall be a granddaughter.”

  “Who isn’t a granddaughter,” Nea finished for him, a tiny spark of hope in her chest. Then fear filled her and she spun around, eyes wide.

  “You both must leave, at once,” she stated, Stasi jumped and Mihail frowned, but Ruxandra nodded at her grandmother.

  “I shall start the preparations immediately.” Ruxandra turned and hurried off.

  “What? What do you mean leave?” Stasi went to Nea and took her hands.

  “You cannot stay in England as long as Costica is here. The baby will not be safe; you both will not be safe, if he hears even the whisper of this…” Terror was filling every inch of Nea. She called for Sabine, the only real form of telepathy Stregas could do, and the red head appeared within minutes. She was naked, a sheet wrapped around her, frowning.

  “This had better be a real emergency Nea, I was getting…” She trailed off at the look in her friend’s eyes, securing the sheet like a toga she demanded, “What has happened?”

  Nea quickly explained.

  “Congratulations, my darlings!” Sabine was joyous, she hugged and kissed both Mihail and Stasi, who felt a little awkward at the state of undress their aunt was in.

  “They must leave,” Nea told her.

  “Of course they must. You shall take them, I will go back to Whitby and deal with Costica, make sure he knows you shall be back,” Sabine decided.

  “Are you sure?” Nea as
ked.

  “Yes, we shall take our week at leisure and I shall return and inform everyone that your sister is sick and you will be back as soon as you can. I will make sure Costica knows this as truth, he won’t harm anyone because you need more time.”

  “Where will we go?” Stasi asked.

  “Is this really necessary?” Mihail sounded angry and frustrated.

  “Yes, my loves, it will be better the farther away you are. I am so happy for you.” Nea took both their hands, beaming at them, “but I cannot do what I must if I have to worry about you.”

  “Where are you taking us?” Stasi asked again, feeling better knowing her mother was happy at their news.

  “America. I would take you home to Hungary or Transylvania, but I do not know if that is far enough or safe enough. Antal is in America, he can help,” Nea told them.

  “You should have Imre accompany them as well,” Sabine suggested.

  “I would, but I have Imre doing something important for me right now,” Nea said, regret in her voice, he was her most dangerous Strigoi, but she needed him here to help deal with Costica.

  “Now that we have a plan, if you don’t mind, I am going back to my recreation and hope my lover didn’t take offense. Your call was so panicked I just up and left.” Sabine laughed and in a blur was gone. She had gotten old enough, with enough power that her speed of travel was almost like she disappeared in one place and appeared in another. Even Nea wasn’t that fast.

  “I am sure Ruxandra planned a brilliant celebration for such wonderful news, let us not think about Costica or anything else, but food, family and joy for a time,” Nea announced, taming her anxiety, knowing her children needed her love and praise more than her worry.

  Chapter 17

  The weeks seemed to fly by for Nea. She settled Stasi and Mihail in a beautiful town home in New York City, allowing Bendis to furnish it with various staff, including a midwife, just in case. Their possessions arrived a week after them by boat and Ruxandra began the task of setting up a brand new household. Nea heard very little of what was happening in Whitby, trusting Sabine to keep it all under control until she could get back.

  She planned and attended their wedding, it was a lovely quiet ceremony, Stasi wore white lace and there were flowers everywhere. She was a bit angry that Vlad had decided not to attend. His search for the relic taking precedence.

  Nea didn’t want to leave her children, especially now that Stasi was expecting, but Stasi had reassured her that there was no way the issues with Costica in Whitby could take the 18 months she had left to be pregnant.

  True to her word, Nea had petitioned Bendis to send Renata home for a week and Renata came to the house in New York after she was done with her vacation. She seemed more uplifted and positive than the last time Nea had seen her. Nea didn’t understand most of what the other woman said, but understood that Renata now had a plan to deal with Costica and was eager to be back in the thick of things.

  So it was exactly three weeks after she left that Nea and Renata wound up back in the cottage in Whitby, being filled in by a rather somber Sabine.

  “I am glad you are here Nea, I have tried my best to keep everything under control, but things have been hectic these past three weeks,” Sabine said, lounging in the parlor, looking drained.

  “You should go feed now that I am here.” Nea sat by her best friend, a tad alarmed.

  “I will, though I don’t want to be gone long.”

  “What’s been going on here, why didn’t you tell me things weren’t good?”

  “Because I thought I could handle it. Costica has become very aggravated, convinced you were not coming back, he has done things I didn’t think he would. However, I am sure together we can fix them.” Sabine admitted, stubborn as always.

  “Tell me.”

  “First off, I was never able to perform the ceremony for Lucy, they dug her up two weeks ago after rumors of a “Bloofer Lady” began circulating through town: a young woman was killing children.”

  “We knew she would rise as a revenant. Why couldn’t you get to her first?” Nea shook her head, sadly.

  “I was late by less than an hour, Marina and I were too busy cleaning up after Costica, he killed a couple in town and made it look like Dracula. People were beginning to become hysterical, it was a diversion. When I reached the cemetery they had dug her up, cut off her head and put a stake through her heart. It was gruesome, so much blood everywhere.” Sabine sighed.

  “Now her soul will wander as a shade forever, the damn fools.” Nea cursed.

  “We tried to get poor Renfield out of the Sanatorium, as he is blood linked with Dracula and was providing them information…Your husband decided to simply kill the poor man…What you see in that monster is beyond me.”

  “He killed him?” Nea wished she could be more shocked, or care more…but she had survived much worst as Vlad’s wife than the killing of one imbecile.

  “Yes. What did you expect from a vampire? Then when Mina and Jonathan came back married the boy brought foolish and ridiculous tales from Transylvania and now they are all convinced of the vampire nonsense and have absolute certainty it is your husband causing the problems.”

  “Lovely, what did Vlad say?”

  “He is mainly annoyed, apparently he brought a bunch of soil from his castle, something about sleeping better on Transylvanian earth. That little band of idiots have been running around England finding them and destroying them. He also figured out Costica found that sword, or whatever, before him.”

  “That is unfortunate, but I do not doubt Vlad will get it back. However, if those mortals are not careful he will kill them all, like insects.” Nea stood and began to gather her coat.

  “Where are you going?” Sabine asked, standing.

  “To see Vlad, he should probably leave England for the time being until we know what else Costica has up his sleeve.”

  “They are all staying at the asylum with Jack, they tried to get me to come with them for safety but I refused. I wouldn’t worry about your husband, a few days before he killed Renfield, that crazy bug eater invited Dracula into the asylum and your old squeeze laid fang on Mina so that he would know what they were doing.” Sabine yawned.

  “Not a bad idea.” Nea mused.

  “Well, now the little trollop is playing it up like she’s been infected and Dracula is in love or obsessed with her or some such nonsense, the men have rallied around her, even more obsessed with killing him.” Sabine finished.

  “Just one more reason for me to go see him.” Nea finished putting on her outer wear, a navy blue asymmetrical jacket. Nea was tired of this era’s fashions. She also wore a white tailored shirtwaist bodice and black ankle length skirt. Her black hair was in a high knot on her head, some of her hair curled around her face.

  “Let us know if anything changes, I am going to pop over to France for the afternoon, feed and be back.” Sabine rubbed her eyes and was gone.

  “Should I even bother to have cook make supper?” Marina asked as Nea was going out the door.

  “Yes, something that keeps well, we must keep up appearances.” Nea instructed, pulling on white gloves.

  “I have an idea about Costica, but it needs the right environment to actually work.” Renata halted her before she could leave.

  “What kind of environment?” Nea asked, anxious to go see Vlad at Carfax.

  “A battle of some sort. Killing him will be easiest if it is in a situation where he is already going to die.”

  “Imre will be here with the news I asked him for, speak to him about this,” Nea suggested, knowing between the two they might be able to come up with a plan. Imre had been following Costica for over a month, gathering intelligence, he had also gone looking for Ion on an information quest.

  Nea left in a blur, using her preternatural speed to reach the doors of the dark crumbling Carfax within ten minutes. Purfleet was quiet when she passed through, people were busy eating and enjoying a Sunday afternoon at churc
h or with loved ones. Seward’s Asylum was lit up and she could hear music and the low burble of many voices as she passed, but she cared not for any of them.

  She knew she set off his wards when she came onto the property and decided knocking was a better idea than bursting in on a centuries old vampire. Her heart beat loudly in her chest, as it always did when Vlad was near. She had come to Carfax often when she first was in Whitby, never had he been there or answered her summons, but he did so now.

  “Cneajna.” His voice was deep as he opened the door and ushered her inside.

  “I am sorry I was gone so long, there was much to accomplish.” She looked around, the inside was a bit drafty, and cobwebs hung in the corners as did several bat colonies. Every flat surface was covered in dripping candles, their light cast dubious shadows against the walls, but illuminated the room enough for her to see, cobwebs aside, it was clean. There was a new table and chairs in the middle of the room a fire was going in one corner near a deep red velvet divan.

  “I understand, Mihail was quite excited when he came to see me with his announcement. I was sorry to miss the nuptials.” Vlad walked farther into the room.

  “Yes, he and Stasi are very excited.” She sat down in front of the fire place, happy with it’s warmth.

  “It is a good match; Bathory and Dracul blood, are very strong.” He sat next to her, the light flickering over his features.

  “Sabine says you have been keeping an eye on our friends at the Sanatorium.” Nea frowned at him, he was being very distant with her for some reason. His black cloak hugged his body like a security blanket.

  “Yes, they are fools, they seek to have me run back to Transylvania with my tail between my legs.” He laughed and it was a decadent thing.

  “I think it’s a good idea. If you lure them to Transylvania we can get rid of Costica once and for all.”

  “He is a nuisance, and spends little time alone or I would have killed him already, but you told me not to fuel their fire, not to draw any more attention to myself. He has the Rhomphaia, I know he thinks to use it against me.” Vlad raised an eyebrow, his eyes intense.