by P. L. Kurup
“Get up,” Lucas screamed.
“I can’t. I’m too tired,” she said.
“Get up now or I will finish you this instant.”
She separated herself from her predicament by thinking about her beloved husband, and acknowledged that it’d be unfair to give up on life knowing how much he loved her. So she scrambled to her feet using every ounce of strength she possessed.
“Let’s go,” she said.
“You are steadfast. I’ll say that.”
Twenty steps on and the slithers of foliage thinned enough for her to see the sun’s rays. It was clear they’d come to the end of the woods and her breathing intensified not knowing what was beyond it.
As the last branch cleared, Amelia set eyes on a steep hill at the top of which stood a solitary castle. She remembered seeing the same structure whilst driving to the village, an edifice she paid little attention to. He hauled her up the steep mound and her shoes slipped with every stride causing him to snarl. It took an hour and ten minutes for them to reach the castle entrance, and her weary eyes saw a tattered sign with the words ‘Graves Castle’ hoisted atop a broken down gate.
“Now all we have to do is wait for your lover,” he said.
xxx
Samuel ran through the woods for over two hours, and didn’t pause once. His inability to suffer fatigue and thirst making him a formidable athlete. All the while his mind raced with thoughts of Amelia’s welfare and he mentally berated himself for allowing her to be snatched away from him.
He dug his heels into the frozen earth and came to an abrupt halt. Shifting the reams of cumbersome branches obstructing his route, he clapped eyes on the castle perched on top of the steep embankment. He knew at once that was she was.
He tore up the slope, his feet throwing up piles of dirt as he progressed, and reached the castle walls. He looked down to find both Lucas’s bare footprint and Amelia’s shoeprint etched on the red earth.
“We’ve been waiting for you.” Lucas shouted.
Samuel examined the castle and saw a building with ivy on its walls and broken windows. He crossed into the derelict courtyard and crossed to the entrance whilst dodging swirling leaves. Stepping inside building, he saw a dust-filled chamber with one or two broken bits of furniture lying about. Lucas and Amelia, however, were both absent and Samuel stamped his foot.
“Show yourself,” he yelled.
What sounded like a clay pot being moved alerted his attention to a door at the back and he gaped at it hoping for a glimpse of her. The door opened and Amelia entered the hall alongside Lucas. Her hair and clothes were caked in mud and her once pristine hair was ruffled. Lucas stared without emotion.
“Let her go!” Samuel demanded.
“I’m afraid I can’t,” Lucas replied. “You see, I haven’t fed in a day and your wife is so tempting.”
Lucas opened his mouth and cupped it around her bare neck. Samuel’s eyes bulged and he darted forward and shoved Lucas away from Amelia.
“Run,” Samuel screeched at her. She shook her head no and Samuel roared, “Run away now.”
Amelia ran through the room, tears streaming down her face, and reached the outside. Lucas pounced on Samuel and held him down with one hand.
“Telling her to leave is pointless. After I finished with you I’m going to feast on your beloved just like I did with Alexandra.”
Samuel bit Lucas’s hand creating a gaping wound which healed in seconds.
“Now it’s my turn,” barked Lucas.
He removed a stake from inside his coat pocket and thrust it into Samuel’s chest making him cry out.
“No!” Amelia screamed.
Her shriek caused Lucas to look at her, and as he did so, Samuel removed the stake from his chest and plunged it into Lucas’s heart. Lucas staggered upright and watched Samuel a fleeting moment before his body disintegrated into a swirl of acrid smoke.
Amelia rushed to Samuel’s side tears flowing down her cheeks and stared helplessly as he suffered.
“Please don’t die. I can’t live without you,” she cried.
At the moment of Lucas’s death, the one who changed Samuel, a mist rose up from Samuel’s body and formed into an image of him. The phantom stared at Amelia and walked away fading into nothing.
The vampire Samuel was dead.
Samuel’s heart started beating for the first time in two hundred and thirty seven years and blood pumped around his body. His chest muscles rose and fell and he drew in his first gasp of air. With the restoration of life came the inevitability of pain, cold, and the utter misery of being human.
“He’s pierced the left ventricle. I need to ease the bleeding,” Amelia said.
She pressed on his chest to stem the bleeding with her right hand, and with her left hand dug into her pocket and fished out her mobile phone. Turning it on, she found there was no signal.
“Not now,” she yelled.
Using her free hand she moved her phone at a steady pace hoping for a miracle. A whole minute elapsed yet she was unable to determine a connection. Still, she continued to move the device through the brisk Scottish air, when suddenly, she saw the welcome sight of a single service bar. Being careful not to move either hand she phoned the emergency services and said, “I need an ambulance at ‘Graves Castle.’ A man’s been injured and he’s lost a lot of blood.” Disconnecting the call she bent down and whispered, “They’ll be here soon. You have to hold on, my love. Hold on.”
Chapter 31
It was a cold January day and a London cemetery was shrouded beneath a cloak of mist. Hundreds of gravestones, both weathered and new, were packed into orderly rows. The ghostlike atmosphere was enhanced by the absence of visitors and the intermittent cry of birds.
In the centre of the cemetery stood the lonely figure of Amelia Thorpe clutching a bouquet of fresh flowers. Her eyes were brimming with tears and she took several breaths to compose herself. Shortly, she lay the flowers on the graves of Henry Thorpe and Sarah Thorpe.
“I love you mum and dad,” she said tearfully.
xxx
The medical school was a buzz with students returning from their Christmas break. Young men and women strolled into the building twittering and laughing amongst themselves and carrying an abundance of books.
Among the entourage was Amelia who also carried a bag full of heavy texts. She entered the lecture hall and took her usual seat at the back. A second later, a man wearing jeans and a white shirt sat beside her. This simple gesture filled Adrian, Priti and eighty percent of the room with a desire to know the man’s identity. Amelia kissed the handsome gentleman on the lips and said, “Hello, my husband.”
“Hello, my wife,” replied Samuel.
Samuel breathed in and out like every other person there, his skin had a healthy pinkness to it, and his once intensely blue eyes now showcased their natural green. He offered Amelia his hand and she grasped it sensing the warmth of his skin and felt completely and utterly blissful.