The Stuart Vampire

by Andrea Zuvich

  She smiled, her being full of happiness to serve him, and she carefully slid the roast off the spit and onto the pewter platter. Knife and skewer in hand, she began to carve the meat, and the juice dribbled out and spread across the base of the platter. The smell was nauseating to Henry, but he popped the meat into his mouth and chewed. It was an exceedingly odd feeling for him, having not had any human food pass his lips in seven years. Susanna ate her portion eagerly, as to any human it was delicious, especially with the herbs she had used to flavour it. He feigned enjoyment in the meal purely to satisfy her, but his stomach felt as though he had eaten acid, for it was excruciatingly painful. Once the meal was over, he excused himself, saying that he needed to relieve himself. Outside, he vomited up both the meat he had consumed and the blood of the aged woman he had fed upon in the wood. He immediately felt better after this and, kicking some soil over his bloody vomit, walked back into the cottage feeling much more at ease.

  “I find it hard to believe that you live in Sanguinem Castle,” she said, placing her chin upon her hand. “All of my life, we’ve been told that it is home to monsters and demons.”

  “Aye, and sadly, it is thus, for I dwell therein,” he replied, forlornly.

  “Ha! You, a monster! I would sooner say that King Charles is from the Antipodes!”

  Henry laughed along with her, despite the concern creeping into his mind. She would find out, sooner or later, and then what? He told himself, again and again, that though she was friendless, she would gladly choose solitude rather than spend her time with the abhorrent creature such as he thought he was.

  “Will you show me inside sometime?” she asked, meekly. “I’ve always wanted to see it. We can only see the very top of it from the village square. I used to dream about knights and ladies who used to live there. Is it beautiful inside? Or is it really a monstrous place full of catacombs and tombs and ghosts?”

  He smiled. “There are some rooms which hold instruments of torture from a time long ago. It was a ruined castle when first I came to live in it, but it’s better now, for I have had some years to make alterations. Some of the rooms are quite comfortable now. Should you wish to see it tomorrow night, I would be happy to oblige.”

  “Oh yes, please!” She was as excitable as a child in her unabashed joy. “A real castle! Oh, you must show me all of the castle’s mysterious passages and secret rooms.”

  “Then that is what we shall do. It is only an extra quarter of an hour’s walk from the Black Stones.”

  “Would you like some more food?” she asked, standing up and bending over to carve more of the roast.

  “No, I thank you, Susanna, I couldn’t possibly. I must head back home now.”

  When he left, Susanna held Toby in her arms and sat by the dying fire. She harboured great affection for Henry, but she feared her secret would cause him to break with her, and this she knew she would not be able to bear. She knew that her story would no doubt shock and disgust him, as no honourable man would wish to be associated with a fallen woman; a woman who had been ravished and given birth to an illegitimate child. As their friendship had increased, so had her feelings of guilt for hiding what would undoubtedly repulse him.

  She was restless that night, tossing and turning in her poky little bed upon the floor, Henry’s green-yellow eyes haunting her dreams. She wept in her sleep then, for she knew she could no longer deceive him. Susanna could not let him continue believing that she was purer than the driven snow. In her mind, she was tantamount to used goods, unfit for so good a man as he. But his friendship was the balm of her soul and a tonic for all of her woes. She feared he would leave and she would have nothing to look forward to, nothing but a life filled with regret and perpetual servitude.

  ***

  He met her by the Black Stones the next evening, but before they were to depart to his castle, she stopped him and asked him to sit with her for she had something to tell him. She had finally summoned up the courage to tell him of her past.

  “Henry, I have a great weight bearing down upon my conscience, and I know full well what the consequences will be. And so, let me say how much your friendship has meant to me. With you, I have heard the music in life; and the world seems so much better because you’re in it. I know I will never see you again, and I will not begrudge you for it. I am sorry for not telling you this earlier, perhaps I do not deserve your friendship, after all.”

  “What is it, dearest Susanna?” murmured Henry, who sat by her side by the fire they had just made. He took her hand in his — the first time they had had such meaningful contact.

  She inhaled sharply, then began: “I am not the maid you think I am. I told you once that I had some troubles in my past, and this I feel I must acquaint you with. Almost two years ago now, I was working in the fields behind the farm, when our neighbour’s son, Geoffrey Smith, came running to fetch me to help him. He said his sheep had got into the clover, and since I know how to take care of ‘em, he came to me. At least, that’s what I thought. I crossed over to his father’s land, where there is a large field of barley. When I reached the end of the field, to where the sheep graze, I saw no ill sheep, but two other young men, Peter Winthrop and Mark Thomas. I knew instantly the moment I saw Peter standing there that something dreadful was going to happen, but never could I have imagined what they would do.”

  She winced, her mind remembering the terror of that time. “He said he would cut my throat if I told anyone. Oh! It was horrible, but worst of all is what happened next. I had a son, and was not married, and since Peter is Belinda’s younger brother and their father is the magistrate of Coffin’s Bishop, I knew that no one would believe me; and so I concealed the attack from all. The whole of the village thought that I had a lover. It seemed as though all of the married women suspected me of having seduced their husbands. Since then, I have been an outcast, though I have never been liked in the village, truth be told.”

  “And what of the child? What became of him?” Henry asked, his eyes full of sorrow.

  “My poor boy is buried here beneath this stone,” she said, pointing a smooth blue stone upon which she had laid some daisies. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. She turned her sweet round face towards his, her voice breaking with emotion. “This is the only place I could bring him, for they would not let me bury him in the churchyard.”

  A tear trickled down her cheek then. “I have not spoken of this to anyone. I have kept it here inside my breast for so long, it seemed I would never be able to speak to a living soul about it. I am certain that I will never see you again. I will not blame you. I could not have you go on without knowing what I am. I am not pure or virtuous. Thank you for listening to me.”

  He shifted uncomfortably where he sat. “I am more sorry than I can say. But please understand that every single one of us in this world has something about them they wish were different. Most of us, I daresay, have something to hide.” They exchanged a few awkward pleasantries but both were hounded — she, thinking he was disappointed with her; and he, wanting to tell her his secret, but not having the courage to do so. They decided it would be better not to visit the castle that night, after all.

  Henry escorted her back to the cottage around midnight. She looked at him, taking in every contour of his handsome face, remembering everything about him, for she knew it was the last time they would meet. He put his wide-brimmed, feathered hat back on, walked down the path, and slowly made his way back to Sanguinem Castle. He heard her close the door behind him, and he continued walking on toward the woods. He kept looking back to the cottage, to where she was. Susanna had slowly fallen to the floor, her back pressed against the door she had closed behind her. She wept quietly, so as not to disturb Belinda, now asleep in her chamber upstairs. She had so looked forward to visiting the castle, and having Henry escort her throughout its ancient stone corridors! Now she would never see him again! She wrung her hands as she continued to weep, her heart swelling with the pain of losing him, the only man she had ever
loved. She prayed she would never forget his face, his voice, and his kindness.

  ***

  In spite of what she had confessed to him about her past, in his eyes she was still so innocent, so untainted by the evil in the world, and the malice in the hearts of the villagers that surrounded her. The torturous image of Susanna, battered and bleeding in the shelter of the rocks in the forest was forever ingrained upon his mind. The cruel thought of her soft flesh being assaulted by those wicked young men made him want to tear their heads off. He knew he could do this, too.

  From his initial observations of Susanna and Edmonds Farm, he had seen these three villains, and he knew where each of them lived. The fury made him want to raze the whole of Coffin’s Bishop to the ground. It would be so easy to kill the three men and whisk Susanna away with him. His conscience would feel no remorse, for he felt that it was not murder but punishment that he would mete out unto them. Henry wanted to protect Susanna, but he was not sure how. He then remembered that she still was ignorant of what he really was, and this was something that he would never be able to conceal from her.

  And so he forced himself to stay away, but it was only a matter of days before he realised he could not be away from Susanna. He had to be where she was. He first vowed, however, to avenge her. He planned everything out. He remembered the names of the three men she had stated had violated her. And with this knowledge, he sought them out during the darkest time of the night. He killed them one by one in the most inhumane, painful way he could and then drank their blood — not all, because he wanted their deaths to come slowly.

  “For Susanna,” he said in their ears.

  Their mutilated remains, that were found in the village square the next day, horrified the whole of Coffin’s Bishop. They had been placed in the stocks like the criminals they were and carved into each of their chests by Henry’s talon-like fingers, was the word “Ravisher”.

  Belinda shrieked and wailed upon hearing the dreadful news, which Goody Miller had delivered. Belinda cursed whoever had done so black a deed as murder her brother. She stormed up the stairs and vented her wrath upon Samuel, who could do nothing but lie there and wait for the tempest to run its course.

  Susanna took the news differently. She shut the door to the little hovel that was her bedroom and she sat very still, clutching her legs and resting her burning cheek upon her knees. How could all three of them have died? She had told no one but Henry…could he have done this? She did not think he could have, for he was gentle and kind. The town whispered that it had to be an evil creature — perhaps the Beast of Sanguinem Wood? Susanna smiled as she wept, for whoever had done the deed was, in her eyes, not a villain, but a hero.

  ***

  George Winthrop received the following letter, which was written in a most elegant hand and upon the finest quality paper he had ever seen:

  To George Winthrop, Magistrate of Coffin’s Bishop, father of one Peter Winthrop, recently deceased.

  I must apologise for the loss your family has sustained, but ‘twas the best thing for all. Be in no doubt, Sir, that your son was a villain. He ravished a young lady in the village, which caused her to give birth to a child and incur the wrath of all the villagers. Since no justice would ever have been delivered by your hand, though it ought to have been, I have taken it upon myself to mete out his sentence. Peter deserved what he received and more. As for the two others, they aided him in his villainy, and were dispatched in the same manner. –H.

  As for Henry, he had no appetite, for his belly was still full from the blood of those three villains. He slept in his great oak tester bed, with its thick, heavy brocade curtains shut tight. Enveloped in the cool darkness of this space, he dreamt of Susanna. He yearned for her, and he hoped she reciprocated the feeling.

  Belinda, her eyes red raw from crying, dressed in mourning attire and stated that she was going to stay in her father’s house until they had buried Peter. Susanna sat at her spinning wheel, a basket of wool at her feet. The news, which had first shocked her, had been able to sink in, and as she worked the machine, a little smile crept across her face. Peter would harm her no more. It felt as though the grey clouds had parted and the sun now shone down upon her in a golden glow.

  She was so involved in her thoughts and her work that she did not notice Henry’s arrival soon after dusk. He was dressed regally with a nobleman’s suit, his long wavy hair combed and glossy. He stood in the doorway and called to Susanna. “You must come away with me. Now. Get your things, and come live with me in Sanguinem Castle.”

  Her eyes widened with disbelief. “Are you in jest?”

  “Nay, I have long wished it. You will be in danger should you stay here, Belinda will take her sorrows out upon you. Please, Susanna. The castle is so large, and I enjoy your company so.”

  A smile crept across her face and she flung her arms about her saviour at once. “Oh, thank you!” Her smile vanished as she remembered Samuel. “Please, I must say goodbye to my brother.”

  “Go, do what you must — hurry!” he said, nodding.

  “Hold! What of Samuel? I cannot abandon him. Please, come with me.” She took Henry’s hand and together they went to Samuel’s room. Life was a misery for him, and he would have been a choice victim for Henry to feed upon, but he knew that would hurt Susanna.

  She opened the linen closet and took out her mother’s old blanket. Into this she placed the few remaining items of clothing that she had. She gave one last glance at the poky little space that Belinda had deigned to give her. They then went into her brother’s room.

  “Samuel?” she asked, as she opened the door. He slowly turned his head towards her and gave a little smile.

  “You are leaving,” he stated, his voice full of sadness and concern. He often heard Henry’s voice in the kitchen, but never once told Belinda about his sister’s burgeoning romance with the young man who had rescued her in the woods.

  “Aye. I am sorry. If I stay, she’ll surely kill me this time.”

  “Nay, do not be sorry. I have long wished for you to be away and safe. We should have left after mother was killed. Aye, the villagers killed her, believing her to be a witch. It was George Winthrop’s doing, Belinda told me. I am sorry I could not protect you from her. I am sorry that I was too weak to take us away from this place. I have failed you, sister, but I have always loved you.”

  Susanna looked at him and threw herself down by his side. “Oh, brother, I swear to you — she will someday pay for how she’s treated both of us! The Winthrop family will pay for what they’ve done to ours.” And the whole of Coffin’s Bishop, too, for that matter, she swore to herself.

  Samuel shifted his pained gaze from his sister to Henry. “Sir, you are an angel for taking my sister away from this hellish village. I entrust her to your keep.” Samuel didn’t even care that they were not married, for living in sin was better than living in a hell on earth.

  “Mister Edmonds, you are welcome to join us in my home. There is plenty of room for you, and I shall see that you are given the care you require.”

  Samuel inhaled sharply at this. “I thank thee for thy words, but I belong here with my repulsive wife. I gave her my word, ‘till death us do part’, and I will keep to that vow. But my sister has suffered so much! And so I beg you, Sir, do not let her come back here, not for anything in the world.”

  Henry reached down and took Samuel’s hand in his own. “I promise thee, Sir, that I shall look after your sister for as long as she wishes to be with me.”

  “Then go!” he croaked, “Let her not see you. Susanna, forget about me and do not feel any guilt. For once in your life, I want you to be happy. Go with him, and find the happiness you deserve. Whatever you do, remember, do not come back to this accursed place!”

  She nodded, and kissed his pale forehead. “Make sure that she keeps turning you, as I have done. I can’t bear your sores getting any worse because of her failure to look after you.”

  “Please do not worry about me, sister. Go!
Be happy.”

  “Thank you. Goodbye, Samuel, I love you.”

  “Goodbye, Susanna, I love thee too.”

  Chapter 14:

  Escape into the Unknown

  With Samuel’s blessing, Henry led the way through Sanguinem Wood. Susanna, who held Toby in her arms, followed close behind him as they journeyed through parts she had never before explored. Owls hooted above them, spying upon them as they passed, and the howling of wolves echoed in the distance. Susanna trembled as she worried that the hideous beast would attack them, but her fears subsided with one look at Henry’s face. She saw there such calm, that she knew he was unafraid of the many savage beasts that no doubt prowled through the wood at night.

  It was ten o’clock when they at last came upon the clearing in the midst of which stood Sanguinem Castle. Susanna gasped and tightened her grip on Henry’s hand as she looked up at the sheer size of it all. There were torches burning brightly on either side of the large portcullis, and as they walked over the drawbridge, Susanna couldn’t help but be open-mouthed at so great a building. As much as she was in awe of the building, it was unnerving as well. The great stones looked sickly green, and menacing shadows flickered against the ancient walls. It looked almost like a cathedral from some angles.

  “I had no idea it was so big!” she exclaimed, as the passed through the gatehouse. Henry hoped to God that Griselda would never return; for if she were to find that the man she had desired to be her eternal lover had fallen in love with another, things would bode badly for them all. Griselda would not take kindly to having her presumed position usurped. He would have to be careful and vigilant, and above all, he had to protect Susanna from Griselda’s wrath.

  “Is something wrong?” Susanna asked, noting Henry’s preoccupied look.