The Vengeance of the Vampire Bride (5 page)

“Gone now for a few years,” Adem said
thoughtfully.

“It burned. I wonder why.”

“Lightning. A cooking fire. Arson. An
angry vampire. Vlad does enjoy settling ablaze those who defy him.”
Adem shrugged. “So many reasons why it could have burned, but it is
of no real importance anymore. All that is left are the shadows of
the past.”

I thought of my family, dead at the
hands of Vlad, betrayed by his minions. “Can you escape that which
always haunts you?”

With a sigh, Adem lifted his broad
shoulders again. “Who is to say, Countess? I am still trying to
hide from my own shadows. I have yet to evade them.”

The graveyard wasn’t far from the town,
and it was exactly as I remembered. A wall surrounded it and weeds
consumed old, broken tombstones. I let out a wail of despair when I
saw that the white marble sepulcher that once rose majestically
above the graveyard was in ruins. I slid from the horse, vaulted
over the wall, and ran to where the huge marble slabs listed in the
grass. Only two walls of the sepulcher still remained standing; the
rest were strewn about, as though a great hand had come and knocked
them aside like playing cards. The bronze door was tossed to one
side, crushing two tombstones under its weight. I scrambled over
the jagged marble remains, crying out for Erzsébet.

“Countess, take care,” Adem
cautioned.

“I must discover if she is here,” I
answered, plunging into the rubble.

Adem followed, carefully maneuvering
over the broken blocks of marble as I easily crawled over them like
a spider. I was desperate and terrified. If Vlad had destroyed her
tomb and let her burn in the sun, I would go to the castle and
strike off his head.

At last I found her resting place. She
was not there, nor was the great iron stake. The platform she had
rested upon was empty. Only a scar remained deep into the marble,
caked with dried blood, where the iron stake had pierced her body
and pinned her. Gazing about, I discovered a bit of the roof. I
could see an empty hole where the iron stake had once pierced the
stone.

“He did this!” I shrieked at Adem. “He
killed her!”

“You do not know that,” Adem responded
calmly. “There is no ash. There is no sign that a vampire burned
here. He may have moved her.”

“Do you know what he did to her? How he
impaled her? The stake was driven through the roof down into the
mausoleum, thrust into her body and into the stone beneath her. He
kept her trapped. Did you know that?” I was furious, my hands
clenched at my sides.

Adem shook his head solemnly. “No, I
did not. No one did. We all presumed she was dead.”

“Death would have been a blessing
compared to her torment!”

I fell across her former resting place.
The reek of dried blood and decay filled my nostrils. I remembered
her beauty and grace despite her terrible circumstances. Yes, she
had been mad with pain, but she had urged me to escape Vlad. She
had understood my need to abscond Vlad’s clutches in a way none of
the other Brides could.

“Oh, Erzsébet,” I sobbed. “I have
failed you.”

It was worse than I had
imagined. I thought perhaps Vlad had hidden her away, but the
destruction of her sepulcher brought me great dread. He had chosen
me to be his wife. Perhaps he had decided to destroy her at last as
some loathsome display of his fidelity. Despite Adem’s assertion
that there was no ash, I no longer believed she may still be
living.

Lying across the cold
marble, I sobbed, bloody tears running down my face. Adem continued
to rummage through the wreckage, seeking answers as I mourned. He
abruptly ceased his search, craning his neck, listening. I stifled
my tears, aware that he was alert to a possible threat. I dared not
even speak his name, but gradually drew myself up to sit upon the
platform.

A low hiss slithered through the night
air.

Adem’s sword sang as it was drawn from
its scabbard. Silently motioning for me to get behind him, he crept
slowly toward the outer edges of the ruined mausoleum. I followed,
careful to not make a sound.

Three ghastly creatures were gathered
around a nearby grave. They were digging frenetically at the ground
with abnormally large, clawed hands. Resembling humans, the
creatures were mottled like corpses, wisps of hair hanging from
their skulls. Their skin hung on their bony frames as the naked
monsters dug deep into the grave with surprising speed.

“Hungry. Hurry,” one rasped.

“They’re all long dead. No fresh meat
here.”

“Then why did he magick it to keep us
out?”

The creatures spoke like humans, but
their voices were oddly slurred.

Adem crept along the side of one of the
remaining walls. I crouched, my gloved hands lightly resting on the
cold stones. The wretched creatures continued to burrow into the
dirt as they spoke in grotesquely lisping voices.

“He kept us out because he didn’t want
us to feast on what he had hidden here,” one insisted as its large
hands flung dirt aside.

“Foul vampire,” the other sniffed.
“Wasted blood boil of a creature.”

I wanted to ask Adem what they were,
but he was watching and did not cast his attention in my direction.
My tears for Erzsébet were forgotten as I observed in horror as the
three beasts pulled a moldering coffin from the grave and cracked
it open against the gravestone. Bones and rotten cloth fell out
onto the ground and one of the monsters grabbed up a bone. It was
then I saw its great maw, full of hideously hooked teeth, open
wide. The mouth split the creature’s face from ear to ear and I
gasped.

Adem motioned for silence, his gaze
never faltering from the three. The other creatures snatched up
bones, crunching them loudly as they ate.

“Dry and old. Not tasty. What did he
have hidden? I want to eat that.”

The terrible sound of breaking bones
and chewing broke the silence of the graveyard. The wind increased
slightly, rustling the tall grass, but not a sound issued forth
from the forest. All the creatures were silent, perhaps in terror
of these monsters.

I lifted my hand to wipe away the
vestiges of my tears when I heard a gasp from one of the filthy
things. Its large head swung around from side to side as it loudly
sniffed.

“Blood! Fresh blood!” It screeched as
it leaped onto a gravestone and inhaled deeply. The other two
dropped their meal of dry bones and began to rush about the graves,
their wide, blunt noses to the ground.

Adem cautiously backed toward me, the
steel of his blade flashing in his hand. I finally comprehended
what the creatures had smelled. It was my tears! Tears tinged with
blood. I had only a moment to gather my thoughts before one of the
monsters flung itself into the air and landed on the marble stone
before me. In close proximity its face was far more terrible than I
could have imagined. Its small eyes had no lids and the orbs were
murky white. Its wide mouth drew back in a grimace, exposing its
hooked teeth.

“Vampire!” it screamed with delight.
“Delicious blood!” It lurched toward me, claws spread
wide.

There was a flash of Adem’s blade, then
its head fell from its shoulders and onto my lap. Shrieking with
disgust, I leaped away just as another creature darted around the
fallen wall and viciously slashed Adem’s back.

I rushed forward to defend him, but was
blocked by another creature landing before me. It grinned with
delight as it picked up its companion’s head, opened its hideous
mouth, and took a large bite as if it were an apple. In a panic, I
whirled about and scrambled over the rocks, trying to get away from
the terrible thing. I heard the clash of steel against the strong
claws of the creature attacking Adem.

Leaping onto the remains of the wall, I
looked back to see Adem fighting the beast as the other one
finished consuming the head of its fallen comrade. The foul
creature peered up at me as it greedily crunched the skull between
its teeth. Black blood, bits of skin and brain, and other foul
things fell from its mouth.

Adem’s attacker knocked him down and
howled with delight as it lunged forward, mouth agape. Adem raised
his arm defensively and the creature’s hooked teeth caught his
forearm. I cried out in terror as it ripped through his sleeve and
tore a large bit of flesh from his limb. Adem’s grunt of pain
spurred me into action. I sprang, my feet aiming for the creature’s
head. The heels of my boots impacted with the creature’s forehead,
knocking it away from Adem. I fell in a heap of petticoats near the
thing, slicing my knees against the rocks.

“Poison! Poison!” the monster shrieked,
spitting out Adem’s flesh. “It’s poisoned. He’s not delicious to
eat!”

I barely recovered myself and stood
when the creature originally pursuing me slashed me, its claws
cutting deep into my arm. Crying out in pain, I threw up my power
between us in an attempt to obfuscate myself. Behind me, the
creature that had attempted to eat Adem was retching. It dragged
itself away, hiding behind the wall.

“Still see you,” the foul creature
crouching near me said with a fiendish grin and clicked its claws
together.

Adem shoved me aside and swung his
sword at the creature’s head. It evaded him, hopping backward onto
the wall. It skittered along the top like a rat. Thrusting a dagger
into my hand, Adem placed himself between me and our
attackers.

“They’re ghouls,” Adem said tersely.
“Eaters of the dead.”

“And undead!” one of the ghouls
shrieked with glee.

“Vampire flesh and blood are a
delicacy,” Adem continued grimly. “And vampire powers do not work
on them.”

The ghoul on the wall let out a hissing
chuckle. “We’re related. Blood of our blood.”

Clutching the dagger, I looked about
for the other ghoul, my gaze sweeping over the ruins and graveyard.
The ghoul on the wall, glared down at us, its long claws clicking
against the marble.

The shadows gave birth to the shrieking
form of the sickened ghoul. Adem thrust his sword at the creature;
it evaded the blade and swung its clawed hand, attempting to gut
him. The blade in Adem’s other hand slashed upwards, hacking off
the limb of the ghoul at the elbow. It screamed in pain, but
continued to attack. Adem deflected its blows, talons clashing
against steel. My guard was agile and swift, attacking more than
defending, keeping the creature off balance.

The ghoul on the wall threw itself upon
me with an ungodly howl. I slashed at it with the dagger, feeling
the silver blade slicing deep into its side. Its terrible claws
slashed me across the neck and chest, cutting through my dress and
deep into my flesh. Screaming, I thrust my dagger at it, but it
swatted the weapon from my hand. Again, it raked me with its claws,
drawing more blood, laughing fiendishly as it did so.

In a rage, I charged, knocking it off
its feet and onto the rubble. Gripping its large head with my
hands, I smashed it against the marble stones, screaming into its
face. Its horrible mouth snapped at me as it thrashed, trying to
toss me off. I clutched its skeletal body between my thighs to pin
it as I tried to kill the beast. My gloved fingers dug into its
disgusting flesh as I persistently drove its head against the
marble stones. I felt and heard its head crack open. At last, its
arms and legs stilled and the rotting stink of its brains and blood
filled the air, making me retch. I staggered away, my blood pouring
out on the ground.

Near me, Adem hacked away at the
wounded ghoul, finally decapitating it. The head rolled away as the
body fell to the ground. The stink was unbearable. Adem stumbled
toward me, then fell to his knees.

“Forgiveness, Countess. I failed. You
are wounded.”

“I am healing,” I answered, trembling
with pain. “But they were powerful.” I collapsed to the ground, my
hands pressed against my wounds as I willed my body to
heal.

“Yes.” Adem dragged in great droughts
of air into his lungs. The wound on his arm was savage and bone and
muscle glistened in the moonlight. As I watched, his flesh began to
knit together.

“Are you certain you are human?” I
asked.

“A cursed human, but a human, yes,” he
assured me.

I rested my head against his shoulder,
feeling my flesh healing. The pain was beginning to dissipate. “Why
cursed?”

“A story for another time,” he said
softly. “Forgive me for failing you.”

“Do not worry yourself. I am truly
embarrassed that I could not effectively protect myself.” I sighed.
“I am an incompetent vampire.”

“Do you know why they had the advantage
over us?”

“No.”

“We were trapped in this ruin. They had
us constantly on the defensive.”

Regarding our surroundings, I saw that
he was correct.

“If I could have lured them out into
the open, the matter would have been settled much more efficiently.
But I dared not leave your side.” He hesitated, then gazed at me
directly. “Vlad never taught you to fight, to defend yourself, did
he?”