Bathory's Secret: When All The Time In The World Is Not Enough (Affliction Vampires Book 1) (37 page)

December 9
th
1611
.

I’m not certain of the date, but I believe the year to be correct as I have observed the seasons come full circle whilst I’ve been in here. The scant light that comes in through the meager ceiling windows, if you could call them that, signifies that the days are short and the cold is bitter. I can’t complain about them as I wouldn’t be able to tolerate sunlight coming from a real window and I doubt they would provide me with drapes in here. From time to time a snowflake or two will sneak their way in to tell me that winter is far from over. I put up with it all because I know that I will not be in here for long. I realize that this is simply a measure in order to reassure and appease the Emperor and that I shall soon be released and exonerated of my guilt in these murders. I have a good supply of paper, candles, logs and furs and someone even passes me a small bowl of blood at night along with the meat they give me, so it won’t be long now before all this mess is cleared up. I am certain that my, or rather
her
(there is no reason to keep up this pretense in my journals anyway), daughters are working feverishly for my release and one day when I am free again these writings will prove as a reminder of my time in here like the scores of others I have written for Valgt to study when he is well. There is so much to tell him, and I simply cannot remember it all. At the moment I will continue theorizing about our cures, so that I can get back to work on his treatment the moment I am out of here.

April 29
th
1612.

I can hear the rats scampering around the periphery and the hidden passages of the castle. The weather is warmer outside and I think I can hear the snow begin to melt early this year. My daughters have not written in a while, but I know that is because they are so busy negotiating for me. The blood has stopped coming and the meat is less frequent. I long for my research and for soft young flesh……

July 6
th
1613

The days have gone past their longest point and I believe we are in mid-summer. I spend my days writing prose and coming up with theories for Valgt. Not long left now, especially as my supplies are dwindling. I am running out of ink and wood logs, which I am certain is an oversight.

The castle is empty and silent and all I hear are the guard’s steps as he shuffles his feet on the stone outside my door. I’ve asked him for information pertaining to my case but he won't answer me. Pompous little shit! When I am free he will be the first to be sacked and then I’ll find him and drink him. I might be in prison but I am still the Countess! Low born scum, all of them who put me in here! When I am free they can be certain I will go after each and every one of those so-called witnesses of the Crown and I will make them pay! Their deaths will be slow and painful.

August 17
th
1614.

Last night I dreamt I drank blood, real fresh human blood. The dream was so vivid that I could still taste it in my mouth and on my lips when I woke.

What is taking so long with my release? This is unacceptable for someone of my social standing! This is such a monumental insult! I have put up with this joke for too long!

I need to get back to my experiments, it is important I finish my research for Valgt. He was chosen, he is the key, he cannot die, I must cure him…

I need blood; all they give me is gruel. I need blood, I need blood, I need blood, I need blood!!! Rats taste disgusting! Maybe someone of lower birth could survive on them, but I cannot live on gruel and rats! The travesty! And this heat…

When this charade is over they will all pay for their insolence starting with the Emperor! Does he not know who I am? Where I’ve been? What I’ve lived through? His minuscule life pales in comparison to my own and just as I have survived the ravages of hell itself, so will I get out of this little boudoir! I will make my way down to Vienna where I shall ceremoniously enjoy killing and feasting on the entire palace. The Court in its entirety shall be made to march into the great Hall where I will take my time in torturing and then gutting them. The corridors will flow with the blood of my detractors and I will bathe in it.
Him
I will leave for last. He will be made to watch me kill every last one of his kith and kin, leaving him heirless and the Empire in disarray and then I will feast on his blood and flesh. He might be the Emperor but I am Theodora Ehefrau Von Vyktor and I will unleash my full rage on all of them!

***

The door through the secret passage was stiff and unrelenting, but eventually it gave just enough way to pass through. It was a cool day and the intruder was dressed in leather pantaloons, and a white long sleeved chemise. The smell in the room was so stifling it dried one’s throat and burnt their eyes. The Countess was in a corner mumbling and scribbling on the wall by the light of a greatly diminished candle. Two headless rats and a raven lay by the inkwell. In the other corner was an overflowing chamber pot and a few feet away several plates filled with old food, which had clearly been there for days. There was only one small opening on the wall for the exchange of food and excrement, whenever she remembered to give it to them.

The Countess was surprised to hear footsteps in her sealed prison. No one had set foot in that room beside herself in four years and she was terrified. She looked up but could not really see for it was too dark and her eyes had weakened. She held up the candle and immediately dropped it out of sheer shock. The invader stood tall and proud. Despite the male attire there was no mistaking who this was. She was different and confident; her hair was pulled back in a tight braid, its auburn color the hallmark of its owner. She produced a match from her belt, lit the almost exhausted sconces on the wall and looking down upon the disheveled Countess gave her a wry smile.

“No, no, no, no you aren’t alive. I killed you four years ago. I drank all your blood till your heart stopped. You were dead!”

“I was
almost
dead, Your
Grace
,” the mocking in her voice was reflected all over her face. “It was fortunate that Bianca knocked on the door when she did, had she delayed a moment longer then I would most certainly have been dead. Your biggest mistake was not checking my pockets when you tied me up. You see I always had the master key on me, and as you dropped me for dead I heard the clanging it made after hitting the floor. Gathering all my strength I reached the key and released myself. It was most fortunate that your other prisoner was also still alive. She provided me with the blood I needed to be revived. Ironic how one of the victims used to condemn you was not even killed by you.”

With that the Countess rose up from the ground suddenly and lunged at Kati’s face. The formerly formidable Countess, however, was no match for the young woman now. Kati’s youthful hands grabbed Báthory's feeble and aging wrists and stopped her in her tracks. Her clothes were shabby and soiled and she smelled of her own filth. Her fingers were ring-less and bony, the skin wrinkled and weathered by the imprisonment and malnourishment. The centuries had suddenly caught up to her. She felt so light and insubstantial, a grave contrast to her old self. All Kati had to do was push her back and she fell in a heap on the ground near the plates of unconsumed gruel and chamber pots of excrement.

Kati approached her and lowered herself to the ground, balancing on the fronts of her feet. “Nice little place you have here, Your Grace, I like what you’ve done with it. I am a little disappointed you weren't glad to see me though. I have so much to tell you, you won’t believe the half of it! While you’ve been rotting away these last four years, I’ve been traveling across Europe, and even spent a good long while in Vienna among other places, meeting with old acquaintances of yours.”

The Countess’s rage renewed afresh but her second assault was met with a slap to the face which returned her to the floor, head first.

Kati continued, “The most interesting thing about my travels, however, was not the fact that I got to see a whole new world, met scores of new people, or that I was exposed to culture, music and knowledge, but the fact that I found what you have been seeking for so long...” The Countess’s eyes bulged. “I thought you might find that interesting.”

The Countess lay on the floor silent, but her eyes followed Kati’s every breath.

“I was fortunate enough to find the key for prolonging the Affliction! You see you were somewhat on the right track, but your demented state did not allow you to explore all the possibilities. One day I came upon a fascinating establishment revealed to me by my nose. The smell of blood was too faint for an ordinary man, but for people like us it smelled like a cornucopia of delights; that's a new word I’ve learned, incidentally,” Kati looked down at her beaming with pride. “I won't bore you with the details at this point, but I learned so much about our kind these past four years. It turns out that the path you were on was inaccurate but not completely flawed. My new friends shared your interest in immortality and admitted they were close to a breakthrough. Over the weeks I was invited to attend experiments and observe. I was even able to offer my fresh perspective, what with all the things I'd learned from you! You see, madam, the answer was never in the pericardium at all, but in the brain. There is a small bulb in the brain of all men which holds many scientific wonders and when those of the Afflicted are consumed by another of our kind, it prolongs their lifespan beyond the average four centuries. I was present when my associate went ahead with the treatment and was transformed right before my eyes, into a stronger and younger Afflicted. It was quite the sight! I felt for you at that moment, I really did, the answer being so close and yet so far. All you had to do was eat the bulb of one of your past disciples and all your problems would have been solved.

So there are no prizes for why I’ve come back here. I thought it extremely poetic that I need to kill one of my kind to live on, and, well, I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving than you, my dearest
Mother
… You gave me this new lease on life, sure it was so that you could kill me in time, but I will overlook that, and now you will give me the ultimate gift, that of true
eternal
life! I’m certain there’s some feeling of pride inside that dead cold heart of yours about how far I have come.” Kati’s sarcasm was peppered with a little mirth, but also a little bit of pity for this once magnificent woman.

Kati caressed the Countess’s hair as a singular tear ran down Erzsébet’s face and then swiftly sank her teeth into her withered neck. In an instant the varied events of her life flashed through Kati's mind giving her more insight into this disturbed woman than all the journals ever could. The Countess pulled desperately at the girl’s hands but she could do nothing to loosen her grip. When Kati was done she carefully placed the body on the ground, extracted a long tool from her belt and with practiced skill she extracted the gland through Erzsébet’s nose. No one would be able to tell what had transpired here, it would simply look as if she’d died naturally of neglect and malnutrition, just as everyone had expected. Taking a moment, Kati regarded the gland and carefully put it in her mouth.

Walking over to the table she noticed the writings produced by the Countess. She left the most innocuous ones and took the journals which, like the others, she was going to ensure would never fall into the wrong hands.

Vampire Edifice Teazer

Hungary, December 1610

The stones and the leaves dug into her bare feet as she ran, desperately trying to put some distance between herself and Csejthe Castle. She made her way down the hill and into the forest bordering her mother’s house. She looked down at herself and realized she couldn’t arrive in her torn and bloodied clothing so she stole a chemise that had been drying on a herb bush near the stream.

She continued running right into daybreak. The light burned her eyes, smarted her skin and raised her blood pressure, but she braved it like she’d done before. She had to get to her mother’s house at all costs. Her nose bled.

It was freezing cold but she didn’t care. All she could think of was reaching her mother’s house and burying herself in her welcoming arms. She would wash up and change as soon as she was home by the fire. After almost a year of being apart she would finally be able to see her without fearing for her safety.

Reaching the house, she made a sudden stop. Her face lit up and she paused to catch her breath. It was the same, just as she’d left it. She remembered the day she’d left to go to the castle: how excited she’d been to be going off with Countess Erzsébet Báthory herself, and how grown up she’d felt, leaving home and going off to work to help her family.

She decided she wasn’t going to tell her mother everything that had happened to her. She knew how much it would hurt her knowing she’d allowed her only child to go off into the service of a mad woman. But what about the rumors? She was bound to hear gossip in the village from the others; and what about her condition? What would she say about needing blood and avoiding the daylight? She decided she was going to deal with each situation as it came along. She was sure her mother would understand. Right now all that mattered was seeing her and telling her she was well and that no one would come between them again. She was free and she was back to care for her mother; she couldn’t ask for more.