VROLOK (43 page)

“You can.” Isabella placed her hands on Joseph’s face and whispered, “
Forget me, forget all of this
.”

Joseph woke up the next day with no guilt at all, just an overwhelming desire to go home, and that is what he did.

Isabella went to the prison the day after Robespierre was executed. She wanted to make sure all those who supported Robespierre would follow him to the Guillotine. She used her influence to infiltrate the prison and she walked from cell to cell checking to see who was condemned and who was not and who should be. She soon espied a young man, a soldier condemned to death. He was insignificant looking, short and chubby, and there was nothing in his appearance to recommend him.

“What has he done?” Isabella asked the prison guard.

“He is traitor to France,” the prison guard answered.

“No, he is not, let him go, surely there has been enough needless killing?”

“There has, you are right,” the prison guard quickly agreed, with no idea why he was agreeing with this woman, just following the compulsion to do so. “Do you hear that, Bonaparte, you have been granted a reprieve.” The prison warden opened his cell and the young soldier walked out and bowed in gratitude to Isabella. Isabella stretched out her hand and the young soldier kissed it. Isabella saw glimpses of his future when he touched her. She saw the resurrection of France and the end of the revolution. She saw the French flag marching across Europe. This man would restore France to a greatness it had never even come close to before.

“Stand up,” Isabella said. “I can see you have great things ahead of you.” The soldier bowed and then left Isabella.

Everything was as she had predicted. Robespierre had been killed; he had been unable, because of his shattered jaw, to address his people. But he soon realised they were not his people any more. Robespierre’s supporters fell. All their clubs were shut down and ninety were executed the day after Robespierre. More moderate revolutionaries, the Thermodoreans, took over and France began to rebuild itself. The reign of terror was over. Isabella had fulfilled her promise to Marc de la Nostredame and she now felt it was time to leave Paris and find some other country to inhabit.

DENN DIE TODTEN REITEN SCHNELL
FOR THE DEAD TRAVEL FAST 

CHAPTER NINETEEN

With no Joseph at her side, Isabella was alone again. She left France and traveled east again. She had not seen Katya’s family in a generation and felt honour bound to return, for she felt she had abandoned them. She travelled expeditiously, but her swift journey came to an end before its destination. She arrived at Bistrita, needing time to think.

What was she going to say to Nadezhda‘s son? What was she going to say to her husband, if he was still alive? She was afraid of the reception she would receive there. Nadezhda’s child would be a man by now with a family of his own. Isabella would not have blamed him if he held her totally responsible for his mother’s death, for she felt completely responsible. These thoughts troubled Isabella’s mind.

Isabella sat in the inn at Bistrita, staring at the fire. There was a storm brewing up outside. Every time the door opened the flames flickered, but Isabella was paying no heed to who was coming or going, so she did not notice when a man sat down in front of her. He stared at the Vampire, recognizing her, but she did not even lift her gaze to acknowledge him.

“Isabella.”

She raised her eyes. It was Nadezhda’s husband. He had aged, but Isabella recalled his face.

“Vilem, it is good to see you,” Isabella said.

“Is it?” he asked.

“Of course. How is your family? I was on my way to see them.”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don‘t know?”

“I left soon after Nadezhda died,” he answered.

Isabella looked curiously at Vilem. “Why, what about your son? I told you to stay with him,” she scolded.

“I could not, after what happened.”

“You should have stayed with your family! Do you not realise how important family is? What have you been doing all this time?”

“Hunting Vampires,”

Isabella was astonished, even though Vilem had said this in earnest.

“What good would that do? You can’t kill them when you find them.”

“But you can.”

“I can’t.”

“You did before.”

“I don’t believe this; you have been searching for Vampires you couldn’t even kill. You can’t have found many—my kind are few.”

“Even so, another Vampire occupies this town.”

“Who, Vlad?”

“No, a woman.” Isabella stepped forward, leaning into him. Vilem pulled back from her, but Isabella continued to confront him. She could feel his hot, shallow breath on her skin.

“Where is she?” Isabella snarled.

“She’s close by; she has been following you.”

“Vilem, you have to stay away from her. She will kill you, especially if she sees you talking to me. Tell me precisely where she is,” Isabella demanded.

“She is staying near here.”

“Where, Vilem tell me where? Be specific, and then go home,” Isabella said anxiously. She was determined that no members of Katya’s family would be hurt again.

“I will show you.”

“All right,” Isabella relented, sensing Vilem’s determination to go with her. “But then you must go home.” Vilem made no response. “You must go home, Vilem,” Isabella repeated, until he finally nodded to placate her.

Isabella beheld Leila. She had taken a house that was not her own. If Isabella was being honest with herself she could not fault Leila for this, for she had done the same thing many a time. Isabella did not know how long she had been living there. She wondered the extent of Leila’s power. If she was following Isabella, how was it that Isabella had not sensed her presence? Could she cloak herself from her? Isabella could identify a Vampire simply by looking at them. She could even sense them when they were close.

It worried her that she could not discern Leila from the multitude of humans who surrounded her, but she would not think about that now; her thoughts turned to what Leila possessed. She had to know if there was any more of the Dhampir’s blood. Joseph had told her he had destroyed the rest of it, but Isabella wanted to be sure that Leila had not escaped with any of it. Isabella waited for Leila to leave and then she went into the house. Leila had obviously lived there a long time. There were no mirrors in the house and no candles for light. In the wardrobe there were clothes of all different sizes. Obviously they had been stolen. Isabella searched the house completely, and she found no trace of the Dhampir’s blood. She had now confirmed what she had already suspected, that Leila had none left or else she would have already tried to kill Isabella again. Isabella wanted to confront Leila, so she waited for her to return.

She waited for hours, but still there was no sign of Leila. The sun rose, set and rose again the following day and still Leila did not appear. Isabella decided to leave; Leila was obviously was not coming back here. As she left her reflections turned to Vilem; she wanted to make sure he was safely home. Isabella began to walk the path that led her to her old village.

As the night fell, when she was just a short distance from the village, Isabella heard fighting a little further along the road. She began to run, chasing the origin of the sounds. She paused in her stride to listen and heard a man shouting in Slovakian, so she knew it was her duty to protect whoever it was, and she ran over the brow of the next hill. Isabella could finally see the scene of the struggle; Leila was assaulting Vilem with murderous intent.

Leila leapt at Vilem, pushing him to the ground. He fell, capable of little resistance. Vilem was now an old man; he could not sustain this sort of punishment for much longer and Leila knew it. She was playing with him, drawing out his death.

Isabella pounced on Leila. Leila hit the ground and Isabella kneeled on her back keeping her face down in the dirt as long as she could. Leila was strong but not stronger than Isabella.

“Run Vilem,” Isabella shouted. Vilem ran he did not need to be asked twice. Now that he had felt the strength of a Vampire he did not want to feel it again. He ran for his life and when Isabella saw he was a safe distance from them she let Leila out of her vise-like grip. The two women circled each other, enmity mutually emanating from each Vampire. They were ripe for this confrontation.

“This is pointless,” said Leila. “We can’t harm each other,”

“That’s not exactly true; we just can’t do any permanent damage,” Isabella snarled.

“All right, if that is what you want.” Leila ran at her and threw her body against Isabella‘s. Isabella fell to the ground and laughed at Leila.

“You are going to have to be faster than that,” Isabella shouted. She leaped to her feet and slammed her fist into Leila’s face. The thrust of the blow sent Leila’s body back through the air and seconds later she was lying on the ground writhing in agony. Leila pushed herself back on to her feet, blood dripping from a broken jaw. Leila rammed her jaw back into place. The pair paused to look at each other once more, Isabella grinned at Leila, enticing her to try and strike another blow. The two Vampires flew at each other, each clasping the other by the throat. They spun around, both trying to squeeze out the other’s life’s breath, but this pair had breathed their last many years ago.

Appreciating this was futile, Leila was the first to let go, and then Isabella relinquished.

“You are right—this is pointless,” Isabella said.

“I know what would not be pointless.”

Isabella waited for Leila to continue, wondering whether her next threat would be something she could deliver on. “That man, who is he? Why did you save him?”

“I didn’t save anyone,” Isabella responded.

“No, you did, you called out his name. He is Slovak isn’t he? One of your people. Well, he won’t be alive for long.” Leila chased after Vilem. Isabella, who knew these paths far better than Leila, slipped into the woods to get to Vilem before Leila did.

“Vilem,” Isabella shouted. Vilem was still running despite the injuries that Leila had inflicted. Isabella caught him by his coat and whispered, “She is chasing us.”

“What should I do?”

“I don’t know Vilem; she will catch up to us soon, that’s one thing the dead can do.”

“What?”

“We can travel fast.”

At this Leila leaped from behind, bashing Isabella’s skull with such a force that she knocked Isabella to the ground. Isabella fell, blood gushing from the open wound at the back of her head. She reached out and grabbed Leila’s leg. “Run Vilem, I can’t hold her long.” Isabella held tight but Leila was going to quickly get free. She reached behind to her wound; it was still bleeding, Isabella wondered why it hadn’t healed yet. She was firmly clasping Leila’s foot but the wound was concerning her. She felt ill and drowsy; this was the worst she had ever felt since the night she had actually died. Leila was still writhing around, trying to get free from Isabella’s strong grip. Pain suddenly gripped Isabella—shooting pains seared through her body. She let go of Leila’s foot. She could not hold on any longer.

Leila stood, towering over Isabella, who was unable to lift herself up. Then Leila knelt down and spoke to Isabella.

“I have killed you,” Leila said. “And I promise I will kill that farmer you were trying to protect.” Isabella tried to speak but could not. “Still trying to stay alive?” Leila asked. “Well, I will have to make sure you are dead.”

Isabella watched as Leila took a tiny bottle of what Isabella knew was the Dhampir’s blood from her dress. She placed the last two drops of the blood on the knife and stabbed Isabella in the heart with it. Isabella choked; she could taste blood in her mouth. Her eyes were not closed but her sight was melting away and blackness filled her vision. Leila stared at Isabella; finally she had exacted her revenge and was watching Isabella die. Leila then wanted to make sure she kept her promise to Isabella and chased after Vilem, intent on killing him.

Vilem was still trying to run but his injuries were beginning to be too much for him. He fell onto his knees and even they could no longer support him. He fell to the ground. Vilem had passed out but was awakened by the sound of a child playing. A little girl named Anna was merrily skipping along, not suspecting the danger she was in. Vilem opened his eyes to look at the child, who by this time was sitting at his side. She was stroking his forehead, pushing the hair from his eyes. Vilem clutched at her dress and drew her in close to him. He recognised something in the child. He saw Nadezhda’s eyes staring down at him.

“Go,” he whispered. “Leave me, for the dead travel fast.” The little girl was frightened and ran from him, not looking back, unaware that she had just been warned away from danger by her own grandfather.

Leila was watching from a distance, but was close enough to smell the scent of death surrounding him. She had fulfilled her promise to Isabella; this man was dead. She turned and left him to die in the middle of the road like an animal.

Isabella awoke lying in a bed that was unfamiliar to her. She heard a conversation in the next room.

“Look after her—she will wake soon.” Isabella was not completely lucid and did not recognise the voice although she should have. She fell asleep again and forgot the fragment of the conversation she had overheard. A few hours later the door opened and someone came in, and the movement awakened her again.

“How do you feel?” the stranger asked on seeing her eyes open.

“Considering I thought I was dead, well enough.”

“I am Vilem’s son.”

Isabella remembered the baby she had bounced on her knee. Then she remembered Vilem.

“Where is Vilem, is he all right?” Isabella tried to get up but she was still very weak.

“I am afraid he is dead.”

“I am sorry; I tried to save him.”

“I know, he told me….”

“I am so sorry.”

“Don’t be on my account. I cannot grieve for him, I did not know him.”

“That is my fault as well; I should have let him come with me the night your mother died. He needed his own retribution, not just the promise of it.”

“It was his own choice.”

“We often make choices we shouldn’t and they seem totally insignificant at the time of making them, but they can change our lives forever.”