Dream the Crow's Black Dream - A Tale of Vampires Book Four

by John Hennessy

  Till Death Us Do Part

  Seth was now experiencing his worst nightmare, but for real. He was sealed in a coffin, and he had no way out. In the movies, it was important not to panic. The good news, if one were to really look for it, was that this coffin stood alone in the chapel. He had not been buried in the black earth.

  He hit the underside of the coffin lid, but it had no effect, as the lid remained shut. Seth knew that the available oxygen was depleting by the second.

  Seth decided to do something that he felt embarrassed to do around others, but he had often performed the act whilst standing over Daisy’s grave.

  He was going to pray.

  He didn’t believe there was a God, not really. A God who was kind and compassionate whilst at the same time could be all powerful, would not have let Daisy be killed.

  If his prayer was not answered, Seth could accept that he was not innocent. He had indirectly led people to their death. Yes, he had been under duress, but in the broader scheme of things, that didn’t matter. They had died because of him.

  “Please don’t let her claim my life too,” he asked of the One above. “Please.”

  Beads of sweat clotted his brow, and his breathing became very laboured.

  However, he could hear a commotion. There were two voices, male, and they were hitting the top of the coffin lid. Seth began to have hope he would be rescued.

  “Tools.”

  “What?” asked the other voice.

  “You did bring tools, didn’t you?”

  “I don’t think these lids open the conventional way. It’s been sealed by a vampire, you know.”

  This last statement was followed by an array of swear words, some that Seth knew, and some new ones.

  “You’ve got to hurry up. Any second now, the place will be swarming with police, and that, we do not want.”

  “I know. Don’t you think I know that?”

  “Break him out of the coffin, then we’re out of here. We’ll come back when the rozzers have gone. I’m not going to have any police tell me what to do ever again.”

  “Alright, alright, I think I’ve got it.”

  Seth braced himself. He half-expected the sound of a chainsaw to cut through the wood. There was just a simple clicking sound as the nails that held the lid down, pushed upwards and out of their holes.

  “Sirens! Go, man! We’ve got to go!”

  Seth pushed up on the lid. God, was it heavy. But he managed to clear it of its casings, and soon, he could breathe clean air, which made his head spin.

  He wanted to know who had broken him out of the coffin, and also, how they knew he was in there in the first place. They had freed him at great risk too – if the police had not got to them, Gretchen would have almost certainly killed them without so much as a second thought.

  Police would look dimly on finding Seth amongst the chapel, which to their eyes would have appeared to have been vandalised.

  Fortunately, they passed by the chapel, clearly heading to another part of the cemetery. Seth waited a few moments, then decided he would make a run for it. He had to make sure he had recovered sufficiently, because once he started his escape, he could not slow down, pause or stop, even for a second.

  He could thank his rescuers later.

  ***

  It was a nice dream. The church was full of Seth’s family and friends on one side, Rosalyn’s bridal party on the other. There were six bridesmaids in all, dressed in burgundy. The maid of honour wore a white rose in her hair.

  The priest was already standing in front of the altar, and there was only one more sight to see – the bride, in all her beauty and splendour.

  Needless to say, Rosalyn was resplendent in her ivory gown.

  Befitting of a bride on her big day, she could not contain her joy, and beamed brightly under her veil. Seth turned, looked over his shoulder, and was glad. This was actually happening. They had been through the rehearsals. They would only have to answer positively to the few questions the priest would ask of them, and then, that would be it, they would be married.

  Rosalyn turned to Seth, and smiled. She gave a furtive smile to the priest, before lifting her veil. The questions came one by one, Seth would answer, before Rosalyn would answer in kind.

  Then the priest said the line Seth had been waiting for.

  “You may now kiss the bride.”

  He had heard from married friends that the first kiss as a married couple was different to all those that had came before it. This was no exception.

  He had pecked at her lips gently, but Rosalyn wanted more – this was her big day after all. She kept her mouth on his, and Seth felt pain as she bit his lip, drawing blood.

  “Roz-”

  She stood back, and he could see newly formed fangs protruding from her mouth. For his own part, the priest stood open mouthed at the turn of events. Rosalyn pulled the priest towards her, and sank her teeth into him, before tossing his drained body aside.

  She wiped his blood from her mouth, and as she approached Seth, who appeared to be frozen to the spot, something was emerging from bottom of her dress. Pools of blood turned the ivory hem of her dress to red, and human skulls rolled out and made bony noises as they connected with the church floor. Rosalyn even kicked one, which ended up in the maid of honour’s lap.

  She shrieked as blood poured from the empty eye sockets of the skull, but that was not the end of it. The frightened girl tried to throw the skull away, but as she lifted it up, its teeth bared back and sank into her neck, tearing her throat apart.

  Seth realised that it was not Rosalyn standing before him, but Gretchen.

  “She cannot have you, Seth. I told you before, that it never ends. Never. Go through with the wedding, and I will kill so many people there will probably only be you, the priest, and the blushing bride remaining. Do you still think this is a dream? Get. The Message.”

  Seth woke with a start, perspiration making his tee shirt cling to him. Rosalyn was not in bed with him. As common sense came to him, he saw a light in the hallway across from the bedroom. She was in the bathroom, brushing her teeth. She had not heard him come to.

  Seth fell back onto his pillow. A dream. The crow’s black dream. He looked awful, because every day, this dream visited him. This particular one had been the worst. But he would not be threatened by Gretchen. He was going through with the wedding, and that was that.

  He grabbed a box of tissues on Rosalyn’s dressing table, and tried to clean his face up. Rosalyn, meanwhile, had returned.

  “Morning, noisy,” she said. “One day to go, and you’re still tossing and turning. I thought the bride was supposed to be the nervous one.”

  “Heh-heh,” replied Seth, doing all he could to hide his nerves.

  “We are getting married tomorrow, right Seth?”

  “Yes. Absolutely. Of course, Roz. Why would you ask me that?”

  “Just checking. It has been quite a rollercoaster, these last few months, don’t you agree? But we’ve made it, Seth. You’ve made it too. Your progress has been remarkable.”

  “You too Roz,” smiled Seth. “I really thought I had lost you.”

  “Just dreams, bad dreams Seth. Sometimes, lightning doesn’t strike twice. We’ll be married tomorrow, and no-one and nothing can do a thing about that.”

  Seth’s progress had been remarkable, he agreed with Rosalyn about that. But her own progress had been off the scale. It seemed that the evil Gretchen had kept her word, for the first time in her evil life. Rosalyn had made a full and complete recovery.

  “Now, I’m off to my mum’s, as we agreed. I’ll see you tomorrow at the church, okay?”

  She gave him a peck on the lips.

  “Sleep soundly, alright?”

  “I will Roz, you too.”

  “Mum will get me drunk. That always gets me off to sleep. But I will be fine in the morning. I love you Seth. It takes a hell of a man to come through, what you’ve come through. Tomorrow begins the rest of our lives.”
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  Rosalyn gave him that cheeky wink that made him fall for her in the first place, and soon she was in her car. He waved to her from the upstairs window.

  ***

  Seth decided he would have an early night. The summer evening gave off an unbearable heat, so he took some sleeping tablets an hour before he intended to sleep.

  It felt so strange, not to have Rosalyn in his bed.

  All the same, the pills worked. Seth was asleep literally seconds after his head hit the pillow. Maybe half an hour had passed, and the sound of the television turning on by itself, startled him awake once more.

  Seth got up, and knocked the unit off, and got back into bed on autopilot. The news had briefly escaped through the speakers:-

  ‘….tens of people were hurt, eleven confirmed dead….’

  Even though Seth did not wake again until morning, the television would come back on, and moments later, switch off again. It would still offer an updated new report. Only Seth knew if he was hearing it or not.

  ‘…unconfirmed reports said a woman with strange eyes was behind the attacks….’

  And there were others throughout the night. When Seth woke up, the television was on again, playing adverts. He stumbled into the shower, then after freshening up, started to get dressed. The wedding was at 11am.

  “Yeah! I’m getting married today!” Seth grabbed a photo of Rosalyn and kissed it. He actually felt excited about the whole thing. Finally, at long last, he was getting caught up in the excitement of it all.

  ‘…thanks for staying with us, on this sad day, when unconfirmed reports say a lone woman was responsible for at least thirty-seven murders that were committed between the hours of 11pm last night, and six o’clock this morning….’

  Seth stopped what he was doing, and stared at the television.

  There was nothing for it. He had to call Rosalyn. Moments later, her mother answered.

  “Are you all alright?” he asked, panic searing in his voice. “Is Roz alright?”

  “Yes, yes of course Seth. You’ll have to wait until you’re at the church to see her though. It’s bad luck to see the bride before you’re supposed to.”

  “Fine. Fine,” Seth replied, trying not to sound annoyed. “Can I at least speak to her?”

  “Well…I suppose that would be alright.”

  The phone was set down, and sure enough, Rosalyn was soon on the other end of the line.

  “Seth? You do know what today is, don’t you?” she laughed.

  “Yeah, just…” he was not sure what to say. “Just wanted to know you were alright.”

  He had to assume the household had been too busy to view the news channel. He breathed a huge sigh of relief.

  “I’ll see you at the church then. Don’t be late.”

  “Just as late as tradition allows,” joked Rosalyn.

  Seth clicked the phone off. Maybe the killer mentioned on the news wasn’t Gretchen. Even if it was, how could he stop her? How could anyone? Was it his responsibility anyway?

  These were all good questions, but Seth had to get ready to go to the church. One breakfast, two mugs of tea, and twenty minutes later, he closed the door on his single life forever.

  ***

  On arrival at the church, Seth was surprised to see it empty, save for the priest who explained that there was still forty minutes to go.

  “A bit eager, aren’t you Seth? You will have this young lady in your life for ever. Slow down a little. Enjoy the moment.”

  “Father, why is no-one else here?”

  “Not been married before, have you my son?”

  “No Father.”

  “Well, I expect in about ooh….twenty minutes or so, this place will be packed. Oh look, there’s someone coming now.”

  A figure dressed in black. Classily dressed, elegant even. But dressed in a colour more appropriate for a funeral.

  With her knee length pencil skirt, two buttoned jacket, and wide brimmed hat, she regarded him. His stomach knotted as he realised who she was.

  He stormed over to her. She shook her head before raising her head enough to see her eyes.

  “Not here. Inside,” she said.

  Seth reluctantly followed Gretchen inside.

  “I didn’t think you could come inside these places.”

  “Au contrare, mon amie,” she replied. “I was not forbidden to come in here. It is not my custom to go where I am not invited.”

  “You are most certainly not invited!” shouted Seth.

  “That’s not what this wedding invitation says. It reads To Angelica Williamson. An old school friend of dear Rosalyn. Let’s just say she could not come today. I’m merely taking her place.”

  “You beast! You killed her!”

  “Oh no, not me. But I bet if someone slipped on a banana skin on the way in here, you’d find a way to pin it on me. No, Seth. Angelica took her own life. Her pill-rattling body had been in the apartment for three days before I arrived there. Apparently her boyfriend had been cheating on her, she lost her job the week before, and her father had died. I would have given her a way out, but she seemed to have chosen the express checkout service all by herself. Rosalyn doesn’t know, and if I were you, I wouldn’t tell her. After all, why ruin her day?”

  “What do you want?”

  “I told you. You are not to go through with this wedding.”

  “I’m not playing this game with you anymore, Gretchen!”

  “So you think this is a game, do you? How about I hand you the good priest’s heart and lungs to you? Will you still think it is a game then?”

  “Please. Please! Don’t do this.”

  “Seth, you will knock that crap off right now. Don’t beg, it’s very unmanly of you. Rosalyn won’t like that at all.”

  “There’s others like you, you know. You’re drawing too much attention to yourself. Hurt anyone here today, and they’ll find you, and stop you.”

  Gretchen laughed like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard.

  “Oh Seth, I will miss your little jokes. In fact, I am surprised to see you here. Though it seems even a vampire’s coffin cannot keep you from your destiny!”

  “You’ll miss me?”

  “Of course I will,” said Gretchen. “I have other things to attend to after you’ve finished your pointless little exercise today. Don’t you be concerned about other vampires. We do not hurt one another.”

  “I believe they will make an exception in your case.”

  “So now I know the source of your courage. You have been in counsel with the Dreymuirs?”

  “That I have, and they are not happy with you.”

  Gretchen ordered Seth to tell her what he knew, but he steadfastly refused. Apart from trying to call Gretchen’s bluff to kill everyone in the church, people had started to come into the place, just as the priest had promised.

  “Alright Seth, go ahead and marry this girl. But I want the two of you to meet me after the service.”

  “Where? I won’t put Roz in any danger.”

  “You’ll do what you’re told, otherwise I promise you everyone in this church will die this morning. More blood on your hands, Seth. You will meet me across the road from here.”

  “The cemetery?”

  “Naturally. Did you really expect anywhere else?”

  “You want me to go to your fake grave again?”

  “Not this time.”

  “Where then, damn you?”

  “The other grave that held your attention. I’m betting Rosalyn would love to see that.”

  “I’m not showing her Daisy’s grave! Not on her wedding day.”

  “Then I refer you to my earlier statement regarding the fate of people in this church today.”

  Seth did not know what Gretchen had in mind, but allowing her to run amok in the church was not something he was going to agree to.

  Despite all his nerves, the service ran smoothly. He thought – just for a fleeting moment, that he could see Gretchen at the back of the
church. But as the priest said ‘you may now kiss the bride,’ Seth’s fears evaporated.

  Rosalyn smiled nervously at the congregation but was shivering a little. Seth took her hand and led up back up the aisle, and reassured her that everything would be alright. His first act as a married man was to convince his new bride that he needed to take her on a detour to the cemetery.

  The dark clouds that had been hanging over the church ever since they went inside suddenly burst. Rosalyn squealed, and made for cover in the chauffeur driven car that brought her to the church. Seth recalled how he thought it was a waste of money, but now, this was the best investment of the day. He could get Rosalyn away from the church, and those inside would be saved.