The Crypt Keepers

by Lauren Shain-Raque

  ‘Sabine, did I not teach you that it is rude to ignore your elders? I am your father and as such I command a certain respect. Don’t hang your mouth open so, you look ignorant.’ He watched me closely and smiled as my brows furrowed and I lurched forward. I felt as if I might die of shock where I stood. ‘Sabine, why so shocked? Did you not wonder where I was?’ He watched me there and though I opened my mouth to speak nothing came out. The room around me shifted and I was not certain if it was in fact the room moving or if I was the only shifting thing in the room. He watched me closely, the red of his tunic clashing with the blue of the pulsing light and his fingers twitching nervously at the coroners of his mouth. His legs crossed tightly against one another and he shifted slightly in his high back chair. ‘Father I, what…’

  ‘My dear, why so surprised? You see things that are strange every day of your existence. Now stop staring and close the door.’ I watched him nervously and again moved back toward the door. ‘You have nothing to say to me? Nothing? I have so much to say to you, your sister had nothing to say either, but she never did.’ He smiled at me and stood. ‘Father I thought you were dead. We all thought that you were gone.’ I stuttered as I said the last few syllables and he noticed them immediately. ‘Sabine do not stutter, I spent years and years and more money than you can imagine trying to make sure that you children were the most educated and upstanding of all those in the region and here you are stuttering like a common peasant. Now, either close the door and stay a while with us or leave and do not come back.’ His eyes narrowed and he looked as if he may rise to push me out of the door himself.

  ‘Father I did not mean to insult the work that you invested in me. I just wonder what it is that you are doing here.’ He looked again like he was insulted by my actions and rose to move closer to me. ‘Sabine, you are my child and for that I will always love you. Is this not my castle? Why should I not reside in my own castle?’ He watched me closely to gauge my reaction and then spoke again before I could answer, ‘Sabine, I live here because it is my manor. Now if you do not intend to speak to me in a manner in which I feel is appropriate you can go back to the rest of the castle and forget that the tower exists, it is fully your choice.’ I watched him, ‘Father I did not mean to offend, I am confused. You left not long after the sickness began and we saw nothing of you. Did you come to the tower when you left?’ He frowned and watched me, I could tell when he looked at me that he was thinking of something to say. ‘I came back to the tower after the sickness and I have been here ever since.’

  He sat quietly after that, perched on the edge of his chair, ready to pounce should I say something that he thought was inappropriate. The glow from the bed maintained its intensity and I wondered to myself what the source was. ‘Father, if you do not mind my asking, what is causing that light?’ He looked directly at me, his eyes never once moving to the bed or the glow. ‘It is the light that your mother needs to sleep by. My dear child I was not jesting when I told you that you must close the door and stay a while or leave the tower all together.’ I wanted to turn and leave the tower forever, to forget what I saw there, to forget that he wasn’t dead in the surrounding forest somewhere, but no matter what I did I couldn’t leave. Instead, I found myself moving to the door and shutting it firmly against the chill from the staircase.

  I moved back from the door and rested heavily in one of the chairs that looked as if it would hold my weight. I watched his eyes as he moved to join me in the chair across from me. ‘Father I came to the tower because I saw the glowing. I thought that we were alone in the castle, I never knew that you were still alive, I thought we were alone I swear it.’ He breathed deeply and took my hands in his. ‘Sabine my dear, I was never alone, neither were you. Your mother has been here and well since the night that you and you siblings were born. I thought for sure that night that I would never see her again, that the last breath that escaped her lips as she gave birth to your sister was her last for all eternity. He came to me then Sabine.’ He gazed dreamily at me and thought silently to himself. ‘Who came to you Father?’ He released my hand and reached into his pocket, pulling out a folded sheet of paper resembling closely the paper that Daphene left as a warning.

  ‘His name is Dmitry my darling, I do believe that you have met him, he came to me and offered me the chance to keep my darling wife and children. He offered me a chance to keep the things that meant the most to me. Who would have passed up that chance my darling.’ I must have frowned for he looked at me like I had stolen his heart. ‘My darling, I did what I could to protect you and to keep my darling wife. Or is it something else that is bothering you? Is it Dmitry my love, you should have known that he was something like you, something unlike the villagers.’ He took my hand again and rubbed my thumb with his own. ‘Father what are you saying? You don’t mean to tell me that Dmitry has something to do with the sickness?’ He eyed me and smiled, ‘Yes my dear, how did you explain to yourself that Dmitry survived, did you choose to forget the fact that no one survived, did you choose to push to the back of your mind that you survived along with you sister and brothers?’

  ‘Father I, why didn’t you tell me that you knew why we lived, why didn’t you tell us before you left?’ He stood up then and moved toward the window to pull it open. ‘I couldn’t tell you children, what would I say to you? You will live forever because of a choice that I gave you no say in? I’ve changed your life without giving you any say in it. I couldn’t tell you then because you were still so young, now that you are much older I think that you can handle what I’ve told you. Dmitry should be the one to tell you what deal we struck, for now I am content to introduce you for the first time to your mother.’ He moved away from the window and walked quickly back to the bed. He pulled back first the curtain facing the window and each of the adjoining curtains followed suit. I could not look at the bed for fear of what I might see there. I stared at the floor, afraid that I might see something with the power to undo me like Daphene.

  ‘Sabine dear you must look, your dear mother does resemble you so and I cannot help but see you and your sister when I look at her. Come here my darling, don’t make me force you.’ He paused then, his hand held out to me, and motioned for me to move closer to the bed. ‘Father I do not think that I can, I …’ ‘Now now Sabine, do not fear her, I see no reason why you, the strongest of my children cannot bring yourself to gaze upon your beautiful mother. Now pull your hand away from your face and stop looking so worried, it does not become you.’ He walked to me and pulled me across the room toward the bed. What I saw there sticks now in my mind and makes me cringe as I move to describe it here. Her face, sunken and bluish from the light or some other element I know not, was poised and refined. She did not speak, or move for that matter, but rather sat perfectly immobile like a statue. Had I not seen the slight rise of her chest now and again I would have thought her a statue.

  Her raven hair fell in curls around her face and shoulders and her hands rested at her sides. ‘Isn’t she beautiful? She looks so much like you and Daphene. Her hair is yours and her eyes are Daphene’s. I can tell that you are stunned, did you ever think that you would meet her?’ He watched me excitedly and seemed upset that I had nothing to say. ‘I know that it looks as if she cannot see you but I assure you she knows you are here. I haven’t seen her so excited since Daphene came to visit us. Oh how I wish you could have seen her when she saw Daphene. Not that she isn’t happy to see you, I just don’t know why she isn’t as excited now. Perhaps she is tired. We stayed up late last night, talking, wondering. She really feels sorry that all those people had to die to keep her alive, but alas our love is strong enough to overcome any guilt.’ He pulled me closer to the bed and laid my hand neatly on hers.

  ‘Please Sabine, act like you are happy to see your dear mother. She went through so much to keep you happy, to bring you life, and all that you can do is be afraid of her.’ I stood, afraid that if I moved my hand from that of my cold mother, that he would do something drastic. ‘He
llo mother.’ He smiled broadly, pleased to see that I was warming to my mother. ‘You see, you and your mother have a chance yet to be as close as mother and daughter should be. Tell her about your day my dear, tell her how happy you are that you finally get to meet her.’ He pushed me again toward her so that I sat on the bed at her right to keep from falling to the ground. ‘Hello Mother, I am so happy to see you. I thought for sure that I would never get to meet you,’ I looked to my father then, unsure of what I should say next, ‘You really do look beautiful mother,’ I looked up again wondering if I should continue or if I should stop to let my father talk, sadly he smiled at me and motioned for me to continue, ‘I don’t know what to say to you mother, I am really taken back.’

  Her hand twitched and I jumped having not been prepared for her to move at all let alone twitch while I held my hand to hers. My father seemed unhappy that I was so shocked by her movement but none the less he stayed by me and watched me closely. ‘Sabine, why don’t you let your mother rest and come back to the table so that we can discuss the future of the castle.’ I jumped at the chance to move as far away from the bed as possible and practically ran to the table. I rested myself in the chair that I had vacated and waited for him to close the bed curtains. I wanted nothing more than to please him enough so that I could escape the tower and forget that they resided there, but I knew in my heart that I would never be able to put my day in the tower behind me. ‘Daphene really did seem a bit more excited that her mother was still alive, why are you not more excited that your mother and I still live?’

  ‘Father I cannot pretend that I am not disturbed by the fact that you have existed here for centuries without my knowing. I cannot pretend that the woman in the bed just across the room is anything like the mother that I expected, and I cannot make sense of any of this?’ Frustrated beyond reason I knew not what to do, I knew not how to stop his pacing or the anger that I knew was building within him. ‘Sabine, I’ve told you that in order to understand the terms of our treaty, you must ask Dmitry. I cannot be sure what it was that I agreed to, all that I know is that the death of the village ensures the life of your mother, and that is all that matters. If you do not mind my darling I should like for you to return to the rest of the castle so that you might wait for the next wave of sickness and so that you may be useful. And Sabine, take care that you do not tell your brothers that we are here, I do not think that their reception of us will be as pleasant as yours.’

  He watched me as I stood quickly to move to the door and back into the shadowy confines of the hall. The dress that Rhys and Regelus brought to me I knew now had come from some discarded wardrobe that my father had no use for. He acted as if he made regular trips into whatever part of the castle he felt like entering. I walked slowly down the tower staircase, nearly tripping with each step. The bottom of the staircase took forever to reach and while I made my way to the bottom I thought about Dmitry. I wondered if in fact he had something to do with the pact or if my father was trying to turn me against him. All that I knew was that though he was not immortal as we were, he was in fact part of my life now. The need to see him grew with each step that I took toward my bedroom. The sawing had subsided and when I finally nestled myself back against the cold stone of the castle wall behind my head, I could hear Rhys and Regelus stomping their way up the stairs. They stopped short outside my room and knocked angrily. ‘Sabine, Sabine!’ Rhys was the first to call out to me and Regelus grumbled as he did.

  I pulled the door open to find them there with a volume clutched beneath Rhys’ arm and a look that could scare the devil on Regelus’ face. Apparently neither Rhys nor Regelus take keeping secrets all that well and the volume in question was most certainly something that I’d kept from them. It was about one thing or another, I cannot be for certain, all I know is that now I am supposed to show them all my writings, no matter how personal, so that they can be sure we all know the same information. I believe the pages that they found pertained to Dmitry but all it took was my solemn word that he was dead and that they were more than welcome to destroy the hall. They have sequestered me to my room now in the hopes that I will not be able to warn anyone that might still be in the hall. I can smell the smoke now and I am sure that before much longer the crackling and bursting of the glass windows will be loud enough for me to hear.

  I would worry that Dmitry were not safe if I hadn’t in fact peered out the window just before my brothers came to my room to see that even though the temperature was well below freezing, there was no light or smoke coming from the hall. I am sure also that had they found him, they would no doubt be back in the castle questioning me and torturing Dmitry. I’ve been writing here in my room for quite some time now and even though I saw my father and mother I still cannot believe that they are still in the castle. I cannot begin to suppose what my father is doing now, if my mother is moving or talking, or if my brothers are tearing the hall apart before it finishes burning. For the first time in years I think that I shall try to sleep. I think that in order to understand what I am sure Dmitry will tell me, that I need to clear my mind of all that happened today. Daphene slept much of the time toward the end and I think that perhaps it was in an effort to clear her mind.

  I only hope that when I wake in the morning I have forgotten. I know that even if I cannot forget completely, that perhaps I can push it so far within myself that it no longer affects me. It’s been so long since I slept that I am not at all certain how to go about it. The pillow beside me looks less inviting than a rock or some other surface that might make my neck sore but still I think that in order to truly benefit from sleep I must go through the motions. The light is gone from sky so that not even the pale red light of the sunset glows on the horizon. The only light that I can see is the glow from the fire in the hall and the flickering light of the candles in the hall. Rhys and Regelus are back in the castle now and I can hear them moving about in the room next to me. Neither of them are brave enough to come and ask me about the hall or to tell me about its burning. I’ve been wrestling with the memory of Daphene and how I might end up like her. I go to sleep now in the hopes that I will forget today in order to be ready for tomorrow.

  He came to me in the night, his eyes filled with a sadness deeper than any ocean. ‘Sabine, my love. If we are to be together there must be no other.’ He pulled from his hip bag a letter, sealed as all before and placed it gingerly on the side table next to my hand. I’d been awake for some time by then, the noise of wolves from outside being too loud to ignore. ‘I am yours you know that . What other could there be that you would seek their specific removal?’ I was confused to say the least and though he moved to comfort me, I still felt that something was horribly wrong. ‘You know what I want dearest, you know who I speak of.’ He pulled me close and held his hand to my chest as if to feel my heart’s beating. ‘My brothers are not to be disposed of so easily and the atrocity in the tower is no more my mother or father than you.’ He smiled bitterly, but smiled nonetheless. ‘Your brothers are as damned as the rest of us Sabine. Nothing they do can sway their fate save for the extinguishing of their own lives. I am speaking of your sister.’

  He cringed when he mentioned her, as if the very sound of her name would have shattered his ear drums. ‘She’s dead Dmitry and no matter what anyone tells you, she cannot affect us.’ ‘She may not be able to affect physical change Sabine, but her memory still hangs in the forefront of your mind and severely clouds your judgment.’ He flung my hands moodily back toward my lap and stomped off toward the hall. ‘Where will you go Dmitry, when my brothers discover your presence here and seek to destroy you? When they decide you are a threat to our lives, our very way of existence, what then Dmitry? Back to Hell for you then?’ His shoulders tensed then and I instantly regretted having added that last little insult, that affront to his being. I thought that he might smack me, that he might lash out against me, but he did not. He seemed as if he might cry, as if he was ashamed of the knowledge that I had collected pertaining to h
im.

  ‘Perhaps, there the value of my person will be grated and it will seem as though they care if I am wounded.’ He glared sourly at me and moved closer to the door. ‘Dmitry wait, tell me what you did to my father. Tell me what you know about my mother.’ He watched me closely but could do nothing but watch me. I could tell that I knew more than he had originally supposed. He knew I had been to the tower and that I knew something of what my mother and father had become, but I knew more than even he had imagined. ‘I cannot. I will not. You know what you need to know and that is enough. Forget your sister, forget your brothers, I am all that you need to know. Read the letter I left for you.’ He stepped out of the door and looked at me dreamily from the door way. ‘Where will you go Dmitry? I was not only jesting when I asked. The hall is gone, they destroyed it.’

  He looked as if he already knew what I had just told him. ‘I saw the smoke this morning on my way back from the catacombs. I hadn’t thought that they would destroy it wholly.’ He came back in the room and paced back and forth its length. ‘I suppose that I shall have to stay in the catacombs, or perhaps somewhere in the castle. There are plenty of holes and cubbies that can shelter me from the wrath that your brothers will no longer feel toward me.’ ‘They do not feel hostility toward you because I haven’t told them that you are still alive. They think that you died not long after I discovered you.’ His brow furrowed and he stopped in the center of the room. ‘They know that I exist?’ He seemed angry that they knew he had been present in the hall but I could do nothing to take back the information that they already possessed. ‘They found my writings about the first day that I found your writings in the hall. The volume that describes our meetings is safe with me and they shall not find them.’