by Amy Cross
Leading Lucy away from the cafe, Madeleine couldn't help but glance over her shoulder to make sure that Adam wasn't catching up to them. This sudden encounter with Lucy seemed like an unbelievable coincidence, and Madeleine felt that such coincidences had to happen for a good reason. She didn't believe in God, but she was tempted to wonder whether some kind of external force was guiding events. Then again, she knew that coincidences did happen occasionally, and that such rare occasions should never be wasted.
"Do you think he's changed?" Madeleine asked as they walked along the dark street.
"Who?" Lucy asked. "Adam?"
"I know what happened between you," Madeleine continued. "He explained everything. When you didn't show up, he thought it was because you didn't believe he could change."
"Huh," Lucy replied noncommittally, looking down at the sidewalk.
"So do you think people can change?" Madeleine asked. "I don't just mean Adam. I mean everyone. If someone has a compulsion, something that they struggle to resist, do you think they can ever overcome it for long?"
"Like sleeping with another woman?"
"Like anything." Madeleine paused for a moment. "Imagine if someone has this urge. Something that they feel compelled to do, even if they'd do anything to resist. Almost like an addiction. Maybe they can hold back once or twice, here and there, but in general, can they overcome their need? For example, if they felt an urge to destroy something beautiful. Do you think that kind of person could change?"
"I don't know," Lucy replied. "No. I guess not. I mean, not if they've got an addiction."
"That's what I thought," Madeleine said, leading Lucy down a narrow, dark alley. There were tears in her eyes, but she was determined not to show any emotion. She'd killed so many times in her life, and she didn't see why this stringy little woman should be any different to all the rest.
"So where are we going again?" Lucy asked, glancing over her shoulder.
"I know a place you can stay," Madeleine said, before stopping and turning to her. "But first, you need to know something. Adam was very upset when you didn't show up. Distraught, even. He was convinced that you'd give him a second chance, but by the end of the night he'd come to accept that you didn't believe in him. It was a very sad thing to see, but I think there's still hope for the pair of you. If you truly believe in him -"
"I do," Lucy said eagerly. "Can you just take me to him? Please?"
Madeleine paused for a moment.
"No," she said finally, stepping closer. "But I promise I'll tell him where to find you."
With that, she grabbed Lucy, pulled her closer and bit the side of her neck, sliding her two sharp fangs deep into the girl's flesh.
"I'm sorry," she added, as she pulled her fangs out and looked down into the girl's dying eyes. "Truly, I am. It's just... This is who I am."
The Vampire's Grave part 1
One
They were already running late by the time they reached the guest-house. Bad weather had followed them from the airport, making the roads treacherous as early evening gave way to an unlit night, and they had to rely on an old paper map since the hired jeep lacked any kind of GPS system. Once they were a couple of miles away from Sofia's airport, they felt as if they were out in the middle of nowhere, on dark roads that seemed to have been undisturbed for many years. They saw no other traffic out here, and several times they thought they must be lost until, finally, the guest-house came into view up ahead.
"Are you sure we didn't accidentally travel back in time?" asked Dr. Mike Walton as he parked the jeep and switched off the engine. "I can't shake the feeling that we've left the twenty-first century a long way behind."
"I wouldn't say that to the locals," replied Dr. Amanda Carter, trying and failing to fold the map properly. "They might take offense."
Pushing the door open, Mike stared out at the pouring rain. The front door of the guest-house was only a few meters away, but it was clear that even this short run would be something of an endurance test.
"I'm not really a field guy," Mike said after a moment, turning back to Amanda. "You might have noticed that about me. I tend to like sitting behind a desk, studying things that other people bring to the museum. I don't travel well."
"Which is why I'm extra grateful to you for deigning to come all the way out to Bulgaria with me," Amanda replied with a smile, before pushing her door open and hurrying out into the rain. "I've been out here for a couple of weeks, but I needed someone for the last leg."
Mike sat and watched as Amanda hurried to the front door of the guest-house. The entire building seemed to be shrouded in darkness, and Mike couldn't shake the fear that maybe they'd come all this way only to discover that the place was empty. This far out in the Bulgarian countryside, he felt there was a real danger that they could fall victim to a clan of angry yokels. Although he was in his early thirties, Mike had never left England before, so he had no direct experience with other cultures. Amanda, on the other hand, was a seasoned traveler who'd come out to Bulgaria a couple of weeks in advance, to scout around and do some groundwork ahead of their big project. Mike was trying to hide his inexperience from Amanda, but just getting off the plane at Sofia's main airport had been a pretty big culture shock. Now that they were out here -
Suddenly he noticed a light in the building, and moments later the front door opened. A woman greeted Amanda, who promptly turned and beckoned for Mike to get out of the jeep. Sighing, Mike figured it was now or never, so he grabbed his backpack from the rear seat and finally hurried out, immediately stepping in a thick puddle of mud.
"You'll have to forgive my colleague," Amanda said to the woman. "This is his first time on the road, so to speak."
Once they were inside, and while Amanda was dealing with the process of checking in and paying the bill in advance, Mike removed his shoes and tried to wipe as much mud away as possible. The guest-house itself was an old wooden building, and it seemed kind of shabby. The walls were decorated with ugly paintings that showed ungainly wild animals standing in various unnatural poses, and Mike couldn't help but think that they must be the work of some local amateur. In fact, the whole building had a very provincial feel, coupled with a stale, fusty smell that made Mike think that he and Amanda were probably the first visitors to step across the threshold for a long time.
Walking barefoot through to the little office, Mike found Amanda filling in some forms.
"Sorry," he muttered. "It's very muddy outside."
The woman smiled politely, before turning to Amanda and saying something in Bulgarian. With seemingly effortless ease, Amanda replied, speaking the language fluently. Standing over by the door, Mike couldn't help but feel a little left out as the two women conversed for several minutes, their discussion sounding more and more heated. Eventually, the guest-house owner turned and hurried through to the next room.
"We're not very popular around here," Amanda said, wandering over to an old wooden piano that stood in the corner of the room. Lifting the lid from the keys, she played a brief, simple tune.
"Because of the mud?"
"Because of what we're doing," she said, still playing the tune. "Word travels. It's not like British academics turn up in these parts every day. I guess people are kind of suspicious. They'd prefer it if things up at the castle were left undisturbed. The legend of the Le Compte family is pretty heavily engrained in local folklore. Most of it's garbage, of course, but there's probably a grain of truth in the whole thing. The Le Comptes existed, but it's pretty crazy to think they could have been a bunch of raging vampires."
"I didn't know you played the piano," Mike replied hesitantly.
"I don't," Amanda said, stepping away from the piano, as if she was embarrassed. "We had one when I was younger, that's all. I picked up a few tricks here and there."
"So..." Mike waited for her to continue. "Are we allowed to stay the night, or do we have to sleep in the jeep?"
"Don't worry," Amanda replied. "She'll take our money. I told h
er we'd be gone in the morning."
"Since when did you speak Bulgarian?"
"I learned a few words over the years. You know how it is."
As the guest-house owner came back through with more forms, she made some barely audible comments to which Amanda gave brief, monosyllabic replies. There was clearly some bad blood, and as Amanda filled in a few boxes and signed the pieces of paper, she seemed slightly tense.
"People are superstitious about the castle," Amanda continued, as she handed the forms to the woman. "They think the Le Compte family should be left well alone. No-one's been up to that castle for years, and there are certain superstitions floating around. They think abandoned castles should be left abandoned, and that if we go poking around up there, we might unleash..." She paused for a moment. "Well, God knows what. I don't think they know, either. It's just lots of vague doom and gloom."
"Maybe they're right," Mike replied uneasily.
"Don't start buying into the bullshit," Amanda said with a smile as she was handed two keys by the woman. "We're in the middle of nowhere in a dark and unforgiving part of the country, and tomorrow morning we're heading up to an abandoned castle that's rumored to have once belonged to a family of vampires. In other words, we've already got enough going on without succumbing to bumps in the night and creepy thoughts." She handed Mike a key. "I can see it in your eyes. You're already starting to let the place get to you. Take my advice." She leaned closer. "Don't."
"I'm fine," Mike said, aware that he didn't sound too convincing. "I mean, sure, the place is kind of spooky -"
"That's exactly what I mean," Amanda continued. "Don't even let those thoughts into your mind. These are primal fears, Mike. The kind of things that have been fucking with human heads since the dawn of time. We're better than that. We're smarter. More educated. But it's like Andrew Marlowe always told me... no matter how much we evolve, we've still got those prehistoric fears buried deep in our minds."
"How is Marlowe, by the way?" Mike asked. "Last I heard, he'd had a total breakdown."
"He's..." Amanda paused. "Not doing too well, to be honest. I went to visit him a few weeks ago, and he's definitely taking a while to get over things. I didn't even tell him about Pettifer's heart attack. Anyway, I doubt the hospital would have let him out to go to the funeral." She paused. "But Marlowe's a good case in point. He's a smart guy, and a rational guy, but once the craziness got into his mind, it spread like rot. Don't be like him, Mike. It's just the two of us out here, and I need you to stay sane. If you go running off into the mountains, screaming about vampires, I might just abandon you. Got it?"
"So what time do we set out in the morning?" Mike asked after a moment, feeling a little intimidated by Amanda's directness. He was feeling very much like the junior partner in this enterprise.
"First thing," she replied, taking a step back. "We should hit the road as soon as it gets light. The Le Compte castle is only a few miles away, but the roads are pretty twisty and I'd rather take things slow. If we're careful and don't end up hurtling down a ravine, we can be there by midday."
"Okay," Mike replied, "and then we come back down here for the night?"
"Nope," Amanda said, smiling as she shook her head. "There's no point. Do you know how many hours we'd waste? I've got come camping supplies in the jeep. We're going to stay up there for a few nights."
"At the castle?"
"You got a problem with that?"
"Of course not," he said, determined not to let his fear show. "Sounds like fun. I've never stayed in an abandoned vampire castle before. I doubt many people have had such a great honor."
"Watch it," Amanda said with a smile as she turned and headed to the door. "Let's not use the 'v' word, okay? We're not out here on some kind of ghost hunt. This is an academic expedition. Now let's find our rooms. We've got an early start."
Once she'd headed upstairs, Mike was left standing in the office. Moments later, the guest-house owner came through, fixing Mike with a suspicious scowl. Rather than trying to explain himself, Mike merely nodded politely before scurrying off to find his room. He'd been regretting his decision to come out to Bulgaria ever since he'd agreed while talking to Amanda a week earlier, but he figured the best thing to do would be to just go along for the ride. After all, as long as the castle was abandoned, there was no reason to get too worked up.
Two
"So that's it, huh?" Mike said, standing by the jeep early the following morning. Staring at the distant mountains, he could just about make out a large, dark structure clinging to the side of the rocks.
"That's it," Amanda replied, with a hint of a smile. "The Le Comptes were a very powerful family around here back in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They built their new home to impress, and it worked. Stories of their barbarity and cruelty spread throughout the region. Their name might have died out over the years, but back then they were one of the most feared families in all of Europe. The locals were terrified, and you know what? They still are. It's been hundreds of years since the last of the Le Comptes died, but people around here still don't like to hear the name. It's almost as if they expect them to suddenly come back one day. Why do you think that grand old building has been left to rot?"
Turning and looking back at the guest-house, Mike saw that the woman was watching them from the window. She looked scared, as if she feared that some great evil was about to be stirred. Mike smiled at her, and she quickly stepped out of sight.
"Superstition tends to linger," Amanda continued. "It infects the mind of one generation and then it gets passed down to the next. Each person adds their own twist to the story, just to personalize it a little, and over time the tale adapts to fit the paranoia of each particular age. It's classic oral storytelling, except that this time the purpose isn't to entertain. It's all about fear. The stories that scare people around here today are, in most cases, descended from stories that were first told about the Le Comptes hundreds of years ago."
"Who can blame them for being a bit jittery?" Mike asked, finding it hard to take his eyes off the distant, ominous castle, which dominated the landscape like a black smudge on the side of the mountain. Even now, knowing that the place was completely empty, Mike couldn't help but feel that there must be a pair of eyes somewhere in the dark building, watching over the land. In fact, it was impossible to believe that such a huge building could have been left empty for so many years. After a moment, he realized that Amanda was staring at him.
"You're doing it, aren't you?" she said with a half-smile.
"What?"
"Stop it!"
"What?"
"You're letting your imagination run away with you! You're thinking about all the things that could be up there."
"I was just -"
"Get in the jeep," she said, smiling as she interrupted him. "We've got a long drive ahead."
Although the distance to the castle was barely four miles in a straight line, the road that led up the side of the mountain was torturous and twisty, with sheer drops for most of the way and very few barriers. It was clear that no-one had been out this far for many years, and all attempts to maintain the roads had been abandoned. Amanda and Mike took turns at the wheel, and by midday they finally passed into the castle's shadow. Just after 1pm, the jeep came to the end of the road and the final few hundred meters had to be completed along a rocky outcrop that led, eventually, to a small open plain that jutted out in front of the building.
"Home sweet home," Amanda said nervously, tapping the steering wheel. "You ready to go inside, or do you want to wait in the car?"
"I'm ready," Mike said, peering out at the building. Now that he was up close and could see it properly, he felt in awe of such a magnificent construction. Rising hundreds of meters into the air, the Le Compte castle was a grotesque and beautiful Gothic masterpiece, made from what appeared to be some kind of black stone. With gargoyles perched on every available surface, it was clear that the place was designed to instill fear and dread in the he
arts of anyone who came near, and Mike couldn't deny that his heart-rate was a little higher than usual as he stared at the large stone steps that led to the main entrance. He knew it was irrational to be affected so strongly by a few architectural flourishes, but all the logic in the world wouldn't be enough to make him feel entirely at ease out here.
"And you're sure this place has been abandoned for centuries?" he asked eventually.
"I'm certain."
"How can you be so sure?" he continued, turning to her. "If it's been abandoned, that means no-one's been here, and if no-one's been here, how does anyone know that it's abandoned?"
"Come on," Amanda said, smiling as she opened the door and stepped out of the jeep. "God, look at the view from up here. You'd think the locals would've taken the place over and turned it into some kind of resort. You know, this is exactly why superstition holds us back as a species. A gorgeous place like this, left to just sit here in isolation. It's a crime against history, Mike. We need to document the entire place." She turned to him. "The crazy thing is, we wouldn't even be here if Marlowe hadn't started looking at those bones. The world wouldn't have heard of the Le Compte family and their abandoned castle, and I'd never have been able to raise the funds for this expedition. This whole building could have gone unexplored for another century. It could have just been left to waste away."
"What a tragedy," Mike replied bitterly, stepping out of the jeep and wandering toward the base of the steps. "So what do we do now?" he asked. "Just walk right in?"
"You got a better plan?" Amanda said, switching her camera on as she walked past him and started making her way up to the main entrance. She seemed so confident and self-assured, as if she enjoyed proving that she wasn't scared.
"What about animals?" Mike asked, hurrying after her. "I mean, just because humans have left this place alone, you can't be sure there aren't other things here. What about bears? What about... mountain lions?"
