The Tale of the Vampire Bride (36 page)

Wearily, I took off my traveling bonnet and laid it on the bed, then sat down. I fluffed my skirts beneath my velvet coat, glanced about the room, and then flung myself back on the bed.

I was annoyed that I was left behind in the hotel. I wanted to hunt, to explore, anything but sit in our hotel room. I opened a trunk and discarded my traveling clothes for a nice silky dress. I felt put out by the lack of any adequate servants, but managed. Glancing about, I quickly realized that much like the castle, there was not a looking glass to be seen. I stomped my foot in irritation.

For a small bit of time, I attempted to read a book. It was bland and boring. I tossed it away.

I stood at the window and stared out at the darkened streets. The mist was thick and heavy so there was not much of a view.

Of course Vlad's absence would be a curse wrapped up in a blessing.

I was dreadfully bored.

At last I wandered downstairs and found a small parlor. The room was shrouded in darkness save for the pool of yellowish light pouring out from the flames in the fireplace.

Sighing, I wandered up to the mantle and stood there. Reflexively, I attempted to warm my cold hands. Of course, they would never be warm again, unless I was freshly gorged on blood. I was a pale, cold woman, a wraith, wandering the night in search for blood.

Actually, that sounds rather romantic. But beyond that, I was feeling rather morose and quite lonely.

My previous journey had been with my family and this was quite different and I felt utterly, dreadfully lonely.

I stood for a rather long time staring into the flames, watching them dance and shiver. The fire mesmerized me. I let my mind think of nothing but the gentle sway of the fire's dance as it crackled and whispered to me.

“It is rather late for a lady to be wandering about.”

A man's voice broke my reverie.

I turned around on my heel.

In the very corner of the room was a chair, and in this chair, utterly shrouded in darkness, sat a man. I could barely see the dim outline of his body, long and lean it appeared. Only his pale hands resting on his knees were visible.

“Really?”

He laughed. “Really. I take it you just arrived?”

I wrinkled my nose slightly at his forthrightness. “Well, yes, as a matter of fact. But I really do not see what concern that is of yours.”

The man laughed softly, and said in perfect English, “I was merely trying to converse with a lovely lady on a very morose night. I, too, have been traveling long, and a bit of conversation seemed like a sweet indulgence.”

“You are British?” I said it eagerly, my eyes wide with hope.

I could barely see him shake his head. I truly needed to feed. I could not see his features at all.

“I am not British, but I have traveled there on many occasion.”

I moved across the parlor to sit in the chair opposite him. Still, I could not see his face.

“Have you been there recently? I miss it so!”

“Not in a long while. I am traveling from Vienna to Buda.”

“As are we,” I admitted.

“You are with your family, I assume.”

“With my...husband,” I confessed, trying to keep the disgust from my tone.

“Glynis,” Vlad's voice said from the doorway.

I looked up to see him standing tall and straight, his broad shoulders squared and taut. His long hair fell down around his face and was a bit disheveled.

“Come…now.” He thrust out his hand to me.

I turned to excuse myself, but my companion….yes...this is quite odd…my companion was gone.

Mystified, I stared at the chair, blinking rapidly, unsure of what had just occurred. Had I been speaking with a specter?

“Glynis…now.”

I reached out. Vlad took my hand and drew me quickly to him. “We are not staying. We are leaving.”

“What?”

He drew me behind him quickly, nearly at a supernatural pace. I could see beyond the front doors the porters anxiously loading the carriage.

“I do not understand!”

“You need not understand,” Vlad responded as we hurried outside.

He thrust me up into the carriage, then swung up behind me. The door slammed shut.

I could hear the men strapping our luggage onto the carriage, their voices soft and hurried. Vlad was bristling, I realize now, with rage. I shrank back in my seat and tried not to draw his attention.

There was a sharp order and the carriage was off.

“Why are we leaving?”

Vlad ignored my question and sat in angry, unrelenting silence.

I sighed, settling back in the seat. How like Vlad to disregard me and exclude me from what may be a very dire situation. Obviously, we would not have left so abruptly if something was not terribly amiss. I wondered if perhaps the other vampires he had spoken of were the reason for our abrupt departure.

“I suppose that it was utterly necessary for us to depart a perfectly lovely hotel with a nice comfortable bed,” I said, not able to help myself. I was very discontent at the prospect of sleeping in the carriage. “I am sure it will be perfectly lovely sleeping in a lurching carriage.”

Vlad regarded me for a moment, then ignored me.

I frowned at him.

He reached out and drew a thick heavy metal sheet down over the window across from my seat. I watched as he secured the metal blinds to the windows with heavy locks.

“Close the window beside you,” he ordered.

“Should we not turn back and take shelter at the hotel?” I answered. I admit that I was desperate in my curiosity to know why we had fled.

“It is too dangerous. We will continue on in safety. The driver will only stop to change the horses and pick up our escort at the edge of the forest,” Vlad answered. “Now, hurry and close that window!”

My fingers found the edge of the metal plate and began to pull it down over the window when a light glimmered through the trees and I hesitated. It was then I realized that the sky was brightening above the horizon. Soft pink clouds slipped across the now tranquil sky over the tops of the pine trees.

“The sun,” I whispered in awe.

How long had it been since I have seen its wonderful, beautiful light and felt its warmth?

“The sun is rising,” I said in awe.

Vlad finished double locking the carriage doors and swiveled about. “Glynis!”

Sunlight struck the hand I had pressed against the glass of the window. I screamed as my flesh began to burn. Vlad dove over me and slammed the metal shielding down, blocking the sun's deadly brilliance. He quickly twisted the latches into place and locked them, effectively obstructing the rays of the rising sun.

I lay where I had fallen over on the seat, staring at my hand in shock. It was a terrible sight and dreadfully painful. Huge blisters covered my palm and my fingertips were singed.

“Damn you, Glynis! Are you trying to kill yourself?”

“I have not seen the sun in so long,” I answered in a hushed tone. “I had forgotten its appearance and how it felt on my skin.”

Vlad fell back into his own seat and sighed with exasperation. “Well, now the sun is death, Glynis. You know this! Should you ever be caught in the sunlight, you shall die.”

I sat up and extended my hand to him. “Look! Look! Look what the sun has done to me!”

“Vlad took my hand gruffly and twisted it this way and that to examine my burns. “Yes, yes, you burned yourself.”

“It hurts dreadfully,” I told him. But it made me happy to feel such pain. It felt like mortal pain and it made me feel wondrously alive. I was transfixed by the sight, yet mortified. It slowly dawned on me how stupid I had been. The sunlight could have struck my face and caused me enormous harm.

Vlad grabbed my wrist. “Never do this again. Understand?”

“Yes, yes, I promise.”

Vlad slashed his own cheek with his long nails. He bloodied his fingers, then spread his blood over my burned hand. The burns ceased to hurt and began to fade away. My hand healed until it was perfect and whole.

“There. Now, sleep. I know it will be hard. When I travel, I am never able to fall fully into the depths of our vampire slumber, but we must rest ourselves.”

“What about vampire hunters? Will they attack the carriage,” I asked.

“That is why we are about to meet our armed escort. They will protect us by day,” Vlad answered. He sat back in his seat and placed his hands on his knees. With a soft sigh, he closed his eyes and began to sink into the vampire sleep.

I sat in silence, staring at my hand. The carriage was still traveling quite fast and rocked gently. I was beginning to feel very tired. Finally, I curled up on the cushioned seat and closed my eyes. The darkness within the carriage was absolute, yet soothing. Yet, I was starkly aware of the searing sunlight beating down on the carriage. It frightened me to think of it pressing down all around me.

“Don't think of it. Just sleep,” Vlad muttered.

Before I could think another thought, I was asleep.

Chapter 19

The Journal of Lady Glynis Wright-Continued

6th of March, 1820

I awoke before Vlad this evening and wrote what I could in my journal. It was rather disturbing to glance over and see him sitting across from me, eyes closed, his face shrouded in darkness. I was uncertain he was truly asleep, but he did not stir as I slipped my journal from its hiding place in my small travel case.

I wrote for some time, pouring all I could into the journal about my experiences from last night.

So engrossed was I in my writing that I was not aware of when his green eyes opened and fastened upon me.

“What is that?” he asked.

I looked up, startled, quite alarmed by his tone.

He held out his hand to me imperiously. His long nails were wickedly curved.

Reluctantly, I slid my journal into his hand. He flipped through it, glancing at the pages, then closed it, and handed it back to me.

“Make certain mortals never find it,” he said, and the issue was dismissed.

Grateful that he had not taken upon himself to read through the journal, I tucked it away so that he would not be inspired to do so.

Soon I understood why he had no interest in trivial things. He opened up the metal shades and looked out at the night. The depths of his green eyes were tinted with the blaze of an internal fire and his teeth were quite long and the tips were visible beneath the brush of his mustache.

I realized the hunger was upon him.

He must have previously arranged for the carriage to stop so that we could feed. It was not long after we had awakened that the carriage rolled to a jarring stop.

Vlad was so charged with anticipation, he was perched on the very edge of his seat. I, too, began to feel the burning in my veins that was sheer torment. Perhaps it was his blood lust that stirred my own, but I could feel the tips of my fangs pressing against my lips.

I gazed out of the window up at the moon and smiled. The sight of the glowing orb reminded me of my freedom and of our destination. I was far from the castle and I would now feed freely, without having to wait for my vampire sisters to feed first.

I could see that we had stopped on the outskirts of a small village, and I knew that the hunt was about to begin. I was enthralled at the thought of hunting without my sisters and my eyes began to burn as my senses became acute. I slid off my coat and placed my bonnet on the seat so I could hunt unfettered.

A gypsy guard opened the door to the carriage and Vlad slipped out quickly. He turned to me and quite to my surprise, helped me down from the carriage. As my feet settled onto the dew-drenched grass, I breathed in the scents of the night. A tingling in my nostrils let me know that my prey was quite close.

Vlad took my face in one hand, drawing my attention. “Only one. Find yourself one mortal then hurry back.”

“I may go alone?”

Vlad’s hawkish face was truly frightening bathed in the light from the moon. “If you do not return, I will find you and you will suffer.”

“Yes, of course. I would expect nothing less for such a transgression,” I said with great impudence.

“Go,” Vlad growled.

I needed no more prompting. With wild glee, I darted into the field beside the road. I began to run toward the alluring scent that had caught my attention. When I reached the edge of the field, I turned into the forest. The moonlight fell through the leafy boughs and illuminated a path for me across the forest floor. It did not take me long to break out of the trees into a clearing where a small farmer’s hut stood dark and forlorn.

Closing my eyes, I listened to the wind singing in my ears and breathed in the sweet scents of the night. Fresh, young blood was in the cottage. I could hear the heartbeats of the two people nestled within beckoning me to their side.

I smiled brightly as the anticipation of my feeding bubbled up within me. Reaching up, I freed my hair from its bindings and let it fall free to my waist. Slowly, I began to advance on the small cottage.