The Vampire Queen (10 page)

“Ye tink I don’t know dah?” she asked. I know what ye plannin’. Bout time, too. Just matter if me want to see it or not,” she said.

“I’ll make it worth your while for all your kindness,” the Countess said and got up and left, this time leaving the woman staring after her.

When she came back, Alexos looked relieved. The sales associates squealed and started finding dresses for the Countess. She and Alexos sat in the chairs, turning one after another down. None of them seemed special enough. Finally, the shopkeeper came up and said, “Girls, leave us. Go in the back, and do inventory or something,” and waved them off. She smiled at the Countess. “I have been saving this dress for you for a long time. I had hoped it would be for a special event with the Count,” she whispered and shot an apologetic look at Alexos, “but I think it’s what you’re looking for. Come, take my hand, and follow me,” she said, like it was some giant secret.

The two woman went into the shopkeeper’s office, and then, into her design room behind that. There stood, on a mannequin, the most exquisite dress the Countess had ever seen in her entire life. It was light purple, velvet, form-fitting, and floor length. It was, of course, slit up both sides, had spaghetti straps, a shelf bra, and around the naval and abs, a giant heart was cut out and removed from the dress. The back was low cut, but it had the flaps of material on either side from the straps to the bottom, and there was a small, three-inch train.

“Try it on, sweetheart. I made it in your size,” the shopkeeper encouraged. As the Countess turned around, there were tears in her eyes.

“It’s the most amazing dress I’ve ever seen,” she said.

“I designed it just for you. I think by now, after all these years, I’d like to think I know your tastes,” the shopkeeper replied with a smile.

“You are so kind. I would be honored to try it on,” the Countess said.

“I’ll step out, but you must promise to come out and let me see you in it,” she said.

“I will. What is your name?” the Countess asked. The shopkeeper seemed taken aback.

“Delores,” she replied.

“I will, Delores, if you promise to come to my ball on 31 July,” the Countess invited.

“I’d be honored,” Delores replied and was gone.

The Countess put the dress on. How Delores got the measurements so perfect without her sitting for it was amazing. She particularly liked the cutout heart at the navel. It was about three inches, so it showed off her abs and navel and was perfect in every way. She made her way to the front of the store to show it off.

“I knew it would be perfect for you,” Delores jumped for joy.

Alexos came up, hugged her, and whispered, “The Count is a lucky guy,” and backed away smiling, unable to keep his eyes off her. Delores called out to the sales girls. When they came out, they ooh’d and ahh’d over the dress. The Countess was very pleased. She told Delores to gather some jewelry and shoes, and she’d be ready to go. She thanked her over and over and didn’t want to take the dress off for wrapping, but she knew she had to. She made Alexos promise not to tell the Count about the dress before the event.

When they returned to the castle, the Count was in a panic.

“So much to do, and you are off dress shopping? You have a hundred dresses!” he yelled.

“This is a special occasion!” she yelled back.

“Count, all that needs to be done is the spell for the shackles,” Alexos interrupted.

“
You
encouraged this shopping!” the Count raged.

“You wouldn’t want her going alone, would you?” he shot back.

“Fine. Countess, please just do the stupid spell, so I can relax for a few hours before the ‘Others’ start arriving tomorrow. Please.” the Count begged.

“Well...the shackle spell goes with the invisibility spell, so I have to do them at the same time,” the Countess said.

“How long does it last?” the Count sounded exasperated.

“Until I undo it,” she said.

“Oh. Then, do it now, in case they try to sneak in early. Please.” he said.

“Ok. I’m going to the tower,” the Countess replied.

“Why the tower?” asked the Count.

“It’s the highest point, and I can see everything,” she stated as she stalked away. Once at the top of the tower, she closed her eyes, held out her hands, and said:

For all of you to be unseen

And be shackled at the ankles,

Let no other powers

Supersede my own.

Until I am again on my tower

And are ready for you to be shown

You will be seen when I say the words,

“Let you all now cower!”

She then flew down, back to the Count and Alexos, and informed them it was ready.

The following evening, the Count agreed to stay in the study and watch the monitors, since the ‘Others’ thought he was supposed to be gone. It would freak him out every time he would see someone about to land and then go invisible. At least he knew the spell the Countess used was working. He was still worried something would go terribly wrong. The study door opened, and there stood the Countess in her new, purple gown.

“I wanted you to be the first to see the gown, in case something happened to it. Delores said she made it just for us,” the Countess said as she closed the door behind her. The Count started to get out of his seat, but she pushed him back down. She slowly twirled around.

“Do you like the full view?” she asked.

“Countess, is this one of your games? Please, be honest.” he asked. The Countess straddled him in the chair and kissed him deeply and passionately. It was the way she used to kiss him a long time ago. Centuries ago, when she made him and actually loved him.

“Does that answer your question?” she asked. It had. He knew she meant that kiss. “Alexos reminded me of just how much you love me, and it got me thinking of how much I love you, too. I don’t want to be without you anymore, Dear. Let’s do this tonight, and tomorrow we can escape, together. Somewhere alone and quiet, where we can start over,” she said.

“Sounds good to me, Love,” he cooed. With that, she got up and headed for the door. As she opened it, he said, “I love the dress.” She smiled and closed the door behind her.

She met Alexos in the parlor, and they walked up to the tower at about 3:00 A.M. The tension inside and outside was very high. The Countess, for the first time, started to feel nerves in the pit of her stomach.

“That’s natural,” Alexos said. “One of my abilities is I can feel what others feel,” he shrugged his shoulders.

“Oh,” was all she could manage without the fear of vomiting right there. As they reached the tower, she looked over and her confidence gained. She yelled, “Let you all now cower!”

Hundreds of vampires came into sight, and the moonlight behind the Countess reflected a red haze coming off the crowd. No doubt they fed before coming here tonight, so they would be at their strongest. Most were upset by the shackles, but when they saw the Countess and Alexos, they began to cheer. They covered the entire yard. There was no place to put the fire she had planned. When Alexos felt this, he put his hand out and started moving people to either side, so there was a space in the center. He was like Moses, parting the Red Sea. The crowd didn’t care they were being shuffled around. They continued to chant, calling him their King. When he was done, the Countess had the room she needed for her next spell:

For those of you with tainted blood,

And your faithful servants, too.

May you perish into the great fire,

And harm me no more.

Thus, our race shall be purified once again,

And we can start anew.

The Countess cast a fire ball from her hand into the center of them, and Alexos released the buttons on the shackles. Most of the vampires flew into the fire, but the Countess could still hear them laughing from inside of it. She took out the bloodstone from between her breasts, the one the Jamaican woman had given her so long ago, and threw it into the fire. Instantly, the laughter was gone, the fire went out, and only ashes were left in a pile on the ground. Now, for the final spell:

May the wind of this great Earth

Scatter these ashes to all four corners.

So that no two pieces of the same are together.

So that this evil may never reign down upon us, again.

The wind lifted up the entire pile of ashes and started to separate it in the sky, and they flew away in silence. A shrill scream broke the silence.

“Mommy, no!” It was Lizzy.

Chapter Twenty-Six

The Countess flew down immediately to Lizzy.

“What’s wrong, Lizzy?” she asked.

“Mommy’s gone,” Lizzy said between sobs.

“Who was Mommy, Sweetie?” the Countess asked.

“Angelina,” Lizzy sobbed. It was another unforeseen knife in her chest. The Countess had not planned on this.

“Do you know how you came to be?” she asked Lizzy.

“Mommy was nine months pregnant with me when she was bitten. After she turned, they cut me out of her belly, but they were unsure if I had turned, too. Mommy begged them to give me a chance to grow up and see if I had the vampire blood in me or could be a ‘normal’, little girl. I started out like any little girl; however, at eight years old, I stopped growing, and I wouldn’t eat. It was when I had a classmate over and bit her wrist and started sucking her blood they knew the bloodlust was inside me, and I was a vampire,” she continued to sob.

“Do you know who bit your Mommy?” the Countess pressed.

“The ‘Others’ is all I know. Mommy wouldn’t talk about it. It made her sad,” Lizzy said.

“Ok. I’m going to be honest with you. Mommy isn’t going to come back,” the Countess said, and Lizzy wept. “If you like, I can be your Stepmommy, and we can do fun things together, but no more evil things. You have to promise,” the Countess explained.

“I didn’t want to be evil. I was just doing what Mommy told me to do,” Lizzy said.

“I know, Sweetie. What do you think about the plan?” she asked gently.

Lizzy thought about it for a moment, and then replied with her usual and nonchalant, “Ok,” before skipping off into the castle. The Jamaican woman was also left standing there.

“Did I not promise you a surprise?” the Countess asked.

“Dah ye did,” she said.

“Your bloodstone saved me, so I’d like to grant you one wish. Something of course you can’t do for yourself,” the Countess explained.

The woman thought and thought. Finally, she said, “Me maker loved me so much, he was ‘fraid other men like me, too. So, he made me like dis—old and ugly. He was later killed by duh ‘Others’ for not joinin’ dem. If ‘tis not too much trouble now, me wishin’ to be young and pretty foreva.” The Countess flipped through her spell book in her head, placed the tip of her index finger on the woman’s forehead, and she got her exact wish.

“Young lady, you are free to go,” the Countess said to her.

The German couple they met at the ball was not so pleasant, and it was probably a good thing the Countess didn’t speak German before they flew off.

Delores was there, and she said, “I will have no customers for my shop, now.”

“You don’t worry about that. If you have to close your doors, you come find me and be my personal dressmaker,” the Countess said. Delores hugged her and flew off as well.

“Alexos, I need three more things from you before you leave,” said the Countess.

“Geez, woman. You are demanding,” he joked. “What?”

“A remote for the chamber door that will work from any distance, all the windows and doors permanently sealed, and a small opening in the front door big enough only to tightly squeeze a wine bottle through. No questions. Chop chop, and get to work,” she smiled.

Kendra was the last one standing in the yard. The Countess slowly walked up to her, putting her guard up around her heart.

“Hello, Kendra,” she said coldly.

“Hi, Countess,” Kendra said, looking at the ground. “You look absolutely stunning in that dress,” she added.

“I’m sure Angelina would not have appreciated that if she were here,” the Countess countered.

“It was just an assignment at first, but I fell in love with you, Countess. Honestly and truly in love with you,” Kendra started to sob.

“Well, that’s good Kendra, because you are coming back into the castle,” the Countess said.

“I what?” Kendra said, amazed.

“That’s right. You’re going to live here, again,” the Countess said with a smile.

“Really? I can’t believe it. So, you have forgiven me?” Kendra asked.

“Oh, I wouldn’t go that far. See, you are going to live in the chamber, until the Count and I find somewhere else to live with Lizzy. Of course, we will take the two slaves with us, as well. Then, you will be let out to live in this castle alone, with all the memories and portraits of me. Sort of like a museum to me. Don’t even think about trying to escape, because all of that has been taken care of by an expert. There will be only one small opening for your wine to be delivered. You will live here alone, with your memories of us, for the rest of eternity.