The House on Blackstone Moor (The Blackstone Vampires) (24 page)

When we reached the nursery we were greeted by a terrible scene for both Ada and Simon were being burned.

Even with his body wracked with pain reflecting theirs, Louis rushed to the attacker and destroyed him.

Yet while this was happening another took his place!

I rushed at the torturer, biting into his hand so hard that a torrent of blood issued forth. The man cried out and tried to stake me, but Louis twisted his head and snapped his neck.

Before it was over, every one of the attackers lay dead, pulled apart by Louis’ fury.

We found Eve in her room. It was obvious she had deliberately fallen upon the stake that destroyed her.

Her burning skull lay nearby. The stench was awful.

The destroyers were all gone, but so too were Tom and Molly and Dora and her babe—as well as Eve.

The moors had reclaimed more sacrifices.

It wasn’t until I fell to my knees that I realized I was nearly one of them, for I had been badly burned and cut, though I hadn’t realized it.

Louis was to tell me later that I lay unconscious, drifting in and out of wakefulness, for hours thereafter.

The only memory I have of the moments before that is looking up to see his concerned face. “You will be alright, my love. You will see. I will get Dr. Antor.”

“But Louis,” I murmured weakly. “How are the children?”

“They are alright, you are hurt worse.”

And so I was. I was in pain and delirious. I dreamt of death and blood, of evil spirits alive and dead and of demons—many demons rushing toward me—trying it seemed to pull me into hell.

And I saw too the flames of Hell.

I think I screamed, for I felt gentle hands trying to soothe away my terror.

I woke to see Dr. Antor gazing at me with a worried frown. “You were talking in your sleep.”

Was I? “But I dreamt…”

He had the strangest expression upon his face, as if he knew what I had dreamt. “You’ve had a nightmare Rose, that’s all it is.”

He sat down beside me. His manner so caring and kind, it was clear he wished to calm me in order to save me. “Rose, I will give you some ointment mixed with wolfbane. It is what I have used for the children. It will help you all.”

“The children!” I tried to raise myself from the bed to go to them, only to be told to lie down again.

“You can do nothing for them. They are responding. I promise you.”

“But—”

“No Rose, if anything your burns are far worse and you are feverish.”

I did feel hot, as though I was burning inside. “Help me!”

“I will.” I called for Louis then. Dr. Antor took my trembling hand in his. “Louis is fine, he is with the children. He wished to be with you, but I told him you must rest. He can be quite stubborn but I finally prevailed.”

I began to cry then, for the memory of that fierce battle was too fresh in my mind. I saw the mutilated corpses of the coven—all of them, but the most pathetic was Dora and the baby.

Dr. Antor told me to rest and I fell asleep within moments.

I woke later to find I could barely hear him.

If I expected him to look , he didn’t. “You are very ill now, that is why. Your creation is in doubt.”

He meant I was once again between two worlds. It was Louis who explained it later. “Your blood is toxic. It is a condition caused by the attack and the burns. If you hadn’t been newly created, it would not have affected you as badly. You were attacked no worse than the children, but the, children are alright. You, however…”

“I am dying?” I swallowed. “Then I die loving you,” I added after a pause.

*

I thought I was dreaming when I saw my mother and brother and sisters float in the doorway.

“Rose, come with us!” they called. The sound of their voices was filled with such longing.

It was when I noticed both Louis and Dr. Antor in the room that I realized it was no dream, for each of them was warning me not to let the spirits come closer.

Suddenly the spirits fell silent, their attention turned to Dr. Antor. When I saw the fear on his face I knew they would attack him. I watched in horror as he tried to protect himself from their fearful assault for they had merged to become a cord that wound itself tightly around his throat.

Louis rushed to his aid. “They could take his head off like that.”

I saw him falter as he felt Dr. Antor’s pain but only for a moment—somehow he forced himself to rush onward to help his friend.

“I can’t!” he cried, as he pulled at the insubstantial mist. It all seemed futile but he did not give up.

Dr. Antor screamed in pain when they started to wrench his head off, but suddenly they stopped.

It wasn’t long before I understood why. There, in the far corner of the room, stood my father, their annihilator. His presence had distracted them.

As Antor sank to the floor with Louis in attendance, the spirits moved toward my father—and a tremendous battle ensued as they merged and split, and hissed and spat at one another.

My mother shrieked the murderous hatred she felt for my father. If she had called Louis a monster she called my father worse names.

“You savage beast! You killed our children. How could you?”

His answer was loud raucous laughter and the terrible confession that went with it.

He began to speak of the utter filth he had engaged himself in, not only with low women but with
me!

“I knew her as I have known you, my love, only I never enjoyed you.”

My mother’s spirit began to smoke then—as if an acid formed at the core of her essence.

I railed at my father, too. “I hate you. I shall always hate you and hope you burn in hell forever!”

He began to fade then.

I knew that spirits fade when those they want reject them. But if his faded, my mother’s glowed.

Louis understood at once. “She is happy now, Rose. She is certain she will take you with her, for you are no longer one of the undead.”

I began to weep whereupon Louis reminded me once again. “She is not your mother anymore, not as you knew her. Do not be fooled. Your mother would have wanted you to live; this evil wraith wants you in death. Please, Rose.”

“Go spirits! Go now,” I screamed. “And leave me alone.”

They did then—but if I expected some peace, there was none because Louis made for the door. “I must see if they go to the children!”

His face betrayed the pain and anguish he felt and that meant only one thing—Ada and Simon were being attacked.

Though Louis was nearly felled by the pain he managed to rush toward the nursery
. Both children were choking, for the spirits had formed themselves into cords and wound themselves around their little necks.

“No!” Louis cried, trying to pull the deadly mist away.

And so it went on, this horrible battle which seemed hopeless to win. But then suddenly, the cords began to loosen and the children fell down, exhausted but not destroyed.

Dr. Antor nodded, his expression overcome with emotion. “I have done it. I didn’t think I could but I did.”

Louis and I both stared at him. “What have you done?” I asked.

“I did hold up a charm, but it will not work again
,
for I haven’t the knowledge or ability to persevere. Only someone trained in magic may do it.”“Let me see it,” Louis said incredulously.

Dr. Antor handed it to him. I saw too it was a small pendant made of bronze, roughly hewn with an engraving on it.

“It is from the time of the Druids. It has some Druid Goddess on it, a sorceress no doubt, but a good one,” Dr. Antor announced.

Louis agreed. “
Y
ou are right
. I
t is the Welsh Goddess, Rhiannon. Her image was used to banish evil spirits, where did you get it?”

“I found it upon the moors, near the blood stone. I thought it might be of use one day.”

Louis would explain to us later that those Druids, who had disapproved of the sacrifices, must have placed it within the soil to drive away evil spirits.

“I am amazed.” Louis finally said. “For the moors are indeed haunted, but for that one area not too far from the bloodstone. It is like a safe zone of some kind. I’ve often wondered about it. There is a problem though; the spirits have too much evil for it to work again.”

This quite surprised me but Dr. Antor nodded. “Yes, I think that is right. We shall have to do something then.”

We would find out later exactly what he meant to do but at that moment we had to see to the children, who were now deeply asleep in the library.

“It is best to let them rest, for they do need it.”

I wondered if they were dreaming. I hoped they were not.

As for me I was no longer in a crisis, though I would still feel weakened for a time.

“It is better to be human again and survive.” Dr. Antor said.

Louis smiled sadly at that comment and though he nodded, his eyes were full of anguish.

I knew in my heart that he was really disappointed I had changed back. Yet, like me, he was torn by this feeling—for as much as he wished me to be immortal and live with him, he felt it was wrong and selfish. I felt similarly. 

Both of us had divided hopes.

When I tried to reassure him about how I felt, he told me I would always be his beloved. “I will love you no matter what happens, my Rose.”

*

And so we continued on, next to deal with the terrible carnage that was left.

The vampire killers were discarded on the moor, along with their banners, their remains relegated to the quicksand; Louis said they deserved no better.

As for Eve and the others, there would be a great funeral pyre some distance from the house.

We all bore witness. The children and I as well, for it was only right that we do this.

They burned quickly and completely, and when they were ashes and nothing more, Louis buried them.

The children wept and I hugged them to me. “You will never leave us, will you Rose, not ever, for we should perish without you!”

“No, I will not.”

A quick reply meant to reassure them but said perhaps too quickly, for I was still uncertain if I wished to remain.

Yet if I thought that, I also felt that none of them brought their fate upon themselves, for it was my firm belief that fate rules us all. Perhaps an old adage but one I have always believed to be true.

Much later, Louis gathered us in the library. “Because of what has happened, we shall live downstairs now. It is best. The library, parlor and kitchen will do us fine.”

And so it would, for how could we occupy the site of such deadly carnage?

As for the charm, I did wonder about it.  We discussed it, Louis and Dr. Antor and I.

“What will we do if the ghosts return and the charm is of little use?”  I asked. “Isn’t there something you might be able to do, Louis?”

Louis shrugged. “I am not acquainted with sorcery as other fallen angel spawn are (he meant Eco). Therefore, I do not think I would be able to do much to help. The undead have great power...”

Dr. Antor suddenly said he had to leave but he would return as soon as he could.

Louis smiled after he left. “He can’t fool me. He is planning something. Antor has always been very determined.”

This was a most astute comment for Dr. Antor returned near midnight and he wasn’t alone. There beside him was an oddly dressed woman of foreign appearance.  Her name was Marta and she was a gypsy.

“I know why I am here,” she said. Then she glanced at me. “You are not…”

Louis answered for me. “She is not in the coven, no.”

I was surprised by the expression in Louis’ eyes for they looked hostile, almost as if he regarded the woman with deep suspicion.

“Sir,” she said. “I have come to help. I know about the house. I come to aid, not to hinder.” With that, she bowed her head.

Louis’ face softened with relief. “I am glad, for there are many of your race who damn us, we who are already damned.”

Marta smiled sadly. “Yes, I know this to be true, but I have an open mind and do wish to help. She who is like a mother to me did not approve of me coming here, but she will not curse any of you. Now,” she said glancing around. “I should like to see the charm.”

Dr. Antor handed it to her. She studied it carefully, turning it over in her hand. “Its magic is not strong
. I
f it was of benefit before I do not think it will be again. I need something with much stronger magic at the core. But I will need first to know who the spirits are seeking.”

I spoke up immediately. “They are my family.”

It was difficult to repeat all that had happened to me, but I wished her to know completely.

She was clearly moved. “You have suffered so much, young lady. But you will not suffer much longer. Marta will help!”