Mama did not appear in the schoolroom. During the past several nights, she seemed lethargic. Her pale skin stretched across her skull of a face like thin gossamer tissue. Taking her frigid hands in mine, I stared into her translucent pupils.
"Are you all right, Mama?" I asked, my distress growing strong.
"I am fine, my love," she whispered, her pale pink lips barely forming the words. "I need a rest, that's all."
"Are you sure, Mama?" I asked, my heart thumping loudly behind my heaving bosom. "Perhaps we should call the doctor? Surely there is one in the village."
"There is no need to worry, Norah, dear," my mother assured me. She patted my hand, hoping to comfort me. "A rest will do me a world of good. The Baron is going hunting soon, and I'll regain my strength. It will not take long."
I accepted her response with trepidation. Mama continued to weaken. Her shadowy form moved lethargically along the underground corridors. Once or twice, I caught her leaning against the stone wall. Her breath came in shallow gulps, and she wheezed almost constantly. She barely mustered the strength to speak.
Mama's gray hair hung in unruly strands surrounding a drawn face. Once, she had proudly fixed her hair before the vicarage mirror. Adorning it with splendid, feathered hats, she poised beside my father on the church porch. The parishioners praised her beauty, and she vainly drank in their compliments. After months beneath the Baron's thrall, her brittle locks began to fall out in massive clumps. I could see her colorless scalp underneath the few stands remaining.
Suddenly, Mama disappeared. Anxiously, I awaited her appearance with mounting trepidation. Vlad, Luiza, and Vanya ogled me menacingly. They sat on their seat edges and threatened me with their exposed canines. My eyes shifted toward the door, willing it to open, wishing for Mama.
An immediate feeling of loneliness surrounded me. Without my mother, I had no support, no sense of home. The hours ticked past slowly, and my anxiety level rose to its crescendo. I leaped to my feet and slammed my hands upon Luiza's desk. The girl stared up at me with a languid expression pasted upon her frozen face.
"Where's my mother?" I severely demanded. I hovered above her desk, hoping to intimidate her.
My schoolmate lackadaisically lifted her shoulders and then let them fall. The Baron's eldest daughter stared at me blankly.
"You know where she is," I accused, icicles dripping from my voice.
Luiza continued to appraise me serenely. Vlad stood and placed his hand protectively on his sister's shoulder. Vanya joined him, crowding in close to his side. The boy wrapped his other arm across her shoulders and pulled her against his body.
"WHERE'S MY MOTHER?" I screamed, slamming my hands against the desk again. I directed my question toward the three von Helfin children.
"Keep your voice down," the Baron instructed. He strode through the door, calm and relaxed. "There is no need to shout."
"I want my mother," I insisted, spinning toward my nemesis. "Where is she? What have you done with her?"
"You have no concerns about your mother's whereabouts," Nicolai von Helfin countered. He placed his icy hands on my shoulders and locked his red pupils on my startled face.
Instantly, I fell under his hypnotic stare. His glassy orbs dilated and undulated as they locked onto mine. Mustering all my willpower, I broke free and placed my gaze upon the far distance.
"Her safety is my concern," I remarked, regaining my self-control. I defiantly forced my eyes back to von Helfin's pallid face, hoping to force a response.
Time stood still. I would not back down. Neither would the Baron. Simultaneously, Vlad and Luiza edged closer to their father, forming a human triangle. Menacingly, they joined their gaze with his inhuman stare. Vanda wiggled between her brother and sister to stand beside her parent. The Baron placed his youngest child in front of him and held her around the shoulders.
Suddenly, Luiza bared her fangs and plunged toward me. I hastily stepped backward and felt the slimy wall against my back. She raced forward like a streak of lightning. My arms automatically flew up to protect my face against her attack. In a flash, the Baron intervened.
"Luiza!" I pleaded, stretching my arms toward her. "I thought of you as a friend. How swiftly you turned on me!"
"Friends?" the girl shrieked vehemently. "I have no friends."
Von Helfin's daughter lurched forward again, but the Baron held her tightly. Fiercely, she struggled for her freedom. Behind her, Vlad inched closer, his fangs protruding from sanguine lips. Vanya advanced on his heels.
"My children hunger for you," Nicolai von Helfin declared, tightening his grip on Luiza. "I ordered Ranulf to proceed with your initiation. My nephew betrayed me. I intended to step into the breach. However, I cannot control my children when their hunger is upon them."
The Baron stepped away hastily, and the youngsters swarmed toward me. Vlad, Luiza, and Vanda advanced, their fearsome fangs protruding. Trapped, I edged toward the door, my back sliding against the mossy wall. If I could reach the cellar corridor, I could escape. Full of fear, I grappled for the door handle. Again and again, I reached for it and came up empty. Then, it swung open of its own accord.
"Uncle!" Ranulf gasped, stepping into the horror chamber.
Swiftly, he moved between me and the advancing children. Holding out his arms, he drove them back. The children snarled and hissed at their cousin. Vlad flew upon Ranulf, beating his fists against his relative's chest. Leaping suddenly, Vanda sunk her teeth into her cousin's wrist.
Valiantly, Ranulf beat the children off. On her hands and knees, Vanda attempted to crawl between his legs, but he kicked her away. Luiza scratched unmercifully at Ranulf's face with her sharpened fingernails. Vlad lasted the longest, plummeting his cousin in the stomach with tight fists. Ranulf finally grabbed him by the collar and heaved him against the wall. Defeated, the three children slunk away to cower behind their father's back.
"How dare you to interfere," von Helfin hissed, advancing toward his ward. "Leave at once."
"Not without Norah," my rescuer announced, roughly shoving me into the corridor. He followed me and hastily shut the door. "Quickly!"
Grabbing my arm, Ranulf dragged me upstairs. My legs twisted beneath me in my haste, and I stumbled. Quickly, I righted myself and plunged onward. Our feet clattered up the grand staircase and along the mildewed corridors. I ran out of breath and fell to my knees abruptly. My lover squatted beside me and tried to pull me to my feet.
"Quickly, Norah," Ranulf urged, his earnest voice hot in my ear. "We're nearly there."
Regaining my strength, I stood and leaned against the wall. The turret door seemed miles away. Slowly, I shook my head. Ranulf swooped me into his arms and swiftly rushed along the long hallway. Weighted by his burden, he struggled up the spiral staircase and finally set me on my bed tenderly. Then, he bolted the door rapidly.
"It will not hold them," my lover confessed, leaning against it. "If they want in, they will get in."
"I…I…" I stammered, staring wide-eyed at Ranulf.
"You must get away, Norah," the Baron's nephew exclaimed, sitting beside me. Wrapping his arms around my quaking shoulders, he held me close. We remained locked together in each other's arms until the sun peaked through the window slit. Then, Ranulf pulled the heavy velvet curtains around the massive bed, shutting out the daylight. Entwined together, we fell into a fitful sleep.
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