A WINTERNIGHT'S TALE








Listen childe, when I tell you this story. And listen carefully.
One day it might save your life!
Because there are hunters out there, and preys. And we childe, are the hunted ones. It took me years to figure out, why. And my answer will be, there are no answer...Except for the thrill of the kill...The games they play are without purpose, or need.
they are the Vampires.
Creatures without any heart. And no soul.
Walking in darkness.

So come closer to the fire, beware of the dark. And watch the fire as I speak. This is a tale of havoc and fear. Ice and roaring flames.
Those things that I pray will never live in your heart.
Because it haunted me.
And caught me.
And has marked me.
I will never, ever be free.

It all started a winter day about fifty years ago. I was still a little girl. Maybe seven, or eight. My sisters, Rebecca and Victoria were a couple of years older.
We lived in the white mansion on the top of the hill. The one you can see when you're traveling through the woods.
Nobody lives there anymore. I want it that way. It's mine, and will be yours in time. I've never sold it. And I never will.It's my wish that you will burn it down, once I'm dead.
I still visit the house sometimes. In secret. Nobody knows!
- Yes...I can see on you expression you are surprised. You didn't know granny had a such a big, beautiful house, did you? Living in this little old one...But I tell you. Nobody can live in that house!
Not after what happened.
Still, I want it there. So I have a place where I can remember.
I lit candles, and then I leave. Before the dark.

This particular day, me and my sisters were playing in the park. Our parents had guests for dinner, so we were left by our own.
It did in no way bother us.
We were strictly held, so the little freedom we could get were always appreciated. I remember how pretty I thought my older sisters were. Dressed in the same thick coates. Purple red with hoods. And my own, green one was both childish and old in comparison.
I wasn't really jealous.I think...
I adored them...Or maybe that's just how I wish remember it.

They looked a lot like eachother. And me. Both were blonde, and this day. Their green eyes were sparkling with joy.
It was beautiful...The crisp air, the ice that hung from the limbs of the trees. Bright, white snow...
I can still feel the sharp sensation from the cold on my skin when I recall it.

We were those day's rich people.Old traditions and etiquette still lived in our home. We had a nanny and a maid. And a teacher.
Hired men took care of our land and stables.
It was a good life.
With a sweet, but fragile mom. And a distant, but protective father.
Our room was filled with pretty handmade toys. we had our own piano. Our own horses, puppies and kittens. All with chewed up silk collars round their necks...You can see I'm smiling now...It was a good childhood.
- we were never taught that bad things walked the darkness, surrounding our perfect, little world.

All that was before the Snow Witch came to us. Late that winter night.
You know how the winter nights are.
Suddenly there, without warning.
When you're busy playing in the snow, and then take a little break...You look up...And; boom!It's dark!
The bright light is gone. The black night is there. So fast!
- Yes, you can laugh, my childe...Laugh now, while you can!

The lights from the windows were like glowing jewels in the dark night. Like ambers, burning from inside.
It was all so magical...Like a fairy tale.
I had a romantic heart as a childe. I remember I secretly played that we were princesses. Playing outside the castle.
I couldn't involve my sisters. They were too old.
But in my head I pretended it was so...

We were building a snow man. One of many that day!
Victoria wanted us to build all the guests in a ball.
And it did look impressive, with the moonlight, and the sparkling snow.
A dozen snow people, dancing in the park.

Let me tell you some more about my sisters.
Have you never wondered what happened to your father's aunts?
They were both good girls. Rebecca, the eldest was the brightest of them. She had a good head. Always reading books. And she wrote as well, I remember her reading poems at night, while we were lying in bed. Wonderful verses about knights and dragons. Dramatic and exciting! And always with a happy ending...
Victoria, was softer. She was interested in nature. She collected bird's eggs and held a record over the squirrels and rabbits in the garden. And she played the piano better than any other in our home. She was always happy...That's what i remember most about her...
- And I...What was I? I was romantic, shy and kind, I think. But had no special skills or talents...I liked to draw and paint but mostly I hung around my sisters. Being their most devoted admirer.

"Look!"
Victoria suddenly said, and pointed a finger to the woods.
A dark-haired lady came slowly walking towards us.
She wore a white dress, which seemed thin for the cold weather. And carried a dead bird in her one hand.

Instinctively we were seeking each others hands.
- When she came closer I could see, the most beautiful face I've ever seen. So pale, with rose red lips, and big indigo eyes.

" Are you playing?"
The woman asked in a soft, friendly voice.

" Who are you?" Rebecca asked, holding my hand in a tight grip.
"Are you a which?" Victoria added. Her eyes starring in frightened but thrilled surprise.

" Would you like me to be?" The stranger asked, examining her with her eyes. But she didn't smile. Not once. She had a dreamy look on her face. Like she wasn't really there.

A thought struck down in me:
" She's a ghost!" I outburst, and Rebecca squeezed my hand in punishment." No! She's not! "

The woman's eyes fell on me now:
" Are you afraid of me? "
I nodded.
" Don't be...I'm a good witch."

" But the bird...!" Victoria said.
" Oh that!" The woman answered and held it up in front of her face, "do you like birds? It's dead. I was going to bury it...Want to come?"

And of course we did...
Little girls do...
Rebecca wasn't as thrilled as Victoria and I, but she came with us. We walked in silence through the wood, until we found a nice spot.
The woman dug a hole in the snow with her bare hands. She wouldn't even borrow Rebecca's gloves.
Victoria made a cross of evergreen to mark the spot, and we all said a little prayer by the little, birds grave.
I can remember her saying something about the dark silence. Eternal life. Strange words to understand for a little girl. And strange compared to out biblical verses. But I didn't think of it then...

It haunted me years after.

It was late, and we girls had to go home.
"Come and play with us tomorrow!"
Victoria said to our mystical friend.
" I will" she answered, and was gone. Swallowed by the darkness...

In our beds that night, she was all we talked about...How pretty she was. So like a princess. Every word she had spoken was recalled and examined.
She was our new conquered heroine.
Mistress of our dreams.
We all had her face on our mind as we fell into sleep.
- Still safe, by the oven in our room, tucked in our blankets.
Three blonde heads on each their pillow.

So you see childe...Living on the country. To be a wealthy childe...It made us careless. The Snow Witch came, and we let her in.
- So little it took to excite us...In a usually slow, and maybe even a bit boring life...

We couldn't go out the day after, the weather was stormy and cold. Our mother wouldn't allow us.
But we saw her through the window. She wore something shimmering red. She stood by the gate, looking up at our house.
We melted the the thin surface of ice on the glass with our palms. Wiping clean a little circle. A hole to look through.
We watched her all night.
She was standing there for hours....! And we were all upset that we couldn't go out to her.
Oh yes...She waited...She did!

The day after was sunny and nice. We were outside, waiting for her the whole afternoon but she didn't come before sundown.

I can imagine us standing there...What we must have looked like...So full of eager and expectation.
So willing to please her.
We had all done our hair properly, and put on pretty dresses. I think we wanted to impress her, our exotic stranger.

She smiled and stopped in front of us. Close enough to see, but not to hear. She waved with one hand and pointed to the woods, she wanted us to follow.
- It was an invitation with no room for a no. She just turned her back and walked slowly back in among the trees.
- did we have any other option than to follow her?
- We had been waiting now, for two days to see our dark lady again.
- Who could have known the wolf was lurking. Watching us with golden eyes.

Victoria was running faster than me and Rebecca.
"Wait, good lady! What's your name?"
But the Lady didn't wait for her. She seemed to float over the heavy carpet of snow.
Moving deeper into the forrest.

- I don't know exactly when I came aware that someone was following us. A sound maybe? Or just a feeling?
-I don't know.

The stars were do bright this night. Like the Angels wanted to light up our way, warn us...Or was it the devils that were playing? Guiding us to our destiny...?

He was a tall, blonde man.
When he came closer I could see that his eyes were shiny blue, like a piece of the sky. And as the little girl I was, I felt that something was wrong, but couldn't point out exactly what it was...
He was behind us, following us...I knew that was wrong....Nobody likes being chased by strangers.
But the other things, the disturbing feeling of something savage, inhuman...I had no words for it back then...
Now I know, it was the predator's effect on it's victim.
The paralyzing hunger in his eyes.
Almost like love...

He moved a lot faster than us, Rebecca held my hand, dragging me along. I could hear on her breath, she had seen him too...
My small feet could hardly keep up with her.
- And we had lost Victoria and the Dark lady somewhere among the trees. That was almost more disturbing. It forced us to stay on the track. We couldn't run, or go home without her.
- And now the man came up behind us.

He didn't have time for smalltalk.
He grabbed Rebecca by the neck, and smiled when she screamed out in fear.
His long, white fingers slid over the skin on her neck, and he moaned, as in pleasure.
"Run Helena! Run!"
She screamed and let go of my hand.

Of course I didn't. I was frozen to the spot.

I watched as his face changed, into the beast that he was. Growing long fangs, and got the eyes of a devil.
He roared before sinking his teeth into her neck.
And I can still remember, as if it was yesterday, the terrified look in my sisters emerald eyes, as she realized, that there would be no happy ending in this poem, that was her life.
And even if she tried to fight him at first, it was like she, as any good rabbit in the jaws of a wolf, surrendered herself after a while.
Just hanging there.
getting slowly drained, and killed.
- They drink your blood you see...That's what they live on.
And little girls were their favorite.
- Little girls like you, my dear...

The trail of blood on her neck.
In the moonlight it seemed almost purple.
His tongue licked it of her skin, he smiled.
- And caught my eyes.

I can imagine that they were staring, wide open in horror and fear.
He blinked once, and I ran.
Away from those yellow eyes.
Away from the killers sight...Blind among the trees.
- I knew the next prey would be me, so I moved as fast as I could, almost stumbling in my own feet.
And found,
- Victoria.

Lying in the snow, with her face down. Bloodstains covered the snow surrounding her body. The white, cold mass had soaked up the fluid. Made it look like someone had butchered a calf.
Her hair was covering most of her neck, but from what I could see, it looked like her neck was covered with wounds. Like she had been kissed, over and over, by a fanged lover.
- You look scared childe, and you should be...Life is full of deadly seducers...Beware of the honey sweet reaper...

Terrified I turned to run, and there she was standing...Flashing her fangs. Her face was a mask grotesque, half animal, half human.
A demon, as described in the holy book.
A living dead, a hunter.
- But I was lucky, you see. Because when she moved towards me with two fingers dancing in the air in front of me, forcing my eyes to follow, she suddenly sighed and fell to ground.
- I think she had some kind of attack.
I didn't stay to figure it out! I just run away. As fast as I could.

I could hear the man call for her;
"Drusilla! Where are you, pet?"

And as you see, I did survive...I reached the front gate of my home without a scratch.
- It didn't change that my sisters...Were no more!

And if you find I'm bitter you're right...They didn't believe a word I said. They spoke of wolfs, and human killers.
My state was described as shock and fantasies.delusion!
- I fell down in my mothers lap, pale and exhausted, crying and mumbling. And stayed like that for weeks.
I can't really blame them...But it hurt at that point, not being heard...

- I can see childe, you don't trust my story either...
Well, It's late. So maybe I shouldn't continue my tale.
But let me tell you this; there are darker forests, larger trees.
Those who grow inside.
- Are the wildest, most scary of them them all.
Nature is a unbendable force.

- Because they came back, to claim my life. And I tell you childe; this was for their amusement. Not motivated by revenge.
Only bloodlust and the sensation they must feel by human fear.

I was eighteen when they returned to our shores.
Not married yet, but waited for the right man to make me his wife. I was living at home, nursing my parents.
My poor mother never really recovered after the loss of her daughters. Just as I never really did.
I thought about them daily...Recalled their faces...And the Snow Witch.
..
I had come so far, that I almost thought her a fantasy. Something I, in my childish state had made up to cope with the loss and the fact that I had seen my sisters die. I was after all, a grown, reasonable woman now...
But the feeling of the males eyes, burning into mine. Never left. Clear as a summer sky. Burning like the Sun, I could never forget those eyes.

My parents were both ill.
They were lying in bed most of the time, and we had a doctor coming to visit every third day.
He was almost the only person I saw those days...Nobody wanted to visit the house of loss and grief...Still ten years after, the brutal murders hung like a dark shadow over our house...

- Fire, fire my childe. Nature's own force...It can and burn all humanity to ashes...

A knock on the door, and I shouted from upstairs:
" Come in! I'll be down in a minute"
I assumed it was the doctor, of course. Who else would pay a visit so late at night.

I went down the stairs and expected to see him in his usual chair, and- Silence...I remember, was all that met me.
"Hello?!"
No answer.
"Are you there?!"
Cold sweat covered my forehead as I spoke.
" Hello?!"
My voice was trembling with fear now.
- I remembered too well, that there were killers in human disguise in this world.

Suddenly, a hand slipped around my waist from behind. And a dark voice spoke into my ear:
" So there you are, kitten...I was looking for you!"

I cried out in shock and horror.
Recognizing the male's voice from the woods.
- And when I turned around to look, I faced those eyes. Those terribly beautiful eyes.
Like burning icicles. Stars of frost...

And so she came in!
Beautiful as always. Dressed in something black and tight.
" There you are!" She smiled at me!" You're a very bad girl...Running away from mummy like that.You do remember me, don't you?!"
She hit me, and I could feel how her sharp fingernails cut through my skin, how the hot blood ran down my cheek.
She sucked the ruby-red pearls of her fingertips and sighed.
" Now we will have to punish you...."

(( His hands stroking, over her belly and hips. Licking the bleeding wound))

She left the room, and I could hear her enter the stairs. I thought of my parents,

(( The buttons in her dress, falling useless to the floor))

Helpless in their beds...

(( His mouth covering her breast. Her hands closing around his shoulders. And her mouth seeking his))

I heard her cry. Once...

(( She heard her own moaning as his fingers traced her body.She buckled against him, when his tongue started to dance with hers))

...And Drusilla's low murmurs...

(( He said; " Has anyone ever told you how pretty you are...Between your legs?))

...I could only pray...

(( " Do you like it. pet?" ))

...They would die fast...

(( Fire burning out of control, as she stopped thinking, and let the flames inside...Take over...Surrendering like the rabbit, Rebecca...To the wolf...Better that fear was...Power.))

...And not...Suffer...

(( His chest was hard and cold, white like marble. Her fingertips, crossing the pale surface...))

- I lost my fate that night!

(( " Who are you?" She asked.
"Spike!" He answered and lifted her off the floor, laying her down on the big cherry tree-table in the dining room.
He crawled over her on his hands and feet. Burning every inch of her, with his electric eyes...And he smiled, the hunters smile. When the prey is trapped and awaits it's destiny))

- They say the lightning, doesn't strike twice. But it did...

(( He bit her, and slowly drained her, while he was still moving inside of her))

...And somehow, I was the looser...I survived. By throwing myself ((all dignity)) at them.
I surrendered (( fell)).
I lost.

- Don't ask me childe. I can tell no more. But beware of the nature inside of you.
Volcanoes and Raging fire.
It can hit you like a fist, between the eyes.
- Run to bed now.
- Granny wont tell no more...

(( About pain and overwhelming...Pleasure, and, exploding...It hurt...And it was all, good.))

(( Her body and his, bent backward, filled with waves. Floating. Like the tide. Uncontrollable.))

But let me say this;
They left and they never returned.
"Let's go Dru...I think we've caused enough havoc here!"

And that smile, that evil smile of triumph and satisfaction...I'll never, ever forget!

THE END



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