Ardith - A Vampire Story (editing)

Chapter 10 Not a Single Drop of Blood

Chapter 10 Not a Single Drop of Blood

I

Orla knocked on Ardith room's door several times, but nobody answered. Untying the set of keys from the sack tied to her waist belt, the servant opened the door. Once inside the dormitory, the nanny was concerned to find Ardith still asleep. Nearing to the bed, Orla gazed down, prying at the purplish circles under the young lady's eyes. There was a marked contrast to the sudden pallor the duchess on her face since the maidservant saw the lady early in the morning.

"Ardith! Ardith wake up my dear..." Orla shook Ardith gently to wake her up.

She opened her eyes wearily trying to focus on her nanny's face who looked at her down with tenderness. Ardith mimicked a faint smile as she tried to get up. Even though she made a terrible effort, an incredible exhaustion claimed her body back to bed again. Feeling defeated, Ardith spoke almost in a whisper,"It's lunch time, Orla?"

"My child, it is four passed noon. You have been sleeping for hours. I knocked several times and since you did not answer I had to open the door myself... Are you feeling well? You look a little pale." The old maid touched the girl's forehead to make sure she had no fever.

Ardith straightened up and sat by the edge of the bed. removed her hair from over her shoulders, exposing her collarbone. Orla, who observed every movement the young lady made, jerked to the sight of blood on the base of her neck. "What is that on your neck?"

"What! What do I have nanny? You're scaring me?" Slowly, Ardith rose from the bed and walked towards the mirror in her room. Removing her hair from her collarbone she saw two small lacerations, rather like two bites or stings parallel to each other. They seemed to be recent, since they had fresh dried blood around the still crimson holes.

Ardith examined the bites. Strangely there was no pain or any sensation on the skin area that surrounded the small wounds. "Oh, nanny Orla, I don't know. I felt nothing that could had bitten me or stung me while I slept, and actually, it does not hurt ... it seems like the skin is numb there. How strange it is. Don't you think, nanny?"

"Yes, it's very strange indeed... Come with me to the kitchen, we have to put something there so it does not get swollen, and then you're going to eat something. You look very pale. I'll send one of the girls to dust the room and change the bed sheets immediately." Orla took Ardith's hand and both left the room.

II

A sharp scream was heard from across the yard, coming from the stables. Sounding both dreadful and agonizing, the piercing screech alerted those in the kitchen first and then the guards posted nearby. As the women arrived to the stalls, most of them cried and some fainted to find the most macabre scene. Thrown over a mound of hay, lied a headless body. It was one of the young female servants.

On top of the pile of hay the body rested, while its head ended at the foot of the bunch of dry straw, still with eyes open. The purple bloodless eye-balls inscribed post-mortem the terrifying expression the maid bore at the time she was brutally executed... But by whom?

As the bad news rapidly spread through the castle, everything turned into chaos... a horrific chaos in the courtyard. Standing no more and incapable to do anything, the women ran from the scene, some of them terrified and others seeking for help. Yet nothing could be done for the poor victim of this ferocious attack, in appearance to have been perpetrated by an animal and not by a human. The face of the assassinated young maid, or rather her head lying on the floor, showed marks that looked like done by huge bear claws.

Soon after, with all the commotion, Lord Aelderic and his butler arrived to the stables, making their way through the weeping and terrified women guarding the decapitated corpse. Like the rest of the witnesses, the duke could not believe what his eyes were seeing. It was so disgusting to look at the poor servant's headless body. He had never seen anything like that before, except in battle. That was a long time ago when he served as a general for the Saxon army. But this... this was even worst. That girl was not a soldier and she did nothing to gamble with death. She was an unfortunate victim of the rage of a wild animal that meandered free and hungry around the castle.

An icy chill ran down his spine as he examined the body, yet something intrigued him. Although the girl was decapitated, the amount of blood was minimal... What kind of animal would had the strength to tear off  a human's head, hurl it with a single blow to then feed on blood and leave no trace?

As he leaned to the body to have a closer look he noticed that the rest of the body was intact. There were no scratches on arms or hands, neither bruises on the skin, as if the victim did nothing to defend herself from the attack, or wasn't able.

"Jamison, order to shut all the gates leading to the garden and the stream... Send someone quick to lock all doors that give access to the interior of the house from the rear gardens. The beast still must be near. We need to the get arch and crossbows immediately and kill this animal before he takes another innocent life. Now, let's move! We are going to hunt a bear!" Lord Aelderic commanded, assuming his posture of leadership.

In that moment, Ardith entered into the stables. "Father, what is happen- ...Ooohhh, God!" the lady almost fainted to the sight of the corpse.

Lord Aelderic grabbed her arm. "Ardith, please stay where you are and don't look at this. You must return to the house and remain inside. There is a wild beast roaming nearby the castle. 

"But... But...What is it! A bear? Could a bear do something like this?" Shivering, the duchess drew an expression of terror on her face.

"Do not fear. We will hunt and kill the beast. It's head will be mounted on the great hall's wall as a trophy. No one, nothing ever comes to my castle and takes a life and escapes alive!"

Orla and Ardith walked back to the kitchen. Inside the maids prepared Danäe's headless body to be incinerated. The old maidservant instructed the women how to set properly the table for the pyre when Ardith approached. "Nanny Orla, I'm not sure if Leila is aware of what has happened in the castle. We must warn her to stay inside. It's strange I haven't seen her around with all this fuss? Where is she?"

"My child, that is a very good question", the tone in Orla's voice was suspicious as she thought about the situation and why the intruder was not around, when everyone else did. After the terrible incident there was so much to do in the castle by the women, while the men left to hunt the killer beast.