The life and death of Nicolae Roman

Chapter 15: The Nightmare

Count Nicolae Roman was dreaming. In his dream, he found himself on the shores of the Somes, the river of his childhood and youth.  He could smell the fresh grass and feel a light breeze on his face.  He heard girlish laughter from somewhere behind him.  With a start, he realized he was blindfolded.

"Ready, Nicolae?  Come find me!"

"But I can't see anything!"

"That doesn't matter.  Just follow my voice, silly!"

"Irina?  Is that you?"  Nicolae spun around with his arms outstretched.

The girlish laughter seem to come from his left side now.  "Come find me, Nicolae!"

Nicolae turned to the left and started to walk.  "Irina!  Stop!  Wait for me!"  But all he could make out was the sound of the river flowing downstream.  He turned from side to side, but couldn't hear his sister anymore.  He was about to give up, when suddenly, the voice spoke right behind him.

"I'm right here, Nicolae!"

He spun around but all he grasped in his arms was empty air.

"What are you playing at?"  Nicolae was starting to get upset.  "I want to take this blindfold off!"

"You can't!  It's part of the game!  You almost had me that time!"  The voice laughed.

"I don't like this game!  I want to stop playing!" Nicolae reached behind his head to undo the blindfold, but as soon as he lifted his arms he felt a searing pain tear through his right shoulder.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," the voice teased him.  "You can't break the rules, Nicolae!  Do you know what happens to those who break the rules?"

"What?"

"They die!" The voice growled directly into his ear.

At the same time, there was a whooshing sound all around him, like a strong gust of wind.  Nicolae's blindfold fell off.  As he looked around, he realized he was not in his hometown, but in London.  More precisely, he was in Russell Square.  A dense fog surrounded him, and he could barely make out the person standing in the distance ahead.

"Irina?  But that's impossible," Nicolae yelled as he started to run towards the figure.

The fog started to dissipate the closer he got.  When he could finally discern who was in front of him, Nicolae froze.  It was Elizabeth!  Except she looked... different.  Her beautiful red hair was disheveled.  She wore a light yellow dress, but it was ragged and torn.  The skin on her arms was covered in red gashes, like she had been attacked by a wild animal.

"Elizabeth?"  Nicolae cautiously approached her.

"You did this, Nicolae," Elizabeth said accusingly.  As her mouth opened, a river of blood started to erupt from it.  It ran down her chin and neck, and began to soak into her bodice.

Elizabeth's eyes were no longer hazel, but completely white.  She looked like the walking dead.  Bruises and scratches were covering her ashen cheeks, and when Nicolae got close, he saw that her throat had been torn apart.  He could see the white tendons through the gory flesh.

"You did this, Nicolae," Elizabeth repeated.  "You killed me."

"No!  It's not true!  I'm not a murderer," Nicolae screamed as he stepped back.

"Aren't you?"  To his increasing horror, Nicolae suddenly spotted Ludwig.  His adversary was wearing the same white shirt he had on during the duel.  His chest was covered in the blood that was still spouting from the bullet wound.