I, Strahd P. N. Elrod

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begged me to take her again as I'd done
last night.
And I did, resulting in the greatest of
pleasures for us both.
*****
The next sunset found me outside her
window once more, but this time it was
closed fast, and though I waited long, it did
not open for me. I pressed my ear to the
panes and probed with all my senses, but
heard nothing. She was on the other side,
yet unable to respond to my call. A cold
and heavy chill settled on my heart, and I
carried that iron weight of panic with me
as I hurriedly changed to mist and seeped
through the cracks around the window.
Inside, I suddenly understood.
The room reeked from prayers and
protections. I threw an arm up against the
stench, but Brother Grigor had been very
thorough. It was not the trap Leo had set
for me, but bad enough in its own way. A
holy symbol had been hung over her bed,
and she wore another on a chain around
her neck. The air was so thick with incense
and the organic stink of garlic that she was
all but suffocated. I saw to this problem by
immediately opening the window.
The breeze stirring the thin curtains was
cold, but fresh.
She opened her eyes and recognized me,
but couldn't speak at first. I put my fingers
to my lips to let her know it was
unnecessary and searched the rest of the
chamber for further pitfalls.
Thankfully, there were none. Grigor had
confined his blessings and defenses to
Tatyana, and though they were fairly
strong, they wouldn't last the whole night.
I tested them lightly and could feel the
power wavering already. Tatyana helped
by taking off the holy symbol she wore.
She was just able to remove the one on the
wall before collapsing back onto her
pillow. Without that extra pressure to fight,
I rushed forward.
"They're trying to kill me," she whispered.
Tears filled her eyes and streamed into her
temples. Her fingers clutched at mine, cold
and lighter than dead leaves. I kissed them
and folded them to my breast.
"I'm here now. You're safe."
"But I'm so weak. When Brother Grigor
came to look after me, it only got worse.
He prayed over me, and I could hardly
stand it. Then tonight, he shut up my room
and prayed some more. Until you opened
the window, I thought I should smother."
"In a little while, you will be yourself
again. Brother Grigor is& uninformed
about certain things and causes you more
harm than good with his chants and
burnings."
"He was frightened, Strahd."
"No doubt. Frightened men can be very
foolish."
I held her hand and soothed her, easing her
own fears as best I could.
So. Grigor had noticed the marks on her
neck and correctly interpreted their
significance. It couldn't be helped now. I
wanted to get her safely away from him,
but in her present state, she could not
travel. Another concern was over bringing
on her conversion too quickly. Her body
hadn't had much time to get used to the
changes taking place, and there might be
danger to her if I pushed things. I had to
balance this possibility against the surety
of Grigor's ignorant meddling.
Another night and I could lose her.
No. Never again.
"Tatyana?"
Her eyes opened. She could see me quite
well, even in dim light now.
"You are weak, and before you can come
with me, you must grow weaker but only
for a very short time. Then you will be
well again."
She understood, not fully, but on an
instinctive level by means of the special
link between us.
"You must do what I say, and then you
shall be free. When you waken tomorrow,
you'll be able to leave this house and all its
problems and pains."
"To be with you?"
"To be with me forever after."
"What must I do?"
"Only gift me with the privilege of kissing
you again." I touched her throat with a
fingertip.
She gently slipped her hand up to my
shoulders. "Yes& "
I kissed her deeply, drinking in a portion of
her life so that it could merge with mine.
She grew white and cold in my arms, but
made no move to stop me; her only protest
was a soft moan when I finally drew away.
Her eyelids fluttered as she fought to stay
conscious. I hurriedly tore open the front
of my shirt and, with a diamond-hard
talon, dug into the flesh over my heart. Our
mingled blood slowly welled from the
wound. When I pulled her up and pressed
her lips to it, she began to drink.
I know not what pleasure she may have
taken; my own was beyond any that I'd
ever experienced before. It was more
intense than any sharing of love I'd
enjoyed while bedding a woman in the
usual sense more intense, and infinitely
more desirable. I held her tightly and felt
her strength return, even as my own
poured out to feed it. Her arms encircled
me, entrapped me, but it was right and
true. In the past, I'd given everything for
her and had lost everything. Here and now,
I had nothing left to give but my own life's
blood, but it was hers to take, and I
murmured to myself, pleading to the dark
magics that had made me to grant me this
one boon that she would at last be my
bride.
For that, sadly, there had to be an ending to
the ecstasy. Reluctantly, so very, very
reluctantly, I tried to push her from me.
Her strength was equal to my own, though,
and she did not want to be moved. My
efforts increased the blood flow, and she
drank faster, more eagerly. Finally, I had
to place the palm of my hand against her
forehead and push with all my might, lest
we both die. With a groan of misery and
bitter disappointment, she fell back upon
the bed, gasping for breath like an
exhausted runner.
Overcome by the same weariness, I
dropped to the floor, shaking from fatigue
and sudden hunger. My recovery was slow
in coming. When I was able to stand again,
Tatyana was already in her last mortal
sleep. There hadn't been any chance to say
farewell, but no matter. Our next greeting
would make up for it. Tomorrow I'd come
for her, and there would be no more
partings for us ever again.
*****
There was nothing more I could do for her
except clean away the traces of our blood
exchange. I arranged her body more
comfortably on the bed and drew up the
coverlet. Though the removal of the holy
symbols would not go unmarked, I
couldn't bring myself to touch them. But
an idea had presented itself to me, and as
soon as I'd locked the window again and
seeped through to the outside, I took steps
toward realizing it.
Berez's church had most certainly seen
better times. Without the patronage of the
town's former lord, or the support of the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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