"It must be terribly sinful." "What?" "Well, vanity is a sin, isn't it, Ann?" "Well, if that's the only one, you'll do." "There." " Where are you going now?" " I'm going to get some flowers to braid in your hair." "That was quick, Ann." "Did you fi...?" "Ann?" "Ann!" "Ann?" "And what crime have you committed?" "I danced on a Sunday." "We're heading east." "That'll do." "Get on the wagon." " Happy birthday." " God bless you, my child." "And this to make it a happier birthday." "It belonged to your dear mother." "It was her last wish that you should have it." "Happy birthday, dearest sister." "It's wonderful... but I daren't wear it." "What if I were to lose it?" "No fear of that." "That lock's as tight and cunning as a money lender." "May I go and show it to Petra?" "May I, Papa?" "Of course." "She'll be so envious." "Mind you, get back before dark, now." "What's your name, girl?" "Carla." "I'm Grost..." "Professor Hieronymos Grost." "Professor?" "I profess to be." "What about him?" "What's the "K" stand for?" "Is he a king or something?" "A king?" "Yes, in a way, I suppose he is." "But the "K" stands for Kronos..." "Captain Kronos, late of the Imperial Guard." "Well, if he's not a king, why does he leave us to do all the work?" "He has to conserve his strength." "We've ridden far, and tomorrow we will be... where we must be." "And that's when his work will begin again." "Work?" "What-what work?" "I'm turning in, Grost." "Where do I sleep?" "We've only blankets enough for two." "Suit yourself." "Good night." "Isabella?" "Isabella?" "Isabella?" "Marcus?" "Aye." "Dr. Marcus lives here." "Who wants him?" "Marcus!" "Kronos." "Marcus." "You ol' leech lover." "Who is he?" "Him in there?" "Your master." "His name's Kronos." "Captain Kronos." "And he's not my master." "I'm merely an old army friend passing through." "As you wish." "Your letter urged us to make all speed, but gave no reason." "Young girls suddenly become greatly aged." "Is that sufficient reason?" "And these girls, they died with blood upon their lips?" "Yes." "Why?" "Vampires." "What?" "No, it can't be." "What he doesn't know about vampirism wouldn't fill a flea's codpiece." "Vampires." "Dr. Marcus, it is commonly supposed that a vampire attacks in only one way..." "by biting the neck and draining the victim of blood." "But that's true." "The girls you spoke of, they were not drained of blood but of youth." "Of life itself." "You see, Doctor, there are as many species of vampire as there are beasts of prey." "Their methods and their motive for attack can vary in a hundred different ways." "And the means of their destruction." "Aye, traditional stake through the heart does not always hold good, you know." "Some can only be destroyed by hanging or decapitation." "Or fire or water." "Or by other means." "But these girls were invulnerable." "Each one wore a crucifix." "The cross can only protect those who firmly believe." "But these were good girls from God-fearing families." "Perhaps their minds were not their own at the moment of attack." "I suspect mesmerism in this." "Mesmerism?" "Hypnotism." "The subjugation of the mind." "Oh, you don't believe in that nonsense." "Well, it is highly improbable." "What could be more improbable than God?" "But I believe in Him." "And I, too, but..." "Thank you." "Vampires?" "Oh, come now, Doctor." "You had already reached the same conclusion." "Or why else send for us?" "Vampires... here in Durward." "I suppose you'll be moving on now?" "No, I'm staying." "If you'll have me." "Oh..." "I'll have you." " What is it?" "What's happening?" " Time for us to start work." " You want to come along?" " What work?" "Oh, didn't I mention it?" "We're vampire hunters." "Professional vampire hunters." "Paul?" "Dr. Marcus." "To my shame, I'd completely forgotten." "Seven years." "Is it so long?" "To the day." "Days and years flit by like a whisper, taking its toll of all of us." " And healing old wounds." " For some, but not all." "Your mother still bears a grudge?" "My father died in your hands, remember?" "Yes, but of a plague, a virulence." "There was nothing I could do." "There was no hope." "I understand that, my dear, Marcus, but my mother..." "She's there?" "You must allow me." "My Lady Durward." "She will not acknowledge you, Doctor." "Paul..." "Her face." "She's become so aged." "Your mother's sick." "She's ill." "With grief." "If only she would let me examine her." "She will see no one." " Least of all you, Dr. Marcus." " Paul..." "Good day, Doctor." "Paul?" "Toad in the hole." "Not many more to do." "Mark the spot." "It's an old Chinese herb." "Herb?" "I ought to be out scouring the countryside, chasing after phantoms." "Isn't that what you're thinking?" "Never rush into a battle unprepared." "Remember, the war taught us that, if nothing else." "There's a time to think, a time to plan and a time to act, and that time will come soon enough, don't worry." "I see my needlework has held good." "Mm-mmm." "I know you've got guts, Kronos." "I've seen them." "Evening." "I play chess." "And I have a bottle of very good wine tucked away for a rainy day." "It's pouring." "Queen to king, and mate in one." "There was blood on the mouth." "In the church." "Blood on the mouth." "Just the mouth." "Why?" "That's how he attacks them." "Through the kiss." "Oh...!" "Ooh..." "Oh..." "What's wrong?" "I thought I saw someone over there." "Ah, you're imagining things." "No, there was someone." "Probably a forester." "No, it was someone old." "Someone very old." "I think it was a man..." "Oh, really, I ought to be going now." "I'll take you home." "And have my father see you?" "He'd skin me alive and you, too." "Well, look, you can't go alone." "Not with everything that's been happening around here." "Now, look, there's the edge of the forest, and there's my house." "Now, what could possibly happen in that short a distance?" "Ah, well, just the same, I'll stay here and watch till you're out of the woods." "Silly." "Silly." "See you tomorrow." "Myra?" "!" "Myra..." "Myra." "Myra!" "Another, and this time, we have an eyewitness!" "I stood and watched her, and she was never out of sight." "Never completely out of sight." "But you saw no one else?" "No one at all?" "No." "Oh, Myra thought she saw someone." "Who did she see?" "Just someone very old, she said." "Very old." "You're mystified?" "Mm!" "Well, you've a right to be." "Grost ringed the forest with dead toads." ""If a vampire should bestrode" ""close to the grave of a dead toad," ""then the vampire life shall give, and suddenly the toad shall live."" "It's an old folk rhyme, and like most of them, there's a grain of truth in it." ""Then the vampire life shall give, and suddenly the toad shall live."" "A coach or a wagon of some kind." "Recent, too." "Four horses." "Grost!" "We'll ride over that way, take a look." "Look for what, someone very old?" "On the contrary." "This thing attacks to sustain life, youth." "That's what we'll be seeking." "A cheek with a bloom to it." "Someone young and fair." "Fetch the horses!" "Hmm... dead end." "What lies down there?" "Oh, the village." "Oh, it's hardly a village." "Just a few houses and a tavern." "We'll try it." "It'd make better sense if I stayed and had a look 'round up here." "Whoa." "Now, there's a funny thing." "What's a funny thing?" "That soldier fellow." "The chap who's staying with Dr. Marcus." "And what about him?" "Going around asking if anybody's seen ought of a coach or a wagon 'round here in the past few hours?" "Offering a golden guinea to anybody who can help him." "A golden guinea." "A man could buy himself a deal of pleasure with that kind of money, eh, Molly?" "Aye." "Is Kerro here?" " He's around." " Where?" "He's upstairs." "With a doxy." "Here he is now." "Here, girl." "And that's double what you're worth." "You promised me more." "You promised." "And so I did." "You're not laughing." "Laugh." "Please, Kerro." "Laugh, I'm telling you." "I'll be damned if I will." "Laugh." "Louder." "Louder." "Oh, that's much better." "There's a good boy." "Bye." "Kerro." "When you talk to him, speak soft." "I'll do better than that." "I'll speak money." "Dr. Marcus... this is an unexpected pleasure." "Paul." "Good day to you." "I was just passing." "I thought the least I could do is to offer my respects to your mother." "And I shall be pleased to convey them to her." "But I doubt if she will even listen." "But a kind thought nonetheless." "Paul..." "A brandy to warm you after your ride?" "Thank you." "Mmm." "It will be most welcome." "How is your mother?" "No better." "But your dear sister, Sara, she's well?" "Very." "I'm delighted to hear it." "Your health, Doctor." "Thank you." "Witchcraft and Necromancy." "The book." "Oh, it was my father's." "At long last I'm setting his library to rights." "Witchcraft and Necromancy." "That's the rumor in the village." "Yes." "A grim business." "What's your opinion of it?" "My brother does not form opinions too readily, Dr. Marcus." "Oh, no." "He broods upon a problem a long time." "Is that not so, Paul?" "You know I would not dare to disagree with you, dear sister." "My dear Sara, you look lovelier than ever." "And younger." "What's your secret?" "Well, she's not exactly an aged crone, you know." "Nor ever will be." ""Crone" is such an ugly word, don't you think?" "Such an ugly thing to be." "No, I don't think I shall ever be one." "Am I unwell, Doctor?" "You're studying me so closely," "I thought, perhaps, you could detect some malady in my face." "No, your face is perfect... magically perfect." "Magic?" "Well, I must be on my way." "Sara." "Paul, thank you for the brandy." "Good day to you both." "Mother, you wanted me?" "Yes." "Someone called just now." "It was Dr. Marcus." "Marcus?" "What did he want?" "He said he was just passing by." "Called to pay his respects." "Passing by?" "This road doesn't lead anywhere." "I know, Mother." "I know." "Red wine." "The best you have." "Yes, sir." "Tell me, have you seen anything of a coach or a wagon passing by recently?" "Nothing passes by here." "Only... soldiers... deserters, running away from the war." "Come in here with big talk of the battles they won... or with the look of lost battles about them." "What about you, Captain?" "'Tis "Captain"?" "Perhaps he stole the coat." "Tell me, did you lose your battles or win them?" "A little of both." "And not enough of either." "You haven't answered my question." "Coach or a wagon?" "Hey, you... crookback." "Tell me, uh... how do you sleep at night?" "On your belly or..." "or in a hammock?" "Or do you stick a hole in the ground and put your hump in it?" "You see, we're interested, crookback." "His name is Grost." "Crookback will do for me." "But not me." "Why?" "'Cause I don't like it." "Oh..." "He doesn't like it." "To make sport of a physical affliction is both impolite and cruel." "After all, I wouldn't dream of calling you... rat face... fatty... or big mouth." "You still haven't answered my question." "Wagons or coaches, sir?" "No, we haven't seen nothing like that." "We haven't seen nothing at all." "Pity." "Marcus." "Stand." "Dr. Marcus." "Sara?" "Marcus." "They made sport of me, Kronos." "They laughed at me." "Am I so terribly ugly to provoke such mockery?" "Am I?" "Beauty fades, eventually, but a kind soul remains forever." "My mother taught me that." "She was a gifted woman." "Very gifted." "And you, my friend, my very dear friend, your body was given to you by God." "Just remember that." "He also... gave me a good friend to protect me." "They were paid to laugh at you." "Those men... they were paid to provoke a fight and kill us both." "Is that so?" "If what you say is right, then..." "It means we are getting close." "Ah." "Where did you get to?" "I rode over to the Durwards." "You saw nothing of a coach?" "No." "No, nothing." "What was it then?" "A physicking or a visiting?" "I hear that Sara Durward is quite a pretty bed-full." "It was just a social visit." "And you?" "Gained nothing, save a fumed brain from too much wine." "Still, nothing like a leech or two... a little blood-letting to cool a man's veins, eh?" "Better remove our little friends before they turn blue." "Blue?" "I'm from very aristocratic stock." "We are casting our net further afield tonight, Doctor." "Do you want to come along?" "Yes." "Good." "I will be looking for something like these." "Only a little bigger." "She has touched nothing." "She just lies there, like a thing already dead." "I never knew such grief." "She must have loved Father very much." "Sara, perhaps if you were to go to her..." "I can't." "I'm sorry, Paul, but I can't bear to look at her anymore." "To look at that face that was once so beautiful." "Age... frightens me." "I'm vain, I know, but to look at Mother is to look into a mirror of what one day I must become." "No." "We are Durwards, remember?" "Thoroughbreds." "The Durwards have always been renowned for their usefulness." "Mother is a Durward." "By marriage, not by birth." "What has happened to Mother will not happen to us, dear sister." "I promise you." "It will not happen to us." "You're rough with me." "So much bitterness." "So much." "Why?" "Why?" "I once went off to fight a war." "I went off and left my mother and my little sister behind me." "The two people that I love most." "When I returned, my sweet little sister welcomed me with a kiss." "Yes, both of them." "Mother and sister, fallen to the scourge of vampirism." "I had to destroy them!" "I had to bare their breasts, take a sharpened stake and drive it through their hearts." "Younger." "Oh, no." "Kronos!" "Kronos!" "Kronos!" "What is it?" "What's wrong?" "My face." "Look!" "Look at my face." "Rope." "Strong rope." "Well?" "Hm... hard to say." "You see?" "He's been bitten on the mouth." "For God's sake, I survived a vampire's bite." "But he is not the man you are." "Marcus?" "Marcus..." "It was me, wasn't it?" "That girl in the forest... it was I." "Oh..." "Yes." "I'm doomed." "My soul in never-ending torment." "It's..." "I..." "Oh, God." "Kill me!" "Kill... kill me!" "If the situation were reversed, you would implore him to do the same." "Kronos, this must be done." "We will not be killing him." "He is dead already." "But his death will bring life." "It will give us the knowledge we need to destroy this thing that has infected him." "For pity's sake, finish it!" "Finish it!" "Kill me!" "So be it." "Well, come on!" "A vampire only bleeds at the moment of its death." "Grost." "Myself... again." "But how did...?" "The flame didn't touch him." "This is what killed him." "A simple cross." "Made of steel." "Then we have our answer." "Yes." "And Marcus... dear Marcus... is at peace at last." "Dr. Marcus was a good man, and a bad one killed him." "Aye." "It was that stranger that did it." "Him and that hunchback." "They killed Dr. Marcus." "Murdered him in cold blood." "We'll make it a life for a life." "Kronos!" "Kronos." "A sword fit for a king." "Or a Kronos." "Oh, Barton." "You frightened the life out of me." "I couldn't sleep." "This damn storm." "Nor I." "Thought I'd warm a little milk." "We'll both be like death in the morning." "I keep thinking of Vanda..." "and Isabella." "Well, don't." "It's best that we don't." "Oh, I wish Father were home." "His reputation was formidable." "It is said that few saw his blade, but only felt it when it found its mark." "He never met his match." "Except in God." "He was kin to you?" "He was my father." "Oh." "Forgive me, I did not know that I stood with my Lady Durward." "Kronos." "Captain Kronos, m'lady." "Sara?" "M'lady." "Is it possible, Grost?" "Marcus said he went up to see the Durwards." "But such a creature." "She is beautiful, young and fair and..." "Exactly." "Well, we'll know one way or another soon enough." "Garlic flower." "You're sure you want to go through with this?" "You'll be the bait, you know?" "I know." "Excuse me." "Time to make our move, my friend." "Time to kill a vampire." "Mother?" "If only you would drink this, you would feel stronger." "Where the devil is Barlow?" "Thank you, sir." "Now, an explanation, I think." "What were you doing out there?" "Getting more frightened every minute." "More and more lost." "I ran away, sir, from my father." "He would force me into marriage when it's another I love." "Please, if I could stay here just for tonight, sir." "I beg of you." " Of course, you may stay." " I'll prepare a room." "No." "No, Your Ladyship." "I've already presumed too much on your kindness." "Nonsense... it'll take but a moment." "I can stay here... before the fire." "I'd prefer it." "Very well, then." "As you wish." "Good night to you, then." "Good night." "Good night, dear sister." "Sleep well." "Sara, what the devil's going on?" "Paul... her face." "Her face!" "Mother?" "The bloom of youth... why should that appall you?" "Is it wrong to be young and beautiful again?" "You forget..." "I'm a Costine by birth, and the Costines are blessed with many dark secrets." "It has taken me seven years... seven long years to bring them into play, to make me what I am now:" "never to grow old." "Isn't that as precious as life itself?" "It is life itself." "And so life begins again." "Begins again for me and for your father." "Father is dead." "No." "Father is dead." "Dead of the plague." "No." "Never dead." "Just sleeping... as you shall see for yourself." "I awakened him, brought him back from the dead." "My husband... my lover... back into my arms." "But I see you do not understand." "Come here, my children." "Come here." "You will remember nothing of what has passed here." "Do you understand?" "Later, you will awaken and remember nothing." "Come, my darling." "Her life will be yours." "Yours." "Her youth will pulse through your veins, my darling." "Replenishing... restoring..." "Take her." "Take her!" "My Lord Durward." "At your service, sir." "To the death." "So be it." "Yes, you bleed, my lord." "This is God's blade." "Forged for your black heart." "Die!" "You can't hurt me, Kronos." "No." "You can't kill me." "Kronos!" "Marcus." "Dear Marcus." "You must go now." "Go where?" "Anywhere." "Everywhere." "Wherever there is evil to be fought." "But on lonely nights," "I shall think of you."