2
The fictional Justin Russo was a thirty-year-old raconteur. In the story, he was a certified public accountant, a restaurant owner and an investor with a lot of friends and business contacts. His wife was Harper Russo, a prominent former actress and now interior designer, accompanying her husband and friends to the mountains of Eastern Germany to lay claims upon the family estate that was Castle Russoff, named for his Fifteenth Century ancestors. Justin wanted to reopen it as a hotel for the public. On the European visit with them was Brad O'Keefe, a close friend of Justin's in the story. In real life, he was a friend of Kevin's from St. Finnian, but in the confines of the story, he was now Justin's friend as well. A photojournalist by trade and foreign correspondent, Brad and his fiancée, Lily Finnerty, a friend of Harper's, looked out from the bus carrying them up the mountainside to Castle Russoff. The dark outline appeared to them from out of the dark purple sky. A schoolteacher by trade, Lily was joined by her brother Jimmy, a Chicago detective, along for the vacation. Justin promised that the castle had been largely restored during the Eighties, but it had no modern conveniences like electricity or telephones. He had acquired custody of it after paying off the taxes for the previous owner, Baron Lucius von Altebar, whose daughter still lived in the castle as manager. Their bus scuffed over the wooden bridge into the courtyard cowered over by several towers and looming structures.
"What do you think?" Justin stepped from the bus and stood in the gloomy courtyard over lit my moonlight bouncing off dark gray clouds. He had only seen this place from photos, and he knew it was much more attractive by daylight. At night, the place was huge and dark with only a random light shining off the random window.
"It looks haunted." Jimmy responded.
"It looks like Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson should be upstairs studying their Defense against the Dark Arts!" Harper made a J.K. Rowling reference. Justin looked over to her and forced a grin to her.
"Honey, would I bring you anywhere you wouldn't be safe?" He reached over and pulled her close, kissing her hand tenderly. A creaking noise came from the twelve-foot high huge oak doors atop the steps into the main structure. Jimmy came up carrying a case while his sister Lily and Brad turned round to the sight. A few servants hurried out to get the luggage, but one presence stood in the doors with more presence than the German staff that ran the castle. Bridget Hennessy, Lord Altebar's daughter, stood before them in a long sleeved black sweater and long green skirt, her head held proudly aloft, her bold blue eyes shone before the new owner and his guests.
"Mr. Russo…" She held out a lantern to guide the way. "Enter freely and of your own will…."
Justin grinned proudly to Harper and led her forward on his arm. Brad and Lily were behind them with Jimmy looking back behind them. The entered a small entryway with halls going left and right then entered into a much larger and grander great hall around a large bold fireplace and hearth. Beyond the sitting area was a magnificent ascending staircase to a balcony and above that another balcony recessed behind arches and columns. The high castle walls were filled with decorations and tapestries going back over twelve generations and over five hundred years. There were countless portraits, but one of them was much larger than the rest. It had been placed seven feet off the floor over the fireplace mantle.
"She's beautiful." Jimmy looked up to a grand portrait over the fireplace. It was a full-length painting of a raven-haired female monarch. Her gown was green, gold and white, her eyes a piercing dark brown, her luxurious hair descending down over her white alabaster skin. She appeared very lifelike as if about to step out from the wall. Despite her intense beauty, she looked very fierce and determined. She was obviously a very forceful presence when she was alive.
"That's Countess Alexandra Russoff…" Justin had read about the woman in the painting. "She was the younger sister of my ancestor in the Sixteenth Century." He told his friends.
"Fifteenth…" Bridget corrected him. "Your ancestor, Count Justin Russoff III, left the castle to her as he went off to fight in the Crusades with Richard the Lion-Hearted. According to legend, in his absence, she delved into the darkest of the occult arts, hosting parties for witches and heretics and bathing in the blood of innocents to preserve her youth. When the count finally returned home, she hadn't aged a day in over twenty years."
"What happened next?" Lily asked.
"No one knows…" Bridget guided Justin and his guests into the dining hall beyond the front hall. It was very atmospheric, lit only by candles and a blazing fire in a large hearth. "History says she was hung for her crimes along with her coven, but her grave has never been found. Legend claims she was walled up somewhere in the castle. In the years following her death, it was said she had become a vampire who abducted children to preserve her youth." Bridget had leaded the way down a short corridor into the dining room. Twenty feet wide and fifty feet long, the ceiling above was supported by large cut timbers from which hung several banners of forgotten German kings. A few animal heads shared the walls with mounted swords and trophies. Lit by candlelight, the table had already been set for dinner. A servant went round uncovering dishes while another laid out more plates and produced a few bottles of wine to go with the meal.
"Sounds like a really bad horror movie." Brad referred to the castle history as he took his seat at the table after seating Lily next to her brother. Above the fireplace, Justin looked up at another portrait. It was another full-length painting of his ancestor, Count Justin Russoff III, in full armor with his fist clenched around a sword. His pose defiant, his features heroic, he had a long dark beard tinged with white.
"I'll let the staff serve you now." Bridget stepped back from the table. "The footman will bring your luggage in to your rooms. If you'll excuse me…" She turned round secretly and spirited herself from the dining room. Justin sat at the table next to Harper by his side. She was helping herself to the food set out before them. The table was twelve feet long and filled with chicken and pork chops, fish and rice, asparagus, eggplant, corn on the cob, mashed potatoes and boiled cabbage.
"Justin, this place is incredible!" Lily draped back her long red hair. "I've never known anyone who had a castle!"
"I never expected one either!" Justin was pouring wine for Harper. "When the German magistrate approached me about the delinquent taxes, he suggested turning the castle into an inn would be very good for the local economy. The local town does not have much money."
"Justin…" Brad was slicing into his chops. "Lily and I were thinking… how much would you charge Lily and I for our honeymoon here?" Lily looked up regally from her coffee.
"Brad, you and Lily are my friends! You'll always have a room here." Justin smirked and took a pork chop for himself. "You'll always be welcome here as my guests…"
"I'm going to feel like a princess here!" Lily lit up at the place.
"So…" Jimmy was trying the chicken. "Justin, do you think there's any ghosts here?"
"There's supposed to be several…" Justin looked out over the table, took his silver decanter and sipped some wine. "Haunted castles are great for tourists because people like to be scared, and the skeptical are always trying to prove what they expect don't exist. This place is going to do very well!"
Upstairs, Bridget assigned bedrooms as staff carried in luggage. She saw to it that Justin and Harper had the master bedroom in the west wing and that Brad and Lily had the room next to them with a fireplace. Jimmy would get the smaller bedroom without a bathroom but with the view over the cliff. As her staff carried out her orders, she departed for the east wing on other business. Ascending to the attic rooms, she pressed into one of the unfinished bedroom clutter with storage and covered in dust. At the closet, Bridget pushed through the back wall and opened one of the several secret passages in the former fortress. Entering another sealed up bedchamber, she crossed dusty and cobweb covered furniture and secreted herself into a forgotten hall and up a series of tower stairs. Ascending several flights, she reached the door up top and pushed aside the large silver cross against it, draping a sheet over it before she entered through the doorway into the room. There was a casket to her left and the window had been forced open. Someone had wanted out…
"Mistress…" Bridget looked around. "Mistress?" She was a bit confused. Where had her mistress vanished?
Alex slowly dropped down from the ceiling rafters; her lips dabbed a bit in something or someone she'd been eating.
"Mistress?" Bridget spun around once more. "Oh, there you are! You've never hid from me before!" She flashed a grin for a second unafraid. "Your brother's descendant has arrived. Now, you can have your revenge and escape this place."
Alex stared at her coldly. She had a long length of dialogue she was supposed to say here about revenge and honor and finally getting freed of the castle, but instead she broke free from the script of the story and succumbed to the forces possessing her. Her eyes looked over Bridget trying to figure out who she was then stepped up to her, grabbing her about the head and shoulder and forcing her to the floor.
"What are you doing?" Bridget tried fighting back, but Alex's strength was incredible. "Why are you doing this?! Did I do something wrong?!!! You promised you'd never hurt me!!! You promised!!!" Alex reared her head back and opened her mouth to her teeth, plunging them deeply into Bridget's neck and drinking of her blood. Bridget screamed trapped in this unearthly embrace. The woman who had promised her wealth was breaking her promise by making her a creature of the night as well.