Chapter 12 – The Woman

There was something wrong with the woman.

Vlad sat brooding in his chair by the fireside. He had been doing this with increasing frequency since the others had shown up on his doorstep. Beth was standing before him, apparently unafraid to be alone with a known vampire. Her dress was shorter, now just below her knees. Vlad scrutinized her as she stared back at him, ever the patient one.

"What?" he asked. He hadn't heard what she had asked over the sound of his deep sulking.

"I said may I borrow a needle and thread?"

"Do I look like someone who sews to you?"

"I don't know, what does someone who sews look like?"

Vlad couldn't tell if she was trying to be funny, or if she was in earnest. He ignored the question.

"I don't have anything like that. What do you want it for anyway?"

"To hem my dress properly."

"Your dress? Woman, we have much bigger problems to worry about than the state of your dress."

"I only thought it would be easier to move around if I was dressed more appropriately for the occasion," she said in measured, reasonable tones. It was impossible to get a rise out of her. Vlad felt the corner of his mouth twitch downward.

"Then why don't you put on Victor's suit and he can wear your dress? That seems to be the most appropriate arrangement to me."

Vlad was still smarting after his argument with Victor. He had come directly to the study after storming out of the makeshift laboratory. The fire had already been built up by the unknown daily visitor, once again.

"I don't understand what you mean, but I won't accept any insinuations against Victor."

"And what are you going to do about it?"

Beth was silent. Maybe this question had stumped her. Or maybe he had managed to scare her a little. Vlad watched her face for any change in expression and found none. Her face remained unflushed. Her heart was not beating any faster…

Vlad glared at her. Strange thing about the heartbeat, he realized suddenly that he could not hear it. It was one of the things about being a vampire that had always helped him hunt his prey, this ability to hear one's heart beating. He thought for a moment that he had been mistaken. He listened harder, blocking out the sound of the crackling logs in the fireplace. He focused on Beth, willing all of his senses to detect something from her. There was just nothing. No heartbeat, no sense of warmth, no scent of blood and sweat that all humans carried about them.

Had there always been nothing? Vlad wasn't sure. She had always been present while others were around. Perhaps he simply hadn't noticed when there were other hearts and bodies to muddle his senses. But now that they were alone, there was no question. It was as if Beth wasn't even standing in front of him. Except that she was. And all the while Vlad had stared her down, analyzing her; she continued to stare right back at him.

It was unsettling.

There was something definitely wrong with the woman.

"What are you?" He asked slowly.

Beth offered him a smile. Did she pity him? "I'm Victor's wife."

"You're not human. Are you a monster?"

"Rude!"

As always, Vinny arrived unpredictably and at the most inopportune moment. Vlad could not see the hand which was pointed at him, but he was sure that if he could, he would have seen Vinny shaking a finger at him in reproach.

"Vlad Dracula! That is no way to talk to a lady."

He flopped onto the sofa opposite the vampire and lounged there, one leg thrown over the back, his arm tucked behind his head. With his loud entrance very irritating posture, he had effectively managed to completely draw all attention from Beth onto himself. Vlad found himself very thankful for Vinny's invisibility. If he had been visible, he would have been that much more unbearable.

"I'm not sure she is a lady," Dracula said, though he instantly regretted it. He did not want to draw Vinny into conversation. Now it was too late.

"Sure she is Vlad. I mean, she looks like a lady, talks like a lady, acts like a lady. She must be a lady."

"Speaking of rude," said Beth, "It's very rude to talk about someone as if they weren't there."

"You've changed your dress, Beth," Vinny continued, turning a deaf ear to her remonstrance, "Very fetching. Oh and by the by, Victor was having a sort of mental breakdown in the lab last I saw him. You might want to go check on that."

Beth left the room without another word, her movement quick, but serene. Whoever and whatever she was, it was clear she was bound to Victor by ties stronger than that of man and wife. Such, at least, was Vlad's assessment.

"Well, now that she's out of the picture, we can really get down to business."

Vlad raised his eyebrows and looked away from Vinny. There was no point in watching him if he couldn't properly observe his expressions. He looked down at his pet human skull, and as he listened to Vinny he imagined that the skull was speaking to him instead.

"You have some business with me you don't want her to hear?"

"Well, yeah. I can't have a witch like her spreading around all our secrets."

"So you have noticed something odd about her as well?"

"Sure. She's a witch."

"Do you mean that literally?"

"Yeah. Of course."

"I don't think she's a witch."

"No? Then how else do you explain her being here with all of us?"

Vlad said nothing. He didn't know how to explain the signals he was receiving, or rather not receiving, from Beth. Could she be a vampire as well? He didn't think that was the case. Surely he would know if he had received another vampire into his home. Then again, Frankenstein had arrived with her. He must be hundreds of years old himself, and alive by unnatural means never fully explained. What about Beth? How long had they been married exactly?

"What, you're not gonna say anything? Just gonna keep starting at that skull like some kind of necromancer?" When Vlad continued to ignore him, Vinny's tone changed to one of sympathy. "I'm afraid he's dead, Vlad. And he's not coming back. Just let it go."

It worked. He managed to make Vlad glare at him - or at least in his general direction. Vlad was on the point of asking "What do you know about him?" when he stopped himself. Vinny was just being Vinny after all.

"Get to your business. What is it you want?"

"Oh, right. Do you know what the boys have cooking?"

"The boys?"

"Will, Frankie, the Doc. They're planning some shenanigans for when you go to bed. Thinking they'll stay up tonight to see about catching our friendly delivery boy in the act."

"And? What has that got to do with you and I?"

"Just thought you'd want to know what they were up to, since they suspect you and all."

"Suspect me? Suspect me of what?"

"Of being Y," Vinny said, "What else?"

Vlad laughed. He couldn't help it, he simply had to laugh.

"Yes, of course! Because I, being an undead vampire who already holds the key to eternal life, want to resurrect a centuries old mummy capable of regeneration for my own amusement. And to accomplish this astonishing feat, I am going to employ, though trickery, a doctor whose greatest accomplishment was creating a beast who murdered everyone he ever cared about. And I'll throw in a bunch of aggravating storybook monsters just to make things more difficult for myself. Meanwhile, I'll abstain from drinking any blood. Because eternal life isn't challenging enough."

There was a pause, and then Vinny asked with complete seriousness, "So you admit it? It was you all along."

Vlad laughed again, lifted a book from the table next to him, and chucked it at Vinny, who dodged. Now he was laughing too.

"You know, Vlad. You may have been joking, but I think you were on to something just now."

All the laughter had put Vlad in a good humor, which was something that he hadn't experienced in days. He decided to tolerate more of Vinny's prattle for a while longer.

"Oh? And what might that have been?"

"What you said about Victor. You said that he was the one needed to reanimate the mummy, and the rest of us are just kind of hangers-on."

"Yes, and I meant every word."
"Look, Vlad, I'm not accusing you of being Y. But what if you're right? What if everyone else is just a distraction and Frankenstein is the one Y really wants? We're so busy trying to search for clues and figure out the connection between us all, but what if Victor has been the key the whole time!?"

Vlad considered this suggestion, but it seemed a poor explanation to him. He voiced his objections aloud as the thoughts floated through his mind.

"But it is obvious that Y's objective is to resurrect the mummy. And Frankenstein is the only one who can do it. So if Y is trying to cover that up, he's doing a very poor job of it."

"Or she's doing a very poor job of it."

This was surprising. "… You suspect Beth?"

"Why not? A pretty witch like her could have any man, so why Frankenstein? She told us before that she knew who he was when she met him. Maybe she only married him because she knew what he was capable of, but she couldn't find a way to introduce the mummy, let alone convince Frankenstein to revive him. Especially what with him being all PTSD about the whole monster ordeal. So she creates this elaborate plan to draw us all here, her husband included, and uses her magic to keep us all trapped inside until Victor agrees to do what she wants."

Vlad knew that Vinny was completely mad, and that Beth was definitely not a witch. But why was his crazy theory starting to make sense? Vlad shook his head in denial. There was still one flaw in his story.

"Assuming what you say is true, and by all means I assume no such thing, then what is Beth's motivation? Why resurrect the mummy at all?"

"For science?"

Vlad guffawed. He didn't even know what it meant to guffaw until he did it. It was a kind of throaty sound that bubbled up and became stuck in the back of his mouth. He didn't enjoy it, and he hoped Vinny wouldn't provoke him into a second iteration.

"OK fine. Maybe he's an ex-boyfriend or something. I haven't quite worked that part out yet."

"Fine, fine. So what do you want me to do about it?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing? Then why are you telling me all of this?"

"Because I know what everyone else is up to. And soon Beth will know too because Victor is going to tell her. It didn't seem fair that you'd be the only one out of the loop."

"Then will you also be staying up with the others? You wouldn't want to miss out."

"Nah, I think I'll get a good rest. I'm not going to miss anything anyway."

Vlad knew he had let the conversation trail on too long, but he was still hooked. He was inextricably caught up in this conversation with Vinny. It was entertaining to listen to him theorize, even Vlad had to admit. So, knowing that he might as well see it to the very end, he asked, "What do you mean? You don't think they'll catch the culprit?"

"No, I don't. Obviously if Y, or someone working for Y, is among us, then their plan is doomed from the start. We're all in on the secret surprise party for delivery boy, now. Chances are, he won't even show."

"Unless of course the visitor has been Hyde this whole time. Jekyll may transform during the day?"

"Nah. It's not the Doc. I'm sure of it."

"So are you going to share this information with the others?"

"Nope."

Vlad kept silent. He merely indicated his interest by lifting his eyebrows, prompting further explanation. Vinny obligingly elaborated, "I'm as much a suspect here as you, Vladdy. The only reason I know about their plans is because I was eavesdropping. They had as little intention to tell me what they were up to as they did for you. If they aren't going to trust me, let them figure it out for themselves."

"This is all a game to you, isn't it?" Vlad asked. He wasn't angry at Vinny for taking this situation lightly. Actually, he was starting to find this all rather funny.

"Isn't it? Y's just playing a game with us. We just don't know any of the rules."

"Maybe there are no rules?"

"Even better!"

Vlad smiled. Vinny was silent. He wondered if Vinny was smiling, too. For a second, Vlad felt as if he'd formed an ally. He quickly dismissed the feeling. He needed to remember that everyone here was as much his enemy as Y. No, he corrected himself, under normal circumstances, everyone here would be my prey.

"You know, Vlad," Vinny said after they had sat in comfortable silence for a moment. Vinny never could stand to be silent for more than a moment. "I think a good sleep might do you some good, too. I mean, I know you can't see your reflection or anything… We have that in common. But you're not looking so good these days."

Vlad dismissed the comment this time. Their moment of camaraderie had passed. He was back to brooding, and in no mood for Vinny's teasing.

"Is it about the blood? I know you haven't had anything since we got here. Just so you know, there's a standing offer to have some of mine if you want."

Rather than feel tempted, Vlad felt slightly perplexed.

"Why… would you offer such a thing to me?"

"I've always sort of wondered what it would be like to be bitten by a vampire…" Vinny sounded wistful.

So Vlad enlightened him. He told Vinny it was a slow death. Painful… Agonizing… He would feel every drop of his blood as a searing pain shooting through his heart until it beat its last. Not to mention the tearing, sharp pain from the wound at his neck.

"Would you still want to give me your blood then?"

Impossible to see his expression. There was a pause. What was he thinking?

"Well, you wouldn't have to kill me, right? Maybe you could just take a little?"

"I only feed when I intend to kill."

"Oh…"

Success at last! He had silenced Vinny. Though maybe he shouldn't have put him off of the idea so completely? It was true that Vlad was uninterested in feeding off a willing and enthusiastic a victim, especially an invisible one. (If he drank from him, would he turn invisible too?) But if he were pushed to desperation… If he had no choice… Maybe he would need to accept Vinny's offer after all?

As if reading his mind, Vinny suddenly said, "Any port in a storm, am I right?"

There was a pause, after which he continued, "You can't tell, but I'm wiggling my eyebrows at you suggestively."

Vlad immediately left the room. If he stayed any longer, he probably would just kill Vinny and not even bother to sample his blood.

Vlad thought of the plan the other three were concocting. He seriously began to hope that Vinny was wrong about everything. Maybe there would be an unexpected guest tonight, and maybe the others would catch him, and they would finally have some answers.

He didn't care how they escaped from the castle, he just knew it had better be soon.

Daylight was coming fast. Vlad met the others at the staircase and parted ways with barely a word. Jekyll, William, and Frankenstein all acted the parts of men about to turn in after a long night of… Whatever it was they spent their nights doing. Vlad didn't need Vinny's warning to tell them that they were up to something. It was painfully obvious that their intention to go to bed was part of a charade.

Vlad made no comment. Let them waste the day away with waiting. He wouldn't interfere even if he could.

Down to the cellar he went, traversing the stone staircase down into near-total blackness. He let the tapestry drop into place behind him to cover the tightly closed door. No chance of daylight seeping through here.

The allowed his eyes to adjust to the dim light cast by the candelabra clutched in his fist, then used its glow to guide him toward the small wooden table where he had placed the Egyptology book. He had been reading it when he first noticed the mummy's heartbeat, nearly two nights ago. And here it had remained since then, forgotten.

In the silence of the cellar, Vlad listened carefully. From above, his preternatural hearing could just detect the sound of movement. Three pairs of feet carefully and quietly making their way back downstairs. The low murmur of conversation. Impossible even for him to make out the words. And of course, no heartbeats down here.

The mummy has a heartbeat, Vlad thought, but not Beth?

There had been a second - or even less than that - a brief moment in the unrelenting passage of time when Vlad had looked at Victor at the foot of the stairs, and he thought about asking about Beth. Then he didn't. Seeing the haggard expression of Victor's face had reminded him of the shouting match and near strangulation he had visited upon Victor earlier that evening. It wasn't that Vlad felt guilty for doing it. He never felt guilty about anything. It just didn't seem like the right time to bring up the strange, creepy nothingness clinging to his wife like a death-shroud. The phrase "adding insult to injury" came to mind.

Now in the cellar, Vlad looked longingly at his coffin. He was tired. The sun had probably risen already, and he knew this was part of his fatigue. But he didn't always need to sleep during the day. Sometimes he would simply lay in the silky plushness of the narrow box, enjoying the warmth and closeness of its soft interior, not sleeping but still dreaming of the distant past and days of former glory. He often thought it was a shame most people never experienced the comfort and relaxation of lying in a casket until after they had died. Then again, death in itself might be the ultimate form of relaxation. Vlad would never know.

He was tired for other reasons. He knew it was blood deprivation that was weighing upon him. What was it that Vinny had said? He wasn't looking too good? Yes, no doubt his hair was already becoming more white than black. His skin would gradually become paper-like, dry and pale and fragile-looking. And he was so, so tired. He was using too much energy without the means to replenish it. If he could just lie down and rest for a little bit…

His gaze wandered from his own coffin to the large sarcophagus sitting next to it, and all thoughts of sleep were banished in an instant. There would be time for rest later.

He picked up the book from the table and began flipping through pages. A portion of the book was dedicated to providing an overview of hieroglyphics and the language of ancient Egypt. Finding the page he wanted, Vlad grasped the twisted iron of the candelabra and brought it closer to the sarcophagus. He set it down on the ground and soon followed, sitting with crossed legs in the dust of the stone floor.

He looked over the many symbols carved into the clay of the old casket and wondered where to begin. He stared down at the pages. Then he stared at the symbols, then back down again. He thought about throwing the book across the room, but resisted the urge. This didn't make any sense.

He had always considered himself talented at languages. Over the course of his long life he had picked up almost every single European language, several from the middle-east, as well as Latin. But he couldn't make any sense of these symbols. The rudimentary keys listed in the reference book were next to useless. How the hell had archeologists learned anything from this system of writing over the years?

Vlad took a deep breath that was completely unnecessary considering he didn't technically need to breathe, but it made him feel better to do so. He returned to the symbols carved in the clay. One of the tricks he had picked up when trying to read a new language was to find repeating words or phrases. He tried this with the symbols on the stone.

It took some time, but he found one. Ibis followed by a kneeling man with a few seemingly superfluous marks in between. Vlad checked the symbols against the key in his book. Thoth? He wondered to himself. Was this it, then? Was this the name of the man in the sarcophagus?

Vlad flipped through the pages in his book again. No, Thoth was the name of a god. Yes, the fellow with the head of an ibis, Vlad saw him now. Images of the deity had been carved into each corner of the long, narrow box. According to the book, Thoth was the god of knowledge. Vlad smirked when he read that, but he wasn't sure why.

Thoth must have played an important role in this man's life, or perhaps it was the other way around. Vlad continued to read, wondering if there was some significance to this deity's presence scattered so often across the outside of a tomb. Among several things, the god of knowledge was also associated with science, magic, and the system of writing.

"So I have you to blame for all of this!" Vlad said sternly to the god's image. Then he realized he was talking to himself, and quickly became quiet again.

He spent some more time trying to find patterns in the symbols, but without much success. He did find something inscribed within a cartouche that he felt must be the man's name, but the key was useless in helping him translate it.

More time had passed than he was aware of. He had no idea how long he had spent pouring over the content of his book, but soon he became aware of voices overhead, sound of footfalls no longer attempting to be silent. Was it nightfall already, or had his housemates actually managed to capture someone, thus removing the necessity of keeping silent?

Vlad stood from where he had sat throughout an entire day. His muscles felt stiff and close to snapping apart as he stretched. No sleeping for him, either. And what had he learned? Merely that this man must have been someone very important to the cult of Thoth to have His image carved so prominently all over his grave. And as for how that could be significant, he was still in the dark. Both figuratively and literally. His candles had burned down very low.

Deciding to risk daylight, Vlad raised what remained of his candles and carried them up the stairs feeling weary yet resolved. He would need to find some spare candlesticks somewhere if he were to continue this research of his. It was fruitless work, but it was better than doing nothing.

It really was night once again, or at least close enough to it. The dim light quickly fading from the narrow windows of the castle told him that indeed the next night was falling, and more than just a few hours had passed since he was last upstairs.

Vlad blew out the candles, conserving what was left of them in case he couldn't locate spares. He thought he might have left some candlesticks in the kitchen, which is exactly where he found the others gathered.

They looked as exhausted as he felt, and from the expressions on their faces, they were just as unfruitful in their endeavors as he had been in his. This was a small comfort.

"I take it you didn't discover a sixth guest?" Vlad asked the drooping crowd. Several shakes of the head followed. A sigh from Dr. Jekyll. Victor didn't alone didn't move. He was staring blankly at the wall, his face ashen.

Beth, as usual, was full of pointless energy. She was busy pulling biscuits and muffins from the cupboards. It seemed she had contrived ways of storing some of the leftovers from their previous meals. Vlad hadn't given it any thought before, since the gifts brought by Y had no direct impact for him, but now it became obvious that the leftovers were now very necessary for the others. Y, having not made an appearance the day before, had also not brought any fresh food.

Fruit, bread, these could last a few days. But Vlad, being a vampire, did not keep any sort of refrigeration system in his home. They could not have stored any meat or dairy. And eventually even the fruit would rot.

"It won't last forever," Vlad commented aloud, not really meaning anything by it, but simply stating the obvious.

"Y has shown us his hand," Jekyll replied. "The message is clear. Either we comply with Y's wishes, or he removes our supplies. We can resist and die slowly of starvation, or we can submit."

"Would he really keep us here long enough for us to starve?" William asked.

"More likely Dracula will kill us first," Jekyll said. Vlad wondered if the doctor had realized that he'd walked into the room.

"It won't come to that," said Victor suddenly. His voice was wooden, unnatural. "Not when it's in my power to stop it. Y shall have what he wants."

William and Jekyll turned toward him, concern mixed with relief in their features. They both murmured words of protest, although it was apparent that they were relieved by Frankenstein's choice. He ignored them both.

"You don't need to worry about me," Victor said unconvincingly. He looked to be on the point of fainting at any moment. "I will have Beth to assist me. We will get through this together."

"All according to plan," Vinny whispered, his voice close to Vlad's ear. "The real trap is set tonight."