Disclaimer: I do not own the movies or any of the characters you recognize. I am making no money off of this story.
Chapter Six:
The Enemy Presents Itself
Elizabeth's temper flared instantly. Her patience had finally worn out. She threw up her hands and let loose a slur of descriptive words that left Thomas' mouth gaping open in shock; and he wasn't the only one. Everyone else was staring at her as if she had gone mad. Eventually her words became actual sentences.
"I have just about had it!" she screamed. "Nightmares, stalkers, death, hexes, vows of vengeance! And now you want a soul? You have got to be kidding me! I won't stand for it any more!"
By this point in her tirade, Gibbs' had lost his ability to speak, Thomas seemed to be on the verge of tears, and Jack was bending backwards as if she were holding a sword to his throat. Yet Madame Harriet continued to stare at her with an unreadable expression.
"Come on Thomas, we're leaving," she stated, thrusting out a hand to her son. He took it without any hesitation, but she attributed that to the fact that he didn't want to become an outlet for her wrath. He was obviously scared of her outburst; he had never seen her yell like this before.
"These two can decide which of them will be losing their soul. It certainly won't be you or me." She took his hand and turned toward the road. They had gone about halfway—Elizabeth stomping angrily and Thomas tripping over his own two feet trying to keep pace with her—when a woman's shouting sounded behind them.
"Wait!" the fortuneteller called again. She was walking toward the mother and her child cautiously, not wanting to incite her anger again. "Don't go. If you do, you and your son will be dead by morning." The woman's eyes pleaded with hers.
"How can you possibly know that?" Elizabeth questioned. "Besides, if I am supposed to die tonight, it doesn't matter…right. I'll just die anyway." She turned on her heel and began to walk again. Harriet looped around her and stood in her path, her hands held up in a stopping gesture.
"There is fate, and then there is stupidity. Both can kill, but the latter is avoidable and foolish to accept. You are not meant to die this night," she added, her tone final.
"I understand," Elizabeth said sighing. "But if your price is a soul, then I can not and will not stay here."
The woman shook her head. "I was only joking about the soul as payment. I only require a soul on special occasions," she replied, winking at Thomas. "No, a monetary payment will do just fine. I am sorry that I upset you with my dark humor. I did not realize that you were so close to a meltdown. Forgive me, my child. It has been a long time since I have had visitors. Please, come into my home and spend the night. You can leave safely in the morning."
"And what will your hospitality cost us?" Elizabeth asked, calming down slightly.
"Nothing. My home is open to you for free."
The tired young woman let out another sigh. "Thank you," she managed to say.
They turned back to Madame Harriet's house. Apparently Jack and Mr. Gibbs had already let themselves in. The trio entered the house and Elizabeth finally let her guard down. She felt safe inside the walls of Harriet's home.
After eating a warm humble meal and tucking Thomas into bed, she too, fell asleep…although she did not stay that way long.
The nightmare was the same one she had had at Jack's "house". She awoke in the same fashion, screaming and shaking like a leaf. Sweat covered her brow and she gulped for breath. The only difference this time was that Madame Harriet was the one with her when she woke up.
Apparently the old prophet had been there for some time. She had pulled a rocking chair up beside her bed and was smoking an unusual pipe. It was carved from ivory and had images of the sun and the moon engraved on the base of the pipe. The figures were entwined with one another. Harriet did not look up at Elizabeth when she awoke. It appeared as though the old woman was deep in thought.
"I told the others not to trouble you," she announced in a dismissive fashion, still staring into space.
Elizabeth didn't reply and another long silence passed between them.
"Great trials are ahead of you," Harriet told her quietly, sticking the end of the pipe in her mouth. Elizabeth noticed that the smoke did not smell the like the stuff her father used to indulge in-- the type that made her sick to her stomach. This pipe smoke had a relaxing, herbal smell. It would have put her back to sleep if Harriet hadn't spoken again.
"Secrets will surface in the coming days," she continued. "And I am not sure if you will be able to handle them." For the first time the mysterious woman looked up at her, her lovely green eyes boring into her, as if trying to find proof of her statement in Elizabeth's eyes.
The younger woman drew the covers up around herself in an attempt to ward off the seer's unrelenting gaze. "It can't be any worse than finding out my father was a heartless killer," she replied, disgusted by what she had discovered through her nightmares.
Madame Harriet eyed her doubtfully and turned her attention back to her pipe, her gaze on the far wall. "Your father kept a great many secrets, most of which he took to the grave. Most…but not all."
"What do you mean? Did you know my father? Do you know what his secrets were?"
But she never received and answer to her questions from the fortuneteller that Elizabeth was beginning to believe was for real. A sudden banging on the front door broke the relative silence of the night and awoke the others in the house. Elizabeth jumped in her bed, startled by the sound, but Madame Harriet remained unfazed.
She took her time extinguishing her pipe before rising and calmly walking to the front door. Her actions suggested she had expected someone to knock on her door in the middle of the night; odd for someone who claimed she didn't get many visitors.
Elizabeth's curiosity battled with and triumphed over her logical side and she donned a robe over her shift before following after her host.
"What's all the ruckus?" Jack asked, yawning loudly and scratching his head.
"Shh!" Elizabeth hissed, pointing to the door. Madame Harriet was slowly unlatching the locks. Jack looked confused for a moment and then gave up, turning back to his corner cot and plopping down on it face first. Gibbs and Thomas remained on their pallets but did not go back to sleep. Elizabeth stayed back from the doorway, far enough to see clearly but still remain out of reach. Whoever it was couldn't be good news. Not during the early hours of the morning.
"Yes?" Harriet asked in greeting.
A dirty, ragged man—obviously homeless—stood on the other side of the door. His clothes were in shambles and had probably been worn by the man every day for several years. His grisly gray hair was stingy and caked with dirt and grease, just like his clothes. He was hunched over, probably from years of hard labor. There was an air of desperation about him that made Elizabeth's motherly side want to take him under her wing and give him food and care. Her logical side; however, told her to wait for Madame Harriet to invite him in before she got started.
"May I come in and rest me weary bones for a bit, ma'am? If ye give me a bowl of broth and a soft pallet, I'd pay you back by chopping some firewood in the morning. Please, ma'am."
Elizabeth was already turning to get the poor, undernourished man his broth when Madame Harriet's cold, unfeeling laugh broke through the silence. Elizabeth didn't see what was so funny. The man standing outside the door looked liable to drop over any minute and die of starvation.
"You must think me a fool. Well, you are gravely mistaken," Harriet stated coldly to the stranger, her tone mirthless. "You will not set foot inside my house!" There was an eerie echo after she had declared this, the sound reverberating off the surrounding walls. Elizabeth thought she was being terribly rude.
"Come now ma'am. I mean ye no harm," pleaded the stranger. There was something in his voice that didn't match up with his proclamation, making Elizabeth's gut instincts send up a red flag.
"You may not intend to harm me…but I know what you are. Be gone from my house demon! You can not have her!"
Elizabeth froze at the dark lady's pronouncement. She was the only other woman in the house; Harriet and the man were talking about her!
The man's eyes flicked to look at Elizabeth. She gasped at the burning anger she saw in the old man's eyes. He quickly looked back at Madame Harriet. Elizabeth began to worry for the old woman's safety. This pathetic looking man didn't seem like he could put up much of a fight, but looks could be deceiving.
"You cannot protect them forever! I will have my day!" the stranger exclaimed, his voice vehement and heavy with contempt for the woman blocking his passage into the house.
"Not today you won't."
The man took a menacing step forward, straightening up to his full height; he was actually quite tall. Madame Harriet had anticipated this and grabbed a handful of what looked like red dirt from a jar sitting on a table just inside of the front door, sprinkling it along the threshold. Elizabeth was still confused, but deduced that the red dirt had some type of repelling power to it since the stranger took a hasty step backward.
"You will not enter this house!" Harriet repeated confidently. "Leave now or wait for the sun to rise. The choice is yours."
The stranger let out a low hissing sound before taking off into the fading darkness, defeated for the moment.
"Who was that man?" Elizabeth demanded of the unflinching woman when she had finished relocking the door. The others had emerged from the other room where they had been listening to the whole confrontation. Elizabeth was glad that the stranger hadn't seen her son or the pirates.
Madame Harriet let out a sigh as she turned to face the questioning expressions behind her.
"That was no man," she explained. "That was your adversary making himself known. Unfortunately for you, he is a member of the undead."
"Undead?" asked Gibbs. "You mean like a zombie? I thought they was only legends."
"Come now, Gibbs," Jack responded, slapping his friend on the back in an attempt to wake up his common sense. "Are ye telling me yer afraid of one little undead thing? After all ye've seen? Certainly zombies aren't all that startling?"
"The creature hunting your lot is not a zombie," Harriet corrected. "A zombie is a slowly rotting corpse that has the ability to move. The only thing it focuses on is finding food. No, the creature following you is cunning and on a mission. Clearly not a zombie."
"Then what is following us?" Thomas asked, stepping forward.
"There are a few possibilities, but my bet is on a vampire. A dark and dangerous demon indeed."
"How can it be killed?" Elizabeth inquired, wanting to take care of the creature as soon as possible.
Harriet thought for moment. "Well, if it is a vampire, it can be killed a number of ways: fire, stakes through the heart, decapitation. It can also be warded off, just like it was tonight, with holy symbols or holy water. They also have a distaste for garlic. But none of these are foolproof or sure to work. And you could run into other problems when trying to kill it as well."
"For example…" Gibbs prodded when she didn't say anything.
"These creatures hold unknown power. They can shape shift, making them masters of disguise. They can control the minds of the weak-willed. They are a strong as ten men, and are faster than the average human. It will be extremely difficult to kill him."
"Well, we're going to have to try," Thomas said bravely. "Will you help us, Madame Harriet?"
The fortuneteller looked down at the courageous boy kindly, a look of sadness in her eyes. "I am afraid that I have helped you as much as I am able. And I'm also sorry to tell you that I am going to have to ask you and your friends to leave. You won't be safe here much longer."
"But…" Elizabeth began.
"He will keep coming back. Eventually he will get past me and my barriers. It is foolish to sit and wait for death. You know this," she told the younger woman. "You must leave now and get as far away from here as possible."
With a few more pieces of advice from Madame Harriet, the foursome departed into the morning sun. They finally had some answers, but would answers be enough to defend themselves against their enemy?
Only time would tell.
Author's Note: So now you know for sure what the group is up against. In this chapter I basically explained all the powers that the vampire has. I know that there are a lot of different powers that a vampire could have and my interpretation may not agree with your ideas, but these are the traits I chose. I hope you enjoyed it. Keep reading and leave me a review so I know what you think. Good or bad. Thanks!