"Liliana? Wake up..." Liliana gave a contented sigh as the fingers brushed her forehead. She smiled as thoughts of Von Krolock entered her sleepy mind but when she opened her eyes and saw her husband standing over her.
"What time is it?" She asked with a yawn. She sat up to get out of bed but he stopped her.
"It's early," he told her. "You don't need to get up. I just wanted to let you know that I won't be going into work today." Panic filled Liliana for a moment as she worried what would become of Von Krolock if she couldn't get into the barn to help him. "I have to run a number of errands, mostly in Timisoara so I won't be back until after dinner." Liliana bit her lip to keep from smiling at this. She sat up and slipped her feet into her slippers.
"Would you like a hot breakfast before you leave?" She asked him.
"Honey," Cristian said with a laugh, "I'd rather eat uncooked oats and drink milk straight from the cow than eat the garbage you call breakfast." Liliana frowned at the insult but inside she was too excited at the prospect of having such a long day ahead of her to help Von Krolock to care. She lay down again, pretending that she was going back to sleep but the second she heard the back door slam shut, she hurried to the window to watch him. He disappeared into the shed first and when he came back out her stomach tensed when she saw the ax he was carrying, which he put into the back of his car before getting in himself. The only reason he would be taking the ax with him was to have it sharpened and her stomach turned at the thought of what he planned on doing with it.
She watched as he drove away before quickly getting dressed. After one last glance out the window to be certain he hadn't returned then ran downstairs, outside and straight into the barn. "Heinrich!" She called out as she ran toward the back where the little room was. "Heinrich! I have great news! Cris-" She stopped short in the doorway and cried his name when she saw him lying unmoving on the floor. She hurried over and knelt down beside him.
"Oh my God..." she gasped when she saw what looked like hundreds of cuts and burns all over him. There was a deep wound in his arm and he was bound with heavy rope. "What have they done to you? Heinrich?" She gingerly placed a hand over his heart; it wasn't beating and she almost began to cry until she thought she felt his chest rise ever so slightly. She leaned over and when she felt a cool, shallow breath against her ear she let out a sob of relief. "Heinrich... Heinrich, please. Wake up!" Liliana cupped his cheeks with her hands and caressed his cheeks as she spoke to him and eventually his eyes finally opened. "Oh thank God! You're alive!" Liliana couldn't stop the few tears that fell from her eyes and landed on Von Krolock's cheeks.
"What..." Von Krolock blinked a few times to try and get his eyes to focus properly. "What happened?" He tried to sit up but a sharp pain spiked through his leg and he groaned.
"Don't move," she said gently as she worked to untie the knot in the rope. "I will be back soon to help you but you can't move alright?" He grunted in agreement and once she had freed him of the rope she quickly left the barn. "What the hell am I going to do?" She asked herself. She stood just outside the barn door and tried to calm herself in order to think clearly. I have to clean him up, she thought. Soap, water and clean towels. She went into the house and grabbed everything she needed. Just as she was about to leaveshe realized something else. "Food..." she said out loud. "What can I feed him...?" She desperately tried to figure out what she could get her hands on and just when she wondered if she would have to go into the nearby woods and hunt something down, she heard her neighbor's dog begin to bark.
She grabbed some raw bacon from the icebox and went outside toward the neighbor's house. "Ilie," she called softly, waving the bacon around in the air in front of her. "Come here, Ilie. Come here you little shit... I've got something for you." Moments later the dog, who was about the size of a small wolf, came running over to her. She fed him a piece of the bacon and scratched his head a little. "Would you like some more?" She held the rest of the bacon out and Ilie looked at it excitedly. "Come on, Ilie... Come and get it." Liliana walked slowly to the barn with all her supplies and Ilie following close behind. "Come on, boy," she coaxed, waving the bacon around so he could smell it.
Once they were inside, she tied Ilie to a post near the back of the barn then brought the rest of the stuff over to Von Krolock. For a moment she feared again that he had died until he opened his eyes a little and looked at her. "I won't lie," she said as she dipped a towel in the water and lathered it with soap. "This is going to hurt." She touched the wound on his arm and Von Krolock groaned. He tried to pull away but he was so weak he could barely move. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." she said over and over again as she worked to clean the wound. "I'm almost finished." Taking a fresh, dry towel, she tore it in half and wrapped it around his arm as a makeshift bandage
"My leg," Von Krolock whispered. "They... my leg..." Liliana looked down to see a hole in his pants. She grimaced when she realized the fabric was saturated with blood. She thought she could slide her fingers through the tear to open it further but they were practically glued to his skin from all the blood. She tried to pull it away from his leg but when she did, Von Krolock's entire body tensed and he groaned in pain.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry," she said, quickly pulling her hands away. She looked down at him trying to figure out what else she could do. The wound was on his thigh so she couldn't roll the pant leg up from the cuff. She moved her eyes up to the clasp of his waistband. It was the only option she had but even under the circumstances, the thought of pulling his pants down made her blush. Instead, she picked up the bucket of soapy water and began to pour some of it over his thigh. Von Krolock squeezed his eyes shut and hissed when the water hit the wound.
Liliana glanced up at his face and noticed his fangs had grown. She wondered if the pain got to be too much for him if he would react by biting her. Then she wondered if that would really be such a bad thing... Realizing what she was thinking, she scolded herself for it and returned her focus to the task at hand. Once his leg was clean, she took the other half of the torn towel and wrapped it around his thigh as she had done with his arm. "I need to get these cuts clean," she told him. She lathered a fresh towel with soap but before she could touch him with it he grasped her wrist.
"I need to eat, Lili," he said weakly. "I can heal on my own I just need to eat something."
"Alright." Liliana dropped the towel in the bucket and pushed it out of the way. "Can you sit up?" Von Krolock forced himself up and rested back against the side of the tub that had been left there. Liliana left the room for a moment and Von Krolock's eyes grew wide when she brought the dog into the room.
"You're feeding me your dog?" Von Krolock tried to laugh but it came out as a cough instead.
"It's my neighbor's dog. He barks at all hours of the night," Liliana explained. "He's all yours." She led Ilie over to Von Krolock but the dog tried to pull away from them.
"Animals won't come near me. They can sense evil." Liliana forced Ilie onto Von Krolock's lap. He tried to hold the dog growling in place but the shackles around his wrists made it difficult so Liliana sat beside him and held the dog for him.
"Do it before he bites," she said.
"Are you sure you want to see this?"
"I will be fine," she assured him. "Just do it." Ilie made an attempt to bite her hand but Von Krolock grasped the scruff of his neck and leaning over, he bit down hard into the dog. Ilie yelped and tried to pull out of their grasp but they both held him tightly in place. Liliana had closed her eyes but when she felt the dog's muscles go limp she slowly opened them and watched with curiosity as Von Krolock drank from his neck.
She could hear the sucking sound though it was muffled slightly by the dog's fur and every so often when Von Krolock stopped to gasp for air, bits of blood splattered on his face from the force of his breath as he didn't pull away from the dog's neck. He clutched the dog tightly in his hands and he kept his eyes closed the entire time he ate. Liliana watched in amazement as some of the bruising and superficial wounds began to disappear before her eyes. A tiny bit of color even filled his cheeks and when he released the dog and opened his eyes they were so bright and refreshed it was as if she was face to face with someone other than the man she had known the past few days.
"I don't think you're evil," Liliana said when he opened his eyes. She grabbed one of the towels and wiped the bit of blood that coated his chin.
"That's only because you don't know what I've done." Von Krolock closed his eyes as he spoke, unable to look at her.
"You do what you need to do to survive."
"No..." Von Krolock sighed and bowed his head. "I've done worse than you think, Lili. Much worse." Liliana shifted closer to him and examined the smooth skin of his chest which had been covered with cuts moments before. Nearly half of the little wounds were gone.
"Did you enjoy it?" She asked.
"Did I enjoy what?"
"What you've done... What you say is so terrible. Did you enjoy doing it?" Von Krolock pictured Anneliese's dead body in his arms and for a moment he thought he was going to be sick.
"No," he rasped.
"Then I don't think you're evil," she said again and Von Krolock sighed.
"I wish it was that simple." When he finally looked up at her he saw the way she was staring at him. "What are you doing?"
"Your wounds..." she said in disbelief. "Some of them healed so fast, but the others..." She looked down at his leg and frowned when she saw the blood soaking through the towel.
"I need more blood. I don't suppose you have any other dogs lying around." Von Krolock chuckled but quickly went silent when he saw the serious look on Liliana's face.
"Take mine." Liliana couldn't believe she had said it; her stomach was in knots and her head was swimming yet at the same time she couldn't deny that the idea also excited her.
"Lili..."
"Drink from me, Heinrich." Liliana edged closer to him. "Let me heal you so you can get out of here."
"You don't know what you're saying, Lili."
"If you don't get out of here before Cris comes home he'll kill you." She climbed onto his lap being careful to avoid his injured thigh. Von Krolock's eyes rested on her neck and he was suddenly filled with the urge to bite her. Closing his eyes, he clenched his jaw and tried to resist. "This is the only way," she whispered. "Please, Heinrich. Do it."
"It will hurt," Von Krolock warned. He kept his eyes shut as she worked her way through the chains and shackles so that his arms were around her. "It will hurt more than you can imagine."
"Will it change me into a vampire?"
"If I said yes would that change your mind?" Von Krolock felt her warm hand cup one of his cheeks and when he opened his eyes to look at her, she smiled.
"No, it won't." She tilted her head to the side, giving him access to her neck. "Go on..." He stared at her neck longingly but as he leaned in to bite her images of what he had done to Anneliese flashed through his mind and he pulled away.
"I can't," he gasped. He tried to push Liliana away but she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him firmly. "I can't do it, Lili. It's been too long. I'm afraid..."
"What are you afraid of?" Von Krolock finally gave up trying to push her away from him and he looked her in the eye.
"I'm afraid I'll lose control and kill you."
"Is that what happened the last time? Is that why you stopped?" Von Krolock nodded. "You loved her, didn't you?" He didn't answer and Liliana pulled him into a hug. "I don't care what happens," she whispered. "There is nothing here for me. I'm willing to take the risk if it means I can help you get out of here." She shifted her position a little, placing her neck closer to his face and he sighed her name. "Please, Heinrich. Drink from me. Let me help you. Ple-"
Her words were replaced by a scream which quickly lessened into a gasp as a searing pain began to spread through her body. It slowly flowed from her neck down through her arms, down through her stomach and legs and all the way to her toes until she felt as if her entire body was in flames. Tears poured from her eyes and she clutched his shoulders, digging her nails into his flesh. Eventually she became light headed and while the pain continued, it began to feel farther away almost as if she was slowly being separated from her own body as he cradled her in his arms, combing his fingers through her hair as he drank from her neck.
It wasn't long before she became drowsy. She wondered if he would ever stop but part of her didn't care. She had just begun to drift off to sleep when she heard someone shout her name. Before she could respond she felt Von Krolock pull away and two strong hands grabbed her. When she opened her eyes she saw Von Krolock lying on the floor clutching the side of his head. She tried to reach out for him but she was quickly swept off the floor by Ivan who carried her out of the barn and into the house where he placed her on the sofa.
"Please don't hurt him," she whimpered. She grasped his arm but she was too weak to keep him from leaving. "I let him do it!" She cried. "Please don't hurt him, Ivan!" Ignoring her pleas, Ivan bolted out of the house and back to the barn, picking up a wooden post on his way to the back room.
"You won't get away with this!" He swung the post in the air and hit Von Krolock on his injured leg. "I'll kill you! I'll fucking kill you, you monster!" He continued to swing the post, hitting the vampire on his legs and back. Von Krolock never moved and when Ivan finally stopped his attack he heard the vampire laughing. Von Krolock pushed himself up so that he was sitting and Ivan stared in shock to find that the only marks left on his body were the fresh ones caused by the wooden post. "What the hell is so funny?" He snapped. He threatened Von Krolock with the post; the laughing stopped but the vampire remained smiling.
"You have your mother's temper," Von Krolock said. Ivan swung the post, hitting Von Krolock's shoulder but he barely even flinched.
"You leave my mother out of this!" He shouted. "You don't know her!"
"You look very much like her as well. It's been a long time since I last visited but the moment I saw you in the car I knew right away you were hers."
"You son of a bitch..." Ivan hit Von Krolock in the head. Von Krolock almost fell but he quickly caught himself. His ear was bleeding but he barely seemed to notice. Ivan grabbed one of the crosses from the wall and Von Krolock ducked away as Ivan ran toward him.
"I am the only reason you are even alive, Ivan!" Ivan froze at Von Krolock's words and stared down at him.
"Like hell you are!"
"You're adopted, aren't you?" Ivan was about to hit Von Krolock with the cross but he let his arm drop to his side.
"What? How... how did you know? Peter said something, didn't he? That drunken little-"
"Forty-two years ago," Von Krolock interrupted, "I watched as your mother was forced to abandon you. She left you in a basket at the edge of the woods that surround my castle." Ivan shook his head slowly.
"No. No, that's not true," he said. "I was left on a doorstep of-"
"It was I who placed you on that doorstep." Von Krolock grinned as Ivan's face grew pale.
"You're lying..."
"Anton and Stela. Those are your adopted parents, are they not?"
"You're lying," Ivan said again. "Someone could have told you. Liliana told you, didn't she?"
"You have no brothers or sisters. You grew up on a farm with mostly chickens and cows."
"No..."
"You had one horse though, didn't you? And when you were seven years old your father let you take a ride on this horse." Von Krolock remained unmoving as he sat on the floor, watching as Ivan began to pace slowly back and forth.
"Shut up," he muttered. "Just shut up. You can't know all this..."
"But you fell off the horse," Von Krolock continued, "and you were so scared of it that your father was forced to sell it."
"Stop this right now," Ivan hissed as he clenched his fingers tightly around the cross.
"Are you still self conscious about the birthmark on your back, Ivan?" Ivan stared at Von Krolock with wide eyes, unable to respond. "It bothered you as a child. I am just wondering if it still-"
"Enough!" Ivan threw the cross at Von Krolock and Von Krolock moved to the side to avoid it.
"Your mother would be horrified to see what has become of you."
"How would you know? You said you saw her-"
"I loved her," Von Krolock said. Ivan's face twisted in disgust.
"Are you trying to tell me you're my father?"
"By the time I met her you were twelve." Ivan sighed with relief. "I don't think you will be any happier to find out who your father really is."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Ivan slowly edged closer to the wall to keep the crosses within reach.
"He was an older man," Von Krolock said, keeping a careful watch on Ivan. "He raped your mother when she was just a child." Ivan lowered his eyes to the floor as he tried to take in everything Von Krolock was telling him.
"What happened to him?" He asked softly.
"He died." Ivan looked up at the vampire again; he was about to ask him how his father had died but when he saw the smile on Von Krolock's face he knew instantly.
"Where is my mother? She was young, she should still be alive today. Where is she? What is her name? Where-"
"She's dead, too." This time it was Von Krolock who looked away.
"What...?" Ivan's voice came out as a whimper. Von Krolock closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I loved Anneliese," he whispered. "I barely even knew her, yet I loved her very much."
"What are you saying, Von Krolock?" Ivan pulled another cross from the wall. "What happened to my mother?"
"I never meant to hurt her but I couldn't bear to see her leave. I loved her so-" Ivan jumped on Von Krolock, knocking him over onto the floor and when he pressed the cross to his chest, Von Krolock screamed.
"I'll fucking kill you for this!" Ivan began to hit Von Krolock repeatedly as he screamed at him, beating him on the head and chest with the cross. He lost control of himself and by the time he finally stopped he stared down in shock at what he had done. Von Krolock was covered in burns and was bleeding profusely from his nose and ears. Reaching over, he grabbed the post he had brought with him and placed the pointed end over Von Krolock's heart. He gripped the post tightly in both hands and raised it a few inches.
"What are you waiting for?" Von Krolock asked sadly when Ivan didn't move. "You want to kill me. Go ahead and do it." Ivan glared at him.
"I don't need your blood on my hands." Ivan's voice was completely emotionless as he tossed the post aside. "You're not worth it. Cris will deal with you when he returns tonight." Without another word Ivan left.