Countess Zaleska walked the dusty streets of Fort Sumner for an hour without ever seeing another person. She was a creature of the night, and so, not afraid to be alone in the dark. Mere mortals, however, were not as fearless and were all at home in bed when the town clock tolled the witching hour. The countess was happy to walk among the shadows unobserved. It made her hopefully short visit to this town all the more clandestine if no one were to see her here.

Unfortunately, as she passed a Chinese laundry on the outskirts of town, someone did see her. A rough looking hooligan who'd been drinking in an alleyway glanced up and squinted at the cloaked figure of the countess as she passed by him.

"Hey, darlin'! Hey, darling'!" he called out to her, loudly.

Zaleska turned sharply like a startled bird and gave the man a death glare.

He took no notice of it, though, and instead sauntered over to her, spilling whiskey out of the bottle in his hand with every step. As soon as he got up close to her he cocked the bowler hat on his head at what he must have thought was a jaunty angle and then reached out to grab the countess. She recoiled at his filthy hand.

"Whatchu doin' out here all by your lonesome, pretty little thing like you," the man said.

Zaleska just glared at him, angrily. He was making far too much noise and would no doubt draw the attention of people in the nearby buildings to her soon enough. Plus, he was wasting her time.

"Lemme walk you home, baby," the man said, moving towards the countess. He stumbled and Zaleska took that as an opportunity to lunge at him. She caught the man's head with her hand, clamping it over his mouth to keep him quiet, then she took his throat in her teeth. She pushed him back into the alley as she jerked and tore his throat out. He tried to scream and struggle, but it was no use. A moment later all he made were some gurgling noises as he choked to death on his own blood and Zaleska left him and stepped back out of the alley, wiping her mouth. The man would not be recovering from their tryst the way Bill had.

Zaleska looked around to see if there had been any witnesses, but all the windows in the buildings nearby were dark and there was still no one else out on the street. She composed herself like a proper lady and then continued on her journey. It was only ten minutes later that she arrived at the place she intended to. A small cottage with a stone chimney and a sign on the front door that said:

Doctor Jeffrey Garth, PhD

Please knock before entering.

The countess knocked politely and then raised up her hood to hide her face. Presently, a young blonde woman opened the door.

"Yes, how may I help you?" she asked the strange visitor.

"Is the doctor at home?" asked Countess Zaleska.

"I'm afraid he's been out at the Miller farm all evening. Their little boy has the fever and... you'll have to come back tomorrow during normal hours." The woman suddenly became afraid and tried to shut the door, but Zaleska held up her ring before she could.

"I do not think so," the countess said.

The woman stopped and starred at the ring.

"Yes ma'am, won't you come inside and wait?" she asked in a dreamy, far off voice.

Countess Zaleska nodded and then entered, shutting the door behind her.

Sometime a short while later there came the sound of a key in the lock of the front door and Dr. Garth, a thin, older gentleman with thinning hair, pushed open the door, surprised to find it already unlocked.

"Janet!" he called inside the house, worriedly. It was pitch black inside. "Janet!" he called again in more distress and then he ran inside. He found the nearest oil lamp in the living room and lit it with a match. The room was empty, so he took up the lamp in his hand and ran down the hallway with it to his office. Inside, with her back facing him, sat Janet in his wooden swivel desk chair.

"Janet," he said to her, walking over and grabbing her shoulder to turn her around. When he did, he screamed and almost dropped the lamp. Janet sat there starring at him with dead, glassy eyes. Her throat had been slit and she was drenched in blood. Dr. Garth backed out of the room in horror and went to run from the house when he saw Countess Zaleska's dark figure waiting at the end of the hall.

"You!" he shouted in disgust. "You're dead!"

"Undead," the countess said with a small smirk.

"I saw that arrow pierce your heart," said the doctor, trying to make any sense that he could out of this.

"I'm a woman. My heart has been pierced many times and yet I am not destroyed," said Zaleska. "Too bad the same can not be said of your child bride."

"You monster!" Garth spat at her. "You evil THING!"

"And yet you were willing to give yourself to me once," Zaleska said, coolly. "To become my lover. Have you forgotten? Now you can keep your word."

"I only agreed to that if you spared Janet. Now she's dead. I wouldn't be with you if my soul depended on it," said the doctor. His voice quivered, but he spoke loud and forcefully out of rage and fear.

"Yes, I thought you might feel that way," Zaleska said, advancing on Garth. "To be truly honest I didn't really come here expecting to collect you. I came to tie up loose ends and maybe even start a new beginning. All that is left now in order to accomplish that is your death." She spoke calmly and rationally, which only made what she said seem more deranged. The doctor tried to back away from her, but he was caught between the advancing vampire and the room containing his dead wife. All he could think to do was to throw the oil lamp he held in his hand at his enemy. He did, but she deflected it, sending it crashing into a wall. It exploded and immediately set the wall ablaze. The doctor tried to run past Zaleska to escape her and the fire, but she caught him by the throat. She was much stronger than a mortal woman and had no problem lifting the man off his feet. Then, with one swift action, she plunged her other hand into his chest and pulled out his beating heart.

"You set my heart aflame, doctor," she said to his now lifeless corpse and then she sank her teeth into the organ.

Within moments the entire building was an inferno and Countess Zaleska very casually walked out the front door of it just as the roof began to collapse. Soon the nearby townsfolk would be swarming the place out of curiosity and alarm, but by then the Countess would be long gone from the scene.

To Be Continued