Chapter Fifteen:
The End Of The Line
Before the cloud of dust could settle, two man-sized wolves bounded into the chamber – one of them coloured with brown and grey markings. The other being a blonder, slenderer specimen. Both creatures bore red eyes filled with rage and blood-lust.
I smiled as I felt their minds connect with mine. My family had come to save me!
A third wolf, darker in its colouring, loped into the crypt also and glared at the frightened stonemasons. It too was red eyed. I sensed this one to be a male – but a vampire I had not met before…
One of the Harkers' own blood-family, in that case.
Then the three wolves charged at the screaming stonemasons, dodging the bullets that were fired by the ones who were armed with pistols. An instant later, more figures were pouring into the crypt from the doorway. Firstly, three men and a woman, all dark haired – and dressed in the manner of gypsies. The quartet armed with four knives and one pistol between them. Then there appeared a large, stout man, with short dark hair, armed with a pistol and flanked by two men in suits and armed with their own pistols. All three of them wearing crucifixes. One of them tossed some device towards the acolytes. It emitted smoke, creating confusion and panic amongst Klein's minions.
Mycroft Holmes – with a pair of government agents, I concluded, my eyes taking in the unfolding events as best I could as the battle began…
And then, before my eyes, I saw Klein jerk backwards, as if someone had seized her from behind – with her knife arm turning stiff. An instant later, there was a rippling of the air – and John appeared out of nowhere, revealing himself as the unmasked intruder who had grabbed hold of Klein. One hand around her right forearm, trying to force her to drop the bone dagger; and the other hand planted around her mouth and chin.
Klein fought furiously to dislodge him, her eyes wide with shock – and fury.
"John!" I gasped, wondering how he had become invisible.
"Hold…on…, Mary! Can't keep her…still," he grunted. He gritted his teeth, revealing his long canines. "You witch! This is for taking my Mary away from me – again!" he snarled to Klein.
I felt a thrill run through my undead body. Fangs! John had fangs! Even though I had not given him the Third Bite, somehow he was now a vampire…
The acolytes were now engaged in the fighting. I saw a pair of them fall down as they sprinted for the intruders, felled by bullets fired by Mycroft's men. Wooden bullets, I assumed in the heat of the moment.
Suddenly, I felt movement close to me – too close. I screamed as a mischief of rats swarmed over me, running over my arms and legs. But almost immediately, I realised that something was different about them. They were identical in their large size and black colouring – but also, they were coordinated in their purposeful movements. Moments later, they were gnawing away at the ropes holding me down.
As soon as I was free, I rolled myself off the table and whipped my head round to take stock of the situation. Amber was now untying Kaitlyn, and Irene Adler was carefully cutting the cords around Sherlock's wrists. I heard him thank her – and Irene gave him a dazzling smile in reward.
The rats ran off the sacrificial table and packed themselves into a tightly-knit, circular mass, before turning into thick mist that then reformed into a small, human shape. When the reformation was complete, a short, dark-skinned young lady, dressed as a boy, squatted down next to me. She looked proud of herself.
"Leonie!?" I gasped.
She opened her mouth wide, revealing her own set of newly-grown fangs. "I am now a member of the lodge too, Mrs Watson! This mousey girl can now turn into rats! My new, natural form. My new mother's blood is strong – yes?"
"Yes. Good girl! But who is your…?" I trailed off as a flame-haired vampiress ran over to me, placing her hand affectionately on Leonie's shoulder. I did not know her. But she nodded to me.
"I am Elizabeta – elder sister to Mina and Jonathan. I have sired this childe," she introduced herself in Rumanian-accented English. Elizabeta examined me carefully. "I sense that they have kept you weak, Mary. Can you fight?"
"Not yet. I need more blood…," I rasped.
"Then stay out of sight. Out of harm, sister! We will fight for all of those on our side." She regarded the chaotic fighting, and turned to her blood-daughter. "Come Leonie. We must aid your new father to take down those red robed women! Stay close to me. Fight with your instincts."
"Of course, mother. I am ready for them," Leonie replied, licking her eye teeth. Following Elizabeta's motions, the black girl raised her hands before her face and looked at them intently. A moment later, the nails of both ladies grew into claws.
Then the two of them rose up and charged straight for the nearest acolytes – aiding the red-eyed wolves, as well as Mycroft and his agents.
I looked around frantically, trying to find John, Sherlock, and Kaitlyn amidst the chaos and frantic blur of fighting. Irene Adler and Sherlock were trying to reach me – but now one of the robed men was baring their way, having leapt into their path. He flung back his hood, revealing himself to be Culverton Smith. He bared his fangs and claws, ready to take on the knife-wielding Irene and the unarmed detective…
John! Where was John?
I managed to spy him amongst the moving figures that were close to me. Ruby had come to her Mistress's aid, and she was now fiercely tearing John away from Klein. Then she swung her fist into John's face with more force than I believed a woman was capable of – hitting him so hard that he staggered backwards and slammed into one of the pillars close to the edge of the temple, beyond the circle of blood. Amber was next to act, diving for the dropped bone dagger. With her hand wrapped around it, she rose and made a darting motion for Klein, her fangs bared.
"For Kenny – and the white robes. You murderer!" she cried out.
"Traitor!" Ruby roared back, crashing into her. The two red robes fought furiously for possession of the bone dagger.
As soon as Isadora Klein had no one attacking her, she picked up the necrononicum at the altar desk, and began to loudly chant the rest of her rites…
"So mote it be!"
As her passionate cry faded, the circle of blood suddenly sprung up into a wall of flames all around us! Now I was cut off from John and most of the other fighters in the melee.
I jumped as a hand touched my shoulder. I turned and grabbed hold of the newcomer crouched with me behind the sacrificial table – only to see that it was Kaitlyn. She was shaking with fear, tears on her face. Dust on her torn dress.
"Ar-are you alright, Mistress?"
I nodded. "For now, Kaitlyn. Be brave!"
"I w-wish I c-could be, Mistress. That wretched woman has o-opened her doorway to w-wherever!" She pointed to the portal between the upright stones. It was now large enough for a man to pass through. And indeed, the wispy figure of something man-sized and luminous was now drifting through the portal, from the whirlpool of darkness and into the crypt.
It stopped, and pointed to the table next to us. Quickly, Kaitlyn and I withdrew our heads and hid behind it.
"The intended body for you to process… Your unintended blood-daughter… She has unfortunately escaped her bonds, mi amor. Take me, instead!" Klein pleaded.
Seconds later, Kaitlyn and I heard the head vampiress cry out. When we looked again, we could see that Klein was slumped against the altar. Then, slowly, she began to move again. Fingers twitched. A hand was raised. Her head turning from side to side – her back to us still. There was now no sign of the apparition.
A deep laughter emanated from Klein's chest, as she felt her face. The laugh was too deep.
"We have succeeded! Now a soul must be sacrificed, to appease the dark ones, before the portal can be closed," she intoned. Except that her voice also sounded slightly out of pitch. Almost as if it was a man's…
"I don't un-understand. W-where is that…ghost?" Kaitlyn squeaked.
"Oh no…," I muttered, realising. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I shivered.
"Amber!" Kaitlyn abruptly yelled out.
Close by, Amber's body folded and collapsed upon the temple floor, as Ruby withdrew the bone dagger from between her ribs. Amber's pained eyes looked across to us as she held out her hand, pleading for help.
'Forgive me', she mouthed as she croaked, and then her raised face slumped upon the ground.
Screaming like a banshee, Kaitlyn bolted out of hiding and dived upon Ruby – wiping the smirk from the red robe's face. Now startled, Klein's lieutenant found herself battling again for control of the bone dagger as she fought my Follower.
Close by, Culverton Smith had knocked Irene Adler to the floor. She was moaning, pressing her hand against her claw-slashed face. But as Smith tried to snatch up Irene's dropped knife, Sherlock struck. The syringe that Amber had passed to him in the cell, by his request, was in the detective's clenched, raised hand. Moments later, he had seized Smith and injected the syringe into his exposed neck, whilst Irene had dived upon the freed poisoner, holding him in place.
"Aagghh!" Swatting Irene aside, Smith shot back up upon his feet in order to grab hold of Sherlock's arm and force him into a painful-looking arm-lock. Slowly, Smith was physically forcing the agonised-looking Sherlock to his knees. The poisoner's fangs drooled with anticipation as he bent forward towards the detective's neck.
Then Culverton Smith's expression turned sour. He let go of his attended prey, and staggered. The small vampire coughed violently, and began to be sick over his fine clothes. He was actually foaming at the mouth!
"Damn you…! Wha-what have you do-done!?"
Sherlock gave Smith a grim smile. "Mixed in a little essence of garlic into my cocaine bottle. Enjoy your last poison, Culverton Smith." And with that, the great detective shoved his would-be killer into the nearest flames that were still burning high.
Culverton Smith fell face down into the fire. He twitched violently as his form turned into a pyre. His piercing screams soon ended.
Sherlock then turned, and saw me. But he barely had time to help either myself or Irene before Gervais Bryce leaped through a momentarily gap in the unnatural fires. Then he was slamming the butt of his emptied pistol across Holmes's jaw. Soon the two men were fiercely grappling with each other.
I was the eye of the storm that was raging around me. Still paralysed with weakness – and fear. Asking myself what I could do, to save my friends and allies. I could not see John at present.
Move! I scolded myself. Find blood!
I saw my opportunity, and took it. Klein was slowly turning round to face the fighters around her – but instinct screamed at me to stay away from her. Instead, I ran over to seize Ruby, who was now throttling Kaitlyn. With the pair of us now holding the red robe in place, I angled my face and stabbed my extended fangs into Ruby's neck.
"Urgh!"
Struggle as she did, Ruby was unable to break free of my vice-like grip – and I allowed the predator in me full rein, gulping down Ruby's dark essence. It was not the satisfying fresh warm blood of mortals, of course. But it was still welcome enough food to me – and in my desperation, I was soon taking her strength and making it my own.
I am a vampire. I have died once already. John needs me… I will NOT die tonight… I. Will. SURVIVE! I vowed to myself, as the fire within reignited my weary spirit.
Finally, I let go of the now-white faced Ruby, letting her fall into Kaitlyn's arms. Ruby stared at me with a slack expression, shocked that she had been bested by a vampire younger than herself. She tried to raise her arms, but they fell limply as what little strength she had failed her. Her snarl was reduced to a wheeze.
I was not sure if it was possible to entirely drain a vampire – but having been starved of blood myself in Cherry Tree Lodge, I knew that Ruby was now living one of a vampire's worst possible daymares. She would be starving, and yet too weak to attack her prey to order to feed…
"Hold her!" I barked to my maid, grimacing at the bloodstains upon my red dress. At least I felt much better now.
"Mistress…?" Kaitlyn's face was awash with confusion as we both bent down.
I pointed at the still-whirling vortex of darkness behind Klein. "The spirit of my Sire has been brought over from…hell. We need to close the portal – by offering a sacrifice in turn!"
Isadora Klein was now being kept busy by Mycroft Holmes, who was on the other side of the flames. He fired a bullet at her – probably a wooden, or holy water capsule, bullet. But inches before Klein's outstretched palm, the bullet was – before the eyes of myself and Kaitlyn – frozen in its tracks, before it dropped to the ground.
"Dear God in heaven!" Mycroft bellowed. He shifted position and fired again. This time, Klein stood out her other palm. With the power of her mind, she stopped the second bullet in mid-flight, and caused it to fall down.
Klein laughed mockingly. "You cannot hope to defeat us, Mycroft Holmes!" she called out, in that slightly-distorted voice of hers.
"The game is up, Isadora Klein! Surrender – or you will perish!" he warned her.
"But we are no longer one person, Mr Holmes. We are two souls in one body. My darling Anton Dolingen has returned to this world. And our combined powers will destroy you. You may now call us…Countess Klein!"
I heard Mycroft curse, in understanding of what we were now up against. Two vampire spirits with combined powers – in Isadora Klein's body. She would be difficult to defeat, and I could not see how the fighting was faring beyond the flames. Whether our side was overcoming the combined forces of Klein's vampire acolytes and the Stonemasons – or if my friends and allies were being wiped out, one by one…
"Mistress… What do we do now?" Kaitlyn panicked.
I grabbed hold of Ruby's legs whilst Kaitlyn continued to hold the red robe's upper half. Low on blood, the vampiress had been reduced to a light load for us. "We feed Ruby to the portal – so we can close it! Get ready… Run!" I instructed her.
But Klein had heard us. She – they – turned and dived towards us, changing within seconds into a roaring black leopard! The speed of her attack and transformation took me by surprise – and I was knocked aside by her forepaw, sent spinning towards the portal, which was open to swallow me…
No!
I managed to grab one of the upright stone pillars and arrest my stumbling flight into darkness. Gasping, I felt the claw marks that had slashed my chest, cutting into my clothes. Underneath them, my undead flesh began to knit itself together.
Then my ears were assailed by Kaitlyn's scream. A scream that was abruptly silenced.
My blood – well, my stolen blood - froze.
I forced myself to look to my right. Ruby, lying sprawled across the floor like a discarded doll, was the first thing I took in. Then, next to her, was the black leopard, ripping out the throat of my poor maid, and lapping hungrily at the gushing blood of the woman pinned beneath the big cat's massive forepaws. Kaitlyn's last actions were to turn her anguished expression towards me, and reach out with her hand to grasp the outflung hand of her cousin Amelia – Amber.
Then the light in Kaitlyn's eyes died, along with her vitality. Now Kaitlyn was reunited with her cousin – or so I hoped.
I felt the onset of blood tears in my eyes. And I screamed my fury at Countess Klein.
She – I prefer to think of the two combined souls in that body as she – turned her head to me as she pulled away from Kaitlyn's clawed chest. The animal gave a rumbling laugh and began padding towards me.
Now you will be sent through the portal, Mary Watson…, the mental voice of Countess Klein stabbed into my head.
But she froze in mid-stride, as three bats flew over the flames of the blood circle and descended in-between the Countess and myself. Their forms swiftly dissolved and reformed into three, snarling vampires, claws at the ready. They were Mina, Jonathan, and John!
"Sorry for the delay, dear." John gave me a budding smile. "Those acolytes put up a real fight. But it was their last one…"
I smiled, letting him knew I forgave him.
"It is over, Isadora Klein," Mina Harker declared ominously, her eyes glaring like ice. "My blood-family and I have ended the lives of your vampiric acolytes! You do not have the right to rule over the mortals of this nation – not even in the shadows!"
"It's not just Klein anymore, Mina!" I warned her. "Count Dolingen's spirit has merged with her. They've combined their powers!"
My husband moved back to stand beside me. "I see… They will still have to get past me, before I let Dolingen kill you again, Mary!"
'Who are you to defy us?' Klein-Dolingen roared into the heads of us four vampires – so I gauged by how my husband and undead friends flinched,
"We are Jonathan and Mina Harker – of the bloodline of Count Dracula! And, when I was mortal, I survived my encounter with your wretched wife, Count Dolingen!" Jonathan growled back. "Just as we will survive you and your childe, Isadora Klein!"
The red-eyed, big cat hissed in surprise – and…fear. Yes. Fear.
Taking advantage of the moment, the Harkers shapeshifted swiftly into wolves – before leaping upon their feline opponent. Yowling, Countess Klein fought to fling them off her, before leaping towards me and John.
"Get Ruby, John! Send her through the por-," I broke off, screaming as our chief antagonist sent us both flying with her desperate attack. She swatted John aside, and rammed into me, before either of us could pick up Ruby. I was slammed into one of the pillar stones and I slid down it, my latest wounds and cuts already starting to heal as my undead flesh began to repair itself, as a result of my bloodline coming from both Dolingen and Dracula.
When the world finally stopped spinning, I moaned with pain. Then I felt myself gripped with fear, as the black leopard padded swiftly over to me and bared her fangs. Within seconds, her form dissolved into mist and reshaped itself into Countess Klein. She reached down to seize me…
Then we heard the scream.
Both the Countess and I twisted our heads round, to see my John and Sherlock Holmes lift Ruby upright between them, before throwing her through the portal. Ruby cried out again – and this time her scream echoed, as though she had fallen down a well shaft. It was a cry of despair, knowing that she was now doomed.
Instantaneously, the form of Klein's second-in-command was consumed by the flashes of lightning within the vortex, as if she had been struck by lightning. There was a loud 'boom'. And then, the portal abruptly shrank down to nothing and disappeared.
It had been closed.
In the next moment, the barrier of fires licking upwards from the circle of blood were all snuffed out.
Silence suddenly descended upon the crypt.
With the fires now gone, it was possible to make out some of the carnage beyond the circle. The acolytes all seem to be dead – many of them having been torn apart by the red-eyed wolves set against them. I knew that two of them had been the Harkers – whilst the black male I had seen earlier was still present. Now joined by a slender, red-furred beast, which I instinctively knew to be Elizabeta.
The chamber was littered with bodies and streams of red. The air filled with the scent of blood – of both mortals and vampires. The burnt remains of Steve Dixie and Culverton Smith added an obnoxious scent that would have made me sick, had I still been mortal. The only supporters of Klein that were still alive were most of the stonemasons – and they had either been knocked out, or who now wounded and whimpering with fear, as they held up their hands in surrender to Mycroft and his remaining agent. The other lay on the floor, his throat torn out.
As for the rest of those on our side, Leonie stood before a pair of the downed stonemasons, in human form, baring her fangs at them – making it clear what she would do if either man gave her an excuse to do so.
Then she spied the body of Amber. Leaving the gypsies to guard the stonemasons, Leonie wailed and ran over to the fallen red robe – the woman who let her live during the fight at the safe house. Leonie bowed down and touched Amber's pale face, closing her eyes. The young woman, now newborn vampire, sobbed red tears.
I was touched. I would mourn myself for both Kaitlyn and Amber… If I could survive the night. I sensed that the battle was not yet truly over.
I looked the other way, looking within the circle. Gervais Bryce lay on the ground, face up. Above his wide eyes, his temple had grown a third eye. One without a brow or lashes. It oozed red from where the bullet had struck him, whilst fighting Sherlock – and immediately I realised that Mycroft Holmes, or one of his agents – had managed to accurately shoot through the flames to save Sherlock in his moment of need.
The Harker-wolves were both limping as they padded around Klein, in order to attack her from different angles. They were bleeding from grievous wounds inflicted by the black leopard. Wounds that were slowly healing.
And Irene Adler, despite being wounded, had crawled over to seize the bone dagger – which was now raised to be thrown at Klein…
The Countess roared out her surprise and anger at the fall of her army.
"NO!"
Everyone around me and the Countess became very still.
The silence was broken by Sherlock Holmes.
"It is over, Isadora Klein! Unless you release Mrs Watson, and surrender now – someone will end your not-so-immortal existence."
"Surrender to what? My kind are above humanity! I will not be submitted to being a lab rat – as your brother has done to John Clay!" she raged. "You have condemned my Ruby to hell, Sherlock Holmes! You will die for that!"
Sherlock's grey eyes were cold and stoney as he glared at the Countess. "Consider your vampire lieutenant's fate to be a small price to pay for your murder of Sir Reginald Musgrave, you evil woman! Not to mention retribution for all of your victims, even Shinwell Johnson. And let's not forget the harm that you and those you commanded have brought to the Watsons, Mrs Hudson, and Mycroft. I have no mercy left for you."
"Nor should you, Sherlock," Mycroft's gravelly voice spoke up, as he reloaded his pistol. "After all, this witch wanted to squeeze all the information that she could out of you. And she would've turned you into her puppet - if she could."
"And we vampires of the Lodge of the Watchful Moon reject your way of dominating mortals. They are not our tools to control!" my John fired back at Klein, adding his fury to the others.
The Countess swept her head around to regard the two Harker-wolves and Irene Adler with the bone-dagger – her eyes narrowed in hate and fear. I sensed her mind calculating her chances of killing me without being killed herself. Her hand, still outstretched to grab hold of me, was inches away from my face. It shook with fury.
"Do it, Irene!" I yelled – urging her to thrown the dagger.
And then, Klein-Dolingen swiftly dissolved into mist again. The bone dagger sailed through the cloud of vapour, before bouncing off one of the stone columns that supported the arched roof of the crypt.
Before our eyes, the dark mist flowed towards the door leading to the cell. The speed of her departure took us by surprise.
"After her! John bellowed.
But most of us who were still alive had little strength left for fighting. And there were the surrendering stone masons to be guarded. Consequently, only myself, John, Jonathan, and Mina were able to give chase, as we sprinted after the mist, running up a flight of stairs.
The four of us vampires started to catch up with the Countess as she reformed into human form next to a window on the ground floor of the temple. With her fist, she smashed a hole in the glass, breaking it into myriad pieces with the combined strengths of the two souls within her body. Snarling, Klein-Dolingen threw several shards at us, forcing our side to duck and dive aside to avoid harm.
She used the distraction to then engage the nearest of us in battle. John and I were grabbed hold of and flung aside into the walls by our powerful, combined foe – before she slashed her claws into the Harkers. But it soon became apparent that the Countess could not stand against all four of us.
Then Sherlock caught up with us, and he raised the pistol he now held. Pausing to regain his composure, he steadied himself and took aim.
Hissing as she saw the latest danger, the Countess morphed herself into mist once more. Seconds later, she was reforming as a bat.
The gun fired, the 'bang' resounding in the corridor. The Klein-Dolingen bat shrieked as it nevertheless braced itself and flew through the shattered window, and soared into the night.
Jonathan was left sprawled on the floor, his throat badly severed. I gasped and rushed over to Mina, who was pulling her husband upright and pressing her palm against the pouring of dark blood.
"Mary – John. Go! After her!" Mina yelled at us. "Mr Holmes will help me…"
"John…?" I turned to him.
He nodded. "Turning into a bat and flying… It's now instinctive to me – like making myself invisible was. Let's end this, Mary!" And with that, my brave husband closed his eyes and concentrated, swiftly reforming himself briefly into mist – then quickly reforming into a grey-furred, red-eyed bat that flew out of the broken window.
So, steeling myself – I willed my body to change in the same way as the Countess and John. Moments later, I too was a bat – my senses primed for echo-location as I furiously flapped my large wings and soared into the refreshing evening air. Within moments, I had got my bearings, using my bat-senses to avoid the buildings around me. I soon identified John, flying above me – and I wheeled to keep him in sight, even as he dived, banked and twisted around the buildings and the panicking horses pulling the cabs, staying doggedly on Klein's trail, as she weaved in and out of the movement on the streets below, trying everything she could to shake us off.
It was not working for her. The dark-red furred bat ahead of John was flapping one wing that was hissing with a faint trail of smoke. Evidently, Sherlock had struck Klein with a garlic-infused bullet.
The Countess could sense that we were still on her trail, not letting up, not giving in. I had no idea of where she had intended to flee to – if she and her acolytes had a secondary base. But what happened is that the Countess changed direction. Whilst still weaving in and out of the path of any buildings in her way, against the backdrop of the cloudy sky, and the cutting wind that was making flying difficult for all three of us. She even tried to cut a path through a factory site, repeating the funnel smoke trick we had played upon her, back eight years ago. But, holding ourselves against the wind, John and I banked around the plumes of smoke - and we caught sight of our enemy again.
But soon my senses were detecting a change in the landscape. Under the bright moonlight, the roads looked less clumped together. The houses were now generally newer, of better quality. Trees became more numerous, and the landscape felt fresher, more natural.
We had reached the edge of London, and were entering the countryside. Now the obstacles in our path of flight were not buildings, but low hills and woods.
And as I flew past a church, still trailing behind John, but not tiring, I cast my senses ahead of me – then let out a screech of dismay to John. Klein had vanished!
The answer as to why soon became apparent. As I banked around the church, the red-furred bat launched herself from the side of the steeple, and collided into me.
I screeched again, trying to correct my flying form as I tumbled in the sky. Moments later, Klein smashed into me again. This time she wrapped her wings around me from behind, as her fangs began to pierce the back of my neck…
I panicked. Unable to fly, I plummeted and twisted in the latest gust of wind – taking Klein with me.
We smashed into the upper branches of an oak tree. Then the middle branches. And next the lower ones. The world around us a spinning blur of moonlit leaves and hard, bruising wood. Eventually, we collapsed upon the ground – separated in our descent through the tree.
Somehow, I managed to dissolve into mist – before reforming into my normal persona, clad in my ripped, torn, red dress. I moaned, feeling my broken bones gradually knit together – thanks to my vampiric healing abilities.
I was not sure where I was. Somewhere nearby a lamp post shone, providing enough light for me to see that there were two low, arched, brick walls close to me, on either side of the path leading onwards to my left. The ground I was lying on was also arched upwards.
I had fallen from the tree onto a footbridge.
My hearing readjusted itself back to human levels. Well, nearly. Vampires have sharper hearing than mortals. Apart from the frightened sounds of owls and mice fleeing the scene, there was nothing to be heard.
Until the 'puff, puff, puff' of an approaching train steadily emerged from the distance, coming my way.
Then there was the sound of someone dragging their leg, coming up behind me. Only a slow heartbeat…
Dear God in Heaven! No…!
I opened my eyes, seeing the nearest brick wall before me. I crawled towards it, pulling myself across the beaten footpath I had landed upon. Reaching the wall, I started to pull myself up, at the centre of the bridge.
Then Isadora Klein seized me from behind with both hands, and spun me around to face her.
Her face was gashed, her black dress torn and bloodied. A quick glance down confirmed that one of her legs had been dislocated by the impacts whilst falling through the oak tree now close to us.
Madam Obsidian had also managed to impale herself on a stout, sharp branch whilst crashing through the tree. Not a large one – the end of it was protruding just an inch out of her abdomen. But she was bleeding badly. Bad enough that she had evidently decided that pulling it out, right now, would make things worse for her.
Klein gave a cruel smile that was made even worse by her split lip.
"¡Maldito seas!" she spat. "Such fighting spirit in you, Mary Watson… If we had known you would have turned out to become such a deadly vampire, we would have just drained the old housekeeper – and instead of killing you, we would have kidnapped you, to turn you into a loyal thrall, to be used against Sherlock Holmes. The Anton part of us would have thrashed out any resistance from you against us. If only…"
"…if only Anton Dolingen had not been killed whilst murdering me! And even if he had not, I would still have found a way, through John, to fight back against you both!" I spat back. "I will NOT abandon my humanity, you monsters! This childe will never accept her abusive 'parents'! Because of the power Count Dolingen accidentally gave me, you both fear me... And because of your obsession over my defiance, you are now both ruined – Countess Klein! Your acolytes are dead."
"We will find and convert suitable mortals into becoming our new brethren and Followers. We will not stop our plans to rule from the shadows! It is only through our control over the human cattle that we can survive, and grow more powerful…" Klein-Dolingen gave a rumbling laugh. "Now it is time for the wayward childe to finally die. This is the end of the line – for you!"
And with that, she tried to push me over the lower brick wall that my back was pressed against – one of the walls of the arched footbridge we were struggling on. With the oncoming stream train pounding along the track that was several meters below us.
The train that would slam into me, and end my undead existence, if I fell during the final confrontation with Countess Klein.
"JOHN!" I managed to cry out. Where was he…?
I tried to break free of the combined strength of my two tormentors. The only advantage I had, apart from the Countess's torso wound, was that the grip of her left arm had been weakened. It was the limb that Sherlock had fired at. Consequently, Klein-Dolingen was struggling to throw me over the wall of the bridge whilst I frantically struggled against her, my hands pressing against the Countess's fist and face. But gradually, she was overpowering me, and the trees and the night sky beyond were tilting away from me…
And then John swooped in. With remarkable precision, he managed to avoid me – whilst successfully scratching the Countess's face and eye with his clawed feet.
"Aagghh!"
And as Klein-Dolingen screamed in agony, I took a desperate gamble. With my raised knee slamming upwards into her privates, I allowed myself to fall backwards over the wall – taking Klein-Dolingen with me…
We both landed heavily on the train track and the gravel around it – and after groaning, I forced myself to roll aside. The shrill whistle and the puff-puff-puff of the engine assaulted our ears. The coal-scented smoke blew into the air around us, preventing the drivers from seeing the two women now moments away from calamity.
The Countess hissed her alarm. Scrambling upon her knees, she lurched towards me and grabbed hold of my arm, trying to drag me fully onto the track – even as she aimed to pull herself out of danger. I fell forward onto the rails.
"No!" I yelled. With my fading strength, I reached up with both hands and yanked the tree branch out of her.
She gave a sharp cry as the blood poured from her open wound. Releasing me, the Countess froze. One of her hands was now pressed against her bleeding abdomen – the other hand slipped off me, as I frantically crawled backwards along the ground.
Klein-Dolingen croaked, her eyes wide with fear. Unable to pick herself up, her form blurred but failed to change into mist.
She was now too weak to save herself. And she was sprawled perpendicular to the track, straining herself in desperation to crawl forwards towards me on her knees and with one hand.
"Pull us to safety, Mary!" She pleaded to me. "We are both sorry for our actions... Sálvanos! Save us!We command you!"
"This is for all of your victims – both of you!" I screamed back at the combined creature that was both my sire and abusive keeper, even as I wiggled my aching body off the tracks. "For Opal, for the Whitneys, for Sir Reginald. And for the harm you caused Martha, Sherlock, and John. And…this is for me, and the unborn baby I was carrying when Dolingen killed me! So…go…TO…HELL!"
That confession shocked her. I caught a glimpse of Klein-Dolingen's petrified expression as her wide eyes shot from me to the thundering, swift, inbound train. Then came the noises that I will never forget – the abrupt crunching, the cutting, the agonised drawn-out scream, and the harsh squealing of the wheels as the train was ground to a sudden halt after meeting the obstruction in its path.
I had not realised that I had closed my eyes at the last moment. When my terror had passed, I opened my eyes once more.
Close to me lay Klein-Dolingen. She was on the ground, now just clear of the rails, on my side of the tracks. Or rather, half of her was. Her shredded black dress was drenched in blood – and there was a crimson pool oozing out of her exposed, severed entrails, exposed in the dim light of the lamp post next to the bridge above me.
I turned my face away from the ghastly sight and focussed on the Countess's face. Her pain-filled eyes and terrified expression were now frozen on her pale face. Her head turned to one side, staring at me with eyes that no longer saw anything. Eyes that had taken in her doom in the last instant of her unnaturally-prolonged life.
The train drivers were yelling, wondering what had just happened. I crawled backwards into the black shadows cast by the nearest trees, to hide myself from the sweeping gaze of the startled mortals.
The grey-furred bat landed on the leaf-littered soil besides me. Moments later, it had morphed into a brief, dense mist, and then into my darling husband. He knelt next to me, and I clamped my head and hands upon his body, shaking with the emotion of one who seen the nightmare through to the end, and had escaped by finally waking up. Free at last.
"Hush Mary. You are safe now…," he consoled me, as he lovingly brushed back the blood-matted strands of my hair that draped over my dirty forehead. "We all are. I'm sorry… I could not find you at first. Still learning how to fly with my wings in a crosswind…"
I chuckled, even as I sobbed and squeezed him tight. His body was not warm. It felt cool. Of course it was. His body temperature had fallen to match mine. He was a kindred being now – as much of a vampire as myself.
He was my childe. But I was already looking forward to the time when he would develop himself to become my vampiric equal…
"But I hadn't given you the Third Bite! How did you…?" I blurted.
John pressed his forehead against mine. "Similar story to yours, Mary. Just as Count Dolingen's powerful blood in your system brought you back from the dead – so too did your blood in my body, when I died."
"H-how…?"
"Gas explosion at the Harkers' safehouse whilst I was fighting Baron Gruner," my husband began to explain. "The flames destroyed him, whilst I had cover from them. But I succumbed to my injuries… Last night, I arose from the coffin that my new family had placed me in – just as Leonie rose from hers. I had to quickly discover and develop my new, innate tricks – which fortunately included invisibility…"
"You often felt invisible when Sherlock was conducting his work, as well as verbally sparing with his enemies," I pointed out, giggling.
"Well, yes. And since we knew that the ritual would be tonight, the Harkers allowed Steve Dixie to escape. Given that he had been their prisoner for some days, they hoped that, as a Follower, he would be desperate enough to run straight back to Klein for his next feeding of her blood. A gamble – but it worked. Dixie never realised that we were on his tail as he led us to the masonic temple. And led us to you and Holmes, in the process. I just…wished we could have saved Kaitlyn as well."
"Kaitlyn fought well for me. We will both mourn for her… At least her killer is now dead." I sighed and held him close to me. "I was not strong enough to sense you coming," I confessed. "I feared that I wouldn't see you again, darling..."
John pulled back his face from mine, so we could see each other better. His expression was resolute. The tips of his fangs were showing. "I won't let anyone divide us again, Mary. We are now of the same nature… The same blood."
"I know – and I am grateful to the powers that be that I have you, John! Just… Please promise me that you will never lose your inner humanity – just as I promise still not to lose mine."
"Of course, Mary. We may be monsters – but we will still be anchors for each other in the endless nights to come," John pledged to me, squeezing my hands gently. "The only people we will kill are the ones who are already monsters themselves."
My cold heart melted as I nodded in agreement. We smiled at each other, savouring the moment.
"She's already aging…," John whispered, looking past my shoulder. "I wanted to see her final end – and now I have."
Slipping free from my husband's hands, I twisted round to face the body. We both watched in morbid fascination as Klein-Dolingen's face rapidly aged – the spell of suspended time now broken for her, confirming that the two souls within that body had met True Death. The dark ginger hair swiftly turned grey, then white - and the exposed skin of her flesh shrivelled and broke down into ashes. The form underneath her dress deflated.
"Was she that old…?" John gasped. "I thought she had been undead only for a few decades…"
"No… It must be due to the possession by the older Count Dolingen!" I reasoned. "Somehow…they are aging together!"
Within moments, the corpse was nothing more than ashes, and ruined clothes soaked with drying blood.
"At least the drivers won't be so traumatised… Klein no longer resembles a woman cut into two by the train. Just the clothes left to explain," John sagely observed. And I smiled in my agreement.
But now the passengers were yelling. Carriage shutters were being drawn upwards, and the drivers were climbing down from the engine.
"Time for us to go!" John urged me.
I nodded and briefly squeezed his hand.
Acting as one – our minds bound by the blood-tie forged between us – we instinctively morphed swiftly in our bat forms and flew towards the nearest wood.
Soon, we were both feeding on the blood of rabbits – regaining our strength as we rested, before we would fly back to the masonic temple to rejoin our friends, our allies, and our new family, in our moment of blessed victory over darkness.
Our ordeal was over.
Now John and I could look forward to the future. Together.