III
III
"Father?" A small girl opened the door. When he lifted his gaze from the telephone, Jan opened his mouth in surprise. "What is it, Marie? Aren't you asleep yet?"
"There are so many strange men outside my room." The girl, anxiously hugging her favorite teddy bear, ran to her father. She said, "I'm sort of afraid."
"It's okay, Marie." Smiling clumsily, Jan drew his face close to his daughter. He poked at her soft cheek with his knotted finger. "Those men are good people. They'll protect you and Mother from bad people who want to come into the house."
"Bad people?" Hugging the big bear tightly, Marie tilted her innocent face toward him. "Father, are bad people coming to the house?"
"No, that's . . ." Noticing that he'd accidentally made his daughter more frightened, Jan hurriedly shook his head. "The bad people won't come. It's okay. Um, those men are here just in case."
'"Just in case'?"
Baffled, Jan scratched his head. "How should I put it? They are here for Mother's sake. She was afraid, so I'm protecting the house with these guards."
"Didn't Mother go out?"
"Go out?" Jan frowned at his beloved daughter's words. Rachel was resting with our daughter, wasn't she? "What do you mean, Marie?"
"Mother said she had business in town. I was alone in the room. I got lonely, so I went to you."
"Marie, wait a minute." Stroking his daughter's hair, Jan summoned a guard. "Hey, isn't anybody there?"
What in the world is Rachel doing, going out at a time like this!
When Hugue had invaded their home, he'd lied to her, telling her it was a terrorist. Had he not convinced her they were in danger?
He recalled his wife's face when she'd seen her former lover. . . .
"Hey, somebody! Isn't somebody there?"
"Did you call, Chief Inspector?"
"You're slow! What have you been doing? When I call you, come at once!" Nervous and sick to his stomach, Jan was about to launch into a tirade; however, when he saw who entered the room, he froze and turned pale.
"Ah, I'm very sorry. I was busy. It took a little bit of work to kill all twenty guards."
"You!"
The young man before him was stained crimson from his head to the tips of his nails. His tuxedo was in tattered rags, riddled with countless bullet holes, and his hair was wildly messy. His face dripped blood. He licked his nails.
"Memlink! Why are you here? And what in the world is with your clothing?"
"What did you say? How dare you!" The blood-smeared vampire snickered; then, he smiled demonically. "You traitor! Plotted well, didn't you?"
For a second, it looked as though the young vampire had disappeared. Suddenly, Jan's body was slammed into the wall.
The vampire looked down at the chief inspector, who struggled to breathe. Memlink held Jan's little girl in his hands; she was unconscious.
"Ma-Marie! Count Antwerp, what are you going to do? What does this mean?"
"What am I going to do? That's my line! Killing my entire clan!" Memlink's fangs extended. Bounding to the window, the wounded Methuselah roared, "What was that police squadron doing there, Maylen? You tried to wipe me out along with that priest!"
"Wh-what are you talking about? I don't know anything about a police squadron!" It was true. All Jan had done was contact Memlink and betray Hugue's whereabouts. He hadn't given his subordinates any orders. "What are you saying?"
"You still pretend not to know?" The vampire's eyes focused on Marie's white face.
Seeing Memlink's purple eyes narrow with bloodlust, Jan screamed, "Stop! What are you going to do with Marie?"
"Isn't it obvious? She's dessert." Memlink laughed. He kicked Jan in his stomach, preventing the man from getting off the floor. Then, Memlink bared the nape of the girl's neck, deliberately making a show of it. "Yes, pretty, good veins. Doesn't your daughter look tasty?"
"Stop! Do what you want to me! Don't put your hands on that child!"
Jan tried to jump up, but his body wouldn't obey. He desperately stretched out his hand to his child as the vampire licked his long fangs. He watched in vain as Memlink pressed his lips to Marie's throat.
The window behind the vampire shattered.
When Memlink tried to tear out the girl's carotid artery, he discovered there was nothing in his arms except thin air. A strong night wind blew into the room. The girl fell to the floor ... along with Memlink's cleanly severed left arm.
"Gaaah!" the vampire screamed. His left arm had been cut off beneath the elbow.
Jan's eyes landed on a shadow that stood calmly under the spray of blood. "Hugue de Watteau!"
"You're next. Just wait." The swordsman tossed the unconscious girl to her father. At the same time, he attacked the vampire with his polished blade.
Memlink squealed. "Damn you!" He lengthened his right hand's barbed claws and gave a muddled roar. With unrivaled supernatural strength, Memlink kicked Hugue across the room. Hugue leapt into the air as though he weighed nothing, but the vampire pursued him, jumping off the floor, brandishing his claws. "Go to hell!"
"Omnes enim qui acceperint...Those who live by the sword ..." Hugue struck the wall. Ordinarily, such a collision would have broken all his bones and ruptured his internal organs, but he had rounded his body like a cat and landed with his feet on the wall. The swordsman absorbed the shock of his impact and quickly regained his sense of balance. He drew his beloved sword and gazed pitilessly at the vampire flying toward him.
"Gladium gladio peribunt . . . die by the sword. Amen!"
They flung themselves at each other. Memlink's claws gouged the swordsman's cheek. Five red lines burst open on his handsome face.
Meanwhile, Hugue had stuck his blade into his opponent's torso. The vampire's body had been severed from his right arm to his heart. He'd been thrust into the wall—and stayed there, unmoving.
Jan gasped as he watched the fierce battle end. He petted his daughter, who still lay unconscious on the bloodstained floor.
Is it over? Is my daughter safe?
"I've kept you waiting, Jan van Maylen." The swordsman, who'd been looking down at the vampire he'd slaughtered, turned around. "You're next."
"Uh— "
Hugue's whole body was dyed red with wounds, and his cassock was torn to bits. He looked like a wraith. Bloodlust radiated from Hugue; Jan understood that the last ten years had turned his former friend into a demon. If Jan exerted all his effort, he still would be no match for Hugue.
"Die!" Hugue said, hefting his polished blade.
Jan didn't reach for his own sword. He couldn't bring himself to beg for mercy. Instead, he whispered, "I wanted to be a man worthy of Rachel."
"What?"
The blade stopped in mid-air, as if stuck.
Jan continued, in a daze: "As you see, I am ugly. Renowned simply for hard work and raw talent, the Maylen family was third-class mercenary nobility. My position and power clearly could not match for yours. That's not all. You were blessed with good looks, a prestigious family . . . you had everything — including Rachel."
"That's why you betrayed me?" The swordsman raised his voice, "You betrayed me and destroyed my family for that?"
"I'm sorry, Hugue. Forgive me."
Still holding his daughter's body, Jan couldn't lift his face under the weight of such shame and regret. He muttered in a trembling voice, "Forgive me. If I die, Rachel and Marie — "
"Knock it off!"
Jan didn't notice that the swordsman's face had blanched when he heard those names. He didn't notice that Hugue's sword was trembling faintly.
"How can you say such a thing, knowing what you did to my family, Jan? I won't forgive you! I absolutely won't forgive you!"
Hugue shouted, as if to remind himself of his vow. He brought down his sword. "Die!"
Jan reflexively closed his eyes. The life he'd forged through deceit and betrayal was over. For the past ten years, he had not once rested easy; often, he'd wake up screaming into the night. Whenever he heard his former friend's name, he felt burdened with guilt. Still, he had been happy. He had been able to live with his precious family—that was all he'd ever wanted. However, that, too, was now at an end.
Why am I still alive?
Jan was covered in sweat. He opened his eyes slightly. The polished blade dangled directly above his orange hair. He looked up at the demon who held the sword.
"Rachel." Hugue's eyes were focused on the slender woman standing in the doorway behind Jan.
Rachel held a gun in her hands. "Get away from him, Hugue." Her normally pale face was now as white as paper, and her narrow shoulders were heaving with labored breath. Despite her exhaustion, Rachel van Maylen's hands grasped the Derringer, unwaveringly aiming it at Hugue. "Please, get away from him, Hugue. If you don't, I'll shoot."
"When you fired those rounds in the church, you weren't aiming at Memlink, were you?" Hugue's eyes were devoid of any emotion as he gazed at his former fiancée. "Those bullets didn't go awry? You aimed at me from the first?"
"Yes. I knew you wouldn't give up on Jan. Disobeying my husband's order to stay here, I called a police squadron to the cathedral. I didn't expect to bump into vampires, though." Rachel's voice was quiet and calm. "Yes. If possible, I wanted you to let my husband go. I didn't want to watch you kill each other. So, I wanted you to leave this city, but you wouldn't give up!"
When she'd begged Hugue to leave the city, she'd already known the reason he'd come to Antwerp. Naturally, she'd noticed Hugue's clumsy lies. Pretending to go along with his story, she'd tried to chase him from the city without resorting to violence.
Keeping her gun pointed at her former fiancé, Rachel shook her head. "Hugue, I loved you. I wanted to be your wife. I swear that's true. However, I love Jan now. I can't live without him."
The swordsman remained silent.
Tears spilled over Rachel's cheeks as she gazed into Hugue's shining green eyes. Looking as though she might break down in sobs, she put her slender finger on the trigger. "Hugue, I love him. And he loves me, too. So, I'll protect him, even against you!"
"Stop it! Rachel!" Jan pleaded.
Rachel already had pulled the trigger. White smoke burst from the gun muzzle. Half a second later, the Derringer flew out of Rachel's hands.
"Hugue. Please!" Rachel's expression didn't change as she watched Hugue's blade flick away her gun. She put her hands together, as if appealing to God. "It's all my fault. He did it for me! Please, don't kill my husband. Please, Hugue."
Hugue didn't answer. Still silent as a stone, he pulled back, pointing the tip of his sword straight at Rachel's face.
"Stop, Hugue!" Jan cried.
His wife quietly closed her eyes.
Hugue lashed out.
Forcing his broken body to move Jan screamed at the former lovers, "Stop!"
The merciless sound of metal piercing flesh and bone extinguished Jan's cry.
A man in a red tuxedo was standing behind Rachel. Hugue's polished blade had skewered his brain stem, ceasing the vampire's movements forever.
"Memlink? He was still alive! "Jan gasped.
Rachel swooned.
"Rachel!" Jan held his wife close and glanced at the vampire's dreadful corpse. If the blade had moved slightly differently it would have gouged Rachel's neck. Shuddering, Jan noticed that the black-robed shadow was walking away from them.
"Hugue!" Jan shouted. "Hugue, will you forgive me?"
"Forgive you?" The swordsman turned around, sporting a hollow smile on his handsome face. The weapon he'd sheathed on his back made an uncanny metallic noise, as if responding to its master's voice. "Don't talk nonsense. I will never forgive you. However, there are those I have to deal with before I get to you, Jan. I'll kill you when I'm done with them."
"Hugue, you can't mean to go to Count Four!" Jan's voice sounded choked with tears. "Stop! The vampires already know about you. They’ve been on the lookout for you!"
'"On the lookout'? Isn't that pleasant?" Hugue sneered. His green eyes filled with bottomless hatred and nihilistic fervor. "I have no home left. There's nobody waiting for me anywhere— except those monsters. I'll go to them, as they wish." He turned his back on Jan.
"Hugue!" Jan shouted again.
The swordsman's voice was a low rumble that echoed through the darkness: "I'm going. And I'll kill them all."
***
Marie was busy, getting ready to move.
Her father had quit his job as chief inspector, so they would have to leave this house soon. Although she was very sad to leave her home, Marie loved her parents, so she decided to bear with it.
"Besides, although the new house is a little old and small, it has a wonderful attic." Walking along the path that led from the courtyard to her mother's room, Marie talked about her new home to her dolls, which were packed away in a wooden box. "You'll like it, too. Hugue said he liked it very much."
The new doll her mother had bought her — which her mother had named Hugue, after a very handsome priest — was Marie's favorite toy. When they'd gone to inspect the new house the day before yesterday, she'd brought Hugue with her.
"I want to move to the new house soon — huh?" Marie's eyes grew round when she looked up at the main gate. A small figure came into the courtyard. The handsome young man with short brown hair was wearing a cassock similar to the one her doll wore. "It's a priest."
The man's eyes suddenly stopped on Marie. "I have a question." The priest walked toward her mother's room without having to ask for guidance. "Is this the mansion of Jan van Maylen? Input your answer."
Marie nodded, unnerved by the man's flat voice. "Yes, it is, but . . ."
As soon as he confirmed it was her house, the priest again began to walk toward the inner gate.
"Father?" Marie timidly tried calling the priest, who silently turned around. "Father, are you a friend of Hugue?" She held up her doll.
The priest's expression didn't change when he heard the girl's question. He answered in a monotone, "Negative."
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