Bathory's Secret: When All The Time In The World Is Not Enough (Affliction Vampires Book 1) by Romina Nicolaides
Authors: Romina Nicolaides
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into the corridor from the door of the binding room she saw nothing but some very large blow flies caught in a spiderweb behind one of the family portraits struggling to break free. More horrible flies. The beeswax candles were almost depleted but the flame still flickered a little at the base. By dawn they would be completely gone. Seeing nothing suspicious around her, she returned to her wing of the castle where the tallow candles had long expired. Guided only by the light of the moon she noticed that her bedroom door was ajar and walking inside she hoped to find Miloš waiting for her.
On the bed, with her knees folded up to her face, Oriana sat crying. Puzzled, Kati quickly lit her bedside candle, approached the girl and sat next to her placing a comforting hand on her back.
“What’s the matter, Oriana?”
“I couldn’t sleep; I kept having the same nightmare over and over again, so I came to find you.” Her eyes were red and her nose was running.
Dipping her face cloth into the bucket of water that was by the now inoperative fireplace Kati wiped the girl’s eyes and nose.
“What dream did you have?”
“I dreamed I was never going to see my parents again and started to cry in my sleep.”
“Of course you’ll see your parents again. Before long, the Countess will be sending you home for Easter, I am sure of it. I’m hoping to be able to see my mother then too."
Having stopped crying Oriana blew her nose into the dirty face cloth.
“How did you find my room anyway?” Asked a puzzled Kati.
“I watched you leave our dorm earlier and saw which part of the castle you came into. When I couldn’t sleep I thought I could come teach you to read but you weren’t here so I fell asleep and then I had the awful dream.”
Kati looked at the book Oriana had placed on the bedside table, its golden letters twinkling under the flickering flame. It was bright red and beautifully decorated with squiggles and letters and a large cross in the middle.
“You want to teach me to read?” Kati was very touched by the little girl’s gesture.
“Yes, I thought about what you said today and realized that everybody should know how to read the words of God.”
“You are such a clever girl,” said Kati squeezing Oriana into an uncomfortable cuddle. “I would like you to teach me to read very much but the Countess will not like you doing that. We’ll have to be careful and quiet so no more screaming the castle down when we have bad dreams, understood?”
“But I didn’t scream; I just woke up in your bed crying.”
Kati’s skin crawled again. “You’re certain you didn’t scream, not even in your sleep?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“And you didn’t hear a scream?”
“No,” answered the girl.
Kati realized now that the distance between this part of the castle and where the binding room was, was quite long, and the thick walls would’ve no doubt muffled the sound if it had been Oriana. Did I really hear someone scream or did I dream it?
She turned to Oriana, “I think it’s time you went back to your own bed, because we’re both very tired and it's affecting us. Take your bible so that no one finds it in here and if the other girls ask, say you were in the chapel praying. Tomorrow we’ll come up with a good time to do this. Alright?”
“Alright,” confirmed Oriana picking the book up.
“And Oriana?”
“Yes?” Asked the girl as she was about to close the door.
“Thank you.”
Oriana smiled her beautiful smile and went out into the quickly disappearing night to finally rest.
Five
It was mid-morning when Kati woke up. The forced daytime sleeping was really confusing her body clock. No matter how late she went to bed she could only ever muster three to four hours of sleeping before waking up and even then it was bad quality sleep. She always felt tired. She sat up in her bed
On the bed, with her knees folded up to her face, Oriana sat crying. Puzzled, Kati quickly lit her bedside candle, approached the girl and sat next to her placing a comforting hand on her back.
“What’s the matter, Oriana?”
“I couldn’t sleep; I kept having the same nightmare over and over again, so I came to find you.” Her eyes were red and her nose was running.
Dipping her face cloth into the bucket of water that was by the now inoperative fireplace Kati wiped the girl’s eyes and nose.
“What dream did you have?”
“I dreamed I was never going to see my parents again and started to cry in my sleep.”
“Of course you’ll see your parents again. Before long, the Countess will be sending you home for Easter, I am sure of it. I’m hoping to be able to see my mother then too."
Having stopped crying Oriana blew her nose into the dirty face cloth.
“How did you find my room anyway?” Asked a puzzled Kati.
“I watched you leave our dorm earlier and saw which part of the castle you came into. When I couldn’t sleep I thought I could come teach you to read but you weren’t here so I fell asleep and then I had the awful dream.”
Kati looked at the book Oriana had placed on the bedside table, its golden letters twinkling under the flickering flame. It was bright red and beautifully decorated with squiggles and letters and a large cross in the middle.
“You want to teach me to read?” Kati was very touched by the little girl’s gesture.
“Yes, I thought about what you said today and realized that everybody should know how to read the words of God.”
“You are such a clever girl,” said Kati squeezing Oriana into an uncomfortable cuddle. “I would like you to teach me to read very much but the Countess will not like you doing that. We’ll have to be careful and quiet so no more screaming the castle down when we have bad dreams, understood?”
“But I didn’t scream; I just woke up in your bed crying.”
Kati’s skin crawled again. “You’re certain you didn’t scream, not even in your sleep?”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“And you didn’t hear a scream?”
“No,” answered the girl.
Kati realized now that the distance between this part of the castle and where the binding room was, was quite long, and the thick walls would’ve no doubt muffled the sound if it had been Oriana. Did I really hear someone scream or did I dream it?
She turned to Oriana, “I think it’s time you went back to your own bed, because we’re both very tired and it's affecting us. Take your bible so that no one finds it in here and if the other girls ask, say you were in the chapel praying. Tomorrow we’ll come up with a good time to do this. Alright?”
“Alright,” confirmed Oriana picking the book up.
“And Oriana?”
“Yes?” Asked the girl as she was about to close the door.
“Thank you.”
Oriana smiled her beautiful smile and went out into the quickly disappearing night to finally rest.
Five
It was mid-morning when Kati woke up. The forced daytime sleeping was really confusing her body clock. No matter how late she went to bed she could only ever muster three to four hours of sleeping before waking up and even then it was bad quality sleep. She always felt tired. She sat up in her bed
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