Vampire Of The New World

The ghastly appearance of Dante inside one of the crates shocked Flora and she took several steps backwards. She wanted to scream and had to put her hands to her mouth to stop herself from doing so. She felt unable to run out of the room as she looked at the pallid face of Dante whose eyes were locked in a penetrating stare. Questions flooded her mind: What was Dante doing inside a crate full of earth? Is he dead? Or is he alive and awake? Can he see me? Should I run?

Flora gained back her senses after a few moments and realized that Dante, despite his eyes being wide open, remained motionless. She ventured a few steps forward and watched for any signs of consciousness. At first, Flora was afraid that Dante was dead, but his unusually red lips seemed to snarl and the deep eyes seemed to gaze at her knowingly. Flora could not see Dante's b.r.e.a.s.t under the lid of the crate and could not tell if he was still breathing. Not knowing what else to do, Flora gathered her remaining courage and strength. With trembling hands, she took hold of the lid and pulled it back over the crate, covering Dante's face. She did this very slowly and took care not to make any sound. She then stepped backwards before turning towards the passage and returning to the library.

With a sharp click, the bookshelf swung back in position after Flora touched the hidden lever. She then made a quick look around the room, trying to remember if she left any evidence of her presence. Certain that everything was as it was, she hurriedly left the room and locked the door. Her cleaning cart was still parked outside and she pushed it back towards the entrance hall.

"Stop!" It was Pablo. With her heart beating wildly against her c.h.e.s.t, Flora turned around slowly. "Where do you think you're going?"

Flora was unable to speak.

"Return that cart to the storage and go to the kitchen," said Pablo.

Flora remembered these strange events that she witnessed a few days ago as she stood in the kitchen. She wondered what could have happened to their previous guest and whether the same could happen to Jon. She thought about Dante and whether he discovered that she was in the hidden room and saw him inside the crate.

That night, Flora waited at the kitchen until around the time that she was sure that Jon would be finishing his meeting with Dante. She then went hurriedly to Jon's room and waited. She found a rosary on the bedside table and picked it up. She was glad to see a religious item in a house that was literally devoid of them. Suddenly, she heard the door open and she pretended to make the bed as Jon entered.

Her conversation with Jon was brief and she could only hope that Jon took her words seriously, but Flora was happy that at least there was a chance for her and her daughter to leave the island soon. With light steps, she walked along the corridors to the entrance hall when she heard the sound of china breaking followed by a loud crash. Then, she heard Pablo's angry voice talking to a crying child… Flora's daughter!

Flora was frantic and ran towards the entrance hall where she managed to reach her daughter. It turned out that her daughter ran from the servant's quarters when Flora left that night. She then kept herself hidden in the entrance hall, but was soon discovered by Pablo when she knocked off a ceramic plate that was displayed on the mantlepiece under which she stayed hidden.

A piece of ceramic fell on the forehead of Flora's daughter, grazing it. A few drops of blood started to come out. The child was crying and Flora did all she could to calm her down. She pulled out her handkerchief to wipe the blood and dropped the rosary she got from Jon's room as she did so.

The child looked at the shiny object that fell out of her mother's pocket and pointed at it. "Calm down now, mommy brought you a gift," Flora said as she placed the rosary around her daughter's neck. The child calmed a bit and looked at the shiny beads that her mother put on her.

All of a sudden, Dante appeared and rushed to Flora and her daughter at lightning speed. Afraid at what Dante was going to do to her child, Flora held her tightly against her. Dante reached for the child's neck, but for some reason, suddenly withdrew his hand as if burned. Flora saw Dante's face suddenly change into some gruesome mask and his eyes shone a bright red. Then, just as it appeared, his face returned to normal.

Flora was horrified and held her daughter even tighter. She stayed frozen in position and did not know what to do. She then felt Pablo's hand holding her wrist as she and her child were led out of the hall.

"I told you not to bring your daughter here," Pablo shouted angrily. "This is no place for a child."

"I don't know how she was able to get here. I told her to stay in our room," said Flora with her head bowed low.

"Your foolishness will lead you to your ruin and you will bring your child with you." They arrived at the end of the corridor where beyond a closed gate was the short path leading to the servants' quarters. "You should go to your room as quickly as you can and lock your door and windows."

Both mother and child went out the gate and Pablo locked it behind them. Moonlight shone on the short path and it glowed with a silvery light. Suddenly, there was the sound of female voices and hushed laughter. Flora snatched her daughter up and held her close to her b.r.e.a.s.t as she ran. Not long after, three women in light, flowing dresses came out of the shadows. They appeared to be teasing each other, their voices thin and shrill like the cackle of crows. They followed the path taken by Flora and her daughter.