Scarlet Rose

Chapter 2 - Horror In The Woods

The next morning, after eating breakfast, Katherine said goodbye to her father and brother, then got into the carriage that would take her on a long journey, away from London. As the carriage started moving, Katherine looked out the window one more time to see her father, brother and family house for the last time. Maybe she would be able to visit them again someday, but had no idea when it would be, especially as she clearly remembered Patrick talking to her last night. He mentioned something about London being not safe, which was why he and father had rushed so quickly to send her to fiance in Cardiff. Patrick had told Katherine not to think about it, but she couldn't help but be bothered by this. What was happening? Why was Cardiff safer than London? She hated when father and brother kept things hidden from her. It was the same with mother's death - nothing was certain, and father's assurances that she was seriously ill did not convince Katherine. She would have remembered if her mother had been unwell at the time. The day before death, she looked so healthy, and then when left the house in the afternoon to meet her sister, she never came back. Father received a message in the middle of the night and left the house in a hurry, leaving 7-year-old Katherine and 14-year-old Patrick alone with the servants, and when he returned the next morning, informed them that their mother had died. The official version was illness, of course, but Katherine remembered that her mother didn't look sick the day before. Besides, there was no mention of even the smallest epidemic at that time, so where and with what could she get infected? Father explained that this was some new disease that was asymptomatic. Okay, maybe Katherine was limited in knowledge, for as a woman she was not taught as much as boys, but knew quite well that every disease have symptoms. Therefore, it was hard for her to believe that this was the cause of mother's death.

However, Katherine chose not to think about it any longer, in the end, she doubted that would ever get clear answers to these questions anytime soon, if ever. She focused her attention on the view outside the window, and when got bored of it or the views were not interesting, Katherine returned to reading the book she had with her. It was romance, of course, her favorite genre by far. This one, however, had some elements of fantasy, because it told about forbidden love between a human girl and a werewolf. Their story was beautiful and at the same time very tragic, which touched Katherine deeply. Neither the humans nor the werewolf community wanted to accept the relationship of these two, which forced them to flee and hide their true identities from others. Katherine, however, hoped the story would end happily for the couple. She liked such endings. However, she did not have time to reach the final chapter, for it was already dark and the carriage drove to a nearby town, to the nearest inn, where Katherine, along with the servants and coachman, were to spend the night. Katherine was the only one to have a separate bedroom, and the best of the rooms that the inn offered, but had a hard time sleeping. She did not know if it was the fault of a completely unknown place or general nervousness about what awaited her at the destination of this trip. But she tried to close her eyes and rest a little, after all, they were supposed to leave early the next morning, after breakfast. Before arriving here, Katherine ate what they took from home, but it was food for one day only, then the servants had to buy more on the way, after all, father gave her quite large sum of money for the journey expenses.

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The next days passed similarly - during the day they traveled in a carriage on the roads, stopping only to buy food or to spend the night somewhere. However, Katherine had the opportunity to admire parts of the country that she had never seen before, since had never left London before. Observing the life of villages or smaller towns was extremely fascinating for her, although seeing how poor people live, Katherine was actually glad that she came from an aristocratic family. But on the other hand, these people seemed to live more freely, not too worried about what to wear or how to behave at the table. But most importantly, here more likely a person could marry someone because of love, since money or social status did not play such an important role. It was one of the few things that made Katherine envious of these simple people.

Eventually the carriage reached the port from which Katherine was to cross to the other side. That way it was shorter than driving around the water, which is why her father chose this route. After carrying all the luggage, Katherine and five of the six servants and their horses, boarded the ship with her. The sixth, the coachman, was to bring lord O'Sullivan's carriage back to London. On the other side of the water, another carriage and a coachman, sent by her future husband, would wait for Katherine to take her on a ride to his property in Cardiff.

Sure enough, when she came ashore, a magnificent carriage was waiting in the port on the other side. Now Katherine could undoubtedly say that her future husband was a rich man. After the five servants had packed her luggage and saddled the horses for themselves, they continued their journey together - young lady Katherine O'Sullivan in the carriage, and the servants riding horses next to it. From here it was much closer to Cardiff than from London to that port. Therefore, the journey was supposed to take only one day - they would be there somewhere by tomorrow's noon.

Katherine was already reading another book, this time repeating French words to herself. She had been learning this language since she was a child, but liked to refresh the language because, while sitting in London all her life, she did not have many opportunities to use it and was afraid that she would forget everything. Katherine suddenly thought how great it would be if her future husband liked to travel and would like to take her with him. Money will certainly not be a problem for him, so she could at least visit Europe. Katherine cared especially about France, and not only because she knew their language, but had heard that it was a very romantic city, and also beautiful.

As lady Katherine was sitting in the carriage, she heard strange noises coming from outside, so looked out the window and saw that they were now driving along a forest path, and in the distance there was something like animal sounds, but not coming from birds, it was more like some kind of predators.

- That must be wolves.- she heard the words of one of the servants, who was riding the horse near the window through which she was staring.

- Be quiet, the young lady can hear you and will be scared.- the man was scolded by one of the elderly female servants, who helped Katherine in dressing up.

- Okay, sorry.- the man replied remorsefully.

Katherine moved away from the window and leaned more against the backrest of the carriage seat. Wolves? She never thought that would ever hear these animals, even from a distance. Kath knew they were dangerous, especially if they attacked as a pack. She immediately imagined what would happen if these animals came closer to the path and wanted to attack the horses. Of course, Katherine was sure that the servants were prepared to meet the wolves, after all, her father knew that the journey would lead through forests too, also on the way from London they were driving through more forested areas, and she saw that the male servants had firearms, and the women had torches, and kindling to light them, and as it was known, the wolves were afraid of the fire. However, Katherine was afraid anyway. Maybe she had read too many scary novels, and rightly so, father always scolded Kath whenever he caught her reading such a book.

In any case, Katherine sat rigidly now, listening intently and shivering to every weird noise. It was going to get dark soon, so the coachman hurried the horses with his whip to get as fast as possible to a nearby town and inn to stay overnight. Suddenly, however, the horses stopped abruptly, both the ones at the carriage and those carrying servants on their backs. They snorted anxiously, and after a short time began to ruffle their front hooves upward, hurling some of the servants to the ground. As the coachman and the servants tried to calm the horses, the same sounds could be heard as before, but from much closer distance. The three men were preparing firearms, and it took a long time, after all they had to fill the barrels with gunpowder and load the bullets. Two women, on the other hand, lit the torches as quickly as possible, and the coachman drew his saber, because it was the only protection he had. Katherine glanced out the window from time to time, horrified to hear the sounds getting closer.

- It doesn't sound like wolves at all…- one of the men spoke, and the fear was clearly audible in his voice.

- What the hell... It sounds like a half human, half animal roar.- added another man.

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Everything happened very quickly. A lot of people jumped out from behind the trees, but their faces looked like more like one of a wild animal, and the sounds they made were unlike anything Katherine had heard before. She saw fangs in their mouths, which scared her even more. Unable to bear the sight of it, she covered the window completely with a curtain and slid from the seat to the floor of the carriage, wanting to hide as best as possible from this creatures. Katherine heard the shots first, then the screams of the servants. One of the women began to say a prayer and shout for them to go back to Hell. The sounds of fighting quickly turned into cries for help and pleading for mercy, then something like animals tearing their prey to pieces. At last she heard the terrified words of the coachman.

- Vampires... Children of the night...- he said, before running back to the carriage and opening the door.- Miss, please run as fast as possible... And don't look back.- the man turned to her, his face pale as a sheet.

Katherine, seeing what was happening behind the door before the coachman closed it, opened the ones on the other side and literally fell out, her knees hitting the ground. But she ignored the pain and rose quickly, throwing off her boots, hat, and lower part of the dress. Wearing the underskirt only, Katherine started running through the forest, on the way trying to untie the corset that made it difficult for her to breathe. The images she saw were also constantly intertwined in her mind. Those humanoid creatures rushed at her servants, bit them on the neck or other parts of the body, and seemed to drink their blood. It was then that Katherine remembered the coachman's words - the vampires. She had read about them in scary novels, but never thought that such creatures could exist in reality. Katherine just couldn't believe it, but she had seen it with her own eyes, right? If this place was supposed to be safer according to father and brother, they probably had no idea that such creatures roamed the local forests. How was she going to get to her future husband's house now? Katherine had no idea how far away this forest was from Cardiff or any nearby town. Can she run that far? Will she be able to escape these creatures? Have any of them noticed her yet? Katherine's heart pounded furiously, not only from running, but fear as well. Kath prayed silently to meet someone along the way or that she would be able to run to a village, at least.

When Katherine finally got rid of the corset, she was running faster, but after a while heard clearly that something was chasing her. After hearing the monstrous noise those creatures made, she knew who was after her. On this thought Katherine's eyes filled with tears.

- "No, leave me alone..."- she pleaded silently in her mind, trying to run even faster.

Unfortunately, it was hard to run on the forest floor and despite wearing stockings, Katherine's feet were already all injured. Eventually she slipped, running into the mudder ground, landing on her hands and face. She wanted to get up as quickly as possible, but her hands kept slipping. Then she heard a hiss and felt something standing above her and slowly leaning over the back. Katherine was grabbed by the hair and dragged through the woods, back to where the carriage was. It was almost completely dark now, so Katherine could hardly notice the thing pulling her even if wanted to. And she didn't even want to see it. Katherine screamed all the time, holding on to the foolish hope that someone would hear and save her.

When Katherine was back by the road, the creature let go of her hair, leaving in the middle of the forest path. In the distance, she could see like through the fog a whole herd of these creatures and blood all around. They stood in a group by the bodies of the coachman and servants lying on the grass, as if waiting for something. The creature that had drawn Katherine here approached the group.

- I have something special for Antoine. Young lady, aristocrat.- said the creature in a female voice.

Then a man called Antoine emerged from the group who looked by far the most human of them all. He was tall, well-built, with broad shoulders, was dressed like a rich gentleman and not stained with blood at all. It could be concluded that this man was undoubtedly in charge of this group and did not get his hands dirty.

- You did a great job, Mary Anne.- he praised the creature that brought Katherine here, clear French accent in his voice.- Who knows, maybe I'll make her my bride? Such woman would suit me, right?- the man added with amusement as he approached her, lying down on the path.

Katherine, panicked, got to her feet and wanted to run away again, but Antoine was faster. He grabbed her from behind, on the waist and pulled hard towards him. Then he brushed the hair from her neck, exposing the ear as well, to which he put his lips.

- Don't run away, young lady. I will give you a something wonderful, the gift of eternal youth.- he whispered very sensually, conveying a shiver down her spine.

- No, please... Leave me alone, I beg you...- Katherine spoke up, terrified, feeling the tears streaming down her face.

- Yes, keep on begging. You don't even know how your fear turns me on.- Antoine replied in a clearly amused tone. Within seconds, he grabbed Katherine by the hair, tilting her head slightly to the side to reveal the neck even more. Katherine closed her eyes, felt something sharp stick into her skin, then heard sucking sounds, and after a while she felt dizzy until she completely lost unconsciousness.

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Katherine was lightly awakened by the pain that seized her whole body. She felt lying on the forest path again, but all around heard something like the sounds of fighting again. Katherine tried to open her eyes but couldn't hold the eyelids up for more than a few seconds, so at least decided to listen.

- Wayne, the rest fled east. There aren't many left, but we've got to catch them, and kill each and every one.- she heard a low, ear-friendly male voice.

- What about her?- asked a slightly higher male tone, probably the Wayne's.- She was bitten, will probably change soon... So she has to be destroyed too, Shiro.- added the voice.

- I know.- said the earlier voice, and Katherine felt someone kneel beside, tilting her head back and touching the bite mark.

- Well, unless you do with her the same as with Margareth...- suggested Wayne's voice.- You know what I mean.- he added.

- Are you crazy, Wayne? Shall I condemn her to the same fate?- said the voice of… Shiro? Yes, I guess that's how he was called.

- You know, she's young, it would be a shame to kill her completely. And that way you can save her life.- Wayne replied.

There was silence for a short while.

- Okay, I'll take care of it, and you run after the rest. Don't waste your time, kill as much as possible.- Shiro ordered, then you could hear the whistle of the wind. Soon after, Katherine heard a slight hiss, and as the fingers touched her lips, parted them, and then something soft, like a wrist, was pressed against them. Katherine felt some warm, strange-tasting liquid flow into her mouth and swallowed more of it before she knew it.

- Go ahead, drink, it will help you.- Katherine heard the man's voice, then drifted away again into sleep, since the pain she felt before began to fade away.