The Bride of the Immortal (19 page)

 “There is no point in struggling,” he said in an eerie, echoing voice that lacked all traces of humanity and lifted her up as if she weighed no more than a kitten. She had already given up all hope as he carried her upstairs, past the
paravent
, past the bed, past the unicorn and the maiden and out onto the balcony. There the demon set her down on the marble balustrade with her feet dangling over it, one little push away from falling into the unfathomable depth in front of her. Icy wind blew up here – was tearing at her – as if it couldn’t wait to see her demise. Then she felt another sharp sting, this time on her neck. Her eyes were directed towards the faraway lake and despite her distance to it and the time of day she could see several girls standing at the shore so clearly as if she were amidst them. They were all dressed in white bridal gowns and their hair was adorned with floral head wreaths.

“Join us!”

A chorus of whispers filled the air as they started to walk into the lake in procession until Mairin couldn’t see them anymore. Soon after, their faces appeared again right beneath the water surface. They were looking up at her and the gaze of their cold empty eyes made her shiver. The only thing that gave her warmth was the small flow of her own blood that trickled down her body. As she grew colder and colder a calming weariness spread inside her and the thought of the imminence of the end filled her with great relief. But before she could leave this world of torture she felt a hard push in her back that made her slip off the balustrade. Mairin’s heart was racing as she subconsciously tried to stop her fall. It was in vain.

When she finally lost her consciousness she was overcome by the realisation that she had been discarded like the other brides and was descending into the deep nothingness to meet her inexorable fate.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” His cheek was only slightly burning, even though it seemed she had hit him with all her strength. After finally waking, Mairin had abruptly sat up in bed, causing the towel Hilda had put around her head to slip away and reveal her now dry but untamed curly hair. The strike had come without warning.

“Miss? What are you doing, miss?” Hilda was at least as surprised as he was, but even her words weren’t enough to stop her mistress from raging. Helplessly the maid continued pacing up and down near the bed, wringing her hands and muttering in disbelief. Before Adrijan even had the chance to consider the possibility that Mairin might throw a pillow at him, she had backed away and sent one of them flying. He caught it at the last moment and handed it to the astonished maid, but Mairin had already procured more ammunition. After all she was surrounded by it.

“Mairin? What’s wrong?”

Another cushion found its way through the air and bounced off Adrijan’s hand which he had sloppily raised in defence. This wasn’t the answer he had hoped for. The way she sat at the head of the bed reminded him of a cornered animal that was going wild from fear. Adrijan knitted his brow in frustration. The girl seemed to have lost her mind and he was completely unaware of the reason why. Somehow he had to make her talk, yet he couldn’t ignore the fact that all of her attacks had been directed towards him and he was most likely the last person she wanted to reveal her fears to.

Mairin picked up another pillow and seemingly realising that her attacks with the improvised missiles were futile, simply held onto it as if it were a shield, capable of protecting her. With her widened eyes gazing at him through her untamed curls she looked so endlessly fragile that Adrijan was more than ever ill at ease. As calmly as possible he returned her look and continued to observe her. There was no point in daring an approach. Only from time to time her gaze quickly wandered to her sides, perhaps seeking a way past him. Against all odds he thoroughly hoped that if he waited long enough she would come to her senses.

All of a sudden Mairin leapt forward in a desperate attempt to escape. Adrijan wouldn’t let her. With a quick move he grabbed the girl by her wrists and coerced her into lying down on her back. The sudden impact forced the air out of Mairin’s lungs and caused the girl to let the cushion slip out of her hand. Damn it! Why had it come this far? If there was one thing he abhorred, it was demonstrating his physical advantage over women, yet he couldn’t allow her to endanger herself and others by continuing with this madness throughout
Mondstein
castle. Mairin screamed and started tossing her head while kicking after him. Once or twice she even attempted to dig her teeth into his arm. Determined not to hurt her he absorbed several blows and when he shifted his weight to keep her from moving he didn’t put the possibility that she might go as far as spitting at him past her. Hilda stared at the both of them with her mouth agape.

“Please stop! I really mean you no harm.” …s
ays the person who forces her to stay down.

Even though the stubborn girl had managed to worsen the condition of his wounded arm he had done his best to sound calm and friendly. Had his impression of her been so false? Could fear be the cause for all of this?

“Lies! Let go of me!” Mairin screamed hysterically.

Adrijan was at a total loss and decided to seek Hilda’s assistance. After all the maid had not been attacked by the girl so far.

“Would you please talk sense into her?”

The maid hesitated before she nodded and came closer to bend over Mairin.

“Please stop, Miss! Father Démon helped me take you to bed. We found you unconscious in the bathtub. Why did you go there anyway? You weren’t planning on taking a bath, were you? Miss, you really must stop attacking Father Démon and tell him what’s wrong! Trust him, he’s a man of God!”

The nervous babbling of the helpless girl seemed to finally reach Mairin.

“But... he... he’s a demon. The butterflies... they... and then... he killed me. “

Her words didn’t make any sense. Adrijan shook his head.

“That sounds more like a vicious dream. I’m not a demon, I assure you. You shouldn’t judge me by my name. Haven’t I saved you twice already? Look, I’m even wearing a cross.”

He hoped that seeing his pendant would calm her down, despite the fact that it was a Celtic cross, but when he reached into his cassock with one hand Mairin used the opportunity to scratch him.

Adrijan grumbled and once again held her down. “Just stop it already!”

It was to no avail. Mairin hissed at him, looking as if she were waiting for the right moment to break free and jump at his throat.

Desperate situations called for desperate measures.

“Hilda, go fetch the poker from the fireplace.”

“Father, but...” The maid’s face bore an expression of sheer disbelief.

“Just do it.”

Mairin gasped.

“I knew it!” she mumbled filled with bitterness.

Adrijan rolled his eyes.

The maid still hesitated for a moment before she went to get the requested tool. When she came back to the bed she presented it to Adrijan on her palms like a ceremonial sword.

“It’s not for me. It’s for her,” he said gesturing towards Mairin with his head.

Hilda raised her eyebrows in surprise. He didn’t have to look at Mairin to know that she hadn’t expected it either.

Adrijan understood the maid’s dislike towards the idea of equipping the unpredictable girl with a dangerous weapon but in reality it was only an attempt to make Mairin feel secure. Despite the uncertainty of the outcome, he decided to ignore the maid’s doubts and to proceed with his plan. In case it failed, he was confident that he would somehow be able to counter Mairin’s attack and disarm her.

 “Take it. And use it to defend yourself. Please consider though what this thing can do to a human being before hurting anyone.” With these words he let go of her wrists and allowed Mairin to snatch the poker.

She looked confused but far from pacified. Adrijan, who was sitting on the bed opposite to her, decided to back off a bit.

“I don’t care. If you come any closer, we shall find out what I can do with this,” she threatened him. At least Mairin’s reaction was a sign that the poker fulfilled its purpose and his plan seemed to work.

“Alright, alright, I’m staying where I am, so don’t bash my head in,” he grumbled, trying not to make her more suspicious.

Mairin nodded with a grim look on her face. Even though she was still hostile she was at least talking.

“Would you care to explain what I’ve done to you?”

Adrijan hoped that she would answer him this time.

“Vivian told me-… that I should take a look at the ceiling to find out more about my future.”

What was supposed to be on the ceiling? Adrijan looked up, but couldn’t find anything suspicious.

“Not here...” Mairin said. “It’s down there in the bathroom.”

Adrijan noticed that they were getting closer to the source of her fear. The girl’s eyes had turned empty and she was clasping the poker so firmly that her knuckles showed all white.

“At first I didn’t see it, but then I remembered where to look.”

All the while she had been shaking and it seemed to take her a lot of effort to talk to him like this. Regardless, her answers were cryptic and not very helpful. What could’ve put her in such a state?

“It must’ve been above the bathtub, right Miss?” Hilda tried to help.

Mairin was staring blankly and didn’t respond. With a sigh Adrijan got up from the bed. He had remembered too late that doing so would probably frighten the girl but against all expectations she simply remained sitting there staring into space.

“Stay with her for a moment. I’ll go take a look.”

Hilda nodded firmly even though one could easily see that she disliked being alone with her mistress.

“Don’t worry, I won’t take long,” he added and hurried downstairs.

Scanning the ceiling for anything peculiar Adrijan almost bumped into one of the pillars and cursed under his breath. Once Mairin was involved, his concentration seemed to be failing easily. If he had felt like this at Sunflower Garden, he would have probably tripped over the carpet and staggered into the enemy’s knife. He had to pull himself together.

Hilda’s words and the knowledge of where Mairin had fainted helped Adrijan to find the ingeniously hidden painting before long. The red-haired vampire who had sunk his teeth into a young maiden had a lot in common with him and the woman strangely reminded him of Magdala. Was this Vivian’s way of toying with him? Did he believe that he had feelings for Mairin? Even if that were the case, he wouldn’t have been able to plan everything this quickly. Was he perhaps hinting at his involvement in Magdala’s death? And what about the seven black butterflies? There were too many unanswered questions for Adrijan’s taste but at least he was now able to understand why Mairin was so scared of him. The thought that they had been lucky that she had only fainted in the bathtub and not slipped and broken her neck rekindled his anger, but that was something he would take care of later. For now his priority was to find a way of regaining Mairin’s trust. Discovering the purpose of the painting along with Vivian’s true intentions would have to wait.

She flinched when she heard a noise coming from her right. Adrijan had returned and stepped past the
paravent
.

“I think she has calmed down a bit, Father,” Hilda whispered to him loudly enough for her to hear.

Indeed she had calmed down a little, once she had noticed that the demon had left.

Was he truly a demon? Mairin didn’t know anymore what to believe. The terrible nightmare had seized hold of her and still refused to relieve her from its clasp, yet Adrijan’s words had created doubt. Mairin alertly followed the priest’s movement with her eyes as he approached the bed and sat down in front of her. Both of her wrists were still aching.

“I found it,” he stated plainly, bearing a worn out look on his face.

“And?” she got herself to ask.

“And... it’s scary and I agree that I share some similarities with the vampire but I definitely haven’t done anything like that in my life. There are no vampires... no demons in this room. It’s just a painting.”

“Vampires?”