Chapter 3 Things Went Wrong

I

With extreme care Leonardo placed Leila on the grassy floor. Her frail and bare body appalled to the lack of blood. Her face resembled the spectrum of death while her deep back eyes stared empty to the sky. A fine carmine thread of blood dripped down her mouth.

In the distance it could be heard the thundering gallop of some horses approaching in droves. It was a group of men riding, now a few miles away, imperceptible for any human being but Leonardo distinguished each different sound with great precision and clarity. For the vampire it was as if the riders and beasts were only a few meters away. They scampered through and into the woodlands and the metallic sound produced by the light armored riders and horses told him that they were heavily armed soldiers.

"It's the count! He comes for his daughter!" Leonardo looked at Leila with a mixture of impotence and resignation. The vampire immediately covered her bared body the better he could with her own dress and cape. He stared at the agonizing woman one last time, his mind filled with doubts and feeling pity for her. Tensing his fists, the still naked man didn't know what to do. Would he stay and fight for her... for their love? Love? How could that be? He was told vampires weren't meant to love, only to crave, seduce and kill.

Maybe it was a better idea to hide in the woods, to wait for the right moment and to come back for her in a few nights. Whatever he decided to do it had to be fast; the soldiers were pretty close at this moment, already bordering the river's bank. He paid attention to details, dismantling the different noises. They were about thirty men by horse armed with swords and spears, wearing armors and helmets and carrying shields. He could fight seven or eight at a time, but not that many even more being unarmed. And while he fought with the guards, the count could easily take Leila with him back to their castle.

A turmoil of tormenting thoughts and ideas swirled inside his head. He had to opt for something to do and it must be done quickly. If not, both of them were going to die and he would lose her forever. Deep inside he didn't want to leave her like that, lying naked on the dirt. Leonardo's instincts moved him to fight to death for that woman, but after pondering things and all the different alternatives, reason was contrary to his desires, and a tragic option was in reality.

The vampire had never been a coward. Yes irresponsible and a vagabond, an assassin in all the infernal extension of the word, but this time he would have to leave with his hands clean. To flee -a word never used by him before- was his only choice. He would come back for her in a few days when she's fully recovered. That was the most intelligent thing to do.

It only took a second to put his trousers on and after placing a tender but sad kiss on Leila's forehead he escaped running the faster than he could out of that place. His body moving with exceeding speed, with a superhuman velocity, making of his body only a blurry shadow as he ran through the dense forest.

A few minutes later, only a few, the soldiers arrived to the stream. It was indeed a group of thirty men leaded by their master Lord Bruce Von Dorcha. Once the man saw his daughter lying on the floor in such a terrible condition he immediately dismounted his stallion and ran downwards hers. He cried to see Leila completely naked lying helpless on the grass under the tree.

With fatherly care, the man examined his daughter's body, removing the garments that covered her. She was too pale and presented lacerations on her fists and neck as if bitten by something. Leila skin was covered by patches of purple bruises and dry blood. Also her lips were stained in carmine and her eyes were opaque and empty. The anguished count of Swabia lifted his daughter in arms as he managed to wrap her up the best way he could. He wouldn't let anyone to see her bareness and the virginal blood that tainted red her inner thighs. Lord Bruce hugged his girl sobbing inconsolably and cradled her in his arms. Her breathing was barely imperceptible and the coldness on her skin spoke of Leila's deplorable state. Without doubts, the circumstances revealed that his beloved daughter had been assaulted and left naked to die by the river. 

"Oh no God! No my Leila! What have they done to you?!" The man wailed carrying the lady on arms as he moved to his stallion. "Comb the entire area in and out the woods! Search under the stones if it's necessary! That bastard can't be too far from here! And once you find him , kill him and bring to me his head and testicles on a stake! Vile coward he is! But he won't leave my lands alive I swear!"

The afflicted parent rode back to his castle cuddling the young lady in his chest. The path, taken more than by instinct and the horse's memory than by a conscious count himself, seemed eternal for the distressed man, who sensed that with every second passed the life of his little one escaped from his arms. Two riders flanked the noble man at each side along the way until they finally reached to the Argengau castle.

Horrified, Lady Bertha witnessed how her agonizing daughter was brought carried in arms completely naked. The countess' eyes filled with tears while howling in the most harrowing way standing but shaking in the middle of the front courtyard. "Noooo! My daughter Leila! Why? Noooo!

II

Having passed two days after Leila was found in the woods. The medics, men well studied in the use of herbs and rustic healing, went in and out the agonizing lady's dormitory. They never could give good news revision after revision and after treatment. The counts were devastated watching their daughter only getting worse to the point of complete health's deterioration. Abashed, both parents didn't know what to do or what to ask the healers to try. All kind of thick and smelly concoctions were given to Leila and outside the room the women prayed fervently for the young countess recovery. But in the end nothing could be done for her. On the third day, the only daughter of the Counts of Swabia, had died.

It was a very concurred funeral. For three days, Leila Von Dorcha's inert body was exhibited at the mansion's great hall. Swabian aristocracy paraded, rendering a last tribute to the deceased young countess. Inconsolable, the mother wailed, sometimes in a humming, sedated by the lavender and chamomile infusions she's been given. Sometimes, when meeting reality again, Lady Bertha cried out loud grieving her only daughter's death while the count tried to remain stoic to support his contorted wife, yet he couldn't hide how his eyes were swollen and reddened both for crying and for containing his tears. Deep inside he felt guilty, recalling the countess' words warning him of how Leila would end if he kept spoiling her up... Now it was too late.

Like a sleeping angel, Leila lied over the wooden funeral table. She'd been dressed with a beautiful white embroidered gown and a headdress of white flowers crowned her head. Her hands delicately rested on her belly holding a silver rosary and a bouquet of pink flowers. Laces beaded with pearls were placed as sandals on her bare feet to walk in the afterlife to heaven... Or to hell.

It was a sorrowful scene in the Argengau's castle. Reunited in the grand salon there were more than fifty people. Only months ago it was the hub of soirée and balls in the Southern region of the Sacred Germanic Empire, but today was the scenery of the saddest of the events: Leila Von Dorcha's funeral, one of the most beautiful and sparky girls on the province.

Everybody talked about the terrible happenings. The poor lady was assaulted and left to die on the woods and that was something never expected to happen to such a pretty and wealthy lass. In life, Leila was a promising young woman, desired by the majority of the noblemen in the county and nearby regions or even foreign princes. Her decease was without doubts a lamentable event. In the end she was a girl blessed with so much beauty that even three days after her death, she looked as fresh and comely as if she was still alive.

It was before dusk on the funeral's third day, most of the presents were leaving home, except for the family members and the Von Dorcha's closest friends who would stay to take Leila to the family's cemetery, her last dwelling. While the chariots paraded up and down hills to get lost in the distance, the funeral procession left the castle to the graveyard. Praying and oscillating the censers, the priests, lead by Monsignor Kutrel, climbed down the stone steps towards the cemetery followed by the mourning crowd. The white aromatic smoke swirled up in the air impregnated with the spicy scent of myrrh and incense and the flowers adorning the cask. In the back the wailers -paid women to cry for the not too charming young lady- mixed with the mother's tearing sobs.

Lord Bruce was one of the men that carried the wooden platform where Leila's body lied. The cadaver wobbled a bit side to side as the table swiveled with every step taken down. They bordered the centenary birches and willow trees and then took the cobblestoned path stained with moss that lead to the designated tomb.

The bishop recited his last prayers as Leila's body was placed in the cask and covered with the wooden lid.

"My beautiful girl Leila... Oh why have you gone? Why God has taken you with him so soon!?" Poor Lady Bertha cried. Her body shook with every nail hammered down to seal the cask and she dropped to her knees when the box was being placed in the mortuary pit.

Count Bruce hugged his wife while the undertakers shoveled dirt to fill the hole. Dark soil covered the cask completely as Mosignor Kutrel pronounced the last statement,"Riquiescat in Pace Leila Von Dorcha. Amén."