Sanguine

Vampire Hunt

What ensued was a vampire hunt. Over the next fortnight, Ferenc and Hans both sent their men out in spades, hoping to kill Mircalla.

"She has become a demon!" Ferenc boomed to his army. "She must be stopped and killed at once! Any man who can bring me her head shall be rewarded beyond his wildest dreams!" he said, and his men went into a frenzy upon hearing such a promise. Their bloodlust was as violent as Mircalla's had been just one night ago. Meanwhile, even Hans was beside himself.

"This innocent young girl has been possessed and now she must be put to death, lest she infect any of the rest of us!" he cried. "So to my brave soldiers, go forth with strength and speed and bring me this monster's head! Protect us all!" he cried, waving his chubby arms.

Not everyone was in favor of the vampire hunt, though. Marcia, Maximiliana, Margreta and Cornelius were the exceptions. Sadly, only Maximiliana, Margreta and Cornelius were able to actively work against it. Marcia had a kingdom to return to. Maximiliana had a brother in law who had pretty much stripped away all her power and Margreta could leave her castle with her husband as it had been before she married him. Marcia left as soon as she could, headed back home, but not before wishing Maximiliana and Margreta luck. They exchanged the farewell before running off to find Cornelius. If they were going to save Mircalla, they had to act fast.

"Once we find her, we convince her that we're friends and we see if we can save her somehow," Margreta said.

"Agreed," Cornelius and Maximiliana said in unison.

"Good," Margreta nodded darkly. "I will search here, Cornelius, you search your home and Maximiliana, you search every spot in between."

"Yes, Ma'am," they repeated together again, then each of the three ran their separate ways and the vampire hunt was on.

But that fortnight was in vain and not a trace of Mircalla came up anywhere. Instead, she came to them... She came to Margreta first, in a dream. The young woman was actually back at Magdalena's castle now, wondering if maybe Magdalena's suicide had driven Mircalla to such madness, but nothing turned up. At least not at first. But Margreta had scarcely fallen asleep when Mircalla arrived in all her vampiric glory.

"Sister," Mircalla began. Margreta shot up in fear.

"Mircalla?" she asked hoarsely.

"Tis I," Mircalla nodded.

"What are you doing here? Where have you been?" Margreta was afraid, but her voice showed only true concern for Mircalla. This was enough to soothe Mircalla's wrath and she chose to answer truthfully.

"I have been turned, as you know. But by whom is the real question. I was turned by the girl upon whose bed you now rest," Mircalla said.

"Magdalena?" Margreta shook her head in awe. "But she's dead!"

"Suicide victims can become vampires," Mircalla explained with a shrug.

"But why you?" Margreta was still confused and terrified.

"Because I took her title from her," Mircalla responded flatly, then she told Margreta about her ascension to countess.

"So Magdalena killed herself because we all ignored and bullied her too much and then she accidently came back as a vampire and her first course of action was to kill you in revenge?" Margreta asked finally, trying to understand it all.

"Yes," Mircalla nodded solemnly.

"But that's stupid!" Margreta argued. "Why not kill Papa? This was all his fault anyway! Why you? You're innocent!"

"Sadly, I am not," Mircalla disagreed with a genuine frown. "I took her position willingly and scoffed when she was cast aside. I was just as mean and indifferent to her as you or Papa or anyone else ever was. I suppose I deserve what she did to me..."

"Don't say that!" Margreta interrupted.

"But she must be stopped," Mircalla continued, raising her hand for silence. "Magdalena must be stopped. To leave her the way she is would be to leave a plague upon this kingdom more deadly than any disease we've ever faced before."

"But what about you?" asked Margreta.

"Me? You can save me. If you kill her, you can save me. You can undo this vampire curse if you kill her," Mircalla replied. Mircalla's serious face changed into one of genuine fear.

"What is it? What's wrong?" asked Margreta.

"I must go. The night wanes and I dare not stay around in case the vampire hunt draws near," Mircalla whispered, then before Margreta could call out to her again, she was gone. Margreta woke up at once, totally alone in Magdalena's bed. There was not a trace of Mircalla anywhere.

The next day, Margreta set out to find Maximilian and Cornelius and the moment she found them, she told them about Mircalla.

"Well she moves fast," Cornelius remarked in dry humor, though he looked much better now knowing that his beloved was somewhat ok.

"But so must we," Margreta said. "I don't feel safe telling Papa that another one of his brood is a vampire, but we must catch Magdalena!"

"Agreed," Cornelius said. "But where do we look?" he asked. Then his eyes widened. "Wait, you don't think she's hunting the rest of the family?"

"Perhaps," Margreta replied. It was a terrifying thought but it made sense. Magdalena had always been the family outcast so it would make sense that she would try to pick off her family one at a time. In what order she would attack was unknown, but it made sense that she would simply try to kill every Karnstein alive to get her revenge. But at least that gave the poor trio a start.

"We'll try to each spend time with the remaining Karnsteins and keep an eye out for Magdalena," said Margreta and the others agreed with her once more. Eventually, it was decided Cornelius would watch Maria while Maximiliana would watch Marcia and then Margreta would watch Matilda. So, with every Karnstein being watched by the anti-vampire hunters, the search for Mircalla continued. Neither Margreta nor Maximiliana personally minded if Magdalena killed their father, but Magdalena still had to be stopped.

"Best of luck!" Margreta called to Cornelius and Maximiliana as the trio split up again, this time to the other three Karnstein girls.

"Best of luck," the two replied solemnly, then the three road off each in their own way, racing to protect their family.

From all sides, a battle was raging. Hans and Ferenc led a vicious, violent search across Karnstein with scores of men at their bidding. Meanwhile, Margreta, Maximiliana and Cornelius tried to find a way to capture Magdalena. At the same time, the object of the vampire hunt was watching, lurking. She smirked in amusement as her family attempt to find her, but they never would because she was hidden too well. Instead, she only continued to watch as they prayed and burned everything in their way only to find nothing once the ash settled. She was cruel and sadistic. The other three, her allies, however, received a different woman. Sometimes, when she did take time to visit them, she would help them through dreams, comforting and confiding in them, helping them research a way to kill Magdalena. In times like those, she returned to something resembling her old, sweet self, racing around bookshelves as they read up on vampire lore. But once those nights were over, Mircalla would vanish once more.