THE NEWS "THE VAMPIRE HEAD IS DEAD!", SPREADS AMONG THE CREATURES OF THE NIGHT, HOWEVER, ONE IN PARTICULAR IS DEPRIVED OF THEIR KNOWLEDGE.
EUROPE 1412, DAY 15
...
"Come, Philip, come, my dear! Come! Come! Follow my voice and find me!"
...
"What?" I wake up breathlessly and harshly. I get water from the clay pitcher, cold and refreshing, even though the night is freezing. Calms, in fact, my body, but not my soul that restless disturbs my being. What is this dream every night? What would a nobody like me have done wrong to piss off the demon? What would an exemplary husband have done wrong to be the devil's target? Perhaps this is precisely the point. My morally correct life affects him, irritates him, hurts him, despairs him... I not only literally cling to my crucifix with very strong hands, but also, like a Christian and I kiss it asking for protection. I look to the side and my beloved wife sleeps peacefully. Whatever it is this, is only bothering me, and it's better that way. I prefer and I choose that anything falls on me, not because I am a man, strong, virile, masculine, for my Kate is much stronger than me, so, I wish it to be like this for pure love and protection. And not only the flesh, but also, the mind. Let mine be the one to succumb to madness. I get up slowly...
"Philip, where are you going, darling? It is late. Come sleep, come!" My exit in the dead of night is discovered to what I must have accidentally made noise when I got up and woke up my beloved. Thinking like this, many would say, or everybody, that I was going out to commit treason, a mortal sin, in my opinion, stingy and vile, committed by those without character and not aware of their own feelings because to love, or rather, knowing how to love is more than conquering someone and having her as company every day or saying "I love you" every day too or sometimes, but the truth, I believe, is much stranger and, not only with all my heart, but also, from life experience, something dark and nefarious is about to happen. I could pray and ask for salvation, but unfortunately, I was already chosen and it's only up to me to fight with all my strength against what I don't know what is now and I won't even know what is later because my humility, straight character and pure heart prevent me from understanding the designs of evil.
"My beloved, I'm just going there to get some fresh air. I'll be right back! Honey? Honey?" I took so long to answer that she didn't even wait for it and went back to sleep.
"I leave, but I let my heart with you, my beloved wife." I give a tender kiss on her mouth to what she feels and I leave...
"What?" Suddenly, the darkness of night becomes day and everything clears up. And that's not all that changes. From the icy cold of dawn, I feel the heat of a summer afternoon. Where am I? The beautiful green fields remind me of my childhood, as well as, further in the background, the bright colors of the many types of flowers and their sweet scent. I walk into this atmosphere inviting pleasure, but I don't see any traces of civilization, like a house, for example, or better yet, a person. The more I walk, the more I feel extremely good. I feel at home. The air is so pleasant that it seems to embrace me and like a polite man, I return the "hug" feeling nature. I continue walking as my eyes continue to work almost exhaustively, however, I still don't see anything not only interesting, which would be very nice, but also, nothing ordinary. Or would it be unusual?
The more I walk, the more I feel strange. This strangeness is gross present within me, as if it wanted to warn me of something, and that my mind doesn't produce questioning thoughts, being in complete collusion with whoever or whatever. It wouldn't be surprising to notice that my legs don't stop walking forward as if they had a life of their own and also wanted to get away me from something.
"Whoa! What a calming smell the Night's Lady!" I can be anywhere, whatever country it is and I'm not mistaken about this smell. Everything is familiar to me. And, that pleases me a lot. It fills both my being and my soul.
I need to bring my... My... My... I can't find her relationship to me and name her correctly. Just what I know, actually, just what I feel is that I have a someone. A someone that I... I... I... I can't... I feel like I'm close to remembering, but...
"Aaaaarrrr..." I make an immense internal force.
"Wait a second! What was I thinking? "Green fields remind me of my childhood"?" I spent my childhood working hard with my father without a happy or pleasant moment to remember, but rather, only body aches and very tiring.
"Aaaahhhh..."
"Kate?" I scream in the intensity of both the urgent moment and a feeling of dread that has grown exponentially within me.
"Aaaarrr... How cold!" The clarity disappears in a matter of seconds and my reality becomes visible. Or rather, not visible. Well, it's dawn. The heat from before, nothing as hot as if I were in hell, but pleasant, disappears to give way to the cold so, so, so icy that it not only bothers me, even wrapped up, but freezes me inside with every breath I take. All these clarifications come with me already in a frantic race back. I run back guided by a sense of locality, as I live here and I know every inch of this ground, but also, guided by my love. In fact, guided by the hope of finding my beloved still alive.
"Aaaarrr..." I was going in the wrong direction. Who or what managed to get me out of my usual way. The scream makes me turn right, which proves she's still alive, but a scream at that intensity doesn't seem like a good sign. I step into our backyard. I'm almost there. The silence as a consequence terrifies me. My legs shake and I fall to the ground. Is the truth coming to drive me crazy? Hurt myself? Kill me? I drag myself on the ground. I stick my fingers so hard into the soil that they dig in and I feel the dirt build up under my fingernails.
"Kate? Kate? Honey?" Silence reigns.
"Please don't!" I scream in despair. I don't know if it's my heart, my mind or circumstances that come to give me the worst news of all. With a typical and vehement negative, my body rises up based on hope and I go through the door, not opening it, but breaking it down and immediately a figure appears to my left and I only see a red and black cape coming out of the window. At first, obviously, this intrigues me in every possible way, but I have a priority and I'll give it due attention, even if it leads me to unspeakable horror. This time, it's not my legs that are shaking, but my hands. I want to ignore the reason why the tears are already coming out of my eyes like a waterfall already announcing a pain that little by little shows itself not only present, but also, increasing every second. Even apprehensive, I finally open the door...
"No! No! Nooooo... Please, no!" The bed is a place of rest, but it has nothing to do with this statement that my eyes see. I wish I was blind so I never had to see that. I also wish I didn't have a heart so I didn't have to feel this tearing pain. The cry from before now becomes a river of tears that I make a point of drowning in it as my beloved wife rests on it with her last face, in pain, in the pool of her own blood. My tears meet my saliva and mixed together they go down a path of no return. I hug her in the midst of this desolate scenario and I hold her tightly against me in the hope that she will still feel my heartbeat and come back to life for me. The more I squeeze her and my desire, stronger than when I asked her to marry me and prayed that she would say "yes", grows together, unfortunately, the more I also realize that I will not have fulfilled it. I kiss her mouth in an attempt to otherwise bring her to life by injecting not just love, but air. It's not what she needs. I don't get the kiss back or the heat of her exciting lips. One more finding comes to desolate me.