Nightwalker Chapter 11.

It was late in the afternoon, and Lev was once again staring at his phone, the screen displaying an unknown number, his finger hovering over the green phone symbol. "Screw it," he muttered and pressed down on the symbol.

The phone rang, and then, partway through the third ringtone, it went silent. "Hello?" the person on the other end asked.

Lev took a deep breath. "Hi, Is this Naveen?"

"Yes, sir."

Lev hesitated, "Cool, uh, you probably don't remember me, but I used your um, taxi services one night ten years ago..."

"Is this Mr. Sorokin?" Naveen interrupted.

Crap, he must really hold a grudge. A panicked Lev thought, "Yeah, that's me. I just wanted to apologise for what happened ten years ago... It's be-" Lev began his apology, but was cut off.

"It's alright," Naveen responded, much to Lev's surprise.

Dumbfounded, Lev replied, "Uh, it is?"

"Well, obviously, at the time, I was quite upset. But a while after everything happened, someone visited me and told me what happened." Naveen explained, which really just created more questions than answers.

"S-someone visited you? Who?" Lev asked, wondering, hoping that maybe it had been Jessica.

"It was a strange man, he had a bird, a crow I think, that followed him. It was a long time ago now, but I think it was about two or three months after the night you gave me your business card." Naveen answered

A wash of disappointment and confusion swept over Lev. After a short pause, he asked, "And uh, did he tell you anything else?" curious to see if he knew of the more 'hard to believe' things.

"You mean about vampires?" Came Naveen's surprisingly nonchalant reply.

"Y-yeah," Lev Stammered.

"He did."

"A-and you believed him?" Lev further asked, unsure of how else to approach the topic.

"Oh, yes, of course. Back home, we have legends of creatures like vampires, so I'm not especially surprised to find out they are indeed real." Naveen answered as if he were discussing a mundane topic.

Lev, still unsure of how to process the revelation that Ulaq had been aware of him for these ten years, awkwardly tried to apologise once more, "Oh, ok, well... I still want to say I'm sorry for how it all went down."

"I appreciate it, sir. Was there anything else I could help you with?"

Lev smirked slightly at Naveen's question, "Well. Actually..."

"Are you sure about this?" Naveen asked as he brought his car to a stop outside a large, ornate, black wrought iron gate

The sun was setting once more on another day and cast long shadows across the outskirts of the city as night crept in. "Fifty-fifty, honestly, but I figure when your fiancé is at risk of becoming a vampire god, you gotta take a risk or two, y'know?" Lev replied as he took off his seatbelt and opened the passenger door.

Naveen shook his head, "I'll take your word for it." He glanced outside at the gloomy woodland out his driver's side window and shuddered.

"You mentioned on the phone that back home had stories of things like vampires, what are they called? Might win me some brownie points with this blood countess."Lev asked as he slowly got out of the car.

"Brahmaparush. If this lady is one of those, you need to cut her head off." A very serious Naveen replied.

"Alright, noted," Lev replied as he closed the door, and was met by the last rays of the sun as it sank into the horizon.

Lev watched Naveen drive off and disappear from sight. As his eyes left the road, he looked over at the unkempt woodland and then turned to look at the Burnwood sanitarium in the distance. Maybe I'm more seventy-thirty on this idea, He thought as he let out a sigh and began to inspect the wrought iron gate and, more specifically, the pillars on either side.

After some looking, Lev found an old intercom which looked like it hadn't been used in a very long time. I suppose it's not surprising that thee blood countess doesn't get many visitors. He thought to himself as he approached it.

Ignoring what looked like blood smeared down the pillar beneath the intercom, Lev pushed the button and awkwardly said, "Hello?"

An almost robotic voice responded after a short wait, “State your business.”

"Uh, hi, I'd like to meet with Anastasia Bathory. I have information she will find of interest." Lev answered, scowling slightly as he heard faintly what sounded like laughter through the intercom.

"And what would that be?" The voice asked back.

"It pertains to her former accountant, Karl Baumann and the plans of the people that convinced him to leave."

"Mr. Baumann and those he now conspires with are not high on Miss Bathory's list of priorities." The voice said bluntly.

Lev sighed and slapped down on the intercom button. "Yeah, well, when you're out of a job because your Countess is dead, don't come to me crying, alright. My Fiancé is wrapped up in this crap, and I just want to save her, so if Ms. Bathory would be so kind as to see me, perhaps we could both benefit from this." After practically spitting his words out, Lev took a step back and waited for a response, and waited, and waited some more.

Finally, a form of reply came, the sound of a motor kicking to life and the wrought iron gate began to screech open. "Thank you!" Lev said into the intercom before slipping in through the opening.

He hadn't noticed it from the other side of the gate, but the distance that stood between him and the blood countess' manor was considerable. Could have bought a golf cart down to get me or something. He thought as the darkness was setting in around him.

"I've learned of the plot you're involved in. I'm at the Burnwood sanitarium, about to meet with Anastasia Bathory to see if she can be of any use to get you out of this." Lev hit send on the text to Jessica; part of him wondered if he was doing this just to try to force a response from her. If I get turned into a vampire too, then I guess that's one way of solving the problem.

Just as Lev had tucked his phone into his pocket and taken his first steps on his trek towards the manor, a pair of lights, one on either side of him, turned on. Their illumination wasn't much, but they offered enough to light the path. One drawback was that it made it harder to see in the darkness that was enveloping him on every side. It was just grass and nothing much else, wasn't it? Lev thought to himself, trying to remember any details he might have seen before night had set in.

As he continued his walk, when he would reach the end of one light's radius, another pair ahead would flicker on while the one he was leaving went dark. This, coupled with the fact that he was walking to go meet a vampire that seemingly had a thing for torture and sadism, made Lev's sense of paranoia quickly begin to ramp up. A sound behind him made Lev look back and swear he saw something running over the path. That's not... They wouldn't... No, it's just the trees over the road... Just the trees. It's totally windy enough to be blowing them around. Lev told himself, ignoring the fact that there was at best a light breeze.

While the not-so-leisurely walk continued, Lev began to notice some waist-high hedges on either side of him from time to time. Odd pruning style, he thought, in relation to the strange branches sticking out of the hedges, their leafless shoots spreading out like outstretched hands clawing at the air.

Eventually, he reached what must have been the halfway point, and several pairs of lights flickered on to reveal fountains on either side of him. Oh, it's just been the sound of wa... He had begun to tell himself, but his mind went silent as he took a closer look at one of the fountains.

"I-is that bl-" he began to mutter, but stopped as he realised even more horrific details; the thick smell of blood caught his nose, which normally would have been bad enough, but the fountain itself was lined with skin, and the column in the centre from which the blood rained from was fashioned from bone. In fact, when Lev looked down to hold in his revulsion, he noticed the edge of the fountain had bumps and ridges in it, which made him realise that the whole fountain's structure was likely made from bone. Okay, this was a shit idea. Lev thought as he looked skyward and took a deep breath.

Forcing himself onward towards the manor, Lev kept his vision fixed solely on the building ahead. The front door had a covered entrance with two off-white pillars and a lone light, under which Lev was certain he could see a person standing there. Person, Vampire, skeletal decoration, could be anything really. He thought to himself in an attempt to ease his spirits. I bet her Halloween parties are to die for. He quipped internally, slightly disappointed nobody was with him to tell his killer one-liner to.

When the paranoia got all too encompassing, Lev made the rest of the trip with a brisk power walk. To his relief, when he touched down on the tiles of the covered entrance, the lone figure was among the living, and while he didn't know if the man was human or vampire, he didn't care so long as it wasn't one of those mongrels.

Slightly winded from his trek, Lev leaned forward and put a hand out to lean on the nearby pillar to catch his breath. He was slightly surprised at his own lack of reaction when his middle finger found itself inside an odd oval shape on the pillar. He glanced at the man and sighed, "Th-thats an eye sockett isn't it?" he asked. The man smirked and nodded.

Lev straightened and looked as he withdrew his hand. Sure enough, the pillar was covered from top to bottom with skulls, real human skulls. The way they shone in the light of the manor showed that they had been thoroughly treated to keep them preserved. At least I'd be in ample company, it seems, He thought.

"If you would be so kind as to follow me inside, Miss Bathory will be ready to see you shortly," the man said as he motioned to the door, which somehow seemed to open on its own.

Lev gulped as he was pretty sure he saw fangs in the man's mouth when he spoke. He wiped his brow and nodded, "Just you out here? Awfully light on security, don't you think?" he asked, trying to use humour to douse his fear.

He quickly regretted saying anything, though, as the man grinned and shook his head, "Just because you didn't see them doesn't mean they didn't see you," he said with cruel delight at the widening of Lev's eyes.