Chronicles of Darkness: Shadows and Dust Read Free Page A

emitted.
             After another
break, Bernard returned to the story. Consternation was heavy in his voice.
"While I was standing there, a smile appeared on his features. The devil
actually smiled at me! It was unbelievable, and the whole time he was stroking
Joséphine's fox-red locks, and then he kissed her blood-drained lips..."
             Tears were
streaming down Bernard's face. "The most abominable thing was how he
showed off her dead body. He grabbed her waist and started to dance. Right in
front of my eyes, he danced with the soulless girl, and I couldn't move."
             "It
wasn't your fault," Helena said, wishing to destroy his self-reproaches.
"The power of a vampire is unpredictable, and you were under his spell.
You couldn't have foreseen this kind of manipulation, much less fight it."
             Bernard
shrugged his shoulders. "Thank you for your kind words, Madame. Still, I
failed as a protector."
             Helena urged
him to go on. "What about the boy? What happened to Philippe?"
             "Philippe.
Oh, little Philippe," Bernard said, as if he were in a daze. "His
happy laugh amused the whole family, especially in summer when the children
were romping through the gardens."
             "Please,
concentrate on that night," Helena begged him.
             The caretaker
sorted his thoughts and continued. "After the degrading dance, he let her
sink down to the bed and laughed loudly. Then he spoke his first words, not to
me, but to the dead girl. 'In the silvery light of the moon you are innocent
angels, but deep inside, deeply hidden in your hearts, your poor souls are
screaming for redemption.' His cruel expressions had me choking with fear.
This vampire was acting as if he were a poet, and not an unscrupulous murderer,
who had just killed in cold blood. As if nothing at all had happened, he
adjusted his elegant clothes and dabbed some drops of blood from the corner of
his lips with a silky handkerchief."
             "It is a
peculiarity of vampires to wear beautiful clothes, and to surround themselves
with wealth," Helena explained, nodding.
             "I
wanted to make him pay for his crime, but I couldn't do anything. We stood a
few paces away from each other, but still, I could feel his ice cold fingers,
wrapping themselves around my throat, choking me."
             Helena was
dismayed. "You must have met a very powerful one of his kind."
             "Oh, he
wasn't alone," Bernard added, almost matter-of-factly. "A young woman
was with him."
             Silence fell,
until Skylar, who had been following the story with great interest, just as her
brother had, leapt from her armchair, pointed an accusing finger at Bernard and
exclaimed, "Vampires always hunt alone! You've just been proven a liar,
Monsieur."
             The small
group jerked.
             A warning glance
from Helena was enough to silence her daughter.
             Surprised,
Bernard looked at Skylar. He opened the top buttons of his shirt, to be able to
breathe better. "I assure you. It's the truth."
             "I agree
with my daughter, but also don't doubt your words, Bernard. That brings me to
the next question. Was she human?"
             Bernard gazed
at their astonished faces. "Why? Is this an odd occurrence?"
             "Actually,
vampires are loners," Helena explained. "They are never in company of
mortals. They avoid contact with humans... until they choose them as
prey."
             Bernard
fanned himself with a napkin. "Human or not, she scared me just as much as
the vampire."
             "Go on,
Bernard," Helena said, clearly alarmed.
             "I
noticed that I became more and more dizzy. I thought that my life would finally
be over. A door creaked open and the vampire released me from his spell.
Wheezing, I fell to the floor, looking out at the long corridor. Bright
moonlight shone