The Vampire Queen Read Free Page A

voice with a Jamaican accent. The woman was old and plump and wore her hair in long dreadlocks. She had long, yellow, curving fingernails and many missing black teeth. She had dots across her cheeks and nose—the sign of a fortune teller—but she also had many warts and pustules all over her face. She was a rather scary sight at first.
    “Me?” The Countess stammered.
    “‘Tis fate that brought ye here. Would ye like ye fortune read?” the woman asked.
    “I have no money,” she replied.
    “‘Tis ok. Fate will pay for it since it brought ye to me,” she answered. “Let me see ye palms.”
    She held out her palms to the woman, her hands shaking, and she hoped the Count wouldn’t miss her.
    “Here. Hold this, and tell me what ye feel,” the woman said as she placed a piece of black stone in the center of the Countess’s right palm.
    “It’s a weird feeling. Dizzy and pulsing,” she explained.
    “Just as I thought. That stone is Jet, and what ye felt signifies that ye have an old soul. Been ‘round for awhile,” the woman said.
    “What can I use to ward off evil,” she blurted out. The woman just stared at her as if she hadn’t heard her. Finally, when she was just about to ask again, the woman got up and went rummaging in the back. She came back and handed her another stone. The stone was red and green in color.
    “Ward off evil, ya say? Well, dis be Bloodstone. It’s not actual blood in duh stone, but it can be used to banish evil and for mental clarity; however, I would not be showin’ it to ye Count. He does not believe in such tings. Also, take this pink stone. It is Rose Quartz, which can give ye positive energy, and this Black Obsidian can take or remove yer negative energy if ye let ‘em.”
    “Thank you, but again, I cannot pay you for these things,” she explained.
    “No need, child. I know ye, and ye been kind. Keep ‘em as gifts. Let me put ‘em in a velvet bag for ye. Go now, before ye are missed.” With that, the woman was gone.
    She wandered back into the dressing room just in time to hear the store clerk ask if everything was all right.
    “Everything is fine. I’ll take all five dresses with all the matching accessories. Please get them together for me,” she instructed. When she came out, the Count seemed very happy, and she tried to seem as excited on the way home as he was about her new purchases; however, all she could think about was the woman behind the curtain and the stones in her pocket.

Chapter Seven
    Again, her resting time was one of torment, just as she knew it would be. She placed the small bag of stones in her pillowcase, under the pillow, hoping it would help, but the woman gave no instructions on how to use the stones, so she returned to the same night terrors. The same movie projector played the same scenes of death, destruction, and torture over and over in her dreams. She knew this would happen and was afraid to go to sleep. She fought off sleep for awhile, but it finally won out. Again, her bed was soaked with sweat, and pillows were thrown across the room. This time, when she woke up, she had to stifle an immediate urge to scream. Lizzy was sitting on the end of her bed in an Indian-style position, watching her. “Oh. Hi, Lizzy,” she said, trying to sound calm when all she wanted to do was run.
    “Have you been sitting there awhile?” she asked. Lizzy shook her head “yes”. Again, she wondered if Lizzy was causing these visions in her dreams.
    “Where are your parents, Lizzy?” she pushed. Lizzy shrugged her shoulders.
    She started to rub her own left shoulder and forearm, because it had fallen asleep. Lizzy moved toward her and reached for her forearm. She started to rub it, and the Countess started to relax. Lizzy is being kind. How cute, she thought to herself. Next thing she knew, Lizzy dug her nails into the Countess’s forearm enough to make it bleed and was licking the blood. The Countess screamed, and the Count came running