It was more than a hundred years since the death of the Countess of Karnstein, but her eyes were open. There was no smell of death. The two doctors agreed that the body was alive. But there was something even more shocking. The body lay in a bath of blood.
The grave was filled with fresh, red blood - so, yes, this was a vampire! How do you destroy a vampire? As I have said, this was not the first vampire in Styria. There were men in the little church that day who knew the rules. First, they lifted the body from the grave. Then they pushed a sharp stake through the vampire's heart.
The vampire screamed and everybody in the little church felt an icy terror. Then the General cut off the vampire's head with an axe.
Blood poured from the neck. The men placed the body and the head on a pile of wood outside the church. They made a fire and burned the vampire. The last pieces of smoking wood were taken to the river. The General threw them into the water and the river carried them away. There has not been another vampire in Styria since that day.
I should say a little more about the General's friend. You remember that he found the grave of the Countess. His name was Herr* Vordenburg and he came from Moravia.
As a young man he lived in Gratz on very little money. He came from an old family in Upper Styria, but they were having money difficulties. The family castle and lands were lost. Herr Vordenburg spent his time studying vampires. He had every book on the subject. He soon knew more about vampires than any other person alive.
Herr Vordenburg stayed with us for a few weeks after Carmilla's death. He and my father spent many hours in conversation about vampires. After supper one evening, we sat together by the fire. My father told him about the Moravian man in the woodcutter's story. The Moravian, you remember, killed the Countess of Karnstein with an axe and destroyed the grave. 'So how did Mircalla return?' my father asked Herr Vordenburg. 'And how did you find the grave?' With a mysterious smile, Herr Vordenburg began his story.
YOU ARE READING
carmilla
Vampirethe story is narrated by a young woman preyed upon by a female vampire named Carmilla, later revealed to be Mircalla, Countess Karnstein (Carmilla is an anagram of Mircalla).
