Vivi the Vampire

Their Last Party

15 and a half years ago...

It was a pitch dark, starless night towards the end of summer.

An old manor house stood in the midst of a dense, dark forest. The bright light from the large French windows on the ground floor cast a golden glow on the garden and surrounding trees.

The trees grew thickly around the manor, standing shoulder to shoulder, like sentries, keeping it hidden from the world. An impenetrable darkness pervaded the forest. 

Tall shrubs and wild weeds grew tall in the manor's unkempt garden. The old wooden fence surrounding the property was crooked and had collapsed in places. A broken gate lay facedown on the grass, with grass growing over it. A tall bush obscured one of the downstairs windows. It was obvious that no gardener had tended to the property for quite a while.

The night was still, the air thick and heavy. The faintest breeze gently stirred the trees' dry leaves. Crickets chirped softly in the bushes. Nothing stirred between the trees.

The manor house was old, built several hundred years ago. It was solid and sturdy with only the slightest hint of elegance. Whatever grace it had had in its day, was now almost completely gone.

The walls hadn't been painted in decades. Peeling paint, water stains, mildew, and ivy gave it a feeling of neglect and abandonment. Like a lonely orphan whom no one cared for anymore.
One of its four pointy roofs had fallen in and had been left in that sad, dilapidated state for a while now. A window on the second floor was shattered and had never been repaired. 

The strange thing was, although it seemed to be neglected, it was clearly inhabited, or at least it was tonight.

The stillness of the night was broken by the lively music being played in the ballroom.

The room was packed with people. Their shadows could be seen seated around a long table, nodding their heads in conversation, laughing, eating, drinking, gesticulating excitedly.
Several waiters flitted to and fro like ghosts bringing platters of food, refilling cups, or carrying away empty plates.

Faint merry voices, laughter, song, and music filtered out of the windows.

Nothing moved in the stillness of the forest. It seemed like they were the only living creatures around for miles. Happy and peaceful, all alone in their manor, alone in the deep, dark forest, far from civilization... 

A faint RUSTLE sounded.

Unknown to the occupants of the house, something was watching them from behind a tree at the edge of the clearing. Something as dark as the night, as still as the trees, and as cold as death. Soundlessly, shapelessly, it melted perfectly into the darkness. 

It stood patiently, oh so patiently. It stood alone, and it watched and it waited...