《Love at Dawn》克拉克拉

34、The Phantom of Vendée(2) 旺代的幽灵

　　"The adults, fearing their own children being snatched away, kept the moppets locked up carefully in their rooms, forbidding them from venturing outside to play. One boy couldn't bear the loneliness and managed to sneak out while his family was working in the fields. Unlike the previous children who had gone missing, he returned in the middle of the night, terrified to the core, unable to utter a sound, as if he had witnessed something extremely horrifying. A ghastly wound, dripping with fresh blood, adorned his neck, as if he had been savagely mauled by a wild beast.

　　"The child barely survived, but then even weirder things occurred. He became photophobic, filled with panic. When his mother sat by his bedside to check his forehead for fever, his upper lip suddenly curled, revealing two canine teeth, about to bite her throat. After much effort, they managed to pin the child down, but he continued to have waves of spasms and convulsions, struggling desperately. People had no choice but to tightly bind his limbs to the four corners of the bed. He behaved as if possessed by a demon, incessantly foaming at the mouth and gnashing his teeth towards the air like a mad dog.

　　"A whole night had passed before his condition finally improved slightly. With a hoarse voice, he pleaded for someone to bring him water to drink. His older sister brought the water to him, and the boy, with teary eyes, looked at her with a pitiful gaze. Despite being particularly pale due to excessive blood loss, at this moment he appeared fairly pretty, one could even say much prettier than before. His large childlike eyes now revealed a hint of wandering desire, exuding a certain seductive meaning that made people involuntarily want to draw near and caress him.

　　"She approached him, smilingly holding the cup to his cracked lips, much like the beautiful Electra feeding water to her unfortunate mad brother Orestes. But at that moment, the boy abruptly knocked the cup away and bit towards her wrist. People hastily rushed to separate them, but he continued to fiercely bite, causing streams of fresh blood to ooze from around his lips, presenting a truly horrifying sight! As they eventually managed to pry his mouth open, her hand was nearly ripped off from her slender wrist. Observing the boy's maniacal laughter from afar, people believed that his teeth had become sharper on both sides.

　　"No one dared to approach him anymore. Later, the mother attempted to feed him water again, but he desperately cried out that he was thirsty, yet stubbornly refused to drink the water brought to his lips. After a few more appalling days had passed, this poor child finally put an end to his agonizing life. During the last few hours before his death, he continued to gasp and wail in a gravelly voice, 'Ah! I'm thirsty! So thirsty! Save me!'

　　"Not even two days later, the sister, who had been bitten almost to the point of disablement, began to display the same symptoms. Such a quiet, blooming young girl, who used to cover her mouth to shyly smile, now resembled an ugly demon, baring her teeth and claws. Even a slightest ray of sunlight or holy water would provoke an awful scream from her. I believe that if this beautiful maiden had even a moment of lucidity, she would willingly put an immediate end to her undignified existence! Fortunately, this victim of the devil endured for a shorter time: within three days, she drew her final breath.

　　"Now people were even more convinced that the Castle of La Garnache was cursed. The Comte was a bloodthirsty demon: he never dared to enter a church or come into contact with priests, exactly for he feared that the divine light radiating from the cross would scorch his evil soul!"

　　"It's too scary, Daisy! Please stop!" The timid Barbara shivered all over and covered her ears.

　　But Fiona urgently grabbed her friend's arm and said, "No, please go on, Daisy! If the Comte was a vampire, how could he ultimately die?"

　　Little Daisy sighed, "That's another unsolved mystery! Due to the curse that plagued the region, the nearby villages soon became desolate and gloomy, devoid of any signs of life. As soon as the sun set, people instinctively locked their doors, and no one dared to venture outside at night or traverse through the eerie woods. However, after the deaths of the unfortunate siblings, no more cases of missing children were reported.

　　"More than another twenty years had passed since then. One day, a young nobleman, dressed in lavish attire, rode his horse through this bleak place, astounded by the heavy air of death that surrounded him. He halted and asked our maid for directions. Upon hearing that the young man was planning to visit Comte de La Garnache, she immediately grew anxious and tried to dissuade him.

　　"'What? Cursed? Vampires? Hahaha, superstitious stupid peasants!' The young man with a long, sharp nose resembling a hawk responded disdainfully. He was a typical French old-fashioned noble, arrogant and cruel as he laughed, instilling fear in people's hearts. Our maid dared not argue with him and could only point him in the right direction, silently praying for this reckless young lord.

　　"However, when he emerged from that castle devoted to demons a few days later, he was unscathed, his head still held high with pride. As he passed by our maid's house, he was accompanied by another noble youth. This person had shoulder-length golden hair, azure and melancholic eyes, a face as exquisite as a marble sculpture, and a pale complexion as if deprived of sunlight for years.

　　"This youth appeared even younger than his companion, perhaps around fifteen or sixteen years old. He had a tall and slender figure, remarkably handsome, but regrettably, his demeanor was serious and reserved. He carried himself with elegance and nobility, yet in his interactions with others, there was a subtle sense of awkwardness. It was not the shyness commonly seen in young boys when facing the opposite sex, but rather gave the impression of someone unfamiliar with socializing."

　　"Such a detailed description! I bet the maid must have fallen head over heels for him!" Amy took the opportunity to tease.

　　"Hush! Don't interrupt, Amy!" Daisy immediately scolded the naughty girl.

　　Charlotte chimed in, playing along with a smile. "But really, with such a mysterious beautiful youth descending from the heavens, which girl wouldn't be curious and enamoured?"

　　"Especially a naive countrywoman! She's seen nothing but rugged and barbaric wilderness, now in the presence of this fertile and lush valley, how could her heart not bloom with ecstasy?" The other girl added with a mischievous grin.

　　"Hey, don't forget my maid was already in her thirties!" The storyteller tapped both of them disapprovingly. "Besides, what impressed her wasn't just his handsome appearance, but rather the strong sense of familiarity he evoked in her. However, she couldn't pinpoint where she had seen him before. Moreover, his noble status was evident at a glance, how could a peasant woman like her have had the chance to know him? To say that he resembled anyone she personally knew would be even more impossible, as his appearance was hardly connected to any man of her own social class.

　　"As the two young men rode off side by side, she still failed to recall. It wasn't until that evening when she carefully bolted the door that the reason for this habit suddenly came to mind, and memories all at once flooded back. My maid finally understood: that person was the phantom boy she had encountered in her childhood when she got lost! He had grown up, changed!

　　"This is absurd! Wasn't he supposed to be a ghost child? How could a ghost possibly grow up?" Amy immediately interrupted.

　　"And to appear in broad daylight?" Anne added.

　　"She couldn't fathom it either, so she told her now-deceased husband about it. The villagers speculated that he was another incarnation of the devil, as the vampire child was capable of using sorcery to transform into various forms. However, it surprised everyone that he was actually able to leave the cursed castle; they had always believed that the comte and the demon he worshipped were closely connected to their dwelling.

　　"But with the departure of the phantom youth, Comte de La Garnache seemed to crack up day by day. He rarely showed himself, but several years later, to the astonishment of the peasants, they saw the comte standing on the terrace on a sunny day. The lore of him being nourished by blood and immortal had already spread far and wide, and he indeed lived for too long, long enough to make people have butterflies in the stomach. Moreover, his countenance forever bore the mark of aged but non-decaying appearance.

　　"Yet now they could see that he had truly grown old. His silver hair had become even whiter - if that were possible. His emaciated and haggard body could no longer uphold the plush robes he wore, and his hands, marked with patches of spots, trembled. His once piercing eyes could barely open, as if the layers of wrinkles on his forehead weighed them down. The peasants witnessed the comte extend his shaking hand towards the distance, his mouth twitching, and shed murky tears in the sunlight. Experienced ones said that when an old man presented this state, it was a sign that he would definitely not live much longer!

　　"This experience was indeed reliable—the Comte de La Garnache soon fell gravely ill and was on the brink of death. It was the same reclusive old butler who informed a peasant of this. The comte, on his deathbed, still refused to summon a priest. This further confirmed people's speculations.

　　"'They say even the most wicked scoundrels become devout in the Lord on their deathbeds,' they gossiped, 'even if not truly converted to Christ, at least they dare not to neglect calling someone to the bedside to receive a Mass.' So the villagers became even more convinced that this geezer wasn't finally saved by Jesus but rather was going to join his master Satan.

　　"This inference made sense. Now I also believe that the comte was indeed a demon who fed on human blood." Anne interjected.

　　"People then heard that the Comte was barely clinging to life but refused to let go, his eyes fixed on the doorway as if he had an important wish yet to fulfill. 'That old villain can't bear to let go of his splendour and wealth! Perhaps he is still hoping for the return of that little devil he set free, using wizardry to rejuvenate him.' People speculated."

　　"Could that ghost youth truly come back?" Fiona asked in a low voice.

　　"You guessed it, Fiona, he did come back!" Daisy exclaimed excitedly. "On a rainy night in early 1787, someone saw a handsome young man dismount from a white horse and hurriedly walk into the accursed castle. The peasants were worried that the demon comte would come back to life again, but he died that very night."

　　"They had sustained their appearance, youth, wealth, and life through blood, and the departure of that ghost young man drained the vitality from the old comte. Anyway, when this lord finally died, all the peasants of La Garnache covered their chests and sighed, 'Thank heavens!'"

　　"But where did that beautiful youth go afterward? Was he really the ghost child from all those years ago?" Fiona asked again.

　　"He appeared at the castle gate on the third day, and in the sunlight! When people saw him, his face was filled with sadness, but evidently not overwhelming grief."

　　"In the sunlight!" Charlotte exclaimed.

　　"That indeed made the peasants doubt; they suspected that he and the phantom boy were not the same person," Daisy hesitated, shaking her head. "But our maid insisted that she hadn't made a mistake."

　　"What happened next?"

　　"After taking care of the Comte's affairs, he stayed in the desolate castle of La Garnache for a while, almost in seclusion and rarely seen by anyone. Within two years, France was engulfed in turmoil, and the maid's husband died. She then came here to work for us as a servant. When she left, it seemed that the young man was still living inside."

　　"Ay, dear Daisy, this story of yours is truly fearsome!" Little Barbara sank into her pillow. "I'm afraid we're all bound to have nightmares tonight!"

　　"Hurry, children, let's go to sleep before the Mother catches us!" urged the older girl, Anne. "May God bless you all! Goodnight!"

　　Fiona lay back in her bed but struggled to fall asleep. This story from her homeland had left a deep impression on her. Somehow, the image of the blonde ghost youth lingered in her mind, inexplicably linked to the other figure of the fairy in the red dress in her dreams.