“'Is there anybody there?' said the Traveller,
Knocking on the moonlit door;
And his horse in the silence champed the grasses
Of the forest's ferny floor:
And a bird flew up out of the turret,
Above the Traveller's head
And he smote upon the door again a second time;
'Is there anybody there?' he said.”
-“The Listeners” Walter de la Mare
The lone traveler knocked on the moonlit door, “Is there anybody there?” His eyes quickly scanned the exterior image of the house. A rather old house but quite big, it seemed to belong to someone rich. ‘Strange. Such an extravagant house in a forest’, He concluded. His face was stony and emotionless. He was a strong man. His grey eyes stared straight at the large wooden door wishing someone will answer it.
It was a test of his luck today. He needed refuge for the night. But it would be most inappropriate of anyone to let a man or a stranger, who looked more like a highwayman than a gentleman, take refuge in this isolated house. His wish was soon granted when a pale or rather snow-white lady, dressed in a glossy black gown opened the creaky door. The traveler had to admit that she was very beautiful with big heavily-lidded eyes, clean cut features and jet-black hair that went up to her waist. The unknown lady kept herself to the shadows avoiding the moonlight.
The silence was broken by the lady’s gentle voice, “Yes. May I help you?”
The stranger stammered getting nervous, “Well, ma’am. I-I was wondering if I and my horse could stay in your house for the night…if you do consent,” he stopped abruptly and went on explaining more, “You see I am on the way to my parent’s house. It is a few miles away from the forest and I have ridden for the whole day. I and my horse need some rest. My name is Willie Barady. So can I stop at your place for this night? You don’t have to take the trouble of dinner.”
The traveler felt relieved when he got the answer which was an unexpected one, “Yes, of course Mr. Willie,” she happily sang, “This house is practically empty all the time except for me and my servants. We could really do with a guest tonight. I am Derebella Alamdin. Welcome to the
“Oh that’s so kind of you, Madame!”He said.
The house was completely dark and the only source of light was the moon that paved its way on the corridors and the candle the lady was holding. The lady and the traveler cast long shadows as they walked past the passageways of the house.
The house was really extravagant with large portraits and antiques that hung on the wall. But the dim light did not stop Willie Barady from seeing that the furniture of the mansion was made of human corpses, which were forcefully twisted and turned and beautifully designed to make them look ordinary to normal humans. The carpet on which they walked had bloodspots on it. Willie Barady did not shudder one bit.
He followed her to his room for the night. “Hope you enjoy your stay here. And I will inform you when dinner’s ready,” she said with a strange smile, showing her long canines that stuck to the sides. Derebella glided away with a confident smile. She seemed to be in a hurry. Willie closed the door and viewed the luxurious room, everything was alright here. No blood no corpses.
He closed the door. He walked to the window which revealed the glowing moon. He stared at the moon with a peculiarly ferocious and curled eyebrows looking as if the moon was his enemy. The horse tied to the peg on the grassy floor kept on munching grass.
* * *
Dinner was ready and he was called. The stranger passed the haunted rooms to reach the roof where the dinner was specially held for the night. He looked at the old grandfather clock on the way. The time was five minutes to 12:00. Moonlight fell on his face when he reached the open roof. A long narrow table with black tablecloth was laid most extravagantly with empty plates, spoons, knives and wine bottles. Dinner was still not served.
Two other men were seen on one side of the lady, who was sitting on one of the extreme ends of the table. Their faces glowed with glee when the stranger walked in. As he neared the table, the strong smell of human corpses stabbed his nose like a needle. The lady, smiling childishly, waved her hand to take a seat beside her. Willie did not smile; his face was perfectly still except for the frowning brows. He was sitting face-to-face with the guests; they looked like cartoon caricatures in respect to the lady. One of them had a piece of rotting flesh dangling from the inlet of the disguised fresh skin on his palm. The two guests looked at Derebella adoringly and again at the stranger but did not dare speak a word to her. They were scared of her. Derebella, who stared fixedly at Barady in a flirtish manner, broke the silence once again.
“Well, well. Its time to introduce you both to Mr. Willie Barady who is the only human to turn up in this house in this century. A most extraordinary and surprising event,” she said to the two strangers showing her fangs more distinctly. The stranger trembled not with fear but with extreme pain that had pierced his body.
“So Mr.Barady, let me introduce you to myself once again. I, Derebella is a three-hundred-year-old vampire, who has prowled the forests for years. Prowled the villages, charmed men with my beauty, hunted them down and drank their blood. If you say your parents live near the forest they must have heard about strange disappearances of people that goes in this area. And I plan to give them a visit personally”.
The other two laughed at this.
“QUIET!” Derebella thundered.
The traveler sat rooted to the spot and glanced one last time at the moon. ‘It’s time’ he thought.
“And for the other two,” she said keeping her cold hands on Willie’s shoulders, “This is Mr.Drabillian Zangley, a five-hundred-year-old ghoul who has survived from the dead remnants of my preys. The inedible parts found its way to furniture-making by our craftsmen—Mr. Vibenro Vaselin. He is also one of us—a shape shifter.”
Vibenro, sitting in the chair transformed into a hyena. They all smiled at him most adoringly. The old grandfather clock struck twelve and started ringing.
“We all have been waiting for centuries for someone to come and surrender at our doorstep but that hardly happens. People are so scared of the “so-called man eater” that prowls at the dead of the night. So unfortunately, I have to take the trouble of going out to hunt. And have to bring food for these useless fools also!” she thundered as the other two gasped as if they just heard their death news of their mother, “And now that you have turned up we surely could have the pleasure of sinking our teeth into you. Can’t we not?”
She demanded. The traveler did not reply and remained expressionless. The ringing of the clock stopped and ever-increasing pain stabbed the traveler. His body was growing in size and he could feel his claws tearing out of his shoes.
“And for the final introduction, Miss.Alamdin. I am Mr.Willie Barady~ the werewolf who goes on hunting in different forests on every full moon. I had noticed you were a blood-sucker earlier but I never thought you won’t recognize what I am. As I was as pale as the moon when I came here,” his shrill laugh pierced the silence as the other three stared at disbelief.
They couldn’t mouth for any words.
“And I have been lucky to find three precious, endangered creatures here with me today. Especially a vampire whose flesh can break the curse of the werewolf. I assume it will be the grandest meal of my life…”
These were his final words before his chest muscles increased tearing his shirt and his back slouched. The hairs of his body increased rapidly and his canines grew larger than the vampire’s until he was completely a ferocious wolf and much larger than that.
The others were thunder-struck. Derebella Alamdin could not believe that for the first time in her life she was tricked this badly. And that also by a creature who had been any vampire’s enemy at all times. The other two could only stare. They could not swallow down the hard truth. Their dreams of living forever came to an end.
The traveler was not in his senses anymore; he howled madly and turned over the table on the shape shifter and zombie. All the werewolf knew was that he had to hunt.
He leapt into the air and pounced on the vampire who had already made a run. But Derebella Alamdin was not as fast as the werewolf. Her powers of levitation and charm become inactive in fear. The wolf clawed down the vampire as the big canines sank into the flesh of the living corpse.
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