A NIGHT IN THE SARCOPHAGUS

Instinctively, Franz Leopold threw himself back as the marble slab cracked loudly. He tried to shout a warning to Alisa, attempting to grab her by the sleeve, but the fabric slipped through his fingers. He fell to his knees and could only watch as she disappeared into the depths along with the marble and tuff fragments. When her scream faded and the dust settled a bit, he slid on his stomach to the more than four-step large hole in the ground and peered down. Despite the overwhelming aura of the tomb, he was clear-headed enough to see that Alisa lay in a heap of rubble at the bottom of a second chamber. Some kind of chapel.

How could one be so clumsy? She was just a Vamalia, after all. Now the hunt was over, the fox had escaped. The laurel wreath would be claimed by another group. Yet it was rightfully his! Franz Leopold of the Dracas family!

His anger helped him concentrate as he clung to the edge, despite everything in his body urging him to flee from the ancient powers of the church.

"Alisa?" he called down into the hole. Her eyelids fluttered. She looked up at him, but he couldn't tell if she really saw him. Was she seriously injured? The bottom didn't seem that deep. Maybe six or seven meters at most.

"Alisa!" Damn it. Her eyes closed. Then Franz Leopold spotted Alisa's amulet. It lay uselessly a short distance away from her amidst the debris. Franz Leopold shuddered at the thought of how this place must feel for a vampire without the red stone. He called out to her again. "You need to take the amulet. It's just a short distance from your head. If you reach out your arm, you can grab it!"

She didn't respond. Franz Leopold sighed. They had missed the victory. Surely the others had already solved their task. Besides, he suspected that the professor wouldn't accept it if he emerged alone at the end of the labyrinth. Without further thought, Franz Leopold jumped through the hole. He landed crouched below and looked around in all directions before bending over Alisa. She had lost consciousness. Franz Leopold reached for her amulet and placed it on her chest.

"Wake up!" He shook her roughly. Her eyelids fluttered, but her mind didn't return. Franz Leopold cursed. He put Alisa's amulet around his own neck. His powers seemed to strengthen, his mind clearer. He bent down and lifted the girl. Although she was as tall as he was, he had no trouble carrying her. However, getting her back through the hole in the ceiling into the hallway one floor up presented a completely different challenge. Without the weight of her body, he could have easily climbed up the inward sloping wall until he reached the edge, but with her?

He looked around the burial chamber for a solution. Two arches led to different corridors. Which one should he choose? Franz Leopold decided to try the one that roughly led in the direction they had come from a floor above. Perhaps it would lead them back to the staircase they had used to enter the labyrinth. He quickly left the chapel and hurried along the corridor. The weight in his arms hardly hindered him, and now that he no longer had to pay attention to the professor's trail, he could focus entirely on the path. It wasn't difficult for him to estimate which direction he was going, but he wasn't sure how far the exit was. Moreover, the corridors often abruptly turned or ended suddenly at a wall. A few times, he had to turn back. Alisa stirred in his arms and groaned.

"Stay still," he snapped at her, unsure if she could even hear him. It seemed like they had been traveling for an eternity. If he didn't find the stairs soon, they would have to spend a damn long time down here! Another fork in the road. Franz Leopold paused. Confused, he blinked. They needed to go further west. So, right or left? He felt his thoughts crawling through his brain. Where the hell was west? He had been down here far too long among all these Christian bones and images. Even with the two amulets, his strength was fading more and more. He looked left, then right. He had to make a decision. Alright, then left.

Franz Leopold stumbled on. Twice more he had to choose. The corridor kept bending. He struggled past two open burial chapels. "I won't be beaten," he grumbled to himself as his feet slid centimeter by centimeter past the openings. He wouldn't collapse down here and subject himself to the mockery of the others if the professors had to pick him out of these passages, completely exhausted. Oh no! Not him, Franz Leopold of the Dracas house.

He turned the corner. He almost sobbed with relief when he spotted the stairs. For a moment, he stood still, put on a stoic expression, and then slowly began to ascend the steps. After the second landing, he actually reached the spot where he and Alisa had entered the catacomb hours ago. Pride swelled within him, causing him to straighten his shoulders. He had won! Just a few more steps, then they would be outside. The last few meters drained the last of his strength. Franz Leopold let his burden slide onto the grass and breathed in the fresh morning air. With each breath, his head cleared.

He looked around. There was no one there to greet them or praise him for his heroic deed. Angrily, he furrowed his brow. Further away, behind a row of cypresses, he could hear voices. Then a howl pierced the fading night. Ivy's white wolf ran through the grass toward them. And then, figures ran through the bushes. Seymour reached them first. He leaned over Alisa and licked her cheeks with his tongue.

Franz Leopold wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Stop that! If she wasn't already unconscious, she would surely be now!"

But Alisa began to groan and rolled heavily onto her side. The wolf barked and then yielded his place to the concerned newcomers who surrounded Alisa and Franz Leopold. It was Ivy and Luciano, who had refused to be sent back to the Domus Aurea with the others, Signora Enrica and Signor Ruguccio, and the two servants, Hindrik and Matthias, Franz Leopold's shadows, who had also insisted on participating in the search for the two.

Now Hindrik knelt down and examined Alisa, who was slowly regaining consciousness.

"What happened?" asked the professor, Franz Leopold. "And why are you wearing two amulets while Alisa has none?" demanded Hindrik.

"I won't tolerate this tone from an impure," Franz Leopold retorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't have to put up with this!"

"The question is quite legitimate," interjected Signora Enrica. "Tell us quickly what happened. And then we should leave."

"Can Alisa walk already?" Luciano asked.

"I'll carry her," said Hindrik, lifting her into his arms.

"Now, tell us," demanded Signora Enrica sharply.

And so Franz Leopold recounted their experiences in the catacombs.

"I only took her amulet for that reason," he concluded, although he didn't really see the need to justify himself further.

"A wise decision," praised the professor, and Hindrik also thanked him for his thoughtful actions.

"Now let's go," urged Signora Enrica. "We must hurry!" She cast a worried glance at the sky. Hindrik was already leading the way.

"Shall I carry you too?" Matthias offered his lord. For the powerful vampire, it wouldn't have been a problem, but Franz Leopold shook his head, feeling dizzy.

"No! I'm perfectly capable of returning to the Domus Aurea on my own feet. I don't need your help now. You could have really helped back in the labyrinths!"

At the reproachful tone of his words, the tall, dark vampire hung his head. Silently, he followed his master.

"I wish you a good evening." The lid was pushed aside with a scrape, and Alisa blinked up at Hindrik's smiling face. She could sense his concern. "How are you feeling?"

Alisa reached for her head. "Awful!"

Now Tammo appeared next to Hindrik. "What are you up to, little sister? I would have helped search for you yesterday, but they sent us back. Only Ivy and Luciano were allowed to stay because Seymour refused to join us. By the way, even without your accident, you would have miserably lost against us. We were the best and were the only ones to intercept our fox before reaching the exit! - Apart from Ivy and Luciano, of course, but that was only because of Seymour's good nose. Joanne is truly incredible! She sniffed around like a wolf herself and then ran through the corridors as if she had been there a dozen times before. She says they train for this in Paris from a young age, otherwise they would get lost in the huge labyrinth under the city." Tammo beamed. "For me, it was quite easy. I just had to follow her."

Hindrik interrupted his flow of words. "Go now, or you'll be late for class!"

Alisa wanted to follow Tammo, who rushed out, but Hindrik pushed her back into her pillows. "You stay lying down today. Instruction from Count Claudio himself. He doesn't want any harm to come to any of you under his care."

"I really should go to class," Alisa objected. "I'll be bored to death. Could you fetch me some books from the library? You won't close the lid again, will you?"

"Not if you promise to stay in your coffin. I'll see what I can do. And until then, you can entertain yourself with the latest issue of the Osservatore Romano."

"I can barely understand a few words of Italian by now."

"Then learn it!" He insisted she drink a cup of blood, then left her alone. Her roommates Ivy, Chiara, and Joanne had already set off towards the golden hall. Alisa flipped through the newspaper, studying the pictures and cartoons, but couldn't guess what the articles were about. The only thing she recognized was a picture of the Pope, smiling kindly as a shepherd to the reader. She threw the paper to the ground, climbed out of the sarcophagus, and went to her travel chest. Gloomily, she looked through her favorite books. She had read them all several times and longed for something new. Maybe she should borrow one of Ivy's novels? She hesitated for a moment. Would Ivy mind if she took a book without asking? Alisa went over to the richly decorated stone sarcophagus of the Irishwoman. Behind it, on a stone pedestal, lay a few books bound in simple linen. Alisa squatted down and studied the titles: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, Pride and Prejudice and Mansfield Park by Jane Austen, Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.

Suddenly, Alisa felt someone watching her. She spun around, accidentally elbowing the books, which fell to the ground with a crash. She didn't know whom she had expected to see. Perhaps Hindrik, checking if she was still in her coffin. But it was Malcolm who walked into the sleeping chamber. He stopped briefly, then walked over to her, stooped down, and helped her pick up the books.

"Interesting works," he said as his gaze swept over the book spines. "William Blake, the Brontës, Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, and oh - Lord Byron! He would like that! Are these your books?"

Alisa shook her head. "No, they belong to Ivy. Maybe I should ask her first before borrowing one." She returned to her coffin, but then hesitated and leaned against the smooth outer wall with her arms crossed on her back.

"Shouldn't you be lying in your coffin?" Malcolm said, smiling.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Alisa retorted.

The English vampire shrugged. "I'll have to come up with an excuse."

Alisa sighed. "How could this mishap happen to me! And now I have to stay here all night!" The feeling of embarrassment hurt more than the memory of the agony she had felt, so she casually brushed off Malcolm's inquiries about how it felt to lose the amulet.

"I could feel the pain despite the protective stone," he said. "But what was much worse were the foggy figures trying to cloud my mind. I wanted to run away!"

It didn't even seem hard for him to admit that in front of her. He had probably already left behind such childish behavior. Perhaps Alisa felt a little awkward in his presence because of that. They fell silent for a moment. Alisa's gaze wandered to the pocket of his tweed jacket, which he wore over knickerbockers made of the same fabric. Something red peeked out from it.

"What's that?" she asked, breaking the tension of the silence.

Malcolm hesitated for a moment, then pulled out a red velvet mask and handed it to her.

"What's this? I mean, why do you need it?" Alisa asked, surprised, turning the mask over in her hands. "Do you wear something like this in London?"

"When we go hunting?" Malcolm chuckled. "That would be a strange sight. No, of course not. I found it - uh - here."

Alisa sniffed the soft red fabric. "Over in the east wing, right?"

Malcolm looked at her in surprise. "No. How did you guess?"

"I can smell you very strongly, and then there's the sweet scent of a young human. But there's more, previous scents, other people, and then a hint of age and decay, like I believe I know from the east wing."

Malcolm took the mask back from her hand and smelled it himself. He took his time with his answer. "You have a very good nose and a fine sense of smell."

She looked at him curiously. "From your reaction, I gather that the mask didn't come from there. Not even from the Domus Aurea?"

Again, he hesitated, but then he grinned. "Girls are all equally curious, whether human or vampire." Alisa wanted to deny this, but she was too eager to hear his answer, so she remained silent and just looked at him expectantly.

"Well, okay, I suppose I can tell you." And so he told her about his nightly excursion and the strange girl who had lost the mask.

"How exciting!" Alisa exclaimed. Her eyes sparkled. "A mystery! What do you think? Such behavior isn't normal, is it?"

Malcolm nodded. "Yes, and it's stuck in my mind. I would really like to know what's up with her and this disguise. I've been to the spot twice since, but she obviously hasn't reappeared." He raised his hands. "I think we'll never find out."

"Yes, unfortunately," Alisa agreed. "So all we're left with is speculation. A secret messenger for a high lord? A follower of a forbidden religion threatened with bloody persecution by the Vatican?"

Malcolm laughed. "You have a vivid imagination. No, she probably belongs to one of the political secret societies that are said to abound in Italy."

"We'll never find out," Alisa repeated.

They both smiled and looked at each other. The bright blue of her eyes drowned in the dark blue of his. Alisa clung to the edge of her sarcophagus. The weak knees could only mean that she was weaker than she had thought. Or was it because of Malcolm's smile? She quickly looked down.

Malcolm cleared his throat and slid the mask back into his pocket. "Well, I'd better go now."

Alisa nodded. "Yes, and I'll climb back into my coffin before Hindrik catches me and subjects me to a whole week of boredom here."

As Malcolm turned around under the door, he looked back once more. "If you need more exciting reading material, ask Vincent, our impure companion. He arrived with three coffins full of books! Vincent is a passionate collector and never parts with his most valuable pieces. Don't be surprised by him. He's a bit eccentric when it comes to books - and he's determined to compile a complete collection of all writings about vampires and other demonic beings! But if you want to start with your friend's books first, I recommend Wuthering Heights. The demonic Heathcliff will appeal to you. He has almost something vampiric about him. Perhaps that's why the ladies and gentlemen of London society don't like him as much and prefer the books of Sister Charlotte."

Malcolm waved goodbye once more and left Alisa alone. She lay there for a while and thought. But then curiosity drove her from her bed again, and she retrieved the book by Emily Brontë. Soon, the story had captivated her so much that she only looked up again when Seymour stretched his white snout over the edge of the sarcophagus.

"Oh, what an honor!" said Alisa, once she had recovered from her shock, and she stroked his ears. "I thought you never left Ivy's side."

"He doesn't. He just ran ahead a bit to check on you," Luciano explained.

Alisa sat up. "Is it already so late? I didn't realize how time flew by."

"We're just taking a break to gather strength for the second part. What are you reading?" Ivy leaned forward to get a look at the title.

Alisa suppressed the impulse to hide the book in front of her. "Wuthering Heights. I took it from your stack. I hope you don't mind that I didn't ask first."

"Oh no, not at all. I wasn't here, and you needed entertainment. How do you like it?"

At that moment, Luciano burst in. He held out a cup of blood to her. "Here, drink, freshly drawn, I just got it from Signorina Raphaela. She sends her regards and hopes to see you again tomorrow."

"I hope so too," Alisa replied with a growl, taking the drink.

"I'm so sorry," he blurted out. "Maybe this wouldn't have happened if I hadn't swapped, and you hadn't had to go with that disgusting Franz Leopold."

Alisa just shrugged. "Who can say? He wasn't that disgusting, by the way - at least not the whole time."

"And he carried her through the catacombs to the exit," Ivy added.

Alisa nodded. What you probably wouldn't have managed, she added in her thoughts.

"Still," Luciano said, reaching for the newspaper. "Can you read Italian by now?" he asked, surprised.

Alisa shook her head. "No, unfortunately not, although I would love to know what's happening here in Rome among the humans. Hindrik brought it to me. He probably suspects that this will spur on my eagerness to learn, and he's not wrong."

"If you like, I'll read you a few articles after class," Luciano generously offered. But then he urged Ivy to return to the classroom. "I don't want to be late. I fear I'm just one tiny step away from the cane."

Ivy bid farewell to Alisa and followed him. "I don't think you have to fear getting punished," Alisa heard her say. "The Conte doesn't appreciate it when the professors harm his own clan members. So they'll continue to treat us with care!"