Bridget's Days Ch. 05

(Buda, 1620)

I leaned back into the padded wooden chair I was slumped in and drank another swallow of mulled wine. The thick fog from the night air seemed to linger in my lungs, non-functional though they were. It had masked my silent passage through the night, slipping out after dusk and returning a few hours later having carefully fed. By "carefully" I mean that no one had seen me and that I had left everyone alive, just a bit woozy from the loss of a pint or so of blood.

I took another sip of wine. Officially, of course, alcohol was prohibited throughout the city by Moslem law. However, as long as things remained quiet, the Turkish Governor ruled with a fairly light hand. Buda had been under Turkish occupation for some 80 years and a "live and let live" attitude had sprung up. Another sixty years would see the city in ruins when Charles of Lorraine recaptured it for the Hapsburgs, but tonight it was full of merriment.

I propped my feet up on the stool in front of me and watched the party swirl on around me. I had been in the city for a couple of months, having worked my way here from Paris via Italy and Austria. I had moved several times since I had arrived, having taken rooms here some ten days earlier.

Right now I was enjoying a romantic comedy. Susanna, a dark-eyed, dark-haired serving girl I thought was of Gypsy origin was flirting with Yusef, a young merchant guard. He was handsome, tall and of all thing had brilliant blue eyes in his dark face, showing a probable dash of Alexander's Greeks who had surged across Asia Minor centuries before.

Right now he was blushing so hard it was evident through his tanned face. Susanna was teasing him, bending over so the loose bodice she wore fell away from her firm breasts. Yusef was trying to look and turn his head at the same time. Susanna said something and shook her finger in his face in mock reproof. She turned, flounced her skirts and came towards me.

I admired her as she came. Susanna and I had been engaged in some subtle flirtation and I was looking forward to whatever evening would finally find us in bed together. In the meantime, I was enjoying the interaction between the two youngsters, both of whom were barely out of their teens.

"More wine, Bridget?" Susanna asked. I held out my glass and she leaned over to fill it. I, having no qualms about flirting back, took the opportunity to look at Susanna's breasts, her top loose enough that I could see the tops of her nipples. She gave a little grin, knowing what I was up to and appreciating it. Then she sighed.

"Bridget?" I met her eyes. "Whatever am I going to do with Yusef? I think the more I try to let him know I'm interested in him, the more skittish he gets."

I smiled. "You really do like him don't you?" She nodded. "He really likes you too, Susanna. That's why he gets so embarrassed when you pay attention to him."

"I know. I really want to trip him up, but at the same time, I think there might be more between us than just a romp in the hay." She sounded wistful and frustrated at the same time.

I smiled, recalling the memory of Seamus and I in the hay so many years ago in Ireland when I still drew breath. "I think we may have to lay a trap for him." I leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear. She giggled, nodded and went back to her chores.

At closing time, Susanna made one final sweep past Yusef, slowing to brush her hip against him before disappearing through the doorway leading to the rooming wing. I made my way towards him, having noted the deep gulp he made when she touched him, and also noting the very large bulge tenting the front of his garb. He almost jumped out of his skin when I touched him on the shoulder.

"Oh Bridget, you startled me." His eyes flickered back and forth from me to the doorway Susanna had gone through.

I suppressed a smile. Ah, young love. "Yusef, I would like to speak to you about engaging your services as a guard for a short period of time. I have something important that needs looking after."

"Ah, yes, of course," he stammered.

"Good. Would you come with me please? I want to show you what I have in mind." I struggled to keep a solemn expression on my face as he rose and followed me up to my rooms.

I made a production of unlocking the door to my rooms and ushering him inside. I closed the door after us and quietly locked it. Then, I yanked the ties holding my top and flowing skirt on. They dropped to the floor. I was wearing nothing under them. I removed my slippers, leaned against the door and quietly called Yusef by name.

The poor darling turned and his eyes bugged out. He turned completely red. I continued to recline against the door as he stuttered and stammered and tried to tear his eyes away from me. My smile, broad at first, grew bigger. Susanna had slipped from the bedroom doorway and was slowly approaching Yusef from behind. She too, was nude. Her large full breasts, tipped with big brown aureole bobbed gently and the dark bushy triangle covering her womanhood already held tiny droplets of her nectar.

Before Yusef could react to my looking past his shoulder, Susanna covered the remaining distance and put her hands over his eyes. "Guess who, Yusef," she giggled. At the same time she pressed her body against him.

The results were all we had hoped for. Yusef, realizing perfectly well who was behind him, turned around. When he saw Susanna's nude body, I thought for one moment he was going to faint. His head swiveled back and forth, trying to watch both of us. I really was happy that he was drinking in Susanna's lush curves more than my own much more slender body. They were going to make a great couple. And I was going to enjoy my "finder's fee" for bringing them together.

The two of us stripped Yusef and drug him to the bed. He was kissing Susanna wildly as we toppled to the bed. Susanna pushed him on his back and knelt over him. With the same mischievous grin on her face she began to lick his cock. And what a lovely cock it was too. Nice and long, good and fat, and hard as a pikestaff. Susanna wasn't trying to take it all in her mouth, but rather was happily licking the shaft up and down and then sucking the bulbous head.

Well, one good lick deserves another I've always said. Susanna was crouched on her hands and knees, so I laid on my back and wiggled under her. I reached up, grasped her full rounded ass and pulled her already dripping pussy down to my mouth. She gave a cry, muffled by her mouthful of Yusef, as I ground my face in her wet slit.

I suspected Susanna had been playing with herself tonight in anticipation. Her pussy lips were swollen already and her black bush was soaked. I sucked on her wetness and slipped my tongue right up inside of her. Her hips were bucking in short order. I added a finger to my tongue, wetting it thoroughly before tracing the sensitive crease back to her dark puckered hole. I toyed with Susanna, tapping the fingertip on her anal opening, then slipping away. All the while I continued to tongue her sweet Gypsy pussy.

The impasse was broken by Yusef. He gave a strangled cry and I felt the bed shift. Tipping my head to look up Susanna's body I could see his hands on the sides of her head and his back arching to feed his cock to her. I actually could see Susanna's cheeks expand from the force of his cumming. With that, I drove my finger all the way into Susanna's ass, ramming it in until my hand stopped any further penetration.

She couldn't scream, but I opened my own mouth onto her just in time to catch the release of her juices. She crushed my face under the weight of her body, rubbing and grinding back and forth as she orgasmed. Its a damn good thing I didn't need to breathe.

With barely a pause, Yusef's muscles flex and he had flipped Susanna onto her back. His cock was dripping cum, but was showing no signs of deflating. He grasped her ankles, lifted them to his shoulders and gave one volcanic heave to bury himself in her freshly eaten pussy.

This time she was able to cry out. She did, her face ecstatic. She wasn't able to yell more than twice, because by then I was sitting on her face. She responded immediately, lapping my open slit with her tongue.

Yusef had Susanna's hips right off the bed and was pounding his cock all the way into her. I leaned forward and kissed him. He reached out and grasped my breasts. I decided that was a lovely idea and reach down to take Susanna's fuller tits in my own hands.

Yusef was as lost in lust as I've ever seen anyone. He seemed determined to drive his cock up Susanna until it reached the throat it had just been in from the other end. Unconsciously I'm sure, his grip on my breasts was so tight I might have protested, had not the mingled pain and pleasure felt so good. I was pulling and twisting Susanna's long, dark nipples and her tongue was flailing my clit.

I came and the three of us never slowed down. Now Yusef had hold of Susanna's breasts and her hands were on mine. She grasped each nipple and jerked them, pulling my small breasts into stiff cones as she squeezed my clit in her lips. Then Yusef gave an enormous bellow, held himself deep in Susanna and came so hard he all but fell over as he spent himself in her. Both Susanna and I followed.

I have only vague recollections of the rest of the night. We drank a lot of wine, from cups and off each other. I do remember being on my hands and knees with Yusef taking me from behind while Susanna knelt in front of me, her ass shoved in my face. She masturbated while I dug my fingers into her full cheeks and tongue fucked her ass.

The combination of alcohol and sexual satiation put me to sleep so deep I didn't think anything could wake me. I should have known better, because every time I do that, things happen. This was no exception.

I suppose I really couldn't blame the zeal of the unprecedented Moslem/Christian/Jewish hunters who burst through the door in the wee hours of the morning. I managed to get untangled from Susanna and Yusef and made for the door. Even though my undead reflexes were dulled by too much wine, I was throwing men left and right.

As I neared the exit, I heard a scream from Susanna. A hunter had seized her. Two others held Yusef, who was madly struggling to reach her. Two others were advancing towards my companions, meaning to thrust the stakes they were armed with into the prisoners' hearts.

"STOP!" I screamed, in my best Turkish. "Don't hurt them! They have done nothing wrong." The hunters hesitated. "They're human. Examine them, for Allah's sake."

I remained motionless, my hands lifted as the men holding my bed partners shifted their grip. One, then the other, showed surprise as they touched the captives' throats. They nodded at a tall, burly man I assumed was the leader.

"Do not kill them, but do not release them," he commanded. Turning to me he asked "Will you surrender?"

"If you promise not to harm them. Whatever you might think of me, I promise you they have done no harm to anyone."

He inclined his head in acceptance. I was shackled in chains I couldn't break and taken to the castle prison, where I expected to be summarily reduced to dust. Instead, the hunters dumped me into the deepest, darkest cell they could find. I'm not particularly fond of cold, seeping water and rats, but the lack of daylight was a definite plus.

So there I bided for, well I have no idea, until the Turkish Governor of the city showed up. accompanied by an Imam, a Rabbi and an Orthodox Priest. He fixed me with a very steady stare and said nothing.

The clerics, on the other hand were quite vocal. The imam glared at me with pure hatred. "Forgotten of God," he hissed. "A fire waits for you in the courtyard of this prison. After that, hellfire waits for you as well."

"Patience, my friend." the Governor never turned his gaze away from me. "The weather is calm, the wood is dry and will remain so. We need not rush." His attention returned to me. "We know what you are and what you have done. Even an unholy creature like you deserves to confess its sins before meeting eternity."

I shrugged as much as the load of chains would allow. "I appreciate your concern, but my sins are between God and myself."

"Blasphemer!" This time it was the priest. "You are damned by your very existence. Your crimes only compound your condemnation."

I really wondered why all this babbling and yelling was going on. Why didn't they just drag me to the stake? I repressed a shudder and instead looked back at the Governor. "What crimes?"

All three clerics began shouting. I had no idea what I was being accused of but it sounded terrible. The Governor cut them off with a wave of his hand.

"There has been a series of murders, gruesome murders. The victims have been tortured and their blood drained."

"Well, that's horrible, but I didn't do it."

The rabbi almost choked on his indignation. "Are we supposed to believe you? Do you deny that you are an undead creature from the pits of hell?"

"Believe me or not, its the truth. As for denial, if you are asking if I'm a vampire, the answer is 'Yes'. However, I'm not from the pits of hell. I'm from Ireland." The last part must have non-plussed him as he shut up. I continued. "I am undead, but I wasn't always. I'm not a demon. I survive by drinking blood but I do NOT murder for it and I am repulsed by torture."

There was murmuring among the holy men, but it seemed more subdued. I Governor studied me carefully.

"I believe you." He said calmly. "None the less, your life is forfeit for what you are, unless..." He let his words trail off and raised an eyebrow.

"I accept." I was pretty sure I knew what he wanted, but regardless, better the doom delayed than the doom at hand.

Now there was a loud babble of protests from the holy men. The imam overrode the other two. "Lord, how can you trust her?"

A slight smile flickered across the Governor's face. "I can trust her because I hold something she has shown she values. Two some things in fact." I opened my mouth to protest and then shut it, a rare thing for me. His smile broadened. "You were promised they would not be killed. They have not, nor have they been injured. However, their remaining that way depends on you." He gestured and the burly leader of the vampire hunters entered the cell. "Captain Alafdal and another will accompany you. Should you fail to return to me within two days, your two friends will replace you at the fire."

After the chains were removed I bowed to the Governor. I had to admire him. He had read my character pretty well and stuck me with the responsibility of coming back to him win, lose or draw. Because of me Susanna and Yusef's lives were in jeopardy. I could no more run off and leave them than I could fly. Sometimes that conscience my parents and the church gave me is a big fat pain.

Captain Alafdal had been joined by the third member of our party. A slender, black haired stripling named Hassan, he was supposed to be some version of a "witch smeller". He claimed that he could actually pick up the scent of evildoers and follow the trail left by them. He smugly informed me that he was the reason the hunters had found me. When I pointed out that he had picked up on the wrong vampire, he grumbled a lot under his breath and then fell silent.

Alafdal took me to the scene of the latest murder. What had finally decided in favor of my possible innocence was that the latest outrage had occurred the night before, when I was safely locked up. That's a hell of a way to establish an alibi I can tell you.

The last victim had been left in the crumbling building where she had been found. Even nearly a century of ugly sights didn't prepare me for this. She had been strapped to a wooden frame and brutally beaten before being killed. Flies buzzed around the body, settling in the pool of blood beneath her.

I carefully examined her, fighting the nausea that threatened to overcome me. I finished with her and then looked carefully over the room. A certainty grew as I took in the entire scene. Then I knelt beside the remains of the woman, crossed myself and said a prayer for her soul, with an addendum that asked I be granted a meeting with the person who had done this and the strength to tear him limb from limb.

Both hunters had looks of surprise on their faces when I rose. Although oftimes Christianity and Islam clashed in desperate struggles, with Judaism caught between them both, there were periods of tolerance for "People of the Book" as Christians and Jews were acknowledged by Moslems. The obvious horror I had shown, along with my praying and the expression of anger that I now had was making me somehow "human" in their eyes.

"Alafdal, were all the victims similar to this?"

"Yes."

"No wonder you came up with me, Hassan." Noting his surprise, I continued, my eyes fixed on him. "You didn't follow me to the inn from the last scene, did you? You probably made widening circles around the area until you pick up my scent."

Hassan's eyes widened. "How did you know?" he whispered.

"Because this wasn't done by a vampire."

"What do you mean?" Alafdal's question surprised me. Not because of what he asked, but how he asked it. His tone was curious, asking for information instead of denying my statement.

"First, the bruises. They were inflicted by something, possibly by either that piece of wood over there or maybe that iron bar." I took the bar in my hands and bent it in a curve. "A vampire who wanted to do something like this wouldn't need anything but his hands." I squatted by the body. "Then there are these puncture wounds on her throat, look at them, and this." I hesitated and then let my fangs fall and place my mouth near the marks. "I'm a petite woman, pretty damn small as vampires go in fact. My fangs span these wounds with plenty to spare."

"Two last things. There is this." Both men had been nodding but now they looked puzzled. "The BLOOD. It's all here in this puddle, splashed on these walls. None of it has been drunk. And finally, I gingerly parted her legs and pointed. "She bled to death from here, not from her neck."

"Allah," gasped Hassan, "Then no monster did this but a man."

I shook my head. "It was a monster alright, just one with a beating heart." I sensed the coming of the dawn. "Okay, its time to return to my rooms at the inn. I need to rest, safely out of the sun, and then we need to talk things over and determine our next move. Also, I need to stop at a butcher shop if there's one not too far out of our way."

"Why?" asked Hassan. When both Alafdal and I rolled our eyes, the young man blushed and simply said "Oh."

When we were settled back at my windowless set of rooms, Alafdal simply deposited himself in a chair, propped his feet up and fell asleep. Hassan, perhaps wanting to make up for his earlier remarks, perhaps simply curious, wanted to talk.

I wanted to know about his "witch smelling" myself, so we traded information for several hours. I explained the differences between the myths and the realities of vampirism.

"Vampires are indeed undead, Hassan. My heart doesn't beat and I don't breathe. I am nourished only by blood. I can survive for a period of time on blood other than human, but not indefinitely. Direct sunlight will kill me, indirect sunlight will make me weak and ill. Most of the other ways to kill a vampire do work; decapitation, fire, a stake through the heart."

"However, some myths are not true. I do not fear crosses, or the Koran or any kind of holy item. In most ways, I am still the same woman who was born on the green isle of Eire about 70 years ago. I have the same beliefs, the same wants, the same feelings." I looked moodily around the room. "And some of the same longings, which I know I won't ever satisfy."

"Bridget," he had finally become comfortable enough to use my name. "How does one become a vampire?" I must have stared at him in shock because he held both hands in front of him. "I'm just asking! I don't WANT to be one. I," he stumbled over the words, "I have never spoken to a vampire before and I doubt I ever will again."