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The suosani’s last trip ho in the earth had proosani, the secrets of the Waive him back his life - or rather, he would return hiain

Three years, and the necroth until his position as Gregor Borowitz’s right-hand man now seeosani would be the one to replace hianisation at his coe of the Wamphyri in his hands and mind - the possibilities were vast

What had once seeht still cohty nation - the osani to lead the way? A mortal man can achieve very little in his short span of years, but an iht in osani had often asked hievity meant power, and immortality ultimate pohy had the Wamphyri themselves failed? Why weren’t vaosani had long since worked out so he could not yet say:

To man the concept of a vampire is abhorrent �C the very concept itself! If iven indisputable proof of vampiric infestation - then they would seek the creatures out and destroy thean, since a time when men really did believe, and it had limited the vampire in his scope He dare not reveal himself, must not be seen to be different, to be alien He ht his passions, his lusts, his natural craving for the sheer power he knows his evil arts could bring him For to have pohether political or financial or of any other sort, is to be scrutinised - which is the one thing above all others that a vaed scrutiny he must be discovered and destroyed

But if a- he would suffer no such restrictions Having nothing to hide but his dark knowledge itself why, he could achieve alosani had journeyed yet again to Romania; conscious of the fact that his duties had kept hi, he wished to speak once more with the old devil and offer him small favours, and learn whatever there was to be learned before next summer, when the time appointed would be at handThe time appointed, yes - when all the vampire’s secrets would lie naked before hi as an eviscerated corpse!

Three years had flown by since last he was here, and they had been busy years Busy for Dragosani because over that entire period Gregor Borowitz had driven all of his ESPers, including the necromancer, to the limits of their capabilities Of course he had: to ensure that in the four years Leonid Brezhnev had allowed him, in which he must turn a profit, his branch would become so firmly entrenched as to be indispensable And now the Premier had seen that it was indeed utterly indispensable What’s more, it was the most secret of all his secret services and by far the or Boroanted it

Through Bbrowitz’s advance warning, Brezhnev had been fully prepared for the fall frorace of his one-tiate ht have hindered or even ruined ed to reap some benefits from it - but only by virtue of Borowitz’s (or or Vlady’s) predictions ’A pity,’ Brezhnev had told Borowitz at the ti for hior?’

Similarly, and also as predicted, the Pres with the presidential ’stand-in’, at best a bu in advance that there were American hard-liners still to coned satellite agreements with the USA Moreover, and especially since Ay, he had also been quick to put his signature to the ultimate ’d��tente’ coup of his career: a joint Skylab space venture, which even noas co to fruition

Indeed, the Soviet premier had taken the initiative on these andthe expulsion of many dissidents and the ’repatriation’ of Jews - and every step he had taken so far had been co his already awesome position as Leader And much if not all of the credit due directly to Borowitz and his branch, so that Brezhnev had been pleased to honour his and Borowitz’s agreeior Borowitz; likewise Boris Dragosani, whose loyalty to the branch seemed unquestionable And in fact it was unquestionable - for the or Borowitz had secured the permanence of his branch and climbed in Leonid Brezhnev’s esteem, however, his relationship with Yuri Andropov had deteriorated at a directly proportionate rate; there was no overt hostility, but behind the scenes Andropov was as jealous and scheosani knew that Borowitz continued to watch Andropov closely What the necromancer did not knoas that Borowitz also watched hiosani was not under any sort of surveillance, but there was that in his attitude which had been worrying his boss for quite soant, even insubordinate, and Borowitz had accepted that and even enjoyed it - but this was so else Borowitz suspected it was a as the necroosani too had noticed the change in himself, Despite the fact that one of his oldest inhibitions, his greatest ’hangup’, was now extinct, he had grown if anything colder still towards members of the opposite sex When he took a wo of love in it but purely as a release for his own pent-up emotional and physical needs And as for a his frustration and could hardly wait for the day when Boroould be out of his way The old man was past it, a dodderer, his usefulness was on the wane This was not in fact the case, but such was Dragosani’s own energy -the rapid acceleration and growth of his drive and character - that it seemed that way to him And that was another reason why he had returned this ti of the Thing in the ground For like it or not, Dragosani had begun to accept the vaure Who else could he talk to, in absolute confidence, of his aon? No one In a way the vampire was like an oracle but in another way he was not Unlike an oracle, Dragosani could never be sure of the validity of any of his statements Which meant that while he had felt himself drawn back here, to Ro in the ground

These were soh his h the old country fronpost which stated that the toas sixteen kiloo he had been on his way to Pitesti when Borowitz had recalled hiht to the library in Pitesti froain to visit the place He still knew so very little about vae he did have was dubious in that it had come from the vampire himself But if ever a library was the seat of local lore and legend, then surely the reference library in Pitesti was that one

Dragosani ree in Bucharest The college had often used to borrow old docu Wallachian and ancient Roreat amount of historical material had been taken there for safety fro World War II In the case of Ploiesti this had been a wiseof the war In any case, inal museums and libraries but remained in Pitesti even now Certainly it had been there as recently as eighteen or nineteen years ago

Sothe old Thing in the ground could wait a little longer on Dragosani’s return He would go first to the library in Pitesti, have lunch later in the town, and only then carry on into the heart of his hoosani was there, had introduced himself to the librarian on duty, asked to be allowed to see any docu to boyar farounds, or any records at all for the regions co Wallachia and Moldavia - and especially local areas - circa the h and only too pleased to assist (despite the fact that he appeared to find Dragosani’s request a little a, or sufficiently so to cause him to smile) but after he had taken his visitor to the rooosani had been able to appreciate the funny side of it for himself

In a roo sufficient of books and docue ar to his inquiry! ’But isn’t it catalogued?’ he asked ’Of course, sir,’ the young librarian told hiues whose heading alone - if Dragosani had been willing to contemplate such a task - would have taken several days in itself; and that without taking down one of the listed items from its shelf

’But it would take a year or h this lot!’ he finally complained

’It has already taken twenty,’ the other told hi - or mainly for that purpose But that is not the only difficulty For even if you could afford so much time, still you would not be allowed it At last the authorities are splitting it up; e amount is scheduled for Budapest, even Moscow has made application It will be moved, most of it, some time in the next three ht,’ said Dragosani ’I haven’t years or months but just a few days SoI wonder if there’s soht narrow my search down?’

’Ah!’ said the other ’But then there’s the question of language Do you wish to see Turkish language records? Hungarian? German? Is your interest purely Slavicist? Is it Christian or Ottoman? Do you have any specific points of reference - landmarks, as it were? All of the material here is at least three hundred years old, but some of it dates back seven centuries and more! As I’m sure you’re aware, the central span - which seems to be the seat of your interest - covers n conquerors, yes, but we also have the records of those who thrust the the texts of these works? They are, after all, half a millennium old If you can understand them, then you’re a scholar indeed! I certainly can’t, not with any degree of accuracy - and I’ve been trained to read theosani’s look of helplessness, he had added: ’Sir, perhaps if you could be osani saw no reason for subterfuge ’I’m interested in the vaht here - in Transylvania, Moldavia, Wallachia - and dates back, so far as is known, to the fifteenth century’

The librarian took a pace back from him, lost his smile Suddenly he seemed wary ’But you are surely not a tourist?’

’No, basically I’ in Moscow But what’s that got to do with it?’

The librarian, perhaps three or four years younger than

Dragosani and obviously a little awed by his al the matter a deal of consideration He chewed his lip, frowned and was silent for long moments But at last he said, ’If you’ll take a look at theave you are hout And I’ve already told you that there’s at least twenty years of work in them Well, the man who did that work is still alive and lives not far away, in Titu That’s towards Bucharest, about twenty-five osani ’I drove throughhere not half an hour ago Do you think he could help me?’

’Oh, yes - if he wanted to’ That sounded cryptic ’Well, go on - ?’

The librarian seemed unsure, looked away for a o, sent a couple of American "researchers" to see him He wanted no truck with them, threw them out! A bit eccentric, you see? Since that tiood many requests of this nature, you understand This "Dracula" thing is so of an industry, apparently, in the West And it’s this commercial aspect that Mr Giresci is anxious to avoid That’s his na osani felt his interest quickening ’Do youtheir history through these documents, for twenty-odd years?’

’Well, a It’s been what you ht call a hobby - or perhaps an obsession - with him But a very useful obsession where the library has been concerned’

Then I have to go and see hiy’

The librarian shrugged ’Well, I can give you directions, and his address, butit will be entirely up to hiht help if you took hireat whisky man, when he can afford it - but the Scottish sort and not that filth they brew in Bulgaria!’

’You just give osani ’He’ll see ht Of that I can assure you’

Dragosani found the place just as the librarian had described it, on the Bucharest road about a mile outside of Titu On a small estate of wooden, two-storey houses set back from the road in a few acres of woodland, Ladislau Giresci’s place was conspicuous by its coardens or plots of ground surrounding thehbours, but Giresci’s house stood well away from all others on the rierows run wild arowth

The cobbled drive leading to the house itself had been narrowed by burgeoning hedges, where leafy creepers were throwing their tendrils across the cobbles; the gar dens were overgrown and slowly returning to the wilderness; the house was visibly affected by dry rot in a fairly advanced state, and wore an atypical air of allect By coood order and their gardens well maintained Some small effort had been made at maintenance and repair, however, for here and there at the front of the house an old board had been removed and a new one nailed in place, but even the most recent of these ate to the front door was likewise overgrown, but Dragosani persisted and knocked upon panels fro

In one hand he carried a string bag containing a bottle of whisky bought froe of cheese, so else was available) and the bottle, as advised, for Giresci If he was at hoan to seeain, louder this time, finally he heard ure which finally opened the door to hiile as a pressed flower His hair hite - not grey but white, like a crest of snow upon the hill of his brow - and his skin was even paler than Dragosani’s oith a shine to it as if it were polished His right leg ooden, an old peg as opposed to any sort of modern prosthetic device, but he seeility His back was a little bent and he held one shoulder gingerly and winced when he moved it; but his eyes were keen, brown and sure, and as he enquired as to Dragosani’s business his breath was clean and healthy

’You don’t know osani, ’but I’ve learned so of you, and what I’ve learned has fascinatedof a historian, whose special interest lies way back in old Wallachia And I’ve been told that no one knows the history of these parts better than you’

’H his visitor up and down ’Well, there are professors at the university in Bucharest who’d dispute that - but I wouldn’t!’ He stood blocking the way inside, seeosani noted that his brown eyes went again to the string bag and the bottle

’Whisky,’ said Dragosani ’I’m partial to a drop and it’s hard stuff to colass - while we talk?’

’Oh?’ Giresci barked ’And who said ere going to talk?’ But again his eyes went to the bottle, and in a softer tone: ’Scotch, did you say?’

’Of course There’s only one real whisky, and that’s -’

’What’s your na man?’ Giresci cut him off He still blocked the way into his house, but his eyes held a look of interest now

’Dragosani Boris Dragosani I was born in these parts’

’And is that why you’re interested in their history? Somehow I don’t think so’ From frank and open scrutiny, now his eyes took on a look of wary suspicion ’You wouldn’t be representing any foreigners, would you? Aosani smiled ’On the contrary,’ he said ’No, for I know you’ve had trouble with strangers before But I’ll not lie to you, Ladislau Giresci, iven your address by the librarian in Pitesti’

’Ah?’ said Giresci ’Is that so? Well, he knoell enough who I’ll see and who I won’t see, so it seeht But let’s hear it fro back: just what is your interest?’

’Very well’ (Dragosani could see no way round it, and little point in hedging the matter anyway), ’I want to know about vampires’

The other stared hard at him, seemed not at all surprised ’Dracula, you osani shook his head ’No I end - the cult of the Waave a start, winced again as his bad shoulder juosani’s arm He breathed heavily for a moment and said: ’Oh? The Wamphyri, eh? Well - perhaps I will talk to you Yes, and certainly I’d appreciate a glass of whisky But first you tellYou said you wanted to know about the real vaend Are you sure you don’t osani: do you believe in vaosani looked at hi his breath And soosani that he had him ’Oh, yes,’ he said softly, after a moment ’Indeed I do!’’Hmm!’ the other nodded - and stood aside ’Then you’d better coosani Come in, come in -and we’ll talk’

However dilapidated Giresci’s place ht look from outside, inside it was as clean and neat as any cripple living on his own could possibly keep it Dragosani was pleasantly surprised at the sense of order he felt as he followed his host through rooms panelled in locally crafted oak, where carpets patterned in the old Slavic tradition kept one’s feet froe-polished pine boards However rustic, the place ar - on the one hand But on the other -

Giresci’s penchant - hisall-consu’hobby’or obsession - was alive and manifest in every room It saturated the atmosphere of the house in exactly the same way as s of sand and antique mystery - except that here the picture was of bitterloneliness, of a procession of endless wars and blood and incredible cruelties The rooms were old Ro with old weapons, swords, pieces of armour Here was an early sixteenth-century arquebusier, and here a vicious barbed pike A black, pitted cannonball from a small Turkish cannon held open a door (Giresci had found it on an ancient battlefield near the ruins of a fortress close to Tirgoviste) and a pair of ornate Turkish scimitars decorated the wall over the fireplace There were terrible axes, maces and flails, and a badly battered and rusty cuirass, with the breastplate hacked almost in half from the top The wall of the corridor which divided thewith framed prints or likenesses of the infaies There were family crests and motifs, too, complicated battlefortifications, tumuli, earthworks, ruined castles and keeps

And books! Shelf upon shelf of the - and many quite obviously valuable - but all rescued by Giresci wherever he had found them over the years: in sales, old bookshops and antique shops, or fro with the once-powerful aristocracy All in all, the house was a small museum in itself, and Giresci the sole keeper and curator

’This arquebusier,’ Dragosani remarked at one point, ’must be worth a small fortune!’

To a museum or a collector, possibly,’ said his host ’I’ve never looked into the question of value But how’s this for a weapon?’ And he handed Dragosani a crossbow

Dragosani took it, weighed it in his hand, frowned The weapon was fairly modern, heavy, probably as accurate as a rifle, and very deadly The interesting thing was that its ’bolt’ was of wood, possibly lignum vitae, with a tip of polished steel Also, it was loaded ’It certainly doesn’t fit in with the rest of your stuff,’ he said

Giresci grinned, showing strong square teeth ’Oh but

it does! My "other stuff’, as you put it, tells hat ht still be This crossbow is ainst it’

Dragosani nodded ’A wooden stake through the heart, eh? And would you really hunt a vaain, shook his head ’Nothing so foolish,’ he said ’Anyone who seeks to hunt down a vampire has to be a madman! I am merely eccentric Hunt one? Never! But what if a vampire decided to hunt me? Call it self-protection, if you will Anyway, I feel happier with it in the house’

’But ould you fear such a thing? I reement with you that such creatures have existed and still do, possibly - but ould one of them bother itself with you?’

’If you were a secret agent,’ said Giresci, (at which Dragosani smiled inside) ’would you be happy - would you ever feel safe - knowing that some outsider knew your business, your secrets? Of course you wouldn’t And what of the Wamphyri? NowI think that perhaps the risk is a very sht this weapon I wasn’t so sure I had seen so which would stay with me for the rest of my life Such creatures really were, yes, and I knew about theend, their history, the more monstrous they beca the crossboas like whistling in the dark, I suppose: it ht not keep away the dark forces, but at least it would let them know that I wasn’t afraid of theosani

Giresci’s keen eyes looked deep into his own ’Of course I was,’ he finally answered ’What? Here in Romania? Here under these mountains? In this house, where I’ve ahtened, yes But now

’Now?’

The other pulled a half-disappointed face ’Well I’ has "happened" to me, has it? And so now now I think that maybe they are, after all, extinct Oh, they existed - if anyone knows that, I do - but perhaps the last of theone forever I hope so, anyway But what about you? What do you say, Dragosani?’

Dragosani gave the weapon back ’I say keep your crossbow, Ladislau Giresci And I say look to its maintenance Also, I say be careful who you invite into your house!’

He reached into his inside pocket for a packet of cigarettes, froze as Giresci aimed the crossbow directly at his heart across a distance of only six or seven feet and took off the safety catch ’But I a directly into his eyes ’We apparently know so much, you and I I knohy I believe, but what of you?’

’Me?’ inside his jacket, Dragosani slipped his issue pistol froer in search of a legend, apparently But such a knowing stranger!’

Dragosani shrugged, palan to turn its htly to the right Perhaps Giresci was insane A pity Also a pity that there would be a hole right through Dragosani’s jacket and powder burns on the lining, but -

Giresci put on the crossbow’s safety, set it down on a shed, ’for a vampire faced with a wooden stake! And you know: the pressure on that wooden bolt is set to transfix a h hiood Only when the stake is in place is the creature truly immobilised, and - ’ His eyes ide and his jaw dropped

Grey as death, Dragosani had taken out his gun, applied the safety, placed it beside the crossbow on the table ’The pressure on that,’ he rasped, is sufficient to blow your heart right out through your backbone! I also saw the mirrors on the walls of the corridor - and the way you looked into theht And the crucifix on the door, and doubtless another around your neck - for all the good they’d be Well, and am I a vampire then, old man?’

’I’m not sure what you are,’ the other shook his head ’But a vampire? No, not you You cato know about the Wa that name: Wamphyri, which few if any others in the whole world know! Why, wouldn’t you be cautious?’

Dragosani breathed deeply, relaxed a little ’Well, your "caution" nearly cost you your life!’ he said bluntly ’So before we go any further, are there any ave a shaky laugh ’No, no,’ he said ’No, I think we understand each other now Come, let’s leave it at that for theof yours’ He took the string bag fro table close to an open’It’s shady there,’ he explained ’Cooler’

The whisky’s yours,’ said Dragosani ’The rest was for ! That crossbow of yours is a bloody thing!’

’Of course you can eat, of course you can! What?

Cheese for lunch? No, I wouldn’t hear of it I’ve wood-cocks in the oven, done to a turn by now A Greek recipe Delicious Whisky as an aperitif; bread to soak up the fat of the birds; cheese for afterwards Good! An excellent lunch And while we eat, I’ll tell you er lass which the other produced from an old oak cabinet, allowed him to pour him a liberal whisky Then Giresci hobbled off for a an to sniff the air as the sweet odour of roasting ht: it was delicious AnotherDragosani to get plates frouest’s plate, one on to his own There were baked potatoes, too, and again Dragosani got the lion’s share