THE FEMALE VAMPIRE COUNT

Ten years had passed since the fire at the Blackwood estate, and the mountain had reclaimed much of what the stone had stolen. The jagged ruins of the castle were now draped in thick blankets of ivy and moss, the blackened walls serving as a trellis for wild roses that bloomed with a deep, blood-red intensity. The villagers of Oakhaven still told the stories, but they had become softer with time, the sharp edges of terror rounded off by the comfort of the mundane.