The Vorbing Read Online Free

had cuts and scratches all over it and trembled uncontrollably. Grubby, sodden rags were the only clothing, and the person breathed with great difficulty. Leaves and lake weeds had become twisted around arms and legs and lodged in the person’s hair as well.
    “Mother!” Vlad screamed. “Come quickly!”
    Hana Ingisbohr rushed to her son’s aid.
    “My baby,” the figure whispered deliriously. “They killed my husband and took my baby.”
    “Who did?” Hana asked.
    The injured person wheezed and stabbed an exhausted finger at Vampire Mountain in reply. Vlad and Hana exchanged glances. They did not need any further information.
    “Don’t worry,” Vlad said. “The vampires will take good care of your child.”
    Vlad was all too aware of the unsubstantiated Nocturnian rumour that vampires spirited babies away to raise them as lookouts for their daytime slumber. As they were taken so young, the children had no memories of human society. They turned feral and obeyed Deadulus without question as a vampire would.
    Problems arose when the children reached puberty and began to question their identities and why they were not vampires. That hastened their end. They had fulfilled their usefulness in the vampires’ eyes and were becoming disruptive. Their vampire “family” surrounded the children, tore them apart, and vorbed on the blood…or so the rumour went; there was no certainty in it. A worse fireside rumour was that the blood of human babies was the purest and therefore a sumptuous treat to Deadulus. That meant the infants would not be kept alive and raised as one of the clan. Most people did not want to hear the rest of that rumour, and Vlad cleared it from his mind.
    “How do you know my baby is safe?” the person said. “You’re just a boy.”
    “My father was Adam Ingisbohr,” Vlad said proudly.
    “I thought you looked familiar,” the person said, new energy flowing through her body.
    “Yes,” Vlad said with great pride.
    “Forgive me,” the person replied, and started crying.
    “Your child is in no danger,” Vlad said, trying to reassure her.
    Vlad neglected to impart the further conjecture that vampires allegedly kept humans near as an emergency blood supply. If forced to evacuate their cave, they might have to travel a long distance to find another secure one. That would not be possible if they were ravenous. Again, any familial bonds between human and vampire meant nothing when it came to slaughtering them for survival and vorbing on them.
    “Praise God!” the figure on the ground said, weeping.
    “Time is on our side,” Vlad said.
    “How?” the sad figure replied hoarsely. “No one has ever found the vampires’ lair.” Just then, the person from the lake lost consciousness.
                  “Help me lift her inside,” Hana said.
                  Vlad and Hana grabbed an arm and a leg each and staggered towards the farmhouse.
    “Lillia Kurten!” Vlad’s mother said in shock as she mopped Lillia’s feverish brow with a cloth.
    Lillia lay asleep in a spare bedroom, more recognisable as a woman and a human being than she had been earlier when she emerged in shock from the lake.
    “She was my cousin’s best friend. We used to play together as children,” Hana said. “I haven’t seen her for a long time, but I’m sure it’s her.”
    “Should I keep the fire going?” Vlad asked, looking at Lillia lying asleep in the bed.
    “No,” Hana said. “I don’t think it will be necessary to burn anything else today. God willing, she’ll recover.”
    “She’s lucky to be alive,” Vlad said. “Few people survive a vampire attack.”
    “God help her and her poor infant,” Hana said, as she blessed herself.
    Lillia moaned in her sleep, and Hana indicated that she and Vlad should leave the room and allow her to rest. Vlad took the vial of holy water from his chest and made the sign of the cross over Lillia. Lillia’s lips curled back in a growl, and Vlad