#the cask

[whyhellosims]

      Grandfather died when my sister and I were in our early twenties, leaving to us his extensive estates and collections. Upon his deathbed he called me alone into the room to tell me there was a very special artifact in the abbey of our ancestral catacombs—a stone cask set in the very center of the room. With much agitation, my Grandfather begged me to remove myself to his distant estate and watch over the cask, minding that the thing never leaked even a drop of water. Only once I had solemnly promised to daily check the cask did he succumb to his sickness and die.

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[whyhellosims]

     At this I sat up straight and inquired about Lord Hale, asking how the diplomat had died and exactly when.      The man who knew told me Lord Hale was never a diplomat, had never even left his country home once his wife had died, and he himself had passed on either the night before or this morning, by the judging of it, and why was I asking?      I told them I had only just this morning met Lord Hale's lovely young daughter, and how brave she was to come to my aid, unaware her own elderly father had just passed away.

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From the beginning

[whyhellosims]

     Lady Hale, it seemed, had heard about my sister's illness by way of the priest, who had mentioned it to his nephew in the Lady’s employ. As the youngest daughter of her ailing father, a mightily religious man of diplomatic bent, she took it upon herself to come and aid me in his place.      Finding her much like Hestia and relieved to have a sensible soul to confide in, I told the lovely Lady Hale the whole story beginning with my Grandfather.      She told me she had known of my grandfather but had never met him, as he stayed alone and indoors and was rarely sociable. She could understand his urgent need to preserve the decaying scripts in the crypt, but wondered why ever my sister would fall prey to hysterics over something as benign as a cask of old water. She then suggested the best recourse for me regarding the cask and my duty to it would be to empty the thing completely and have my hired hands remove it—solving the leaking problem altogether and removing such an obvious object of my dear sister’s fright.

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From the beginning

[whyhellosims]

     Pleased to have made her so happy, I decided to leave right then, whereupon Hestia begged a kiss. I clutched her to me briefly, thinking for a moment the little scamp had bitten me on the neck, and excused myself from my two lovely ladies. I could swear, as I closed the door, that I saw my sister wink at Lady Hale.

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From the beginning

[whyhellosims]

     I returned to find Hestia lucid and chattering happily, all her dark thoughts of Lady Hale laid to rest. The two leaned close to each other, giggling like schoolgirls. I smiled to see them so, especially to see my sister so quickly restored to health. Hoping to raise her spirits even higher, I mentioned the cask even now torn asunder and the pieces being thrown into my wagon.

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From the beginning

[whyhellosims]

     My statement was met with quizzical stares and every last one of them agreed Lord Hale had never sired children, not even outside of his marriage bed. He’d been chaste as a nun after his wife had died upwards of thirty-five years ago.      Vexed, I protested, saying surely they must know Lady Hale, as young and lovely as she was, and in whose employ was the priest’s own nephew!      At that they grew grim, repeating there never was a young Lady Hale, and the nephew I spoke of had been among those to disappear along with the rest.

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From the beginning

[whyhellosims]

     Pleased with her suggestion and a little ashamed to realize my own superstitions had kept such an obvious solution from me, I told her of Hestia's strange malady. She pursed her mouth and softly asked if I would allow her to see my poor sibling. I readily agreed, trusting her immensely for her advice, and brought her directly to where Hestia tossed on her bed.      Lady Hale watched her for a while, remarking on the garlic and my sister’s fever. Then she laid her pale hand on Hestia's forehead and cooed at her like a baby. Telling me she was going to send for cool water and some other things from the kitchen she might need, she left me alone with my twin.      Hestia was immediately awake and in a frightened voice told me Lady Hale was the very thing she had seen in the cask, the very thing that had bitten her and drained her blood.

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From the beginning

[whyhellosims]

     Hestia immediately rose in a panic, her eyes snapping open and her mouth parting on a sharp cry. She jerked her fingers from my own and pressed them to her chest, her face set with horror. She then turned her terrified eyes to me and told me the thing itself had come to her, had bitten into the soft flesh just beneath her chemise and sucked the very life out of her.      Worried now that the events in the crypt had been too much for her, I carefully checked the bit of flesh her hands clutched at and found she had indeed been bitten by something. There were bruises around deep punctures just above her breast. With concern I told her I would send for the doctor immediately, but she only laughed and told me to send for a priest; the thing wouldn’t have another woman about and she herself would be dead by dawn.

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From the beginning