THE CHARACTERS AND SETTINGS ARE THE WORKS OF AN ORIGINAL FICTION.
Immortality: Tales of the Undead- The Ruins
October 10, 1987
It is to my belief that I have discovered something strange in the ruins of a highland castle. This discovery was most valuable to my important research. I had to know what was inside it, because I was too curious to find out, due to my utmost curiosity, and that could be the means to boost my career as a historian. I have always known throughout my life, that certain discoveries could change the course of history. But this? It was truly remarkable, regarding the facts of what I have found. Here, I have discovered a coffin, which had lied in the castle for about 500 years. In fact, I had never seen such a thing in my entire life. Truly excited, I wish I could tell this to my colleagues. But they may not believe me, for what I had learned about the coffin itself.
Yes, I had some help digging the grave from within the castle. The coffin was buried beneath the stone slab of a family hall. It looked like a fresh grave that just got buried, but it didn't seem to be. To think that some unknown, dead person, had been buried inside the castle for these many years, would make one wonder such as myself, who could it be lying there.
When I opened the coffin, with the help of the Scottish men that I had hired, I'd told them to be careful, because I needed it for important research. You see, I heard stories about a highland warrior, who had a fierce battle with the British in these parts of Scotland. Yes, the Scots, and Brits didn't get along very well in those days. But the thought of seeing the coffin of a brave warrior is not to be dismissed. In fact, I had the notion that whoever is inside the coffin, could be an important, historical figure. It's not to say that nobody could care an ounce of this unknown person. Many histories indicated that the people in the past, would prove importantly for anyone to care about. I had my one of students in the lecture classes say this, "You see sir, a dead body is a dead body. No one cares, who it is." Of course, he may have a point, but the fact remains clear to me that the buried figures are very important in history.
Anyways, to tell you the truth... I did found a figure. My God! He was quite handsome, and fresh as any person that I could ever imagine. Why... it's like I had fallen in love with this man! I was so obsessed with him that I could barely hear the Scots speaking to me. The locals were too mystified that the corpse was still fresh, the man, who was a highlander back in the day. There was no skeleton, whatsoever. Again, it was truly remarkable, and fascinating to see a dead man, who clearly may not be dead. The locals warned me that this once, famous man, who saved Scotland from the British invasion was clearly not human. The local had said, "Look lad, I'm warning ye. Ye best leave this coffin to be, and we set fire upon it. This thing ain't human." And the other local said, "Ye, he's right ya know. Don't know what yer thinkin', professor. This ain't the place and time to dig damnable corpses." When I asked him, what he meant by, damnable. He said with a surprise look on his face. "Ye don't know? Praise, Jesus Christ! Professor... this thing can drink human blood. I'm tellin' ye, sir. It's true." I laughed, and said to him, "You mean to say that he's a vampire?" The local who first spoke about the dangers of the coffin said, "It ain't a joke, sir. Lemme tell ye, this corpse is fresh. You can see it fer yerself."
Yes, I did see it for myself. There was nothing rotten about it. However, that doesn't mean these superstitious locals had the right to burn the coffin. I paid them, high amounts of money to prevent that. They were angry that I wouldn't listen to them. But then, they came all the way here, and I had ordered them to help me, dig the coffin. I couldn't have done it myself. I shooed them off, and told them to never come to the ruined castle again. They whispered to each other, and God knows what they were saying. But I hoped that they wouldn't burn my precious discovery. Besides, I have to know who this highlander was, and that my life depends upon it.
October 11, 1987
It was a dark night in the hillside of Scotland. I lived in a cottage, along with a Christian family. Although they knew that I was a historian, they didn't dare to ask what I was actually doing here. It's best not to tell everything to them. Because these people were superstitious enough to believe in anything. They told me that the ruined castle was a evil place, and that the young shepherd, their son who had noticed me, arrived there, looking for something. Yes, I had to admit that they could be right about one thing. However, I had found that the highlander was a good nobleman. And yes, they had known it too. But something happened along the way. This highlander, Lance MacLeod was betrayed by his own lover. She was British back then, and sent to live by his side. Until one day, she took a knife, and killed Lance himself. It was meant to be an act of vengeance on the British side, for they had failed many battles. But Lance attempted a truce to ease the tensions between Scots, and the Brits. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way. The British ruler named Sir Gavin Anderson had other plans. He sent his own daughter to do the bidding. She was forced to kill Lance, because she fell in love with him. If she hadn't killed him, she would be branded as a traitor of the British kingdom. She wouldn't want that, and not to mention, she was meant to marry a British soldier of fine attitude and courage. This story had struck me, as I had found out that the highlander was killed by his own mistress. Now that 500 years later, the corpse was still there, fresh as ever and quite frozen like ice, and that he never aged to the point of death. What made him this way, I wonder? I do not know. But the thought of Lance MacLeod as a vampire was truly unbelievable, and that at any moment, he could wake up, and drink blood of these superstitious locals.
I came back to the ruined castle, and learned more about the history of Lance MacLeod. He came from a wealthy family, who had traveled from certain parts of Europe. At a young age, he was a brave warrior who fought hungry wolves in winter, and the British young men, who had taunted him. The young MacLeod fought them, and it was amazing to see how courageous he became. I had to go to a local library in Scotland to learn more about these things. Yes, I did find them in fact, with the help of a British librarian. She asked me who I was, and I said this, "My name is Professor Henry Charleston. I'm a historian." The librarian smiled, and said, "Oh I see, you're that man who does research on ancient graveyards and tombstones." I replied to her, "Yes, I'm that." When she was about to do her business, she said, "By the way, I've read your book on the Egyptian sarcophagus. It was really good." I said to her, "Thank you." Then, I moved on with my current research.
October 12, 1987
When I came back to the castle, I found out that something was wrong. There was terrible news about the fact that the sheep was killed in brutal fashion, not to mention the Christian shepherd was killed among them. He was found dead lying on the grass, all the blood drained from him. His eyes were wide open, staring sideways. I didn't know what to say. I had this bad feeling that it got something to do with the coffin, which I had found at the ruined castle. I rushed toward the castle, and saw that the locals, whom I hired earlier, brought with the rest of the other locals in the village to fight the evil, so-called vampire. I cried out, "What are on earth are you doing? What's going on?" The local, who had warned me about the coffin, said, "You're mad to let him loose. I told ye that this thing ain't human, and ye didn't listen!" The other locals agreed angrily, and one of them was like pointing a large pitchfork at me, as if I were the true culprit. I told them, that the fresh corpse of the Scottish highlander hadn't awakened, and that it was impossible. But they were screaming madly at me. I feared the worst that was about to come. I had to get away from these people, before I got myself hurt. I ran away from them, and stood far, watching the smoke rising from the holes within the ruined castle itself. It looked like the locals have torched everything apart, and then the coffin... Dear God! My life's work, and I had planned to bring it to America. My dream and research was ruined, but luckily, I still had the notes of what I had recorded about Lance MacLeod.
The police from Scotland Yard, arrived toward the scene of the ruined castle. Of course, it looked totally burned beyond recognition. I told them these locals had burned everything, because they thought it was some blood-sucking demon, came to attack the sheep, and had killed the young shepherd. The Christian parents were horrified that their own son was dead, and they blamed me, for releasing something evil into the world. I didn't know what I could have said. But the police hadn't arrested anyone, because the castle was already ruined, and nothing was valuable enough to recover.
October 13, 1987
I came back to the castle, hoping to find something that I could take it back to America. I've been growing tired, lately, because I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about the burned coffin, and the thought of Lance MacLeod screaming to death. The locals must have killed him, of course. I had to make sure that it was done, for when I went there, there were lot of ashes lying on the ground, and the coffin looked very dirty. The smell was somewhat intoxicating. I had to cover my nose with a handkerchief.
When I went around the ashes, I noticed the coffin's lid was opened. I looked closer, hoping the smell doesn't get any worse, and that I couldn't breathe. I stood there and gasped. There in the coffin, lies the burned skeleton of Lance MacLeod!
Next story- There's Something About Lucy.
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