BALKAN WEATHER, EVEN BALKAN SPRING WEATHER, was not pleasant to General von Grunn, leaning heavily back behind the bulletproof glass of his car. May 4th—the English would call it St. George’s Day, after their saint who was helping them so little. The date would mean something to Heinrich Himmler, too; that weak-chinned pet of the Fuehrer would hold some sort of garbled druidic ritual with his Schutzstaffel on the Brockenburg. Von Grunn grimaced fatly at thought of Himmler, and leaned forward to look out into the night. An armed car ahead, an armed car behind—all was well.
“Forward!” he growled to his orderly, Kranz, who trod on the accelerator. The car moved, and the car ahead took the lead, into the Borgo Pass.
Von Grunn glanced backward once, to the lights of Bistritz. This country had been Rumanian not so long ago. Now it was Hungarian, which meant that it was German.
What was it that the mayor of Bistritz had said, when he had demanded a semi-remote headquarters? The castle along this pass, empty—ready for him? The dolt had seemed eager to help, to please. Von Grunn produced a long cigarette. Young Captain Plesser, sitting beside him, at once kindled a lighter. Slim, quiet, the young aide had faded from von Grunn’s consciousness.
“What’s the name of that castle again?” inquired the general, and made a grimace when Plesser replied in barbarous slavic syllables. “What’s the meaning in a civilized tongue?”
“Devil’s castle, I should think,” hazarded the captain’s respectful voice.
“Ach, so—Transylvania is supposed to be overrun with devils,” nodded von Grunn, puffing. “Let them defer to us, or we’ll devil them.” He smiled, for his was a great gift for appreciating his own epigrams. “Meanwhile, let the castle be called its German name. Teufelstoss—Devil’s Castle.”
“Of course,” agreed Plesser.
Silence for a while, as the cars purred powerfully up the rough slope of the pass trail. Von Grunn lost himself in his favorite meditation—his own assured future. He was to establish an unostentatious command post for—what? A move against Russia? The Black Sea? He would know soon enough. In any case, an army would be his, action and glory. There was glory enough for all. Von Grunn remembered Wilhelm II saying that, in the last war.
“The last war,” he said aloud. “I was a simple oberlieutenant then. And the Fuehrer—a corporal. What were you, captain?”
“A child.”
“You remember?”
“Nothing.” Plesser screwed up his courage to a question. “General von Grunn, does it not seem strange that the folk at Bistritz were so anxious for you to come to the castle—Teufelstoss—tonight?”
Von Grunn nodded, like a big fierce owl. “You smell a trap, nicht wahr? That is why I bring two carloads of men, my trusted bodyguard. For that very chance. But I doubt if any in Transylvania dare set traps for me, or any other German.”
The cars were slowing down. General and captain leaned forward. The car ahead was passing through the great open gateway of a courtyard. Against the spattered stars rose the silhouette of a vast black building, with a broken tower. “We seem to be here,” ventured Captain Plesser.
“Good. Go to the forward car. When the other arrives, form the guard.”
It was done swiftly. Sixteen stark infantrymen were marshaled, with rifles, bombs, and submachine guns. Von Grunn emerged into the cold night, and Kranz, the orderly, began to bring out the luggage.
“A natural fort, withdrawn and good for any defense except against aircraft,” pronounced the general, peering through his monocle at the battlements above. “We will make a thorough examination.
“Unteroffizer!” he barked, and the noncom in charge of the escort came forward woodenly, stiffening to attention. “Six of the men will accompany me inside. You will bivouac the others in this courtyard, maintaining a guard all night. Heil Hitler.”
“Heil Hitler,” responded the man briskly. Von Grunn smiled as the unteroffizer strode away to obey. For all the soldierly alacrity, that order to sleep outdoors was no welcome one. So much the better; von Grunn believed in toughening experiences for field soldiers, and his escort had lived too softly since the Battle of Flanders.
He walked to where a sort of vestibule of massive rough stone projected from the castle wall. Plesser already stood there, staring at the heavy nail-studded planks of the door. “It is locked, Herr General,” he reported. “No knob or latch, bell or knocker—”
But as he spoke, the door swung creakingly inward, and yellow light gushed out.
On the threshold stood a figure in black, as tall as von Grunn himself but thinner than even Plesser. A pale, sharp face and brilliant eyes turned upon them, in the light of a chimneyless oil lamp of silver.
“Welcome, General von Grunn,” said the lamp holder. “You are expected.”
His German was good; his manner respectful. Von Grunn’s broad hand slid into a greatcoat pocket, where he always carried a big automatic pistol.
“Who told you to expect us?” he demanded.
The lamplight struck blue radiance from smooth, sparse black hair as the thin man bowed. “Who could mistake General von Grunn, or doubt that he would want this spacious, withdrawn structure for his new headquarters position?”
The mayor of Bistritz, officious ass, must have sent this fellow ahead to make fawning preparations—but even as von Grunn thought that, the man himself gave other information.
“I am in charge here, have been in charge for many years. We are so honored to have company. Will the general enter?”
He stepped back. Plesser entered, then von Grunn. The vestibule was warm. “This way, excellency,” said the man with the lamp—the steward, von Grunn decided to classify him. He led the way along a stone-paved passage, von Grunn’s escort tramping authoritatively after him. Then up a great winding stair, and into a room, a big hall of a place, with a fire of logs and a table set for supper.
All told, very inviting; but it was not von Grunn’s way to say as much. He only nodded, and allowed Captain Plesser to help him out of his greatcoat. Meanwhile, the steward was showing the luggage-laden Kranz into an octagonal bedroom beyond.
“Take these six men,” said von Grunn to Plesser, indicating the soldiers of the escort. “Tour the castle. Make a plan of each floor. Then come back and report. Heil Hitler.”
“Heil Hitler,” and Plesser led the party away. Von Grunn turned his broad back to the fire. Kranz was busy within the bedroom, arranging things. The steward returned. “May I serve the Herr General?” he asked silkily.
Von Grunn looked at the table, and with difficulty forebore to lick his fat lips. There were great slices of roast beef, a fowl, cheese, salad, and two bottles of wine—Kranz himself could not have guessed better what would be good. Von Grunn almost started forward to the table, then paused. This was Transylvania. The natives, for all their supple courtesy, disliked and feared soldiers of the Reich. Might these good things not be poisoned?
“Remove these things,” he said bleakly. “I have brought my own provisions. You may eat that supper yourself.”
Another bow. “The Herr General is too good, but I will sup at midnight—it is not long. Now I will clear the things away. Your man will fetch what you want.”
He began to gather up dishes. Watching him stoop over the table, von Grunn thought that he had seldom seen anyone so narrow in the shoulders—they were humped high, like the shoulders of a hyena, suggesting a power that crouched and lurked. Von Grunn was obliged to tell himself that he was not repelled or nervous. The steward was a stranger, a Slav of some kind. It was von Grunn’s business to be scornful of all such.
“Now,” he said, when all was cleared, “go to the bedroom and tell my order-ly—” He broke off. “What was that?”
The other listened. Von Grunn could have sworn that the man’s ears—pale and pointed—lifted voluntarily, like the ears of a cat or a fox. The sound came again, a prolonged howl in the distance.
“The wolves,” came the quiet reply. “They speak to the full moon.”
“Wolves?” The general was intrigued at once. He was a sportsman—that is, he liked to corner and kill beasts almost as much as he liked to corner and kill men. As a guest of Hermann Goering he had shot two very expensive wild bulls, and he yearned for the day when the Fuehrer would graciously invite him to the Black Forest for pigsticking. “Are there many?” he asked. “It sounds like many. If they were not so far—”
“They come nearer,” his companion said, and indeed the howl was repeated more strongly and clearly. “But you gave an order, general?”
“Oh, yes.” Von Grunn remembered his hunger. “My man will bring me supper from among the things we have with us.”
A bow, and the slender black figure moved noiselessly into the bedroom. Von Grunn crossed the floor and seated himself in an armchair before the table. The steward returned, and stood at his elbow.
“Pardon. Your orderly helped me carry the other food to the castle kitchen. He has not returned, and so I took the liberty of serving you.”
He had a tray. Upon it were delicacies from von Grunn’s mess chest—slices of smoked turkey, buttered bread, preserved fruits, bottled beer. The fellow had arranged them himself, had had every opportunity to . . . to—
Von Grunn scowled and took the monocle from his eye. The danger of poison again stirred in his mind, and he had difficulty scorning it. He must eat and drink, in defiance of fear.
Poison or no poison, the food was plentiful, and the steward an excellent waiter. The general drank beer, and deigned to say, “You are an experienced servant?”
The pale, sharp face twitched sidewise in negation. “I serve very few guests. The last was years ago—Jonathan Harker, an Englishman—”
Von Grunn snorted away mention of that unwelcome people, and finished his repast. Then he rose, and stared around. The wolves howled again, in several directions and close to the castle.
“I seem to be deserted,” he said grimly. “The captain is late, my orderly late. My men make no report.” He stepped to the door, opened it. “Plesser!” he called. “Captain Plesser.”’
No reply.
“Shall I bring you to him?” asked the steward gently. Once again, he had come up close. Von Grunn started violently, and wheeled.
The eyes of the steward were on a level with his, and very close. For the first time von Grunn saw that they were filled with green light. The steward was smiling, too, and von Grunn saw his teeth—white, spaced widely, pointed—
As if signaled by the thought, the howling of the beasts outside broke out afresh. It was deafeningly close. To von Grunn it sounded like hundreds. Then, in reply, came a shout, the voice of the unteroffizer uttering a quick, startled command.
At once a shot. Several shots.
The men he had encamped in the courtyard were shooting at something.
With ponderous haste, von Grunn hurried from the room, down the stairs. As he reached the passageway below, he heard more shots, and a wild air-rending chorus of howls, growls, spotting scuffles. Von Grunn gained the door by which he had entered. Something moved in the gloom at his very feet.
A chalky face turned up, the face of Captain Plesser. A hand lifted shakily to clutch at the general’s boot top.
“Back in there, the dark rooms—” It was half a choke, half a sigh. “They’re devils—hungry—they got the others, got me—I could come no farther than this–”
Plesser collapsed. Light came from behind von Grunn, and he could see the captain’s head sagging backward on the stone. The side of the slender neck had been torn open, but blood did not come. For there was no blood left in Captain Plesser’s body.
Outside, there was sudden silence. Stepping across Plesser’s body, the general seized the latch and pushed the door open.
The courtyard was full of wolves, feeding. One glance was enough to show what they fed on. As von Grunn stared, the wolves lifted their heads and stared back. He saw many green-glowing eyes, level, hard, hungry, many grinning mouths with pointed teeth—the eyes and the teeth of the steward.
He got the door shut again, and sagged upon it, breathing hard.
“I am sorry, general,” came a soft, teasing apology. “Sorry—my servants were too eager within and without. Wolves and vampires are hard to restrain. After all, it is midnight—our moment of all moments.”
“What are you raving about?” gasped von Grunn, feeling his jaw sag.
“I do not rave. I tell simple truth. My castle has vampires within, wolves without, all my followers and friends—”
Von Grunn felt for a weapon. His greatcoat was upstairs, the pistol in its pocket.
“Who are you?” he screamed.
“I am Count Dracula of Transylvania,” replied the gaunt man in black.
He set down the lamp carefully before moving forward.
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