Written by Britta Ventura, Sat 25/04/98 13:58
Chapter 3
Gerda could hear the screeching of tires before the stabbing sound of bending and tearing metal followed. Then silence. She ran out of the front door of Schloss Ritter. Gabriel had hit the surrounding wall clear with his car. It didn’t look as bad as it had sounded, but he wouldn’t get out. Gerda raced down the path to the car.
He still sat behind the steering wheel. His face was absent, he looked terrified
"Gabriel, are you all right? What happened?"
No answer. Gerda opened the door and unfastened his seatbelt. "Gabe, talk to me. Get out of the car. Let me help you."
She was able to make him climb out. As she led him inside the castle he didn’t say a single word.
A few minutes later he sat in front of the fireside, Gerda had prepared a cup of tea and now waited for him to talk. But Gabriel just sat there, tears running down his face and he stared into the fire. The tea was starting to get cold. Gerda moved a little closer and laid a hand on his arm. With a sudden move he jerked his arm away. Tea spilled on the floor.
"Don’t touch me. Don’t look at me like this. Like I am the monster incarnate!" he jumped up glaring at her.
"What do you mean? Who do you think you are? Why this behaviour. Don’t you dare scream at me ever again. You are impertinent.!" Gerda just couldn’t stand it anymore. She grabbed his shoulders. With an unexpected rage he flung his fist at her.
"Stay away from me, woman!" he roared. Gerda fell back on the couch. Gabriel stormed out of the room. A short while later she could hear his door slamming.
Gabriel stood at the window that gave him a good view at the small village nestling at the bottom of the hill Schloss Ritter was build on. Rittersberg was sparkling with lights that reflected on the freshly fallen snow. Around them, dark and towering lay the big forest. Hardly any sounds reached Gabriel. But he could smell them. Rabbits, deers and other creatures of the wood. And now the sounds come. He stared downwards. His muscles tightened, ready to leap forward. He wanted to kill. Taste the warmth of the fallen bodies. Gabriel screamed.
He clutched the window frame. After a while the tension eased. Not knowing what to do he walked down to the living-room. Gerda was nowhere to be seen. In one of the shelves he found what he was looking for. The bottle of Scotch in one hand he grabbed some of the cookies from the table and went back to his room. The room was freezing cold by now. He had left the window open. Gabriel locked himself in and sat on his bed. Without much of a thought he unscrewed the bottle and drank until it was empty.
In the morning Gabriel awoke with an enormous headache. The room was filled with the smell of stale alcohol. Very slowly he took his clothes off to shower. It only made it worse. He had to talk to Gerda. Even though he had a hangover, he felt much calmer.
What had happened? Von Glower had happened and the fact that he wasn’t freed from the curse at all.
Gabriel let the water run down his body and considered his alternatives. Actually there was only one. He had to kill Friedrich. After a while, ready to meet life again, he went downstairs. Gerda sat at her desk in the great hall. She looked up at him but said nothing. Gabriel felt ashamed. He sat down opposite of her and reached for her hand. Surprisingly enough she didn’t pull it away.
"We have to talk, Gerda."
"Oh do we now?" Gerda hadn’t forgiven him.
"Look I’m sorry for what happened."
"Do you think that makes it all better and go away.?"
"No, but let me explain. You remember what happened a few weeks ago? The werewolf thing?"
"Sure I do." What does he think, Gerda thought.
"Remember I told you the black wolf was dead and with it I was freed off the curse?"
"Of course. But you still don’t behave like a normal human being."
"Well the black wolf, I mean Friedrich, isn’t dead! That Doctor who called yesterday has him. They pulled him out of the fire to soon. He survived. Now they are running tests on him. I saw him and he saw me. Do you know what that means?"
"You are still cursed."
"Yes, damn it. Gerda I can feel it. But I can’t control it. Sooner or later I’m going to kill someone. I have to do something."
Gerda sat in silence. What could they do? All the hard work, the opera, their ‘brilliant’ plan, it was all worth nothing. For a second she considered calling Grace. No, better not.
"What do you want to do? Have you got the chance to speak to von Glower?"
"I don’t want to talk to that bastard. All I want is to see him dead!"
"Are you sure Gabriel? Remember his letter to you. Maybe he isn’t all that bad."
"Who cares? What about me? I don’t want to be a werewolf. Nobody asked me!"
"Nobody asked von Glower either, remember?"
If you have any comments, you can email Britta Ventura at BuAVentura@compuserve.com.
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