BLOOD SACRIFICE

Chapter Ten

While they were walking, Rose slowed the Doctor down a bit and he gave her a quizzical look.

"Are you going to tell her?" she whispered, knowing he could hear her clearly.

"What?" he whispred back.

Rose opened her mouth and pointed to her canine. The Doctor gave her an "Are you kidding me?" look.

"She should know. She's going to be helping us and we might need your…abilities," Rose whispered. "What's she gonna think if you start flying around?"

"Rose, they think my kind are evil," the Doctor hissed back.

"She's intelligent. She'll believe you if you tell her you're not like that. I'll help you," Rose whispered back.

"Your funeral," the Doctor muttered. "Just don't let her stake me."

"Done," Rose said before hurrying to catch up to Frida.

She stopped her and told her that they had something important to say to her. Frida followed quietly when they walked behind a house. The Doctor followed them, hoping Rose knew what she was doing. When they were away from the other villagers, Rose knelt down and lay the book and the basket down on the ground while the Doctor stood beside her.

"I want you to trust us," Rose said to Frida.

"I do trust you. You are nice people," Frida said.

"Okay. Well, then please hear us out because the Doctor here has a secret, a big one."

Frida looked at the Doctor and he smiled warmly at her, hoping they weren't about to lose an ally. Frida looked back at Rose.

"You know what you were saying about vampires?" Rose said to her.

Frida gave her a blank look.

"She means nosferatu. Vampires are another name for them," the Doctor said.

Frida nodded and shrugged.

"Yes. I know what I said about them," she said to Rose.

"Do you believe they're evil? All of them?" Rose said.

Frida nodded, confused about where Rose was going with this.

"Well, I want to tell you that they're not all evil. There are good nosferatu as well," Rose said.

Frida was taken aback by that.

"How do you know?" she said.

"Because you're looking at one right now," Rose said, pointing up to the Doctor.

Frida looked at the Doctor and he knelt down to her.

"He doesn't look like a corpse," Frida said to Rose.

"It's because I have makeup on," the Doctor said. "I concealed my pale skin to blend in here. But Rose is right, I am a good person and I won't hurt you."

Frida looked unsure and the Doctor thought she was wondering whether or not to run. He held up his hand.

"I give you my word that I won't hurt you," the Doctor said. "I don't take the blood of humans," he added, trying not to think of all the times in the past he did just that.

"How do I know you're nosferatu?" Frida said.

The Doctor looked around and Frida gasped when he levitated a few feet off the ground. Frida gave Rose a panicked look but she laid her hand on Frida's shoulder.

"He won't hurt you. He's a good person. He wants to change back into a normal person and he's trying to find a cure but for the moment he wants to help find out what's going on here."

Frida calmed down a bit when she gazed at Rose's face. The Doctor came back down to the ground and Frida tentatively touched his hand.

"It's cold, very cold," Frida said to him.

"Yes. And I have no heartbeat."

"Then how will you find a way to become living again?" Frida said.

"I don't know but I'm not giving up until I try," the Doctor said. "But for now I have to muddle through and make the best of a bad situation. So do you believe me about being a good nosferatu?"

Frida considered that. She took the Doctor's hand and he smiled at her. Frida gazed at his face and nodded.

"I think you're good," she said.

"Good. The reason we told you this is because I may need my nosferatu abilities once we reach the castle and we didn't want to alarm you," he said.

"Is the countess nosferatu?" Frida said.

"I don't know, I honestly don't but she kills young women like yourself and drains their blood and bathes in it. So she's evil at the very least and we need to stop her."

"Then the story is true," Frida said breathlessly. "She does bathe in blood."

"Yes. And I have a feeling that would have been your fate. I only hope it wasn't Giselle's as well," the Doctor said. "But this book Rose has," he added, tapping the cover. "I looked through it and there's some things that are correct but most of it is rubbish and superstition. And I wasted my yoyo just so Rose could get it…as a joke, I expect," he said, looking at Rose while she giggled. "But please don't tell anyone else what we've said. We don't want the villagers trying to stake us, okay?"

Frida nodded and the Doctor squeezed her hand. He stood up and Frida took her hand.

"Could you pick me up and fly like you just did?" she said.

Rose chuckled when the Doctor beamed at that. He picked her up and Frida laughed when he levitated about ten feet in the air. The Doctor was pleased that she wasn't frightened and seemed enchanted by being so high up. The Doctor slowly came back down and put her down.

"Can you turn into bats?" Frida said.

"No, sadly that's not one of my abilities. But I do have super speed and all my senses are sharper than any human's. Now that I've proven who am I and that I'm not a threat. I have a small addition to your plan. One that will allow Rose and me to come into the castle with you."

"Really? What?" Rose said.

"No offense, Frida, the servant girl plan is a good idea but I have a feeling that woman does work for the countess and I don't think she'd believe you would come asking to be a servant girl after getting away from her," the Doctor said.

"Then what shall we do?" Frida said.

"I propose this, my partners in crime. I think Rose and I will go with you and pose as your parents. We will go directly to the gate and tell them that we wish to see the countess because you were nearly abducted and we think someone working for the countess has something to do with it. That would explain our saving you before and that way we wouldn't have to sneak inside. What'd ya think?"

Frida nodded enthusiastically.

"You're very brave. I like that because we're facing terrible danger if we do this and we're risking our lives, including me, since I can be killed. But you don't have to do this if you don't want to."

"I know. But I want to do it and I want to find out what she did to Giselle," Frida said.

The Doctor nodded.

"We'll do all we can to find out the truth and try to find her," he said. "But for now, let's put the book and basket somewhere and start walking towards the castle."

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