BLOOD SACRIFICE

Chapter Thirteen

Katalin gasped, her heart racing from the shock of being picked up and taken somewhere else in the blink of an eye. She realized they were near the back of the castle now but the Doctor managed to get there in the space of several eyeblinks. She looked at him and flinched when she saw his piercing gaze.

"I know you," he said to her.

Katalin swallowed hard.

"I…I don't think so," she said.

"No, I know you. I remember your name. You are the youngest of the countess's cronies. The one that was forced into helping her."

"How can you know this?" Katalin said, stepping away from him.

The Doctor smirked.

"Oh, I know what goes on here all too well," he said. "I know what your mistress does to young women and I know what they wanted with Frida when they tried to abduct her. You help her slaughter innocent people but unlike the other three, you were an unwilling participant, am I right?"

Katalin was speechless at how much he knew. The Doctor walked towards her and when Katalin tried to back away, he seized her arm.

"Are any still alive?" he growled at her.

He got into her face when she didn't speak and she winced when he grabbed her arm tighter.

"The countess is going to be brought to justice for what she's done and her accomplices are going down with her. However, I can show you mercy if you turn against her and help me," he said.

"Mistress is dangerous," Katalin said in a soft voice.

"I'm even more dangerous," the Doctor snarled at her. "Now answer my question, are any women still alive?"

"T…two, they're in the dungeon," Katalin said.

"Take me to them."

He jerked his head up when he heard the guards calling to each other to start looking for him and capture Rose and Frida.

"You see, they're already looking for you," Katalin said. "How long do you think you'll last…"

She gasped when the Doctor seized her around the waist and flew upwards. Katalin was horrified when his handsome face contorted into a demonic visage and she saw sharp fangs in his open mouth.

"Nosferatu," Katalin squeaked out.

"Bang on," the Doctor said in a deep voice. "And unless you help me, I'll make you my next meal. Got it?"

Katalin nodded meekly and the Doctor flew higher, his head inches from the stone ceiling. Katalin looked down and saw two guards run through the room but neither of them bothered to look up. Katalin looked at the Doctor and was surprise to see his face was back to normal.

"Why are you doing this?" Katalin said softly.

"Doing what? Helping the women imprisoned in here or holding you hostage?"

"Both."

"Despite what you may have heard, there are good nosferatu in the world. I do have compassion but at the same time I don't like people who won't help me. As for holding you hostage, I brought you back here to speak with you because I remembered that you weren't as bad as the others. In fact, you're not evil, just abused and bullied, is that so?"

Katalin nodded. She looked at him and his face softened and she thought about how handsome he looked. But she also remembered the seductive power of vampires and told him that. The Doctor chuckled.

"Yes, Rose tells me I'm quite the charmer," he said. "I'm not seducing you though and I have no interest in that. My hearts belong to another. I'm only interested in gaining your help. If you help me, I will protect you against the countess. Trust me; she's no match for me."

Katalin looked at the ground far below and thoroughly believed that.

"I ask for mercy," she said to him.

"I ask for you help and in return I will give mercy," he said. "You have done evil but I believe you are a good person, just an abused one that had no choice. However, there is a choice to be made now and you can choose to stand against what the countess and her servants are doing. Save the women that can be saved and help me bring her to justice and you won't face any tribunal. So, what is your decision?"

Katalin thought about that. At last she did have a chance to get back at the countess and her servants for everything they did to her. She hated herself for participating in their evil schemes and she didn't know if she could live with herself afterwards.

"Can you kill me if I help you?" she said.

"Kill you?" the Doctor said, frowing.

"I deserve death. Take my blood and let me die," Katalin said.

"I don't want your blood and I don't want your death," the Doctor said. "If you wish to take your own life after I'm gone, that's your decision but I don't kill unless absolutely necessary. I understand the guilt you have…all too well in fact but you're young and you can do so much good in the world and counteract what you've done here. You must live your own life but I'd rather you didn't kill yourself over this. Not when you can make a difference."

Katalin thought about that and nodded. The Doctor smiled and looked down before bringing her back down to the ground.

"Now…first things first, where did they take Rose and Frida?" he asked.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"Rose, what do we do?" Frida said as she and Rose backed away from the three guards coming into the dining hall.

Rose looked around and saw a heavy wooden chair by a nearby table. She ran to it and tried to lift it up but she could only get it a foot off the ground because it was heavy and bulky. Frida ran to her and grabbed the legs and helped her.

"They come near us, we start throwing chairs at them," Rose said softly to her.

Frida nodded. They walked backwards with the chair while the guards chuckled and slowly followed them.

"You might as well surrender, there's no way you can win," one of the guards said as each of them withdrew their swords from their scabbards.

"We're not the surrendering type," Rose said. "Back up and leave us alone or we'll kill you with these chairs."

The guards looked at each other and guffawed at that. They quickened their pace and Rose glanced back and noticed they were near the back wall now.

"Too late, love, you're nearly up against a wall," the guard said. "Surrender and we won't have our way with you and your daughter."

Rose was about to tell Frida to throw the chair when suddenly the guard was knocked backwards by an unseen force. The other two guards had just enough time to see their unconscious friend hit the floor before both of them were knocked sideways with a force great enough to also knock them out. Then Rose saw the Doctor standing there with a smug look on his face.

"Surrender and we won't have our way with you," he said teasingly.

"I'm so glad you can do that," Rose said, breathing a sigh of relief while she and Frida put the chair down.

"I am as well. Being a vampire is nice at times. Katalin, come inside," he said over his shoulder.

Katalin tentatively stepped into the room, shocked at what she just witnessed.

"Rose, Frida, this is Katalin, one of the countess's servants," the Doctor said. "She has agreed to help us in exchange for leniency. According to her there are two women still in the dungeon."

"Giselle, is one of them Giselle?" Frida asked.

"Her friend was taken two years ago, a little girl of nine, is she one of the captives?" the Doctor said.

Katalin shook her head.

"No one has lasted two years here," she said. "They either die in the dungeon or they're tortured and killed. The women in the dungeon have been here maybe two, three weeks."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said, laying a hand on Frida's shoulder when she saw the heartrending look on her face.

Then suddenly Frida dashed to Katalin and she was shocked when Frida smacked her cheek hard.

"You burn in Hell for what you did here!" Frida yelled at her.

The Doctor came up behind Frida and put his hands on her shoulders. Rose's heart went out to Katalin when she saw the guilt and despair on her face. Frida hit her so hard the handprint was still visible on her cheek and a tear was now streaking down it. Katalin sunk down to the floor and wept while the Doctor rubbed Frida's arm affectionately and bent down to her.

"I'm sorry," Katalin sobbed. "I do deserve to burn in Hell."

Rose walked up to her and bent down. She looked at Frida and took her hand while she rubbed Katalin's back with her other hand.

"Katalin, Katalin, shhh," the Doctor said, trying to stop her tears.

"I asked him to kill me but he won't do it," Katalin said to Rose. "He wants me to live and be punished that way."

Rose looked at the Doctor as he let out a ragged sigh. She imagined he was thinking of Gallifrey when she said that and being punished for what he did by being alive. She looked at Frida and noticed that her anger was gone and she was also anguished by Katalin's despair.

"She's not evil," Frida said to Rose.

"No, she's not. She was forced to do evil but you're not evil, Katalin. If you were evil, you wouldn't be filled with guilt and sobbing on the floor and begging for death," the Doctor said gently. "Listen, I can help you find a new life after this is over. I can take you somewhere where no one will know you and you can have a fresh start. Would you like that?"

Katalin thought it over.

"No one would know me?" she said softly.

"Not a soul. You can start a brand new life and be free," the Doctor said. "Do you want that?"

Katalin nodded and the Doctor squeezed her shoulder.

"I'll do it if you continue to help us," the Doctor said. "Think of it as making amends here and making a fresh start, yeah?"

"Yes," Katalin said.

"Good. Now stop crying, we still have work to do here," the Doctor said before helping Katalin to her feet.

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