Читать книгу Romeo and Juliet and Vampires - Claudia Gabel, William Szekspir, the Simon Studio - Страница 8

Romeo peeled back the hood of his grey cloak and gazed up at the foreboding mass of stone and brick that was Capulet Castle. Protected by a gigantic iron gate that seemed to reach into the clouds, the building stretched out for at least seven hundred yards and had four enormous towers from which a handful of guards with crossbows stood watch. Romeo was dumbstruck by its imperviousness. He could hardly believe that any Montague had ever breached these grounds, let alone launched a fully-fledged attack on the vampires inside.

A fierce wind roared through the heavy brush outside the castle’s perimeter, where Romeo, Benvolio, and Mercutio lay in wait, crouched down behind a swathe of shrubbery under the light of a half-moon. Even though the fabric of his cloak was thick wool, a frigid chill ravaged his body and he shuddered. Then again, perhaps his nerves were just getting the best of him.

For over an hour, he had been waiting for a sign from Rosaline’s maid servant, Maribel. She would turn on a gaslight in the last room to the left on the ground floor, once the secret door in the servants’ quarters was unlocked. Romeo was deeply concerned that something was wrong. Although Mercutio was quite intelligent, he was known for getting involved with women who were pretty yet dim-witted—perhaps she had forgotten all about them. Romeo felt his hands beginning to shake. He had to distract himself.

“Did I tell either of you about the dream I had last night?” he asked in a soft voice.

Mercutio scratched at his neck with the handle of his parrying knife. “No, you did not.”

“If it is about Rosaline and her half-breed bosoms, we are not interested,” Benvolio said as he canvassed the area with a studious gaze.

“Speak for yourself.” Mercutio nudged Benvolio.

Benvolio rolled his eyes and shoved Mercutio back with his elbow so hard that Mercutio fell into a pile of sticky moss.

“Take cover, Romeo. I’m about to punch Benvolio’s lights out,” Mercutio growled.

“Will you be quiet?” Romeo whispered. “You know how sensitive the vampires’ hearing is.”

Benvolio took a dagger that was hidden beneath hissleeve and stabbed the ground near Romeo’s feet, turning and twisting it until a mound of dirt and worms was wrought up from the topsoil.

“We could take them all on if we had to,” he said.

Romeo shoved his hands into the pockets of his cloak. “Remind me to have a doctor take a look at you, Cousin. You’re obviously delusional.”

“Maybe he’ll be committed to a sanatorium,” Mercutio said snidely. “We’d all be better off.”

“Actually, I could use some sanity right now,” Romeo said. “That dream of mine was terrifying.”

Benvolio’s eyes widened. “Really? Go on.”

Romeo glanced at Benvolio and Mercutio sceptically, knowing that they’d probably laugh at his story. But when he looked at the window again and saw nothing but pitch-blackness, he continued.

“I dreamed that my lady came and found me dead, impaled by Vladimir himself. Then I was brought back to life by her kisses on my lips.”

“That does not sound so awful,” Mercutio said.

“I agree, you survived in the end,” Benvolio added.

“You do not understand. I was alive again, but … as one of them.” Romeo nodded at the castle ominously.

“Don’t worry, Romeo.” Benvolio picked up a worm and let it crawl around in his open palm, then suddenly flicked it off with his finger. “If this dream came true and you were turned by one of those filthy monsters, I would put you out of your misery. I could not promise you that it would be painless, but rest assured, it would be quick.”

Romeo crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. “That is very thoughtful of you, Benvolio.”

“Romeo, look! The light came on inside the castle!” Mercutio said, pointing at the room where the maid servant had promised to give them safe passage.

Romeo sighed in relief. “Thanks be to God.”

“Do not thank God yet,” warned Benvolio as he patted Romeo hard on the back. “This mission has only just begun. Who knows what will happen when we enter the vampire lair during dinnertime?”

“Stop being so dramatic,” Mercutio said as he reached into a hessian sack and pulled out three garlic cloves attached to link chains. “Here, take these. Friar Laurence dipped the cloves in triple-blessed holy water and the chain is made of pure silver. This combination will render us invisible to both vampires and werewolves. But it only lasts for another hour, so Romeo, you and your wench cannot dawdle.”

“One more foul word about Rosaline, and I will pummel you with my fist,” Romeo snapped, ripping his string of garlic away from Mercutio and putting it around his neck.

“Actually, I think you should bludgeon him with this.” Benvolio reached into the hessian sack and brought out a foot-long crowbar.

Romeo stared at it in sheer amazement. “What else do you have in that bag?”

“Just the usual—a handsaw, wooden stakes, a mason chisel, shears, and a couple of axes,” Mercutio explained matter-of-factly.

“I suppose that will suffice,” Romeo said.

“We cannot carry it all. That would only slow us down. Pick just one or two weapons and follow me.” Benvolio sneaked out of the bushes with cloves of garlic dangling around his neck and the crowbar in his right hand.

Romeo stuffed the mason chisel and a wooden stake into the waistband of his trousers and then darted off behind Mercutio, who was already ahead and walking stride for stride with Benvolio.

Romeo’s heart started pounding as he and his cousin dashed across the outskirts of the estate, making their way towards the gate. Romeo kept his eyes trained on the tower guards to make sure they had not been spotted. Fortunately, no one seemed the slightest bit aware of the Montague trespassers. The necklaces must have been working.

“Here it is,” Mercutio whispered. He halted in front of a warped section of the gate, where one of the bars was bent to the side, creating a small hole. “Maribel told me that when she steals away to see me, she slips through this spot here to evade the guards.”

Benvolio examined the damaged gate and sniggered. “Obviously she eats less than your last lady friend. That boar could not have got through here if she tried!”

Mercutio poked Benvolio in the stomach with the handle of his mallet. “Neither will you, my paunchy friend.”

“Stop fooling around and step aside.” Romeo snatched the crowbar away from Benvolio, wrapping his fingers around the base of it with all his strength. “We have a party to attend.”

Careful not to make any loud sounds that would alert the guards, Romeo placed the crowbar between the two metal rungs in the gate so he could get ample leverage. He shifted his shoulders forward and then leaned backwards, hoping to prise the rungs apart even further so he and his cousins could sneak through. However, his effort made little difference.

Romeo tried again, this time using both his arms and his leg muscles with all his might. His palms became wet with perspiration and his arms ached, but he ignored the pain and thought of Rosaline—her gorgeous, milk-coloured skin and bright, beaming eyes. He was so close to seeing her, he would not let anything or anyone stand in between them.

Romeo dug deep into his soul for a surge of brute power, and with one final swift, heaving motion, he bent the metal rung so far that it almost snapped in two.

“Aha! I did it! “ Romeo said, pumping a fist into the air in jubilation.

“Congratulations, Romeo. That only took forever.” Benvolio rolled his eyes.

“Let’s get on with this already,” Mercutio said.

“I will lead the way,” Romeo said as he handed the crowbar to Benvolio and stepped through the new partition in the gate. One at a time, Benvolio and Mercutio followed behind him, their feet swift and light on the ground.

“It is so dark out here. I can hardly see anything,” Romeo said, using the ambient yellow glow from the maid servant’s window to guide himself across the grounds.

Suddenly Mercutio stopped dead in his tracks. “Wait, did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Romeo asked.

“It sounded like … growling.”

Romeo remained still and listened. Other than the sound of rustling tree branches, he did not hear anything out of the ordinary. “It is just the wind, Mercutio. Carry on.”

The trio picked up their pace, taking large strides towards the castle, but they did not get too far before Benvolio made an abrupt stop.

“Mercutio is right. Something is out here, watching us.” Benvolio shifted his legs apart into a fighting stance and held the crowbar in an attack position.

Romeo could hear it now—a low, hungry growl that was seething with anger. He instinctively rubbed a garlic clove between his fingers. “Mercutio, you said we were invisible to vampires and werewolves.”

A thin stream of moonlight illuminated two pairs of beady golden eyes and salivating mouths with sharp teeth.

“But not to dogs,” Mercutio said, his voice wavering.

Romeo gulped as the two snouts sniffed the air for fear.

“This is bad,” Benvolio said.

“Very bad,” Romeo agreed.

Once one of the dogs had lunged at them, there was nothing left to do but—

“Run!” Benvolio proclaimed, and took off like a scared rabbit.

Without a second to lose, Romeo broke into a fast sprint, with Mercutio scrambling alongside him and the dogs in hot pursuit. Romeo ran through a cluster of stone bunkers and over a wooden footbridge that crossed a small moat. Mercutio put forth a burst of momentum and dashed past Romeo, which annoyed him immensely.

With both his mates ahead of him, Romeo was tempted to look back and see how close the dogs were, but that would only slow him down. Besides, their ferocious barking was ringing in his ears, so he knew they were on his heels.

“This way! “ Mercutio called out from a few feet ahead.

Romeo was running so hard he was barely able to breathe. He locked his gaze on Mercutio, who had reached the window of the ground floor and dropped to his knees in front of it. Mercutio quickly felt around a thick swathe of grass with both hands, searching for the hidden door handle. He pulled the door open to reveal a secret entrance to an underground tunnel.

“Hurry!” Mercutio waved at Benvolio and Romeo.

Benvolio got there first, leaping into the entrance-way like a flying acrobat. Romeo was three or four steps away when he felt something tug hard at the bottom of his cloak. There was another sharp yank on his arm and he was dragged to the ground. While the dogs gnawed on his cloak, he tried to reach for the mason chisel he had lodged in the waistband of his trousers, but he could not grasp it. He said a short prayer, just in case he didn’t survive the brutal mauling about to unfold.

Luckily for Romeo, the dogs let go of him willingly, in order to chase down large chunks of raw meat that had just been tossed into a row of rosebushes. He glanced up and grinned at Mercutio, who was standing above him with a light glaze of blood on his hands.

“Maribel’s a smart one.” Mercutio beamed. “She left some treats for the dogs at the foot of the door. I guess they haven’t eaten in a while.”

“Well, that much is obvious,” Romeo replied. “Let’s get out of here before they are ready for dessert.”

Mercutio held a hand out to Romeo, and he took it in his, bloodied and all. When he was back on his feet, he gave Mercutio a heartfelt smile.

“Mercutio, I owe you my life,” he said.

“Romeo, I am your friend. You owe me nothing.” Mercutio placed a hand on Romeo’s shoulder and grinned. “Now come on. You have a half-breed to woo.”

Romeo smiled and shook his head, then followed Mercutio down into the secret tunnel.