E is for Elizabeth Bathory

Thank you for all the comments on yesterday’s entry, D is for Demons. I continue the A-Z today with;

E is for Elizabeth Bathory

Elizabeth Bathory is perhaps one of the most notorious vampires in Ancile history; second only to her distant relation Count Dracula. 

By Gothika248 on DeviantArt

A Hungarian Countess in the 16^th- 17^th Century, Bathory is publically known as the Blood Countess: the most prolific female serial killer in history. Convicted of killing 80 victims, though rumoured to have killed 650.

What the public don’t know is that Bathory’s crimes continued after her “death” on 21^st August, 1614. Having been turned into a vampire 20 years previously – when she was in her early thirties – Bathory continued her horrific ritual of killing virgins, and bathing in their blood. 

Slipping in and out of time, Bathory avoided capture by The Ancile until the Victorian era, when she was taken down by a team led by Abigail Van Helsing, granddaughter of famous vampire hunter Abraham Van Helsing.

The following is an account of Bathory’s neutralization by Abigail Van Helsing and the team of Suppressors she led.

Narrated by: Abigail Van Helsing, London Unit Suppressor, January 26^th, 1855.

Transcribed by: Edmond Beecham, London Unit Scholar, January 26^th, 1855.

It is done. Bathory is neutralised at last. The menace that has plagued my beloved home of London is dead. By my hands. 

The battle was fierce and took all of the skill and experience I’ve accumulated in the last ten years. 

The team and I eventually tracked Bathory down to her lair, which was – rather than at her mansion – hidden in a disused coal mine.

We thought, as we were attacking during the daylight hours the threat would be minimal.

We were wrong. 

Alongside the deadly traps, we had anticipated, we discovered Bathory was awake. 

Due to her advanced age she did not need the same level of sleep as younger vampires do. Although we found her resting, she was fully conscious; which vampires usually aren’t during the day.

Upon detecting us, Bathory immediately engaged us in battle. We were evenly matched in terms of strength, stamina and agility, thanks to the Order’s own augmented abilities. However, Bathory had the advantage of flight, so that even with crossbows, getting a hit on her was difficult. Let alone with mêlée weapons. 

Eventually, we managed to weaken her enough that she became grounded. What we hadn’t counted on though was, as a last precaution, Bathory transformed from human form to a more bat-like feral form. Now her strength far surpassed ours, and even outnumbering her three to one, she overwhelmed us. Both of my colleagues were mortally wounded, and I thought we were going to meet our death in that dark, desolate mine.

Bathory had me pinned to the ground, her teeth about ready to rip my neck to shreds, when the words of my dear grandfather came back to me. “A vampire’s ultimate weakness is its desire for companionship,” he’d told me once during my training in the Order. 

An idea formed in my mind, and I uttered the words that could seal my fate. “Spare me and make me your progeny. Imagine having the granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing as your fledgling.”

My statement was enough to feed both Bathory’s desire for companionship and her need for notoriety, and she released me from her grip and eased back a little. It was all the chance I needed. I sprang to my feet, pushed her backwards and plunged my dagger into her heart. 

She was done.

After the proper protocol for disposing of a vampire – beheading the creature and then burning the body, and sprinkling the ashes in an east flowing river – was carried out, I went back to the headquarters and contemplated Bathory’s demise.

In the end, it was her remaining human instincts – her desire for companionship – that bought about her death.

------

Check back tomorrow for F is for Fae, and if you're interested please check out my personal blog's forth entry E is for EastEnders.

The full A-Z of Prenatural Entities can be found here.