Each Man Kills | Page 5

velvet lounging slacks, a
low-necked amber satin blouse, caught at the "V" by a curiously
wrought antique silver pin. It was round, about four inches in diameter.
In its center was the carved figure of a serpent coiled to strike. Its eyes
were deep amber topazes and its darting tongue was raised and set
with a blood-red ruby.
"What an unusual pin, Eve," I said "I've never seen it before, have I?"
"No," she replied. "It belongs to the deep, dark, seldom discussed
skeleton in the Orcaczy closet, Tod. You see, my great-great
grandmother was quite a wicked lady, to hear tell. Went in for Witches'
masses and the like. They say she poisoned her husband, a rather
elderly and very childish man, for her lover, whom she subsequently
married. Together they did away with relatives who stood in the way of
their accumulating more money. This pin was the instrument of death."
Her slim fingers pressed the ruby tongue and the pin opened, revealing
a space large enough to secrete powder.
"It's like those employed by the infamous Borgias, as you can see," she

continued, shrugging. "Perhaps it was fate then, that her devoted new
husband tired of her once her fortune was assured him, took a young
mistress for himself, and disposed of the unfortunate wife, using her
own pin to perpetrate her murder. She was excommunicated by her
church, too, which must have made it most unpleasant for her, poor old
dear." The slim shoulders straightened. "But let's not discuss such
unpleasant things, my dear. The important thing now is for you to get
well quickly. I've missed you terribly, you know."
It was then I asked her to marry me. I knew I didn't really love her, but
there seemed nothing to prevent our marriage. And she had gotten
under my skin. It was as elemental as that. She said she thought we
should wait until I fully recovered.
"Don't say any more, darling," she said. "Rest your poor, sore throat."
She bent over me solicitously and I reached up to stroke that smooth
black hair. It had a familiar feel to it that I couldn't quite place. Of
course I had stroked it hundreds of times before, but it wasn't that.
Then she looked straight at me, those large, glowing hazel eyes boring
into mine, and I knew. Knew and disbelieved at the same time. I froze
where I lay, paralyzed by my fear; unable to make a sound.
"So you know," she whispered. "It is well. I have marked you for my
own these many months. Now that you know, you will not fight. You
know what I am, or at least you can guess. This pin you admired so--it
was mine three hundred years ago and it will always be mine!"
Her lips were on mine. She had never kissed me like this. It was like the
touch of hot ice, freezing, then searing. Unendurable. I lay inert; I
couldn't have moved if I wanted to. I could scarcely breathe. Then I felt
the blood within me pounding, pulsing, beginning to answer in spite of
myself. I tasted once more the warm, salty fluid on my lips. Eve's body
was liquid in my arms; warm, heady, narcotizing. Once again I felt the
agonizing, dagger sharp pain in my throat and--darkness.
Have you ever wakened to a bright, sunny afternoon and heard yourself
pronounced dead? They spoke in low, hushed tones. How unfortunate.

Young fellow only thirty, dying so far away from his homeland. No
family. Good thing he was well-set in life. This sudden anemia was
most extraordinary; fellow showed no signs of it previously. All he had
really needed was rest. If he had recovered, that lovely Eve Orcaczy
might have made both their lives happier, richer. Sad ending to what
might have been an idyll. Good of her to claim the body. She said she
was going to inter it in the family vault in Konigstein Mountain in
Transylvania.
I heard them distinctly. I wanted to shout that I wasn't dead; I wanted
to wake up from this horrible nightmare. I was as alive as they. I knew
I had to get out of there, some way; to get away from Eve, whom I now
feared. They left to make arrangements.
The lassitude crept through me without warning; I dozed in spite of
myself. And I dreamed again. I was a cat running, leaping through
windows, loping over the countryside, stopping for no one. I panted
with my exertions. Towns and cities flew by; I had to get someplace and
quickly. Then the dream ended.
"Tod," she said, "Get up, my dear." I heard Her and I hated Her. Hated
Her while I was drawn to Her. There was a white mist before