“Ah, Doctor, do as you must. It is horrible, horrible!” Özdemir and I took the poor man by his arms and raised him up. The doctor lifted up the child, who was off to the side, moaning. Deftly, we left it near a police station without revealing ourselves to anyone, despite the danger.
As we parted ways, the doctor said:
“Come to me tomorrow at noon; we will complete our job together in daylight.”
Turan and Özdemir stayed at my house. We all lay down on one of the sofas. I do not need to explain the rest.
* * *
All four of us were at Sadan’s grave the next day at two o’clock. This time the doctor brought with him a long and heavy leather bag. We opened the coffin with trembling hands. My God; Sadan lay in the coffin with her bloody mouth, neck, and shroud—and her exceptional beauty. And by this time we had almost grown accustomed to this grisly scene. On one hand, we still could not believe our eyes and minds; on the other, we could not find in ourselves the courage to deny the evidence before us.
Although there was still daylight, the doctor lit the lantern he took from his large leather bag to ease the air of gloom and decay inside the mausoleum. On the ground he placed his surgical knives and a thick, polished stake that was about three feet long. After doing this strange thing, he took out a heavy hammer with an iron handle.
The professor looked up suddenly and said gravely:
“Before we get to work, I find it necessary to say a few more things to you. What I shall tell you is about the deeds of these ghouls and the limits of their powers and abilities, which have been researched unceasingly and collected by age-old nations, societies, and some of the tribes who still live throughout the world. I shall explain everything briefly. When a human becomes a vampire, they also face the curse of living in that state forever. These things never die. As the ancients said, they will continue to live over and over and bring new victims and catastrophes to the world. For with the bite of a vampire, all who have their blood sucked by them and die become vampires themselves. And then they prey on other people. So this terror and disaster continues to grow. My dear Turan Bey, had you kissed poor Sadan without minding my interference, or had you embraced her last night, you would have been in danger of becoming the monster that the Slavic people call Nosferatu, Europeans call Vampire, and other nations call Hortlak. Now the exploits of poor Sadan, which you witnessed with grief and fear, are only beginning. The condition of the children whom Sadan has bitten is not yet clear; but if she continues to exist in this vampire form, she will have a constant influence and a terrible effect on them; they will come to her almost willingly to have their blood sucked. However, if Sadan was to truly die, the situation would be resolved. The wounds on the children’s necks would disappear on their own. There is another important point that must be considered; when we actually kill Sadan, her soul will be freed from the servitude of evil and she will find eternal peace and happiness. For this reason, the one who will strike the blow of salvation will be doing her the ultimate favor. There is one person among us who has the most right to do this duty, should he wish it.”
At these last words we could not help but turn our eyes to Turan. This brave soldier, who did not lose his cheer even when surrounded by death, was now as pale as a ghost. His trembling figure was apparent even in the darkness. However, the poor young man rallied the last of his strength with a superhuman effort and said:
“Tell me, my friend. I shall do whatever is necessary without hesitation!”
Doctor Resuhî Bey said:
“I know, you are as brave as you are patient. But let me tell you one thing: this will take very little time; but once you start, do not falter and do not stop; we shall be there with you.” Turan, who with only a little effort was to be the cause of eternal happiness and compassion, repeated in a hoarse voice:
“Tell me, I am ready to do anything.”
The old professor came closer to Turan:
“Now take this sturdy stake in your left hand and be ready to put the point over Sadan’s heart. Then take this hammer in your right hand. Now, when I begin to read (here the doctor brought out a little book that I later understood was a Quran), you say “Bismillah”[12] and strike the stake over the heart, driving it through until it penetrates to the other side.”
From where I stood I saw Turan’s face turn completely pale. His hands trembled. But suddenly he plucked up his courage and all of his strength, and now was brave and ready, just as he was instructed. When the holy harmony of the Quran, read by Resuhî Bey’s grave voice, began to vibrate in the mausoleum’s shadowy corners, Turan put the point of the stake over his lover’s heart, raised the hammer, and struck it with all his strength and might.
We saw the body in the coffin writhe like a snake. And a hideous, blood-curdling screech came from the half-open red lips!
Yes, the body quivered and twisted wildly. Her sharp white teeth champed together violently and her lips and tongue bled amid the sound of cracking teeth.
Red foam came from her mouth and beg
an to drip down her neck. However, Turan never faltered. My tall friend looked like an incomparable statue as his strong, steady hands rose and fell, dealing heavy blows each time and burying the sharp stake even further into his lover’s heart. The horrible quivering of Sadan’s body slowly lessened. The champing of the mouth ceased. And finally the body, which had had a small fountain of blood over the heart, became completely still beneath the shroud. The terrible ordeal was over!
The hammer fell from Turan’s hands. His large body reeled. Özdemir and I both moved forward to catch him. When we plucked up our courage and looked at the coffin a moment later, we were all frozen in place. The vile, unnatural, hideous color in Sadan’s face had disappeared, and the holy light of a calm soul resting in eternal peace had taken its place.
Doctor Resuhî Bey turned to Turan:
“Now you may kiss your Sadan,” he said.
With feelings of deep respect, joy, and grief mixed in his eyes, he bent over the coffin and kissed poor Sadan’s forehead, which now glowed with the beauty of a pure flower. When Turan and Özdemir Bey left the mausoleum at the doctor’s sign, Resuhî Bey severed Sadan’s head with a surgical knife. He filled her mouth with garlic flowers. Then we closed the lids of the coffin and sarcophagus and went outside.
After we jumped over the cemetery wall, the old professor turned to us:
“Now, my children, the first part of our journey is complete. We accomplished our first task. However, there is a long road and a difficult trial ahead of us. All that remains now is to find the true author of these disasters we have suffered. I hope, after all you have seen, you will believe me from now on. When that happens, there arises an objective, a goal; but shall we walk together toward that higher, divine, and altruistic aim? I actually think I have some clues to the real culprit of these catastrophes.”
We each took the professor’s hand earnestly and told him that we were all with him, even in death. The brave and heroic old man said:
“Very well, we will meet two days from now to begin discussing and investigating this.”
CHAPTER XII