Rose and Heartley

He ran through the graveyard, his face as white as a sheet.  This was a bad idea from the start, he should have known better and now.. now it was too late.  The big wrought iron gates were in sight but shrouded in swirling mist - it was a nightmare come true.  "It's not my fault..." he mumbled in panic as he stumbled through. There were tree roots and gravestones in his way and his foot got caught up in one and he fell, face first on the gravestone, its partially obscured writing revealed that it belonged to a certain Lord Thomas Heartley, died December 1878. 

He gasped for breath... all was quiet and eerie and he could barely see through the bluish dark night and all the mist that had formed.  Terence Jones regretted everything he had done that night but it was too late to go back now.  Covertly the good Doctor Rose had offered upwards of £50 for a body in good condition.  He'd not eaten in days, and it seemed like a good idea.  He heard his inner consciousness say "Everything seems like a good idea till it goes wrong.."

In reply to himself he shook his head. "I am an idiot.. soon to be a dead one if I can't get free..."  as he tried unsuccessfully to free himself from the tree root and it was a lost cause. The only option left was to take his shoes off and go on barefoot and so he set about doing so. 

That very morning Doctor Rose had approached him as he sat in the town square begging for change. He knelt down, his hand upon a silver tipped black cane, his eyes a piercing blue though he looked weary, his face a little gaunt and eyes surrounded by dark circles.  He'd taken Terrance by surprise and scared him a little.  The doctor wore a hooded black cloak and seemed to be hiding from someone or something.  "Beggar... I shall reward you handsomely with £50 if you would do an errand for me tonight at the Graveyard..." he began before introducing himself.  "My name is Dr Rose.. Dr Evlyn Rose..." He almost rasped.

Terrance looked up at him.  He saw that Rose looked a little suspicious but his hunger got the better of him. £50 was a small fortune and he was practically starving.  "The name's Terrance Jones..." He said and shook Rose's hand.. and Rose pulled away quickly as if repulsed by the mans whispy unkempt beard and hair and appearance. 

"What is it you want me to do?"  Terrance asked, wide eyed.

"I am in need of a body.. a fresh one, perhaps a criminal.. I.. I think there may be a hanging today, the mans name is Lord Thomas Heartley.  He is a nobleman so I am expecting his body to be in good condition.. would you be willing to do this for me beggar?"

Terrance nodded quickly, after all the man would be dead and no one would see him taking the body, it would be easy. 

"Good.. " Replied Rose "Meet me at the Graveyard at 8.00pm sharp.  Bring no one.. tell no one..."

"I will... " he replied "I take it the body is for your research Doctor?"

"Indeed..." Came Roses' reply "That is why you must tell no one.

8.00pm sharp came along and Terrance waited at the wrought iron gates for his accomplice, fully armed with a shovel to dig up the grave of Lord Thomas Heartley.  Half an hour passed but Rose still hadn't shown up and it was getting dark.  Curious and annoyed Terrance went inside to look for the Grave, maybe Rose thought he'd meet him at the graveside.  "Doctor Rose!"  he shouted, but there was no reply.  A mist came from nowhere and made it difficult to see.. but still he looked for the Doctor, checking the names of the gravestones as he went past each one.  Then his heart stopped.. he gasped and dropped the shovel.  The name on the gravestone was "Doctor Evlyn Rose" The date of the death was a bit obscured but he could see it was "Died 1800" 

There was a noise behind him and he turned around to see Rose staring back at him, not the innoculous person who'd spoken to him that morning but a fully transformed dark Vampire. 

Terrance fell to the ground and scrambled to get back up and he ran, ran as fast as he could. "You can run but you cannot hide..." Roared Rose behind him.

He ran as fast as he could and fell upon another grave, that of Lord Thomas Heartley, the man he was supposed to be digging up.  As he tried to free himself from all the roots and undergrowth Rose appeared in front of him accompanied by another man, who's chest had been ripped open.  There was no heart inside of him.  "Terrance..." Grinned Rose "Meet Lord Thomas Heartley.. or should I say Heartless?"

Fear gripped Terrance as never before and he screamed and screamed so hard that his life left him and he ended up in a contorted pose on the grave of Lord Thomas Heartley.

They found him the next morning, drained of his blood, two puncture marks upon his neck and his heart ripped from the cavity of his chest.  The undertakers arrived, a new company just opened that very day and offering to do their first buriel for free, their name?  "Rose and Heartley, funeral contractors."