Steve Doyle

Destruction of a Vampire

On the 17th day of October in the Year of Our Lord 1630 I returned to the place of my birth, the island of Chios in the Aegean sea. Many years had passed since last I breathed the fragrance of her orange and lemon groves or set my gaze upon her mountain ranges. But I wasted no time on such pleasures as I had been sent by Pope Urban VIII at the urgent request of Bishop Marco Giustiniani. I proceeded directly to the Latin bishopric where the octagenarian greeted me warmly, yet with a grave look clouding his countenance. Bags descended from his eyes and wrinkles creased his forehead. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. He said a great evil had descended upon the island, roaming the countryside and terrifying the community. It manifested itself in the form of a monster known as a vrykolakas—a vampire.

Bishop Giustiniani related the story of Theodosius Centius who, a decade earlier, had abducted a young woman in a desperate attempt to force her into marriage. The townfolk did manage to rescue the poor damsel, thankfully prior to her losing her innocence, and the Bishop excommunicated the unfortunate young man as punishment for his misdeed. A year or two later Centius died, perhaps of a broken heart, but the corpse of an excommunicated person is rumored to remain intact rather than decomposing and turning to dust. The Devil had now succeeded in taking possession of this body and revelled in sending it forth from its tomb to attack villagers, usually at night, though some claimed to have seen it even at midday. It would approach a house seemingly at random and cry out the name of an inhabitant. If someone opened the door the monster would viciously attack, otherwise it would wander off to another house to try again. If in its wanderings it crossed paths with some hapless villager outdoors working in a field or traveling on a roadway, it would fall immediately upon that person and kill him. After a number of these horrific murders the people had appealed to the Bishop to rid them of this terrible affliction. Wanting an official chronicler to document his annihilation of the monster, Bishop Giustiniani had asked for me, the Vatican librarian.

The morning after my arrival the Bishop called a conference with all ten of the local priests. It is written that to be rid of such an instrument of the Devil the clergy must chant an invocation to the All Holy Mother of God, absolve the excommunication, and perform a memorial service for the dead complete with a funerary feast. After all this is done, the head must be cut off and the body committed to the flames. The council decided Saturday would be most suitable for this service as the day is sacred to the Blessed Virgin Mary due to the steadfastness of her faith following the death of her Son. Also tradition implies the vampire rests on Saturday and does not leave the grave.

It being only Thursday, we felt compelled to wait until the vampire could be dealt with more safely. The priests informed the parishioners of our intentions and instructed them to remain locked indoors that evening and Friday night as well. Unfortunately, one unlucky fellow either did not get or did not heed the warning. A group coming out to accompany us to the burial ground on Saturday morning discovered his bloodless corpse in the roadway.

Our procession converged upon the cemetery and proceeded solemnly to the plot of Theodosius Centius where gravediggers disinterred the coffin. When the lid was opened we beheld what could only be Satan’s work. We gazed upon the corpse of a man nearly ten years dead, but not only had the body failed to decompose, it maintained the look of a healthy being, although bloated. The skin looked like tanned leather pulled tightly over the bones. The gravediggers referred to it as tumpaniaîos, that is, “drum-like”. It appeared the joints would only move with difficulty. The black hair and fingernails were exceptionally long, indeed the fingers resembled claws. The eyes remained closed, but the gaping mouth housed gleaming teeth bathed in fresh blood, undoubtedly from its latest gruesome feast. We had surely uncovered the creature responsible for terrorizing the village.

The priests began the Litany of Loreto, “Lord have mercy,” whereupon the people joined in, “Lord have mercy.”

[Leo Allacius here transcribes the entire litany. It has been omitted for brevity.—eds.]

Bishop Giustiniani finished the invocation, “We beseech Thee, O Lord God, that we Thy servants by the glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary be delivered from these present evils and from everlasting death.”

The Bishop then proceeded to absolve Theodosius Centius of his excommunication according to the Roman Ritual. “May almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you your sins and lead you to everlasting life.” He raised his right hand toward the corpse. “May the almighty and merciful Lord grant you pardon, absolution and remission of your sins. May our Lord Jesus Christ absolve you. And I by His authority release you from every bond of excommunication and interdict in so far as I am empowered and you have need. And now I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” As he spoke these words the Bishop made the sign of the cross over the body.

A memorial mass followed the absolution and then we partook of a feast at which a portion of food was set aside for the deceased. This concluded the salvation of Centius’ soul. All that remained was the destruction of his body so it could never again be used as an unholy tool of Satan.

Workers hastily built a funeral pyre and lit it. As the fire intensified one of the gravediggers carefully lifted his spade and struck the head from the body whereupon the eyes flew open and the vampire screeched and writhed in pain as blood poured forth from it; a hideous spectacle. Several villagers fled the scene at that point, though many did stand fast. Once the movement had subsided and all was still, the hideous corpse was cast upon the flames and burned to ashes.

Thus was the earth purged of this menace and the Devil’s work undone by the Glory of Almighty God.