Countess Dracula Read Online Free PDF Page A

couple of minutes and then got up. She took a cigarette from a box on the dresser and stood smoking it in front of the mirror. She analysed what she saw: her whole body appeared to hang an inch or so lower than it should have. She experimented by cupping her breasts higher and pulling the loose skin over her belly towards her hips so that her abdomen was taut again. But sooner or later you had to let go. She turned to her side, scowling at her ever-increasing buttocks, pouring themselves across the back of her cellulite-pocked thighs. It was as though her perfect body was becoming hidden inside an ill-fitting bag of skin and fat.
    Her face was the worst: deep lines around her eyes and lips, the constantly reappearing grey roots in her hairline, the puffy bags beneath her eyes. Her face showed every year and more – she had lived hard here in America and, for all the effort that had gone into hiding that fact from the general public, her skin knew.
    Elizabeth stubbed the cigarette out against her reflection and went to the window. She could hear the voices of Fabio and Nayland filtering up from the garden so she opened the window and leaned out, trying to hear what they were discussing. It took no time at all for her to wish she couldn’t. It seemed that she was fated to have her fading powers pointed out to her from all sides.
    She felt the increasingly frequent sensation of panic building up in her chest and had to sit down on the bed before she fell over. Usually the tremors faded quickly but this time her whole body felt as if it had tensed, her lungs short of air, her heart beating away like a studio fanfare.
    She struggled to her feet and ran into the en-suite bathroom, convinced she was having a heart attack, quite sure that she was going to collapse at any moment. Catching sight of her panicked face in the bathroom mirror, all gritted teeth and red, blotchy skin, she might almost have wished it. Almost. She opened the bathroom cabinet and hunted through the pills, sending bottles flying as she found her downers. She popped the lid and took two, sitting down on the lid of the toilet to try and get her breathing back under control. Eventually the panic subsided, leaving her feeling drained and spent – and every single one of her forty-four years.
    Nayland was doing his best to let Fabio’s words bounce off him like droplets of rain. If he sheltered from their impact they couldn’t soak him and chill his bones.
    ‘I think it’s best if we stop talking about this,’ he said, ‘I’m not leaving Elizabeth and so the conversation’s pointless.’
    Fabio sighed and shook his head. ‘God knows what she’s done to inspire such loyalty. Any wife of mine acted like she did …’
    ‘But she’s not your wife,’ Nayland said, digging his nails into the surface of the table. ‘So just drop the subject.’
    Fabio held up his hands in surrender. ‘Fine, fine … So, what about the horror picture? Can I tell Chester you’ll see him?’
    Nayland started to shake his head. ‘It’s not my kind of movie.’
    ‘It’s the only kind of movie you’re getting offered,’ Fabio shouted, finally losing his temper all the way. ‘What the hell point is there in my representing you if you don’t ever take a goddamn job? Nothing lasts for ever, Frank, not even money. You’ve got to start working again or soon there’ll be nothing left for any of us.’ He leaned over. ‘And what do you think the “Countess” upstairs will do then, huh? You think she’s going to hang around once the cash has dried up?’
    ‘All right,’ Nayland said. ‘I’ll see Chester.’
    Fabio was instantly all smiles again, ‘There we go – finally he sees sense. Money in the bank and my boy’s face back up on the screen where it belongs. You won’t regret it. Chester makes good movies, it’ll be great. This is a whole new audience for you.’
    ‘A screaming one.’
    ‘Screams, laughter, tears … who cares as long as they’re making a