At the beginning of the 19th century, German newspapers were full of headlines: "Westphalia is seized with horror", "The Mystery of the Cemetery", "The Mysterious Deaths of Babies."
Lively journalists vied with each other to write about such horrors in the small town of Taylfingen that ordinary inhabitants had their blood cold in their veins. “How could this happen ?! they wondered. - Moreover, in the very center of enlightened Europe!"
DRAMA ON THE HUNT
One day a company of nobles from the small Westphalian town of Thilfingen went hunting. The day was sunny, clear, and there was no sign of misfortune. But it must happen that 23-year-old Fraulein Celia Groningen was on the line of fire. The poor thing died right there, in the arms of her friends.
The police were immediately notified of the trouble. An investigation began, which, however, soon ended. The result was a verdict: in the death of the girl, no one is guilty, except for herself. It was not the first time she took part in the hunt, she herself shot well, and why she needed to stand in the line of fire is completely incomprehensible.
As for the shooter, he was completely and unconditionally acquitted. In a word, the criminals regarded the incident as "an accident without malicious intent."
Celia's unexpected death shook the entire city. Many of its residents knew well the deceased, who came here five years ago as a governess for the burgomaster's children. During this period, the young lady managed to establish herself as an excellent worker with excellent manners and good disposition. Thanks to this, Celia quickly entered the circle of worthy people of the town.
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The funeral, which took place as soon as the inquest was over, gathered the whole of Taylfingen. Many did not hide their tears.
NICE DOCTOR
Six months after the tragic death of Celia Groningen, Dr. Seifert, who was deservedly considered a great master of his craft, looked through his working notes.
And something made him draw a graph showing the infant mortality in Thilfingen. Looking at the blueprint, he noticed that the number of child deaths had increased dramatically over the past five years.
Seifert might not have paid any attention to this if the curve for the last six months had not gone down as steeply.
The doctor spent the whole night thinking, and before dawn an idea struck him: most likely, the deceased children were carriers of some kind of miasm (as the causative agents of infectious diseases were called in those days).
In the morning, the alarmed doctor went to Stuttgart, where he toured, one after another, all the local medical luminaries involved in the treatment of children, and then in the autopsy.
However, the investigation undertaken by the meticulous Seifert only led him to a dead end. All as one professors and graduates proved that not a single child had any traces of infection. At the end of the day, Seifert, even more puzzled, went home.
All the next night, Aesculapius could not find a place for himself. I went over one guess after another. And before sunrise it dawned on him again: Fraulein Groningen arrived in their town - the infant mortality rate immediately increased, but only died - it immediately began to decline.
Seifert knew that the modest and attentive governess visited the families of deceased children before they left for another world. Everywhere she was welcome: Celia knew how to take care of babies and willingly shared her knowledge with young mothers.
But then, the doctor recalled, it was in these houses that the babies died for inexplicable reasons. So it turned out that Celia, sweet and pleasant in every way, was most likely … a killer!
For a whole week the doctor suffered, tormented by monstrous suspicions. Over and over he compared cases and dates, but the result remained the same. Finally, very carefully, carefully choosing his words, he shared his suggestions with two confidants.
Of course, at first each of the interlocutors refused to believe the doctor, but each time the graphs turned out to be the decisive argument. As a result, the trio developed a plan of action, which they agreed to keep secret from the entire city.
KILL VAMPIRE
Late in the evening, one of the friends, under a plausible pretext, came to the cemetery guard with several bottles of schnapps, and after a couple of hours the guard was in an insensitive state.
Having waited deep into the night and armed with lanterns, the necessary tools and crosses, whipped up from alder branches (for protection from the dark forces), the three men went to the churchyard. There they quickly found Celia Groningen's grave and, by the light of the lamps, began to dig in silence. After some time, the shovel hit the coffin lid.
After crossing themselves and reading a prayer, the diggers carefully lifted the lid.
A chilling picture appeared to their eyes. The corpse, which had been in the coffin for more than six months, has not changed at all. The deceased, it seemed, was only sleeping soundly. There were no signs of decomposition, no cadaverous smell. “Her face shone with almost angelic purity,” one of the grave-diggers later said.
If any of the trinity still had any doubts, then after such a sight they instantly dissipated. It was clear that there was a vampire in front of them!
One of the conspirators - and this was none other than the father of the dead baby - beside himself with rage, grabbed a pre-prepared aspen stake and thrust it into the very heart of the deceased. Then the coffin was covered with a lid and, sprinkled with holy water, quickly buried. Then they diligently put the grave in order and went home …
THE SECRET IS REVEALED
Time has passed. Probably, no one would ever have learned anything about this story, but one of the grave diggers did not keep the word given to Dr. Seifert: he confessed to his deed in confession. Hearing the monstrous story, the priest was horrified. And, in spite of the secret of confession, he set out to personally report everything to his higher authorities.
At the audience with the bishop, the servant of the Lord laid out everything without concealment. Bishop Ulrich was furious. This is happening under his nose! And he - neither sleep nor spirit! Putting all matters aside, the bishop conferred with those close to him. After heated debate, the clergy decided: to re-exhume. And now a "group of experts" rushes to Thilfingen.
At night, in the light of lanterns, the grave was excavated again. When the coffin was opened, everyone saw the completely decomposed body of the deceased. The aspen stake was still sticking out of her chest.
In the morning, before the bright eyes of Ulrich, all three were delivered - Dr. Seifert and his accomplices. An explanation was demanded from them.
Seifert answered. He told the bishop about infant mortality, showed the charts, cited the testimonies of colleagues from Stuttgart, and without concealment told all the details of the first exhumation of Fraulein Celia.
At the end of his fiery speech, the healer declared that he was fully aware of the fact that from the point of view of justice, he had committed a crime, but did not repent of anything, since he had destroyed the hellish creature that brought death to innocent young souls.
After listening to Seifert, Ulrich was lost in thought. Whatever one may say, he decided at last, and about the events in Taylfingen he will have to report to the Pope.
Pope Pius IX took the message seriously, as he considered Ulrich a sane person. This was followed by a meeting of the highest church hierarchs. They decided that it was necessary to hastily explore the graves of the babies in order to dot the i's.
A SCARY TRUTH
Secretly, without the knowledge of the parents of the deceased babies, experts exhumed 17 children's graves, but found nothing - the bodies were severely disfigured by decay. So it was not possible to prove or disprove Dr. Seifert's statement. The case was closed.
But soon the irreparable happened. Some cunning newspaperman got wind of the opening of graves and concocted an article. Of course, the facts in it were greatly distorted, but the reporter achieved his goal - from what he read from the inhabitants, the hair stood on end.
Crowds of curious citizens immediately rushed to Thilfingen. They did not give passage to local residents, interrogating everyone they met. And pandemonium began at the cemetery: everyone who came to the town tried to get there.
A huge number of those who wished were eager to communicate with Dr. Seifert himself and his accomplices. However, the trio left the town immediately after the end of the Pope's investigation. Where they went - no one knew.
This story found its continuation in the twentieth century, when by chance the employees of the California Medical Computer Center learned about the events of a century ago. They found old statistics on child mortality in different states of Germany and compared them with the notorious "vampire curve" from Thilfingen.
Data processing led to the conclusion: Germany did not know such surges in the death of babies. And Fraulein Groningen was indeed a vampire, but only an energetic one. Most likely, the girl herself did not realize that. But this did not prevent her from “piercing” the protective aura of babies with surprising ease and sucking the life energy out of them.
It turns out, on the one hand, Fraulein Gronigen, with her heart and soul, reached out to her charges, and on the other, she involuntarily led them to death.
So it's probably even good that Celia died without knowing the terrible truth about herself. Or, on the contrary, she found out the truth, and this terrible discovery led her to the line of the shot?