Death Vow!

"Death Vow!" is a 20-page illustrated short story and the second vignette featured in issue #4 of the Tomb of Dracula magazine series, published April, 1980. The story was written by Roger McKenzie with artwork by Gene Colan and inker Tom Palmer.

Synopsis
It is the year 1823 and Dracula arrives at the Reichenbach Clinic in Cologne, Germany. He violently inquires about the room number of a patient named Sister Marie Eisner, then kills three men in an elevator en route to her floor. Entering the patient's room, he finds the aged Marie Eisner lying in bed. She remembers Dracula from when they first met - over seventy years ago.

Flashback


 * In the small German village, a crowd of people have captured Dracula and bound him to a cross. One of them summons the local priest Father Eisner. Eisner's young adopted daughter, Marie, is present and watches the priest as he executes Dracula by dousing him with holy water and driving a stake into his heart. Moments after the incident, Father Eisner falls to the ground of a heart attack. The villagers rush him to the doctor, but there is little that can be done. Father Eisner is going to die.


 * Desperate to save the life of the only father she's ever known, Marie returns to the village square and withdraws the stake from Dracula's chest. Dracula returns to life. She recalls the vampire speaking about life everlasting and strikes a bargain with him. She will acknowledge Dracula as her savior and let him do with her what he pleases if he agrees to impart his gift of immortality to Father Eisner. Dracula agrees, but does not fulfill his promise. Instead, he goes into the priest's room, tears his heart from his chest and presents it to young Marie. The girl renounces Dracula and drives him away by dangling a crucifix before him. Dracula swears that one day he will come for her, and on that day she will beg him for the gift of immortal life.

Now Dracula stands before Marie Eisner, demanding that she acknowledge him as her lord and master. Marie produces the same cross necklace that she used to keep Dracula at bay seventy years ago and slips it around the vampire's neck. As Dracula recoils in pain, Marie says "Father Eisner sends his blessings!" then peacefully passes away. Angered, Dracula turns into a bat and flies off into the night.

Notes & Trivia

 * This story is also reprinted in Tomb of Dracula Omnibus, Volume 3.