Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 222)

//Panel 1//
Old Hannah:
I must say…
//Panel 2//
Old Hannah:
I had no intention of telling you in such a fashion.
//Panel 3//
Edgar:
You…
Edgar:
…killed her, didn’t you?…By sucking blood from her neck…
//Panel 4//
Old Hannah:
I didn’t suck blood. I transmitted the Poe life force into her, you see.
After all, Frank chose her as his bride…
//Panel 5//
Old Hannah:
The clan’s “richest blood” is imparted during a formal ceremony…
She appears as dead, but will regain consciousness shortly----
Baron:
When she awakens, we will live together in eternity.
//Panel 6//
Baron:
In this way, we add to the clan.
The happiness she had hoped for…raising children and so forth…will be impossible for her. However…
Baron:
We love each other—it should all work out.
//Panel 7//
Man:
What is this longwinded talk!? How about taking care of the kid!
Man:
He’s in on the secret!
//Panel 8//
Old Hannah:
I have no desire to kill him…

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 221)

//Panel 1//
SFX:
WHEEEE
HAHAHAHAHA
Baron Portsnell:
Come out, come out, Edgar!
Baron Portsnell:
If you don’t, I will throw Marybel up into the sky…!
//Panel 2//
Remy:
Shhhh—
SFX:
GASA
Boy:
Hurry, let’s go!
//Panel 3//
Edgar:
…I…can’t leave.
//Panel 4//
Marybel:
Brother!
Marybel:
I found my brother!
//Panel 5//
Edgar:
…Put her down!
//Panel 7//
Baron Portsnell:
…Come, then.

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 220)

//Panel 1//
Edgar:
And they suck blood from your neck…
Remy:
That’s right. They suck your blood, and you die—
//Panel 2//
Remy:
And then the dead come back as vampires…
In search of more blood—
Edgar:
Then the whole place will be crawling with them!
//Panel 3//
Remy:
That’s why we’re going to wipe them out!
Edgar:
How?
Pepe:
You drive a stake through their hearts…! When you find them sleeping.
Edgar:
A stake..
Remy:
They turn to dust and scatter—
//Panel 4//
Remy:
WHO’S THAT?
SFX:
SHOCK
Boy:
HIDE!
//Panel 5//
Baron Portsnell:
Raise your voice even louder.
Marybel:
Bro—ther—
//Panel 6//
Baron Portsnell:
Marybel’s going up into the sky!
Panel 7//
Baron Portsnell:
The sky!
Marybel:
Wheeee!

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 219)

//Panel 1//
People:
Get him
Don’t let him escape
Kill him
Kill him
//Panel 2//
Edgar:
Ah, those people…
Edgar’s Narration:
…Those people…!
//Panel 3//
Edgar’s Narration:
Aah—
//Panel 4//
SFX:
GYAAA
WAAA
//Panel 5/
Edgar:
Georgy! Rod! Remy! Pepe!
Remy:
Wh—what’s this!
Pepe:
Wait—it’s Edgar from the manor!
You startled us.
//Panel 6//
Pepe:
What were you doing? Are you here to see the graves too?
Edgar:
G-graves!?
Remy:
He’s not coming with us.
/Panel 7//
Edgar:
I’m coming! Take me with you—anywhere!
//Panel 8/
Remy:
We’re going to see vampires! So you’re saying that they exist now?
Edgar:
Vampires!?
Pepe:
Mmm.

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 218)

//Panel 1//
Old Hannah:
Calm down! That child will come straight back here.
Don’t meddle. He is the child of my manor!
Man:
Old Hannah!
//Panel 2//
Man:
From the start, I can’t stomach the way you’re handling this. What if the boy were to run off into the village…?
Old Hannah:
Frank…
…Bring Marybel here.
//Panel 3//
Marybel:
Hnnnn…?
//Panel 4//
Marybel:
It’s the tall man…
Baron Portsnell:
Say…let’s go for a walk, shall we?
Baron Portsnell:
Edgar’s hiding in the forest. Whoever finds him, wins…
//Panel 5//
SFX:
PANT PANT GASP GASP

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 217)

//Panel 1//
Baron Portsnell:
WHO IS THAT?!
//Panel 3/
SFX:
CRASH
SMASH
WAAA!!
//Panel 4//
Person:
A child! It’s a child!
SFX:
BASA
//Panel 5//
People:
Grab him!
He witnessed the rite!
Kill him!
Don’t let him escape!
//Panel 5//
Old Hannah:
Wait!

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 216)

//Panel 1//
Sheila;
Heading forth together
Growing old together
Dying together
Until, as one, we turn to dust…!
//Panel 4//
I hereby transform this woman into one who shares with us eternal life…
//Panel 5//
Old Hannah:
I consign the blood of my direct lineage…my life force…
Old Hannah:
That you enter into
//Panel 6//
Old Hannah:
Our clan
//Panel 7//
The Poes……
//Panel 11//
SFX:
CLONK
Sheila:
AAAAH!

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 215)

//Panel 1//
Sheila:
It’s dark…I can’t see my own footsteps.
Baron Portsnell:
There’s nothing to be afraid of. This is a rite the clan performs.
Baron Portsnell:
Now then—
//Panel 3//
Baron Portsnell:
Old Hannah is calling…
//Panel 6//
Edgar’s Narration:
Is that…Old Hannah?
Edgar’s Narration:
She’s not like the Granny she always is!
//Panel 7//
Edgar’s Narration:
Something’s different here.
It’s too quiet. Too dark.
Edgar’s Narration:
Even if it’s not that, the color of the air is different…
//Panel 10//
Old Hannah:
You love Frank, don’t you?
Sheila:
From the bottom of my heart, Old Hannah!
Old Hannah:
For all eternity?
Sheila:
For all eternity!

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 214)

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 213)

//Panel 1//
Edgar:
There are lights burning in the pavilion…
Servant:
They’re calling forth the members of the clan. That’s where the Poes traditionally hold an engagement ceremony.
//Panel 2//
Servant:
Miss Old Hannah has at least explained the family precepts, hasn’t she?
Now, now, time for sleep!
//Panel 3//
Edgar:
Engagement ceremony?
Poes?
//Panel 4//
Edgar’s Narration:
I wasn’t invited—because I’m a child?
Edgar’s Narration:
Hmph! That’s not fair. After all, I’m a kid from Granny’s manor!
//Panel 5//
SFX:
CREAK
//Panel 6/
SFX:
RUSTLE
//Panel 8//
Edgar’s Narration:
…aaahh!
//Panel 9//
Edgar’s Narration:
Lots of people...!
…From where?
Edgar’s Narration:
Are they all Poes?

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 212)

//Panel 1//
Marybel:
Oh—oh—I like that lady. Please have her be my mommy.
Old Hannah:
Little one, it’s time for bed.
Marybel:
Granny can do anything, can’t you? Please, please do it.
//Panel 2//
Edgar:
Come here, Marybel.
Marybel:
If we have a mommy, we won’t be foundlings anymore.
//Panel 3//
Old Hannah:
So you want to be adopted by the Baron, and go off to the city?
You may do that.
//Panel 4//
Old Hannah:
You might run into your parents somewhere.
//Panel 5//
Edgar:
If we leave, you’ll be lonely. Won’t you, Granny?
//Panel 6//
SFX:
CLACK CLACK
//Panel 7//
Edgar’s Narration:
A misty night…
//Panel 8//
Edgar's Narration:
The carriage tearing away…
//Panel 10//
Edgar’s Narration:
A hazy memory from some distant place…
Cradle…hawthorn tree…white window…
Servant:
Well, she’s fast asleep. Hand her to me, please.
Edgar’s Narration:
That…
//Panel 11//
Edgar's Narration:
When did these memories come to be?
Edgar:
Hey—

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 211)

//Panel 2//
SFX:
STOMP STOMP STOMP
//Panel 3
Pepe:
Dad…
Bill:
Oh, you’re back—hand it over.
//Panel 4//
Pepe:
Hey, Grandma said to keep it in moderation.
Pepe:
You gotta stop digging up graves!
//Panel 5//
Bill:
OH…OH…
WHO THE HELL UNDERSTANDS HOW I FEEL, HUH!
Bill:
Give me back my wife!!!
SFX:
SLAMMM!
/Panel 6//
Boy:
Pepe!
//Panel 7//
Is Bill drinking again?
Pepe:
As usual!
Remy:
Hey, Pepe, tonight…
/Panel 8//
…we’re going out to spy vampires at the cemetery!
Remy:
Actual vampires!
/Panel 9//
Pepe:
…You’ll all get killed!
//Panel 10//
Remy:
Well, we’re gonna have a huuuuge cross…
…spot the graves that vampires emerge from…
Boy:
And then when it’s daylight, we’ll have Bill help us dig them up!

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 210)

//Panel 1//
Baron Portsnell’s Narration:
I brought her straight to Old Hannah’s manor to announce my intention of marriage, then waited for five years, until she would be fully grown. Still, I only had eyes for her.
She too…
Baron Portsnell’s Narration:
…had never hoped on her part to marry into that family—
Baron Portsnell’s Narration:
So whatever she had given up, it could not compare to losing this love…
//Panel 2//
Baron Portsnell:
So she joined me.
//Panel 3//
Edgar:
You waited five whole years?
Edgar:
You couldn’t have gone off with her before that?
//Panel 4//
Baron Portsnell:
…Time…
I needed more time…

Marybel and the Silver Roses (Page 209)

//Panel 1//
Baron Portsnell:
Sheila? I’ve loved her ever since she was fifteen.
//Panel 2//
Baron Portsnell:
This sort of thing isn't right, but…
Baron Portsnell:
When she was sixteen, she was to marry into a certain earl’s family for financial reasons. However—
//Panel 3//
We both loved each other.
Well, on the spur of the moment, we eloped…she threw everything away.
//Panel 4//
Baron Portsnell’s Narration:
The first time I met her was on the occasion of the earl’s announcement of their engagement.
Baron Portsnell’s Narration:
Sheila was only fifteen, but had her hair done up, fringed like a noblewoman’s, a corset narrowly cinching her hips, and she flirted coquettishly—yet she spoke in the voice of a young girl.
Baron Portsnell’s Narration:
Then at once I felt it—
That it was she who would be my wife for eternity.