The old stone manor on the southern fringes of the village of Barovia was a place of eerie silence.  There were no voices to be heard beyond their own whispers.  The surrounding howls of the wolves were all but gone from the property.  Such quiet made the sound of the rats all the more prominent.  But the ticking of the grandfather clock, idly counting the seconds away, stood out the most.<br/><br/>It was some time after the eleventh hour of the night when the squeaking of the rodents beyond the monk hole began to diminish before finally fading away.  With their constant sniffing and screeching removed from the manor the ticking of the great clock sounded seemingly in rhythm with their own heart beats.  In the flickering light from the fat candle that slowly was burning away, Ireena felt the pulsing of her heart rise in the vein of her freshly bitten jugular.  The sensation was soon followed by the allure of his voice sounding from some other room on the second floor of the manor.<br/><br/>In his regal attire of black, crimson, and ivory, Strahd rested on one knee before the fallen body of Elrick.  Clawed hands grasped the side of the mans head and with a sharp twist the vampire wrenched the head of Elrick back into a mostly proper position.  His robes swirled across the wooden floor boards while his long fingers placed a pair of perfectly cut obsidian stones atop the dead guards eyes.  With a simple push from the tips of his fingers the stones plunged into the sockets with a sickening squish.<br/><br/>"You will rise and serve me in death."  Though his voice sounded softly, it resonated with untold power as it echoed through the halls of the vast manor.  "Find the man you once served with, and kill him."  Strahds' talon tipped fingers remained pressed into the sockets of Elrick's gem filled eyes.  "Harm not the woman Ireena and guard her as you did in life."  The body of Elrick jostled and twitched, the sudden movements of his animated corpse sounded with a hollow thud upon the wooden floorboards of Ireena's bedchamber.<br/><br/>"She is not to leave this manor.  Keep her here until my return."  Strahds' laughter rang out through the manor as he departed through the open balcony doors.  With an unearthly groan, Elrick rose up from the floor.  His cracked neck left his head to dangle awkwardly to one side as he began to shuffle his way towards the exit of the room.  Long black claws replaced the nails of his now cold fingers as the zombie made his way out of the bedroom while the pools of black that his eyes had become bled tears of foul ebony ichor.<br/><br/>"I......reeeeenaaaaaaaa……"  It was a guttural and horrid sound that was made all the worse by how it resembled the tone of Elrick's once living voice.  "I.....reeeeeenaaaaaa….."